PORT ECONOMICS
quay, most of her cargo goes into barge on the offside of
the vessel, without touching the quay at all.
The port affairs of Rotterdam are administered by a
Communal Council.
ANTWERP
Antwerp is another river port, with a navigable channel
which, though securing tranquillity, has proved not altogether
 an unmixed blessing. Fifty miles inland on the
banks of the Scheldt (““ the lazy Scheld ” of Goldsmith’s
poem), the port has experienced considerable trouble in
the maintenance of its accessibility. As recently as 1924,
two great liners, the Belgenland and the Lapland, had to
be withdrawn temporarily from the Antwerp transatlantic
service, owing to the formation of a shoal in the navigable
channel, the trouble being accentuated by the foundering
of a Greek steamer. Some months elapsed before the
obstacle was removed and the channel restored to full
use. This is an object-lesson, not to be overlooked.
But, such difficulties apart, Antwerp is a vigorous
and enterprising port, offering powerful competition to
London and its continental rivals, and promoting at the
present time a gigantic scheme of port development which
augurs confidence in the ability of its administrators to
advance the port in its successful career. When the
entire programme is completed, the port will have nearly
1,500 acres of docks and basins and about 40 miles of
quayage.
The traffic of Antwerp differs fundamentally from that
of Rotterdam. It deals entirely with liners and general
cargo; and almost the whole of this trade passes in and
out of the port by rail, and not by lighters and barges.
There is an extensive stretch of riverside quay at which
shipping is berthed, affording a serviceable draught of
28 to 30 ft. at low water, with railway sidings alongside
the transit sheds, and, in addition, there is a system of
closed docks, with a depth of 30 ft. in the newer docks.

122