P&O Ferrymasters announced it has entered into an agreement with Belgium-based Genk Green Logistics to build a 10,000 square metre state-of-the-art warehouse near the Port of Genk in Belgium, further enhancing its pan-European rail, road and warehousing network at a critical time for international trade and economic recovery.

The new facility – strategically located near the port which is in the heart of Flanders’ industrial belt – is equipped with world-leading Warehouse Management Systems and will enable customers to increase efficiency, have better visibility of their goods and expand storage capacity in their end-to-end supply chains.

The warehouse is ideally positioned to accommodate the import and export of goods requiring storage for international deep-sea routes and to the United Kingdom via both the English Channel and North Sea. The site’s outstanding multimodal transport links – including access to the Albert Canal and direct barging to P&O Ferrymasters’ parent company DP World’s terminal at Antwerp – will facilitate existing customers’ export of high-value industrial products to consumers throughout Europe and via onward connections to Russia, China and the United States.

As part of the global DP World and P&O Ferrymasters commitment to sustainability, the warehouse will be constructed on a carbon neutral site and designed to meet the ‘excellent rating’ of BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method).

Mark Mulder, P&O Ferrymasters’ Contract Logistics Director, said: “This new warehouse capacity at Genk is a vital addition to our port-centric logistics strategy and growing pan-European intermodal network. Specifically tailored to meet the evolving requirements of customers, the facility will provide the greater operational flexibility and capacity required to reinforce resilience in crucial, time-sensitive supply chains.”

“P&O Ferrymasters’ ongoing development in Genk presents an ideal opportunity for prospective customers which need fast and reliable links to their markets.

International trade is changing fast as we emerge from the pandemic and port-centric logistics will benefit the large number of businesses looking to reconfigure their supply chains.”

P&O is a leading pan-European ferry and logistics group at the heart of the Europe’s economy and a part of DP World, the leading provider of smart logistics solutions and enabler of the flow of trade across the globe. P&O Ferries is a major provider of freight transport and passenger travel services, sailing on eight major routes between Britain, France, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Holland and Belgium. Working closely with P&O Ferries, Its logistics business P&O Ferrymasters operates integrated road and rail links to countries across the continent including Italy, Poland, Germany, Spain and Romania, and facilitates the onward movement of goods to Europe from Asian countries via the Silk Road.