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Developments in the port of Rotterdam will cause a great increase in shipping traffic in the Maasvlakte, which in its turn raises doubts about the perpetuation of a smooth flow of traffic in this port area. The Rotterdam Municipal Port Management and the Delft University of Technology have therefore set up a joint research project to investigate the potential flow of shipping traffic in the Maasvlakte in the year 2010.
This research has led to the development of a simulation model that can describe the interaction between vessels. Preliminary experiments with the model have indicated how many of the ships using the harbour basins will be delayed, how long the delays will be and at which points a bottleneck will occur. It was deduced that the traffic flow in the future Maasvlakte would be satisfactory, but that one part of the port area would come under relatively heavy pressure. More experimentation will be necessary before a conclusion can be drawn.