Global Ports Forum

Transnet’s 700 Million Rand Cranes Boost Durban Port Capacity

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Maersk Expects Rise in Trans-Pacific Container Rates Next Month

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The European Shippers Council has set out its opposition to the broad grouping of maritime interests that have called for the International Maritime Organization’s Safety of Life at Sea (Solas) regulations to be amended to require all containers to be weighed before loading at the export port to ensure to that the actual weights match the declared weight on the shipping documents.

The proposal – put forward by the Danish and Dutch governments in conjunction with shipping bodies the World Shipping Council, BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping – follows from what its proponents claim is mounting evidence that mis-declared container weights are a major cause of accidents in the container supply chain: from the series of collapsed container stacks that have occurred on box vessels over recent years, to the capsizing of the MSC Napoli in the English Channel in 2007, as well as to a series of truck rollovers.

However, Marco Wiesehahn, member of the ESC’s maritime transport committee, argued that there is already a Solas requirement for shippers to correctly declare weights, and the new proposals that make it the legal responsibility of the shipper to verify the declared weights will not make container shipping any safer.

In the case of the MSC Napoli, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch report found that although 20% of the boxes were heavier than their declared weights, it added that “the effect of the discrepancies alone would have been insufficient to cause hull failure”.

“It was bad maintenance of the vessel itself that was the cause of the accident,” said Mr Wiesehahn told The Loadstar. “Instead of just focusing on the container weights we have to get back to the core of the problem: firstly the lashing of the containers on the stack; secondly the maintenance procedures of the carriers; and thirdly the fact that it is common practice that around 10% of all containers loaded on a ship will end up on a stack different to that on the stowage plan.

“Even if a shipper correctly declares a weight, and verifies it, there is still a 10% chance that it will be put in the wrong stack and cause a collapse.”

He also argued that under the current regime carriers are already in position to refuse containers whose weight has been mis-declared.

“We already have the existing Solas regulations, but the execution of these isn’t being taken seriously. Carriers have the opportunity to say to shippers who they know regularly mis-declare weights that they will refuse their cargo, but they do not do that on commercial grounds.”

Further, he stated that the ESC has no opposition to containers being weighed at terminals, but said that terminal operators, most of whom have the ability to weigh boxes, oppose the notion that they be held legally responsible for verifying container weights

Although it advocates weighing containers within terminals as the most practical solution, the WSC-BIMCO-ICS proposal also outlines the possibility of weighing them outside ports, such as at shippers’ loading facilities, a prospect that Mr Weisehahn described as difficult to enforce: “In developed countries with well organised systems that may be feasible, but in other parts of the world you do wonder how that will be enforced.

“The IMO is also a maritime institution that has a right to define legislation for the sea, but container transport also takes place on land and inland waterways, where the IMO has no legal status, and what is needed for that regulation on land is expertise of land and inland waterway transport, and the IMO does not have that.”

He argued that it is actually the joint IMO-International Labour Organisation-UN Economic Commission for Europe working group into cargo transport units – which last met in April – that should take responsibility for setting new regulation because it represented a broader set of interests.

He admitted however that there was more shippers could do in terms of stowing and packing containers to make them safer to transport. “We are not running away from that. There is a need to increase the quality of container stowage, and we have a responsibility to do that.”

At last week’s TOC Container Supply Chain event, a seminar on the subject heard from BIMCO’s chief marine technical officer Aron Sorensen that it hopes that the proposal will be ratified IMO’s maritime safety committee and come into force in 2017.

As Maersk Line’s head of fleet management John Leach pointed out at the same session, it is absurd that “some 50 years into the container business we are still loading vessels where cargo weights are not really known”.

As a footnote, it is worth quoting recent TT Club research that shows that over the past six years, it has received a total of 357 accident claims costing $12.8m that were as a result of bad container stowage and handling. That equated to just over 10% of all supply chain claims made over that period, making it the largest single cause of accidents in the sector.

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Beidou navigation 11th satellite launched
Xinhua (25 February, 2012 11:56 AM)
XICHANG — China successfully launched a satellite into space at 12:12 am Beijing Time Saturday, the 11th one of its indigenous global navigation and positioning network known as Beidou, or Compass system, the launch center said.

The satellite, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern Sichuan province, was boosted by a Long March-3C carrier rocket into a geosynchronous orbit.

It was also the 158th launch of the Long March carrier rockets.

The Beidou system started to provide services on a trial basis on Dec 27, 2011. The system has been used in transportation, weather forecasting, marine fisheries, hydrological monitoring, and mapping.

China began to build the Beidou system in 2000 with a goal of breaking its dependence on the US Global Positioning System (GPS) and creating its own global positioning system by 2020.

China will launch more satellites for the Beidou network this year to improve the system’s coverage and services, according to the launch center.

March 22, 2011

Jamaican Port Authority has announced plans to expand the Port of Kingston at a cost of US$200 million.

The expansion of the port in the country’s capital of Kingston, is seen by the authority as being essential if the port is to capitalise on the influx of larger vessels stemming from the completion of the Panama Canal expansion in 2014.

President and Chief Executive Officer of the Port Authority, Noel Hylton, told the Jamaican Information Service that by 2014 the port expects to see a rise from 39 to 149 of “ultra large” carriers calling at the port by 2014.

“These ships will certainly have a tremendous impact on world trade and of course, on ports. What is quite evident is that only a few ports will be able to accommodate these mega ships,” Hylton said at a Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) Board of Directors forum.

The US$200 million project involves the dredging of the port’s channel and turning basin to approximately 16m to accomodate mega vessels, plus the option of expanding the port into Fort Agusta. Here the project will enable additional berthing of 1,500m and the development of a 173 acres of yard space and value-added logistics, according to the JIS.

Posted Saturday May 14, 2011 – 11:10am

The port of Long Beach is using super-sized cranes for a new breed of container ship that could shake up port competition worldwide when a wider Panama Canal opens in 2014, it was reported today.
The latest gantry cranes stand about 15 stories tall are operated by a joystick from a perch about 140 feet in the air. Their reach is about 210 feet, meant to service ships that are 22 shipping containers wide, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The cranes were built in 2005 at a cost of about $11 million each, when ships 22-containers wide were among the largest, but the industry is now moving toward even larger ships, commonly referred to as post-Panamax ships.
“This is an industry that is constantly moving toward bigger and better and faster. So, we just moved ahead with where we thought the industry was headed,” Charles Doucette, the port’s general manager, told The Times.
And when the expanded canal opens, West Coast ports will have to compete for ships that were too big to squeeze through the canal but soon will be able to transit into the Caribbean and call ports in the Gulf of Mexico and on the East Coast.
The Los Angeles-Long Beach complex is the nation’s busiest, but that could change if shipping firms reroute ships carrying imports from Asia through the canal.
About half of the cranes at the port of Long Beach are now capable of unloading ships up to 22-containers wide.
“We’ll run them 16 hours a day on two shifts, five cranes to a ship,” Doucette told the newspaper.
The port of Long Beach is building a $1 billion container terminal known as the Middle Harbor project.
At some East Coast ports, dredging operations are under way where operators are hoping to bring in new business with the advent of bigger, wider and deeper-draft ships.

Apr 13, 2011

Singapore – (ASIATODAY) – MPA and PSA Launch Port Technology Research and Development Programme. Both parties will collaborate to conduct research and test bed new technologies for future container terminals

Paving the way for more technologically advanced container terminals in Singapore, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and PSA Corporation Limited (PSA) jointly launched the Port Technology Research and Development Programme today through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

The MOU was signed by MPA Chief Executive Mr Lam Yi Young and Mr Tan Puay Hin, Regional CEO Southeast Asia, PSA International. The signing was witnessed by Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Mr Choi Shing Kwok, who was the Guest-of-Honour at the opening ceremony of the International Maritime-Port Technology and Development Conference 2011, which was held in conjunction with the 6th Singapore Maritime Week. Joining Mr Choi to witness the signing were Mr Lucien Wong, Chairman of MPA and Mr Fock Siew Wah, Group Chairman of PSA International.

The five-year Port Technology Research and Development Programme will focus on three broad areas, namely automated container port systems, advanced container port optimisation techniques and technologies, and green port technologies. The Programme will see MPA, PSA, equipment and technology providers, local institutes of higher learning and other companies coming together to develop advanced port technologies for Singapore’s container terminals.

MPA will fund the Programme with up to S$10 million over five years from the Maritime Innovation and Technology Fund (MINT Fund). PSA, together with local institutes of higher learning and other industry partners will provide co-funding and in-kind resources of up to S$10 million over the same period.

A key project that would be undertaken by PSA under the new MOU is the development of Automated Guided Vehicles (or AGVs) for future container terminals to reduce manpower and improve port productivity. PSA will also seek and adapt new technologies to develop more intelligent systems that will streamline port planning processes and operations. These seek to further raise the value-add of employees and overall productivity.

“For the world’s busiest transhipment hub, technology is vital in ensuring that its terminal customers are served seamlessly, efficiently and effectively round the clock. Through this Programme, MPA hopes that Singapore will continue to be at the forefront of technology in port operations and services adding to its development and growth as an international maritime centre,” said Mr Lam.

Said Mr Tan, “This MOU Programme will create new opportunities for collaboration with MPA and our industry partners to jointly develop more innovative port management solutions and tools. PSA is fully committed to propel itself to reach higher levels of productivity and effectiveness to serve our customers.”

Jointly issued by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and PSA Corporation Limited.

About the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA)
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was established on 2 February 1996, with the mission to develop Singapore as a premier global hub port and international maritime centre (IMC), and to advance and safeguard Singapore’s strategic maritime interests. MPA is the driving force behind Singapore’s port and maritime development, taking on the roles of Port Authority, Port Regulator, Port Planner, IMC Champion, and National Maritime Representative. MPA partners the industry and other agencies to enhance safety, security and environmental protection in our port waters, facilitate port operations and growth, expand the cluster of maritime ancillary services, and promote maritime R&D and manpower development.

About PSA Corporation Limited (PSA)
PSA operates the world’s largest container transhipment hub in Singapore. It links shippers to an excellent network of major shipping lines with connections to 600 ports in 123 countries. Shippers have access to daily sailings to every major port in the world at this mega hub. Its excellence in port operations has consistently been recognised by the shipping community. In 2010, it was voted the “Best Container Terminal (Asia)” for the 21st time at the Asian Freight and Supply Chain Awards and “Container Terminal of the Year” for the 4th time at the Supply Chain Asia Logistics Awards. PSA Singapore Terminals handled 27.68 million TEUs of containers in 2010. Website: www.singaporepsa.com