Combating congestion
06 Mar 2008
- Iron Ore port Visakhapatnam in India has banned vessels that can't manage to load at least 1,500tph from two of its jetties. Slower rates cause congestion, say Port Authorities.
- Australian trucking Magnate Lindsay Fox says the only way to beat congestion on roads in Melbourne is to build a deep water terminal at Hastings on Westernport Bay. Deepening channels at Port Phillip can't fail to put more container trucks onto the city's roads, he said.
- Congested Virginia roads could undermine the future of the Port of Hampton Roads, according to Virginia International Terminals chief executive Joseph Dorto. With increasing volumes, long-term deals with shipping lines and plans for a new terminal on Craney Island, much rests on the port's hinterland. "There is no doubt in my mind that if we don't do something to fix the transportation problems here in Virginia, it will have a negative impact on our port operations. We can grow all we want and keep projecting that growth, but if trucks and trains can't move about, cargo is going to not come here the way it has in the past."
- Containers that have spent 25 days crossing oceans can take up to four days to move 100 metres across his terminal, says Bill Burns, commercial director of the Port of New York/New Jersey. "It is critical that we get the container off the ship and away from the port as quickly as possible. What doesn't need to be in the port must get out."
- Political pressures are said to be behind failure to improve road links between India's Chennai port and its city. Politicians are said to be keen to see development of a new terminal along the coast at Ennore.
- The wait for vessels at Newcastle in Australia fell to a 16-month low of nine days at the end of January.
