Port of Antwerp unveils new edition of its website

The Port of Antwerp has made major changes to the content of its website at www.portofantwerp.be and has also given it a brand new look. In 1995 Antwerp was one of the first ports to mark out its territory in cyberspace and since then has regularly overhauled its site. The new website has an improved structure, offers more detailed information about the Port of Antwerp and serves as a portal to all kinds of on-line information about maritime transport and related subjects.

All the promotional literature published by the Antwerp Port Federation (AGHA), the private sector umbrella organisation, and the Antwerp Port Authority, can from now on be viewed and downloaded in PDF format (Acrobat files).

An on-line version of basic information about the port, offering an extensive overview of the various specialist installations and links to related information on other websites, is available in the Port Handbook.

Transport Services contains information supplied by De Lloyd, Antwerp's shipping journal, about sailings from Antwerp, short-sea links, and rail and barge services.

Other items offer information about training for shipping and transport, regulations and port customs, and an agenda of forthcoming events in the transport world. News flashes about the port are initially displayed on the site's home page. Afterwards they are filed for easy consultation in the archive section. Visitors to the site may if they wish subscribe to the e-mail message service.

The Port of Antwerp's website will be further developed in the future. One of the first steps will be to create a database of all the job vacancies in the port.

Another development will be a special section aimed at companies interested in investing in industrial and logistics activities in the port.

The new layout of the website has been created by The Lighthouse, a design consultancy that also does the layout for several port publications. This ensures that there is a certain unity of style among the various media. Loft 33, a firm specialised in web design, developed the website and will also be responsible for maintaining the site in future.

Assiport, the PR & Promotional Division of the Antwerp Port Federation, co-ordinated the project in close consultation with the Antwerp Port Authority.