Port of Antwerp-Bruges hosted the second edition of the Autonomous Summit as part of Port of the Future Week, running September 15 to 17 in Antwerp and Rotterdam, marking a decisive shift from demonstration to commercial deployment across autonomous road, water, rail and air transport applications.
The event built on last year’s landmark first autonomous heavy goods vehicle journey on public roads in Belgium, delivering a significantly expanded programme of live demonstrations.
These included a remote-controlled train from OTIV, a remote-controlled inland navigation vessel from Seafar, and autonomous trucks from Zelostech, DAF and Volvo.
The standout demonstration was Zelostech’s fully autonomous logistics vehicle, authorised to operate on Belgian public roads without a driver or safety driver, a European first, which will operate for one year on a route crossing the city, the wider region and the port.
Visitors could also experience a PIX Moving autonomous shuttle, a remotely controlled crash test dummy and Tesla Full Self-Driving technology.
The step from demonstration to commercial deployment will follow this autumn, when Port of Antwerp-Bruges, technology company Inceptio Technology and logistics provider Group-GTS will launch the port area’s first commercial autonomous truck pilot project.
Johan Klaps, Antwerp port alderman and Chairman of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, described the second summit as shifting up a gear from showcasing technological possibility to advancing commercial deployment, framing the port’s unique combination of port, industry, logistics and knowledge institutions as an accelerator for innovation into concrete economic activity.
He highlighted autonomous technology as essential not only for more efficient logistics but for building a strong international PortTech ecosystem alongside the new container capacity the port is developing.
Federal Minister Jean-Luc Crucke and Flemish Minister Annick De Ridder both emphasised the importance of clear legal frameworks and coordinated Benelux-level regulation to enable safe and responsible scaling of autonomous applications, with Belgium aiming to establish itself as a pioneer in autonomous mobility.
