Tuesday 2 December 08 - 20:35
 

Port Services Pilots

  • Lessons to be learnt

    01 Mar 2007

    Australia’s experience of liberalisation of its pilotage industry has been less than positive.Alex Hughes examines what went wrong  

  • Changing course

    01 Mar 2007

    Denmark’s piloting sector has opened its doors.Will this overhaul further improve an already well-performing industry or become a massive cross to bear? Alex Hughes finds out  

Area Survey Africa & Indian Ocean Islands

  • Feeder king

    01 Mar 2007

    Port Louis continues to draw in the main shipping players, but it is not complacent as Alex Hughes finds out  

  • Mozambique’s Beira has grand aspirations that could knock Durban off its direct call perch

    01 Mar 2007

    A planned dredging programme is integral to the future success of the Mozambican port of Beira to push it into the direct call league. This modest African box handling facility – in comparison with Richards Bay – lies 20km from the open sea.  

  • Dry bulk bonanza

    01 Mar 2007

    A slight dip in 2006 throughput should prove no hurdle to growth in 2007 at Africa’s key ports. Alex Hughes reports  

  • The privatisation quandary

    01 Mar 2007

    Privatisation of Mombasa Container Terminal has been under discussion for a long time and while no time frame has been set as yet, a committee comprising officials from both the government and port authority is looking into this issue.   

  • Star Performer

    01 Mar 2007

    With traffic across East Africa and the Indian Ocean continuing to grow,Mombasa is taking its future role seriously, as Alex Hughes finds out  

Bulk Handling Pneumatic Unloaders

  • Cost-conscious Buhler

    01 Mar 2007

    Buhler’s Portanova unloader has a nominal capacity of 310 tonnes/ hour is based on wheat with a bulk density of 0.75 tonnes/m3.The machine has a peak unloading rate of 345 tonnes/hour.   

  • Shaking new ground

    01 Mar 2007

    Regarded as very flexible but ‘energy hungry’machines, pneumatic unloaders for bulk product are getting more sophisticated and are making use of new types of energy-efficient electronic controls. David Foxwell reports  

Environment Alternative Energy

  • Blazing a trail

    01 Mar 2007

    The United Kingdom port of Blyth is something of a centre of excellence when it comes to renewables.   

  • Record-breaking energy farming

    01 Mar 2007

    Approval for planned wind farms off the UK’s Kent coast could put the Port of Ramsgate at the centre of the new development. The London Array, the world’s largest wind farm project, will consist of 341 turbines situated between Margate and Clacton.   

  • Winds of Change

    01 Mar 2007

    Brownfield sites and generally windy conditions near the coast – what better place than a port to put up wind turbines? Felicity Landon finds out how ports can harness alternative energy  

Equipment Maintenance Outsourcing

  • What customers want

    01 Mar 2007

    Kalmar Industries says customers have many reasons for looking towards outsourcing of maintenance and support services. As well as obvious factors such as flexibility and cost reductions,port operators often have a lack of skilled people.   

  • Frontline focus

    01 Mar 2007

    The Port of Felixstowe employs 230 engineers and the majority of its frontline maintenance – including quay cranes and yard cranes – is carried out in-house, supported by specialist contractors, says Hutchison Ports (UK) spokesman Paul Davey. “We do use some third party contractors and suppliers to maintain other hired or leased equipment such as forklifts,so it is a bit of a mix.  

  • Hands-on approach

    01 Mar 2007

    In the Port of Liverpool, equipment maintenance at the Seaforth Container Terminal is outsourced – but through some very clearly defined contracts, and the management of these contracts remains with Mersey Ports, says chief engineer Tim Bownes.   

  • Call in the Experts

    01 Mar 2007

    As terminal throughputs rocket and crane technology becomes increasingly complex,more operators are turning to outside specialists for their equipment maintenance. Felicity Landon reports  

Insight & Opinion

  • Green credentials

    01 Mar 2007

    “Environment”is a word that will progressively burn its way into the psyche of business in the 21st century. Inevitably, with trends in motion such as global warming, there will increasingly be a balance to be struck between the requirements of  business and those of preserving the environment.  

  • More trouble at the transhipment “mill”

    01 Mar 2007

    More labour trouble in Gioia Tauro to the extent that Contship Italia, the transhipment terminal’s operator, has issued threats about exiting the terminal. The visible cause of the problems is the newly formed union Sindacato dei Lavoratori (SdL) which claims to represent 350 of the terminal’s 650 workers and which in early February initiated a second strike lasting three days.   

  • Costly Hong Kong

    01 Mar 2007

    There has been much speculation on the highly unusual activity of a group of business and academic persons who, under C C Tung as convener, have been charged with making Hong Kong more competitive in the marine and logistics fields. The idea is to combine this work with that of other focus groups going on and to forward the recommendations to Beijing as part of China’s 11th Five-Year Plan.   

  • A dose of collective amnesia

    01 Mar 2007

    The flurry of activity at shipyards, as new orders come in for ever larger containerships, appears to have no end in sight.Combine this with the increasing size of terminal operators and the need for new mega ports to cater for the China (and Indian) cargoes and we see the results of the global shift to the theory of economies of scale. Beyond any shadow of a doubt the economics of higher output to meet increasing demand is one of the fundamental lessons.   

  • Learning Curve

    01 Jan 2007

    It is interesting to note that an officer of Kenya Ports Authority has suggested that congestion problems in Dar es Salaam are worse than those prevalent in Mombasa, and that as a result privatisation may not be the right road for the Port of Mombasa to go down. He suggests vessels can wait up to 10 days to get into the Port of Dar es Salaam which was the first port to achieve a fully-fledged container terminal privatisation on the African continent. Well this is the age of “spin” and maybe the real translation of this situation is that if Dar es Salaam has problems now it is quite likely to be as a result of its own success. 
     

Insurance Container Terminal Trends

  • The cover challenge

    01 Mar 2007

    Swelling container trade and the consequent growth in terminals poses the greatest challenge to insurers today, as Mark Stanway finds out  

  • TT terrorism coverage

    01 Mar 2007

    In a bid to address one of the biggest threats to maritime trade and one widely feared by terminal operators, the TT Club now offers cover for nuclear and bio-chemical terrorism. This the Club describes as an “industry-leading initiative that recognises and responds to demands from the industry that it insures.   

News Americas

  • US PURCHASE FOR KALMAR

    01 Mar 2007

    Kalmar has acquired American service company Port Equipment Service to “strengthen its position in US ports”.The deal, sealed at an undisclosed sum, will see the founders of PES, Dan Stevens and Tom McDonough, continuing to run the existing intermodal and port service business,while the entire Port Equipment Service operation will be managed by the US port division of Kalmar.  

  • Scanning partnership to improve security

    01 Mar 2007

    Container radiation scanning specialist VeriTainer and shipping optical character recognition developer APS Technology have teamed up to offer high-tech box identification at ports.   

  • Libra moots Santos investment increase

    01 Mar 2007

    The Libra Group, Brazil's leading port container operator, is looking to invest $12m in Terminal 37 at the port of Santos, which would also involve the acquisition of two quayside gantry cranes, each of which would cost $6m. In 2006, Libra ploughed $23m into the terminal in the form of two ship-toshore gantry cranes and seven rubbertyred gantries.   

  • Port wants to keep short sea discounts

    01 Mar 2007

    Santos Port Authority (Codesp) has asked the Port Authority Council (CAP) to be allowed to keep offering 50% discounts for transhipment and cabotage traffic in the port for at least a further six months.   

  • Ecuadorians fear competition from outsiders

    01 Mar 2007

    Small port terminal operators in Ecuador are somewhat worried by the emergence of major port development projects, such as Manta and Posorja.   

  • Bromma boosts South America business

    01 Mar 2007

     

  • BARRANQUILLA TO INVEST

    01 Mar 2007

    The Colombian port of Barranquilla needs to invest $60m in improving facilities in order to handle 10m tonnes of cargo in 2007.However, concessionaire SPRB has only six years left to run on its contract with the government and is therefore seeking an extension to justify such a large outlay. A similar extension has already been granted to Cartagena Port Company.  

  • MANTA HANDOVER COMPLETE

    01 Mar 2007

    Hutchison Port Holdings has handed over the Ecuadorian Port of Manta to Terminales Internacionales del Ecuador (Tide),marking the start of a 30-year concession.The original  agreement, which had seen the transfer taking place on January  1, 2007, was put back by one month on the back of paperwork difficulties.   

  • Colombian/Venezuelan ports link floated

    01 Mar 2007

    The National Highways Institute of Colombia (Invías) has been given the go-ahead to implement a $103m highway and port project,which aims to link Pacific coast ports to Venezuela's Atlantic coast. The project encompasses improving the navigability of river access and also building new roads.  

  • PRIVATISATION SPEEDS UP

    01 Mar 2007

    Authorities in the ports of Guayquil and Puerto Bolívar have until June 30, 2007 to transfer existing terminal operations to private-sector companies.  

News Asia

  • PSA quits Brunei terminal

    01 Mar 2007

    PSA is to pull out of its concession at Muara Container Terminal in Brunei, which it has operated since 2000. The Singapore-based stevedore will be replaced by Brunei Ports Department personnel with effect from April 1,2007.   

  • Fourth JNPT box tender

    01 Mar 2007

    The Indian port of JNPT is to issue a tender in respect of its proposed fourth container terminal by the end of the current year. Expressions of interest have already been received.   

  • Asian box ports lead world

    01 Mar 2007

    Asian ports experienced an average growth of 11% in container traffic in 2006, with the world's six leading box handling facilities all located in that region.   

  • Malaysia tariff control

    01 Mar 2007

     

  • Kaohsiung invests to compete with China

    01 Mar 2007

    Competition from China and other Asian countries has prompted the port of Kaohsiung to announce a $1.5bn investment programme, which aims to increase traffic and upgrade infrastructure over the next eight years.  In February, a tender was due to be issued for a four-berth build-operate transfer terminal project worth $364m.   

  • BONTANG SETBACK

    01 Mar 2007

    Earnings at Indonesia’s Bontang Coal Terminal have been hit by a malfunctioning winch-brake motor, which forced the declaration of a force majeure in February.The terminal has a loading capacity of 250,000 tonnes per week.  

  • VINALINES PORT PLEDGE

    01 Mar 2007

    Vietnam Shipping Lines, known as Vinalines, plans to raise $3.3bn (VND51tr) over the next three years to invest in its shipping fleet and upgrade its ports. Part of this investment will be spent on the construction of new seaports in Dinh Vu, Hiep Phuoc and Cai Mep.  

  • HPH seals Vietnam deal

    01 Mar 2007

    Kong Kong’s Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) is to jointly construct, develop and operate a new container terminal in Vietnam under a 50-year concession.   

  • Automatic kick for Manila

    01 Mar 2007

    International Container Terminal Services Inc’s (ICTSI) flagship terminal is gunning for full automation at its central gate with the introduction of truck portals with imaging cameras and automated driver transaction kiosks.   

  • HPH seals Vietnam deal

    01 Mar 2007

    Expected to be fully operational in 2011, the terminal will have a quay length of 730 metres, with depth alongside of 14 metres and a total yard area of 33 hectares.   

  • ASIA-PACIFIC COOPERATION

    01 Mar 2007

    Port officials from Asia-Pacific stressed the importance of cooperation at a pivotal International Association of Ports and Harbours’ meeting in Vietnam in February. Representatives met to discuss port development and management and plans to develop sea links between Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.  

  • KPT DEEPENS DRAUGHT

    01 Mar 2007

    To facilitate the entry of postpanamax ships, Karachi Port Trust is to rebuild berths 14-17 and widen the access channel at Junabunder.At present, the 12.2 metre draught restriction will remain, although dredging will allow up to 16 metres.As part of a second phase upgrade, berths 10-13 will also be reconstructed.  

  • JAPANESE INVEST IN ANGOLA

    01 Mar 2007

    The Japanese government is to spend $9m on rehabilitating the Angolan ports of Namibe and Lobito.The former,which was built in 1961, has 680 metres of quay, but its existing container stacking yard is reported to be in very poor condition.  

  • CONTROVERSIAL PLANS AT MACHILIPATNAM

    01 Mar 2007

    While plans by the state government of Andhra Pradesh in India to build a deepwater port at the town of Machilipatnam have been generally welcomed, the proposed location of the port has drawn controversy.The chosen site requires less dredging than at Gilakaladindi, which is where cargo in the area has been traditionally handled, but would impose on the historic residential area.  

  • OPERATIONS RECOMMENCE AT GOPALPUR

    01 Mar 2007

    A consortium led by Orissa Stevedores Limited has begun handling cargo at the minor Indian port of Gopalpur.Within four years, it plans to have developed facilities to handle 20m tonnes annually,which it claims will be reached by 2012.  

  • VICT EXPANDS INFRASTRUCTURE

    01 Mar 2007

    Vietnam International Container Terminal has decided to upgrade infrastructure at its facility in Ho Chi Min City.Work will include extending the quay by 192 metres to 678 metres, thereby allowing the terminal to accommodate four containerships at once. It also intends to acquire additional quayside lift. Current capacity of 450,000 teu/year will be boosted to 900,000 teu/year by 2008.  

  • PORT QASIM SCREENS US BOUND BOXES

    01 Mar 2007

    Following a pilot scheme in February, Port Qasim is expected to start screening US-bound containers from March this year. There will be a live video link between customs authorities in both Pakistan and the US. Containers arriving from Pakistan will then not need to be re-examined on arrival in the US.  

  • Disaster recovery plan for MICT

    01 Mar 2007

    International Container Terminal Services Inc and subsidiary Manila International Container Terminal have given the go-ahead for the development of a disaster recovery site through DataOne Asia. The site will allow business to continue in the event of an unexpected disruption in operations.  

  • Busan won over by Savitrak

    01 Mar 2007

    Busan marks the latest port to sign up to Savitrak’s Radio Frequency Identity (RFID) service. The product is built on an opentechnology network that captures data from all types of standards-based Automatic Identifica-tion and Data Collection (AIDC) devices, including bar codes, sensors, passive and active RFID and Global Positioning Satellite location systems.   

  • SHANGHAI STILL NO.1

    01 Mar 2007

    With throughput in excess of 530m tonnes, Shanghai remains the world’s busiest port for the second consecutive year,with traffic growth of 19.8%. In terms  of box traffic, it handled more than 20m teu, which in part was helped by the opening of the 30m teu capacity Yangshan deep water harbour.  

  • DPW EYES WEST BENGAL

    01 Mar 2007

    DP World has revealed that it is seeking new infrastructure projects in the Indian state of West Bengal.The company is already heavily involved in the Kulpi port construction project, which also features an adjacent industrial zone.The company is investing $136m in the first phase of the project, which is scheduled for completion at the end of 2009.  

  • Labour peace returns to Chittagong

    01 Mar 2007

    Bangladesh’s leading port of Chittagong claims to have overcome industrial action by its workers unhappy with plans to privatise operations at the container terminal.  

  • PSA to run Gwadar

    01 Mar 2007

    PSA has received a letter of intent confirming the build-operatetransfer contract to run the Pakistani port of Gwadar as part of a 40-year concession. Three quarters of the $248m project was financed by China.   

  • Ex-PSA managers boost Aden throughput

    01 Mar 2007

    Overseas Port Management (OPM), managed by several ex-PSA executives, has been granted a one-year extension to its three-year contract at Aden Container Terminal.   

News Australasia

  • Tauranga ups ante in merger talks

    01 Mar 2007

    Port of Tauranga chairperson John Parker has cast doubt over the proposed merger with Ports of Auckland, following a comment the two ports will this month need to discuss “whether or not, and how” the merger progresses.   

  • Customs extends x-raying hours

    01 Mar 2007

    Increasing demand has seen the New Zealand Customs Service expand its sea container x-raying service at Ports of Auckland from a five-day to a six-day-aweek operation.   

  • Sydneysiders back retention of working port

    01 Mar 2007

    A strong public support base is forming to campaign to keep Sydney’s Port Jackson as a working harbour.   

  • NEWCASTLE PRODUCER REVOLT

    01 Mar 2007

    Coal producers are demanding a reintroduction of a rationing system at Newcastle Port to combat continued congestion. The queue of ships waiting to berth at Australia’s largest coal export port has stayed stubbornly around 50. According to local press reports, large miners like Coal & Allied and Xstrata, have lobbied to reintroduce a coal management system.  

  • DPW FINDS AUSTRALIAN PARTNER

    01 Mar 2007

    DP World is to partner Kaplan Equity in bidding for various port projects in Australia.This will be done through its two subsidiaries P&O Automotive & General Stevedoring and P&O Trans Australia. Kaplan Equity will take financial stakes in both these companies, with DP World retaining 25% of the former and 50% of the latter.The transaction – estimated to be worth around A$200m ($159m) – is expected to be completed by the end of March.  

  • NAPIER REVISES EXPANSION PLANS

    01 Mar 2007

    Port of Napier has responded to local resident opposition and lessened the environmental impact of a development plan. Stage one of the expansion, which should begin next year, will entail replacing its current “finger piers” with a multipurpose berth capable of servicing two container vessels simultaneously.   

  • Seven chase Brisbane concession

    01 Mar 2007

    A total of seven applications have been received from terminal operators eager to occupy new terminal space at Brisbane’s expanding port, Fisherman Islands.  

News Europe

  • Merseyside secures training funding

    01 Mar 2007

    Mersey Maritime has been awarded £1.75m ($3.4m) in funding to promote and enhance maritime training on the Merseyside, UK.   

  • … AND SECURITY SEAL

    01 Mar 2007

    Savi Networks’ real-time tracking service is to be installed at the Port of Rotterdam.The company’s Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) infrastructure automatically tracks the location and security status of cargo containers around the world. SaviTrak services are already fully operational at many of the world’s major ports in Asia, the Americas and Europe.  

  • Cement deal binds Tilbury with Cemex

    01 Mar 2007

    Forth Ports and Cemex have signed an agreement which will involve the building materials company investing £27m ($53m) in a cement grinding and blending facility at the Port of Tilbury.   

  • MSC Valencia introduces operational changes

    01 Mar 2007

    Valencia’s new MSC Terminal has struggled with a lack of available equipment at peak times and has been forced to introduce emergency measures at the gate. The dearth of available equipment has forced the closure of terminal gates on occasions at 1700 hrs.To compensate for the unexpected closures,the terminal now opens at 0600 hrs, rather than at 0800 hrs.   

  • ROTTERDAM LEGAL SUCCESS …

    01 Mar 2007

    The Port of Rotterdam Authority has come out on top in a $26m claim lodged by Commerzbank. A Rotterdam court dismissed the claim, which stemmed from the end of August 2004,when it emerged that the former chief executive of the Port Authority had allegedly authorised guarantees for bank loans worth more than $130m to companies owned by Joep van den Nieuwenhuyzen.  

  • Jones to take up ABP mantle

    01 Mar 2007

    Former Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC) boss Peter Jones has been appointed chief executive of Associated British Ports (ABP) from April 1. He will take over from Bo Lerenius, 60, who is retiring from ABP after eight years as chief executive.   

  • WALLHAMN AND KALMAR TEAM UP

    01 Mar 2007

    Wallhamn,Sweden’s largest private port,has signed a deal with Kalmar for the financing, insurance, leasing and maintenance of two reachstackers, one 33-tonne fork-lift truck,one 25-tonne fork-lift truck, four terminal tractors, four 8-tonne fork-lift trucks, and a number of smaller Linde trucks.  

  • Pioneering tug design breaks Europe

    01 Mar 2007

    US towage company Seabulk is looking to build on its first break into the European market with its patented Ship Docking Module (SDM) tug design.   

News Middle East & Africa

  • DPW to boost traffic by 50% over three years

    03 Mar 2007

    DP World’s chairman, Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem,has revealed that over the next three years the company intends to boost its global container throughput by 50%.   

  • New grain and fertiliser terminal at Djibouti

    01 Mar 2007

    A new grain and fertiliser terminal was inaugurated at Djibouti at the end of 2006 following the award by Compagnie Djiboutienne de Gestion du Terminal Vraquier of a contract to Vigan SA in Belgium as prime contractor for the delivery of the equipment for the terminal.    

  • OICT inaugurates Sohar expansion

    01 Mar 2007

    At the end of January, Oman International Container Terminal inaugurated Phase 1 of its Terminal B expansion at the port of Sohar.  

  • Third Jeddah box terminal confirmed

    01 Mar 2007

    The Saudi Trade & Export Development Company (Tusdeer) and Seaport Terminal of Malaysia, which helped established the successful transhipment port of Tanjung Pelepas, have signed a joint venture agreement to develop a third container terminal at Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP).The Malaysian company will hold a 20% stake in the project. To finance the deal, Malaysian businessman Syed Mokhtar Al- Bukhary is to transfer $457m into his publicly-listed MMC Corporation, of which Seaport Terminal is a majority shareholder (51.8%).   

  • KONE NETS AFRICAN ORDERS

    01 Mar 2007

    Konecranes has confirmed reachstacker orders from three African port operators. Six units will be supplied to the Namibian Port Authorities, three to Kenya Ports Authority and four to Ghana’s Meridian Ports Services. The total value of the three orders is approximately $7.1m.  

  • APM TO INVEST IN APAPA

    01 Mar 2007

     

  • BOSKALIS WINS LNG CONTRACT

    01 Mar 2007

    Dredging company Royal Boskalis has secured a contract for the construction of an export terminal for liquefied natural gas in Soyo, Angola.The contract, worth $390m, involves creating new land at sea as well as dredging an access channel.  

  • MADAGASCAR BOOSTS HANDLING POWER

    01 Mar 2007

    ICTSI subsidiary,Madagascar International Container Terminal Services,has commissioned a new Gottwald heavy duty mobile crane at its Toamasina container terminal to increase handling power and berth coverage.  

  • NIGERIA PLANS NEW DEEPWATER PORT

    01 Mar 2007

    Nigeria is to build a major deepwater port in the Niger Delta.The project is to be taken forward in four phases, the first of which will commence in March for an eventual completion in 2015.   

News Products & Services

  • Rubb drives automobile storage

    01 Mar 2007

    International facility developer Trans- Development Group recently contracted Rubb Buildings for a relocatable structure to process automotives in Dundalk,US.   

  • Krystallon: ‘scrubbing vital in ports’

    01 Mar 2007

    Seawater scrubbing technology could have an important part to play in the future as ports come under increasing pressure to reduce air pollution, says manufacturer Krystallon. The company, a joint venture between BP Marine and Kittiwake, developed and installed the first Krystallon seawater scrubber on board a commercial vessel a year ago.   

  • Dual-purpose security solution

    01 Mar 2007

    A new combined radar and closedcircuit TV security system has been launched by British company Navtech Radar,which is targeting ports, airports, large industrial sites and other highvalue installations with the product.   

Port Design Planning

  • Stacking high

    01 Mar 2007

    How high to stack? Many rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) yards stack one over five and there is talk of one over six becoming more commonplace, says Royal Haskoning’s Jonathan Tyler.   

  • Future-proofing

    01 Mar 2007

    The trick is to design a low cost terminal with an early start-up,which is ready for future expansion, as Felicity Landon finds out  

  • Trading places

    01 Mar 2007

    Halcrow’s Richard Clarke says anyone can lay out a container terminal – but to get it right, you need to recognise and understand the trade that will be going through. Felicity Landon looks at the issues  

Port Profile Shanghai

  • Crowning glory

    01 Mar 2007

    A glistening future beckons as Shanghai proves its dominance in the port world. Wing Kah-goh reports  

Regional Focus East Asia

  • Busan policy shift

    01 Mar 2007

    Port management have wised up to reality and are seeking out new ways to boost stagnant volumes, as Wing Kah-goh finds out  

  • Kaohsiung throws good money after bad

    01 Mar 2007

    At Taiwan’s premier port of Kaohsiung there is a bunker mentality setting in which threatens to waste taxpayers money on an extraordinary level. Fact: Taiwan is not the manufacturing centre it once was.Fact:China is,thanks in part to Taiwanese industries relocating. Seven years ago,Kaohsiung was the third largest boxport in the world.   

  • Hibiki shake-up

    01 Mar 2007

    Illustrative of the general decline of Japanese ports, news reaches Port Strategy of severe discontent at the nation’s very first private port initiative.   

  • A tale of two deltas

    01 Mar 2007

    The Pearl river delta led the way in China’s capitalist drive,now it faces overcapacity and overtaking by its Yangtze cousin. Wing Kah-goh investigates  

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