Dem.minister Tieman visits ms.Bremanger

'Only through cooperation and a predictable government will the rejuvenation and sustainability of inland navigation succeed'. Peter Bontrup said this following Minister Tieman's visit to ms.Bremanger. The ship figured as an example of how to make inland vessels more sustainable.

'Only through cooperation and a predictable government will the rejuvenation and sustainability of inland navigation succeed,' Peter Bontrup believes. Minister Robert Tieman of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management visited ms.Bremanger today and received a report from Ad Koppejan of Koninklijke Binnenvaart Nederland on the declining market share of the sector. To give an impulse to this, the minister then kicked off the campaign 'Space on the water, opportunities for the Netherlands' on the ship.

Bontrup and shipping company Amer Shipping from Raamsdonksveer already tackled the lack of innovation and rejuvenation several years ago by investing together in the construction of the ms.Bremanger. This barge, named after Bontrup's Bremanger Quarry in Norway, is full of innovations and has low emissions. This prompted KBN (the Royal Dutch Inland Navigation Association) to highlight the vessel as an example for the future during the minister's visit today. The MS Bremanger has held the Green Award Gold Label for some time now.

'Bontrup and Amer Shipping operate on the basis of a long-term strategy,' said Peter Bontrup. 'The Bremanger was our first ship together. This was followed by ms.Glensenda and ms.Karel Doorman. The latter two are completely refurbished; ms.Bremanger is new construction. The plan is to continue this and purchase more ships and make them future-proof on all fronts. There is serious work to be done in inland navigation, as more than 50% of inland vessels are over 50 years old. Our goal is between 25 and 50% less emissions of environmental pollutants from our fleet by 2035 and emission-free by 2050.

For Bontrup , inland shipping is an important link in the just-in-time delivery to, for example, concrete plants and asphalt plants of aggregates from its own production terminal Granite Import Benelux B.V. More than 90% of the cargo that arrives in Amsterdam from Norway and Scotland and is processed there goes by water to the customer.