The Antwerp Port Authority (APA) has acquired a stake in DP World's open-access Beverdonk Container Terminal, to offer a neutral platform on the Albert Canal, when it becomes operational in 2012.

The APA wants to increase the share of barge and rail transport, giving the port greater presence in the logistics chain. Taking traffic off the road and promoting inland waterway transport are also important reasons behind the initiative, it said.

The port seeks to make maximum use of the Albert Canal and to optimise its connections with Limburg and Li??ge, said the APA.