With Managing Directors Simon Lucas (left) and Dirk Verstraeten (right), HGK Shipping will be driving its Belgian business forward under the name HGK Logistics Antwerp BV. The new office is located very close to the seaport in Antwerp. (Source: HGK Logistics Antwerp BV)
Duisburg. The business activities of HGK Shipping in Belgium have been operating under a new business name – HGK Logistics Antwerp BV – since April. The company, which is being managed by Dirk Verstraeten and Simon Lucas, will fulfil customer requirements, particularly in the tanker shipping sector, and also offer logistics services at the extremely busy Port of Antwerp-Bruges, which is an important business centre for the HGK Group. The newly named company has its office located on the Campus Lt. Coppens, which is very close to the seaport in Antwerp, and it is gradually aiming to become a valuable partner for industry and therefore improve production supplies and deliveries of goods to Hinterland destinations.
On the one hand, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges is planning to reorganise its operations at its terminal structures as part of the energy revolution – for example, by providing extensive storage capacity for hydrogen or its derivates. On the other hand, the world’s second-largest chemicals port still offers a great deal of potential for Hinterland traffic services using inland waterway vessels – and not least for transport services to top-performing German business regions. The managers of the renowned inland waterway shipping company believe that there is a great deal of growth potential for HGK Logistics Antwerp in these fields. The company is building on the shipping company activities previously provided by Navitank in Belgium and is aiming to further expand them in future.
“We’re using the sale of our holding in DGA Shipping BV to reorganise our operations and we want to continue to play an important role in an attractive market such as Belgium. We’re offering our regular customers an extensive range of services for logistics tasks locally and transport services to Hinterland destinations from this central hub for European cargo handling. Our new office is a clear expression of our strong commitment both to the Port of Antwerp-Bruges and our aspiration to integrate sustainable supply chains along inland waterways to and from the major North Sea ports even more strongly into the mix of modes of transport in our business activities within the HGK Group,” says Steffen Bauer, the CEO of HGK Shipping.
Dirk Verstraeten, who has moved from DGA Shipping to HGK Logistics Antwerp, and Simon Lucas, who has already been shouldering responsibility at the inland shipping company “Royal” Wijnhoff & Van Gulpen & Larsen B.V. (Wijgula), are the managing directors of the newly organised HGK Shipping subsidiary. While Simon Lucas will largely manage the tanker shipping activities, Dirk Verstraeten brings with him many years of expertise in chemical logistics – particularly for those kinds of business, where HGK Logistics Antwerp acts as the port agent for shipping companies and their customers from all over the world.
