Collaborative partnership formed between Ports of Indiana and Port of Antwerp-Bruges
Ports of Indiana and Port of Antwerp-Bruges have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalize their plan to work together on advancing economic development, container shipping, port security, technology integration, and maritime decarbonization.
“It’s an honour to partner with Europe’s second largest port,” Jody Peacock, Ports of Indiana CEO, says. “Our ports have mutual strategic, economic, and innovation interests, and this agreement formalizes a plan for working together to advance key shipping and port development initiatives that will support robust sustainable growth in both of our regions.”
The MOU signed July 17th derives from past collaborations between the ports, along with Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb’s trade mission to Belgium in June, and an MOU signed between the State of Indiana and the Government of Flanders early last December that called for cooperation and information sharing between the ports.
“It’s exciting to launch this collaboration as Ports of Indiana is initiating new economic development and environmental programs that align with the goals and objectives of Port of Antwerp-Burges, including establishing the first all-water container shipping route between Europe, Chicago and the U.S. Midwest,” Wim Dillen, the international development manager for Port of Antwerp-Bruges, says. “Our ports, centrally located as key trade hubs, have tremendous opportunities to jointly pursue critical connections between Europe and North America.”
In June, Ports of Indiana, which operates three ports, launched The Indiana Container Initiative to establish new container terminals at multiple locations in the state. It also received approval from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to begin developing the state’s first international sea cargo container terminal at Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor, which is now scheduled to open in 2026.
Ports of Indiana - Burns Harbor operates on 600 acres (almost 243 hectares) of space near downtown Chicago and has 75 acres (30 hectares) available for container operations with a Foreign-Trade Zone designation and logistics, packaging and refrigerated container services. Half of the intermodal trains in the United States operate through the Chicago hub where 16 million TEUs are handled yearly – more than double any U.S. seaport.
Under the MOU, each of the ports commits to strengthening decarbonization initiatives by sharing best practices and by investigating the feasibility of establishing a green shipping route between Indiana and Belgium that could significantly reduce carbon emissions when compared to existing supply chain routings.
The ports are furthermore committed to exploring opportunity to develop container trade to facilitate key industries that include advanced manufacturing (such as using robotics automation, laser machining, or artificial intelligence for machine learning), microelectronic and semiconductor production, clean energy technologies, as well as soybean and other agricultural commodities. The MOU also supports the commitment by Ports of Indiana to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Regional Maritime Strategy which prioritizes increasing trade with Antwerp for steel, grain and breakbulk cargoes.
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In this picture: Wim Dillen with Port of Antwerp-Bruges (left) and Jody Peacock from Ports of Indiana talk about development opportunities during a harbour cruise at Port of Antwerp-Bruges. Credit: Ports of Indiana