After a break of three years Port of Rotterdam’s popular World Haven Days (WHD) festival has returned, an event more than just a typical harbour open day.
Many harbours and ports hold open days showcasing their activities allowing a rare glimpse behind the scenes within the constraints of maintaining ‘business as usual’.
The Dutch public’s awareness of the importance of its maritime industry is strong, none more so than in Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port, and at WHD the maritime community pulls out the stops to present a broad range of attractions to appeal to everyone.
Family groups with young children, people with a passing or deeper interest in the world of shipping and folk considering a career in the port or maritime sectors will all have found something of interest at WHD.
The three-day event, held in September, centres around the Erasmus Bridge in the city centre, where the river itself and quays down to Parkkade on the right bank and Katendracht on the left (including Wilhelminapier) are crammed with active and static displays.
Shoreside attractions included a maritime-themed market around the Veerhaven with a sound and light show and firework display staged on the river on Saturday evening.
The port’s estate stretches to the coast some 50km to the west and of course most industries cannot relocate to the city centre for the weekend so paid-for guided tours by coach and river cruises were available, allowing visits to container terminals, oil refineries, port control facilities – even wastewater treatment plants, excursions fully booked in advance.
Employment and entertainment
More than 565,000 people are employed in the port and with potential of sparking an interest in working in the industry, the opportunity was taken to showcase employment opportunities, particularly for younger people, a career event held on the first day at LanterenVenster, the cinema complex on Wilhelminapier.
On-the-water displays are WHD’s main attraction, a rolling programme continuing throughout each day, repeated each day to different timetables. Televised coverage with Dutch commentary relays the action to large screens each side of the river. Displays are adjacent to Rotterdam Cruise Terminal on Wilhelminapier, where tiered seating is provided and the river is buoyed off, allowing commercial activity to continue, all policed by Rotterdam’s familiar port patrol and river police craft.
A popular display is the Royal Netherlands Navy’s handling of a ship hijack situation involving air and sea assaults on a vessel, on this occasion the naval tug Zuiderzee. The action is rapid and noisy including blank firing of machine guns from fast assault boats and commandos abseiling from a helicopter with naturally only one winner.
Disaster and demonstration
Who does what in the event of a disaster is another popular display involving rescue services including NHV Group helicopter services, Dordtse Rescue Brigade and KNRM.
VT Group provided an inland tanker as the ‘casualty vessel’, which encounters a fire on board, the crew (played by lifeboat personnel) abandoning the vessel into a liferaft.
Vessels from HEBO Maritime Services and Port of Rotterdam Authority demonstrate their oil spill response activities.
Loodswezen Rotterdam-Rijnmond, The Netherlands pilotage service, made its seagoing pilot cutter Polaris and fast launches available for demonstrations including helicopter transfers, including a surprise visit from the large pipelayer Amazon on day two.
P&O’s two Rotterdam to Hull ferries made special visits on Saturday and Sunday, including mooring alongside the cruise terminal allowing KRVE boatmen to show off their skills along with a pilot transfer by Loodswezen.
Marine activities of a more leisurely pace were represented by an ocean sailing demonstration and a rowing competition spread over the three days.
WHD presents the rare opportunity to explore ships otherwise out of bounds. The Royal Netherlands Navy’s large presence included a submarine and the amphibious transport ship Rotterdam, which was open to visitors.
The dredging sector was represented by Van Oord’s cutter suction dredger Athena, again open for visitors to explore.
Also drawing long queues of visitors was OceanExpress’s Damen Fast Crew Supplier 7011 Aqua Helix, an impressive four waterjet-powered, 40 knot vessel featuring Ampelmann’s motion-compensated gangway access system and first-class accommodation for 120 passengers over two decks.
And this barely scratches the surface of an event generating entertainment for visitors from children to the more serious-minded, showcasing an industry of which many people have little knowledge but that is vital to so much of what we take for granted in life.
