South-East Drenthe large logistical centres located near Coevorden (the Europark area, measuring 350 ha) and Emmen (The EMMTEC park with a size of 95 ha). The area is located in the north-east of the Netherlands, along the transport corridor between the seaports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and Northern Germany. The cities of Coevorden and Emmen and the province of Drenthe intend to further expand and consolidate the position of this “Freight hub Emmen-Coevorden”. Their ambitions are covered under the heading “Dryport Connext”. The three authorities are participating in the INTERREG North Sea region project Dryport, with the main aim to investigate how the dryport concept can be realized in the Emmen-Coevorden region.

A dryport is a port situated in the hinterland servicing an industrial/commercial region connected with one or several ports with rail-, road- or inland water transport and is offering specialized services between the dryport and the overseas destinations. Normally the dryport is container and multimodal oriented and has all logistic services and facilities needed for shipping and forwarding agents in a port.

Figure: road transport to/from Drenthe (CBS, modified by ECORYS)

On behalf of the three authorities, ECORYS started to study the feasibility of this concept. The objective of the study was to define in a concise way what level of ambitions realistically fits to the expected market developments, and what actions are needed to facilitate these level. For that purpose ECORYS analysed:

• Freight flows to/from the region Emmen-Coevorden (captive) and freight flows along the corridor between the seaports (Rotterdam/Amsterdam) and the hinterland of North-Europe (non-captive);
• Availability of infrastructure and services;
• Opinion of stakeholders (shippers, hauliers, logistic service providers).

On the basis of the freight flows analysis, the review of availability and quality of infrastructure and services, and the opinion of stakeholders, a SWOT-analysis was conducted.

The overall analysis shows that the region of Emmen-Coevorden offers the potential of expanding current activities into a dryport. Furthermore the ambition is shared by a number of stakeholders from the region. It must however be noted that a dryport is not just a large intermodal terminal, but a concept. In order to materialise this concept in Emmen-Coevorden, six steps need to be taken:

1. Develop an integral vision and action programme on the desired logistic development/ ambitions
2. Establish commitment and cooperation of the main stakeholders in the region
3. Appoint a coordinator to organise and monitor this development and coordinate actions
4. Promote the dryport among potential shippers, transport operators and all stakeholders
5. Strengthen the relation with other dryports and seaports
6. Develop the required (knowledge and physical) infrastructure

For further information please contact:

Jeroen Bozuwa
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Johan Gille
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