The German logistics service provider Mosolf, which is already well represented in Zeebrugge, will open a new branch in Ostend. For the time being, it concerns a short-term contract with the port, which allows Mosolf to store several thousand cars in the port area.
Although there does not currently appear to be a massive accumulation of finished vehicles waiting for delivery, there is a trend to expand storage capacity at logistics companies dealing with finished vehicles. This certainly applies to temporary solutions, such as those found by Mosolf in Ostend: the contract with the port provides for the storage of 4,000 cars for one year on an 8-hectare site that has already been used for similar activities in the past. The cars arrive by ship, are stored and inspected before being delivered to dealers. Initially, this will create approximately thirty jobs in Ostend, but the storage space can be expanded by 8 or 9 hectares. The port of Ostend hopes that this first contract will quickly be converted into a long-term contract, especially because the location is suitable for multimodal transport thanks to a new rail connection.
