Leading the charge
DP World UAE is trialling special LED lights to reduce electric consumption by 60%
DP World UAE is leading from the front on commitments to growth and green initiatives, as Carly Fields find out
With September’s announcement of a 1m teu expansion for DP World’s flagship Jebel Ali, the international operator has proven that it can take the blows in its stride.
The ‘blows’ in this context are the sucker punch of the global recession which brought the emirate to crisis point, and the upper cut of the fast tracked Khalifa port development, adding 2m teu capacity just 85 kilometres down the UAE coast.
But instead of being side lined, Jebel Ali port has declared its intention to boost capacity by 1m teu through a 400 metre quay extension in time for a 2012 opening. The expansion will increase the facility’s handing capacity to 15m teu over 3,000 metres of quay, allowing the port to handle up to six 15,000 teu ships simultaneously.
Mohammed Al Muallem, senior vice president and managing director, DP World, UAE Region, described the expansion of Jebel Ali as a demonstration of the company’s commitment to “deliver the best-in-class infrastructure for our customers”.
However, the mooted Terminal 3 development is still firmly off the table, with Mr Muallem only commenting “we will continually review our capacity requirements and when we feel we need more capacity we will act”.
Speaking to Port Strategy after the announcement, Mr Muallem added that the cascading of ships presents a particular challenge to the ports of the Middle East region. “The challenge is upon us to ensure that we continually invest,” he said. “Regarding GDP, we see the GCC region as very healthy and our container business is related to GDP. Going forward, we consider our region to be very healthy economically and a growth region.”
But while the cascade effect will increase the size of ships in every region, Dubai is keeping its eyes on the bigger prize: the Maersk Triple E ships.
While not the obvious market for Jebel Ali, Mr Muallem admits that the port has run simulations of what will happen if the 18,000 teu ships call and confirms “if they come we can handle them”.
But for now, DP world is concentrating on streamlining existing operations, with an emphasis on the green agenda.
“With regards to the environment, we are looking at both the land and sea side,” says Mr Muallem. “If we are adding 400m of berthing, we have to ask how it will affect currents, salinity and so on. On the land side, we are reducing CO2 and cutting down on waste. We are utilising our assets in the best way we can.”
As a group, DP World has signed up to Greenstone, The Carbon Neutral Company’s online carbon tool to manage its greenhouse gas data and joined the Carbon Disclosure Project in 2010. The world’s third largest marine terminal operator is also half-way through a five-year strategy to reduce its group-wide GHG emissions.
“Regarding green technology, indirectly, we are trying to make an impact,” says Mr Muallem. “We have a study using special LED lights, which will cut consumption by 60%. This will have an impact on utilities that produce the power.
“We are also trying to reduce the size of engines of port equipment to reduce diesel use; we would like to do more with less energy. We are also looking at solar energy production, and are studying use in Muscat to see if we can learn from their experiences. Going forward, identifying where we can save energy is built in.”
The group can also draw on the experiences of DP World Breakbulk, Antwerp, which has 4,000m2 of solar power cells on its warehouses, and DP World Nhava Sheva, which this summer inaugurated a pilot solar power system.
As a group, DP World is also working towards solutions for the recyclable and non-recyclable waste streams from vessels with its current service providers. This takes the form of segregated skips capable of accepting metals, plastics, paper, glass general waste and hazardous waste.
Back in the Middle East, Jebel Ali is looking to automate processes as much as possible, with its Dubai Trade portal now automating 80% of paper procedures. “We are aiming for 100% by the end of the year,” says Mr Muallem. “This has lots of knock-on effects, such as less driving to deliver documents.
“In our new control room, we can control all port activities from one room. We are making sure that we are cutting waste and performing our operations in the most efficient manner.”
The Dubai Trade portal currently offers more than 700 e-services, such as e-gate passes and liquid bulk billing.
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