Monday 13 October 08 - 13:03
 

In Focus Barcelona Concession

  • Battles in Barcelona

    01 May 2007

    Alex Hughes looks at the workings of the hard-fought El Prat terminal concession, asking who really benefited from the award 

Area Survey Scottish Port Policy

  • Lack of Spark

    01 May 2007

    A review of Scottish ports’ policy produced few recommendations for change, instead it highlighted the importance of landside infrastructure links, as David Foxwell reports 

Bulk Handling Steel Products

  • Facing the real challenges

    01 May 2007

    Steel handling specialist WE Dowds says unloading vessels and filling up warehouses is “the relatively straightforward part”. “The real challenge, and the benchmark we use to gauge how well we are doing, is to deliver the material on time to the right customer,” says chairman Charles Dowds. 

  • Strengthening systems

    01 May 2007

    Teesport has the luxury of challenging its steel handling methods under a ten-year contract, as Felicity Landon finds out 

  • Steely determination

    01 May 2007

    Ports are a critical hub in the steel industry’s just-in-time supply chain.Felicity Landon looks at the challenges 

Container Handling Second-hand Equipment

  • Second-hand sourcing needn’t be a minefield

    01 May 2007

    BMT’s ports and logistics division says it receives two or three serious enquiries every year to help terminal operators identify second-hand equipment. Managing director David Wignall explains why punters engage a consultant to help.  

  • Panning for gold

    01 May 2007

    Not all second-hand equipment is good equipment. Alex Hughes finds out that you need guarantees, quality assurance and, crucially, spares 

  • Second-hand still a niche market

    01 May 2007

    Liebherr registers five to 10 secondhand deals for mobile harbour cranes each year,compared will sales of around 70 new units. In the reachstacker business, where the company has a more reduced presence, it undertakes annual second-hand deals involving two to four machines. Spokesperson Thomas Bachmann notes that there are a number of impediments concerning the second-hand sale of quayside gantry cranes, which makes this a less favourable market segment. 

  • Beat the orderbook blues

    01 May 2007

    In terms of price and lead time, it can often make sense for a terminal operator to buy second-hand, rather than new. Alex Hughes reports 

Environment Legislation

  • Cutting out CARBs

    01 May 2007

    New emissions regulations off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach hope to enforce a dramatic improvement in air quality.Felicity Landon reports 

  • Legislation overload

    01 May 2007

    Port operators are used to being bombarded with new rules and regulations – and environmental “issues” generally lead the field. Felicity Landon reports 

Finance & Investment International Institutions

  • ADB cash to boost region’s prowess

    01 May 2007

    In line with aims to develop a regional container hub for transhipments to the burgeoning Indian ports, Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently announced its plans to fund the expansion of the port at Colombo, Sri Lanka, with a 25-year loan to the Government of Sri Lanka for $300m.  

  • Banking but not as we know it

    01 May 2007

    International government equity houses offer an alternative to traditional port financing routes, as Barry Parker explains 

Germany Regional Feature

  • Double-edged strategy

    01 May 2007

    Kiel’s focus on the two Cs of cruise and cargo should keep it on a steady course, as Tom Todd reports 

  • Multi-sector plan encourages Rostock cargo growth

    01 May 2007

    Although best known for booming ferry and ro-ro traffic, east Germany’s biggest port, Rostock, continues to surprise, with eggs in many baskets as part of a strategy of universal, multisector development.  

  • Sassnitz-Mukran eager to fill unused capacity

    01 May 2007

    Germany’s easternmost deep-water port,Sassnitz- Mukran, expects planned new rail-ferry links this year with Russia will help solve its problem of unused capacity and hopes more cruiseships will fill the rest.  

  • Lübeck’s share sights

    01 May 2007

    City hopes to boost future port prospects with a majority share sell off to an experienced port operator, as Tom Todd reports 

  • Changing tide of German opinion

    01 May 2007

    Few now appear to doubt the future strategic importance of what will be Germany’s only deep-water container terminal: the idea, once scoffed at, appears to have literally grown on Germans.  

  • Future-proof

    01 May 2007

    Bremen/Bremerhaven secures feedership role for the future as JadeWeserPort project gets go-ahead. Tom Todd reports  

Insight & Opinion

  • Show your hand

    01 May 2007

    The Port of Dakar, Senegal is reportedly in the process of privatising its container terminal facilities – or is it?  

  • The environmental issue: hot topic or here to stay?

    01 May 2007

    It used to be that we were inundated with newsworthy reports on security issues and the various programmes and schemes with interesting acronyms such as TWIC and CTPAT. The lesson there was that they all have a cost associated with them. Today, the port industry is embroiled in environmental issues, not so much pollution of the sea but emissions in the air. The worry is over sulphur particles emitted by ships in port as well as on the high seas. Air quality hit the headlines with Marpol 73/78 Annexe VI in 2005 and has become a major topic of debate and legislation since then. The state of California recently passed legislation that pushed its environmental standards into international waters (24 miles).   

  • Re-writing the concessioning small print

    01 May 2007

    It has become increasingly clear in the last two or three years that there is a growing requirement to consider in greater detail the aspect of exit arrangements from a terminal concession or a similar contract that gives management and operating rights to a specific party for a given port facility. Indeed, PS highlighted this requirement some time back but today it has been thrown firmly under the spotlight by the actions of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANY&NJ). The Authority took the controversial step of stating that it required a “transfer fee” of $84m following the sale of DP World’s Port Newark Container Terminal concession to the AIG Investment Group.   

  • Australian delays turn spotlight on marine risk

    01 May 2007

    In the news of late has been the congestion at Australian loadports like Newcastle where higher demand and seasonal disruption have produced queues of ships waiting to load. Delay as a risk to be insured is little known in the annals of marine and transport insurance, with certain exceptions.   

  • Reality check

    01 May 2007

    In the UK,if you turn on the radio,look at the television or read the newspaper it is virtually guaranteed that you will be exposed to an array of facts, discussions or opinions about the environment. And we are not alone; our colleagues around the world are no doubt being subjected to the same treatment.   

News Africa & Middle East

  • Grain monopoly at Mombasa

    01 May 2007

    A master plan covering the next 25 years, which was put together by Kenya Port Authority and approved by the government, proposes to concentrate bulk grain handling at a single terminal at Mombasa until at least 2028.   

  • Salalah plans massive expansion

    01 May 2007

    The Port of Salalah is to increase capacity by more than 200% over the next seven years according to its new master plan. Berth 5 is due to come online by the second quarter of this year and Berth 6 by the first quarter of 2008.These will add 969 metres of quay and 2m teu capacity. 
     

  • Dar es Salaam told to clean up its act

    01 May 2007

    Tanzania’s prime minister recently made a surprise visit to Dar es Salaam port following increasing problems with congestion. He met with officials  and private terminal operators, after which he instructed both the port authority and revenue authority to work 24 hours-a-day until congestion had been reduced.   

  • KUWAITIS TO EXPAND TANGA

    01 May 2007

    Kuwait and Gulf Link Port International have signed an agreement to build a series of deep water berths in Mwambani Bay, which forms part of the Tanzanian port of Tanga.The work, which includes the provision of handling equipment, has been costed at $400m.  

  • NUADIBÚ UPGRADE

    01 May 2007

    The government of Mauritania has issued a tender in respect of expansion and upgrade work at the port of Nuadibú for €20.4m ($27.6m).  

  • MORE NPA WORKERS CUT

    01 May 2007

    The Nigerian Port Authority has made a further 3,000 workers redundant, bringing to 6,000 the number offloaded in the last eight months. It has borrowed €91m ($123m) to finance the cuts.  

News Americas

  • NY/NJ SETS RECORD

    01 May 2007

    Cargo throughput at the Port of New York and New Jersey hit record levels in 2006. The rise has prompted the port authority to commit to a $2bn investment programme over the next 10 years.  

  • PORTS AMERICA GOES LIVE

    01 May 2007

    On March 17, DP World completed the sale of its former P&O Ports US assets to the AIG Global Investment Group, which will henceforth market them as Ports America.  

  • Biometrics question safety at US ports

    01 May 2007

    A Federal programme aimed at improving maritime security in the US may well result in up to one million port personnel having to undergo additional background checks and obtain biometric identification cards.   

  • ICTSI granted Guayaquil concession

    01 May 2007

    ICTSI has been granted a 20-year concession to manage the Ecuadorian port of Guayaquil. Its initial priority will be to reinforce existing quaysides at a cost of around $168m, taking two years to implement. Total investment across the 20 years of the concession will be around $800m.   

  • US short-sea shipping call

    01 May 2007

    Short-sea shipping is the only answer to the US capacity crunch, according to Charles Raymond, chairman, president and chief executive of Horizon Lines. In his view,rising container imports are placing extreme pressure on an already strained transportation infrastructure.  

  • PANAMA ADDS QUAYS

    01 May 2007

    The government of Panama is to build a series of 12 quays in the province of Colón.  

  • VENEZUELA AND CUBA IN PORT JV

    01 May 2007

    Venezuela’s Ministry of Infrastructure has been instructed to set up a joint company with Cuba, which will be known as Bolivariana de Puertos (BPSA), to modernise, rehabilitate, equip and build ports in both countries. Equity will be divided 51 in favour of Venezuela.  

  • RREEF finds nourishment in Maher

    01 May 2007

    An affiliate of the RREEF fund, a Deutsche Bank entity investing in infrastructure assets, has confirmed that it will be acquiring Maher Terminals – active in New York and gaining a foothold in British Columbia. Prices in this private deal were not disclosed,  but the frenzy created by funds chasing a desirable asset class has driven prices to levels between 15  x and 20 x the levels of annual cash flows.   

  • Palermo environmental study illegal

    01 May 2007

    An environmental license granted to Palermo Port has been ruled illegal and may be revoked,putting port development in doubt.   

  • Work starts on West Coast security centre

    01 May 2007

    The Port of Long Beach broke ground on a $20m security command and control centre in April.   

  • VYCON plumps for Alternative offering

    01 May 2007

    VYCON, the California-based manufacturer of high-cycling energy storage flywheel systems, has made a public offering on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, in a move it says will raise more funds for the continued development of its emission and fuel reduction technology.    

  • Philadelphia port plan under threat

    01 May 2007

    Philadelphia’s maritime community has come out guns blazing in a battle to stop prime waterfront acreage falling into the  hands of a non-marine business.   

News Asia

  • KPT re-thinks causeway plan

    01 May 2007

    Karachi Port Trust is rethinking its plan to link the proposed Pakistan Deepwater Container Port by a six kilometre long causeway following an initial cost assessment.   

  • K-Line hybrid cranes mark Japan first

    01 May 2007

    K-Line group company, the Daito Corporation, has ordered three hybrid cranes for Ohi Terminal in Tokyo and Honmoku Terminal in Yokohama.   

  • Busan transhipment coup

    01 May 2007

    In a major coup for the Korean port, Busan has lured Mediterranean Shipping Company’s transhipment business from China’s Ningbo Port.   

  • Chennai two terms confirmed

    01 May 2007

    Chennai Port Trust has released the terms of the recently-awarded PSA-Sical 30-year concession to operate the second container terminal in the port.   

  • Chittagong go-slow cripples operations

    01 May 2007

    Workers belonging to Chittagong port authority implemented a policy of nonco- operation following the takeover of management of the container terminal by private company Saif Powertec.   

  • XICT ADDS QUAYSIDE LIFT

    01 May 2007

    Xiamen International Container Terminals has taken delivery of two post-panamax quayside gantry cranes and six mobile harbour cranes, bringing to 38 the overall number of cranes owned by the facility. XICT is also to bring online a further 443 metres of quay, which will have alongside draught of 17.5 metres.  

  • INDIAN ‘SUPER-DREDGER’ MOOTED

    01 May 2007

    The Shipping Corporation of India, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai Port and Mazagon Docks Ltd are looking into setting up a large dredging company. In addition, the government's Ministry of Petroleum is also speaking to oil companies, which may also later become involved in the project. Foreign companies interested in investing will be contacted at a later stage.  

  • MUNDRA IPO

    01 May 2007

    Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone Limited intends to raise €310m ($421m) via an IPO, which would be the first time any Indian port operator has used this method as a means of raising finance.The IPO is scheduled for the second quarter and money raised will be invested in expanding facilities.  

  • DALIAN IN BED WITH MODERN TERMINALS

    01 May 2007

    Dalian Port Company and Modern Terminals Ltd are to build a deepwater container terminal at the Port of Dalian. This will be located at Dayaowan North Harbour.  

  • VIZINJAM TENDER RE-ISSUE

    01 May 2007

    The government of the Indian state of Kerala has agreed to re-issue the tender for the proposed international container transhipment terminal at Vizinjam.  

News Australasia

  • Fremantle halts new terminal plans

    01 May 2007

    The Western Australian port of Fremantle has put a halt in the shortterm to any further consideration of a third container terminal in the Inner Harbour. Mediterranean Shipping Company had proposed to redevelop Berths 11 and 12 on North Quay as a container terminal. But for the moment the port has decided these berths are needed for the growing trade in general and breakbulk cargoes. 
     

  • Auckland truckies breathe sigh of relief

    01 May 2007

    A range of congestion-addressing measures recently employed by the Ports of Auckland have reduced truck queues to less than half an hour at both Axis Fergusson and Axis Bledisloe container terminals.   

  • HPH Brisbane winner

    01 May 2007

    An operating duopoly on Australia’s east coast is set to be upended by the arrival of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH).   

  • Tauranga withdraws from merger talks

    01 May 2007

    Port of Tauranga has formally withdrawn from merger discussions with Ports of Auckland, despite stating that a merger would generate “significant financial benefits” to customers and shareholders alike.   

  • PORT HEDLAND EXPANSION

    01 May 2007

    Expansion plans approved by BHP will see Port Hedland reclaim the title of Australia’s largest port by 2010. The fourth stage of BHP’s A$2.3bn ($1.9bn) Rapid Growth Project will boost the port's iron ore capacity to 155m tonnes per year.The expansion involves upgrades from the mines to the port, including additional crushing, screening and processing facilities.  

  • BUSY TIME FOR GISBORNE PORT

    01 May 2007

    Eastland Port is expecting to report considerable increases in the volume of forestry and squash exported this financial year. Log throughput is expected to rise about 50% to 600,000 JAS tonnes and squash to double to 30,000 tonnes, with “additional kiwifruit volumes” also mooted.  

  • MELBOURNE CHANNEL DEEPENING MOVES FORWARD

    01 May 2007

    The Victorian Government has released a supplementary environment effects report into the proposed channel-deepening project for the Port of Melbourne. The report includes data from more than 40 technical studies and a trial dredge.  

  • PORT MARLBOROUGH ESTABLISHES PROPERTY SUBSIDIARY

    01 May 2007

    A new subsidiary company, Port Properties, has been created by Port Marlborough to manage its NZ$50m ($36.8m)- valued property assets.The move is a reflection of the volume and scale of the property development activities likely to be undertaken at the port over the next few years and will also enable the port company to focus on its core business functions.  

News Europe

  • ROAD ACCESS IMPROVED TO VALENCIA

    01 May 2007

    The Infrastructure & Transport Department of the Valencia regional government has issued a tender in respect of the initial phase of construction of the northern road access to the Port of Valencia. Investment will be €20.1m ($27.2m).  

  • LISBON DELAYS THIRD BOX TERMINAL

    01 May 2007

    The president of the port of Lisbon’s administrative authority,Manuel Frasquilho, has indicated that it will not be necessary to expand  Terminal da Trafaria to accommodate major flows of container traffic in the short-term.Work to create a new container terminal will not therefore be necessary until 2015.   

  • GOOD YEAR FOR IHC

    01 May 2007

    IHC Holland Merwede is anticipating a 35% increase in turnover this year on the back on improved results from its dredging, offshore and marine businesses. In a booming year, the company’s sales doubled to €1bn ($1.4bn) in 2006 and net profit tripled to €31.2m ($42.2m).  

  • FREIGHT FORUM PROMOTED

    01 May 2007

    The European Federation of Inland Ports and the European Sea Ports Organisation are to establish a “Platform of European Sea and Inland Ports” to strengthen co-operation between both organisations.   

  • Barcelona’s TCB borrows to expand

    01 May 2007

    Barcelona Container Terminal (TCB) has signed a loan agreement, securing €118.5m ($160.4m) to expand its Muelle Sur terminal to a 870,000 sq m facility capable of handling 2.2m teu.   

  • Collapse of El Prat quay blamed on port authority

    01 May 2007

    Spain's Infrastructure Minister, Magdalena Álvarez, has emphasised that the collapse of one third of the new Prat Quay at the Port of Barcelona is entirely the responsibility of the Port Authority and has nothing whatsoever to do with her department. This is despite the fact that all port infrastructure in Spain effectively belongs to the state.   

  • JadeWeserPort crosses planning hurdle

    01 May 2007

    Construction of Germany’s new €950m ($1.3bn) super-containerport at Wilhelmshaven is set to begin in earnest this summer after planning permission was approved.   

  • China Shipping swaps Spanish services

    01 May 2007

    China Shipping has moved its prestigious AEX-1 service, which links the Far East with northern Europe, from Marítima Valenciana in Valencia to TCB in Barcelona.   

  • KALMAR RENTAL COUP

    01 May 2007

    Sweden’s largest timber products company has agreed a multi-year rental contract with Kalmar for 31 specially developed forklift trucks.   

  • KONE NETS UKRAINE ORDERS

    01 May 2007

    Odessa’s HPC Ukraina has ordered four rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) Konecranes cranes for Odessa Sea Trade Port, a subsidiary of HPC Hamburg Port Consulting GmbH.  

  • LARNE VTS UPGRADE

    01 May 2007

    The UK’s Port of Larne is to upgrade its vessel tracking system (VTS), currently consisting of two radar sites, closed-circuit TV and recording system,VHF recording and three VTS operator workplaces.   

  • Piraeus Port loses box traffic

    01 May 2007

    Piraeus Port Authority posted revenue growth of 2.9% in 2006, when it generated €144.1m ($195m). However, the increase would have been more had the port not been hit by several strikes during the last few months of the year.   

  • Humber sets legal first with wildlife project

    01 May 2007

    A landmark legal agreement between industry and conservationists has led to the creation of more than 60 hectares of wildlife habitat at a cost of £3.5m.   

  • SYRIA SIGNS FOR LIEBHERR

    01 May 2007

    International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) has ordered two new Liebherr LHM 400 mobile harbour cranes for its new Tartous container terminal concession in Syria.   

News Products & Services

Planning & Design Automated Mooring Systems

  • Salalah tests put MoorMaster through its paces

    01 May 2007

    Patrick Rosenwald, technical director of Cavotec Specimas, believes that the benefits of the MoorMaster automated mooring system are best illustrated by the results of testing done at the Port of Salalah in Oman in the summer of 2005.   

  • Faster, safer, more secure

    01 May 2007

    Manufacturers of auto-mooring equipment for ports and harbours see only benefits for users,as David Foxwell explains  

Port Profile Hamburg

  • Bucking the trend

    01 May 2007

    HHLA’s decision to ditch a share sell-off in favour of a “safe”IPO is understandable says consultant BMT, in conversation with Alex Hughes 

  • Dizzying demands

    01 May 2007

    Hamburg is under pressure to accommodate future growth, widely anticipated to be double existing capacity, as Tom Todd discovers 

Port Services Tugs and Workboats

  • Taking crewing to the minimum

    01 May 2007

    Manning levels aboard port tugs is a contentious issue and depend very largely on national and local maritime regulations. A crew of two in a 25m, 70 tonnes bollard pull tug is acceptable in some countries but may be constrained by operating procedures or local port rules. However well designed the modern tug may be,at least one person is still needed to work on deck to secure and take aboard the towline and moor the vessel on return to the quay. The safety of that person is paramount and the result of exhaustive studies into ‘man overboard’ procedures and the  design equipment for personnel retrieval in an emergency.  

  • Building Frenzy

    01 May 2007

    A record orderbook and increasing pressure to produce more green tugs proves there’s a future for these waterborne powerhouses, as Jack Gaston explains 

Motorship