The RoRo terminals in Bremerhaven, Zeebrugge and Emden are cathedrals of logistics. 

By : Pablo Rodas-Martini

Former Chief Economist; international trade and maritime expert.

Looking at pictures of RoRo terminals can be deeply misleading. At first glance, they resemble nothing more than the car park outside a large shopping centre or stadium on the day of a major sporting event — neat rows of metal and glass basking in the sun. However, step onto the asphalt of one of Europe's enormous RoRo terminals and you will sense the shift in scale beneath your feet. What appears mundane from above reveals itself to be synchronised, relentless and astoundingly vast.

While Wembley Stadium

While Wembley Stadium, the UK's largest, can accommodate around 3,500 vehicles, and Bluewater Shopping Centre has around 13,000 parking spaces, the RoRo terminals in Bremerhaven, Zeebrugge and Emden are cathedrals of logistics. Zeebrugge, for example, covers an area larger than 700 football pitches and can hold up to 120,000 vehicles.

 RTLS (Real-Time Location Systems)

One of the fascinating aspects of RoRo terminals is not just their size, but also how they track this veritable army of rolling machines. How do operators know where every car — every Volkswagen, BMW or Audi — has gone amid this asphalt jungle? The answer increasingly lies in RTLS (Real-Time Location Systems), although other systems are also used. This technology transforms a chaotic sea of cars into a precisely mapped inventory that evolves in real time — it's as if a cornfield has been turned into a grid of intelligent stalks, each one whispering its position.

It’s logistics turned orchestral.
 

These systems use a combination of active RFID tags, fixed antennas and Wi-Fi beacons, and often ultra-wideband (UWB) sensors. Each vehicle is tagged either at the port of discharge or by the manufacturer. From that moment onwards, every movement is tracked — from the vessel ramp to the pre-delivery inspection zone and from paint repair to customs clearance. The system doesn't just track location; it also captures movement history, idle time, direction, and — for electric vehicles — battery status. It’s logistics turned orchestral.

What are the benefits?

So, what are the benefits? Clarity. Speed. Accountability. Terminals become faster because vehicles can be located instantly, eliminating the need for manual searching. Operations become more efficient as space is optimised and labour is allocated precisely. Data becomes transparent, too. Managers can access heat maps showing congestion, track cycle times for each vehicle, and pinpoint potential bottlenecks before they occur.

Like steel whales 

But what about the ships that bring in all these cars — the PCTCs that glide in like steel whales and disgorge thousands of vehicles at dawn? That’s a topic for another day. For now, though, know this: Their boxy, almost brutalist design is not an aesthetic choice — they are floating car parks, designed for capacity and efficiency.

So, next time you see an aerial view of a RoRo terminal, try not to compare it to a shopping centre or a football stadium. Those are spectacles of leisure. This is a spectacle of logistics; order summoned from chaos.

Related :Pablo Rodas-Martini :3 classical models of Shipping companies

#Pablo Rodas-Martini #RoRo terminal,Zeebrugge # Emden #PCTCs #RFID tags, #Wembley Stadium #cathedrals