US-built box crane - WorldCargo News Online
US-built box crane - WorldCargo News Online
US-built box crane - WorldCargo News Online
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<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
SEPTEMBER 2005<br />
news<br />
WWW.STEELBRO.COM<br />
<strong>US</strong>-<strong>built</strong> <strong>box</strong> <strong>crane</strong><br />
The <strong>US</strong> Port of Umatilla, Washington<br />
State, has recently taken delivery<br />
of a widespan gantry <strong>crane</strong><br />
for barge and landside handling<br />
from Ederer <strong>crane</strong>s of Seattle. It<br />
was fabricated at Ederer’s facility<br />
in Seattle and is thought to be the<br />
first container <strong>crane</strong> manufactured<br />
in the <strong>US</strong> for a number of years.<br />
Ederer has a long history in <strong>crane</strong><br />
fabrication and in 2003 was purchased<br />
by PaR Systems, a specialist<br />
in robotic and remotely-controlled<br />
industrial <strong>crane</strong>s.<br />
The <strong>crane</strong> construction is<br />
Ederer’s favoured single girder<br />
torsionally loaded design with a<br />
total span of 300ft (200ft rail span<br />
with 50ft cantilevers). The single<br />
<strong>box</strong> girder is of 6ft x 12ft construction<br />
with the trolley suspended<br />
over one side. The drive<br />
system was engineered by Ederer<br />
from Siemens dc components and<br />
includes 12 x 40hp motors for<br />
gantry travel and two for trolley<br />
travel. Maximum gantry and trolley<br />
speeds are 300 ft/min. Hoist<br />
capacity is 52 tons and a Bromma<br />
20-40ft spreader is fitted.<br />
Ederer has long believed that a<br />
single girder is a stronger, safer construction<br />
than a lattice boom and a<br />
single leg means cantilevers can be<br />
incorporated without having to<br />
splay the legs past the width of a<br />
40ft or 45ft container. However, the<br />
design is heavier (450 tonnes in this<br />
This is thought to be the first rail-mounted container gantry <strong>crane</strong> to have been<br />
<strong>built</strong> in the <strong>US</strong>A for a number of years<br />
case) than a lattice construction and<br />
wind loads are higher.<br />
Ederer’s <strong>crane</strong> segment manager<br />
Neil Skogland says that ports<br />
and consultants in the <strong>US</strong> are starting<br />
to come around to the idea of<br />
widespan <strong>crane</strong>s, both for river<br />
port applications like Umatilla and<br />
container yards at larger terminals.<br />
The <strong>crane</strong> and associated civil<br />
works were funded by two separate<br />
grants totalling <strong>US</strong>$3.8 mill<br />
from the Federal Railroad Administration.<br />
Umatilla’s general manager<br />
Kim Puzey said <strong>US</strong>$1 mill<br />
was spent on site preparation,<br />
<strong>crane</strong> rails and electrical equipment<br />
and <strong>US</strong>$2.8 mill on the<br />
<strong>crane</strong> itself.<br />
Umatilla is a feeder port to<br />
Portland, at the head of the Columbia/Snake<br />
river barge system,<br />
and has traditionally handled<br />
about 100 containers/week. Shipments<br />
have been flat since steamship<br />
service was suspended by two<br />
carriers at the Port of Portland,<br />
noted Puzey. However, Portland’s<br />
prospects received a major boost<br />
when funding was secured for the<br />
long-debated Columbia river<br />
dredging project.<br />
TERBERG RORO- AND TERMINAL-TRACTORS<br />
FOR HANDLING HEAVY TRAFFIC WITH TOTAL<br />
CONFIDENCE<br />
Work starts<br />
at Carmel<br />
Construction work has begun on<br />
Israel’s Carmel Port, which will<br />
come under the administrative<br />
umbrella of Haifa Port Authority.<br />
The initial development comprises<br />
a 700m long quay dedicated<br />
to container handling, although<br />
other existing port areas will also<br />
be upgraded.<br />
The overall project has been<br />
given an approximate cost of<br />
<strong>US</strong>$266 mill, which will include<br />
infill, the construction of new<br />
quays, reinforced infrastructure<br />
beneath the water, drainage and<br />
new communications systems. The<br />
initial phase is due to open within<br />
four years.<br />
The decision to undertake the<br />
Carmel Port development project<br />
has been prompted by the need<br />
to modernise facilities at the Port<br />
of Haifa. Above all this means<br />
providing sufficient draught to<br />
accommodate the largest container<br />
vessels afloat.<br />
Port authority CEO Amos<br />
Uzani believes that Haifa/Carmel<br />
could function as a gateway port<br />
for neighbouring Jordan, Iraq and<br />
Palestine. He was unable to give<br />
a firm timetable for three planned<br />
additional construction phases at<br />
Carmel, although the port master<br />
plan suggests these are due to<br />
be implemented by 2030.<br />
Phase 2 will involve the construction<br />
of a new breakwater, as<br />
well as additional berths, while the<br />
third stage of construction will<br />
consist of a chemical and hydrocarbons<br />
terminal, which will be<br />
<strong>built</strong> on reclaimed land.<br />
The final stage will see additional<br />
container handling capacity<br />
introduced. A new airport is<br />
also to be <strong>built</strong> adjacent to the<br />
maritime port.<br />
Liebherr for Gdansk?<br />
It is understood that Liebherr<br />
Container Cranes is likely to be<br />
awarded a contract for three post-<br />
Panamax container <strong>crane</strong>s for the<br />
first phase of the new deepwater<br />
container terminal and ro-ro berth<br />
in Poland’s Port of Gdansk. As previously<br />
reported, this project is<br />
being run by the DCT Gdansk SA<br />
consortium. A Letter of Intent is<br />
due to be finalised shortly.<br />
Should the LoI be converted<br />
to a firm order, a question arises<br />
as to whether Liebherr would assemble<br />
and erect the <strong>crane</strong>s from<br />
large pieces on site, as per its normal<br />
practice with ship-to-shore<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s, or take advantage of the<br />
Liebherr group’s new fabrication<br />
plant in the Port of Rostock.<br />
This purpose-<strong>built</strong> facility has<br />
its own waterside load-out capabilities,<br />
enabling it to offer lower<br />
overall transport costs. It occupies<br />
220,000 m 2 and is geared for production<br />
of large and oversize machinery<br />
components and parts.<br />
Production commenced in<br />
March this year. At present there<br />
are 160 permanent and 50 temporary<br />
posts and more workers are<br />
being trained in the main harbour<br />
mobile <strong>crane</strong>/shipboard <strong>crane</strong><br />
plant in Nenzing, Austria.<br />
In early September the first<br />
Rostock-<strong>built</strong>, portal-mounted<br />
Crane pieces being shipped from<br />
Rostock to Venezuela<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s were loaded for a customer<br />
in Venezuela. Packed in 62 cases,<br />
three <strong>crane</strong>s of the shipboard type<br />
CBS 3100-60 fitted on railmounted<br />
portals (TCC) were<br />
loaded on board Onego Shipping’s<br />
ONEGO VOYAGER.<br />
Liebherr has supplied a<br />
number of such <strong>crane</strong>s in South<br />
East Asia (Vietnam, Indonesia), but<br />
these are the first of their type in<br />
South America. They are deemed<br />
particularly suitable for ports and<br />
shipyards with limited space and<br />
limited ground loads.<br />
● Liebherr has won an order for<br />
one ship-to-shore contaner <strong>crane</strong><br />
from the Port of Lyttelton, New<br />
Zealand. The <strong>crane</strong> will have a<br />
46m outreach (16 rows), 19m rail<br />
gauge and 14.5m backreach. Lift<br />
height is 34m and capacity under<br />
the spreader is 60 tonnes for<br />
twinlift operations with a separating<br />
type twin spreader.<br />
In the past few years Liebherr<br />
has supplied container <strong>crane</strong>s to<br />
Wellington (two) and Tauranga,<br />
and the group’s biggest harbour<br />
mobile <strong>crane</strong>, the LHM 500, was<br />
first supplied in New Zealand as<br />
well, with two units going to<br />
Primeport (Timaru) in 2002.<br />
Terberg RoRo- and Terminal-Tractors:<br />
• Powerful 4x4 and 4x2 drive lines<br />
• Up to 250 ton Gross Combination Weight<br />
• Up to 45 ton lifting capacity<br />
• Robust chassis construction<br />
• Maintenance friendly engineering<br />
• Low exhaust emission<br />
P.O. Box 2, 3405 ZG Benschop (Holland)<br />
phone (31) (0) 348 - 459211 telefax (31) (0) 348 - 451934<br />
e-mail: info@terbergbenschop.nl<br />
internet homepage: www.terbergbenschop.nl<br />
China Shipping joins<br />
<strong>box</strong> building ranks<br />
China Shipping Group formally<br />
opened its new dry freight container<br />
manufacturing facility in<br />
Lianyungang on August 16th,<br />
marking the company’s entry into<br />
the <strong>box</strong> building market (see<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> March 2005, p1).<br />
A joint venture between China<br />
Shipping and its Hong Kongbased<br />
affiliate Dong Fang International<br />
Container Co Ltd, Dong<br />
Fang International Container<br />
(Liangyugang) Co Ltd (DFICL) is<br />
located on a 29,000 m 2 site in the<br />
Lianyungang Economic and Technical<br />
Development Zone adjacent<br />
to the Lianyungang container<br />
port. Total investment in the plant<br />
is put at <strong>US</strong>$50 mill.<br />
Annual capacity in the first<br />
phase is 150,000 TEU, comprising<br />
a full range of 20ft, 40ft and<br />
45ft high cube equipment.<br />
The DFICL opening ceremony<br />
also saw the signing of a<br />
Letter of Intent by China Shipping<br />
and Interpool/Trac Lease for<br />
the estabishment of a chassis/<br />
trailer manufacturing facility adjacent<br />
to DFICL, while the company<br />
is also reported to have<br />
signed an agreement with<br />
Singamas for a 10,000 unit/year<br />
reefer <strong>box</strong> plant at the same site.<br />
DFICL would appear to be the<br />
first stage in China Shipping’s<br />
plans to establish a network of <strong>box</strong><br />
building facilities in the key areas<br />
of China to enable it to offer<br />
multi-factory delivery options.<br />
The next phase will see a new<br />
dry freight plant established in the<br />
Jinzhou Economic and Technology<br />
Development Zone in Liaoning<br />
Province in north east China in a<br />
joint venture with Singamas and<br />
British Virgin Islands-based Orient<br />
International Container Ltd. The<br />
Jinzhou plant will have a similar<br />
150,000 TEU/year capacity and is<br />
slated to start operations in the third<br />
quarter of next year.<br />
According to informed<br />
sources, China Shipping has also<br />
earmarked a site for a third dry<br />
freight plant near the new Nansha<br />
Port in Guangdong Province to<br />
cover the south China area.<br />
Meanwhile Singamas is continuing<br />
to add to its own <strong>box</strong><br />
building infrastructure. In addition<br />
to a new 150,000 TEU/year facility<br />
in Huizhou, Guangdong,<br />
the company has announced that<br />
it is building a new 100,000+<br />
TEU/year facility in Ningbo.<br />
Both new plants are scheduled to<br />
start operations 2Q 2006.<br />
IN THIS ISSUE<br />
NEWS<br />
New generator controller 2<br />
Paolo de Nicola problems 5<br />
APMT for Dunkirk 9<br />
Patrick/FCL deal nixed 19<br />
Gateway fleet sold 22<br />
PORT DEVELOPMENT<br />
Katrina special report 24<br />
NAWC ports review 25<br />
Göteborg’s strategic plan 29<br />
ROLL-ON/ROLL-OFF<br />
TTS sets out its stall 31<br />
It’s a tough road by sea 33<br />
Cobelfret to buy Simon? 33<br />
Höegh Autoliners grows 35<br />
CARGO HANDLING<br />
Paper clamp update 36<br />
Robot paper terminal 37<br />
Eastern reach stackers 39<br />
Spreaders on a high tide 44<br />
REEFER IND<strong>US</strong>TRY<br />
Scrolls make ground 47<br />
New lessors join the fray 52<br />
TANK CONTAINERS<br />
Customised components 53
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Navis wins APMT deal Nuctech<br />
Navis has been selected as the software<br />
provider for APM Terminals<br />
North America’s new terminal in<br />
Portsmouth, Virginia. As previously<br />
reported, this terminal is widely understood<br />
to be the first in the <strong>US</strong><br />
to feature fully automated yard<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s but AMPT is still being cautious<br />
about how it deals with the<br />
issue of automation publicly.<br />
In a statement Navis said that<br />
it will “optimise the container<br />
handling operations at APMT’s<br />
new state-of-the-art Virginia terminal<br />
…the Virginia terminal will<br />
set a new benchmark in the container<br />
handling industry, establishing<br />
new performance standards<br />
and methods of operation.”<br />
Navis has experience with automated<br />
stacking <strong>crane</strong>s at ECT in<br />
Rotterdam where it has adapted<br />
SPARCS and other Navis products<br />
for an automated site, including its<br />
yard vehicle optimisation product,<br />
PrimeRoute, for AGVs. At Virginia<br />
APMT will also need extensive<br />
customisation and will “rely on the<br />
Navis team of experts to configure<br />
the Navis standard product suite to<br />
meet the new terminal’s specific<br />
operational challenges.” Rail and<br />
gate requirements are also extensive<br />
as the terminal will have a 24-<br />
lane gate complex, expandable to<br />
32 lanes, and an intermodal yard<br />
with up to 12 tracks.<br />
Navis also reports a significant<br />
milestone for its distribution yard<br />
software - DC Flow. Launched just<br />
over two years ago DC Flow is<br />
now live at over 100 sites worldwide<br />
and Navis has signed contracts<br />
for a further 41. Distribution<br />
centres (DCs) have traditionally<br />
used warehouse/inventory<br />
management software, but Navis<br />
has successfully crossed into the<br />
market by applying its expertise<br />
in container terminal management<br />
to the dock and yard areas<br />
in DCs to improve goods flow.<br />
Navis CEO John Dillion says<br />
DC Flow offers a superior return<br />
on investment because it uses Navis’<br />
optimisation technology whereas<br />
competing products “only provide<br />
simple visibility and automation,<br />
and therefore do not yield equivalent<br />
ROI.” Clients so far include<br />
major <strong>US</strong> retailers such as Wal-<br />
Mart, Kroger Inc and Dot Foods.<br />
for Itajaí<br />
The Brazilian Port of Itajaí has<br />
taken delivery of a mobile container<br />
scanning device <strong>built</strong> by<br />
Chinese manufacturer Nuctech.<br />
Nuctech has successfully exported<br />
scanning devices to a<br />
number of ports and terminals in<br />
different countries (see <strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
<strong>News</strong> February 2005, pp51-52),<br />
but this is believed to be its first<br />
installation in Brazil.<br />
The MT123 LT X-ray unit has<br />
been acquired by the port’s container<br />
terminal operator, Teconvi,<br />
and should speed up clearance of<br />
containers identified by <strong>US</strong> government<br />
agencies as requiring examination.<br />
At present, this can take<br />
anything between 72 and 96 hours<br />
once all procedures have been<br />
completed. With the new technology,<br />
this process will now take only<br />
15 minutes.<br />
The machine has been acquired<br />
as part of the <strong>US</strong> port security programme<br />
drawn up by the Department<br />
of Homeland Security.<br />
Relocatable buildings<br />
The Port of Djibouti<br />
WiikHall 25 x 69 m<br />
The Port of Gothenburg<br />
WiikHall 10 x 600 m<br />
The Port of Oslo<br />
WiikHall 25 x 72 m<br />
Dry Goods Store<br />
WiikHall 20 x 36 m<br />
Bulk Storage<br />
WiikHall 40 x 44 m<br />
Warehouse<br />
WiikHall 40 x 150 m<br />
O.B.Wiik was established in 1912.<br />
WiikHalls have been installed in more than 50 countries.<br />
The steel construction is hot dipped galvanised.<br />
Choose between our 12 standard colours to match existing environment.<br />
Gottwald Port Technology has received<br />
its first order for harbour<br />
mobile <strong>crane</strong>s from Thailand - two<br />
100 tonne HMK 260 Es have been<br />
ordered by the Ngow Hock Group,<br />
for operation by Thai Prosperity<br />
Terminal Co Ltd (TPT) at its private<br />
wharf on the Chao Phraya<br />
River, Bangkok. Customers here<br />
include Regional Container Lines,<br />
which belongs to Ngow Hock.<br />
The TPT quay structure has a<br />
restricted loading capacity and<br />
Gottwald met this challenge by fitting<br />
the chassis with six axles instead<br />
of the usual five. It is also<br />
providing TPT with a customised<br />
service package.<br />
The <strong>crane</strong>s were shipped from<br />
Düsseldorf on 21 July and are<br />
scheduled to be commissioned<br />
this month. They will be able to<br />
handle fully-laden containers in an<br />
operating window of 10-11 container<br />
rows across the vessel, can<br />
be refuelled during operation and<br />
are fitted with Gottwald’s<br />
Visumatic control system.<br />
Elsewhere in the SEA region,<br />
Gottwald recently won two new<br />
CARGO HANDLING NEWS<br />
Gottwald Thais the knot<br />
Durable PVC<br />
coated fabric<br />
covers on<br />
clearspan steel<br />
frames 9-40<br />
metre<br />
O.B.Wiik AS<br />
Industriveien 13<br />
2020 Skedsmokorset<br />
Norway<br />
Tel: +47 64 83 55 00<br />
Fax: +47 64 83 55 01<br />
e-mail: obw@obwiik.no<br />
www.obwiik.no<br />
These two Gottwald HMK 280Es are operating in the Port of Jakarta<br />
customers in Malaysia. Miri Port<br />
Authority ordered an HMK 260E<br />
and Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd, a<br />
wholly-owned subsidiary of Suria<br />
<strong>US</strong>-based Industrial Power Systems<br />
Inc (IPS) has introduced a<br />
new variable speed generator<br />
(VSG) controller designed for use<br />
in the marine terminal industry.<br />
The VSG controller can be<br />
applied to any cargo handling<br />
equipment powered by engine<br />
generator sets, typically RTGs and<br />
the new generation of dieselelectric<br />
straddle carriers, but also<br />
some ship-to-shore <strong>crane</strong>s and<br />
harbour mobile <strong>crane</strong>s.<br />
According to IPS president<br />
Bill Young, the controller is the<br />
“most cost-effective tool available<br />
today to curtail harmful air emissions<br />
produced by port equipment,”<br />
as well as providing significant<br />
fuel savings and a number<br />
of other cost saving benefits.<br />
Terminal operators are under<br />
pressure to reduce emissions from<br />
cargo handling plant. A number<br />
of new initiatives have been developed<br />
including cleaner burning<br />
engines, alternative fuels and<br />
machines designed to operate<br />
within <strong>US</strong> Federal guidelines.<br />
Many waterfront employers have<br />
faced engine change outs on 3-4<br />
year old equipment, says IPS.<br />
“The ultimate goal is to eliminate<br />
the discharge of harmful substances<br />
into the atmosphere but<br />
that will take years,” said Young.<br />
“To date our data indicate that<br />
the VSG controller is a large step<br />
in the right direction.” It is designed<br />
to reduce exhaust emissions<br />
by up to 40 per cent, cut<br />
fuel use by a similar percentage<br />
and reduce engine noise by as<br />
much as 50 per cent.<br />
IPS also claims that the controller<br />
will reduce wear and tear<br />
on the power pack, extend maintenance<br />
intervals and virtually<br />
eliminate “wet stacking,” the phenomenon<br />
that creates carbon<br />
build-up from running at peak<br />
rpms without a load.<br />
The concepts guiding the development<br />
of the new VSG controller<br />
have been around for 25<br />
years but until recently, adds the<br />
company, the “packaging that<br />
would allow it to function efficiently<br />
had not been cost-effective.”<br />
IPS developed the design in<br />
co-operation with Youtility Inc<br />
Capital Holdings Bhd, ordered<br />
two HMK 170Es to boost its container<br />
handling capacity at Kota<br />
Kinabalu Port in Sabah.<br />
New variable speed<br />
generator controller<br />
and began marketing after the<br />
award of full patent protection.<br />
It claims that the response has<br />
been extremely enthusiastic, particularly<br />
from operators on the<br />
<strong>US</strong>WC port range. The primary<br />
targets are RTGs and quayside<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s powered by on-board diesels<br />
and generator sets. Engine<br />
type, governor set-up and fuel are<br />
not an issue, says IPS, as the controller<br />
can be programmed to<br />
function in any application.<br />
The package measures around<br />
24in deep by 30in wide and 48-<br />
60in high and can be mounted<br />
in almost any orientation. The<br />
units are enclosed in a Nema 4<br />
epoxy-painted, marine duty cabinet<br />
and mounted as close to the<br />
generator set as possible. Sizes are<br />
available up to 2 MVA.<br />
The VSG allows the genset to<br />
respond to machine operations<br />
based upon the electrical demand.<br />
It provides a speed control signal<br />
to the governor of the generator<br />
to reduce its speed to a level between<br />
700-1800 rpm depending<br />
on electrical load, from the normal<br />
constant 1800. The generator<br />
governor is not modified.<br />
In fact, the VSG can be taken<br />
off-line with the flip of a switch<br />
to bypass it. All engine and generator<br />
protective control and<br />
power circuits are retained. Most<br />
of the operating functions of shipto-shore<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s and RTGs can be<br />
completed at the 1200 rpm level<br />
or lower. The operator has no<br />
knowledge of any changes in<br />
power supply with the exception<br />
of the fluctuation of the engine<br />
speeds and noise reduction.<br />
VSG allows the engine generator<br />
set to increase speed without<br />
lag to full operation (100 per<br />
cent of capacity conditions) in less<br />
than one second by storing electrical<br />
power in the form of capacitors.<br />
It has a 200 per cent<br />
overload factor <strong>built</strong> in to compensate<br />
for block loading - the<br />
application of a large electric load<br />
very suddenly.<br />
IPS is currently scheduling<br />
EPA testing for product certification<br />
and is arranging government<br />
funding for equipment<br />
owners who install the product.<br />
2<br />
September 2005
CARGO HANDLING NEWS<br />
E-One RTGs for S America...<br />
Kalmar Industries has reported an order<br />
for eight all-electric E-One RTGs from<br />
Sociedad Portuaria Regional de<br />
Cartagena (SPRC) in Colombia and four<br />
to Hutchison’s Buenos Aires Container<br />
Terminal Services SA (BACTSSA) in Argentina.<br />
The units will be delivered in<br />
mid-2006. The orders, say the company,<br />
strengthen its position as the market leader<br />
in RTGs in South America.<br />
The Kalmar E-One RTG was<br />
launched in January this year and, as of<br />
this month, had achieved more sales (>50)<br />
than the previous RTG model during the<br />
whole of 2004.<br />
SPRC’s 8-wheel, 6+1/1 over 6 E-<br />
Ones, slated for delivery in summer-autumn<br />
next year, will be equipped with<br />
Kalmar’s Remote Machine Interface<br />
(RMI), a tool for remote machine monitoring,<br />
maintenance tasking and reporting.<br />
They will also be fitted with Kalmar’s<br />
Smartrail autosteering and container position<br />
verification system.<br />
SPRC, which already operates four<br />
Kalmar RTGs, was the first operator in<br />
the region to acquire Smartrail, in 1997.<br />
BACTSSA’s 8-wheel units, slated for delivery<br />
in mid-2006, stack 6 + 1/1 over<br />
5.1 over 5 high. BACTSSA is also familiar<br />
with Kalmar’s equipment, having taken<br />
delivery of its first two RTGs in 1998.<br />
Five Kalmar RTGs, also fitted with<br />
Smartrail, have just been delivered to<br />
Santos Brasil SA in Brazil. Other deliveries<br />
in the pipeline include three RTGs to<br />
Terminal de Contêineres de Paranaguá<br />
and, in Chile, two E-One RTGs to Terminal<br />
Pacífico Sur Valparaíso SA.<br />
● Kalmar Industries has booked an order<br />
for a post-Panamax <strong>crane</strong> from Bristol<br />
Port Company plc (BPC) for installation<br />
at its Royal Portbury Dock facility. The<br />
45m outreach (17-wide) <strong>crane</strong> has an<br />
SWL of 40 tonnes under spreader (60 tons<br />
under hook), lift height of 36m/15m, rail<br />
span of 20m and backreach of 16m.<br />
The design is similar to the one recently<br />
delivered to ITR Rotterdam, with<br />
single <strong>box</strong> girder boom and semi-rope<br />
trolley. It will feature electronic anti-sway<br />
and Kalmar’s RMI (remote monitoring<br />
interface). Hoist speeds are 60m and 120<br />
m/min and trolley speed is 180 m/min.<br />
Kalmar adds that it will bid for the<br />
deepsea terminal which BPC wants to<br />
build (see <strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> June 2005, p7)<br />
and will offer support for the various alternative<br />
terminal layout and design concepts<br />
through Kalmar Terminal Development<br />
and its simulation products.<br />
● Kalmar has received an order for 24 3-<br />
high “E-Drive” straddle carriers from<br />
Hamburg operators. Fourteen machines<br />
will go to HHLA’s Container Terminal<br />
Burchardkai GmbH and 10 to Eurogate’s<br />
Container Terminal Hamburg GmbH.<br />
The first units will be delivered at the end<br />
of 2005, with completion scheduled for<br />
next spring. The orders are the first for<br />
7th generation electrical winch machines<br />
from both HHLA and Eurogate. All the<br />
machines will be equipped with righthand<br />
side-mounted front cabin, noise isolation<br />
and several driver assisting features.<br />
TMEIC GE Automation Systems has<br />
launched a new generation of DC<br />
drives, called TM-DC, incorporating<br />
technology from each of its parent companies<br />
(GE, Toshiba and Mitsubishi).<br />
AC drives now dominate the <strong>crane</strong><br />
and process industries but there is still<br />
demand for DC drives, particularly from<br />
<strong>US</strong> <strong>crane</strong> users and for retrofit projects<br />
where terminal operators want to retain<br />
existing motors to minimise cost.<br />
The TM-DC drive is available in<br />
outputs from 400W and is available as a<br />
freestanding panel, in a line-up with AC<br />
thru bus, as a core drive, and as a legacy<br />
drive retrofit package. It uses the same<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
New generation DC drive<br />
Tool<strong>box</strong> software as all the TM drive<br />
products and can be paired with TM<br />
GE AC drives in a hybrid solution.<br />
TM-DC connects with legacy GE<br />
products on ISBus and shares common<br />
electronic cards with the TM-10 AC<br />
drive and the medium voltage Dura-<br />
Bilt drive. Other LAN interfaces are<br />
available<br />
TMGE’s most recent <strong>crane</strong> project<br />
is for P&O Ports Canada where it is<br />
installing AC drives on existing quay<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s and new ZPMC <strong>crane</strong>s and<br />
RTGs for Centerm. The drives are all<br />
full AC systems with TMD-10 drives,<br />
and the GE Fanuc 90-30 PLC.<br />
...Kalmar<br />
for Muuga<br />
Estonia’s Muuga Container Terminal<br />
(MCCT) in the Port of Tallinn has ordered<br />
two E-One all-electric RTGs and<br />
two 1 over 1 Shuttle Carriers from<br />
Kalmar. Once in operation in April 2006,<br />
the shuttle carriers and 6 +1/4-high E-<br />
Ones, both of which will be fitted with<br />
Bromma Marthon all-electric spreaders,<br />
will form the backbone of the handling<br />
system at MCT’s new container terminal<br />
extension, to be <strong>built</strong> on a 5 hectare expansion<br />
site this winter.<br />
Shuttle carriers were selected because<br />
their ability to operate independently of<br />
the RTGs should lead to a more efficient<br />
work cycle. As well as being self-buffering,<br />
the shuttle carriers require less manoeuvring<br />
space than tractor/trailer sets.<br />
The order list also includes one<br />
ContChamp DRF reach stacker, which<br />
will complement the Kalmar fleet of reach<br />
stackers and terminal tractors already in<br />
operation. The existing terminal will continue<br />
working with reach stackers.<br />
Lack of space and the need for high<br />
productivity were the main reasons behind<br />
the decision to combine RTGs and shuttle<br />
carriers. “We are convinced that, as our<br />
volumes grow, we can further develop this<br />
new operating concept to ensure high levels<br />
of productivity for the future,” said MCT<br />
chairman Sergei Artjomov.<br />
Because of the shape of MCT, the<br />
driving distance from the quay to the<br />
stacks can be up to one kilometre. As such,<br />
terminal tractors with multi-trailer sets<br />
will continue to handle transport between<br />
the quay and stacks.<br />
MCT is thus not only the first Baltic<br />
terminal to combine shuttle carriers and<br />
RTGs, it is also believed to be the first<br />
operator anywhere in the world to combine<br />
shuttle carriers with tractor/trailers,<br />
rather than acquire the former in order<br />
to replace the latter.<br />
But Artjomov adds, “If our plans to<br />
develop the terminal further proceed as<br />
planned, the facility will expand on reclaimed<br />
land in front of the quay. This<br />
will shorten the distance between the<br />
quay and the stacks and will enable us to<br />
introduce shuttle carriers there as well.”<br />
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September 2005 3
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Teufelberger adds<br />
new hoist rope<br />
Austria-based rope maker<br />
Teufelberger has introduced a new<br />
hoist rope, TK 16 Evolution, to its<br />
Perfekt range of heavy duty <strong>crane</strong><br />
ropes. According to the company,<br />
observation of market and technological<br />
developments has<br />
showed that wire rope products<br />
are facing new requirements and<br />
challenges and the new product<br />
is its response.<br />
A new rope structure combined<br />
with Teufelberger’s Superfill<br />
compacting technology are<br />
claimed to provide the highest<br />
4<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
The new ropes are said to be wellsuited<br />
to multi-level winding<br />
breaking forces worldwide for any<br />
strand-compacted rope design.<br />
Torsional behaviour characteristics<br />
are also said to be excellent facilitating<br />
easy and safe handling of<br />
unguided loads.<br />
The new design is capable of<br />
absorbing high dynamic forces<br />
and its elasticity makes it suitable<br />
for multi-layer winding. It is<br />
availabe from Teufelberger from<br />
October this year.<br />
news<br />
VOLUME 12 NUMBER 9 • ISSN 1355-0551<br />
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E-Mail: cmunford@worldcargonews.com<br />
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PUBLISHED BY WCN PUBLISHING<br />
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Entire contents © WCN Publishing 2005<br />
TSB bags<br />
Mombasa<br />
Software solutions provider Total<br />
Soft Bank (TSB) of South Korea<br />
has won a contract from the Kenya<br />
Ports Authority (KPA) to install IT<br />
systems for the port of Mombasa’s<br />
vessel traffic, terminal management<br />
and planning software project.The<br />
contract value is put at <strong>US</strong>$3.2 mill.<br />
TSB will deliver an integrated<br />
IT system at Mombasa and two<br />
inland container depots in Nairobi<br />
and Kisumu. TSB software will<br />
manage all the port’s operational<br />
areas with CATOS, TSB’s core TOS<br />
for container terminals, installed at<br />
thirteen berths and CCIMS (Conventional<br />
Cargo Integrated Management<br />
System) installed at seven<br />
general cargo berths.<br />
Harbour management, vessel<br />
navigation and berthing will be<br />
controlled by Marine, a new product.<br />
TSB’s inland terminal product<br />
(ODCY - off dock container yard)<br />
will be installed at the depots in<br />
Nairobi and Kisumu and will be<br />
linked to CATOS.<br />
This is the most varied list of<br />
applications that TSB has implemented<br />
at a single customer site and<br />
the company said the combination<br />
“will achieve the optimal process<br />
for a multi-purpose terminal by<br />
integrating container terminal operation,<br />
conventional cargo operation,<br />
marine operation and enterprise<br />
resource planning systems.” A<br />
similar set-up is underway in Oman<br />
with Port Service Corp.<br />
TSB won the Mombasa contract<br />
ahead of eight other software<br />
vendors and is expected to complete<br />
installation by early 2007. “We<br />
are delighted that KPA has chosen<br />
to implement TSB CATOS, TSB<br />
CCIMS, TSB Marine and TSB<br />
ODCY in phase one,” said TSB<br />
chairman J S Choi.<br />
Private Hamburg terminal operator<br />
Wallmann & Co GmbH,<br />
whose regular callers include<br />
Rickmers Pearl String service, has<br />
taken delivery of a 140 ton LHM<br />
500 harbour mobile <strong>crane</strong> from<br />
Liebherr-Werk Nenzing, the biggest<br />
harbour mobile <strong>crane</strong> in<br />
Liebherr’s range. The investment<br />
is understood to be in the range<br />
of E3 mill.<br />
The <strong>crane</strong> has a capacity (under<br />
hook) of 140 tons up to 20m<br />
outreach and 42 tons-51m and is<br />
being supplied with an automatic<br />
container spreader. Up to now<br />
Wallmann has been able to make<br />
lifts of up to 80 tons using two 45<br />
ton <strong>crane</strong>s in tandem. Wallmann<br />
has also acquired three heavy duty<br />
Mafi trailers with an SWL of 150<br />
tons.<br />
Meanwhile, a Liebherr LHM<br />
320 harbour mobile <strong>crane</strong> is the<br />
main item in a new investent<br />
package by the UK Port of Tyne<br />
worth over £1.75 mill. Due for<br />
delivery in the next few weeks, the<br />
100 ton <strong>crane</strong> (the port’s third<br />
such unit) is being supplied with<br />
a 23 m3 grab to maximise its bulk<br />
handling capability on the port’s<br />
deep water river berth, Riverside<br />
Quay. The other items being acquired<br />
by the port are two Mustang<br />
Skid Steers for bulk cargo<br />
work and two more Terberg<br />
RT222 ro-ro tractors.<br />
CARGO HANDLING NEWS<br />
LHM 500 for Wallmann<br />
ESC in security deal<br />
Marine Terminals Corp (MTC)’s<br />
IT subsidiary Embarcadero Systems<br />
Corp (ESC) has installed an ITbased<br />
security platform at terminals<br />
operated by MTC joint venture<br />
companies in Los Angeles and<br />
Long Beach - Total Terminals International<br />
(TTI) in Long Beach<br />
(MTC/Hanjin) and Seaside Transportation<br />
Services (STS) in Los Angeles<br />
(MTS/Evergreen).<br />
ESC markets itself as a systems<br />
integrator and has now launched<br />
its “Secure Trade Solutions Practice”<br />
- an advisory practice set up<br />
to ensure that effective security<br />
programmes for ports and port<br />
facility operators do not have a<br />
negative impact on their operational<br />
efficiency.<br />
For its clients in LA/Long<br />
Beach ESC coordinated the grant<br />
funding process and obtained<br />
Transportation Security Administration<br />
funding “in excess of double<br />
that of their industry peers” says<br />
ESC. The terminals installed systems<br />
for perimeter monitoring, intrusion<br />
detection and access control,<br />
all tied to a central command/<br />
control/communications station<br />
powered by a security data management<br />
system (SDMS).<br />
ESC director of secure trade Ed<br />
Schriger describes the SDMS as a<br />
“policy management platform<br />
to analyse data, video and input<br />
from all of the monitoring devices<br />
on the terminal (cameras, sensors,<br />
access control readers, etc) that automates<br />
alerts and notifications to<br />
on-site security personnel as well<br />
as remote security staff.”<br />
CCTV cameras monitored<br />
from a control room are commonplace<br />
but the SDMS does much<br />
of the monitoring automatically<br />
using what Schriger describes as<br />
“advanced data and video analytics<br />
to detect anomalous behaviour on<br />
the facility.” Once detected cameras<br />
can zoom in on suspicious<br />
activity and alert security personnel<br />
automatically.<br />
Data input from the monitoring<br />
devices can also be used to automate<br />
security workflow and improve<br />
security system performance.<br />
Access verification technologies<br />
including biometric sensors, optical<br />
character recognition, bar codes,<br />
RFID and the prototype transport<br />
worker ID card can all be integrated<br />
with management systems. Schriger<br />
says while its customers are not<br />
currently making the most of integration<br />
opportunities, ESC sees a<br />
trend to a more integrated “cross<br />
functional” approach where management,<br />
HR, administration and<br />
security systems are linked. “Ultimately,<br />
the SDMS will be the engine<br />
that can allow automated<br />
interoperability and communications<br />
with law enforcement and<br />
first responder agencies in the event<br />
of an emergency” he said.<br />
September 2005
CARGO HANDLING NEWS<br />
PIV introduces Posiplan reducers<br />
PIV Drives has introduced a new range<br />
of “ultra-compact” shaft-mounted gear<br />
reducers for industrial applications, including<br />
port <strong>crane</strong>s, crushers, belt conveyors,<br />
bucket conveyors, screw conveyors,<br />
etc, designated the Posiplan series.<br />
These gear<strong>box</strong>es, which are protected<br />
by a specific patent, feature a combination<br />
of planetary and helical/bevel helical<br />
gears to take advantage of the strengths<br />
of each technology: compact size, reliability<br />
and easy maintenance.<br />
The new series of lighter, more compact<br />
reducers surpasses traditional solutions<br />
for planetary and bevel helical gear<br />
reducers and ensure shorter production<br />
times and lower production costs, says PIV.<br />
The design is based upon precise analyses<br />
using finite element techniques and<br />
3D modelling, thus ensuring that performance,<br />
in terms of duration and silence,<br />
was optimised at the “virtual prototype”<br />
stage.<br />
Advanced engineering techniques,<br />
long experience and the use of high quality<br />
parts from PIV Drives and its Italian<br />
co-operation partner Brevini Riduttori<br />
“have led to the creation of a product that<br />
ensures high performance over time, a fact<br />
that has been confirmed by tests that<br />
simulate real operating conditions,” says a<br />
company statement.<br />
The main characteristics of the new<br />
Posiplan series are:<br />
● 10 harmonically developed sizes, from<br />
3000 to 27,000 Nm of nominal torque,<br />
five in the planetary helical version and 5<br />
in the bevel planetary helical version. The<br />
range will be expanded to include eight<br />
more sizes for output torques of up to<br />
67,000 Nm.<br />
● In the planetary helical version, up to<br />
four reduction stages and transmission<br />
ratios up to i = 2000; in the bevel planetary<br />
helical version, up to four reduction<br />
stages and transmission ratios up to i<br />
= 1100.<br />
● Special seals (labyrinth seals or double<br />
seals with separate grease-filled chamber)<br />
that protect against lubricant leakage and<br />
contamination.<br />
● Output hollow shafts: cylindrical with<br />
feather keyhole, cylindrical hollow shaft<br />
for shrink disc, and splined shaft.<br />
● Input versions with adaptors for IEC,<br />
NEMA and hydraulic motors, flexible and<br />
fluid couplings, clutches and torque<br />
limiters, and belt couplings.<br />
● Accessories such as torque arms, shrink<br />
discs, backstops and brakes, oil filtering<br />
and cooling systems.<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
ZPMC books Wilmington<br />
The Port of Wilmington, NC, is to purchase<br />
four post-Panamax (18-wide) container<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s from ZPMC, under a contract<br />
approved by the NC State Ports<br />
Authority Board of Directors. The contract<br />
is valued at <strong>US</strong>$33.2 mill and the<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s are slated for delivery in early 2007.<br />
The <strong>crane</strong>s will have an outreach of<br />
164ft (50m), a rail span of 100ft and lift<br />
heights above and below rail of 120ft<br />
(36.6m) and 45ft respectively. According<br />
to the port, some specifications and<br />
names of electrical and other key components<br />
suppliers are still being finalised<br />
(mid-September) so no more detailed<br />
information is yet available.<br />
The contract represents the single<br />
largest ever equipment expenditure by<br />
the NCSPA. The port already has four<br />
50ft gauge container <strong>crane</strong>s and the new<br />
ones will double capacity. Earlier this<br />
year nine reach stackers were ordered<br />
from SMV Kone<strong>crane</strong>s (see <strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
<strong>News</strong>, May 2004, p4) and berth improvements<br />
and RTG purchases are in<br />
the pipeline. “Our goal is to bring two<br />
additional container lines to Wilmington<br />
within the next 12 to 18 months,” said<br />
CEO Tom Eagar.<br />
A <strong>US</strong>$9 mill appropriation from the<br />
NC General Assembly has enabled the<br />
NCSPA to jump-start its expansion plans.<br />
Receivers<br />
in at Paolo<br />
de Nicola<br />
Italy-based <strong>crane</strong> maker Paolo de Nicola<br />
SpA has gone into receivership. The company<br />
seems to have been caught up in the<br />
problems of its parent group, FLT builder<br />
Lugli Carelli Elevatori, which declared<br />
bankruptcy in June and is now in liquidation,<br />
with some 140 workers upaid since<br />
December 2004.<br />
The receiver for Paolo de Nicola has<br />
applied for court protection and is offering<br />
unsecured creditors 30¢ in the euro in<br />
order to maintain production at the<br />
Citadella (Padova) plant .<br />
Management at Paolo de Nicola has<br />
already changed and it has passed into the<br />
control of a group called Audaces, made<br />
up mainly of entrepreneurs in the Veneto<br />
region. About 60 per cent of the work force<br />
has been laid off and there is concern that<br />
too many valuable technical and commercial<br />
personnel have been lost.<br />
For more than 60 years Paolo de Nicola<br />
has been a major name in bridge and viaduct<br />
construction projectes around the<br />
globe, with important commissions in Taiwan,<br />
Korea, China and the <strong>US</strong>A.<br />
In 1999, on the death of its founder,<br />
the company was bought by Stradivari<br />
Holding in Cremona (Mastagni brothers).<br />
At the end of 2002 this holding also acquired<br />
the Fratelli Orlandi Livorno naval<br />
shipyard.<br />
However, FLT builder Lugli was looking<br />
to build a new pole for container handling<br />
competence in Italy to rival Fantuzzi<br />
group and CVS Ferrari. It targeted Belotti<br />
(which ended up mostly owned by CVS)<br />
as well as Paolo de Nicola, which already<br />
had experience with large RTGs for cement<br />
and other industries. It had also <strong>built</strong><br />
special straddle carriers for container handling<br />
for French customers and had moved<br />
into construction of <strong>crane</strong>s for ports and<br />
shipyards - eg Livorno naval shipyard, Port<br />
of Livorno, La Spezia Arsenal, De Poli<br />
(Chioggia), Morini (Ancona). Subsequently<br />
two straddle carriers went to a Dragados<br />
operation in France and two RMGs were<br />
supplied for Renfe’s new intermodal terminal<br />
in Bilbao. Turnover grew to €45 mill<br />
in 2003.<br />
Last year Paolo de Nicola was appointed<br />
exclusive licensee for Italy of Portainer and<br />
Transtainer <strong>crane</strong>s by Paceco Corp, with<br />
other areas on a case-by-case basis.<br />
It is understood that a Letter of Intent<br />
was signed earlier this year to supply PAT<br />
Thailand with two Paceco Portainers for<br />
the Port of Bangkok. The status of this deal<br />
or the position of Paolo de Nicola as a<br />
Paceco licensee is unknown at this juncture.<br />
Paceco Corp declined to comment.<br />
Our cable systems carry power and communications around the world. From today we have a new name:<br />
Pirelli Cables & Systems is now Prysmian Cables & Systems. Same innovation, same technology, same performance.<br />
www.prysmian.com<br />
September 2005 5
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
AdBlue in Europe Santos selects Visy<br />
Industrial Sensors<br />
AdBlue, a generic name for the urea:water<br />
agent mix for reducing diesel engine<br />
emissions using SCR technology, is to be<br />
made more widely available in Europe by<br />
a Finnish producer, Kemira GrowHow<br />
Oyj, which has reached an agreement<br />
with a European chemical distribution<br />
group Penta. Kemira’s product is known<br />
as Greenox AdBlue.<br />
As previously reported, AdBlue is<br />
stored in its own tank in the vehicle. It<br />
converts and reduces NOx and PM to<br />
nitrogen and water, which are then emitted<br />
from the vehicle exhaust. Most European<br />
vehicle manufacturers have selected<br />
SCR (selective catalytic reduction) technology<br />
to meet the new Euro IV emission<br />
standard for on-road trucks.<br />
AdBlue is sprayed into the catalyst,<br />
while expelling exhaust fumes from the<br />
engine. Looking further down the line,<br />
off-road mobile diesel engine plant limits<br />
are due to converge with road limits<br />
(NRMM UE 3B/<strong>US</strong>-EPA 4).<br />
Local distribution channels of Penta<br />
are: Stockmeier Chemie, Möller Chemie<br />
and A&E Fischer Chemie (Germany),<br />
Quaron-Group (Benelux and France),<br />
Tennants Distribution Ltd (UK and Ireland),<br />
and Quimidroga SA (Spain and<br />
Portugal). The product was launched in<br />
Finland earlier this year.<br />
Industrial Safety Systems<br />
We’ll bring your<br />
containers into position.<br />
Finland-based Visy Oy has been selected<br />
by Santos Container Terminal to provide<br />
its Visy Gate automated access control<br />
solution based on its LPR (licence plate<br />
recognition) and CCR (container character<br />
recognition) systems. The operator<br />
aims to enhance terminal security and<br />
productivity and customer service, as well<br />
as reduce operating costs.<br />
“Our deployment of Visy’s LPR and<br />
CCR solutions is an important step in<br />
automating our gates with state-of-theart<br />
technology that is easy to use and costeffective,”<br />
said Ricardo Abbruzzini Filho,<br />
IT manager at the terminal. “<br />
Our laser measurement technology keeps an eye on the action! Whether for<br />
positioning, volume measurement or collision prevention tasks: intelligent<br />
sensor solutions from SICK help you avoid unnecessary inefficiencies during<br />
container handling – and thus ensure significant competitive advantage in<br />
inter national showdowns. More first-class perspectives at:<br />
www.sick.com<br />
Santos Container Terminal processes<br />
around 1.4 mill in/out gate moves per<br />
year. The company will begin utilising<br />
the automatic LPR and CCR systems<br />
in the fourth quarter of this year.<br />
This is Visy’s first OCR deployment<br />
in Brazil. “We look forward to demonstrating<br />
Visy’s ability to deliver cost-effective<br />
solutions that are flexible and scalable<br />
enough to meet the needs of terminals<br />
of all sizes, from the small and midsized<br />
terminals to mega facilities,” remarked<br />
Michel Demeyer, the company’s<br />
international business development manager.<br />
Auto Ident<br />
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CARGO HANDLING/PORT NEWS<br />
M, R & H Freiburg<br />
New trailers<br />
for Patrick<br />
Australian stevedore Patrick has overhauled<br />
its port services road fleet with the<br />
delivery of 101 Freighter skeletal trailers,<br />
manufactured by MaxiTRANS at its<br />
Ballarat, Victoria, factory.<br />
The single equipment order, featuring<br />
a mix of lead, tag, drop deck, and retractable<br />
trailers, has been rolled out from<br />
July for delivery to terminals in Brisbane,<br />
Sydney/Port Botany and Melbourne.<br />
The skeletals will be used over short<br />
haul <strong>box</strong> routes between on-dock terminals<br />
and local warehouses, freight forwarding<br />
depots and container parks and replace<br />
a large proportion of Patrick’s current<br />
rented fleet. The order included three<br />
Super B-Doubles that operate under special<br />
permits, allowing haulage of up to<br />
two 40ft or four 20ft containers over short<br />
distances in port precincts and on specified<br />
public roadways, and seven B-Double<br />
units specially designed to carry two<br />
25 tonne containers per load.<br />
Patrick says this is the first time the<br />
company has sought to source units of<br />
different operating requirements from a<br />
single supplier. MaxiTRANS was able to<br />
build and deliver the order within a relatively<br />
short timeframe, and also provided<br />
acceptable warranties and local service, repair<br />
and parts support..<br />
Low profiles<br />
for Barca<br />
The tender covering the concession for<br />
the new container terminal at the Port of<br />
Barcelona is being handled very quickly.<br />
The award for the Prat Quay site is scheduled<br />
to be made during the first three<br />
months of 2006,to allow operations to<br />
begin on time in January 2008.<br />
The urgency largely reflects the congestion<br />
being faced at the existing terminals,<br />
operated by TCB and Tercat, which<br />
has slowed down the rate of growth in<br />
container traffic.<br />
So far 14 companies have expressed<br />
an interest in the project. The port authority<br />
(APB) has made it known it would<br />
like to see a major global operator in the<br />
port, although the likely bids from Tercat<br />
or TCB are expected to be strong.<br />
The bid winners(s) will undoubtedly<br />
want to install superpost-Panamax <strong>crane</strong>s,<br />
but they are required to be low profile,<br />
shuttle boom types as the new terminal<br />
is directly beneath the flight path of the<br />
adjacent El Prat International Airport and<br />
this will add considerably to their cost. A<br />
related concern is electrical interference<br />
between the <strong>crane</strong>s and over-flying aircraft,<br />
something which APB has been<br />
studying with the national airports authority<br />
(AENA).<br />
APB posted a net profit of €29.1 mill<br />
in the first half of this year, up 48 per<br />
cent compared with the same period last<br />
year. Its operating revenues increased 10<br />
per cent to €64 mill, while an “austerity<br />
package” cut costs by five per cent to<br />
€35.3 mill.<br />
● Dragados SPL’s Terminales del Sudeste<br />
(TdS) in Málaga reports that its new<br />
superpost-Panamax (22-wide) Portainer<br />
from Paceco España has arrived in pieces<br />
and will be ready by next March, when<br />
the first extension of the berth to reach<br />
520m with a depth of 16m alongside will<br />
be completed. Installed annual capacity<br />
will then be 400,000 containers and it<br />
should reach 560,000 containers<br />
(850,000 TEU) in July 2007 under the<br />
agreed development plan. To date TdS<br />
has invested €75 mill of the €110 mill<br />
required under the terms of its concession<br />
from the port authority.<br />
● A group of self-employed truck drivers<br />
in Bilbao is trying to put an end to<br />
the monopoly on container road haulage<br />
currently enjoyed by the Sintrabi<br />
consortium at the Port of Bilbao. The<br />
Cecotrans-Biz cooperative intends to<br />
form a commercial organisation specifically<br />
to compete for traffic in the port if<br />
the go-ahead is given to allow competition<br />
within the port.<br />
6<br />
September 2005
PORT NEWS<br />
MSC to hub at Beirut<br />
In what the Lebanon Daily Star says is<br />
the first deal of its kind in the country,<br />
MSC is to use the Port of Beirut as a<br />
regional transhipment hub, feeding traffic<br />
from the Far East for Turkey, Syria,<br />
Egypt and other East Med destinations,<br />
instead of using Marsaxxlok or Piraeus<br />
for this purpose and cutting days off the<br />
overall transport time - as much as 20<br />
days (from 35 to 15), MSC’s regional<br />
manager MSC Kheirallah al-Zein is<br />
quoted.<br />
“It is the first time that an international<br />
shipping company has chosen Beirut<br />
as a hub port,” said Elie Zakhour,<br />
president of the International Chamber<br />
of Navigation in Beirut. “This will definitely<br />
increase the revenues of the port,<br />
create opportunities for employment and<br />
boost the Lebanese economy as a whole.”<br />
The port handled 390,000 containers<br />
last year, but the new agreement is<br />
expected to increase this year’s figure to<br />
450,000 containers, which Zakhour says<br />
is close to installed capacitty.<br />
As previously reported, the container<br />
terminal is now run by Beirut Container<br />
Terminal Consortium, made up of <strong>US</strong>based<br />
International Maritime Associates,<br />
Mersey Docks & Harbour Company<br />
from the UK and International Port<br />
Management Beirut SAL.<br />
BCTC recently “went live” with the<br />
SPARCS operating system from Navis.<br />
The fourth gantry <strong>crane</strong> from ZPMC is<br />
slated for delivery this December and a<br />
fifth has now been ordered for delivery<br />
in October 2006. But the extra volume<br />
presented by MSC surely still poses a capacity<br />
problem.<br />
Zakhour has called on the Lebanese<br />
government to extend the 600m wharf<br />
to 1900m, in order to be able to increase<br />
annual capacity to 1,250,000 containers.<br />
“The government should start acting<br />
now as the expansion of capacity needs<br />
two to three years to complete.”<br />
He also claimed that “many other<br />
companies have approached us for transhipment,<br />
but we had to decline as we<br />
lack the required capacity.” Ships in the<br />
6-7000 TEU range cost <strong>US</strong>$90,000/day<br />
to operate and operators are looking to<br />
avoid delays caused by strong traffic<br />
growth in the main Mediterranean transhipment<br />
ports.<br />
Traffic actually slowed down considerably<br />
in Beirut after 14 February this<br />
year when a former Prime Minister,<br />
Rafik Hariri, was assassinated.<br />
Singapore’s PSA International has offered<br />
to buy the 10 per cent stake that conglomerate<br />
China Resources Enterprise<br />
(CRE) owns in Hongkong International<br />
Terminals (HIT), informed sources said.<br />
The stake has been valued at HK$1.6<br />
bill (<strong>US</strong>$205 mill) by Deutsche Bank<br />
analysts. Officials at CRE and PSA declined<br />
to comment.<br />
State-owned PSA already owns 20<br />
per cent of HIT and 10 per cent of<br />
COSCO-HIT, which it bought earlier<br />
this year for <strong>US</strong>$925 mill from<br />
Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH)’s<br />
parent company, Hutchison Whampoa<br />
(see <strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> June 2005, p1).<br />
HIT, the largest operator at Hong<br />
Kong’s Kwai Chung container port, operates<br />
12 berths and accounted for more than<br />
half the port’s 13.4 mill TEU throughput<br />
last year.<br />
If successful, the purchase would be<br />
PSA’s third acquisition in Hong Kong this<br />
year. In February, it bought a 33.34 per cent<br />
share in the one-berth Container Terminal<br />
3 and an effective 54 per cent interest<br />
in Asia Container Terminals (ACT), which<br />
owns two berths at CT8-West.<br />
Singapore has felt competitive pressure<br />
from the new Port of Tanjung Pelepas in<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
PSA seeks to raise HIT stake<br />
neighboring Malaysia, which has lured<br />
two of PSA’s largest customers - Maersk<br />
Sealand and Evergreen Marine. PSA<br />
hopes to regain lost business by increasing<br />
its presence in China and capturing<br />
some of the country’s booming external<br />
trade shipments.<br />
The company is currently engaged<br />
in talks to partly finance the expansion<br />
of Qingdao port, China’s third largest<br />
container port, and is also among more<br />
than 20 terminal operators bidding for a<br />
stake in the second phase of Shanghai’s<br />
new deepwater container port at<br />
Yangshan islands.<br />
Liverpool<br />
in control<br />
The safety and security of shipping moving<br />
in and out of the River Mersey and<br />
its approaches is to be enhanced by a<br />
major upgrade and extension of the Vessel<br />
Traffic Service (VTS) control system<br />
at the UK Port of Liverpool.<br />
The Mersey Docks and Harbour<br />
Company has signed a new contract with<br />
system suppliers NORCONTROL IT<br />
Ltd of Bristol – the third deal since the<br />
firm first provided a VTS control system<br />
in 1986.<br />
Installation of the latest equipment,<br />
which will include a new main port radar<br />
system in Liverpool, an upgrade of<br />
the complementary radar system at Point<br />
Lynas, Anglesey, and an additional radar<br />
sensor for better coverage of the Eastham<br />
and Garston Channels, will start in November.<br />
The system is expected to become<br />
operational in January next year.<br />
Renewal of the hardware and software<br />
for the VTS system will introduce<br />
an vessel Automatic Identification System<br />
providing a comprehensive range of<br />
information onscreen about each ship as<br />
soon as it enters the area of the Irish Sea<br />
covered from the Mersey.<br />
“This substantial further investment<br />
will enhance safety, efficiency and security<br />
of all shipping in the Mersey area,”<br />
said Mersey harbour master, Captain<br />
Steve Gallimore. “The new system will<br />
give Port Control, which provides information<br />
to all shipping in the sector,<br />
with much clearer and uncluttered onscreen<br />
images, allowing the operators to<br />
respond and interact more effectively. It<br />
also gives Mersey Docks a leading edge<br />
system which can accommodate any future<br />
advancements in technology or<br />
changes in user requirements.”<br />
NORCONTROL, which won the<br />
contract in the face of international competition,<br />
will provide a full technical<br />
maintenance response to the demands of<br />
a sophisticated system designed to maintain<br />
effective cover even when key elements<br />
are out of action.<br />
RUN TO WIN<br />
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They run longer, since on Bromma all-electric spreaders service<br />
intervals are lengthened, and service time shortened. They run<br />
smarter, since optional Bromma SCS 2 technology ensures higher MMBF<br />
due to faster diagnostics, shortened downtime, and fewer change-outs.<br />
They run cleaner since, by virtually eliminating hydraulics, BROMMA<br />
Marathon spreaders reduce oil leaks and cut spreader energy costs by<br />
up to 90%. For busy terminals, they let you run faster due to<br />
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September 2005 7
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Bananas back in Rotterdam<br />
After a gap of more than 20 years, banana<br />
traffic has returned to Rotterdam in the<br />
shape of a new weekly service by Dutch<br />
reefership operator Seatrade. Some 1200<br />
tonnes of palletised bananas and pineapples,<br />
from Kingston and Port Antonio in<br />
Jamica and Puerto Mimon in Colombia,<br />
were unloaded from the first vessel to call,<br />
CAPE PALMAS, by Seabrex at Rotterdam<br />
Fruitport in the Merwehaven. The stevedore<br />
could handle a total of 100,000<br />
tonnes in the first year.<br />
The traffic has come from Belgian<br />
New Fruit Wharf (BNFW) in Zeebrugge<br />
- it was BNFW Antwerp which won the<br />
banana business from Rotterdam in the<br />
8<br />
<br />
Roll trailers with safety hooks<br />
Other equipment:<br />
first place. Seatrade, whose main European<br />
commercial office is in Antwerp, says<br />
it met no resistance from the fruit importers<br />
when it decided to switch to Rotterdam<br />
from Zeebrugge. Most of the bananas<br />
are destined for Italy, Switzerland<br />
and Poland and the pineapples are for the<br />
Benelux area.<br />
The Caribbean service is a combined<br />
one of Seatrade and Jamaica Producers<br />
and is operated by Seatrade using five of<br />
its own vessels. In the past the ships unloaded<br />
in Portsmouth and Zeebrugge and<br />
then headed to Rotterdam solely on behalf<br />
of EWL (Europa West Indies Lines)<br />
in Rotterdam, in order to book cargo for<br />
Goosenecks, up to 45 tonnes<br />
Skeletal trailers with container guides, up to 60 tonnes<br />
Multi-trailer systems, up to 60 tonnes <br />
Skeletal trailer with Rockerbeams, up to 70 tonnes<br />
Cornerless "bumpcar" with "Rockerbeams" <br />
Cassettes for self-loading lifting trailers<br />
<br />
Self-loading lifting trailers with cassettes,<br />
up to 120 tonnes<br />
<br />
Roll trailer with fixed gooseneck<br />
the return leg to Curaçao, Aruba, Jamaica<br />
and Costa Rica.<br />
Hence dropping Zeebrugge for Rotterdam<br />
is a cost-saving move. In Rotterdam,<br />
the ships have to move only from<br />
the Merwehaven (Lekhaven) to the<br />
Gevelco terminal in the Waalhaven to pick<br />
up cargo. The fruit is stored at the Ebrex<br />
Bulk Terminal, as renamed by Seabrex<br />
after the take over of the Kloosterboer<br />
terminal, where there are separate compartments<br />
to store different fruits at the<br />
correct temperature.<br />
● The refrigerated storage facilities in the<br />
Russian Baltic port of Kaliningrad have<br />
attracted the interest of Ecuadorian banana<br />
shippers. The Baltic States and Poland<br />
have toughened the operating requirements<br />
at their seaports since joining<br />
the EU and Latin American exporters are<br />
looking at alternatives to traditional delivery<br />
patterns.<br />
Kaliningrad can currently unload one<br />
ship per week and store around 10,000<br />
tonnes of bananas per month in one of<br />
its two cold stores. Capacity will increase<br />
soon, however, as a third cold store with<br />
a total area of 3780 m 2 is due to start up<br />
in mid-October.<br />
The high tariff rates of Lithuanian<br />
Railways for transit cargo to the Russian<br />
market via the Kaliningrad enclave make<br />
the bananas more expensive then those<br />
handled at St. Petersburg. However, the<br />
low export price has still helped make<br />
Kaliningrad an attractive alternative.<br />
Used equipment available!! Ask for details.<br />
PORT NEWS<br />
New joint<br />
venture in<br />
Ningbo<br />
Ningbo Port Group (NPG) has set up a<br />
joint venture with Cosco Pacific, Orient<br />
Overseas Container Line (OOCL) and<br />
SDIC Communications to develop a fiveberth<br />
terminal at China’s fourth largest<br />
container port.<br />
The company, in which NPG has 50<br />
per cent stake, Cosco Pacific and OOCL<br />
20 per cent each and SDIC 10 per cent,<br />
will start by developing Berth 7 at Phase<br />
4 of Beilun Container Terminal at a cost<br />
of <strong>US</strong>$140 mill. It will be OOCL’s first<br />
investment in a Chinese port.<br />
The 310m berth, with a depth alongside<br />
of 15m and back up area of 150,000<br />
m 2 , will have annual handling capacity of<br />
500,000 TEU. Basic construction work is<br />
to be completed by the end of this year.<br />
The other four berths will be <strong>built</strong> at<br />
the adjoining Phase 5 of Beilun Container<br />
Terminal, approval for which is awaited<br />
from the central government. The investment<br />
in the four berths, with quay length<br />
of 1300m and annual handling capacity<br />
of 2 mill TEU, is under negotiation.<br />
Ningbo handled a record 4 mill TEU<br />
last year, up 44 per cent, and throughput<br />
grew 28 per cent to 2.31 mill TEU in the<br />
first half of this year. Throughput is expected<br />
to increase to 8 mill TEU/year by<br />
2010 and analysts say existing facilities and<br />
ongoing projects will easily satisfy future<br />
demand. Nine berths are being <strong>built</strong> at<br />
Phases 3 and 4, which will boost capacity<br />
by 4.5 mill TEU, while China Merchant<br />
Holdings International’s four-berth<br />
project under Phase 5 will add another 2<br />
mill TEU of capacity.<br />
A joint venture of Taiwan’s Evergreen<br />
Marine is building a two-berth terminal<br />
at a cost of <strong>US</strong>$250 mill with an annual<br />
capacity of 1 mill TEU, while ajoint venture<br />
of NPG and Hutchison Port Holdings<br />
is converting a one-berth coal terminal<br />
into a container facility at Phase 2<br />
next to Hutchison’s three-berth Ningbo<br />
Beilun International Container Terminals.<br />
Mediterranean Shipping Company is<br />
building a two-berth facility in a joint<br />
venture with NPG, which is expected to<br />
come on stream this year.<br />
Box scanner<br />
for Batangas<br />
The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is<br />
going ahead with plans to purchase the<br />
country’s first container scanner for the<br />
recently completed Phase II of Batangas<br />
port ,110 km south of Manila.<br />
The main point under study is<br />
whether to go for the gamma-ray or an<br />
X-ray type (mobile or fixed). It looks like<br />
the group will recommend the latter as it<br />
has a penetration depth of 400mm maximum<br />
versus only 136 mm in the case of<br />
gamma-ray machines.<br />
A PPA official says an X-ray scanner is<br />
likely to cost <strong>US</strong>$5.35 mill, but the amount<br />
can be covered by the balance from the<br />
¥14.6 bill (<strong>US</strong>$131.7 mill) loan secured by<br />
the Philippines government from the Japan<br />
Bank for International Cooperation<br />
to finance the construction of Phase II.<br />
No public bidding will be conducted<br />
as the ports agency will only be issuing a<br />
variation order as part of the Phase II<br />
project completed in July by Shimizu and<br />
its local partner. The PPA will probably<br />
take the same route for its plan to acquire<br />
a vessel traffic management system for<br />
Batangas following the recent installation<br />
of a VTMS at Manila.<br />
ICTSI had previously announced that<br />
it would acquire at least four container<br />
scanners for its Manila International Container<br />
Terminal, but nothing more has been<br />
heard about the plan. The only scanners<br />
installed thus far at the port are three small<br />
passenger luggage scanners purchased by<br />
Asian Terminals, Inc for its South Harbor<br />
domestic passenger/cargo terminal.<br />
September 2005
PORT NEWS<br />
APM Terminals for Dunkirk<br />
The Dunkirk Port Authority (PAD) has<br />
selected APM Terminals (APMT) to take<br />
over the management of the NFTI-ou<br />
container terminal. APMT was one of<br />
four companies reported to have responded<br />
to PAD’s tender for the<br />
underutilised deepwater facility in the<br />
western harbour, the others being DPI,<br />
CMA-CGM and Australia’s IIM (see<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> July 2005, p4).<br />
APMT parent company AP Møller-<br />
Maersk is already involved in Dunkirk<br />
through ro-ro operator Norfolkline,<br />
Maersk Logistics and DailyFresh Logistics,<br />
while Maersk Sealand’s AE7 and TA3<br />
strings call at NFTI-ou.<br />
As previously reported, PAD has been<br />
searching for a new partner at the terminal<br />
since 2003, when IFB reduced its stake<br />
by half in order to restructure its operations<br />
in Belgium. At the time NFTI-ou<br />
was set up in 2001, IFB owned 60 per<br />
cent and PAD 40 per cent of the shares,<br />
but reluctantly PAD had to increase its<br />
stake to 70 per cent.<br />
It is not yet clear what stake APMT<br />
will take in NFTI-ou, but clearly PAD<br />
wants to resume as a minority partner. It<br />
says that the agreement with APMT leaves<br />
open the possibility of other new shareholders<br />
at NFTI-ou.<br />
The terminal is expected to handle<br />
around 220,000 TEU this year, compared<br />
to 200,000 TEU in 2004. One of the<br />
objectives of the agreement with APMT<br />
Itapoá deal<br />
Hamburg-Süd’s Brazilian subsidiary,<br />
Aliança Navegação e Logística Ltda, and<br />
Grupo Battistella have announced their<br />
participation in the building of a new<br />
container terminal in Porto de Itapoá in<br />
Brazil’s Santa Catarina province. Aliança<br />
and Battistella will invest 44 per cent of<br />
the <strong>US</strong>$100 mill required to build the<br />
facility, with the remaining 56 per cent<br />
supplied by the Inter-American Development<br />
Bank .<br />
Tecon Santa Catarina (TSC), will be<br />
constructed in the Bay of Babitonga near<br />
the port of São Francisco do Sul. Container<br />
traffic in the Santa Caterina region<br />
has been growing recently by 15<br />
per cent/year.<br />
The 3-berth TSC is expected to become<br />
operational by early 2007 and, with<br />
depth of 16m alongside, will reportedly<br />
be able to handle vessels with a capacity<br />
of up to 9000 TEU.<br />
In its first phase TSC will have installed<br />
capacity to handle 300,000 containers/<br />
year. Currently around 700,000 containers/year<br />
are handled in São Francisco do<br />
Sul, Itajaí and Imbituba.<br />
Six companies have submitted request for<br />
qualification (RFQ) documents to build<br />
and operate a second container terminal<br />
at Tuticorin port in south India.<br />
PSA International. of Singapore in<br />
association with South India Corporation<br />
Agencies Ltd. (SICAL), its Indian joint<br />
venture partner, would appear to have an<br />
edge over other likely bidders as they already<br />
operate the existing container terminal<br />
at Tuticorin.<br />
The other bidders are Chettinad Logistics<br />
Pvt Ltd., Afcons Infrastructure in<br />
conjunction with United Liner Agencies,<br />
ABG Heavy Industries, Larsen & Toubro<br />
Ltd and Oceanic Transport of the UK.<br />
The Indian government’s policy is not<br />
to allow a terminal operator to bid for a<br />
second container terminal at a port where<br />
it is already running the first terminal.<br />
However, PSA-SICAL’s concession agreement<br />
for the first terminal says it will be<br />
allowed to bid for a second container terminal<br />
at the port if the port authorities<br />
decide to convert Berth 8 into a container<br />
terminal (see <strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> June 2005,<br />
p10) and it is that berth that the Tuticorin<br />
Port Trust (TPT) is offering for the second<br />
terminal.<br />
TPT believes a second container ter-<br />
PAD is hoping that throughput at NFTI-ou will increase to 500,000 TEU/year by 2010<br />
is to increase throughput to at least 0.5<br />
mill TEU/year by 2010.<br />
Priorities for investment include three<br />
more post-Panamax gantry <strong>crane</strong>s, to station<br />
along the deep water Quai de Flandres<br />
extension and realise some of NFTI-ou’s<br />
massive potential. Apart from its<br />
infrastructural advantages (plenty of land,<br />
easy ship access, deep berths, etc), NFTIou<br />
is still unique in the context of French<br />
maritime container terminals in that it<br />
employs all its own <strong>crane</strong> drivers, stevedores,<br />
technical and administraion staff<br />
(hence “ou” standing for organisme unifié).<br />
Six in for Tuticorin<br />
PSA-SICAL, operator of the existing Tuticorin<br />
Container Terminal, is the favourite to win<br />
the bid for the port’s second terminal<br />
minal is required at the port because the<br />
first terminal may not be able to handle<br />
the growing traffic. The existing terminal<br />
has a quay length of 340m, which limits<br />
the number of vessels it can receive. In<br />
the year to last March, it handled 307,000<br />
TEU registering a growth of 21 per cent<br />
over the previous year.<br />
Converting Berth 8 into a container<br />
terminal is expected to cost Rs1.5 bill<br />
(<strong>US</strong>$34.5 mill). Scheduled to be operational<br />
by the end of 2006, it will have a<br />
draft of 10.7m and a capacity to handle<br />
450,000 TEU/year.<br />
The new concessionaires in Le Havre<br />
(Port 2000) and Marseille (Fos 2XL) have<br />
been trying to achieve a similar set-up, so<br />
that their expensive new <strong>crane</strong>s are not<br />
dependent on port authority drivers and<br />
maintenance regimes.<br />
Although the AP Møller-Maersk group<br />
obviously has opportunities for synergies<br />
in lo-lo, ro-ro and inland operations in<br />
Dunkirk, it is not clear how NFTI-ou fits<br />
into the bigger picture as the group has<br />
already taken over operation of the former<br />
Flanders Container Terminal in Zeebrugge,<br />
just 30-40 km along the coast.<br />
Massvlatke 2 tenders<br />
The Port of Rotterdam Authority (HBR)<br />
has started to invite tenders for the design<br />
and construction of Maasvlakte 2, its<br />
new port site of (eventually) 2000 hectares<br />
to be created alongside the current<br />
Maasvlakte. To optimise the logistics of<br />
this huge construction project and encourage<br />
the most bidders, HBR will combine<br />
a large number of operations into<br />
one contract.<br />
The tendering process is expected to<br />
take up to two years and the identity of<br />
the bid winner(s) must be known by summer<br />
2007 along with those of the first<br />
operators at the new facililities.<br />
The Dutch government’s “studies” are<br />
continuing. It has already agreed to contribute<br />
€50 mill to preliminary work and,<br />
once the project gets the definite goahead,<br />
will put in another €450 mill in<br />
exchange for a one third stake. The<br />
Dutch Parliament, for its part, is still investigating<br />
whether the HBR is a “reliable<br />
partner.”<br />
The contract which HBR wants to<br />
award is of the design and build type. Key<br />
elements include a 3000m long hard seawall,<br />
the removal of the 800m long existing<br />
hard seawall (where the ships will later<br />
sail from Maasvlakte 1 to Maasvlakte 2<br />
via the extended Yangtzehaven), construction<br />
of 8000m of soft seawall (artificial<br />
sand dunes), spraying on of 275 mill m 3<br />
of sand (enough for the 700 hectares of<br />
new terminals to be created in the first<br />
phase) and dredging the harbour basin and<br />
access channel via the Yangtzehaven.<br />
As indicated, HBR wants to organise<br />
first phase construction contracts and terminal<br />
lease contracts more or less coterminously,<br />
as a “launch customer” is a<br />
precondition of construction actually proceeding.<br />
In June, HBR reported that 15 companies<br />
- virtually all of the major international<br />
container terminal operators and<br />
container shipping lines - had expressed<br />
interest in operating a terminal there.<br />
Of course, they include lines which<br />
are currently customers of ECT. To guard<br />
against future traffic losses, ECT is prepared<br />
to offer exclusive berths and minority<br />
shareholdings in any new concessions<br />
it wins at Maasvlatke 2.<br />
Fatality in<br />
Tacoma<br />
ILWU stevedore Kimberly Miles was<br />
killed at the Port of Tacoma’s Pierce<br />
County container terminal on August 13<br />
when she was struck by a container falling<br />
from a vessel while walking along<br />
the dock.<br />
Local media have published conflicting<br />
reports on the cause of the accident<br />
with some saying that a “<strong>crane</strong> malfunction”<br />
knocked a container off a deck stow<br />
and others suggesting the <strong>crane</strong> driver<br />
had unintentionally hoisted two containers<br />
coupled vertically, the bottom one of<br />
which knocked another container off the<br />
vessel as the trolley was travelling to shore.<br />
Pierce County terminal is leased to<br />
Evergreen (which owns the <strong>crane</strong>s at this<br />
particular terminal) and is operated for<br />
the carrier by Marine Terminals Corp.<br />
The Washington Department of Labor<br />
and Industries is conducting an investigation<br />
into the accident and its report<br />
has not been made public. However,<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> understands that reports<br />
of a technical <strong>crane</strong> malfunction are incorrect.<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
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September 2005 9
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Mumbai dredging demand<br />
Port operators and developers<br />
who have been shortlisted to develop<br />
and operate an offshore container<br />
terminal at Mumbai Port<br />
have come up with an unusual<br />
demand: they want penalties to be<br />
imposed on Mumbai Port Trust<br />
(MbPT) if it fails to meet its commitment<br />
to dredge the channels.<br />
As reported in the July 2005<br />
issue of <strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> (p5), 11<br />
companies have been shortlisted<br />
for the project and they are expected<br />
to send in their financial<br />
and technical proposals before the<br />
end of next month. The shortlisted<br />
bidders include overseas operators<br />
like P&O Ports, Dubai Ports International,<br />
APM Terminals, Evergreen<br />
Marine and Mitsui OSK<br />
Line of Japan. Indian companies<br />
in the race are Larsen & Toubro,<br />
Adani Ports, United Liner Agency,<br />
Gammon India and ABG Heavy<br />
Industries.<br />
MbPT has told the potential<br />
bidders that they will have to pay a<br />
penalty of Rs 2.5 mill (<strong>US</strong>$57,000)<br />
Malaysia’s Port of Tanjung Pelepas<br />
(PTP) has dismissed rumours that<br />
Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine Corp,<br />
its second largest customer, may<br />
move back to Singapore to get<br />
better service.<br />
“As a multi-user terminal we<br />
are committed to providing the<br />
same high standards of service to<br />
all our customers,” a PTP spokesman<br />
said. “The size of one customer<br />
does not impact on any of our other<br />
customers.”<br />
Some industry watchers have<br />
Potential bidders for the Mumbai offshore terminal want dredging guarantees<br />
per day if they fail to complete the<br />
construction of the terminal within<br />
the agreed time frame.<br />
The bidders have little choice<br />
but to accept the penalty clause,<br />
but they have now demanded that<br />
the concession agreement should<br />
include a clause that MbPT will<br />
be liable to pay damages amounting<br />
to Rs11.97 bill (<strong>US</strong>$272 mill)<br />
if it fails to dredge the channel to<br />
alluded to Evergreen’s departure<br />
because of the clout that Maersk<br />
Sealand has at PTP with its parent<br />
AP Møller-Maersk’s 30 per cent<br />
equity stake in the facility.<br />
Maersk Sealand moved its transhipment<br />
business from Singapore<br />
to PTP because it could not get<br />
dedicated berths at the terminals<br />
operated by state-run PSA Corp.<br />
While officials at Evergreen’s<br />
headquarters in Taipei declined to<br />
comment, a Hong Kong-based<br />
shipping executive dismissed the<br />
PTP scotches Evergreen rumours<br />
13m from 10.6m at present at Victoria<br />
and Princess Docks.<br />
The port trust has already said<br />
it will be responsible for the<br />
dredging work, but has not so far<br />
accepted the penalty clause proposed<br />
by the bidders,.<br />
The port has been under pressure<br />
to offer additional incentives<br />
because the winning bidder(s)will<br />
be competing against two established<br />
container terminals at the<br />
nearby Jawaharlal Nehru Port. No<br />
financial proposals were submitted<br />
in the first round of bidding<br />
last December, but this time the<br />
MbPT has offered its existing container<br />
terminal at Ballard Pier to<br />
the successful bidder for the offshore<br />
terminal.<br />
The offshore terminal, which<br />
is expected to cost Rs10 bill<br />
(<strong>US</strong>$227.5 mill), will be <strong>built</strong> in<br />
two phases, the first seeing the development<br />
of two berths capable<br />
of handling 800,000 TEU/year<br />
and the second phase involving<br />
the construction of a third berth<br />
to push capacity up to 1.2 mill<br />
TEU/year. The successful bidder<br />
for the first phase will also have<br />
the first right of refusal to build<br />
and operate the third berth.<br />
● MbPT, which is planning to<br />
modernise and mechanise operations<br />
at its bulk terminals to fight<br />
off strong competition from other<br />
ports in India, has invited global<br />
tenders for the development of a<br />
dry bulk terminal at Indira Dock.<br />
The terminal is being offfered for<br />
a period of 30 years on a buildoperate-transfer<br />
(BOT) basis.<br />
speculation outright. “It looks like<br />
PSA is spreading these rumours after<br />
getting the service termination<br />
notice from P&O Nedlloyd,” he<br />
said. P&O Nedlloyd, a major PSA<br />
customer, has been taken over by<br />
AP Møller and is being merged<br />
with Maersk Sealand.<br />
“I don’t think AP Møller, as a<br />
stakeholder in PTP, will be stupid<br />
enough to force a large customer<br />
out to get better service for<br />
Maersk,” he said. “In any case, there<br />
is enough capacity at PTP to accommodate<br />
another 2 mill TEU of<br />
business annually.”<br />
Following the merger news,<br />
PTP, which handled over 4 mill<br />
TEU last year, announced that it<br />
will build two more berths, increasing<br />
their number to 10 and annual<br />
handling capacity to 8 mill TEU.<br />
On comments by some shippers<br />
that PTP is facing capacity<br />
constraints, the spokesman said that<br />
because of high efficiency and productivity<br />
levels, the port’s berth utilisation<br />
rate is currently less than<br />
55 per cent “There is no congestion<br />
and there are no capacity constraints<br />
at PTP,” he said.<br />
Shareholders in Shanghai Port<br />
Container (SPC), the listed subsidiary<br />
of Shanghai International<br />
Port Group (SIPG), have approved<br />
a plan to dispose of the government’s<br />
holdings in the company.<br />
Holders representing 98.42 per<br />
cent of the company’s tradable<br />
shares voted in favour of the share<br />
sale plan, SPC said.<br />
SPC, 75 per cent owned by<br />
SIPG, is one of the 46 companies<br />
the government has selected to<br />
take part in a pilot programme to<br />
trim its stockholdings in domestically-listed<br />
companies, which are<br />
held in the form of non-tradeable<br />
shares and make up two thirds of<br />
the market capitalisation.<br />
Small investors in SPC will<br />
receive 2.2 shares from major<br />
PORT NEWS<br />
Green light for<br />
SPC stock sale<br />
shareholders for every 10 shares<br />
they hold and receive Yuan10<br />
(<strong>US</strong>$1.24) in cash for every 10<br />
shares held.<br />
Non-tradeable shares include<br />
stock held by municipal, provincial<br />
and the central government,<br />
and so-called “legal person” shares<br />
held mostly by state-owned companies.<br />
Through these holdings,<br />
the government controls most of<br />
the 1380 companies that have<br />
gone public by selling shares to<br />
private investors.<br />
The government wants to<br />
convert non-tradeable shares into<br />
common stock that can be traded<br />
on the stock exchanges to replenish<br />
the country’s pensions plans<br />
and improve corporate governance.<br />
Healthy Felixstowe<br />
The UK Port of Felixstowe has<br />
signed a landmark agreement with<br />
Suffolk Coastal District Council’s<br />
Port Health Authority, the local<br />
agency responsible for the inspection<br />
of food products coming<br />
through the port, which sets out<br />
a clear set of objectives and working<br />
practices for the timely and<br />
efficient inspection of containers<br />
at Felixstowe.<br />
A Joint Management Team<br />
(JMT), comprised of department<br />
heads from the Port of Felixstowe<br />
and the Port Health Authority, has<br />
been established and will evaluate<br />
day-to-day performance and discuss<br />
any matters arising at monthly<br />
meetings. A Steering Committee,<br />
made up of senior representatives<br />
from both parties, has also been<br />
set up, meeting quarterly to resolve<br />
issues raised by the JMT and to<br />
undertake a full annual review of<br />
the agreement.<br />
“This agreement is the culmination<br />
of extensive discussions that<br />
we have had with the Port Health<br />
Authority over the past 12 months<br />
on ways to reinforce and improve<br />
the existing spirit of co-operation<br />
and joint working,” said Duncan<br />
Morgan, director of operations at<br />
the Port of Felixstowe.<br />
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PORT NEWS<br />
Auckland cuts the glare<br />
In many parts of the world ports<br />
and terminal operators are under<br />
pressure to cut “light pollution”<br />
and save energy in the process and,<br />
indeed, in some areas this is a major<br />
priority ranking alongside<br />
noise, air quality and other environmental<br />
nuisances.<br />
Philips has completed the largest<br />
outdoor installation of its<br />
OptiVision Floodlighting lighting<br />
system to date at Ports of Auckland<br />
Ltd (POAL) in New Zealand.<br />
After an energy efficiency audit<br />
identified lighting as an area where<br />
the port could cut energy use,<br />
Philips’ lighting engineers recommended<br />
redesigning the port’s<br />
lighting system and replacing 1300<br />
older style floodlights with 670<br />
new OptiVision asymmetrical<br />
floodlights. These use the same<br />
1000W metal halide lamps but<br />
focus light much more effectively,<br />
producing 10 times less light spill<br />
outside the port area.<br />
OptiVision features asymmetric<br />
optics designed to achieve peak<br />
intensity at 600 and a sharp back<br />
light cut off of light at 800. Philips<br />
NZ’s national sales supervisor Brian<br />
Brandford explains that in the<br />
POAL environment both horizontal<br />
and vertical illuminance has<br />
to be considered as truck drivers<br />
and ground workers are looking<br />
ahead while straddle <strong>crane</strong> drivers<br />
are predominantly looking<br />
down. Tests in an operational area<br />
showed that OptiVision could<br />
provide better light with fewer<br />
lamps - lux measures increased<br />
from 25 to 60 lux average.<br />
Although “spill” outside the<br />
port operational area has been reduced,<br />
the main complaint about<br />
Auckland’s existing lighting was<br />
Nightscape of POAL’s Axis Fergusson container terminal before (above) and<br />
after the Philips OptiVision installations. Note the marked reduction in<br />
“scattering” above the light poles<br />
glare, both from vantage points<br />
looking over the port out towards<br />
the water and from the north side<br />
of the harbour looking towards<br />
the CBD behind the port.<br />
Reduction in glare is much<br />
more difficult to measure but the<br />
accompanying images show a visible<br />
improvement and Auckland<br />
City’s CBD projects team has<br />
endorsed the upgrade, noting that<br />
nightscapes are now much clearer<br />
from main vantage points. The<br />
port itself says the reduction in<br />
glare has made berthing at night<br />
easier for pilots and tug operators.<br />
Philips was able to reuse existing<br />
control gear, cabling and other<br />
infrastructure and reduce the<br />
number of lighting towers. The<br />
project cost NZ$900,000 and<br />
POAL expects to recoup this<br />
within three years through a 15<br />
per cent reduction in power consumption.<br />
The energy audit also<br />
identified that power usage could<br />
be cut by a further five per cent<br />
by installing power factor correction<br />
equipment in the two main<br />
substations at the port.<br />
New landlords take office<br />
Nigeria has taken another step in<br />
its port reform programme with the<br />
formation of the Lagos Ports and<br />
Harbours Authority (LPHA) and<br />
Niger Delta Ports and Harbours<br />
Authority (NDPHA), which have<br />
been set up in time to hand over<br />
port control to the successful bidders<br />
in the concession process.<br />
The two authorities will be<br />
regional regulators, acting as port<br />
landlords and overseeing the work<br />
of the concessionaires to be appointed<br />
to manage the various<br />
ports and terminals within their<br />
jurisdictions. The LPHA and<br />
NDPHA, which are staffed by<br />
former Nigerian Ports Authority<br />
(NPA) employees, are to finalise<br />
the details of the contracts to be<br />
offered to private sector bidders.<br />
The creation of the two authorities<br />
is part of the overall<br />
shake-up of the country’s port<br />
regulatory structure. The NPA will<br />
PSA-HNN and a consortium of<br />
K-Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin<br />
(KYH) are forming a joint venture<br />
company, Antwerp International<br />
Terminal NV, to operate multiple<br />
berths at PSA-HNN Deurganckdok<br />
Terminal in Antwerp with effect<br />
from next January.<br />
The lines are long-standing<br />
customers of PSA round the world<br />
and the joint venture is an important<br />
step, says PSA-HNN,in further<br />
strengthening their partnership.<br />
Antwerp will become the<br />
European hub for KYH to handle<br />
its rapidly expanding Far East-<br />
Europe trade.<br />
continue to act as the national<br />
regulator and the federal government’s<br />
watchdog for the entire<br />
sector, as the government seems<br />
to have reversed its original recommendation<br />
that a separate<br />
regulator should be set up.<br />
The new authorities cover the<br />
two most important shipping areas<br />
in the country. The Lagos ports<br />
of Apapa, Lagos and Tin Can Island<br />
handle 70-75 per cent of all<br />
Nigerian trade, while the<br />
NDPHA will act as landlord for<br />
the Port Harcourt ports that serve<br />
the country’s large and growing<br />
oil and gas sector.<br />
● A scheme has been proposed to<br />
open up the Port of Ikot Abasi,<br />
which currently only serves the<br />
aluminium industry, to the wider<br />
business community (cf flour milling).<br />
Ikot Abasi lies at the mouth<br />
of the River Imo in the eastern<br />
Niger River Delta. It is the only<br />
PSA-HNN inks new<br />
deal in Antwerp<br />
PSA-HNN plans to invest<br />
more than €500 mill in the next<br />
five years to double its terminal<br />
capacity to more than 10 mill<br />
TEU/year at all its riverside terminals<br />
in Antwerp - Europa and<br />
Noordzee on the right bank as<br />
well as Deurganck Terminal on the<br />
left bank.<br />
“This KYH-PSA joint venture<br />
cements PSA’s long time business<br />
relationship with KYH, and signifies<br />
the beginning of a new partnership<br />
to meet the changing<br />
needs of KYH and its customers,”<br />
said Pierre Timmermans, CEO of<br />
PSA Europe.<br />
port in Akwa Ibom state, although<br />
the state contains three export<br />
processing zones, and has served<br />
the Aluminium Smelter Company<br />
of Nigeria (ALSCON) since it was<br />
completed in 1997.<br />
Also in the Delta area, the federal<br />
government is seeking to restart<br />
construction work on the<br />
Port of Onitsha. Work on the half<strong>built</strong><br />
facilities was suspended in<br />
1983 following the change of government<br />
but a site survey has revealed<br />
that the original works can<br />
be retained.<br />
Luanda set to expand<br />
The Angolan government hopes<br />
that a fourth terminal can be developed<br />
at the port of Luanda to<br />
cater for the needs of the growing<br />
oil and gas sector as part of<br />
the modernisation of the entire<br />
port. Much of the country’s infrastructure<br />
is in a dilapidated<br />
state after over a quarter of a century<br />
of civil war, but it is believed<br />
that a combination of donor support<br />
and Angola’s growing hydrocarbon<br />
revenues can fund the rehabilitation<br />
of rail and port infrastructure.<br />
The government and the<br />
World Bank have carried out a<br />
study to identify the best strategy<br />
for modernising Luanda’s existing<br />
facilities, improving port efficiency<br />
and building the new terminal.<br />
Large scale spending on <strong>crane</strong>s and<br />
other machinery should comprise<br />
a large proportion of the new investment.<br />
The minister of transport,<br />
Andre Luís Brandão, says that<br />
the investment is required to at<br />
least bring Luanda up to the standards<br />
of Africa’s other main ports.<br />
APM Terminals is now one<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
year into the 20 year contract it<br />
won to operate Luanda’s container<br />
terminal. Under the terms of the<br />
deal, the company must invest<br />
<strong>US</strong>$55 mill by 2009 in increasing<br />
the terminal’s capacity from<br />
200,000 TEU to 300,000 TEU a<br />
year. After improving the quay<br />
area, the company is expected to<br />
invest in new cargo handling<br />
equipment, including one mobile<br />
harbour <strong>crane</strong> and two gantry<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s. However, APM has spent<br />
much of the first year of its concession<br />
removing wrecked vessels<br />
from the harbour and dredging<br />
both the harbour and the approach<br />
channels.<br />
September 2005 13
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
14<br />
Ghana row still rumbling on<br />
GASCO (the Ghana Association<br />
of Stevedoring Companies) is<br />
appealing to a parliamentary<br />
transport committee to open an<br />
investigation into the award of the<br />
concession to operate container<br />
terminals at Tema and Takoradi<br />
to the Ghana Ports Service Consortium<br />
(GPS) last year.<br />
The consortium consisted of<br />
APM Terminals (APMT),<br />
Bathgate Management Ltd,<br />
Beckett Rankine Partnership,<br />
Bouygues Travaux Publics, Mersey<br />
Docks and Harbour Company,<br />
Bolloré Group and the Suttons<br />
Group, but the Ghanaian press<br />
claims that only APMT and<br />
Bolloré remain.<br />
GASCO is aggrieved that the<br />
Ghana Ports & Harbours Authority<br />
did not include incumbent local<br />
stevedores in the deal and claims<br />
the concession process was not a<br />
properly advertised and conducted<br />
international tender. Furthermore,<br />
it claims the concession is a bad deal<br />
for Ghana that has effectively<br />
handed 70 per cent of container<br />
revenues, worth over <strong>US</strong>$32 mill<br />
last year, to foreign companies.<br />
GASCO says this is not justified<br />
by investment as GPS is putting<br />
up less than half the capital costs<br />
of Phases I and II at Tema.<br />
GASCO is also concerned<br />
about APMT’s more recent concession<br />
to operate the container<br />
terminal at Apapa in Lagos, Nigeria,<br />
where it says APMT is<br />
pumping ten times more money<br />
into a competing port.<br />
With forest products remaining the<br />
lynchpin of Lübeck’s ferry traffic,<br />
Lübecker Hafen Gesellschaft<br />
(LHG), the main port operator at<br />
the city ports of Lübeck and<br />
Lübeck-Travemünde is continuing<br />
to expand capacity at the Skandinavienkai<br />
in Travemünde and at<br />
the Schlutup Terminal in Lübeck.<br />
During this year and next some €84<br />
mill will be invested in what is already<br />
one of Europe’s largest ferry<br />
terminals. “The extension became<br />
necessary to meet the growing demands<br />
of our customers and in order<br />
to retain our position as a leading<br />
German Baltic port in the future,”<br />
said Manfred Evers, LHG’s<br />
managing director.<br />
Towards the south the 50 hectare<br />
marshalling area at Travemünde<br />
will be extended by 13.3<br />
hectares and a second section of<br />
15.7 hectares will be prepared so<br />
that it can be brought into use<br />
quickly when required. The railway<br />
line between Lübeck and<br />
Travemünde has already been relocated<br />
and renewed and the road<br />
link will be similarly upgraded.<br />
To accommodate the next<br />
generation of larger ferries, the roro<br />
berths are being re<strong>built</strong> and<br />
enlarged. A new double deck ramp<br />
is being installed at Berth No 6<br />
and vessels up to 220m can be<br />
PORT NEWS<br />
Lübeck still expanding<br />
LHG is continuing to invest heavily in Travemünde (above) and Schlutup<br />
accommodated there. This is slated<br />
to be ready by November, when<br />
Finnlines’ new ferries with 216m<br />
LOA 4200 lane/metres and capacity<br />
for 500 passengers are due<br />
to commence calls.<br />
Work on a completely new roro<br />
berth, No. 5A, is due to commence<br />
this month and it will be<br />
similarly equipped with a double<br />
deck ramp. Able to accommodate<br />
ships up to 250m and due for completion<br />
by May 2006, the facility<br />
Patrick rail boost<br />
Patrick Corp has opened a new<br />
A$10 mill rail terminal to serve its<br />
principal East Swanson Dock facility<br />
in Melbourne. The four-year<br />
project, undertaken jointly with the<br />
Port of Melbourne Corporation<br />
(PoMC), involved the establishment<br />
of separate rail spurs where<br />
previously a single line served both<br />
Patrick and the nearby Australian<br />
Bulk Alliance grain terminal.<br />
The upgrade involved the laying<br />
of 1700m of new commonuser<br />
track, signalling and sidings at<br />
Appleton Dock, behind East<br />
Swanson. The A$5.95 mill cost of<br />
the work has been met by the<br />
PoMC. Patrick has developed two<br />
660m rail sidings, associated<br />
hardstand and an office building for<br />
the facility, which is expected to<br />
handle 120,000 TEU in its first year.<br />
The company is preparing to<br />
spend a further A$7.8 mill on additional<br />
infrastructure, including<br />
warehousing and support facilities<br />
will bring to nine the number of<br />
ro-ro berths at Travemünde.<br />
In Lübeck, meanwhile, a new<br />
forest products shed is being erected<br />
at the Schlutup terminal, from<br />
where Swedish forest products are<br />
distributed throughout Europe.<br />
Shed capacity currently comes to<br />
65,000 m 2 and around 1.2 mill<br />
tonnes/year of traffic - unitised forest<br />
products (cassettes, roll trailers),<br />
trailers, HGVs and containers - are<br />
moved over its two ro-ro pontoons.<br />
on land leased from the PoMC.<br />
The improvements will also cut<br />
train dwell times at the busy<br />
Footscray Road arterial crossing.<br />
Due to a state government-driven<br />
shift of port container traffic from<br />
road to rail, movements at the crossing<br />
are expected to rise from 12/<br />
day now to 38/day by 2010, ahead<br />
of a grade-separation solution.<br />
Patrick’s director of ports,<br />
Maurice James, said the investment<br />
would cater for rail volume<br />
traffic for at least the next decade<br />
and provide an efficient link for<br />
empty container movement to<br />
regional rail terminals.<br />
Green light for Gangavaram<br />
The long-planned Gangavaram<br />
port in south India’s Andhra<br />
Pradesh state has finally achieved<br />
financial closure. A consortium of<br />
banks, led by the State Bank of<br />
India and the Industrial Development<br />
Bank of India, has signed an<br />
agreement with D V Raju &<br />
Company and Dubai Ports International<br />
(DPI) to advance Rs12<br />
bill (<strong>US</strong>$273 mill) towards the cost<br />
of construction. The two companies,<br />
which will jointly develop<br />
and operate the port, will put in<br />
Rs5 bill (<strong>US</strong>$113.7 mill) as their<br />
contribution towards the equity.<br />
D V Raju and DPI will each<br />
have a 42.5 per cent equity stake<br />
in the port, which is expected to<br />
become operational by December<br />
2007, while the State Bank will<br />
pick up the remaining 15 per cent.<br />
The planned port has faced<br />
A new common user berth -<br />
NoTwo Berth - completed at a<br />
cost of A$10 mill, has officially<br />
opened for business at Port<br />
Hedland in Western Australia.<br />
Total trade across the existing<br />
Nos One and Three berths has<br />
grown by more than 50 per cent<br />
in the last two years, causing the<br />
Port Hedland Port Authority<br />
(PHPA) to advance plans for additional<br />
capacity.<br />
The No Two Berth site was<br />
originally home to the port’s timber<br />
jetty but has been vacant for<br />
many years since the demolition<br />
of the old timber structure. Constructed<br />
as a southwards extension<br />
of the modern, concrete-decked<br />
No One Berth, the new facility<br />
features a berth length of 131m<br />
and when combined with NoOne<br />
Berth, offers a total straight quay<br />
many problems since it was first<br />
floated several years ago. The most<br />
recent hurdle in starting construction<br />
was agitation by fishermen in<br />
the area, who feared they would<br />
lose their livelihood. The problem<br />
was resolved when an agreement<br />
was signed by fishermen, state revenue<br />
officials and D V Raju (see<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> August 2005, p6).<br />
Gangavaram will mainly be a<br />
dry bulk port with six berths to<br />
handle coal, iron ore and other dry<br />
bulk minerals. It will be capable<br />
of handling vessels of up to<br />
200,000 dwt.<br />
Hedland moves ahead<br />
length of 344m, sufficient to accommodate<br />
two Handysize vessels<br />
or a Panamax together with a<br />
smaller vessel.<br />
Port Hedland’s position as Australia’s<br />
largest port based on total<br />
tonnage throughput was confirmed<br />
recently as the port posted<br />
a record trade of 108.5 mill tonnes<br />
for the 2004-05 year. This result<br />
makes Port Hedland the first port<br />
in Australia to have broken<br />
through the 100 mill tonnes barrier<br />
in a trading year.<br />
The new berth will allow the<br />
concurrent handling of products<br />
such as bulk minerals at the NoOne<br />
Berth shiploader and livestock loading<br />
or acid discharge at the NoTwo<br />
Berth. It will allow the PHPA to<br />
accommodate a predicted growth<br />
in trade volume of around 30 per<br />
cent over the next few years.<br />
September 2005
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<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Dachan Bay gets underway<br />
Construction work has started on<br />
the land facilities of Phase I of the<br />
new Dachan Bay Container Terminals<br />
in Western Shenzhen.<br />
With a strategic location allowing<br />
convenient land and waterway<br />
access to both the eastern<br />
and western sides of the Pearl<br />
River Delta (PRD), Dachan Bay<br />
Container Terminals will be developed<br />
in four phases over the<br />
next few years.<br />
Phase I, which involves an investment<br />
of approximately HK$7.1<br />
bill (<strong>US</strong>$915 mill), will have a designed<br />
annual capacity of 2.5 mill<br />
TEU. Covering a total area of 112<br />
hectares, its five berths will have a<br />
combined quay length of 1830m<br />
with an initial depth alongside of<br />
15.5m, which will subsequently be<br />
deepened to 18m, enabling it to<br />
handle the largest existing and<br />
planned container vessels.<br />
Majority shareholder in the<br />
new facility with a 65 per cent stake<br />
is Modern Terminals Ltd (MTL) of<br />
Hong Kong, which will be responsible<br />
for the management of<br />
India’s western state of Maharashtra<br />
has drawn up ambitious<br />
plans to develop its minor ports.<br />
Maharashtra has 48 of the<br />
country’s 185 notified minor<br />
ports. Most are underdeveloped,<br />
although they handle around 10<br />
per cent of all cargo handled by<br />
minor ports.<br />
The Maharashtra Maritime<br />
Board (MMB), which has been<br />
mandated to develop the minor<br />
ports, says these facilities have vast<br />
potential because they can cater to<br />
a hinterland that stretches hundreds<br />
of kilometres as far as Punjab and<br />
Dachan Bay. Shenzhen municipal<br />
government-linked companies<br />
own the remaining 35 per cent.<br />
The first two berths of Phase<br />
1 are expected to be operational<br />
by the end of 2007, with completion<br />
by the end of 2008. The terminal<br />
has been designed by the<br />
China Communication Planning<br />
and Design Institute of Water<br />
Minor issues in India<br />
The first phase of Dachan Bay will have an annual capacity of 2.5 mill TEU<br />
Uttar Pradesh states in the north.<br />
The hinterland close to the<br />
ports and within Maharashtra produces<br />
export cargo like iron ore,<br />
coal, bauxite and grain. The two<br />
major ports in the state are<br />
Mumbai and Jawaharlal Nehru.<br />
MMB has drawn up plans to<br />
develop the minor ports on buildoperate-own-share-transfer<br />
(BOOST) basis. The ports will be<br />
offered to developers for a period<br />
of 50 years. The MMB or the state<br />
government will also be willing to<br />
buy up to 11 per cent of the equity<br />
in companies developing the ports.<br />
Transportation, under the supervision<br />
of the Third Harbour Engineering<br />
Investigation and Design<br />
Institute.<br />
MTL, the second largest operator<br />
at Hong Kong’s Kwai<br />
Chung container port, is seeking<br />
a HK$5 bill (<strong>US</strong>$641 mill) loan<br />
to build the new terminal and to<br />
refinance existing debt.<br />
MMB’s plan at the moment<br />
is to develop the minor ports of<br />
Rewas, Dighi, Vadhavan, Redi,<br />
and Vijaydurg. Rewas will have<br />
21 berths designed to handle 45<br />
mill tons of cargo. Building the<br />
facilities at the port will cost<br />
<strong>US</strong>$960 mill.<br />
Dighi, 45 nautical miles south<br />
of Mumbai, will have a six-berth<br />
configuration and will handle 19<br />
mill tons of cargo. It is expected<br />
to cost <strong>US</strong>$131 mill.<br />
The other ports marked for<br />
development will mainly handle<br />
dry bulk cargo, although Vadhavan,<br />
60 nautical miles north of Mumbai,<br />
is also targeted at handling containers<br />
from the north west.<br />
New port<br />
for Kolkata<br />
T R Baalu, India’s Minister for<br />
Shipping, has announced that a new<br />
port is to be <strong>built</strong> at Sagar Island,<br />
near the Port of Kolkata, and four<br />
new berths will be <strong>built</strong> at Kolkata’s<br />
Haldia Dock Complex. A pre-feasibility<br />
study had been completed<br />
and a feasibility study is currently<br />
being carried out.<br />
Baalu described the proposed<br />
port as the “future of Kolkata.” The<br />
Marxist-ruled West Bengal state,<br />
of which Kolkata is the capital, has<br />
been pressing the government in<br />
New Delhi to help it find and<br />
build a port with a deep draft.<br />
Kolkata is a riverine port and<br />
is faced with a constant silting<br />
problem, which means that large<br />
vessels cannot call. They have to<br />
anchor miles away and tranship<br />
cargo onto smaller vessels.<br />
Desilting operations cost huge<br />
sums of money.<br />
The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT)<br />
has toyed with the idea of building<br />
a port on Sagar Island in the past,<br />
but it has hitherto been opposed<br />
by New Delhi, which insists that<br />
all new ports must have a draft of<br />
at least 16-17m so that fully-laden<br />
Capesize and Suezmax vessels are<br />
able to call.<br />
Sagar island has an average<br />
draft of only 10.5m, which is inadequate<br />
for a deep-drafted port,<br />
but the Shipping Minister has now<br />
accepted that a new port can be<br />
<strong>built</strong> there.<br />
Baalu also confirmed that four<br />
new berths will be <strong>built</strong> at Kolkata’s<br />
Haldia Dock Complex at a cost of<br />
Rs1.5 bill (<strong>US</strong>$34 mill). Work on<br />
the project will be completed by<br />
December 2006. Two RMGs will<br />
be installed this month and four<br />
RTGs are due to come into operation<br />
by December.<br />
A “protocol of intent” to boost rail<br />
traffic in the Port of Genoa has<br />
been signed by the port and the<br />
Italian rail authorities. The object<br />
of the deal is to increase port rail<br />
traffic by 15 per cent in the period<br />
2005-7, which means an average<br />
of at least 50 train pairs/day.<br />
To realise this goal, new tracks<br />
will be <strong>built</strong> as well as a new loco<br />
depot in the port zone. In the<br />
Voltri area, the existing four rail<br />
tracks will be supplemented by<br />
two more, in order to guarantee<br />
double train entry in and out at<br />
the same time.<br />
APG has undertaken to complete<br />
by the end of this year the<br />
restructuring and remodelling of<br />
the formation centre at San<br />
Benigno (Sampierdarena quays),<br />
to make it operational again from<br />
the start of next year. Meanwhile,<br />
the prolongation of the Voltri container<br />
terminal (Module VI) will<br />
PORT NEWS<br />
Genoa rail pact<br />
include an extension of the ondock<br />
rail track to a total length of<br />
1200m.<br />
Under the development programme<br />
of FS’s Trenitalia arm,<br />
next year should also see the finalisation<br />
of the programme to<br />
increase capacity of block trains in<br />
Lombardia, Veneto and Emilio<br />
Romagna. Taking into account<br />
that the average container trainload<br />
from Voltri is just 40 TEU and<br />
from the other port terminals 44.5<br />
TEU, Trenitalia is working to increasing<br />
trailing load on the key<br />
Milan-Genoa line and will introduce<br />
E655 locos which singly can<br />
haul 1100 tonne trains - a 33 per<br />
cent increase in slot capacity.<br />
The operator has also undertaken<br />
to improve service flexibility<br />
and has agreed to increase the<br />
number of “spot” slots by five per<br />
cent, in line with a request from<br />
leading shipping lines.<br />
Marine Terminals Corp (NYK) has received NYK’s “Best Quality Award<br />
2004” first prize in recognition of its damage-free automobile discharge<br />
operation at the Port of Vancouver (Wa), where it handled 41,860 vehicles<br />
last year. The award was handed over at a reception in New Jersey by<br />
Yukihiro Tatara, executive vice president, NYK Line (North America) Inc<br />
to Mike Munson, Marine Terminals Corp site manager, Columbia River<br />
Autos Operation<br />
16<br />
September 2005
PORT NEWS<br />
Melbourne dredging<br />
trial a success...<br />
Halfway through its A$32 mill mandated<br />
dredging trial (see <strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> August<br />
2005, p8), the Port of Melbourne<br />
Corporation (PoMC) says preliminary<br />
analysis of work undertaken at the entrance<br />
to Port Phillip Bay has shown that<br />
the material at the entrance can be<br />
dredged successfully, for the first time in<br />
the port’s history, without the need to<br />
use explosives.<br />
PoMC chief executive officer<br />
Stephen Bradford said the trial also demonstrated<br />
that the dredging vessel - Royal<br />
Boskalis’s QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS -<br />
can operate in a safe and effective manner<br />
in the strong current, wind and wave<br />
conditions that occur at the Heads without<br />
risk of disruption to commercial<br />
shipping.<br />
“The work at the Heads has provided<br />
us with valuable data and information<br />
that will help us refine and improve our<br />
dredging technique,” Bradford said.<br />
“Once the monitoring work is completed<br />
all the information will be used<br />
to assist in improving the proposed work<br />
methodology as part of the development<br />
of the Supplementary Environment Effects<br />
Statement.”<br />
However, the trial also revealed that<br />
the approved dredging method resulted<br />
in a higher than expected amount of rock<br />
debris falling into the area commonly<br />
known as the Canyon, part of the old<br />
course of the Yarra River located between<br />
Point Lonsdale and Point Nepean,<br />
where there is a maximum depth of up<br />
to 100m.<br />
Thomas<br />
Falknor<br />
ing the Federal Court to review a decision<br />
by federal Environment Minister Ian<br />
Campbell not to require an EES for the<br />
trial itself.<br />
Meanwhile, the next stages of the<br />
trial, dredging in South Channel East and<br />
Port Melbourne channels, is proceeding<br />
as planned.<br />
● The South Australian government<br />
claims that the total cost of deepening Adelaide’s<br />
channels barely exceeds that of<br />
Melbourne’s dredging trial. The SA Department<br />
of Planning and Infrastructure<br />
claims its project will cost just A$33 mill<br />
and be completed by the end of 2005,<br />
but has also conceded that it needs Melbourne<br />
to deepen if Adelaide shippers are<br />
to benefit from the greater costefficiencies<br />
of larger containerships in<br />
Australian trades.<br />
The New South Wales government has<br />
approved a dredging and remediation<br />
project at Newcastle, involving the dredging,<br />
excavation, reuse and disposal of<br />
sediments from the south arm of the<br />
Hunter River.<br />
NSW Ports Minister Eric Roozendaal<br />
said the approvals would allow the extension<br />
of shipping channels to accommodate<br />
new port activity, including Newcastle’s<br />
third coal terminal to be <strong>built</strong> alongside<br />
existing facilities on Kooragang Island. The<br />
project was recently awarded to the Newcastle<br />
Coal Infrastructure Group.<br />
The works will remove contaminated<br />
material from the river and banks and will<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
...Newcastle gets nod<br />
The deep reef areas at 20-40m depth<br />
are inhabited by a range of sponges and<br />
corals amongst varying rock formations.<br />
One of the performance measures required<br />
that rock debris did not fall past a<br />
depth of 20m in this area, but rock debris<br />
has been observed in localised areas<br />
during the trial at depths of approximately<br />
30m.<br />
The “misdemeanour” has led dredging<br />
opponents to the courts once more,<br />
with a bayside diving club this time askextend<br />
along the south arm from the existing<br />
port area to the Tourle Street Bridge<br />
at the western end of Kooragang Island.<br />
The first stage of the project will involve<br />
a remediation trial on a small area using<br />
cement stabilisation. Results from this test<br />
will be used to shape the approach for<br />
the rest of the remediation process.<br />
The quantity of material dredged will<br />
be about 13.6 mill m3, of which about<br />
7.6 mill m3 will be cleaned and can be<br />
reused, while most of the remainder will<br />
be disposed of offshore. Around 2 per cent<br />
of the dredged material will be contaminated<br />
and require treatment before disposal<br />
as landfill.<br />
Thomas Falknor, senior vice president<br />
of Philippines’ port operator International<br />
Container Terminal Services<br />
Inc (ICTSI), has died of cancer at the<br />
age of 61.<br />
Falknor joined ICTSI in 1995 and<br />
was largely responsible for the company’s<br />
expansion in Europe, Africa,<br />
the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent<br />
over the next 10 years.<br />
ICTSI sold most of its overseas<br />
terminals to Hutchison Port Holdings<br />
of Hong Kong in 2001, but has<br />
since started to rebuild its portfolio.<br />
Falknor’s recent successes included<br />
securing container terminal contracts<br />
at Gdynia in Poland and Toamasina<br />
in Madagascar<br />
Prior to joining ICTSI, Falknor<br />
worked for RJ Reynolds Company<br />
and Sea-Land Service, before joining<br />
American President Lines in 1984<br />
where he held a number of positions<br />
including senior vice president for<br />
Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and<br />
Australia, based in Dubai.<br />
Concurrent with his work at<br />
ICTSI, he was also president and director<br />
of Surrey Management Services<br />
and International Maritime Services.<br />
He will be sadly missed by his<br />
many friends and colleagues in the<br />
container ports industry.<br />
September 2005 17
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Busto III hub inaugurated<br />
Swiss combi-operator Hupac has<br />
completed the expansion of its key<br />
Alpine hub terminal at Busto<br />
Arsizio-Gallarate, near Milan. With<br />
this third phase expansion, the facility<br />
occupies more than 24-ha and<br />
has a capacity to handle up to 23<br />
train pairs/day. This can be increased<br />
to 30 train pairs/day in the medium<br />
term, equivalent to 1500 road consignments.<br />
The FS75 mill (€50 mill)<br />
project, financed mainly by Swiss<br />
government loans, was completed<br />
on time and to budget. “The new<br />
terminal infrastructure is an important<br />
milestone in being able to<br />
transfer ever more numerous and<br />
substantial freight volumes from<br />
road to rail” said Hans-Jörg<br />
Bertschi, Hupac’s Board chairman.<br />
The terminal is the “nerve centre”<br />
of Hupac’s European Shuttle<br />
Net network. According to Hupac<br />
director Bernhard Kunz, about 70<br />
per cent of Italian o/d points for<br />
consignments from/to northern<br />
Europe are in northern Italy and<br />
the remainder are in the centre and<br />
south of the peninsula. The capa-<br />
The key rôle of Busto for Hupac Intermodal has been further strengthened<br />
bilities of the new terminal further<br />
increase the potential for modal<br />
shift from road to rail.<br />
Utilisation of the new terminal<br />
will be effected gradually. Beside the<br />
rerouting of traffic previously directed<br />
to satellite terminals, such as<br />
the shuttles Hamburg/Hanover–<br />
Desio and Antwerp–Oleggio, the<br />
trains utilising the previous terminal<br />
will be transferred to the new<br />
enlarged sector in two phases to<br />
enable extensive renovation (see<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> December 2002,<br />
p29). Already this month the new<br />
How can Rental4000 help<br />
container lessors?<br />
Ask the people using it<br />
Busto-Padua shuttle is being introduced<br />
with two daily departures.<br />
The terminal is equipped with<br />
five (soon six) electrically-driven<br />
RMGs from Gottwald with a<br />
travel speed of 140 m/min and<br />
hoist/lower speeds of 30m/min.<br />
This brings to 11 (soon 12) the<br />
number of RMGs at Busto, as the<br />
former KSR (now part of<br />
Gottwald) delivered six in 2002.<br />
Like the earlier KSR <strong>crane</strong>s, the<br />
new Gottwald RMGs are fitted<br />
with DSD Dillinger Stahlbau<br />
(Hilgers) combi-attachments.<br />
SAIC at the<br />
UP gate<br />
Science Applications International<br />
Corporation (SAIC)’s Security and<br />
Transportation Technology Business<br />
Unit has been awarded a contract<br />
by Union Pacific Railroad<br />
(UP) to supply and install an automated<br />
gate system at UP’s intermodal<br />
terminal in Salt Lake City,<br />
Utah. SAIC has installed similar<br />
systems at other UP facilities.<br />
Combining optical character<br />
recognition (OCR), biometrics<br />
and other technologies, the system<br />
will enable UP to automatically<br />
identify and process containers,<br />
trucks, chassis and drivers at<br />
the entry and exit gates.<br />
At the gate, OCR portals will<br />
read equipment numbers and capture<br />
images of containers for<br />
online damage inspection, while<br />
in the gate lanes, kiosks will perform<br />
driver transactions, using ultrasonic<br />
fingerprint scanning to<br />
identify drivers. SAIC’s central<br />
server will integrate the data and<br />
send it to the terminal operating<br />
system in near-real time.<br />
Visit us at<br />
ITL 2005<br />
Stand<br />
E34<br />
Blue Sky Intermodal (UK) Ltd, a rapidly growing company in the container transportation industry, selected Real Asset<br />
Management’s (RAM) Rental4000 system to support its future short and long term leasing management requirements.<br />
Blue Sky was seeking a high spec solution to streamline its business processes and support future growth to significant<br />
levels. It chose RAM’s Rental4000 solution due to its rich functionality and leading edge technology and because of<br />
RAM’s stability and reputation as a leading supplier.<br />
UK intermodal haulier Containerlift,<br />
best known for its<br />
Steelbro self-loading trailer operations<br />
(sidelifters), has started a new<br />
rail service between Thamesport<br />
and the Willesden intermodal terminal<br />
in West London, using EWS<br />
as rail haulier.<br />
The new daily train pair will<br />
carry up to 80 TEU each way, leaving<br />
Thamesport at 04.20 and arriving<br />
at Willesden at 06.25, ready<br />
for morning deliveries into London.<br />
Containerlift trucks will be<br />
available to provide local collection<br />
and delivery for containers in and<br />
around London as required.<br />
“It is a sign of how far the rail<br />
INLAND/INTERMODAL NEWS<br />
Thamesport-Willesden<br />
from Containerlift...<br />
Kühne & Nagel, the world’s biggest<br />
NVOCC, has further extended<br />
its use of intermodal rail in the UK<br />
by commencing operations with<br />
Logico, the logistics service division<br />
of Freightliner. The first<br />
Freightliner intermodal container<br />
service dedicated entirely to K&N<br />
runs between Felixstowe and<br />
Daventry five days/week (Monday<br />
to Friday), initially comprising 18<br />
wagons (54 TEU). This route is<br />
cleared for 9ft 6in high containers<br />
on standard flats.<br />
With the greater degree of control<br />
and flexibility allowed by the<br />
new service K&N says that its customers<br />
are benefitting from increased<br />
reliability, created through<br />
the avoidance of road congestion<br />
and vehicle queues at Felixstowe,<br />
together with a short-haul final leg<br />
which ensures on-time delivery at<br />
destination. Export customers also<br />
have the benefit of being served at<br />
short notice from locally-held container<br />
stocks.<br />
Earlier this year Peter Ulber,<br />
CEO of K&N’s UK arm, Kuehne<br />
The new intermodal rail service is a<br />
round trip of just 100 miles<br />
industry has improved, and how<br />
far road haulage from ports has<br />
worsened, that we can offer an<br />
intermodal rail service over distances<br />
as short as 50 miles on a<br />
fully commercial basis, and wholly<br />
without grant assistance,” remarked<br />
Containerlift’s managing<br />
director Doug Baker.<br />
“To make the intermodal experience<br />
as seamless as possible, we<br />
will manage the whole process for<br />
the end customers, from quayside<br />
to doorstep, including Customs<br />
clearance if required.”<br />
...K&N extends use<br />
of intermodal rail<br />
& Nagel Ltd, stated that<br />
intermodal rail in Britain had become<br />
more reliable than trunking<br />
by road (see <strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> April<br />
2005, p16).<br />
Commenting on the new<br />
deal, Ulber remarked,“Logico has<br />
taken time to understand our<br />
business and requirements and is<br />
providing a good quality service<br />
with a high degree of flexibility.<br />
We will shortly be increasing the<br />
train size to 22 wagons with a 66<br />
TEU capacity, and expect to increase<br />
to a six day service in the<br />
near future.”<br />
As previously reported,<br />
Freightliner created Logico to<br />
develop rail services with the<br />
growing merchant haul market<br />
place. The brand operates alongside<br />
Freightliner’s mainstream<br />
business focusing on shipping<br />
lines and their agents. According<br />
to Freightliner, Logico attracted<br />
over £4.5m of new rail freight<br />
business and moved some 7.5 mill<br />
transport miles from road to rail<br />
in just 12 months since start up.<br />
‘<br />
The Rental4000 solution enables us to effectively<br />
consolidate, monitor and manage our daily operations<br />
as well as our long term business activities. Acting as a<br />
central repository, the system provides information<br />
which can be accessed by the sales, operations and<br />
finance departments, providing a more flexible and<br />
defined infrastructure that has enhanced our<br />
operational efficiency and helped drive our<br />
productivity.<br />
’<br />
Keith Hotston, Blue Sky’s Operations & Information Technology<br />
Director<br />
To find out more visit:<br />
www.realassetmgt.com/logistics.html<br />
Real Asset Management Plc Central Court Knoll Rise Orpington Kent BR6 0JA<br />
Telephone: +44 (0)1689 892100 Fax: +44 (0)1689 898434 Email: solution@realassetmgt.com<br />
Real Asset<br />
Management<br />
DeCeTe Duisburger Container-Terminal GmbH has taken delivery of a<br />
new container gantry <strong>crane</strong>. This is the fourth <strong>crane</strong> at the terminal which is<br />
partly owned by ECT Rotterdam. The equipment was supplied by KCI<br />
Kone<strong>crane</strong>s and has an SWL of 46 tonnes and a waterside outreach of<br />
25m. Several daily barge services connect the trimodal DeCeTe terminal<br />
with Rotterdam and a large number of containers are dispatched onward by<br />
rail from the neighbouring D<strong>US</strong>S (Deutsche Umschlagsgesellschaft Schiene-<br />
Straße) terminal to many destinations inland. A nunber of river-sea services<br />
are offered from DeCeTe to destinations in the UK and other North Sea<br />
ports. Current throughput at DeCeTe is around 350,000 TEU/year<br />
18<br />
September 2005
INLAND/INTERMODAL NEWS<br />
A bitter battle waged down under...<br />
The bid by Australia’s largest transport<br />
and logistics group, Toll Holdings, for the<br />
country’s number two, Patrick Corporation<br />
(see <strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> August 2005,<br />
p1), has quickly turned nasty with the<br />
two parties in furious disagreement on a<br />
number of fronts.<br />
Ironically, and most conspicuously, the<br />
battle has been joined at the only existing<br />
joint venture between the two, rail<br />
company Pacific National (PN), where<br />
Patrick has accused Toll of setting up contracts<br />
that advantage Toll but deny PN<br />
and Patrick revenue and business opportunities.<br />
The dispute centres on PN’s activities<br />
in Queensland, where earlier this year<br />
it began above-track narrow-gauge operations<br />
under the Queensland Competition<br />
Authority’s rail access regime in<br />
competition with state governmentowned<br />
Queensland Rail (QR). Underpinning<br />
the initiative was Toll’s shift of<br />
...ACCC no<br />
to Patrick’s<br />
FCL deal<br />
In a decision seen as portentous for Toll’s<br />
unfriendly takeover bid for Patrick, the<br />
Australian Competition and Consumer<br />
Commission (ACCC) has ruled against<br />
Patrick’s friendly takeover of leading<br />
intermodal and terminal operator FCL<br />
Interstate Transport Services (see<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> March 2005, p12).<br />
In originally accepting the deal with<br />
Patrick, FCL founder Bill Gibbins had<br />
made it clear he was facing the commercial<br />
and financial reality of trying to compete<br />
for capital, infrastructure and custom<br />
against two giants - Toll and Patrick<br />
- that were inexorably growing in<br />
strength and influence.<br />
He was selling out to Patrick because<br />
it did not have a domestic freight forwarding<br />
arm and was not, in his view,<br />
capitalising on its own 50 per cent share<br />
of Pacific National as a result.<br />
The ACCC has had the FCL deal<br />
under consideration for five months and<br />
took a very thorough and concerned interest<br />
in the possible implications.<br />
At least two and possibly three rounds<br />
of consultation with industry and affected<br />
parties took place and the Commission<br />
issued a very detailed discussion<br />
paper, which was treated at the time<br />
somewhat dismissively by Patrick.<br />
Rumours subsequently circulated<br />
that the ACCC had decided to clear the<br />
FCL takeover, albeit with some strict<br />
conditions. But that was before the Toll<br />
bid for Patrick was announced and the<br />
Commission has now firmly ruled out<br />
the Patrick/FCL buyout.<br />
In doing so, the ACCC appears to<br />
have nailed its colours firmly to the mast<br />
on the question of the anti-competitive<br />
impact of vertical integration and the<br />
modus operandi of leading consolidators<br />
Toll and Patrick.<br />
Analysts appear divided about the<br />
implications of the ACCC’s decision.<br />
Some have suggested that the ruling will<br />
improve Toll’s chances of taking over<br />
Patrick, since Patrick without FCL will<br />
have significantly less overlap with Toll<br />
in a crucial sector.<br />
However, the majority believe that<br />
the larger deal is in big trouble, at least<br />
from the regulatory point of view.<br />
Yet, others see the proposed takeover<br />
as strictly a business transaction and thus<br />
subject to complex negotiation with<br />
various parties but destined nevertheless<br />
for eventual completion.<br />
“Toll just hasn’t found Patrick’s price<br />
yet,” one senior industry executive commented<br />
privately. “And if it has to unload<br />
various bits and pieces to keep [the<br />
ACCC] happy, it will do that in the interests<br />
of the bigger picture. It could even<br />
decide to just go ahead regardless and<br />
thumb its nose at the ACCC, which is<br />
not without precedent in the corporate<br />
sector.”<br />
its NQX and QRX freight forwarding<br />
volumes from QR to PN in a 20-year<br />
“take-or-pay agreement,” However,<br />
Patrick claims that Toll has, in effect,<br />
locked up all of PN’s Queensland capacity<br />
at preferential rates, costing PN some<br />
A$510 mill in lost revenue and denying<br />
Patrick the means to enter the market in<br />
its own right. It also claims PN substantially<br />
overspent the agreed capital budget.<br />
While Toll says the deal was signed<br />
off without question by Patrick members<br />
of the PN board, Patrick has claimed<br />
that not all the facts were presented to it<br />
and, significantly, two key PN executives,<br />
who have now stood down, continued<br />
in the indirect employment of Toll in a<br />
manner that offered incentives for pro-<br />
Toll outcomes.<br />
Toll in its turn claims that the material<br />
value of the disputed transactions<br />
amounts to approximately A$20 mill and<br />
says the dispute has been “manufactured”<br />
by Patrick to frustrate its takeover bid.<br />
The PN board has refused to countenance<br />
any independent inquiry into the<br />
situation, which has led to Patrick seeking<br />
formal activation of dispute resolution<br />
procedures through the Victorian<br />
Supreme Court.<br />
Patrick CEO Chris Corrigan has<br />
warned that the probable end point of<br />
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<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
the disagreement is the complete breakup<br />
of PN, with assets divided between<br />
the partners.<br />
Well-placed sources say this is not the<br />
first major falling-out between the partners,<br />
although this one has led to Corrigan<br />
publicly saying that he can no longer<br />
trust Toll managing director Paul Little<br />
or other Toll management. In mid-2004,<br />
PN announced that it was unilaterally<br />
and at short notice withdrawing from all<br />
port and regional intermodal services in<br />
New South Wales and redeploying<br />
equipment elsewhere. This effectively<br />
decimated Patrick’s shipping line-related<br />
business in the state and forced the company<br />
to take over the services in its own<br />
right, using leased equipment and operating<br />
contractors.<br />
“There was blood on the boardroom<br />
floor over that one,” an insider asserted,<br />
and the experience prompted Patrick to<br />
reactivate development of its own rail<br />
businesses that had earlier been rolled<br />
into PN. Part of this expansion was to<br />
be the acquisition of FCL (see below),<br />
which would have given Patrick greater<br />
ability to compete with Toll in rail forwarding<br />
and via FCL’s terminals.<br />
Analysts say the possible break-up of<br />
PN would be an enormously complex<br />
task given not only the spread of assets<br />
involved, but also obligations and undertakings<br />
to government embedded in the<br />
2003 sales of National Rail and<br />
FreightCorp that spawned PN.<br />
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September 2005 19
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Bangladesh privatises inland<br />
Four BOT contracts have been awarded<br />
to five private companies to assume<br />
management of five of Bangladesh’s<br />
state-owned inland container terminals.<br />
Sonamasjid and Hili ports were awarded<br />
to Panama Traders, while Banglabanha,<br />
Birol and Bibir Bazar went to Erba, Dynamics<br />
Trade Syndicate and Shepherd<br />
Textile BD Limited respectively.<br />
The concessions are each for 25 years<br />
and will involve the new operators paying<br />
the government both fixed and variable<br />
royalties based on overall volumes<br />
handled. At the same time, a fixed investment<br />
programme has been agreed.<br />
Of the 13 inland ports currently functioning<br />
in Bangladesh, the government<br />
has retained control of Benapole, but has<br />
leased out Teknaf to a private operator.<br />
However, it also plans to offer Burimari,<br />
Darsana, Bhomra, Haluaghat, Tamabil and<br />
Akhaura to private operators once positive<br />
feedback has been forthcoming from<br />
its first round of privatisations.<br />
● A new surveillance system has been introduced<br />
at the Port of Chittagong, aimed<br />
at reducing the amount of piracy and smuggling<br />
which takes place in and around the<br />
port. Bangladesh is regarded as second only<br />
to Indonesia for incursions by pirates.<br />
The introduction of the Automated<br />
Identification System will allow port authority<br />
employees to trace the movement<br />
of vessels within a radius of 30<br />
kms of the port, including coverage up<br />
to 20 kms offshore.<br />
● Work is continuing to identify which<br />
of three proposed sites will be the most<br />
suitable for construction of a brand new<br />
deepsea port. The choice is between<br />
Sonadia Island, Cox’s Bazar and Akram<br />
Point. Bids to undertake a techno-economic<br />
feasibility study, which will be<br />
funded by the World Bank, are currently<br />
being assessed.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
After a gap of 15 years, a new container<br />
block train service has been started by<br />
Italcontainer for Hangartner between the<br />
Port of La Spezia and Verona’s inland<br />
freight terminal, Interporto Quadrante<br />
Europa (VIPE). This facility has good<br />
transalpine connections via the Brenner<br />
and Swiss-based forwarder Hangartner,<br />
which was absorbed by Railion<br />
Deutschland almost three years ago (see<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> December 2002, p9), has<br />
developed the new service with the principal<br />
aim of shifting more chemicals, hazardous,<br />
reefer and other high value loads<br />
from road to rail on these axes.<br />
Last year the operator set up it own<br />
depot operation at VIPE, Hangartner Ter-<br />
INLAND/INTERMODAL NEWS<br />
Interporti developments<br />
minal Srl. This facility has obtained status<br />
as a magazzino generale, which means that<br />
it has Type A customs clearance, an open<br />
customs warehouse, an alcohol tax warehouse<br />
and other advantages. Cargo mass<br />
is now sufficient to warrant a block train<br />
connection with the Mediterranean. Initially<br />
there will be two train pairs/week,<br />
but it is hoped to be able to double frequency<br />
in due course.<br />
Hangartner’s VIPE facility occupies a<br />
total area of 41 hectares and offers 56,000<br />
m 2 of rail-connected warehousing, including<br />
84,300 m 3 of cold storage space. This<br />
facility has two deep freeze (-41degC)<br />
tunnels each of 1021 m 3 capacity and<br />
around 61,200 m 3 of cells variable between<br />
-31degC and +14 degC. The rail<br />
terminal has 11 sidings for wagons, swap<br />
bodies and containers.<br />
Hangarnter is an acknowledged leader<br />
in transalpine combined transport, particularly<br />
on Nordic/Germany/South East<br />
Europe-Italy corridors, with a total of six<br />
train pairs/week linking Verona with<br />
Rostock and Freilassing in Germany,<br />
Sopron (Hungary) and Oradea (Romania).<br />
In another development, Coeclerici<br />
Logistics has strengthened its position in<br />
the fruit handling and distribution sector<br />
with a deal to develop a “cold node” at<br />
Interporto di Nola, near Naples. The company<br />
already operates key fruit terminals<br />
in the ports of Genoa and Salerno. The<br />
agreement “further internationalises,” the<br />
interporto, according to its director Alfredo<br />
Gaetani.<br />
The potential of the Nola reefer facility,<br />
in which €7 mill has been invested<br />
since start-up in 2002, is huge, particularly<br />
given the importance of agri-produce<br />
in southern Italy. It totals 102,000<br />
m 3 in 15 cells, five at -30degC, six variable<br />
between -30degC and 0degC and<br />
four which maintain a constant temperature<br />
of 0degC. The cells measure 10m<br />
high by 50m long and width varies between<br />
18m and 48m, with a maximum<br />
storage capacity of 12,000 europallets.<br />
● The Italian government has allocated €30<br />
mill to develop rail connectivity of the<br />
network of interporti and improve the security<br />
of container rail transport.<br />
South Africa<br />
adopts new<br />
strategy<br />
The South African government has<br />
adopted a national freight logistics strategy<br />
aimed at cutting transport costs, boosting<br />
capacity and reducing transport times. The<br />
air freight sector has traditionally been a<br />
separate industry to the transport of goods<br />
by sea but the government is now keen to<br />
integrate all strands of the freight sector in<br />
its grand vision for the transport of goods<br />
around the country.<br />
Improvements are to be made to the<br />
rail system with investment that was announced<br />
earlier this year, but it is understood<br />
that new money is also to be made<br />
available for road improvements at major<br />
bottlenecks.<br />
Apart from greater integration, the most<br />
important aspect of the new strategy, to be<br />
published next month, is recognition that<br />
the lack of road capacity is one of the main<br />
obstacles to a more efficient freight sector.<br />
In a speech to parliament, minister of<br />
transport Jeff Radebe said that the “maintenance<br />
and upgrading of roads needs to<br />
be a clear response to key transport challenges<br />
such as congestion, public transport<br />
and the freight costs”. In particular,<br />
improvements are to be made to the road<br />
network on the outskirts of Johannesburg<br />
to speed up transport times across<br />
Gauteng Province to both the coastal<br />
ports and the airport.<br />
A government spokesperson said, “The<br />
main objective of the strategy is to put in<br />
place a system architecture and a regulatory<br />
framework, which will ensure that<br />
freight logistics in our country responds to<br />
the imperative of higher rates of economic<br />
growth.” According to government figures,<br />
freight charges currently cost the economy<br />
R180 bill/year, or 14.7 per cent of GDP.<br />
20<br />
September 2005
INLAND/INTERMODAL/HAZCHEM NEWS<br />
Isotank to acquire TTG depots<br />
Isotank Services Ltd is to acquire four<br />
tank cleaning and repair depots operated<br />
by Tanktainer Thurroclean Group<br />
(TTG), a wholly owned subsidiary of<br />
Hoyer UK Ltd. The addition of the TTG<br />
installations - at West Thurrock, Southampton,<br />
Manchester and Middlesbrough<br />
- to the existing Isotank network of depots<br />
creates the UK’s largest integrated<br />
tank service provider.<br />
Isotank Services and Hoyer UK are<br />
currently engaged in due diligence,<br />
which is expected to be complete by<br />
October 31. The transaction will enable<br />
the two companies to concentrate on<br />
their core activities - Hoyer on tank<br />
transport logistics and Isotank on the<br />
provision of tank cleaning, repair and<br />
haulage services.<br />
It is intended that Hoyer will continue<br />
to make use of the facilities it is<br />
selling and the company will give Isotank<br />
preferred service provider status. Hoyer<br />
will retain the TTG depot in Huddersfield,<br />
adjacent to its UK headquarters, to<br />
function as an in-house regional service<br />
centre for the fleet’s vehicles.<br />
Isotank Services already operates four<br />
tank cleaning stations - on Teesside at<br />
Fiba tanks<br />
for ethylene<br />
Fiba Technologies Inc has secured a contract<br />
to build 10 cryogenic tank containers<br />
for the carriage of ethylene on behalf<br />
of Overseas Bechtel Inc of Houston.<br />
The vacuum-insulated tanks, which are<br />
to be constructed at Fiba’s Louisville, Kentucky,<br />
plant, will be used in support of operations<br />
at a liquefied natural gas (LNG)<br />
plant that Bechtel is building on Bioko Island<br />
in Equatorial Guinea. The plant is due<br />
to come on stream in late 2007.<br />
The 20ft, 20,250 litre tanks are of the<br />
type that Fiba builds primarily for the<br />
carriage of liquefied nitrogen (LIN), oxygen<br />
(LOX) and argon (LAR). When these<br />
products are carried, the tank’s specialist<br />
insulation system provides holding times<br />
of 49, 77 and 63 days, respectively. As Fiba<br />
points out, the unit is also suitable for the<br />
low-temperature transport of other liquefied<br />
gases, including nitrous oxide,<br />
ethane, ethylene and LNG itself.<br />
The LIN/LOX/LAR/ethylene tank,<br />
which Fiba Technologies denotes as<br />
model HDS-5350-145, is constructed in<br />
304 stainless steel and is <strong>built</strong> to a working<br />
pressure of 10 bar. It is one of four<br />
models of cryogenic portable tanks designed<br />
and <strong>built</strong> by the company.<br />
Barges in<br />
Bangladesh<br />
Container Corporation of India (Concor)<br />
has signed a memorandum of understanding<br />
with a private sector Indian company<br />
to provide a barge service between the<br />
Calcutta Dock System and the Port of<br />
Narayangunge, Bangladesh. Concor has<br />
also reached agreement with a Bangladeshi<br />
firm to provide handling and other<br />
equipment.<br />
Narayangunge is a small river port<br />
close to the capital Dhaka, which is<br />
equipped with large jetties and warehouses.<br />
The start-up operation will consist<br />
of two 1500 ton capacity barges, each<br />
of which would be able to carry between<br />
55 and 60 containers.<br />
The initial schedule suggests two return<br />
journeys per month will be undertaken.<br />
However, an imbalance of cargo is<br />
anticipated, with reports suggesting that<br />
there will be insufficient traffic from<br />
Bangladesh to justify additional shortterm<br />
capacity.<br />
The barge service will in part replace<br />
the existing rail/truck link, which involves<br />
dispatching containers by rail from Calcutta<br />
to the Bangladesh border, where the<br />
cargo is transloaded to road trucks, a relatively<br />
costly operation.<br />
Redcar and at Darlaston, Hull and<br />
Immingham. A major project for the<br />
company in recent years has been the<br />
purchase of land adjacent to the Teesside<br />
station and the installation of a new<br />
three-bay washrack at the site. The new<br />
facility has also been provided with the<br />
engineering capability to enable tank refurbishment<br />
work to be carried out.<br />
The addition of the TTG stations<br />
enables Isotank Services to provide UKwide<br />
coverage. In addition to cleaning,<br />
repair and other depot services such as<br />
storage, parking, driver rest facilities, tank<br />
refurbishment, testing and contract maintenance,<br />
Isotank offers tractor units<br />
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equipped for maximum UK payload<br />
haulage and a variety of trailers and ancillary<br />
equipment to accommodate the<br />
specialist transport of a wide range of liquids,<br />
powders, gases and temperaturecontrolled<br />
goods.<br />
This is backed by a fleet of over 130<br />
tank containers and road tankers for long<br />
and short term rental, product heating<br />
services by means of steam, hot water and<br />
electric, chemical warehousing, product<br />
drumming and emergency response support<br />
services.<br />
Isotank is going nationwide with the acquisition<br />
of four Thurroclean depots<br />
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<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
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September 2005 21
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
CONTAINER IND<strong>US</strong>TRY NEWS<br />
Cosco Pacific profit hits record Gateway sells fleet<br />
Hong Kong-based container lessor and<br />
port operator Cosco Pacific has reported<br />
a 131 per cent increase in first half profit<br />
to a record <strong>US</strong>$214.77 mill. Turnover was<br />
up 9.4 per cent to <strong>US</strong>$141.90 mill.<br />
Owner of Florens Container Corp,<br />
now the world’s third largest container<br />
leasing company with a claimed 10 per<br />
cent market share, Cosco Pacific said the<br />
container business contributed <strong>US</strong>$53.4<br />
mill to its net profit. The company purchased<br />
131,830 TEU and disposed of<br />
14,833 TEU in the first half of this year,<br />
increasing the Florens fleet by 19 per cent<br />
year on year to 1.02 mill TEU and passing<br />
the 1 mill mark for the first time.<br />
Managing director Sun Jiakang said,<br />
“Container shipping rates are still climbing<br />
and Cosco Pacific will benefit thanks<br />
to the growth in the carrying capacity of<br />
the world fleet.” Sun forecast that both<br />
demand and pricing would remain stable<br />
for the next two years.<br />
As of the end of June 2005, Cosco<br />
Pacific had 362,635 TEU, or 35.3 per cent<br />
of its fleet, on hire to its affiliate Cosco<br />
Container Lines, the world’s seventh-largest<br />
container carrier, which plans to buy<br />
eight ships before 2007, adding 605,000<br />
TEU in capacity.<br />
The bottom line was inflated by a<br />
maiden contribution from China International<br />
Marine Containers (CIMC), the<br />
world’s largest container maker, in which<br />
Cosco Pacific bought a 16.2 per cent stake<br />
last December. CIMC reported a near 120<br />
per cent increase in first-half profit to<br />
Yuan2.05 bill (<strong>US</strong>$253 mill) last month.<br />
Cosco Pacific, which is also the world’s<br />
fifth-largest port operator, said profit from<br />
this business surged 167 per cent to <strong>US</strong>$106<br />
mill, as throughput at its 19 container terminals<br />
with 81 berths in Hong Kong,<br />
China and Singapore rose 17.6 per cent to<br />
12.13 mill TEUs in the period. Profit was<br />
boosted by a <strong>US</strong>$61.87 mill gain from the<br />
disposal of a 17.5 per cent stake in Shekou<br />
Container Terminals in Shenzhen.<br />
Gateway Container International Ltd has<br />
concluded the sale of its 285,000 TEU<br />
container fleet to Singapore-based B<strong>US</strong>S<br />
Global Container Fonds I Partnership.<br />
The Partnership is capitalised by equity<br />
bridge financing provided by DVB<br />
Bank NV and debt financing arranged<br />
by DVB and provided by an international<br />
group of financial institutions, including<br />
BTM Capital Corporation (syndication<br />
agent), DVB, ING Bank NV(facility<br />
agent), Fifth Third Bank and NIB Capital<br />
Bank NV.<br />
The Partnership’s equity will be placed<br />
in the German KG (Kommanditgesellschaft)<br />
funds market by B<strong>US</strong>S Capital GmbH &<br />
Co KG, a Hamburg-based underwriter<br />
of equity investments in fixed assets.<br />
Gateway Management Services Ltd,<br />
headed by Raphael Che, will continue<br />
to manage the partnership’s container<br />
fleet. The latter was formed last year following<br />
the refinancing of Gateway’s revolving<br />
credit and term debt obligations<br />
through a <strong>US</strong>$290 mill securitisation led<br />
by Wachovia Capital Markets with participation<br />
from DVB.<br />
Gateway Management Services now<br />
manages a total of 340,000 TEU on behalf<br />
of the B<strong>US</strong>S Partnership and other<br />
owners and has around 85 active lessees,<br />
including virtually all of the world’s leading<br />
international shipping lines,<br />
Tzaneros<br />
back in<br />
<strong>box</strong> biz?<br />
According to well-sourced local rumours<br />
- though they are unconfirmed by the<br />
parties involved - former Australian container<br />
park operator Terry Tzaneros has<br />
returned to the business by buying P&O<br />
TransAustralia (POTA)’s warehousing<br />
and depot business at Molineaux Point,<br />
adjacent to P&O Ports’ Port Botany<br />
(Sydney) terminal.<br />
Tzaneros sold his Smith Bros operations<br />
in Brisbane and Port Botany to P&O<br />
in 2001 and then worked for POTA, before<br />
leaving last year. POTA only relatively<br />
recently opened the Molineaux<br />
Point facility at a cost of A$20 mill, where<br />
several other tenants are housed on 10<br />
hectares of land leased from the Sydney<br />
Ports Corporation.<br />
The facility has been heavily marketed<br />
to potential users over recent<br />
months but local reports suggest that<br />
P&O may be selling its more passive investments<br />
in order to develop its interstate<br />
intermodal business.<br />
The company has recently made a series<br />
of presentations at industry conferences<br />
and events, talking up its new<br />
Somerton intermodal terminal on the<br />
northern outskirts of Melbourne, its new<br />
Melbourne-Adelaide intermodal service,<br />
and further intermodal terminal plans in<br />
South Australia, New South Wales and<br />
possibly Queensland.<br />
Jan Nouwen has been appointed technical<br />
manager for Dutch intermodal equipment<br />
specialist UNIT45 BV. He joins the<br />
company from United Bulk Containers<br />
(UBC), one of Europe’s leading operators<br />
of dry bulk containers, where most recently<br />
he held the position of continental technical<br />
manager. Prior to UBC, which he joined<br />
in 2000, the year UBC was formed<br />
through the merger of IBC and IFF,<br />
Nouwen had been employed in a similar<br />
capacity with IFF, having joined that<br />
company in 1997. He also worked for nine<br />
years with Bell Lines and three years with<br />
Thermo King. UNIT45 designs its own<br />
containers and specialises in 45ft palletwide<br />
units. Sourcing these from China, most are<br />
either sold to leading North European<br />
shortsea and intermodal customers or added<br />
to the company’s expanding fleet of units<br />
available for short and longterm lease.<br />
UNIT45 expects to sell approximately<br />
4000 containers to third-party customers<br />
in 2005 and expects its own leasing fleet<br />
to reach 1500 units by the end of the year.<br />
22<br />
September 2005
CONTAINER IND<strong>US</strong>TRY NEWS<br />
Savi launches SaviTrak...<br />
Savi Networks LLC, the Savi Technology/Hutchison<br />
Port Holdings<br />
joint venture set up earlier this year<br />
to build and operate a global<br />
RFID-based information network<br />
to track and manage containerised<br />
cargo (see <strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> April<br />
2005, p1), has announced the operational<br />
launch of its SaviTrak information<br />
network with the first<br />
commercial shipments of consumer<br />
products from a factory in China<br />
to a distribution centre in Southern<br />
California.<br />
Savi Networks and Mitsui &<br />
Co (<strong>US</strong>A) are providing real-time<br />
information and logistics services<br />
within the network to a large Japan-based<br />
supplier of consumer<br />
goods to major <strong>US</strong> retailers, including<br />
Wal-Mart.<br />
The shipments, which were on<br />
the water at the time of writing,<br />
are aimed at proving the commercial<br />
benefits the information network<br />
can bring to major consumer<br />
goods suppliers in meeting<br />
and exceeding Radio Frequency<br />
Identification (RFID) compliance<br />
mandates while improving security,<br />
logistics data accuracy, visibility,<br />
and the operating metrics of<br />
containers and their contents. The<br />
information services are provided<br />
on a per-container trip basis.<br />
An innovative aspect of the<br />
project is “source tagging” of cases<br />
with EPC-compliant passive labels<br />
at the manufacturing facility, as<br />
well as tagging of the containers<br />
in which the cases are shipped<br />
with active RFID tags, offering socalled<br />
“Nested Visibility,” which<br />
enables the customer to automatically<br />
build the container manifest<br />
and then automatically track the<br />
container and its contents along<br />
its end-to-end journey throughout<br />
the shared network.<br />
“This initial trade lane project<br />
marks the operational readiness of<br />
the network and SaviTrak and<br />
demonstrates how managed services<br />
that leverage information<br />
from passive and active RFID<br />
technologies help international<br />
suppliers meet the business challenges<br />
of retail RFID mandates,<br />
transportation security concerns,<br />
as well as the pressures for better<br />
The Savi Tag ST-676 ISO Container Security Tag clamps onto the container<br />
door and communicates wirelessly via radio waves to the network on the container’s<br />
identity, contents, location, security status and interior conditions, such as light,<br />
temperature and humidity<br />
operational efficiency and customer<br />
service,” said Lani Fritts,<br />
COO of Savi Networks. “We are<br />
delivering managed information<br />
services to shippers that enable<br />
innovative buying, planning and<br />
transportation decisions through<br />
our real-time network.”<br />
The SaviTrak programme uses<br />
several types of active RFID tags,<br />
including Savi Technology’s latest<br />
advanced Savi Tag ST-676 ISO<br />
Container Security Tag, which<br />
clamps onto the container door<br />
and communicates the container’s<br />
identification, contents, location,<br />
security status and interior environmental<br />
conditions to the network,<br />
and the EJ Brookes E-seal,<br />
both of which are based on ISO<br />
18000-7 standards that operate on<br />
the 433.92 MHz radio frequency.<br />
Conformity with this international<br />
standard enables both products<br />
to interoperate within an<br />
ISO-based information network<br />
with support from countries<br />
worldwide for intermodal supply<br />
chain usage.<br />
ST-676 is a new generation<br />
Savi security tag that uses a door<br />
sensor and light sensor to detect<br />
security breaches as well as other<br />
sensors for temperature, humidity<br />
and shock to capture information<br />
on the environmental conditions<br />
inside the container.<br />
The EJ Brooks E-Seal, tested<br />
alongside the ST-676, is a singleuse,<br />
RFID-enabled electronic bolt<br />
seal for intermodal containers.<br />
Both are expected to be commercially<br />
available in November.<br />
● Aimed at the storage and transport<br />
of nuclear, bio-chemical and<br />
other hazardous materials, EJ<br />
Brooks has launched the Fiber<br />
Lock, a tamper-indicative sealing<br />
system comprising a specially-designed<br />
imaging verifier and a seal<br />
bundle constructed of randomlypositioned,<br />
acrylic optical fibres.<br />
Once the seal has been correctly<br />
applied to a sensitive security application,<br />
the seal body is inserted<br />
into a slot in the verifier’s housing<br />
and a digital image of the severed<br />
ends of the fibre optic bundle<br />
is recorded. The digital image<br />
can then be electronically forwarded<br />
to the shipment’s destination.<br />
At any point in transit, the<br />
seal can be visually inspected for<br />
any sign of tampering by shining<br />
a flashlight at one end of the fibre<br />
bundle. If the remaining bundle is<br />
brightly illuminated, it is an indication<br />
that the seal is intact.At final<br />
destination, the bundle can be<br />
reverified by comparing the digital<br />
image with the electronicallyfowarded<br />
image taken at the point<br />
of origin. If the images are identical,<br />
it signifies that the seal has not<br />
been compromised and no unauthorised<br />
access has occurred. Any<br />
differences serve as evidence of<br />
tampering.<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
...IBM/Maersk offer <strong>box</strong><br />
tracking alternative<br />
IBM and Maersk Logistics, part of<br />
the AP Moller-Maersk Group, have<br />
launched an alternative to SaviTrak<br />
in the shape of Intelligent Trade<br />
Lane, which is touted as a new initiative<br />
to bring enhanced, real-time<br />
visibility to global supply chain operations<br />
by improving the quality<br />
of container tracking and enabling<br />
increased security of transported<br />
goods.<br />
The IBM/Maersk solution incorporates<br />
IBM’s hardware and<br />
software technologies alongside<br />
Maersk Logistics’ global supply<br />
chain expertise and is claimed to<br />
integrate two key emerging technologies<br />
for the first time: intelligent<br />
real-time tracking devices,<br />
called TREC (Tamper-Resistant<br />
Embedded Controllers), which are<br />
fitted to freight containers and designed<br />
to withstand the environment<br />
they operate in; and a fully<br />
integrated network that combines<br />
data from the TREC devices with<br />
a non-proprietary sensor network<br />
and business integration system.<br />
Unlike typical passive tags that<br />
collect data only, the wireless<br />
TREC devices incorporate significant<br />
processing power, enabling<br />
them to instantly receive and send<br />
data. The devices automatically collect<br />
information on each container,<br />
including parameters such as temperature<br />
and humidity and sensory<br />
readings to detect intrusion, as well<br />
as physical location based on GPS,<br />
The information gathered can<br />
be connected to decentralised<br />
databases where participants own<br />
their own content and a serviceoriented<br />
infrastructure allows them<br />
to instantly share information. The<br />
network will provide global supply<br />
chain stakeholders, including<br />
manufacturers, retailers, logistics<br />
service providers, carriers and governments<br />
with on-demand access<br />
to real-time transport-related data<br />
and supports implementation of the<br />
World Customs Organisation’s<br />
Framework of Standards to Secure<br />
and Facilitate Global Trade.<br />
“IBM’s objective is to enable<br />
globally integrated business by capitalising<br />
on the information generated<br />
during the tracking process<br />
and at the same time improve the<br />
security of cargo,” said Mogens<br />
Roedbro, partner and vice president,<br />
IBM Business Consulting<br />
Services. The initiative, which IBM<br />
refers to as Intelligent Trade Lane,<br />
forms part of the company’s<br />
broader Global Movement Management<br />
effort, which is designed<br />
to address the critical business functions<br />
involved in efficiently and securely<br />
moving people, goods and<br />
conveyances within and between<br />
countries.<br />
“The capabilities of the TREC<br />
device and network eliminate the<br />
time lag of the physical container<br />
status to provide real-time visibility.<br />
This provides new opportunities<br />
for truly adaptive planning,<br />
while also maintaining data quality,<br />
and enables effective decision<br />
making, supporting supply chain<br />
agility. Combined with Spective,<br />
our business intelligence solution,<br />
we will further enhance our clients’<br />
customer service levels while reducing<br />
the costs of achieving them,”<br />
said Henrik Ramskov, managing<br />
director,of Maersk Logistics.<br />
In order to ensure that the network<br />
is ready for commercial application<br />
next year, IBM and<br />
Maersk Logistics are currently involving<br />
key supply chain<br />
stakeholders in a formal pilot programme.<br />
Phase one field testing<br />
will begin in early November followed<br />
by a large commercial pilot<br />
in March 2006.<br />
September 2005 23
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Gulf ports looking up post-Katrina*<br />
Some three weeks after dis<br />
aster struck and the worstaffected<br />
<strong>US</strong> Gulf Coast<br />
ports are working towards securing<br />
a better future. The death toll<br />
from Katrina is lower than first<br />
feared (not on the scale of the<br />
1900 hurricane that destroyed<br />
Galveston and took 12,000 lives).<br />
But Katrina has caused homelessness<br />
and economic dislocation on<br />
a massive scale, with property<br />
damage estimated in the <strong>US</strong>$100-<br />
200 bill range.<br />
In hindsight, the northern Gulf<br />
Coast ports escaped relatively unscathed,<br />
with the exception of the<br />
Gulfport (Miss), which juts into<br />
the Gulf of Mexico largely unprotected<br />
and was closest to the eye<br />
of the storm. But even this port is<br />
putting the emphasis on recovery.<br />
Crowley has announced that<br />
it will resume its Central American<br />
ro-ro liner service to Gulfport<br />
at the beginning of October, with<br />
GOTHICA arriving from El Salvador,<br />
to be followed by EXPRESS on<br />
4 October. Crowley plans to call<br />
every Tuesday and Saturday until<br />
24<br />
This <strong>US</strong> Navy release in the immediate aftermath of Katrina shows New<br />
Orleans’ flooded Industrial Canal area with the container <strong>crane</strong>s of the France<br />
Road Wharf and Jourdan Street Wharf terminals in the background (to the left<br />
of the two tall blue towers). At this juncture the Mississippi had already been reopened<br />
to ship traffic and <strong>US</strong> RRF vessels were docked there for housing and<br />
relief. Commercial ships sailed upriver to Baton Rouge and South Louisiana<br />
such time as it can resume its regular<br />
three times/week service.<br />
Deluge<br />
Airscapes of the coastline taken by<br />
NOAA aircraft the day after<br />
*This article updates the initial report<br />
posted on <strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>’ website.<br />
As this note was written, Hurricane<br />
Rita was about to strike. Having<br />
picked up energy crossing the warm<br />
waters of the Gulf, Rita has been<br />
designated a Class 5 storm and the<br />
“eye” of landstrike is now expected<br />
60 miles north of Galveston. Mass<br />
evacuation is under way and ports,<br />
railways and refineries have been shut<br />
down. More wind and rain damage in<br />
New Orleans could imperil levee<br />
repairs<br />
mally used by Chiquita (Great<br />
White Fleet) Hundreds of containers<br />
and container chassis were<br />
strewn about, many blocking the<br />
town’s main thoroughfare.<br />
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<strong>US</strong>A: KATRINA SPECIAL REPORT<br />
Post-Katrina aerial of Gulfport from NOAA. One 3-storey tall floating casino<br />
has been deposited in a container park and part of another, barge-mounted<br />
casino has been deposited well beyond the western breakwater<br />
Roofless<br />
All warehouse rooves sustained<br />
considerable damage and stored<br />
breakbulk cargoes such as forest<br />
products were gone, either pushed<br />
inland or swept to sea.<br />
Almost all refrigerated cargoes<br />
were lost as the power failed. Both<br />
Dole Liner Express and Great<br />
White Fleet shifted container operations<br />
to other ports. A massive<br />
debris clearing exercise is under<br />
way so they can repair facilities at<br />
Gulfport and resume ship calls.<br />
Crowley, which had blockstowed<br />
most of its containers in<br />
the port area, saw them washed<br />
into the residential area behind the<br />
port, adding to the general pileup<br />
of debris and appearing on several<br />
national television reports.<br />
Like Dole and Great White Fleet,<br />
Crowley shifted its operations.<br />
A harbour mobile <strong>crane</strong> toppled<br />
over in the ro-ro staging area,<br />
which was layered in sand. A new<br />
ro-ro ramp, which was dedicated<br />
only at the beginning of August,<br />
was put out of action.<br />
Much of the reclamation work<br />
being undertaken by the port, involving<br />
some 60 acres of landfill,<br />
was undone by wave action. Prior<br />
to Katrina, the MSPA had committed<br />
nearly <strong>US</strong>$250 mill for<br />
port improvements over the next<br />
5-7 years, including an 84-acre expansion,<br />
as part of its master plan<br />
update approved in 2003.<br />
Better than before<br />
As if to turn the damage wrought<br />
by Katrina on its head, the port<br />
says that these improvements will<br />
be accelerated and further enhanced.<br />
The plans are being revised<br />
to include state-of-the-art<br />
chill and freezer facilities, expanded<br />
container operations with<br />
new quayside gantry <strong>crane</strong>s and<br />
RTGs. More dry cargo storage<br />
will be offered on the East Pier,<br />
which will become the port’s<br />
breakbulk load centre.<br />
New Orleans, the biggest port<br />
hit, reported widespread damage<br />
to warehouse roofing and doors.<br />
All its <strong>crane</strong>s remained upright, including<br />
the gantry <strong>crane</strong>s at Napoleon<br />
Avenue Container Terminal<br />
and a Fantuzzi mobile harbour<br />
<strong>crane</strong> at Nashville A wharf, although<br />
some of the <strong>crane</strong>s suffered<br />
electrical damage. Many containers<br />
were tossed around.<br />
Several ships were “caught” in<br />
port by the hurricane, but only<br />
one snapped its moorings, the bulk<br />
carrier CHIOS BEAUTY, which<br />
lodged against barges on the Mississippi’s<br />
west bank. A Bollinger<br />
floating drydock, moored on the<br />
west bank, broke its lines and was<br />
blown across the river to the east<br />
bank causing extensive damage to<br />
the Erato Street wharf.<br />
None of the port’s extensive<br />
upriver facilities were flooded, but<br />
the France Road and Jourdan<br />
Street wharves on the Industrial<br />
Canal were badly affetced by<br />
flood. Electricity was lost at<br />
Jourdan Street, where poultry exports<br />
are handled.<br />
Fire and water<br />
Perversely, the port was seriously<br />
threatened by fires, notably at<br />
Mandeville and Piety wharves<br />
when propane tanks exploded.<br />
Propane exploding in the air<br />
touched off fires as far as a half<br />
mile away, said port president and<br />
CEO Gary LaGrange. The only<br />
way to fight the fire was to use<br />
firefighting vessels. Fire trucks responded<br />
to the emergency, but<br />
were unable to pump water.<br />
The recovery in port opera-<br />
Katrina hit on August 29 laid bare<br />
the damage at Gulfport. A large<br />
floating casino moored at the head<br />
of the port had been pushed<br />
ashore and deposited on the container<br />
chassis parking area nortions<br />
started almost immediately.<br />
On 5 September the port reported<br />
that the Mississippi River had reopened<br />
in one direction to ships<br />
with a draft of 35ft during daylight<br />
hours. Mid-month it reported<br />
that two of its 27 terminals<br />
were open and it expected to<br />
reach 10-20 per cent of capacity<br />
by the third week and attain 80<br />
per cent of capacity within three<br />
months. The first post-Katrina<br />
containership. Lykes Lines’ LYKES<br />
FLYER, was handled on 13 September.<br />
A steel shipment was handled<br />
at Louisiana Terminal.<br />
The port added that three of<br />
the four gantry <strong>crane</strong>s at the Napoleon<br />
Avenue and Nashville Avenue<br />
terminals were operational<br />
and the fourth was expected to be<br />
capable of working again before<br />
the end of the month.<br />
Some 125,000 tons of steel and<br />
aluminium cargoes as well as several<br />
container ships are scheduled<br />
to be handled at the various terminals<br />
during the rest of September<br />
and early October, according<br />
to Seaports Industry Update.<br />
Mobile OK<br />
Other regional ports reopened<br />
fairly quickly after the hurricane<br />
struck. The Port of Mobile said<br />
that it would be ready for business<br />
within days of Katrina. ºIts<br />
bulk terminals suffered little damage,<br />
although some general cargo<br />
facilities had lost roofing.<br />
On 9 September the port reported<br />
that its shipping channel<br />
was open to 43ft draft ships and<br />
two-way vessel movements<br />
round-the-clock. Normal operations<br />
had resumed at its general<br />
cargo terminals. No damage was<br />
sustained to the <strong>crane</strong>s at the Pier<br />
2 container terminal, but three<br />
reach stackers had been “knocked<br />
out” by electrical/electronic failures.<br />
Repairs were not expected<br />
to be a major problem and new<br />
machines were on the way as well.<br />
The Port of Pascagoula (Miss)<br />
suffered little damage at its east<br />
bank facilities, although west bank<br />
warehouses lost roofing and cargo<br />
was scattered. Four large oil platforms<br />
in Pascagoula for repairs<br />
remained at their moorings. As of<br />
mid-September, commercial activity<br />
was slowly returning, according<br />
to AAPA bulletins, with a<br />
resumption of frozen poultry and<br />
lumber exports.<br />
South Louisiana<br />
AAPA also reported that all<br />
grain elevators and four refineries<br />
at the Port of South Louisiana,<br />
the <strong>US</strong>A’s biggest oil port,<br />
were in operation, and all midstream<br />
transfer operations were<br />
working. The port suffered only<br />
minor structural damage and, as<br />
of mid-month, 85 per cent of<br />
capacity was available.<br />
The Port of Baton Rouge suffered<br />
no damage and took over<br />
cargo handling duties from New<br />
Orleans once the Mississippi’s<br />
depth had been recalculated and<br />
missing navigation aids replaced.<br />
The Port of Houston has also<br />
taken more cargo, mainly containers.<br />
Local pilots pushed forward<br />
the date for accepting ships drawing<br />
up to 45ft in fresh water. ❏<br />
September 2005
NORTH AMERICA: WEST COAST PORT DEVELOPMENT<br />
Congestion overcome...challenges ahead<br />
The congestion suffered by NAWC<br />
ports last year may have been a<br />
blessing in disguise as it spurred<br />
changes that have kept cargo moving this<br />
year, with few ports reporting traffic<br />
build-up, other than Vancouver BC,<br />
caught up in a truck strike through late<br />
summer. By mid-year <strong>US</strong>WC ports were<br />
handling 11 per cent more cargo than in<br />
the same period last year - a trend that<br />
has continued into early autumn.<br />
More labour has been the biggest help,<br />
with longshore gangs strengthened at<br />
major California gateways and in Puget<br />
Sound. Railroads have also pushed their<br />
crew hiring forward and added more<br />
motive power and rolling stock.<br />
In addition, off-peak traffic under<br />
Southern California’s PierPass programme<br />
begun in late July has surpassed expectations.<br />
In each of the first four nights of<br />
the more than 7500 containers entered<br />
or left Long Beach/Los Angeles marine<br />
terminals following normal closing hours,<br />
or almost 30 per cent of a typical day’s<br />
gate volume of 26,000 containers.<br />
The programme’s organisers originally<br />
set 30 per cent as a goal to be reached<br />
after two years running. To support the<br />
extra crews needed to operate five new<br />
evening shifts per week (Monday through<br />
Thursday between 18.00 and 03.00 and<br />
Saturday from 08.00 to 18.00), a traffic<br />
mitigation fee of <strong>US</strong>$40/TEU is levied<br />
on containers moved through the two<br />
ports during peak hours, Monday-Friday.<br />
RFID at GGS<br />
Shipping lines have also been hunting for<br />
ways to keep traffic moving. APL introduced<br />
active radio frequency identification<br />
(RFID) technology at its Global<br />
Gateway South (GGS) at Los Angeles the<br />
same day that PierPass was launched. By<br />
using real-time locating technology APL<br />
feels it will be able to reduce by as much<br />
as half a day or more the time it takes to<br />
track a container in the wheeled yard and<br />
prepare it for transport.<br />
RFID tags have been fitted to each<br />
chassis, transmitting location signals to<br />
computerised tracking equipment. Because<br />
nearly all containers at the GGS<br />
facility are on chassis, they can be spotted<br />
electronically and positioned for movement<br />
by truck, rail or ship. The technology<br />
has been available for years but, according<br />
to APL, the application represents<br />
its first-ever use at a <strong>US</strong>WC wheeled terminal<br />
and marks a milestone in its relationship<br />
with the ILWU.<br />
An agreement signed with the union<br />
in 2002 established guidelines for the<br />
implementation of waterfront automation<br />
and the use of RFID is seen as one of the<br />
first beneficial results. APL worked with<br />
the ILWU as well as with system designer,<br />
WhereNet Corporation, to develop and<br />
implement the technology.<br />
Scarce land<br />
Implementation of technology such as<br />
RFID and the spreading of truck gate<br />
operations over more hours of the day<br />
represent some of the areas of production<br />
enhancement left to major NAWC<br />
ports as land becomes scarce. In a stark<br />
shift from the last two decades there is<br />
only one new container terminal being<br />
<strong>built</strong> on the whole NAWC range, at<br />
Prince Rupert in northern BC, Canada.<br />
Three others remain on the drawing<br />
board: a new terminal at BC’s Roberts<br />
Bank requiring additional landfill; a potential<br />
terminal on Tacoma’s Blair Waterway<br />
using land under the control of a<br />
native American indian tribe; and Long<br />
Beach’s planned 160-acre Pier S complex,<br />
which still awaits the filing of an environmental<br />
impact report (EIR).<br />
The lack of new construction has<br />
showed up in Long Beach’s 2006 budget,<br />
which is <strong>US</strong>$40 mill less than the current<br />
year, primarily due to reductions in<br />
capital outlays. On the other hand,<br />
<strong>US</strong>$100 milll has been set aside for environmental<br />
programmes, marking a continuing<br />
trend at <strong>US</strong> ports where noise and<br />
air pollution control are at the forefront.<br />
This is expected to see ongoing development<br />
of shore-to-ship electrical<br />
power (“cold ironing”) as well as increased<br />
use of intermodal rail and more alternative-fuel<br />
cargo handling vehicles. Money<br />
is also to be invested in dust control and<br />
diesel emissions reduction equipment as<br />
well as improving road access through<br />
building new multi-level interchanges.<br />
Despite a lack of new construction,<br />
Long Beach is continuing third-phase<br />
completion of its Pier T container terminal,<br />
used by Hanjin, and carrying out<br />
improvements at Piers D, E and F, while<br />
container terminals on Pier A and G are<br />
slated for renovation. The port witnessed<br />
New ZPMC <strong>crane</strong>s being moved ashore from<br />
ZHEN HUA 1 at Cosco’s Long Beach terminal,<br />
operated for the port by SSA Marine<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
a 24 per cent increase in its container traffic<br />
through the first half of the year and<br />
expects numbers to continue climbing.<br />
LA pays for delays<br />
Contrasting Long Beach’s growth expectations,<br />
but matching its budget cuts, the<br />
Port of Los Angeles is not looking for<br />
another TEU record this year. After predicting<br />
a six per cent growth rate in January<br />
it is now estimating that traffic will<br />
remain steady at about 7.3 mill TEU or<br />
roughly the same as last year.<br />
Its operating and capital budget, however,<br />
has been lowered by 10 per cent to<br />
<strong>US</strong>$418.7 mill, with port priorities now<br />
earmarked as “security, environment and<br />
community development.”<br />
Only two terminals are seeing signs<br />
of construction work, the China Ship-<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
September 2005 25
Accredited by the<br />
Dutch Council for<br />
Accreditation<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
NORTH AMERICA: WEST COAST PORT DEVELOPMENT<br />
ping facility, which is slowly being<br />
<strong>built</strong> out in phases after becoming<br />
operational with four<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s last year, and the former<br />
Matson terminal, to be converted<br />
into the port’s first ground-up<br />
“green terminal” by P&ON.<br />
Earlier this year the Los Angeles<br />
Harbor Commission voted to<br />
pay China Shipping more than<br />
<strong>US</strong>$22 mill as part of a legal settlement<br />
stemming from the port’s<br />
failure to open the carrier’s Berth<br />
100 on time. Under the agreement,<br />
the port will also have to<br />
pay the Chinese line up to <strong>US</strong>$7.2<br />
mill in additional penalties if it fails<br />
to complete two expansions of the<br />
troubled facility on schedule.<br />
The terminal project was first<br />
delayed for more than a year due<br />
to environmental mitigation<br />
measures that had to be taken after<br />
a lawsuit was filed by local residents<br />
and various environmental<br />
groups. That lawsuit, eventually<br />
settled for <strong>US</strong>$50 mill, delayed the<br />
terminal’s opening from May 2002<br />
until May 2004, forcing the line<br />
to use other berths at Los Angeles<br />
and Long Beach for its ships.<br />
With P&O Nedlloyd now to<br />
become part of the greater Maersk<br />
operation next year the former<br />
● Maintenance Services<br />
● Refurbishments<br />
● Relocations<br />
● Offload & Assembly<br />
Earlier this year Fraser Surrey, BC took delivery of two new Doosan Heavy<br />
Industries-<strong>built</strong> <strong>crane</strong>s, shipped fully-erect from Korea by DockWise<br />
Matson facility may also become<br />
a headache. Although P&O<br />
Nedlloyd fought hard to win the<br />
right to develop the terminal, new<br />
owner Maersk may decide differently<br />
as it already has its own massive<br />
new terminal in operation on<br />
Los Angeles’ Pier 400.<br />
Down by the Bay<br />
San Francisco Bay ports have not<br />
been operating under the same<br />
environmental scrutiny as Southern<br />
California ports but there is<br />
also much less construction going<br />
on. The Port of Oakland,<br />
which found itself handling some<br />
diverted traffic from Los Angeles<br />
and Long Beach last year, has completed<br />
its major marine terminal<br />
and intermodal yard projects, leaving<br />
only an ongoing dredging<br />
project to continue with.<br />
It also took delivery of two<br />
ZPMC <strong>crane</strong>s, each capable of<br />
spanning 23 containers, at Berth<br />
32 earlier this year, bring its total<br />
post-panamax <strong>crane</strong> count to 19.<br />
Berth 32, formerly operated by<br />
Matson Navigation, has been<br />
joined to the adjacent TraPac facility<br />
for use by Mitsui OSK and<br />
New World Alliance members.<br />
Oakland is now studying the<br />
ECC<br />
East Coast Cranes & Electrical Contracting, Inc<br />
Specializing in Port Facilities Serving the Americas<br />
Cranes, RTGs, RMGs<br />
Straddle Carriers<br />
Electrical<br />
Contracting<br />
● Crane Feeders<br />
● Yard Lighting<br />
● High Voltage Distribution<br />
● Reefer Receptacles<br />
NEW IN 2005<br />
● Port Technical Training Institute<br />
● 5,400 Sq. ft training Facility in Elizabeth, NJ<br />
● Hands on training programs for Port Maintenance Personnel<br />
realignment and reconstruction of<br />
other older terminals in its Outer<br />
Harbor area in such a manner that<br />
property acquired from the closed<br />
Oakland Army Base could be used<br />
to create several new mega-terminals.<br />
However, costs associated<br />
with the project are considerable<br />
and it will take creative project<br />
coordination, as well as substantial<br />
capital, to complete. Container<br />
volumes were up by more than 15<br />
per cent at Oakland through midyear<br />
and are expected to exceed<br />
last year’s record of just over 2 mill<br />
TEU by year end.<br />
Oakland night gates<br />
The port is initiating its own trial<br />
project to extend gate hours at one<br />
of its eight international marine<br />
terminals - Stevedoring Services<br />
of America’s Oakland International<br />
Container Terminal<br />
(OICT) - from 18.00 to 02.30<br />
hours, Monday through Friday,<br />
beginning early this month.<br />
The “night gates” trial, which<br />
is expected to run for 2-3 months,<br />
is partly a response to concerns<br />
from major export agricultural<br />
shippers that daytime traffic congestion<br />
has reduced the ability of<br />
their drivers to make efficient and<br />
Telecom & Security<br />
Systems<br />
● Gate Systems<br />
● Security Systems<br />
● Camera Systems<br />
● Scanners<br />
Website: www.eastcoast<strong>crane</strong>s.com<br />
Email: Sales@eastcoast<strong>crane</strong>s.com<br />
Phone: 732-866-1767<br />
Fax: 732-683-1433<br />
cost-effective “turns” to and from<br />
the port. OICT currently accommodates<br />
around 2500 truck turns/<br />
day and the port hopes that some<br />
15 per cent of these can be made<br />
during the extended hours.<br />
Searching for cargo<br />
With Oakland accounting for<br />
nearly 97 per cent of all container<br />
traffic moving in San Francisco<br />
Bay, other regional ports must<br />
grasp at what ever traffic they can<br />
find. The Port of San Francisco,<br />
with only 32,000 TEU handled<br />
last year, is on track to move about<br />
264,000 tonnes of breakbulk<br />
cargo this year, primarily steel,<br />
lumber and newsprint. This will<br />
represent an increase of seven per<br />
cent over 2004 figures and, when<br />
combined with aggregate imports<br />
and other bulk commodities, will<br />
push the port’s total cargo figure<br />
close to 2.4 mill tonnes.<br />
Because of its rapidly growing<br />
bulk trade San Francisco is now<br />
competing more heavily with the<br />
Port of Redwood City to the<br />
south, than its longtime cross-Bay<br />
rival Oakland. Redwood City has<br />
traditionally been the Bay area’s<br />
main bulk port, with a record 1.9<br />
mill tonnes moved last year, but<br />
also has a water depth problem.<br />
Continual silting, and inaction<br />
by the <strong>US</strong> Army Corps of Engineers,<br />
has left Redwood City’s<br />
entrance channel at less than 27.5ft<br />
deep. This means a working<br />
draught of just 25.5ft for loaded<br />
bulk carriers entering or leaving<br />
the port. The reduced draught is<br />
forcing smaller payloads and costing<br />
shippers money.<br />
RMC Cemex, a major cement<br />
importer, could lose <strong>US</strong>$1 mill<br />
this year because of load restrictions<br />
on inbound cement ships,<br />
with cargoes being reduced from<br />
38,000 to 35,000 tonnes per sailing,<br />
representing a demurrage cost<br />
of <strong>US</strong>$60,000.<br />
Also suffering from a restricted<br />
draught situation is the Port of<br />
Sacramento, which must make<br />
due with a 30ft deep channel. The<br />
port lost <strong>US</strong>$5.5 mill over the past<br />
five years, and is on track to lose<br />
another <strong>US</strong>$1.7 mill this year, because<br />
of reduced ship calls, now<br />
averaging only about 60 per year.<br />
Although bulk cement cargoes<br />
have grown at the port (to about<br />
213,000 tonnes in 2004) other<br />
commodities have declined, with<br />
grain and wood chips disappearing<br />
completely. Sacramento is<br />
looking at the possibility of inaugurating<br />
a container barge service<br />
linking its facilities with<br />
Oakland. The service would not<br />
require channel dredging and<br />
would take trucks off the parallel<br />
freeway system and is strongly supported<br />
by the local community.<br />
Pacific Northwest<br />
Along with Oakland, Pacific<br />
Northwest ports were able to handle<br />
some diverted Southern California<br />
traffic last year but, like<br />
Southern California, they are also<br />
becoming land-poor. No new<br />
construction is under way except<br />
at Prince Rupert where demolition<br />
of existing structures has be<br />
completed, allowing construction<br />
to begin on a new two-berth terminal<br />
which will be operated by<br />
the Port of New York/New Jersey’s<br />
biggest common user terminal<br />
operator, Maher Terminals.<br />
Prince Rupert’s governmentsupported<br />
move into the container<br />
business has not discouraged<br />
BC’s two other container gateways<br />
from expanding their own operations.<br />
This summer a shipload of<br />
container <strong>crane</strong>s and yard gantries<br />
moved into Vancouver as P&O<br />
Ports Canada fulfilled its promise<br />
to revitalise Centerm.<br />
The two <strong>crane</strong>s, each weighing<br />
1350 tonnes and costing<br />
C$19.2 mill en bloc, are part of the<br />
operator’s C$148 mill redevelopment<br />
of Centerm and, along with<br />
other enhancements, will double<br />
the facility’s capacity by next<br />
March. The <strong>crane</strong> acquisition also<br />
matches Terminal Systems Inc’s<br />
efforts, which placed a ZPMC<br />
<strong>crane</strong> on Roberts Bank earlier this<br />
year and positioned two more<br />
units at its Vanterm complex<br />
within Burrard Inlet.<br />
More <strong>crane</strong>s will be needed<br />
once the port completes a third<br />
berth at Deltaport. The C$272<br />
mill facility is projected to be operational<br />
by summer 2008.<br />
Fraser River Port, south of<br />
Vancouver, is also boosting capacity.<br />
Already considered Canada’s<br />
second busiest port measured in<br />
total cargo volume, the river port<br />
saw its container traffic jump by<br />
over 27 per cent in 2004, to<br />
320,136 TEU, and is looking for<br />
another leap this year.<br />
The arrival of two additional<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s in April, and the expansion<br />
of an IY and truck gate in July,<br />
have raised throughput capacity at<br />
the port to 415,000 TEU/year.<br />
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Ever greener in Tacoma<br />
In what it describes as “a voluntary,<br />
proactive decision to protect<br />
Puget Sound air quality,” Evergreen<br />
Group has announced that<br />
all diesel-powered equipment at<br />
its new Pierce County Terminal<br />
in the Port of Tacoma will switch<br />
to ultra-low sulphur diesel<br />
(ULSD) fuel. The decision mainly<br />
covers its 34-strong (soon to be<br />
50) fleet of diesel-electric Noell<br />
dstraddle carriers.<br />
The Tacoma port commission<br />
recently directed that all diesel<br />
equipment by the port iteself<br />
should utilise ULSD fuel. The port<br />
itself operates 38 straddle carriers<br />
between Husky Terminal, Olympic<br />
Container Terminal and the<br />
North Intermodal Yard.<br />
“While the decision increases<br />
our operational costs, use of the<br />
more expensive fuel has tangible<br />
benefits for the environment and<br />
the community,” said Evergreen<br />
group chairman Dr Y F Chang.<br />
According to R Ted Bottiger,<br />
president of the port commission,<br />
the use of ULSD reduces SO 2<br />
emissions by 97 percent. ULSD is<br />
not yet readily available at all<br />
North American ports. However,<br />
<strong>US</strong> Oil, adjacent to the Port of<br />
Tacoma, is a major ULSD refiner<br />
and supplier.<br />
In the <strong>US</strong>, the port goes on to<br />
explain, straddle carriers have a<br />
federally set SO 2<br />
emission standard<br />
of 5000 ppm, but this limit is<br />
set to fall to 500 ppm in June 2007<br />
and, under <strong>US</strong>-EPA Tier 4, to 15<br />
ppm in June 2010.<br />
He added that Evergreen’s<br />
newest S-type vessels incorporate<br />
many new environmental features<br />
well beyond the requirements of<br />
new and forthcoming international<br />
environmental upgrade requirements.<br />
❏<br />
● The Port of Houston has increased<br />
its diesel fuel budget after<br />
Cummins modified the engines of<br />
seven Kone<strong>crane</strong>s’ RTGs at<br />
Barbours’ Cut to reduce NOx<br />
emissions. The RTGs were originally<br />
expected to run on a diesel<br />
emulsion mix (Purinox) to reduce<br />
NOx emissions by achieving “a<br />
better burn,” but this is potentially<br />
harmful to the upgraded engines.<br />
The 12 Kone<strong>crane</strong>s RTGs just<br />
ordered by the port for its new<br />
Bayport terminal are being fitted<br />
with the Cummins G9 engine<br />
which meets the legal emission<br />
targets using ordinary diesel. ❏<br />
September 2005
NORTH AMERICA: WEST COAST PORT DEVELOPMENT<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
age area increased, a throughput of<br />
600,000TEU/year will be possible.<br />
The efforts of both Vancouver and<br />
Fraser to expand capacity are being<br />
matched by the Canadian Pacific Railway<br />
(CPR), which is spending C$160<br />
mill on 25 projects that will enable it to<br />
run an additional four 100-car unit trains/<br />
day on its transcontinental system, a 12<br />
per cent increase over current capacity.<br />
Boosting <strong>box</strong>es<br />
With nearly 1.7 mill TEU handled last<br />
year, Vancouver, BC is pulling abreast of<br />
cross-border rivals Seattle and Tacoma,<br />
each with about 1.8 mill TEU in 2004.<br />
Vancouver can also still expand Roberts<br />
Bank. Seattle, on the other hand, has run<br />
out of room unless it wishes to convert<br />
its Pier 90/91 complex to containers, and<br />
this seems unlikely given the strength of<br />
local resident opposition.<br />
However, capacity at Seattle has been<br />
boosted by expansion of Terminals 18 and<br />
46, while Terminal 25 has recently been<br />
reopened following <strong>US</strong>$20 mill worth of<br />
reconstruction work and the installation<br />
of three Paceco Portainers moved up from<br />
Long Beach. The work allows Matson<br />
Navigation to shift its operations from T18<br />
to T25, thus opening up room at T18<br />
where additional post-panamax <strong>crane</strong>s are<br />
to be delivered next year. The refinements,<br />
as well as Southern California traffic diversion,<br />
helped push Seattle’s container<br />
volume up 25 per cent in the first half of<br />
the year. It expects to match or exceed<br />
last year’s record of 1.78 mill TEU by the<br />
end of this year.<br />
Tacoma moved ahead of Seattle in<br />
BNSF cleans up<br />
BNSF Railway is installing new technology<br />
to provide cleaner air and more efficient<br />
freight movement. “Rail has long<br />
been the most efficient means humankind<br />
has ever created for moving freight<br />
overland,” remarked John Lanigan, EVP<br />
and chief marketing officer. The new<br />
generation of equipment will help improve<br />
Southern California’s air quality<br />
and its economy.”<br />
On the list is Green Goat, a hybrid<br />
switch engine that utilises a system of a<br />
microturbine and batteries. According to<br />
BNSF, currently there are only four LNG<br />
locos in the <strong>US</strong> and they are all located at<br />
its Los Angeles facility, Hobart Yard.<br />
Lanigan says that, subject only to successful<br />
trials and testing, BNSF’s Southern<br />
California International Gateway<br />
intermodal facility (SCIG) will use “only<br />
LNG-powered locomotives for railcar<br />
switching, only LNG-powered yard tractors<br />
and only electrically-powered <strong>crane</strong>s.”<br />
BNSF expects the SCIG to remove<br />
millions of miles of truck traffic from<br />
nearby congested freeways, with concomitant<br />
major air quality impacts. It is<br />
hoped the SCIG will provide direct access<br />
to the Alameda Corridor and will<br />
enable it to reach its potential in terms of<br />
train capacity.<br />
BNSF is collaborating with Parsec and<br />
Sound Energy Solutions to acquire and<br />
deploy LNG-powered yard tractors,<br />
which are being <strong>built</strong> by Kalmar Industries<br />
(Ottawa units). Using LNG yard tractors,<br />
it says, will reduce NOx and PM<br />
emissions by 95 per cent compared to a<br />
standard off-road diesel tractor.<br />
BNSF has already begun to install the<br />
SmartStart engine idle reduction system<br />
from ZTR Control Systems on locomotives<br />
in Southern California. It is promoting<br />
the key benefits of SmartStart as including<br />
a reduction in the fuel burned by<br />
automatically shutting down idling locomotives,<br />
and a reduction in harmful gas,<br />
PM and noise emissions.<br />
Meanwhile, both BNSF and UP have<br />
provided traffic data for a simulation study<br />
carried out by the Washington state Port<br />
of Vancouver to ascertain the best option<br />
for a third rail access. The study has indicated<br />
that the existing BNSF/ Vancouver<br />
rail network is already experiencing congestion<br />
during peak train volume levels.<br />
Currently, a daily average of 27 delays<br />
of more than 30 mins was recorded and<br />
nearly half (45 per cent) of the delays involved<br />
port trains even though port traffic<br />
accounts for only 5.2 per cent of the<br />
rail network total. ❏<br />
container traffic last year, with over 1.8<br />
mill TEU handled. This number may<br />
move to 2 mill TEU now that Evergreen<br />
and K-Line have settled into new terminals,<br />
to be followed shortly by Yang Ming.<br />
The port is fitting its own fleet of 30 straddle<br />
carriers with diesel oxidation catalysts<br />
this year using federal and local grants.<br />
The work is expected to reduce the machines’<br />
PM emissions by up to 50 per cent<br />
(Ever Greener on p26).<br />
Mostly strads<br />
Although K-Line’s new terminal uses<br />
RTGs in the storage yard, straddle carriers<br />
are used to move containers between<br />
the yard and Tacoma’s North Intermodal<br />
rail facility. They will also be used by Yang<br />
Ming when that carrier starts up operations,<br />
leaving Maersk Sealand, which uses<br />
the South Intermodal Yard, as the port’s<br />
only non-straddle carrier operator.<br />
Smaller ports dream big<br />
In California the small ports of San Diego<br />
and Hueneme have taken a number<br />
of customers from LA/LB, principally automobile<br />
and fruit handlers. Next year<br />
Toyota Logistics Service will pull one<br />
operation from Long Beach and move it<br />
to the privately-run Port of Benicia on<br />
San Francisco Bay.<br />
This will open up a 30-acre facility at<br />
Long Beach that may be merged with the<br />
nearby SSA Terminal, used by MSC, Zim<br />
and CMA CGM, to expand that complex<br />
to 200 acres. Toyota will retain a 144-<br />
acre receiving and processing facility at<br />
Long Beach as well as a similar facility<br />
operated at Portland, Oregon.<br />
Moving cargo at<br />
The initial results of the PierPass Program in LA/LB have exceeded expectations, with night<br />
hours gate traffic reaching as much as 30 per cent of daily demand<br />
Both San Diego and Hueneme have<br />
been expanding their capacity to handle<br />
additional cargo, and both have acquired<br />
harbour mobile <strong>crane</strong>s to help move deck<br />
TM GE Automation Systems, LLC<br />
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smaller West Coast port investing<br />
in lifting capacity is Everett, Wa where<br />
Boeing Company is changing the way it<br />
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September 2005 27
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
NORTH AMERICA: WEST COAST PORT DEVELOPMENT<br />
Wind turbine tower pieces being offloaded by<br />
tandem shipboard <strong>crane</strong>s in Longview<br />
imports oversized containers coming in<br />
from Asia filled with aircraft parts.<br />
To date these awkward containers have<br />
been accommodated on liner ships arriving<br />
at Seattle or Tacoma, then transloaded<br />
onto barges for positioning at Everett<br />
where they are offloaded and railed onward<br />
to the Boeing plant. The rail segment<br />
of this trip has been tying up BNSF’s<br />
mainline for several hours each passage.<br />
To sidestep the problem, Everett is building<br />
a new barge offloading and transfer<br />
dock at Mukilteo, located closer to the<br />
Boeing plant, at a cost of <strong>US</strong>$25 mill.<br />
Part of the cost is being funded by the<br />
State of Washington while the facility’s<br />
users, principally Boeing, will pay for the<br />
remainder. The dock is to be fitted with<br />
an electrically-driven gantry <strong>crane</strong> that<br />
will be capable of shifting the oversized<br />
containers from barge to railcar. The<br />
shorter rail journey will occupy the BNSF<br />
mainline for only 15 mins.<br />
To help speed the process Boeing has<br />
cut a deal with Westwood Shipping<br />
(Weyerhaeuser) to move containers directly<br />
from Asia to Everett, a new rotation<br />
for Westwood that will start up next<br />
year. The containers will be offloaded at<br />
Everett, shifted to barge and moved to<br />
the Mukilteo dock for transfer to railcars.<br />
Boeing expects the revised logistics to<br />
lower production costs for the 747, 767<br />
and 777 jetliners it builds at Everett.<br />
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not been as fortunate as Everett. Near<br />
the Canadian border the Port of<br />
Bellingham, which has not handled any<br />
commercial traffic other than lay-up tonnage<br />
for several years, has acquired 140<br />
acres of former Georgia Pacific property<br />
but the acreage is expected to be converted<br />
to marina and condominium usage<br />
rather than commercial maritime.<br />
In nearly the same situation is<br />
Anacortes, another 2-berth port, which<br />
has seen its log export trade drop away,<br />
leaving it only with an occasional bulk<br />
petcoke shipment, and these are now being<br />
accomplished mainly by barge. The<br />
Port of Olympia has also been short of<br />
cargo but its proximity to nearby Tacoma<br />
is working to its benefit.<br />
Tacoma’s Weyerhaeuser plans to move<br />
its log import and export operations to<br />
Olympia next year following the signing<br />
of a lease agreement with the smaller port<br />
for 24 acres of land. In return, Olympia is<br />
launching <strong>US</strong>$4 mill worth of upgrading<br />
work this autumn to provide additional<br />
paved storage areas and more utilities.<br />
The lease, which is for five years with<br />
options for three consecutive two-year<br />
extensions, is expected to generate up to<br />
18 ship calls and 30 barge calls per year.<br />
This will push Olympia’s forest product<br />
business to over 100 mbf/year compared<br />
to just under 41 mbf in 2004.<br />
Blowing in the wind<br />
Three other Washington ports long dependent<br />
on forest products are diversifying.<br />
Longview, on the Columbia River,<br />
is handling 100-car unit trains of soda ash<br />
that are unloaded using a “direct hit”<br />
method at its Berth 2 bulk facility operated<br />
by Kinder Morgan. The soda ash,<br />
being moved for American Natural Soda<br />
Ash Corporation, is loaded aboard ship<br />
at a rate of 1200 tph using a recently completed<br />
rail car staging complex. This year,<br />
over 225,000 tonnes are expected to be<br />
loaded aboard eight ships, with each vessel<br />
taking on around 30,000 tonnes.<br />
Using a similar operation, but for bulk<br />
agricultural products, is Grays Harbor,<br />
where operations for Omaha, Nebraska’s<br />
AGP have exceeded expectations. With<br />
an annual volume approaching 400,000<br />
tonnes and rail car timing becoming more<br />
difficult, AGP is considering building a<br />
flat storage pad that would allow more<br />
product to move through the port without<br />
being dependent on railcar staging.<br />
Also diversifying is the Port of Vancouver,<br />
Wa, which recently took over<br />
operation of two marine terminals from<br />
Marine Terminals Corp. Vancouver had<br />
previously renovated the terminals and is<br />
currently building an 100,000 ft 2 warehouse<br />
at a third facility (Terminal 3).<br />
Vancouver has also secured long-term<br />
(5-year) agreements with seven major<br />
breakbulk customers. Star Shipping signed<br />
on as a terminal operator at the newly<br />
renovated Terminal 2 last year and agreements<br />
have followed with Saga Forest<br />
Carriers, STX Pan Ocean, Hyundai Merchant<br />
Marine, SK Shipping, New Zealand<br />
Lumber Shippers and MAN<br />
Ferrostaal. Last year these customers handled<br />
over 75 per cent of the breakbulk<br />
cargo at the port, moving almost 0.5 mill<br />
tonnes of steel and forestry products. The<br />
port is also working on a new rail access<br />
project (see foot of BNSF... on p27).<br />
Both Vancouver and Longview have<br />
been handling several large project moves<br />
this year, involving components for “wind<br />
farms” being <strong>built</strong> in eastern Washington<br />
and western Montana.<br />
Portland down<br />
The nearby Port of Portland, Or has handled<br />
such moves in the past, but its overall<br />
cargo volume was down 11 per cent<br />
and ship calls down by 17 per cent in the<br />
first half of the year. This stems mainly<br />
from the departure of two major container<br />
lines last year, with container counts<br />
dropping by 52 per cent. Grain, the port’s<br />
traditional tonnage leader, was off by almost<br />
12 per cent at 1.6 mill tonnes, but<br />
mineral bulks witnessed a surprising 11<br />
per cent increase to 2.4 mill tonnes.<br />
Portland is hoping a new postpanamax<br />
container <strong>crane</strong> on order, coupled<br />
with improved rail access, a reduction<br />
in bar pilotage fees and the start of<br />
the Columbia River dredging project will<br />
help spur additional tonnage and return<br />
some of its lost container traffic. ❏<br />
28<br />
September 2005
SWEDEN/DENMARK: PORT DEVELOPMENT<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Gothenburg reviews its strategic options<br />
As containerisation grew and it<br />
became the accepted policy that<br />
deep sea container ships would<br />
turn around at Hamburg/<br />
Bremerhaven, most Baltic ports<br />
resigned themselves to the rôle of<br />
feeder status with domestic cargoes<br />
no longer shipped direct.<br />
Indeed, the two major northern<br />
European feeder operators,<br />
Unifeeder and Team Lines, were<br />
established to service Baltic cargo<br />
flows and have continued to grow<br />
- Team Lines is now owned by<br />
Finnlines while Unifeeder maintains<br />
its Danish ownership.<br />
Norway’s capital city port,<br />
Oslo, “accepted the inevitable”<br />
and downgraded its container flow<br />
forecasts. It now appears intent on<br />
removing this activity completely<br />
from its port boundaries. Helsinki<br />
welcomed feeder traffic, with regional<br />
ports servicing the paper<br />
industries by ro-ro.<br />
Stockholm and Copenhagen<br />
looked to distance themselves<br />
from commercial container traffic<br />
and instead exploit waterside<br />
development potential as well as<br />
cruise and passenger ferry traffic,<br />
as Helsinki has also done.<br />
Many ports in the Nordic region<br />
appear to prefer real estate<br />
development to port activities,<br />
despite the presence of a concentrated<br />
hinterland in otherwise<br />
sparsely populated countries.<br />
Gothenburg, however, has taken<br />
Sweden’s main load centre has<br />
come up with new ways to extend<br />
its influence in the Baltic area<br />
Maersk Sealand’s GUDRUN MAERSK, here shown being loaded for the first time<br />
at the Port of Gothenburg’s Skandia terminal<br />
a different stance to maintain its<br />
deepsea business aspirations,<br />
alongside feeder traffic.<br />
Not easy<br />
This has proved to be a difficult<br />
task. ACL has stayed with the port<br />
as it had a wider cargo base in<br />
terms of wheeled traffic and machinery.<br />
Evergreen, on the other<br />
hand, tried direct calls but found<br />
the cargo generated did not justify<br />
the deviation and it returned<br />
to feeding to/from Hamburg.<br />
However, according to some<br />
analysts, there is now a shortage<br />
of feeder vessels as pressure on<br />
feeder rates is making longer term<br />
newbuilding investment difficult<br />
to justify. Additionally, new work-<br />
Gottwald Port Technology<br />
ing hour directives may require<br />
additional crewing, particularly to<br />
cover the Elbe/Kiel Canal passage,<br />
which will push up costs against<br />
the same revenue base.<br />
At the same time, the order<br />
boom in main line ships, particularly<br />
post-panamax vessels, as capacity<br />
increases rather than replacement<br />
tonnage, could result in<br />
more ships to service other European<br />
ports outside the Le Havre-<br />
Hamburg range in a “trickle<br />
through” effect.<br />
Blue is the colour<br />
Maersk found better market conditions<br />
than Evergreen for direct<br />
calls, possibly due to its<br />
Scandinavian origins, but more<br />
directly, to its take-over of Sealand.<br />
This <strong>US</strong> carrier was a pioneer<br />
in Gothenburg (although it later<br />
switched to nearby Wallhamn due<br />
to labour disputes and cost issue)<br />
and developed a strong local customer<br />
following in Scandinavia.<br />
So did Sweden’s East Asiatic,<br />
which Maersk also absorbed.<br />
Doubling up for NETSS<br />
To support growing SECU traffic<br />
as StoraEnso’s system is enlarged<br />
to cover Finland, using<br />
Gothenburg as the consolidation<br />
base, the Port of Gothenburg is<br />
constructing another linkspan at<br />
the StoraEnso terminal.<br />
ºUnlike the original 2-tier<br />
ramp, the new linkspan, to be<br />
supplied by TTS, will be a single<br />
level ramp. It will be hinged<br />
at the shoreside and raised and<br />
lowered by means of hydraulic<br />
cylinders at the seaward side.<br />
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The Danish group’s high profile<br />
in Sweden will be further<br />
strengthened by its takeover of<br />
P&O Nedlloyd, which has traditionally<br />
been very strong in Scandinavia,<br />
both in container traffic<br />
and short sea ro-ro.<br />
Encouraged by Maersk’s presence,<br />
the port owner and operator<br />
(Göteborgs Hamn AB) took<br />
the decision was taken to order<br />
two Noell post-panamax <strong>crane</strong>s,<br />
even though it was considered a<br />
risky move. This investment has<br />
evidently proved its worth.<br />
The port has now ordered<br />
three superpost-panamax <strong>crane</strong>s<br />
covering a 23-wide deck span for<br />
wide ramp will cater for three<br />
lanes simultaneously. It will<br />
mainly be used to discharge the<br />
three 13,800 dwt B&N ro-ros<br />
(in build) on the forthcoming<br />
north Finland-Gothenburg<br />
shuttle, as well as load SECUs<br />
into the DFDS Tor Line ro-ro<br />
ships headed for Tilbury.<br />
The ramp, positioned at<br />
berth 702 alongside the original<br />
ramp at berth 700, is aligned<br />
parallel to the quay. Handling<br />
can be carried on at both ramps<br />
simultaneously. ❏<br />
B&W Bulk Handling<br />
Sino-Danish “superport”<br />
Plot A/S, a Danish architectural<br />
consultancy company, is working<br />
on an offshore port project for the<br />
Gulf of Tongking area, as the entry<br />
point to China’s Guangxi<br />
province and the northeast cornerstone<br />
in South east Asia.<br />
The Danish project team is led<br />
by Bjarke Ingels and Julien de<br />
Smedt and its Chinese partner is<br />
the Guangxi Institute of Architecture<br />
Design and Research. The<br />
proposed Red Star Harbour<br />
would occupy 680-ha. Project cost<br />
has been estimated at €1 bill.<br />
Plot has previously proposed<br />
a similar, star-shaped harbour<br />
project for Denmark. This<br />
“superharbour,” located along the<br />
planned Rødby-Puttgarden<br />
bridge, would be the new Baltic<br />
gate. Gradually it would be able<br />
to absorb all Danish harbour activities<br />
and, it was claimed, free up<br />
€20 bill worth of prime, waterfront<br />
space in the existing ports<br />
for residential use. This value was<br />
said to exceed the entire cost of<br />
the new multi-cargo port, so it was<br />
economically good for Denmark.<br />
Its container capacity would be<br />
able to exceed that of Rotterdam.<br />
Plot has been involved in a<br />
number of projects in various<br />
spheres in Denmark, Sweden,<br />
Holland and Korea. However, the<br />
star harbour concept is easily its<br />
most ambitious to date. ❏<br />
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Good results for ADP<br />
Associated Danish Ports A/S<br />
(ADP) reports that revenues rose<br />
by five per cent in the first half of<br />
2005, from DKK42.3 mill in the<br />
first half of 2004 to DK 44.4 mill.<br />
ADP reports a high level of<br />
activity at its three ports (Fredericia,<br />
Nyborg and Middelfart),<br />
with the total volume of cargo<br />
handled increasing by just over<br />
four per cent relative to the first<br />
half of 2004. Despite the lack of<br />
raw material tonnage for Kemira<br />
GrowHow A/S, which closed<br />
down its fertiliser production in<br />
2004, “we have created growth<br />
and attracted new customer activities,”<br />
explains ADP’s managing<br />
director Jens Peter Peters.<br />
Liquid bulk throughput rose<br />
by six per cent, attributed to the<br />
large volume of crude oil shipped<br />
in April and May. Dry bulk volumes<br />
tend to fluctuate more.<br />
There is still a shortfall in grain<br />
shipments, but ADP retained its<br />
importance for shipping animal<br />
feedstuffs. Shipments of stone, sand<br />
and gravel doubled, while general<br />
cargo throughput was up by more<br />
than 20 per cent.<br />
Fredericia saw an increase of<br />
just under five per cent overall,<br />
while cargo volumes increased by<br />
more than 17 per cent in Nyborg.<br />
This growth occurred exclusively<br />
at the Lindholm terminal and is<br />
attributable to new agreements<br />
which have been made concerning<br />
the use of the port for shipments<br />
of broken stone for the<br />
whole of Funen.<br />
Nyborg was chosen, says ADP,<br />
on account of its water depth, the<br />
many free areas and its proximity<br />
to the rest of the infrastructure.<br />
Middelfart has also been used for<br />
the shipment of considerable volumes<br />
of broken stone. Steel volumes<br />
in Nyborg were constant,<br />
whereas the influx of liquid products<br />
to Avernakke was less than in<br />
the same period last year.<br />
The outlook for the second<br />
half of 2005 is positive, says ADP.<br />
Recent months have seen the<br />
conclusion of several new agreements,<br />
which will result in further<br />
increases in cargo volumes. For<br />
2005 as a whole, says Peters, ADP<br />
expects a profit before financial<br />
items of at least DKK20 mill.<br />
Owning and operating the<br />
ports in Fredericia, Nyborg and<br />
Middelfart, ADP handles more<br />
than 17 mill tonnes of cargo a year<br />
and is the largest port system located<br />
within Denmark. ❏<br />
Heavy duty pavements<br />
● Rapid application<br />
● High bearing capacity<br />
● Superior resistance to rutting<br />
● Impermeable<br />
● Joint-free<br />
pavement<br />
www.densit.com<br />
www.port-trade.com Tel.: +45 7628 0102<br />
Reference: Copenhagen Port, Denmark<br />
<br />
September 2005 29
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
delivery in September next year .<br />
The existing post-Panamax<br />
Noell <strong>crane</strong>s operate on the preexisting<br />
<strong>crane</strong> rail gauge (20m),<br />
but for the new <strong>crane</strong>s a third rail<br />
will be installed behind the existing<br />
landside rail to provide a<br />
30.48m gauge.<br />
A new rail size has also been<br />
selected, MRS 125. The new rail<br />
will extend 500m from the eastern<br />
side of the Scandia quay line.<br />
Extra piling is required to support<br />
the rail as well as an additional<br />
trench for the cable feed.<br />
In addition to being able to<br />
handle the largest Maersk Sealand<br />
ships, the <strong>crane</strong>s will increase the<br />
30<br />
capacity of the terminal. It is likely<br />
that one of the old Asea <strong>crane</strong>s will<br />
be removed from the west quay<br />
line (sold or scrapped) and replaced<br />
with a newer unit from the<br />
main quay.<br />
This would leave five postpanamax<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s on the main quay,<br />
three of which are restricted to<br />
500m travel, plus three panamax<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s, to service six berths. Three<br />
will be retained on the west quay.<br />
Housekeeping<br />
Previously, the port considered it<br />
had a capacity of around 1 mill<br />
TEU/year. Last year, Gothenburg<br />
handled 731,000 TEU and with a<br />
10 per cent growth rate this year<br />
is coming near to its current capacity<br />
ceiling. However, a consultancy<br />
study in 2001 indicated that<br />
with minimal disruption, some<br />
“housekeeping” to clear out nonessential<br />
activities but staying with<br />
straddle carrier landside handling,<br />
terminal capacity could be increased<br />
to the order of 1.25–1.5<br />
mill TEU/year.<br />
The old <strong>crane</strong> maintenance<br />
workshop, a legacy of the days<br />
when port ownership and operation<br />
were not integrated and the<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s were owned and operated<br />
by the local municipality, are to<br />
be pulled down as they are effectively<br />
in the middle of the stacking<br />
area. A further study by HPC<br />
has suggested that with a change<br />
in the landside handling systems,<br />
capacity could be increased to 3<br />
mill TEU/year given the land area<br />
available at the port and its quayside<br />
length.<br />
The increased capacity of the<br />
three new <strong>crane</strong>s places pressure<br />
on the port to intensify its yard<br />
handling systems, while the ability<br />
to work five <strong>crane</strong>s over a<br />
Maersk Sealand or other main line<br />
ship will require a more efficient<br />
yard configuration and higher<br />
stacking capacity than can be provided<br />
by the current “pure” straddle<br />
carrier-direct operation.<br />
The port planners consider<br />
they have a couple of years before<br />
capacity constraints are reached,<br />
although detailed plans must be<br />
developed soon to ensure a<br />
smooth transition.<br />
RMG contender<br />
The port is examining all options,<br />
but one strong possibility is an<br />
RMG yard <strong>crane</strong> system, initially<br />
behind the 500m quayside served<br />
by the three new ZPMC <strong>crane</strong>s.<br />
It would work alongside the conventional<br />
straddle carrier fleet.<br />
The straddle carriers would<br />
service the stacking <strong>crane</strong> rows as<br />
well as their own yard. However,<br />
the port has also looked at dedicated,<br />
low height shuttle carriers<br />
to feed the yard <strong>crane</strong> stacks.<br />
As demand increases, particularly<br />
as the port hopes for<br />
deepsea traffic, the <strong>crane</strong> stacks<br />
could be increased at the expense<br />
of the straddle carrier<br />
park, although it is doubtful<br />
whether the port would switch<br />
to a full RMG operation.<br />
However, the port considers<br />
that both the RMGs and the<br />
straddle carriers could “be automated.”<br />
If an RMG system were<br />
specified, it is likely that the <strong>crane</strong>s<br />
and stack configuration would be<br />
designed to be suitable for full automation,<br />
even if they were initially<br />
operated manually.<br />
RMGs are considered a better<br />
option than RTGs at the moment<br />
due to the poor soil conditions<br />
under the concrete surface. Some<br />
SEK400 mill has already been<br />
spent in reinforcing and piling the<br />
sub-structure although it is believed<br />
that more will be required<br />
to support RMG tracks and the<br />
greater stacking heights.<br />
Land grab<br />
One way the port believes it can<br />
attract deep sea calls, in addition<br />
contlift – FOR CONTAINER SHUNTING<br />
cch ab<br />
P.O. Box103, SE-471 32 SKÄRHAMN, SWEDEN<br />
Tel.: +46 304 67 06 87, Fax +46 304 67 04 97<br />
website: www.contlift.com e-mail: info@contlift.com<br />
SWEDEN/DENMARK: PORT DEVELOPMENT<br />
Aerial shot of the Port of Gothenburg’s Arendal area, where NYK is setting up<br />
a logistic centre. The port wants to encourage more value-added developments<br />
to committing to new handling<br />
systems, is to provide the type of<br />
value-added services that ports<br />
such as Rotterdam and Hamburg<br />
offer, mainly in the form of distribution<br />
and logistic parks.<br />
Eric Nilsson, executive vice<br />
president, admits that the port is<br />
“buying as much adjacent land as<br />
we can,” not so much to increase<br />
container handling but to encourage<br />
distribution facilities to be<br />
<strong>built</strong>. NYK, for instance, is establishing<br />
a logistics centre at the<br />
Arendal area near the Volvo plant.<br />
This is attracting more cargo<br />
flows now as it is owned by Ford<br />
and has greater access to international<br />
sourcing. Noting the success<br />
of the nearby Scandinavian<br />
Distriport, established several years<br />
ago, the port wants to encourage<br />
the development of similar facilities<br />
on its own land.<br />
Outsourcing<br />
In a new departure, the port has<br />
taken a 20 per cent stake in the<br />
new Gävle container terminal<br />
170km north of Stockholm<br />
(<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>, May 2005,<br />
p13). While it has previously “donated”<br />
its general cargo activities<br />
to smaller southern west coast<br />
ports, possibly in return for an informal<br />
agreement that these<br />
smaller ports would not venture<br />
into container handling, this is the<br />
first time that Göteborgs Hamn<br />
AB has taken a financial interest<br />
in another port.<br />
Nilsson considers that the<br />
“pattern of deep sea traffic against<br />
feeder traffic is definitely changing<br />
and it would be possible to<br />
reduce feeder traffic by 30 per cent<br />
for the same container volumes<br />
currently using east coast ports.”<br />
This would entail a rail or<br />
truck landbridge operation between<br />
Gothenburg and Gävle<br />
with the west coast port using<br />
Gävle as a distribution centre.<br />
Feeder times from Gothenburg<br />
to Stockholm are around 36<br />
hours while the rail link takes six<br />
hours. Currently two of the 16/<br />
week dedicated shuttle train departures<br />
from Gothenburg go to<br />
Gävle. Most block trains are for<br />
StoraEnso and Avesta Polarit.<br />
Two companies which have specialised<br />
in developing and implementing<br />
logistic systems for port<br />
and terminal operators and shipping<br />
lines are to join forces: FAA<br />
Information Technology A/S<br />
based in Århus, Denmark and<br />
InPort Intelligent Port Systems<br />
AB, based in Karlstad, Sweden.<br />
The aim of the merger, says a<br />
joint statement, is to create a strong<br />
entity which can meet the demands<br />
of the market for longterm<br />
reliability when it comes to<br />
resources, delivery of modern,<br />
high quality IT systems and the<br />
possibility of offering a high level<br />
of service. New possibilities for<br />
developing competitive logistics<br />
solutions will also be created.<br />
FAA IT is changing its name<br />
to InPort Intelligent Port Systems<br />
Göteborgs Hamn argues that<br />
much of Stockholm’s container<br />
traffic, which tends to be mainly<br />
consumer import goods, could be<br />
fed by rail from Gothenburg from<br />
deep sea ships more cost-effectively<br />
than shipping by feeder from<br />
Hamburg or Rotterdam.<br />
While Gothenburg is interested<br />
in the availability of land,<br />
quayside operations could also see<br />
feeder traffic from the Baltic states<br />
and Saint Petersburg shuttling between<br />
the port with import/export<br />
cargoes carried by rail to connect<br />
with deepsea vessels in<br />
Göteborg. While some of the rail<br />
link to Gävle is single track, resulting<br />
in potential bottleneck<br />
situations, in general it is considered<br />
that the link has sufficient<br />
capacity for at least a decade.<br />
Stockholm challenge<br />
The stake taken by the Port of<br />
Gothenburg is a strong endorsement<br />
of the Gävle project and<br />
could boost traffic as well as transfer<br />
container handling expertise.<br />
But it does not appear to have affected<br />
Ports of Stockholm AB’s<br />
own plans for a new container and<br />
ro-ro terminal at Nynäshamn.<br />
Stockholm is soliciting expressions<br />
of interest from international<br />
terminal operators for this SEK3<br />
bill development, construction of<br />
which it hopes to see started in<br />
2007, with completion in 2010.<br />
Capacity is slated at 300,000 TEU<br />
(lo-lo), or more than 10 times the<br />
port’s current lo-lo throughput.<br />
The case for Nynäshamn, located<br />
60 km south of the city, is<br />
fuelled by planned local factory<br />
closures which will see 25 per cent<br />
of its working population jobless.<br />
In addition, the city wants to take<br />
over the existing, constrained container<br />
terminal in the free port for<br />
residential use and reduce heavy<br />
road traffic in the city. Instead,<br />
containers could be handled at<br />
Nynäshamn and distribution centres<br />
established close by to feed<br />
Stockholm in smaller trucks.<br />
But by 2010 Gävle would already<br />
have been in operation for<br />
four years. Is there enough cargo<br />
to go round for both Gävle and<br />
Nynäshamn to prosper? ❏<br />
IT/Logistics link-up<br />
A/S. Both this company and<br />
InPort AB will be jointly owned<br />
by FAA’s Danish parent company<br />
FAA Holding A/S and by InPort<br />
AB’s parent, Svensk Hamndata<br />
Holding AB.<br />
The customer base is made up<br />
of most Swedish ports and a large<br />
number of Danish terminal operators,<br />
rail operators, forwarding<br />
agents, shipping companies, etc.<br />
The united InPort companies, says<br />
the joint statement, will be the<br />
market leader in the Nordic Bloc<br />
as well as a significant player in the<br />
wider Baltic area.<br />
The new managing director<br />
is Kent-Ove Moberg from the<br />
Swedish InPort AB. The chairman<br />
of the Board is T Bonne<br />
Larsen, the managing director of<br />
FAA Holding. ❏<br />
September 2005
SWEDEN: ROLL-ON/ROLL-OFF<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
TTS group sets out its stall<br />
TTS group’s acquisition of Liftec Oy in<br />
Finland (<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>, January 2005,<br />
p1) and, subsequently, the formation of<br />
TTS Port Equipment AB to cover the<br />
whole portfolio of cargo handling equipment<br />
(<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>, June 2005, p4)<br />
provide new springboards to bring the<br />
different lo-lo and ro-ro product and service<br />
concepts to the market place.<br />
Previously TTS’s work on the IPSI<br />
project and developments arising from<br />
this, such as trailer trestles and the fully<br />
robotised cassette lifter (EU “Integration”<br />
consortium project) came under TTS<br />
Ships Equipment, itself part of the TTS<br />
dry cargo handling division.<br />
The TTS ships equipment division,<br />
which operates from Bergen, Gothenburg,<br />
Bremen and Shanghai, focuses on diverse<br />
areas such as stern ramps, hatch covers and<br />
other ship access systems and is thought<br />
to be not a natural fit with shoreside handling<br />
systems. Last year TTS formed a<br />
terminal systems division with a “product<br />
portfolio that includes systems for fully<br />
automated container handling on land.”<br />
This AGV (automated guided vehicle)<br />
is essentially its driverless, ro-ro cassette<br />
lifter developed in conjunction with<br />
Liftec (prior to its acquisition), Danaher<br />
Motion (navigation sensors) and SICK<br />
(laser sensors) under the EU’s Integration<br />
programme.<br />
Linkspan deal<br />
However, the first breakthrough for the<br />
new business area is described as “an important<br />
linkspan contract.” This upper<br />
ramp design was installed in April this year<br />
at Stena’s Verko terminal, near Karlskrona,<br />
Sweden, to service its traffic to Gdynia.<br />
The company had also tendered for the<br />
massive ABP floating linkspan for the new<br />
Immingham river ro-ro terminal but in<br />
the end, lost out to MacGregor, now part<br />
of Cargotec group.<br />
Grouping terminal handling solutions<br />
under the banner of ships equipment has<br />
tended to overshadow them, although it<br />
could be argued that IPSI trailer trestles<br />
are essentially shipboard equipment.<br />
The IPSI trailer trestle, while undergoing<br />
extensive trials on the Stena Line<br />
service between Gothenburg and<br />
Travemünde, has yet to be fully marketed<br />
and consequently there are no commercial<br />
sales so far.<br />
The “bespoke” system for new or retrofit<br />
applications is the ALT (automatically<br />
lashed trailer trestle) used in conjunction<br />
with the IPSI lashing kerbs. This<br />
has been approved by DNV for operation<br />
in significant wave heights of up to<br />
3m with no other trailer lashing.<br />
For retrofit applications on conventional<br />
ro-ro ship decks, the COT (clipon<br />
type) version has rubber pads on the<br />
legs. These are sized to have the same footprint<br />
as the trailer tyres and are calculated<br />
to have a CoF of between 0.5 and<br />
0.7 depending upon the efficiency of the<br />
deck’s anti-slip paint.<br />
The trestle has its own in-<strong>built</strong> strap<br />
lashing system, operated by a ratchet<br />
tensioner fitted in each leg. However, this<br />
is only effective for stopping reverse moves<br />
of the trailer and is not intended for rolling<br />
motions.<br />
SRC in the van<br />
The trestle is one important area of ro-ro<br />
handling where TTS is having to play<br />
“catch up” with another Swedish company.<br />
The most popular trestles in use today<br />
are the SAT and LOT designs from<br />
SRC Scandinavian Ro-Ro Construction.<br />
As previously reported, SAT is the<br />
trestle with integrated deck locking automatically<br />
from the ro-ro tractor for<br />
specially fitted new ships or retro-fitted<br />
ships. It has been adopted by DFDS<br />
Tor Line on its new “Flower” class roros<br />
and by Toll Shipping in Australia,<br />
and has also been retrofitted to three<br />
other Tor Line ships. New business has<br />
come from ferry operators Bornholms<br />
Traffiken and Destination Gotland.<br />
Several other ro-ros operated by<br />
DFDS Tor Line are fitted with the LOT<br />
trestle. This does not lock to the deck but<br />
has rubber pads which provide friction<br />
Things are fully rolling<br />
in the ro/ro terminals.<br />
between trestle leg and vessel deck. In this<br />
case the fifth wheel is manually opened<br />
using a handle mechanism. Extra web<br />
lashing (between one and six straps) can<br />
be added according to expected sea state.<br />
In practice, it has been found that an<br />
average of 80 per cent of North Sea crossings<br />
can be made without any web lashing<br />
(90 per cent in the case of the SAT<br />
trestle). With SAT, the figure has proved to<br />
Could the CP-Train concept (originally from<br />
TTS Drøbak) be adapted for container<br />
terminals and replace multi-trailer train sets ?<br />
Now that demands from industry for efficient system solutions are constantly increasing, we respond<br />
by intensifying our efforts in all parts of the port.<br />
In the ro/ro terminals this means more new berths, deeper water right up to the quayside, opening<br />
times round the clock and not least, shorter lead times. All to be able to provide better service for<br />
our customers by means of terminals with a maximum of flexibility.<br />
In doing so we further extend our position as the natural goods hub in northern Europe.<br />
www.portgot.se<br />
be as high as 98.9 per cent on the tank top<br />
and main deck, falling to 80 per cent on<br />
the weatherdeck. For LOT, the equivalent<br />
figures are 90, 90 and 80 per cent. SRC’s<br />
production facilities are located in Poland<br />
(Novatech APS) and are DNV-certified.<br />
Now that TTS Port Equipment is a<br />
separate entity in the diverse TTS group,<br />
it has been decided to invest in a demonstration<br />
facility near the port in Gothenburg<br />
where it will be able to show its<br />
AGVs to prospective clients. The robotised<br />
Container Platform train (CP-Train), developed<br />
in Drøbak, Norway by TTS<br />
Materials Handling will be moved to the<br />
new site, where TTS intends to show all<br />
its “dry port” applications.<br />
Although the CP-train was originally<br />
developed as part of the Fastship concept<br />
(now highly unlikely ever to materialise),<br />
World Cargo_210x297_Roro.indd 1 05-06-29 13.17.52<br />
September 2005 31
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
SWEDEN: ROLL-ON/ROLL-OFF<br />
TTS considers that the system<br />
(<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>, July 1998, pp46-7),<br />
would operate successfully for dry port<br />
projects where greater use could be made<br />
of cheaper land inland from the main quay<br />
for storing containers.<br />
The CP-Train, it argues, would be a<br />
more efficient solution than multi-trailer<br />
train sets (MTS), particularly for travel<br />
distances of more than 1000m. Civil engineering<br />
costs would be higher than for<br />
MTS, but are more than made up by the<br />
release of valuable waterfront land.<br />
Proving ground<br />
As noted, the new site will also be employed<br />
to demonstrate TTS’s AGV cassette<br />
handler. This represents a notable<br />
breakthrough in container handling in<br />
that it is an active system, unlike the passive<br />
Gottwald-type AGV used in lo-lo<br />
container terminals which must be handled<br />
under a <strong>crane</strong>.<br />
Only Kalmar’s robotised straddle carrier<br />
system (for Patrick) goes one better<br />
and is able to stack/retrieve as well. TTS<br />
made a presentation to P&ONL/ECT for<br />
their Euromax project in Rotterdam.<br />
They were interested, but it was probably<br />
too late by that stage to change their ideas.<br />
In any event, ECT has had good experience<br />
of operating Gottwald AGVs and the<br />
German company remains favourite to<br />
win the AGV contract at Euromax.<br />
The TTS AGV, as already noted originally<br />
developed for the Integration project<br />
in conjunction with Liftec, is a low height,<br />
self-powered translifter which can enter<br />
a cassette tunnel and leave in the same<br />
direction. Prior to this, Liftec had developed<br />
its own AGV translifter for SSAB<br />
Oxelösund (see below) but this resembles<br />
an integrated tug and lifter and accordingly<br />
cannot drive through. TTS considers<br />
there is a place for both systems and is<br />
marketing both designs.<br />
The new demonstration site will also<br />
be employed to develop and refine the<br />
designs, particularly the drive-through low<br />
profile machine. Currently TTS Liftec is<br />
investigating ways of lowering the machine.<br />
While the engine size problems<br />
have been overcome - the unit now incorporates<br />
a Mercedes Benz OM906 flat<br />
design as employed on buses - the flywheel<br />
driving the hydraulic pump still has<br />
to be made smaller.<br />
Tyre sizes have also been re-examined.<br />
The AGV now runs on Michelin 225/<br />
75-R15 pneumatic tyres. Each of the 24<br />
tyres (six axles) is capable of a loading of<br />
4100kg at 20 kph.<br />
Laser probe<br />
Some observers, however, still question<br />
the use of laser guidance and navigation<br />
systems in an outdoor environment. While<br />
it is the simplest and least expensive form<br />
of control and requires no supporting infrastructure<br />
other than a few reflectors, it<br />
has yet to be employed in an automated<br />
container terminal.<br />
Embedded transducers, as employed<br />
by Gottwald at ECT, CTA and (soon)<br />
Euromax, were considered by TTS to be<br />
somewhat inflexible and be unable to<br />
work inside a ro-ro ship. Similarly, DGPS<br />
was discounted as the configuration of the<br />
low-slung translifter does not permit an<br />
aerial mounting, which would also be in<br />
Vänern hold-up<br />
One innovative project in which TTS<br />
is involved with its IPSI trestle and<br />
kerb trailer system (<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>,<br />
September 2004, p28) appears to be<br />
on hold. The ambitious RWS Lines’<br />
concept of small ro-ros operating between<br />
Lake Vänern ports and<br />
Duisburg is still awaiting the go-ahead<br />
pending contractual commitments<br />
from hauliers. RWS has always stated<br />
that they must be in place before the<br />
ships are ordered.<br />
In addition to designing the ships’<br />
unique internal deck arrangement,<br />
TTS has been involved in the design<br />
of the trailer stowage, which is particularly<br />
tight as there is no room available<br />
between the trailers for lashing.<br />
Instead of its “conventional,” low<br />
height lashing curb system. TTS is<br />
considering a longitudinal lashing wall<br />
into which the trailer is driven.<br />
Instead of lashing the fifth wheel<br />
to the trestle, a support bar - a trestle<br />
without legs - could be used to secure<br />
the trailer. No lateral movement<br />
of the trailer would be possible as it<br />
would be enclosed by the retaining<br />
walls. In this way, it would be possible<br />
to obtain a 2.6m wide trailer lane to<br />
provide five lanes on a ship’s beam of<br />
only 13.35m. ❏<br />
Tel: +358 207 431 120<br />
Fax +358 207 431 121<br />
www.meclift.fi<br />
AGENTS<br />
WANTED<br />
shadow in a container stack and again<br />
would not work on board a ro-ro ship.<br />
Microwave radar systems, as employed by<br />
Patrick’s automated straddle carriers from<br />
Kalmar, were not apparently considered.<br />
Manual help<br />
A feature of the original Liftec AGV is<br />
that it can be manually operated and it is<br />
possible to introduce a self-learning mode.<br />
So, for example, a driver could operate<br />
the AGV over a fixed shuttle run, which<br />
the AGV PLC could then replicate. Although<br />
this feature may not be of much<br />
use in a free-ranging environment such<br />
as a container terminal, it could prove<br />
useful in industrial applications.<br />
Liftec previously supplied this AGV<br />
translifter to SSAB Oxelösund in Sweden.<br />
The machine worked well for three<br />
years and clocked 8000 hours, but became<br />
surplus to requirements when the company<br />
altered the mill’s internal logistics.<br />
Ro-ro translifter business has been<br />
buoyant for TTS-Liftec recently, due<br />
largely to phase 1 of StoraEnso’s NETSS<br />
project. Eight LTH90s for SECUs were<br />
delivered to Barloworld for Forth Ports’<br />
Project Enterprise in Tilbury, nine to<br />
Steveco in Kotka, 10 more to Göteborgs<br />
Hamn and four more to Sea-Ro,<br />
Zeebrugge (already nine there). The 4-<br />
axle LTH90 is the de facto industry standard<br />
for SECU handling.<br />
In a new development, TTS Liftec has<br />
supplied DFDS Tor line with six LTH90<br />
Combi units. These are 45ft long to cope<br />
with SECUs but have a raisable stopper<br />
on the frame for 2 x 20ft/40ft loads. They<br />
are normal width but have fixed lateral<br />
supports at the front end and hydraulically<br />
operated, stowable supports at the<br />
rear to support SECUs when required.<br />
Tyre problems solved<br />
As first covers, TTS Liftec prefers to fit<br />
the LTH90s with 645/250-410 solid resilient<br />
tyres from Watts. Over the years,<br />
practical experience has demonstrated<br />
that these are a good fit for 90 tonne transports<br />
up to a distance of 1000m. For<br />
longer transport distances, one option is<br />
to go the 6-axle LTH120. If the same 90<br />
tonne load is required to be carried, Liftec<br />
can fit slightly larger pneumatic radial tyres<br />
from Michelin. Alternatively, these pneumatic<br />
tyres can be fitted to the LTH90,<br />
but the load has to be reduced.<br />
Two LTH120s have recently gone to<br />
steel works in Finland and an SC30 straddle<br />
carrier has gone to Sandvik in Sweden,<br />
handling steel slabs. This is based on<br />
the SC95 successfully used in Gothenburg<br />
to unload SECUs from rail cars.<br />
Recently Multi-Serv in the UK took<br />
two LTH90s and three LTHH130s for a<br />
Corus operation. The LTHH130s are used<br />
to transport steel slabs heated up to 800<br />
degC. The biggest product is the LTHH360<br />
- a 10.8m long by 7.8m wide platform on<br />
four double bogie axle lines. ❏<br />
32<br />
September 2005
ROLL-ON/ROLL-OFF<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
It’s a tough road going by sea<br />
A year after P&O European Ferries<br />
announced its pull-out from<br />
Western Channel operations as<br />
of the end of this month and<br />
Louis Dreyfus Lines (LDA), best<br />
known for its Mediterranean<br />
cruise and ferry interests (including<br />
the GLD, its Toulon-<br />
Civitavecchia joint venture with<br />
Grimaldi), will plug the gap.<br />
Portsmouth Commercial<br />
Port and Le Havre port authority<br />
(PAH) have been searching<br />
hard for a replacement to P&O.<br />
Initially Brittany Ferries, perhaps<br />
the obvious candidate, expressed<br />
interest, but in March it withdrew<br />
its candidature.<br />
Starting next month, LDA<br />
will align a large ro-pax ferry, the<br />
1992-<strong>built</strong> NORMAN SPIRIT, with<br />
capacity for 1850 passengers and<br />
600 cars or 120 lorries.<br />
Only accompanied freight<br />
will be accepted. Initially, LDA<br />
is offering one daily sailing each<br />
way, with departures from Le<br />
Havre at 17.00 hours returning<br />
at 07.30 hours the next morning.<br />
It is hoping to build annual<br />
traffic in due course to 600,000<br />
passengers and 50,000 trucks.<br />
Crossing time has been set<br />
There is speculation that<br />
Cobelfret Ferries is to take over<br />
Simon Group’s port interests.<br />
The Antwerp-based shipping<br />
group has already acquired a 28<br />
per cent stake - 11 per cent stake<br />
in August followed by another<br />
17 per cent this month, through<br />
Montauban SA.<br />
In 2002 Cobelfret agreed a 20<br />
year lease of up to 60 acres of land<br />
at Simon’s Humber Sea Terminal<br />
(HST) on the River Humber, so<br />
already it part-owns its landlord.<br />
Last December the Board of<br />
Simon confirmed that it was in<br />
sale talks with unnamed parties.<br />
Earlier this month, the Board said<br />
that after discussions with the potential<br />
bidder concerning the implication<br />
of its August share purchase,<br />
it “is no longer in discussions<br />
with any party concerning<br />
a possible offer for Simon Group.”<br />
However, the purchase of the<br />
second tranche of shares (from J<br />
O Hambro) appears to have postdated<br />
that announcement, so the<br />
rumours have continued.<br />
Simon’s group turnover for the<br />
six months to 30 June 2005 was<br />
Although the EU’s Marco<br />
Polo programme has attracted<br />
considerable publicity,<br />
there is not as much “steak<br />
in the sandwich” as there ought<br />
to be. Most road-to-sea initiatives<br />
have taken place in the Mediterranean<br />
and a good example is the<br />
GLD - Grimaldi Naples and Louis<br />
Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) - service<br />
between Toulon and Civitavecchia.<br />
This was set up after the<br />
earlier Toulon-Savona initiative<br />
failed, ostensibly because the distance<br />
was too short and truck fuel<br />
prices were lower than forecast.<br />
Green, white and red<br />
The GLD service is an Italian-flag<br />
operation, which reportedly<br />
New Anglo-services<br />
at 5.5 hours. Support for LDA<br />
will be provided by PAH during<br />
the first year. PAH will also<br />
carry out some modernisation<br />
work in the ferry terminal.<br />
Harwich-IJmuiden<br />
A new ro-pax service is being<br />
started up between Hutchison’s<br />
Harwich International Port<br />
(HIP) and IJmuiden by Nedlines<br />
BV. “Nedlines have signed a fiveyear<br />
agreement with us, which<br />
is excellent news for shippers,<br />
who can now take advantage of<br />
an enhanced range of options<br />
from the port, including the<br />
choice of 57 sailings in both directions<br />
each week,” said HIP’s<br />
COO David Gledhill.<br />
The new service deploys<br />
ENVOY chartered from Finnlines.<br />
It focuses on driver-accompanied<br />
freight and offers a daily<br />
overnight sailing, giving customers<br />
an alternative route next<br />
to the existing ferry operators<br />
on the North Sea and Channel.<br />
Nedlines is a joint venture of<br />
ferry operator Doeksen Transport<br />
Group, financial investor<br />
Schelling Investments and project<br />
initiator Bart Cunnen. ❏<br />
Cobelfret to buy Simon?<br />
£13.208 mill, up 1.8 per cent on<br />
the first half of last year. Ro-ro<br />
revenues rose by 31 per cent from<br />
£4.188 mill to £5.49 mill, due<br />
to the Cobelfret lease at HST that<br />
commenced in October 2004.<br />
Berths 1 and 2 at HST have<br />
been extended, to accommodate<br />
larger Stena vessels due to enter<br />
service next year and larger car<br />
carriers from Korea and Japan.<br />
Simon has also applied for planning<br />
permission to increase the<br />
number of ro-ro berths at HST<br />
from four to six. In January this<br />
year it acquired a 70-acre plot of<br />
land adjacent to HST to underpin<br />
this phase III development.<br />
Negotiations have been ongoing<br />
with a number of lines for the<br />
berth space vacated by Seawheel,<br />
which has been acquired by<br />
Samskip. Simon’s other port operation<br />
is Port Sutton Bridge, located<br />
on The Wash and handling<br />
mainly steel and grain traffic. ❏<br />
● Simon Storage has been sold by<br />
Patron Capital Partners and Fortress<br />
Investment Group to<br />
Canada-based Inter Piepline Fund<br />
for £120 mill (C$260 mill). ❏<br />
means 50 per cent cheaper<br />
crewing costs than using a French<br />
crew. LDA’s new Portsmouth-Le<br />
Havre service (see yellow <strong>box</strong>) will<br />
also be Italian-flagged.<br />
The GLD service was boosted<br />
by a deal with Gefco covering<br />
southbound transport of new PSA<br />
Peugeot-Citroën automobiles<br />
(<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>, April 2005,<br />
p31). This should account for<br />
40,000 vehicles/year and reduces<br />
the threshold for breakeven to 60<br />
trailers/sailing. The maximum<br />
trailer intake is 150.<br />
The service is operated with<br />
EUROSTAR VALENCIA and provides<br />
three weekly overnight sailings<br />
each way. Transit time is just 14.5<br />
hours, as the natural “arc” of the<br />
sea route takes miles off the overland<br />
trip. A trucker operating<br />
within the speed limits and taking<br />
compulsory rest time would<br />
take 22 hours on average.<br />
One of the difficulties is that<br />
unaccompanied services do not<br />
appeal to many of the large<br />
number of owner/operators active<br />
More than 25 years experience<br />
with worldwide service<br />
and spare parts net.<br />
in the Italian and French haulage<br />
markets. However, an early and<br />
sizeable supporter of the link is<br />
Transports Gelin, based in Brittany.<br />
The company was quoted as<br />
saying that the tariff of €400<br />
(which includes two meals for the<br />
driver) was less than half the cost<br />
of the equivalent road journey.<br />
This reflects not only fuel savings,<br />
reduced tyre wear, etc but the<br />
avoidance of road tolls in Italy and<br />
Mont Blanc or Fréjus tunnel tolls.<br />
Another Suardiaz<br />
Another recently-established short<br />
sea, ro-ro “hop” is Flota Suardiaz’s<br />
weekly Línea Atlántico service.<br />
Southbound, this calls Vlissingen,<br />
Zeebrugge, Southampton, Santander,<br />
Vigo, Setúbal and Casablanca,<br />
with calls every other week<br />
in the Canaries (Las Palmas and<br />
Tenerife). Northbound the ships<br />
call Setúbal, Vigo and Vlissingen.<br />
Clearly there is plenty of opportunity<br />
for picking and dropping<br />
cargo on the route. Calls at<br />
Gijón are offered on inducement:<br />
BALTICBORG is one of the two new Wagenborg ro-ros deployed in Kappa<br />
Packaging group’s RoRo2Stockholm service<br />
a disappointment for this Spanish<br />
port which has opened a new roro<br />
terminal (<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>,<br />
April 2005, p23).<br />
Back with headhaul<br />
Ro-ro operators have become<br />
much more adept at marketing<br />
backhaul capacity for third party<br />
general cargo. This is making a<br />
positive contribution to modal<br />
shift, particularly in Nordic flows<br />
where southbound flows are dedicated<br />
to paper product shipments<br />
and ships would normally return<br />
with some waste products for recycling,<br />
but mostly in ballast.<br />
A good recent example is the<br />
Kappa Packaging case in Piteå in<br />
northern Sweden. This is the biggest<br />
kraft liner mill in Europe with<br />
an annual output of more than<br />
700,000 tonnes/year, mostly<br />
shipped out on ro-ros.<br />
Wagenborg has introduced<br />
two, new 10,000 dwt “green” roros,<br />
BALTICBORG and BOTHNIABORG,<br />
for this traffic. Containers, trailers<br />
and uitised timber packs are<br />
loaded on the weatherdeck.<br />
Rolltrailers from the mill are<br />
driven onto the main deck and<br />
tank top and, for optimum stowage,<br />
the cargo is carried sto-ro.<br />
Clear height of the main deck<br />
and the tank top are 5.8m and 5m<br />
<strong>News</strong> of the world<br />
Further information is given by Mr. Mats Johansson<br />
www.ro-roconstruction.se<br />
• Dramatical cost cut for<br />
stevedoring work<br />
• Faster loading/unloading i.e.<br />
reduction in turnover time.<br />
• Flush deck which can<br />
accommodate any type of<br />
Ro-Ro cargo.<br />
• The minute the tug has<br />
positioned the trailer in its<br />
position it has been secured.<br />
Address:<br />
Indiska Oceanen<br />
S-418 34 Gothenburg, Sweden<br />
Telephone:+46 (0)31-54 90 16<br />
Telefax: +46 (0)31-54 64 30<br />
E-mail: mats.johansson@mcr.se<br />
The Sideloader Specialist<br />
New linkspan installed<br />
Ravestein BV has completed<br />
installation of the new doubledeck<br />
linkspan at the Port of<br />
Dunkirk’s Quai de Ramgate. As<br />
previously reported (<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
<strong>News</strong>, April 2005, p31), this is<br />
desgned to cater for the bigger<br />
ro-ro ships which have been introduced<br />
by Norfolk Line.<br />
The twin deck pontoon<br />
has a bridge length of 90m and<br />
the bridge has an 8m wide<br />
centre lane (two-directional)<br />
and two single-direction, 4m<br />
wide side lanes.<br />
The pontoon measures 19m<br />
long by 23.6m wide and 8.8-<br />
10m high. Its freeboard can be<br />
varied by ballasting from 2.6m<br />
to 4.5m. The height of the upper<br />
bridge can be varied hydraulically<br />
between 6.5m and 8.7m.<br />
The SWLs of the bridge and total<br />
linkspan are 220 tonnes and<br />
800 tonnes repsectively. The<br />
linkspan is classed by LRS. ❏<br />
Hammar Maskin AB<br />
SE-517 95 Olsfors, Sweden<br />
Tel: (+46) 33 29 00 00, Fax: (+46) 33 29 00 01<br />
E-mail: hammar@hammarmaskin.se<br />
Internet: www.hammarmaskin.se<br />
HAMMAR – The intelligent way of<br />
handling and distributing containers.<br />
Semitrailer integrated units for 20’– 45’<br />
(20’– 48’) containers.<br />
Truck mounted models for 20’ containers.<br />
Choose from 20, 25, 30, 33 or 36 tonnes<br />
lifting capacity.<br />
No.1 – Now sold in over 70 countries<br />
and territories.<br />
September 2005 33
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
ROLL-ON/ROLL-OFF<br />
respectively and loading capacity is 5<br />
tonnes/m 2 . Access to the main deck is<br />
via a TTS-designed, 18.5m stern ramp/<br />
door, connecting to weatherdeck and<br />
lower hold via fixed ramps starboard and<br />
port side respectively.<br />
KESS and tell<br />
Outbound, the ships call Bremen, Sheerness<br />
and Terneuzen. Under the banner of<br />
“RoRo2 Stockholm,” Kappa utilises the<br />
northbound capacity to load cars for the<br />
Swedish market in Cuxhaven for K-Line<br />
European Sea Highway for offloading in<br />
Södertälje, close to Stockholm.<br />
The call also provides an opportunity<br />
to take on domestic cargo for northern<br />
Sweden as an alternative to road trunking.<br />
Agreements have also been reached with<br />
some Benelux trailer operators accessing<br />
the Swedish market from Terneuzen.<br />
The ships depart Terneuzen on Friday<br />
afternoons and load cars in Cuxhaven<br />
on Saturdays. They then proceed through<br />
the Kiel Canal to make up the time<br />
needed for the German call and reach<br />
Södertälje on Monday mornings. The initial<br />
agreement with KESS is valid to the<br />
end of this year.<br />
A similar arrangement to utilise northbound<br />
capacity from Tilbury and Rotterdam<br />
to northern Sweden (Umeå) was<br />
earlier reached between Eco Glokal, acting<br />
for Volvo Trucks, and paper shippers<br />
SCA Transforest and M-Reel (<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
<strong>News</strong>, July 2002, p12 and April 2003, p29).<br />
<strong>US</strong> agenda<br />
Modal shift to water is also on the agenda<br />
in the <strong>US</strong>. As previously reported (World-<br />
Cargo <strong>News</strong>, March 2005, p20),<br />
Wagenborg won a contract to start up<br />
next year a ropax service on Lake Erie<br />
between Cleveland-Cuyahoga and Ontario’s<br />
Port Stanley. Being international,<br />
the service will be outwith the Jones Act.<br />
Otherwise, could it be competitive?<br />
A <strong>US</strong>$6 mill federal grant will help<br />
pay for construction of a new ferry terminal<br />
near Cleveland’s North Coast<br />
Harbor. The port authority would finance<br />
the balance (<strong>US</strong>$4 mill) of the estimated<br />
construction costs and recoup its outlay<br />
by leasing the terminal to Wagenborg.<br />
Indonesian trucks arriving at Jurong’s new, low cost ro-ro facilities. The port wants to bring this<br />
relatively low-cost flexible solution to other SEA countries<br />
Problems remain on the Canadian side,<br />
however, as Transport Canada still wants<br />
to sell off or close Port Stanley.<br />
In addition to its plan, also previously<br />
reported, for a Nanticoke (Ont) and Erie<br />
(Pa) freight ro-ro service with one ship<br />
(Marinelink partnership), Erie-West<br />
Pennsylvania Port Authority is pursuing<br />
the idea of a fast ferry between Erie and<br />
Port Dover. Its proposed vessel would have<br />
a maximum intake of 46 passenger vehicles<br />
(pick-ups, minivans, cars, SUVs).<br />
And Hamilton Port Authority and<br />
Marinelink are still promoting the potential<br />
of a 2-ship, cross-Lake Ontario daily<br />
(overnight) ferry link with the Port of<br />
Oswego, in upper NY state.<br />
Apart from “niche” cross-border Lake<br />
operations which escape <strong>US</strong> cabotage<br />
constraints, a more general case is now<br />
being made for ro-ro in the <strong>US</strong>.<br />
It is argued that a shortage of long distance<br />
drivers, rising fuel costs, congested<br />
highways and tougher environmental<br />
regulations will eventually push truck traffic<br />
off the highways and onto ships sailing<br />
up and down the <strong>US</strong> West Coast.<br />
Worth repeating<br />
This message is familiar not just in Europe,<br />
but also on the <strong>US</strong>EC (proposed<br />
Boston-NY/NJ truck ferry) and Gulf<br />
Coast (Tex-Mex ro-ro) ranges.<br />
Dr Matt Tedesco, a Seattle-based technical<br />
and management consultant, told<br />
delegates attending the Association of<br />
Pacific Ports annual meeting and conference<br />
in Seattle last month that “the vast<br />
majority of trucking companies are competing<br />
on the basis of driver availability<br />
and capacity...[They] care about short sea<br />
shipping. It offers an opportunity to expand<br />
their market, because there aren’t<br />
enough drivers to go around.”<br />
According to Tedesco most truckers<br />
see major benefits switching to water<br />
mode for trunk haul. Trade is expanding<br />
and is expected to double within 10 years.<br />
Short sea shipping offers a way for<br />
truckers to meet that challenge.<br />
Road and rail are running out of capacity<br />
and expanding the freeways is not<br />
a feasible answer at today’s construction<br />
costs, said Tedesco. Even if the freeway<br />
system were expanded to handle future<br />
traffic there would not be enough drivers<br />
available. Fuel costs will continue to<br />
rise and short sea shipping offers another<br />
option. “Truckers have to be able to compete<br />
on a level of service so we need to<br />
be able to offer next-day service...we are<br />
talking in the order of 27 knots,” he said.<br />
Military, NAFTA?<br />
An additional benefit offered by short<br />
sea shipping, Tedesco said, is military dualuse.<br />
“In the future, the navy, the marines<br />
and military would like to do much more<br />
sea basing. In that kind of an environment<br />
there’s a much greater need for vessels<br />
to provide sustainment to and from<br />
the sea base.” Ro-ros would be one type<br />
of vessel that could prove very promising<br />
for sustaining a sea base.<br />
It is possible that military input would<br />
mitigate some of the Jones Act costs that<br />
would otherwise have to be borne by<br />
commercial operations. Another option<br />
is a “NAFTA Jones Act.” This has already<br />
been proposed by Mexican NAFTA officials.<br />
It would allow Mexican or Canadian<br />
ships to operate <strong>US</strong> coastal services.<br />
Failing any measures which would<br />
recude coastwise shipping costs, ro-ro<br />
barge services might have to be brought<br />
in. Just now, for example, in the Bay area,<br />
a container barge service between<br />
Sacramento and Oakland is being considered.<br />
This could be lo-lo, but accompanied<br />
ro-ro might work out faster and<br />
only relatively small areas would need to<br />
be given over for truck staging in the two<br />
ports. Whether lo-lo or ro-ro, the idea has<br />
considerable public support as it would<br />
free up the highway.<br />
Far East moves<br />
Singapore’s Jurong port is mainly associated<br />
with bulk cargoes and general cargoes,<br />
but since it was corporatised in 2001<br />
the port has sought to become a multipurpose<br />
operator. Development over the<br />
last five years has focused on lo-lo container<br />
facilities, but last month the port<br />
began operating three ro-ro ramps.<br />
The ramps are open 24 hours/day and<br />
supported by a marshalling area. Cargo is<br />
mostly containers and general cargo<br />
shipped between Singapore and neighbouring<br />
Indonesian Islands such as Batam<br />
and Bintan on landing crafts of less than<br />
500 dwt. Jurong says it <strong>built</strong> the ramps to<br />
increase the scope of facilities it offers “in<br />
response to market feedback.”<br />
The port is exploring opportunities<br />
overseas, focusing as a start on countries<br />
such as Indonesia, Vietnam, China and<br />
India. It is looking for opportunities in<br />
terminals that probably fall beneath the<br />
radar of the global operators. Demonstrating<br />
its competence in the ro-ro business<br />
will be important to its target market.<br />
Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) is to<br />
invest in a ro-ro terminal in Thailand’s<br />
Laem Chabang port. A new joint venture<br />
company, formed by an HPH-led<br />
consortium, has been awarded a 30-year<br />
concession to build and operate a new<br />
ro-ro terminal in the port, with the added<br />
capability of handling lo-lo general cargo.<br />
HPH already operates a container<br />
terminal in the port, Thai Laemchabang<br />
Terminal and is developing<br />
more facilities there under the banner<br />
of Hutchison Laemchabang Terminal.<br />
“Thailand is now the automotive<br />
manufacturing hub in South East Asia and<br />
investing in this new ro-ro terminal is<br />
clearly in alignment with our business<br />
strategy,” said John Meredith, HPH’s<br />
group managing director. The ro-ro terminal<br />
will have a quay length of 500m<br />
and depth alongside of 16m.<br />
East London auto hub?<br />
Catering for more new car traffic is also<br />
the main focus of the development plan<br />
for South Africa’s Port of East London.<br />
Capacity at the port’s automotive terminal<br />
is to be increased from 55,000 vehicles/year<br />
today to over 150,000 vehicles/<br />
year to serve the growing automotive sector<br />
in South Africa. New floors are to be<br />
added to blocks A and B, which provide<br />
the existing undercover parking bays,<br />
while Block C is to be constructed at a<br />
cost of R300 mill.<br />
Transnet and the National Port<br />
Authority are considering a proposal<br />
for even greater capacity in order to<br />
turn East London into Africa’s biggest<br />
automotive hub. At present, many of<br />
the vehicles exported through the port<br />
are assembled in Gauteng. While South<br />
Africa’s industrial heartland is likely to<br />
continue to provide most demand, the<br />
East London industrial development zone<br />
(IDZ) hopes to attract more manufacturing<br />
investment. Daimler-Chrysler is to<br />
build the new Mercedes-Benz C class car<br />
at East London from 2007. The IDZ authority<br />
hopes that others will follow suit.<br />
Apart from new money for increased<br />
vehicle capacity, R600 mill is to be spent<br />
on increasing container capacity at the<br />
port. “Our strategy is to grow the Gauteng<br />
to East London corridor,” said port manager<br />
Thami Ntshingil. An inter-disciplinary<br />
project team is looking at all the options<br />
for ro-ro and lo-lo. ❏<br />
CORNER CASTINGS IN STEEL,<br />
ALUMINIUM AND STAINLESS<br />
STEEL, TOGETHER WITH A FULL<br />
RANGE OF TWISTLOCKS AND<br />
ASSOCIATED PRODUCTS.<br />
Tel: (+44) 1388 528248 528860<br />
Fax: (+44) 1388 528879<br />
E-Mail:<br />
admin@cook-blair.co.uk<br />
sales@cook-intermodal.co.uk<br />
Internet:<br />
www.william-cook.co.uk<br />
<strong>US</strong>A Tel: (847) 719 2680<br />
VISIT us on STAND<br />
D61 at<br />
ITL 2005,<br />
BILBAO<br />
NATIONAL<br />
ACCREDITATION<br />
OF CERTIFICATION<br />
BODIES<br />
Formerly Blair Transport Technology<br />
34<br />
September 2005
ROLL-ON/ROLL-OFF<br />
Höegh Autoliners ramps up investments<br />
Another of the new generation of 6000<br />
+ CEU (car equivalent unit) capacity<br />
PCTCs was named last month in Hamburg<br />
for Höegh Autoliners AS. HÖEGH<br />
BERLIN is the fifth newbuilding in a series<br />
of nine PCTCS <strong>built</strong> by Daewoo in Okpo<br />
for delivery between 2003 and 2008.<br />
HUAL TOKYO, the first in the series, was<br />
delivered in September last year, four<br />
months ahead of schedule. HÖEGH BERLIN<br />
was delivered three months ahead of<br />
schedule. The sixth vessel is scheduled for<br />
mid-2006, followed by two more in 2007<br />
and the last one in 2008. In June this year,<br />
the fourth vessel in the series, HÖEGH NEW<br />
YORK, was named in New York.<br />
More coming<br />
At that time Höegh Autoliners announced<br />
it had entered into an agreement<br />
with Tsuneishi Corporation in Japan to<br />
build four PCTCs with a capacity of 5200<br />
CEU on a total deck area of 47,000 m 2 .<br />
These are all scheduled for delivery in<br />
2007. “Our growth ambitions are further<br />
strengthened with these four ships,” said<br />
Thor Jørgen Guttormsen, CEO of Höegh<br />
Autoliners. “We are pleased that we could<br />
obtain delivery as early as 2007.” Shipyards<br />
building car carriers are generally<br />
well covered and can only offer open positions<br />
in 2008 or 2009, he noted. “We<br />
experience growing demand from our<br />
customers and these four newbuildings<br />
will be a welcome addition to Höegh<br />
Autoliners’ fleet.”<br />
In total, Höegh Autoliners’ 2003-2008<br />
newbuilding programme covers 20 ships<br />
worth more than <strong>US</strong>$1.3 bill. In addition<br />
to the 13 PCTCs from Korea and<br />
Japan, two vessels are on order from<br />
Uljanik Shipyard in Croatia for delivery<br />
in the first half of next year (on long term<br />
charter with 49.5 per cent ownership),<br />
while five other new ro-ros on long term<br />
charter from other owners entered service<br />
in HUAL in 2003 and 2004.<br />
Ever present<br />
Höegh Autoliners aims to be wherever<br />
automobiles are <strong>built</strong>. Last month a<br />
Höegh Autoliners’ ship landed the first<br />
Chinese-<strong>built</strong> new automobile for Western<br />
Europe in Antwerp. The 200 JMC<br />
Windland SUVs from Shanghai will initially<br />
be sold in Holland and Belgium.<br />
All the ro-ro activities of Norway’s Leif<br />
Höegh & Co were merged into Höegh<br />
Autoliners in March this year, with a current<br />
fleet of 50 vessel and support from<br />
the group’s strong capital investment programme<br />
as outlined above. Leif Höegh<br />
& Co is now a holding company without<br />
any comercial operations or “exter-<br />
nal visibility.” The other core element is<br />
Höegh LNG in which further investment<br />
is also being made, including Floating<br />
Rauma - Finland's leading paper port<br />
!<br />
Midstream Solutions and the SRV (shuttle<br />
and regasification) concept for offshore<br />
and floating LNG facilities. The last seven<br />
open hatch vessels were sold at the end<br />
of last year, followed by the sale of the last<br />
two large bulk carriers in March. Höegh<br />
Fleet Services provides ship management<br />
for ro-ro and LNG vessels, as before.<br />
Quick cargo access<br />
The 199.9m LOA HÖEGH BERLIN has a<br />
capacity for 6100 CEU on 12 decks providing<br />
more than 30,000 l/m for cars. The<br />
B&W 7S60MCx1Set main engine with<br />
36,970 hp enables the ship to operate with<br />
a service speed of 20.5 knots. Along with<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
the other ships in the series, construction<br />
and supply of key components of the roro<br />
access systems including internal car<br />
decks and ramps and stern/quarter ramps<br />
for loading and dishcarge were contracted<br />
by DSME to TTS Ships Equipment AB<br />
in Göteborg, part of Norway’s TTS Marine<br />
ASA group.<br />
TTS is alo supplying the complete roro<br />
access systems for two more 4900 CEU<br />
ro-ro ships being <strong>built</strong> at Uljanik for Israel’s<br />
Ray Shipping, including internal<br />
ramps and doors and the stern/quarter<br />
and side ramps. The equipment is scheduled<br />
for delivery next January and in August<br />
2007 respectively. The two ships are<br />
options under an earlier contract for two<br />
PCTCs between the Croatian yard and<br />
Ray Shipping. These ships are nearing<br />
completion. ❏<br />
Greener seas<br />
Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s latest “green” ship,<br />
the 6500 CEU capacity PCTC TORONTO,<br />
has been named in the Port of Baltimore.<br />
The 20,228 dwt ship is one of a new series<br />
of ships that combines double-bottomed<br />
fuel tanks and solid ballast with<br />
cargo space that maximises capacity and<br />
flexibility to carry cars and a wide range<br />
of other ro-ro cargoes including construction<br />
and agricultural equipment.<br />
The series received the ShipPax award<br />
for Outstanding R-Ro cargo Decks in<br />
2004. TORONTO’s sister ship TOLEDO was<br />
named in Sydney in April this year.<br />
TORONTO is the third in a series of six<br />
PCTCs <strong>built</strong> by Mitsubishi in Japan and<br />
one of 14 new ships that will be put into<br />
service by Wallenius Wilhelmsen in the<br />
next two years.<br />
The advanced hull and propellor design<br />
and yard-patened stator fins are expected<br />
to deliver a 10 per cent reduction<br />
in fuel consumption. Wallenius<br />
Wilhelmsen’s goals include reaching an<br />
average of 1.5 per cent sulphur in fuel<br />
oil, minimising emissions, the use of tinfree<br />
anti-foulant bottom paints, a ballast<br />
water exchange system, CFC- and<br />
HCFC-free cooling systems in refrigeration<br />
plants and biodegradable oil in the<br />
stern tubes.<br />
Wallenius Wilhelmsen, jointly owned<br />
by Wallenius Lines of Sweden and Wilh.<br />
Wilhelmsen of Norway, is behind the<br />
“zero emissions” concept vehicle carrier<br />
ES (“environmentally sound”) Orcelle<br />
(<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>, March 2005, p17). ❏<br />
September 2005 35
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Getting a grip on the paperwork<br />
One important manufacturer of<br />
FLT attachments, Germany-based<br />
Hans H Meyer GmbH, is releasing<br />
a new range of 180 deg. rotating<br />
paper roll clamps for operation<br />
in ports and terminals with a<br />
new rotation system that has been<br />
internationally patented This follows<br />
the recent launch of a new<br />
series of 360 deg rotating articulating<br />
arm clamps.<br />
Meyer’s programme comprises<br />
rotating and non-rotating clamps<br />
for handling of one or more rolls,<br />
tissue roll clamps, rotating and<br />
non-rotating roll upenders, tower<br />
clamps and other special clamps.<br />
New build shape<br />
The new 180 deg. rotator is based<br />
on a modular design and, claims<br />
Meyer, sets new standards with<br />
regard to long life, maintenance<br />
and service ease. A rotating valve<br />
takes over the supply of hydraulic<br />
oil to the cylinders and brings an<br />
end to hose “chaos.”<br />
All modules are easily accessible<br />
and can be exchanged from<br />
the front so, if there is play within<br />
36<br />
Detail of new rotator fitted to Meyer’s new paper roll clamp series<br />
the rack and pinion it can be easily<br />
and quickly adjusted.<br />
The slim arm construction facilitates<br />
exact and damage-free<br />
clamping, adds the company, even<br />
with the tightest stacking. Weight<br />
and lost load centre have been<br />
optimised to ensure the clamps<br />
have high residual capacities and<br />
make best use of FLT capacity.<br />
Meyer offers a large number<br />
of different coatings for the surface<br />
of the pads to suit every application<br />
and paper quality. There<br />
AURAMO OY<br />
P.O.Box 78, FIN-01511 Vantaa, Finland<br />
tel: +358-9-82931<br />
fax: +358-9-8701037<br />
e-mail: sales.fi@bolzoni-auramo.com<br />
are designs for unsplit or split pads<br />
(two pads per arm). The pads can<br />
be exchanged and are interchangeable<br />
between unsplit and<br />
split pad arms.<br />
Powerful hydraulics<br />
The clamp cylinders are equipped<br />
with check valves in the shape of<br />
cartridges. This means that when<br />
clamping, the hydraulic pressure<br />
remains in the cylinder only - the<br />
rest of the hydraulic system is<br />
without pressure. In addition the<br />
www.bolzoni-auramo.com<br />
cylinders are equipped with easy<br />
test connections that enable a simple<br />
and exact check of the clamping<br />
pressure. There are also clamps<br />
with fixed or articulating short<br />
arms for smaller rolls. The build<br />
design with optimum kinematics<br />
achieves high clamping power for<br />
safe handling, says Meyer.<br />
To enable the clamps to work<br />
longer hours with less frequent<br />
maintenance intervals, high tensile<br />
bolts are used within bushings<br />
and these are equipped with grease<br />
nipples at the arm/back connection.<br />
This guarantees long maintenance<br />
intervals and easy exchangeability<br />
for many years. The<br />
modular build design enables, for<br />
example, a clamp with a fixed<br />
short arm to be converted into a<br />
clamp with articulating short arm,<br />
maximising the unit’s flexibility. A<br />
high proportion of uniform parts<br />
in the mechanical and hydraulic<br />
components ensures quick and<br />
flexible availability of spare parts.<br />
The full range of Meyer’s FLT<br />
attachments runs from 1 to 16 ton<br />
capacity. Life cycle costs of all<br />
THINK NEW<br />
THINK INTELLIGENT<br />
Bolzoni Auramo Group is the leading European manufacturer of lift truck<br />
attachments. The group has a strong focus on innovative tools for the<br />
best damage-free handling solutions.<br />
BOLZONI S.P.A.<br />
29027 Casoni di Podenzano, Piacenza, Italy<br />
tel: +39-0523-555511<br />
fax: +39-0523-524087<br />
e-mail: sales.it@bolzoni-auramo.com<br />
types of attachments are keenly<br />
observed, says the company, so<br />
special attention is given to modular<br />
build, low maintenance, simple<br />
service and wear parts when<br />
developing new products.<br />
AR in the frame<br />
There is no immediate product<br />
news from Bolzoni Auramo, following<br />
its earlier launch of the AR<br />
series of 180 deg rotating paper<br />
roll clamps (<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>,<br />
April 2005, p33). There are five<br />
capacity classes available ranging<br />
from 1750 to 4600 kg and they<br />
covere standard roll diameters up<br />
to 1860mm, not 1830mm as previously<br />
reported.<br />
The high torque rack-andpinion<br />
rotation unit is said to be<br />
up to twice as fast as conventional<br />
gear systems. The clamps can be<br />
fitted to any FLT and have <strong>built</strong>in<br />
facilities for easy pressure testing.<br />
All wearing components, including<br />
hoses, can be changed<br />
without special skills or tools.<br />
On the production side, the<br />
company has started up a joint<br />
venture manufacturing plant in<br />
Shanghai to help it tap into the<br />
growing Chinese FLT market.<br />
Bolzoni Auramo (Shanghai) Forklift<br />
Truck Attachment Co Ltd is<br />
FOREST PRODUCTS<br />
UK operator Convoys Ltd, part of <strong>News</strong> International, has taken delivery<br />
of its first two PaperTech pulp clamps, at its facilities at Chatham Dock.<br />
Supplied through B&B Attachments, the model PP4080T clamps have a<br />
capacity of 4000kg at 800mm load centre and have 1400mm long, thin<br />
profile arms. They incorporate sideshift and a quick release rear mounting for<br />
easy fitting and removal. With a frame width of 1560mm, they are within<br />
the profile of the FLTs and provide an opening range of between 610 and<br />
2230mm, allowing one or two packs of woodpulp to be handled. Convoys<br />
receives around 150,000 tonnes/year of woodpulp for intermediate storage<br />
and onward trucking to the receivers<br />
Kalmar shows its Kraft<br />
The cabs of five Kalmar DCE80-<br />
6 clamp trucks supplied recently<br />
to Kappa Kraftliner in Piteå, Sweden<br />
are fitted with 180 deg rotating<br />
seats. Kappa’s engineer K-G<br />
Fältmark says that the mill is producing<br />
increasingly broad and<br />
heavy rolls and this imposes specific<br />
requirements on the FLTs<br />
which are used to handle them.<br />
“They must be capable of lifting<br />
and carrying two rolls at a<br />
time, which restricts the driver’s<br />
view when driving forwards,” said<br />
Fältmark. “The rotating driver’s<br />
seat enables the trucks to be driven<br />
safely in reverse and is thus a crucial<br />
prerequisite for safe, fast and<br />
efficient handling.”<br />
The cabs are Kalmar’s Spirit<br />
Delta Space type, designed to<br />
optimise driver comfort and safety.<br />
The integral double roll clamps are<br />
from Cascade and incorporate tilt<br />
control to prevent rolls being damaged<br />
when unloaded. The pad<br />
plates have been extended by 40<br />
per cent to ensure precise and gentle<br />
grip on the rolls. Currently the<br />
average roll weight is 2.3 tonnes<br />
and the top weight is 4.3 tonnes.<br />
The diesel-powered trucks<br />
operate within the warehouse and<br />
also load trucks and trains. To help<br />
with air quality in the warehouse,<br />
they are fitted with PM filters and<br />
catalytic exhaust purification.<br />
They handle around 40 per cent<br />
of the mill’s output of 700,000<br />
tonnes/year.<br />
controlled by Bolzoni Auramo<br />
and its partner is Tiger Group, its<br />
distributor for China.<br />
Initially the plant will produce<br />
the hook-on sideshifter range for<br />
the local market but there are plans<br />
to extend gradually the number<br />
and complexity of products made<br />
locally. Bolzoni Auramo has also<br />
appointed a new dealer for FLT<br />
attachments and hand pallet trucks<br />
(but not lift tables) in Hungary,<br />
Mar-Go Kft Ltd, near Budapest.<br />
Forking out<br />
Cascade Corporation, the world’s<br />
biggest FLT attachments manufacturer,<br />
has introduced a new 5500lb<br />
capacity fork positioner that uses<br />
radio frequency (RF) hydraulic<br />
control to position the forks. It<br />
recommends the 55K sideshifting<br />
fork positioner for solid tyre trucks<br />
in warehousing and distribution<br />
applications. The no-weld design<br />
and compatibility with OEM load<br />
backrests makes it extremely easy<br />
to install, says the company.<br />
When the 55K fork positioner<br />
is installed on a truck with one<br />
auxiliary valve, the RF hydraulic<br />
control permits the use of the single<br />
auxiliary valve to control both<br />
the sideshift and fork positioning<br />
functions. ❏<br />
The mill, which is the biggest<br />
for kraftliner production in Europe,<br />
also operates an automatic<br />
loading system using conveyors<br />
and trailers with recessed floors.<br />
SCA job<br />
Swedish SCA’s paper mill at<br />
Witzenhausen near Kassel in Germany<br />
has invested in 21 Kalmar<br />
DCE 80-6 FLTs to handle paper<br />
reels and waste materials. Last<br />
year the mill processed 318,000<br />
tonnes of waste paper into<br />
300,000 tonnes of cardboard<br />
packaging.<br />
The FLTs have been fitted<br />
with special lifting gear with a<br />
6.25m lifting height. They are<br />
equipped with inclined cylinders<br />
above the air-conditioned Spirit<br />
Delta driver’s cabin to deal with<br />
the torsion forces that arise when<br />
picking up paper reels. A protective<br />
grid has been inserted be-<br />
September 2005
FOREST PRODUCTS<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Tilbury’s automated terminal hits the ground running<br />
The capital-intensive (£34 mill by Forth<br />
Ports plc) paper terminal for StoraEnso<br />
at the Port of Tilbury is now up and running<br />
on schedule and within budget.<br />
Some elements of the system have been<br />
employed previously in paper mills or industrial/commodity<br />
distribution centres,<br />
but this is the first time they have been<br />
integrated into what is the world’s first<br />
fully automated paper import and distribution<br />
centre.<br />
The terminal is currently handling<br />
three DFDS ships/week from Göteborg<br />
with SECUs and three Finnlines vessels<br />
from Finland loaded conventionally with<br />
flats, containers on rolltrailers and also storo<br />
traffic. It is intended that all traffic will<br />
come via baseport Göteborg in SECUs<br />
by 2006, although Finnlines has a two<br />
year contract to feed “conventional” paper<br />
traffic to the terminal.<br />
Fast start<br />
Construction work started in March 2004,<br />
with the automated high bay warehouse<br />
requiring significant piling to stabilise the<br />
30m high racking system and mast <strong>crane</strong>s<br />
Trancel unit loading the receival bay<br />
in estuarial flood, marsh soil conditions.<br />
Tilbury engineers gained access to the site<br />
in April started trial operations on 1st July<br />
and the plant went live late July!<br />
The terminal has a planned throughput<br />
of 735,000 tonnes/year for years 1<br />
and 2, increasing to > 800,000 tonnes/<br />
year when the full Finnish SECU operation<br />
cuts in. The facility will also handle<br />
some 16,000 trailers, general cargo,<br />
wheeled traffic and containers from<br />
DFDS and Finnlines. Finnish containerised<br />
paper flows will amount to some<br />
64,500 tonnes while sto-ro will contribute<br />
166,500 tonnes until this operation<br />
becomes a full SECU service with the<br />
StoraEnso big <strong>box</strong>es stuffed at the Gulf<br />
of Bothnia (NETSS phase 2) and Kotka<br />
for transhipment at Göteborg. Initially,<br />
some 504,000 tonnes/year of paper products,<br />
predominantly reels, will be carried<br />
in the SECUs.<br />
Hi-tech or low bay<br />
The terminal essentially comprises two<br />
sections: a conventional, manually operated,<br />
low bay warehouse and the automated<br />
high bay warehouse, where most<br />
of the technology (and cost) is located.<br />
To gain an idea of the efficiency of the<br />
latter installation, its 9263 m 2 provides<br />
storage for 372,781 tonnes of paper products<br />
in 29,120 separate racked cubicles.<br />
In comparison, the 33,000 m 2 low bay<br />
warehouse has a theoretical capacity of<br />
32,664 reels totalling 150,383 tonnes<br />
(Port of Tilbury figures).<br />
The main contractor for the automated<br />
handling system is Swisslog,<br />
headquartered in Buchs/Aarau, Switzerland.<br />
Swisslog is well known in automation<br />
circles but is a new entrant to the<br />
port sector. The same is true of the main<br />
sub-contractors such as Accalon, which<br />
supplied the automated stacking <strong>crane</strong>s<br />
Automated SECU door opening (Grey or<br />
Mark 2 ECU)<br />
Below: Reel being removed from that bay to<br />
the conveyor system<br />
Below: Almost made it! Scanner gate before<br />
reel entry into high bay warehouse<br />
tween the inclined cylinders to protect<br />
the cab. The trucks are fitted with 85<br />
kw Perkins low-emission engine installed<br />
with soot filters, automated Bolzoni-<br />
Auramo clamps, converter transmission<br />
and pneumatic tyres.<br />
The FLTs are shared by two drivers<br />
and operate 24 hours/day, each clocking<br />
4000-500 hours/year. Between 06.00 and<br />
and 22.00 they unload around 120 truckand-trailer<br />
units with the waste paper<br />
being stacked in the open air. At least<br />
three DCE 80-6s unload the trucks, three<br />
are employed in loading and further machines<br />
are used for feeding balls into the<br />
paper machine, which has to be fed constantly.<br />
Another FLT removes the finished<br />
paper reels, weighing up to 3.5 tonnes,<br />
from the apron conveyor and takes them<br />
to the warehouse. ❏<br />
September 2005 37
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
and conveyor system; Cimcorp,<br />
which was responsible for the<br />
vacuum clamp robotic overhead<br />
gantry <strong>crane</strong>s; Baumer with its<br />
camera and optical scanning systems;<br />
and Nedcon with its racking<br />
system. The only supplier that<br />
has previous experience in the<br />
port sector, specifically with<br />
SECU handling at Zeebrugge, was<br />
Trancel, although the road trailer<br />
loading system is a new development<br />
for them as well.<br />
Swisslog was project leader for<br />
design, engineeering and commissioning<br />
and holds the management<br />
contract for at least three<br />
years, although it is envisaged that<br />
port employees will be trained to<br />
operate the system, so longer term<br />
Swisslog engineers may not be<br />
needed on site full-time.<br />
Belt and braces<br />
The low bay warehouse was included<br />
in the project to provide<br />
flexibility and “insurance” in the<br />
event of a catastrophic failure of<br />
the automation system. However,<br />
it would not be able to cope with<br />
the total traffic flows and primarily<br />
serves to handle clamp truck<br />
handled paper reels for storage and<br />
loading through conventional<br />
38<br />
All the new clamp trucks (all from Hyster and Taylor) are fitted with automated<br />
AFC (adaptive force control) clamps from Cascade<br />
trailer loading bays. It is controlled<br />
through the same computer<br />
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management system as the automated<br />
high bay warehouse, although<br />
manual intervention is directed<br />
by cab-mounted screens.<br />
The configuration of this<br />
warehouse is similar to the<br />
FinnTerminal on the other side of<br />
the Tilbury dock system, except<br />
the bays are sited diagonally to the<br />
access roadways instead of at 90<br />
deg. The warehouse, which as a<br />
clear height of 7.9m, has 10 in<br />
load/out doors for cassettes and<br />
trailers plus six docking bays at the<br />
rear of the facility for clamp truck<br />
trailer loading.<br />
Handling is by means of<br />
Hyster open cab 3t, 4t and 5.5t<br />
mast trucks equipped with Cascade<br />
automated (“intelligent”)<br />
pressure sensing clamps as well as<br />
Taylor THC-300 FLTs, also fitted<br />
with Cascade clamps, to handle<br />
jumbo reels. The Hyster FLTs are<br />
shod with “white” scuff-free solid<br />
tyres, but the Taylors have black<br />
resilient tyres which have marked<br />
the treated concrete floor of the<br />
warehouse. All the handling and<br />
terminal rolling equipment is supplied<br />
through Barloworld.<br />
Two way flow<br />
There is no cargo distinction between<br />
the high bay automated<br />
warehouse and the adjacent low<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
bay area, with the exception that<br />
the “automated” SECU <strong>box</strong>es, denoted<br />
by their grey colour instead<br />
of red for the original flat floor<br />
SECUs, are fed only into the automated<br />
storage bays. The grey<br />
<strong>box</strong>es are discharged manually by<br />
the clamp trucks which are then<br />
instructed via Swisslog’s warehouse<br />
management system<br />
(WMS), either to place the reel<br />
or pallet in a designated slot in the<br />
low bay warehouse or into the<br />
automated stacking system.<br />
One of the constraints is that<br />
only the grey SECUs can be discharged<br />
automatically using the<br />
Trancel system. This was originally<br />
developed for the Sea-Ro terminal<br />
in Zeebrugge and was not part<br />
of the original “Stora big <strong>box</strong>”<br />
“spec.” The Trancel system of 40ft<br />
long, pneumatically-elevated tines<br />
require a channelled SECU floor<br />
in which to slide and then lift to<br />
pick up the entire cargo and transfer<br />
it to the warehouse platform.<br />
In Zeebrugge, the reels are removed<br />
and placed into storage by<br />
clamp trucks whereas at Tilbury,<br />
the two grey SECU automated<br />
receival bays are each emptied by<br />
means of an automated overhead<br />
<strong>crane</strong> fitted with a vacuum clamp,<br />
which is also employed for automated<br />
truck loading.<br />
Grey area<br />
The discharge operation starts<br />
when the grey SECU is backed<br />
into the single discharge bay by a<br />
Liftec LTH90 translifter and<br />
Terberg RT382 slidable cab tractor<br />
unit. Once in place, the doors<br />
are unlocked manually and then<br />
full automation takes over. The<br />
doors are automatically opened by<br />
two hinged arms and the travelling,<br />
rail-mounted Trancel discharger<br />
which serves both adjacent<br />
automated receival/loading<br />
bays, is activated. This railmounted<br />
device then withdraws<br />
the complete SECU contents in<br />
one move, places it on its loadbed<br />
and traverses to either of the two<br />
adjacent automated receival bays.<br />
Once the load is locked onto<br />
the bay, the Trancel system places<br />
it in the receival area and is then<br />
available to discharge another<br />
SECU. As SECU discharge is<br />
faster that individual reel removal<br />
from the automated feed station,<br />
only one SECU discharge bay is<br />
needed. The empty SECU can be<br />
removed and replaced by a full one<br />
to allow the traversing Trancel device<br />
to load the second station.<br />
In a vacuum<br />
The paper reels are removed from<br />
the feeding station by an overhead<br />
Cimcorp <strong>crane</strong> fitted with a visual<br />
system for reel identification and<br />
spotting. A small prong in the centre<br />
of the vacuum clamp breaks<br />
the protective paper and applies<br />
suction to the interior of the reel<br />
as well as the top of the wrapping<br />
paper to ensure a stronger grip.<br />
Although the Finnish automation<br />
group Cimcorp has previously<br />
worked with StoraEnso on paper<br />
handling projects, its main activity<br />
is in the industrial materials<br />
handling sector.<br />
The reel is placed on a slave<br />
board, on which it will sit until it<br />
leaves the system, by the overhead<br />
<strong>crane</strong> onto the Accalon roller conveyor<br />
system which then transfers<br />
it, via a scanning gate, to the high<br />
bay warehouse. With the identification<br />
and destiny of the reel now<br />
acknowledged by the WMS realtime<br />
program, the reel is directed<br />
to one of the seven Accalon 30m<br />
tall, stacking/retrieval <strong>crane</strong>s.<br />
Due to the configuration of<br />
the warehouse structure with a<br />
rigid centre support structure, five<br />
bays are handled by a double-sided<br />
<strong>crane</strong> which can stack/retrieve on<br />
both its left and right sides. Another<br />
two <strong>crane</strong>s are configured<br />
for single-sided handling.<br />
FOREST PRODUCTS<br />
Fowl play!<br />
A feature of Project Enterprise<br />
that owes more to traditional<br />
skills than modern day technology<br />
is its “tame” hawk, to<br />
scare off pigeons attracted to<br />
the adjacent grain silos!<br />
Low flying birds inside the<br />
warehouse could trigger sensitive<br />
automation alarms as<br />
well as create a mess. To date,<br />
visits of the hawk have proved<br />
highly successful in keeping<br />
pigeons at bay. ❏<br />
The Accalon <strong>crane</strong>s are essentially<br />
high speed, vertical mast<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s supported by a single rail<br />
at ground level and steadied by<br />
another track at the roof of the<br />
warehouse. They are fed by individual<br />
load stations off the main<br />
conveyor line according to the<br />
programmed storage destination<br />
for the reel or pallet.<br />
The vertical storage/retrieval<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s can also be manually operated.<br />
There are occasions when<br />
one of the warehouse staff may<br />
have to travel up in the <strong>crane</strong>, suitably<br />
equipped with a full harness,<br />
to clean out the bays of any debris,<br />
such as torn paper, which can<br />
affect the laser scanning system.<br />
The conveyor system operates<br />
anti-clockwise and can simultaneously<br />
handle both cell charging<br />
and retrieval. It is possible, for example,<br />
for one <strong>crane</strong> to retrieve<br />
reels from the conveyor line for<br />
stacking while another can retrieve<br />
reels from the racks to place<br />
on the conveyor line. This will<br />
then automatically deliver it to<br />
one of the two automatic trailer<br />
loading stations, or to a clamp<br />
truck zone for removal if no autoload<br />
road trailers are available.<br />
Work station<br />
To ensure that the reel has the<br />
right dimensions, is not damaged<br />
and can be safely put in its designated<br />
storage rack before it enters<br />
the high bay warehouse, it passes<br />
through a screen where its bar<br />
code is scanned, its position on the<br />
slave board checked (particularly<br />
important for reels placed in the<br />
system by clamp trucks) and it is<br />
checked for is damage.<br />
If the reel is cleared, it proceeds<br />
into the high bay warehouse. If it<br />
is rejected, it is directed into a loop<br />
in the conveyor line where it can<br />
be manually inspected or have the<br />
bar code read at a work station.<br />
The operator who drives the tractors<br />
to place the SECUs or road<br />
trailers in position and who also<br />
oversees the Trancel cross dock<br />
loader, makes periodic checks on<br />
the work station to determine the<br />
cause of the reel rejection.<br />
It could be a simple case of the<br />
load not being centralised or<br />
slightly overhanging the slave<br />
board or a small tear in the wrapping<br />
which the laser scanner assumes<br />
is a major fault in the reel.<br />
Once the problem is identified,<br />
the load is released back into the<br />
main conveyor line up-stream of<br />
the scanner, which it must pass<br />
again before being allowed into<br />
the high bay warehouse.<br />
If the reject “sidings” are full,<br />
the load will enter the high bay<br />
building, but by-pass the <strong>crane</strong>s<br />
and continue round the main conveyor<br />
loop until there is space in<br />
the work station line.<br />
Shrinking problem<br />
One problem that would normally<br />
be dealt with easily by a<br />
manual system but could not be<br />
accepted by the auto system was<br />
due to bar code read-out.<br />
At the Swedish mills, packs of<br />
cut photocopier paper are<br />
palletised and passed through a<br />
shrink wrapping machine to secure<br />
and protect them. As soon as<br />
September 2005
FOREST PRODUCTS/CARGO HANDLING<br />
Tapping into the global reach of lift trucks<br />
In a paper launching it new reach stacker,<br />
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) calculates<br />
that the global market for reach<br />
stackers grew from 200 to 1300 units/<br />
year in the decade to 2002 - a steeper<br />
growth curve than containerisation itself.<br />
Its figure is much higher than the ><br />
800 units (excluding Kalmar RTCHs)<br />
reckoned for 2004 output in <strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
<strong>News</strong>, December 2004 edition. Although<br />
the market has grown again this year, it is<br />
still thought to be under 1000 units.<br />
However, this equipment area is notoriously<br />
difficult to survey accurately. It<br />
the shrink wrap is in place, the bar code<br />
is automatically applied.<br />
When the shrink wrapping contracts<br />
to hold the cargo in place, the bar code<br />
label crinkles. It can normally be read<br />
manually if it is smoothed out, but not<br />
automatically. Accordingly the scanning<br />
system rejected these pallets. Once the<br />
shipper was aware of the problem, different<br />
procedures were put in place and it is<br />
no longer a problem.<br />
The increasing popularity of the reach<br />
stacker has encouraged more lift truck<br />
manufacturers to enter the market<br />
may be the case that established players<br />
deliberately understate their estimates of<br />
market size when talking on the record,<br />
in order to discourage new entrants. For<br />
certain, <strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> is not in a position<br />
to say that it knows better than MHI.<br />
Whatever the exact numbers, most of<br />
the growth has been captured by European<br />
suppliers. Asian FLT manufacturers<br />
tended to treat the container handling<br />
market as the heavy segment of their range<br />
and were slow to embrace the reach<br />
stacker. This is changing, however. Reach<br />
stacker manufacturers in China and India<br />
report strong order books for local<br />
customers, while two manufacturers in<br />
Japan are looking to the export market.<br />
Boom up in India<br />
Indital Construction Machinery (ICM)<br />
has been building reach stackers at it facility<br />
in Bangalore since 1989. Managing<br />
director Ravi Kumar said demand has<br />
more than doubled in the last 12 months<br />
from 40 units in 2003/04 to over 90 units<br />
this year (a figure some think too high).<br />
Previously ICM targeted exports and<br />
sold one machine to a customer in Tanzania<br />
but it is now struggling to meet<br />
domestic demand alone. It has <strong>built</strong> up<br />
capacity from 30 units/year to 50 and a<br />
second expansion is under way to boost<br />
that to 75 by March 2006. “Even if we<br />
touch this figure, we would not be able<br />
to cater for Indian demand,” says Kumar.<br />
ICM developed its current Contstar<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Former Fantuzzi group CEO Davide<br />
Bertozzi is now with Linde<br />
Auto trailer loading<br />
Another feature of the Tilbury project that<br />
breaks new ground, although using existing<br />
technology, is the Trancel automatic<br />
trailer loading system. It requires specially<br />
modified road trailers, supplied by the<br />
haulier C&H, fitted with a false load floor<br />
into which five recessed channels are incorporated,<br />
each of which has an air-operated<br />
cover.<br />
The trailer load, as requested by the<br />
user who has direct input into the WMS,<br />
is selected from the high bay warehouse,<br />
removed by the stacking <strong>crane</strong>s, transported<br />
by conveyor to the vehicle loading<br />
station and lifted from the conveyor<br />
onto the Trancel loader by the automated<br />
overhead vacuum clamp gantry.<br />
When the load is made up, the road<br />
trailer is backed into position and the tines<br />
of the Trancel device raised and moved<br />
forward into the trailer. These tines are<br />
aligned with the channels in the trailer<br />
floor. At this stage the channels are raised<br />
but when the load is in place, the covers<br />
are lowered to allow the reels to sit on<br />
the trailer floor and the tines removed.<br />
However, unlike the SECU, which sits<br />
on the ground, the trailer has a suspension<br />
system and the Trancel system needs<br />
a fully-aligned and steady base. Accordingly<br />
the trailers are equipped with a fifth<br />
wheel king pin aft of the rear axles that<br />
mate with a standard fifth wheel mounted<br />
at the end of the loading bay. Once the<br />
trailer is locked onto this, the air suspension<br />
is relaxed and the full weight taken<br />
on the rear fifth wheel coupling.<br />
Considerable care must be taken when<br />
reversing the trailer onto the loading bay<br />
as it must be placed at exactly 90 deg. to<br />
the loading dock or else the tines carrying<br />
the reels will not mate fully with the<br />
channels in the trailer floor. As with reversing<br />
the SECU into the discharge bay,<br />
the tractor driver relies on aligning the<br />
trailer with lines painted on the floor. But<br />
in the case of the trailer, he does not have<br />
the advantage of rear steering and relies<br />
on the tractor unit for manouevrability.<br />
Cross-dock<br />
An off-site rail cross-dock facility has also<br />
been constructed to handle both incoming<br />
and outgoing traffic, although as yet<br />
the two planned inboard trains from<br />
Langebrugge with Zeebrugge cargo via<br />
the Channel Tunnel are not yet in the<br />
schedule. Instead, any Zeebrugge import<br />
cargo from Göteborg is transported by<br />
road to Tilbury, although this is considered<br />
a very temporary solution.<br />
The rail cross-dock, located adjacent<br />
to Tilbury’s main container rail terminal,<br />
will serve five weekly trains to Selby,<br />
Knowsley, Deanside and Avonmouth, The<br />
covered platform and rail track is similar<br />
to that at Zeebrugge and features four<br />
dock leveller SECU slots for direct clamp<br />
truck handling plus an automated Trancel<br />
profile inserter to discharge the grey<br />
SECUs. These are then loaded manually<br />
as the UK rail system does not have covered<br />
rail cars capable, as yet, of automated<br />
loading. ❏<br />
KALMAR REACHSTACKERS<br />
NO.1 CHOICE FOR REACHING C<strong>US</strong>TOMER EXPECTATIONS<br />
More operators choose Kalmar Reachstackers than any other make. Why?<br />
Because Kalmar gives them a wider choice of models to perfectly suit their<br />
applications in both toplift and combi-lift combinations. And the reliability, easy<br />
maintenance and outstanding all-round performance of Kalmar Reachstackers<br />
meets their operational expectations every time.<br />
For more information about Kalmar Reachstackers and the full range of worldbeating<br />
container handling technology, visit our website or contact your Kalmar<br />
Representative.<br />
www.kalmarind.com<br />
September 2005 39
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
CARGO HANDLING<br />
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has finally added<br />
its name to the list of reach stacker suppliers<br />
reach stacker based on it early experience<br />
with seven reach stackers delivered to<br />
Container Corporation’s (CONCOR)<br />
Tughlakabad New Delhi terminal. As previously<br />
reported ICM delivered a<br />
Contstar CS320-5 to Cochin Port Trust<br />
last year and has <strong>built</strong> 24 reach stackers<br />
since then. The current order book has<br />
13 more units for delivery this year to<br />
customers including Tanzania Port Authority<br />
(1), Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust<br />
(2), Roadwings International (5) and<br />
Paramount Heavy Carriers (2).<br />
ICM also has confirmed orders for six<br />
heavy FLTs in the 12 to 25t range and<br />
eight ECH machines including an ECT<br />
06-3 (denoting 6t capacity stacking 3<br />
high) and its newly-released CS 150-5, a<br />
dedicated ECH reach stacker with a 6t<br />
capacity and 5-high stacking.<br />
Italian connection<br />
As its name “Indital” makes clear, ICM<br />
has a link with Italy - the birthplace of<br />
the reach stacker. It uses the design team<br />
at MT Engineering in Massa, headed by<br />
Claudio Fontanini. MT designs structures<br />
for ICM’s range of reach stackers, FLTs<br />
and mobile <strong>crane</strong>s. It also assists with component<br />
selection where necessary.<br />
Hydraulic circuitry, component selection<br />
and sourcing are performed by Argo<br />
Hytos of Modena, Italy. The line up includes<br />
six FLTs in the 12 to 32t capacity<br />
range, the Contstar series of laden and<br />
empty handling reach stackers and 6t and<br />
8t ECH mast trucks.<br />
Experience the<br />
progress.<br />
Liebherr-Werk Nenzing GmbH<br />
P.O. Box 10, A-6710 Nenzing/Austria<br />
Tel.: +43 5525 606-725<br />
Fax: +43 5525 606-447<br />
reachstacker@liebherr.com<br />
www.liebherr.com<br />
The Group<br />
Indital model CS 320-5. The company says<br />
it is expanding capacity again to meet strong<br />
demand from Indian operators<br />
The Contstar CS320-5 stacks 45t<br />
<strong>box</strong>es 5-high in the first row and is ICM’s<br />
most popular design. ICM fabricates the<br />
chassis, boom, spreader and oil/fuel tanks<br />
and fits imported driveline and hydraulic<br />
components. Engine options are a Volvo<br />
TAD942VE or a Caterpillar C-9, both<br />
with a ZF 4WG 311 transmission.<br />
The Italian connection is reflected in<br />
the high number of components sourced<br />
from Italy including drive and steer axles<br />
(OMCI), slew gear reduction unit<br />
(Comer), hydraulic control valves<br />
(Walvoil), steering unit (Sauer Danfoss),<br />
and the load moment indicator (3B6).<br />
Other components include SKF bearings,<br />
an Igus cable chain and slew gear<br />
from Rothe Erde. A number of other<br />
components can be purchased from<br />
within India including counterweight,<br />
electrical components, tyres and rims, hydraulic<br />
hoses, cylinders and fittings.<br />
Kumar says service is particularly important<br />
in India where “nothing but the<br />
best machine, with adequate service and<br />
spares support can survive.” Requirements<br />
include 21 hours operation per day, guaranteed<br />
availability of 85 per cent, service<br />
personnel on site within three hours of a<br />
breakdown and an average fuel consumption<br />
of no more than 13-14 litres/hour.<br />
In trying to meet these requirements,<br />
manufacturers encounter poor diesel<br />
quality, contaminated oils and unhealthy<br />
maintenance practices. ICM services the<br />
New Delhi and Calcutta markets from<br />
its headquarters in Bangalore, while<br />
Mumbai and Chennai are served through<br />
distributors. Spares, it claims, are always<br />
available within 24 hours maximum.<br />
Pick and carry<br />
ICM is also enjoying success with its mobile<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s with a non-telescopic boom.<br />
Kumar explains that these, like reach<br />
stackers, “come under the category of<br />
counterbalanced handling machines” with<br />
front wheel drive, rear wheel steering and<br />
no outriggers. Instead of a spreader the<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s have a hook block and wire rope<br />
Reach stacker<br />
instead of RTG<br />
When the Port of Cork, Ireland<br />
needed to provide equipment at<br />
Ringaskiddy Deepwater Terminal to<br />
handle containers from Grimaldi’s<br />
vessels, it initially looked to a vintage<br />
3 + 1/1 over 2 hydraulic RTG that<br />
was surplus at the Tivoli container terminal,<br />
and purchased a second-hand<br />
SMV reach stacker as back-up.<br />
But it found that mixing the two<br />
was not ideal and it also suffered<br />
equipment problems. “Both items are<br />
unreliable with the RTG in particular<br />
being on it last legs,” says engineering<br />
services manager Denis Healy.<br />
The port has decided to tender for<br />
a new reach stacker and retain the old<br />
SMV machine as back-up. “Our operations<br />
and maintenance department<br />
feel that this is the best arrangement<br />
for us, with the primary and back-up<br />
plant being compatible,” added Healy.<br />
“Operations are also happy bearing<br />
in mind service frequency, container<br />
numbers, dwell times and so on<br />
that this is the best system for us.” ❏<br />
40<br />
September 2005
CARGO HANDLING<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
and can be made with lifting capacities<br />
from 5 to 60t.<br />
Its main models are the HC-15 and<br />
HC-18 which are <strong>built</strong> on a smaller chassis<br />
than reach stackers. The hoist works<br />
on the same principle as a standard truck<br />
<strong>crane</strong>; a winch is fitted to the rear end of<br />
the boom and a single line rope passes<br />
around a sheave at the front end into<br />
multiple sheaves at the head and hook<br />
block.<br />
Kumar says the design was pioneered<br />
by Belotti in Italy in the 1940s (about 20<br />
years before it introduced the reach<br />
stacker).The advantage is an economical,<br />
manoeuvrable <strong>crane</strong> that can travel with<br />
a load for a short distance as there are no<br />
outriggers. An 8t unit was one of the first<br />
machines that ICM ever <strong>built</strong>.<br />
Two from Japan<br />
TCM starting making reach stackers in<br />
Japan in 2002 and, as noted, MHI has now<br />
entered the market. TCM says it has sold<br />
19 machines including two units exported<br />
to customers in Pakistan and Guatemala.<br />
TCM is clearly building momentum<br />
in Japan and has sold nine units this year<br />
to customers including Kamigumi and<br />
Bridgestone Logistics in Fukuoka and<br />
Yusen Kairiki Unyu in Hokkaido.<br />
MHI has noted the trend and says<br />
reach stackers are more efficient than<br />
FLTs. Its new machine has a first row capacity<br />
of 45t up to the 4th tier and 42t in<br />
the 5th. Capacity in the second row is<br />
29t to 4-high and in the third row 15t to<br />
3-high. MHI points out that a loaded<br />
container usually weighs no more than<br />
30.5t so almost all containers can be<br />
placed in the second row.<br />
The hydraulic system uses variable<br />
displacement pumps controlled by a load<br />
sensing circuit. Bom lifting, lowering and<br />
telescoping are controlled by a number<br />
of pump circuits that are independent of<br />
each other to enable simultaneous operation<br />
and speed control of the different<br />
functions. MHI says this is “impossible<br />
with other manufacturers’ equipment.”<br />
The reach stacker is controlled with a<br />
Reach stacker from Dalian Forklift Co Ltd<br />
CANbus network with three controllers:<br />
one above the spreader, one in the cab<br />
and the third on the chassis. There is a<br />
touch screen LCD display in the cab giving<br />
machine status including tachometer,<br />
fuel gauge, spreader position, lift weight,<br />
error messages and operational history.<br />
To prevent an overturn due to improper<br />
lifting, in particular in the second<br />
and third rows, the machine is fitted with<br />
a “failsafe” system that stops lifting before<br />
an unsafe position is reached. Another<br />
safety function prevents maximum SWL<br />
being exceeded in other situations.<br />
Made in China<br />
In China, Dalian Forklift Co Ltd (DFC)<br />
has a longstanding relationship with MHI<br />
New light<br />
truck series<br />
Komatsu has launched a new family of<br />
FLTs in the 1-3.5t capacity range, the<br />
AX50/BX50 series. Features include a<br />
refined hydraulic lifting system, new cab<br />
design and vibration reduction system.<br />
The BX50 109 is available in 2.0t, 2.5t,<br />
and 3.0t capacities and is marketed as a<br />
“full-scale 1-ton model body with 2.0t<br />
class truck capabilities.”<br />
The 109 series is suitable for container<br />
stuffing and stripping duties as its narrow<br />
1090mm width and 2050mm turning<br />
radius mean it is very manoeuvrable. It is<br />
fitted with the same high-rigidity mast as<br />
the BX50 2-ton series and features a new<br />
soft and stable cushion tyre (SSCT)<br />
deigned to improve stability without the<br />
vibration transmission of a conventional<br />
solid tyre. The SSCT features air holes on<br />
each side and is especially designed for<br />
flat floors. Where the surface or operating<br />
conditions are inappropriate Komatsu<br />
offers a standard cushion tyre.<br />
For the new range the mast has been<br />
redesigned and features a flattened rail<br />
section with greater inside width (475mm<br />
with a 3-stage and 375mm with a 2-stage<br />
mast) and a lowered position of the 3-<br />
stage mast centre cylinder and tilt stay.<br />
The counterweight has been redesigned<br />
to prevent hot air blowing onto<br />
the operator while reversing and the tail<br />
pipe relocated to the lowest point so as<br />
to eliminate stains from exhaust gas. Other<br />
areas Komatsu has targeted for improvement<br />
include reducing the number of lubrication<br />
points in the steering system<br />
with the optimum combination of bushings<br />
and seals.<br />
The BX50 models are available with<br />
Komatsu’s “Super Lift Hydraulic System”<br />
that uses a tandem type hydraulic system<br />
directly mounted on the engine. One<br />
pump operates the power steering and the<br />
other the lifting system. Low idle lifting<br />
speed is up to 18 m/sec without pedal<br />
acceleration with a full load, a 100 per<br />
cent increase on the previous model.<br />
Vibration reduction has come in for<br />
particular attention with another evolution<br />
in Komatsu’s original suspension cab<br />
design. With the new dual floating structure<br />
the cab is suspended on wide-set<br />
front mount and high position rearmount<br />
and the power train is similarly<br />
“floated” on the frame. A universal joint<br />
is used to reduce engine and motion vibrations<br />
on the front axle.<br />
The result, says Komatsu, is a 50 per<br />
cent reduction in vibration through the<br />
seat, floor plate and accelerator and a 60<br />
per cent reduction in steering vibration.<br />
Komatsu is rolling out production of the<br />
new models gradually. They are currently<br />
in production in Japan and Europe and<br />
production at a new plant in China starts<br />
this autumn. Production in the <strong>US</strong>A will<br />
start in early 2006. ❏<br />
September 2005 41
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
42<br />
There is nothing quite like Liebherr’s<br />
curved boom LRS 645. Here it shows<br />
its ability to pick a 3-high container<br />
in the third row without disturbing the<br />
third tier of the first two rows<br />
covering FLTs, including the<br />
heavy 15-30t range, laden container<br />
handlers up to 42t and ECH<br />
machines. In 2000 the company<br />
purchased drawings from Fantuzzi<br />
Regianne in a one-off deal and<br />
began building reach stackers.<br />
DFC’s Jeff Liu says almost 40 units<br />
have been delivered since then,<br />
including six <strong>built</strong> so far this year<br />
with another two in production.<br />
DFC fabricates the chassis and<br />
8-52 to.<br />
used container forklift trucks<br />
and terminal equipment<br />
Forklift trucks,<br />
reachstackers<br />
and terminal equipment<br />
Cap. Type Year Liftheight<br />
7 t. Kalmar DCD70-40E5 01 15800 mm<br />
8 t. Kalmar DB8-600 86 5000 mm<br />
10 t. Kalmar DC10-600 87 5000 mm<br />
12 t. SMV SL600A 97 9000 mm<br />
15 t. Kalmar DCD15-12 02 4000 mm<br />
16 t. Svetruck 16120-38 95 5000 mm<br />
25 t. Svetruck 25120-45 97 4000 mm<br />
28 t. Svetruck 28120-45 full free lift 89 5600 mm<br />
42 t. Kalmar DC42-1200 87 7000 mm<br />
Reachstackers<br />
41 t. Sisu RSD4118TL4 96 12100 mm<br />
41 t. Linde C4130TL5 99 15900 mm<br />
42 t. Linde C4230TL5 02 15900 mm<br />
45 t. Terex TFC4517 99 14790 mm<br />
45 t. SMV 4535TAL5 96 14900 mm<br />
N.C.NIELSEN A/S · DK-7860 BALLING · DENMARK<br />
TEL. +45 99 83 83 83 · FAX +45 97 56 46 24<br />
www.nc-nielsen.dk · linde@nc-nielsen.dk<br />
<br />
Cap. Type Year Liftheight<br />
Terminal tractors<br />
17 t. Mafi MTL17 swapbodymover 97 630 mm<br />
25 t. Mafi MT25 4x2 98 1000 mm<br />
25 t. Sisu TT131-A2 4x2 95 1000 mm<br />
28 t. Terberg YT180 4x2 03 898 mm<br />
30 t. Mafi MT30R 4x2 90 1000 mm<br />
30 t. Sisu TR160 4x4 94 1000 mm<br />
30 t. Kalmar TB3042 4x2 96 1000 mm<br />
30 t. CVS/Ferrari FT 225 4x4 96 1000 mm<br />
32 t. Sisu TT162 4x2 00 1075 mm<br />
34 t. Terberg YT220 4x2 00 1000 mm<br />
34 t. Terberg YT220 4x2 01 1000 mm<br />
35 t. Terberg RT28 4x4 97 1000 mm<br />
36 t. Mafi MT36R 4x4 97 1000 mm<br />
36 t. Terberg RT26 4x4 93 1000 mm<br />
ncnielsen<br />
boom in Dalian and fits imported<br />
components such as Cummins engines,<br />
Kessler axles, Parker or<br />
Clark hydraulics, Elme spreader.<br />
All machines <strong>built</strong> so far have<br />
been for Chinese customers. Liu<br />
says DFC has machines in most<br />
major port locations. He adds that<br />
reach stacker orders are at about<br />
the same level as container handling<br />
mast trucks.<br />
Selling to Asia<br />
It is fair to say that the Asian market<br />
is divided into two distinct<br />
categories: larger customers such<br />
as global port operators or big regional<br />
players often placing big<br />
orders for new berths or greenfield<br />
terminals; and low volume orders<br />
from smaller players that are sometimes<br />
not put to tender. Here wellconnected<br />
local agents are crucial<br />
and brand reputation depends<br />
greatly on parts and service.<br />
It is sometimes said that in certain<br />
markets, particularly Japan and<br />
Korea, having a domestically<br />
branded machine is key, but this<br />
can be overstated. Komatsu sold<br />
seven Linde reach stackers in Japan<br />
last year and is expecting even<br />
more business this year. A major<br />
factor in this success is it ability to<br />
support the machines through the<br />
existing Komatsu network.<br />
Another moot point is the extent<br />
to which local fabrication<br />
delivers an advantage. Speaking of<br />
India, Kumar says it can be vital -<br />
contracts from ports and government<br />
organisations such as<br />
CONCOR “give the contractors<br />
only 30 to 45 days to position<br />
the machines.” To cope with this<br />
ICM keeps sufficient inventory<br />
levels to reduce delivery time “to<br />
the barest minimum possible.”<br />
Short lead times<br />
Kalmar’s reach stacker manager<br />
Per Rosengren says a 30 day request<br />
is nothing out of the ordinary<br />
across much of Asia. If the<br />
customer wants one or two machines<br />
then Kalmar might be able<br />
to accommodate a short delivery<br />
time or help with rental units. But<br />
orders are increasingly for larger<br />
unit numbers and in that case at<br />
present no manufacturer can deliver<br />
in less than two months.<br />
So far Fantuzzi is the only one<br />
of the major European manufacturers<br />
to have begun fabricating<br />
heavy lift trucks in China and its<br />
investment has lifted its market<br />
share. Fantuzzi appears particularly<br />
well-placed to fill the bigger orders<br />
from its factory in<br />
Zhangzhou. Yantian International<br />
HANSE-MASCHINEN<br />
Handels GmbH ❖ Hamburg-Germany<br />
used forklift trucks, reachstacker<br />
& tugmaster for sale:<br />
cap. make type year features<br />
45 to Kalmar reachstacker 2002 5-high<br />
45 to CVS Ferrari reachstacker 1996 5-high<br />
42 to Kalmar reachstacker 1999 5-high<br />
42 to Belotti reachstacker 1992 4-high<br />
41 to Kalmar reachstacker 1996 4-high<br />
28 to Svetruck forklift truck 2002 5,0m lift<br />
28 to Hyster forklift truck 1992 5,5m lift<br />
25 to Sisu roro-tractor 1992/94 4x4<br />
15 to Svetruck forklift truck 1996 6,0m lift<br />
10 to Kalmar reachstacker 2001 6-high<br />
9 to Svetruck containerlifter 1998/99 6-high<br />
8 to Svetruck containerlifter 1995 4-high<br />
7 to SMV containerlifter 1996 6-high<br />
more details: www.hanse-maschinen.com<br />
e-mail: info@hanse-maschinen.com<br />
Tel: +49-40-51 51 50 Fax: +49-40-511 31 04<br />
Container Terminal has ordered<br />
24 FDC25K8 empty stackers that,<br />
when delivered, will bring the total<br />
number of Fantuzzi machines<br />
at the terminal to 99.<br />
Fantuzzi has also won the second<br />
tranche of a large order from<br />
China’s Ministry of Railways for<br />
reach stackers for the Ganzhou-<br />
Longyan Railway Project funded<br />
by development aid. Fantuzzi was<br />
awarded the contract for 14 machines<br />
for <strong>US</strong>$5,213,781.86. Earlier<br />
MoR orders were won by<br />
Kalmar and CVS Ferrari.<br />
Kalmar is making a major investment<br />
in a new facility at<br />
Shanghai’s Lingang Industrial Park<br />
at the foot of the Donghai bridge<br />
to Yangshan but at this stage has<br />
not announced plans for the facility<br />
beyond assembling terminal<br />
tractors. Rosengren says assembly<br />
is always under consideration and<br />
Shanghai would be a “natural expansion<br />
point” but Kalmar is not<br />
stating it intentions at this stage.<br />
It has, however, opened a new<br />
training centre in Shekou where<br />
it offers courses for operators and<br />
maintenance personnel. This is<br />
part of Kalmar’s strategy to move<br />
“downstream in the supply chain”<br />
away from steel cutting and focus<br />
on development, marketing, assembly<br />
and service.<br />
Fantuzzi in CIS<br />
Fantuzzi group is also making a<br />
bid for higher sales in Russia/<br />
CIS markets and its Moscow<br />
sales company, Fantuzzi Eurasia,<br />
has been busy.<br />
Eurasian International Transport<br />
and Logistic Centre and Ural<br />
Container, both in Yekaterinberg,<br />
each ordered one dedicated CS<br />
7.5S6 ECH reach stacker. Fantuzzi<br />
Eurasia will reportedly open a<br />
service centre in this remote Siberian<br />
city. As previously speculated<br />
(<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>, December<br />
2004, p22), Multi-Link has received<br />
an MHC 200 mobile harbour<br />
<strong>crane</strong> for its “Moby Dick”<br />
terminal at Kronstadt, near<br />
Petersburg. The <strong>crane</strong> joined two<br />
laden-handling Fantuzzi reach<br />
stackers in operation in Kronstadt<br />
since the beginning of the year.<br />
Linde’s appointment<br />
Linde is another company thought<br />
to be looking at boosting its Asian<br />
presence. This is evidenced by the<br />
recent appointment of Davide<br />
Bertozzi, former managing director<br />
and CEO of Fantuzzi group,<br />
as international business development<br />
manager.<br />
Linde would not comment<br />
on Bertozzi’s rôle, but it is clear<br />
that the company is considering<br />
how to become a more focused<br />
player in the container<br />
handling equipment market.<br />
Recently, the German financial<br />
press has again speculated that<br />
Linde AG was preparing to merge<br />
its gas interests with those of BOC<br />
in the UK and sell off the whole<br />
of its FLT division, including the<br />
Linde HTD plant in Wales.<br />
Linde strongly denied the reports.<br />
On the contrary, it appears<br />
to be making a determined effort<br />
to become more involved in the<br />
container handling industry.<br />
Interestingly, Kalmar’s CEO<br />
Christer Granskog recently described<br />
his company’s competitors<br />
CARGO HANDLING<br />
Australia’s CRT group, which is now part of Queensland Rail, is an important<br />
customer for Kalmar reach stackers<br />
as falling into three categories:<br />
customer-focused companies,<br />
<strong>crane</strong> companies and truck manufacturers.<br />
He listed Linde, Hyster,<br />
SMV and Svetruck within the<br />
truck manufacturer category.<br />
Big Aussie deals<br />
There is one (possibly two) major<br />
tenders currently under way in the<br />
Australian market. One for as<br />
many as 50 machines is likely to<br />
cover a wide range of FLTs as well<br />
as container handlers. Being a relatively<br />
small market, such large orders<br />
influence things for several<br />
years after they are placed. Previously<br />
MLA Holdings has filled a<br />
big order from BHP Steel with<br />
MHI FLTs from 1-11.5t capacity<br />
and Fantuzzi 16 and 42t lift trucks<br />
and a range of sideloaders.<br />
Fantuzzi maintains it relationship<br />
with MLA but its Australian<br />
subsidiary, Fantuzzi Reggiane<br />
Australasia Pty Ltd, is going<br />
through some changes. Founding<br />
CEO Terry Mulqueen has been<br />
replaced by Mike Ritchie, although<br />
Mulqueen has been retained<br />
in a consultancy rôle until<br />
certain key tenders are concluded.<br />
Kalmar’s Australian MD Bengt<br />
Larson says the market for reach<br />
stackers is still small, but improving<br />
and this year will be better<br />
than 2004. Surprisingly, a “nonslewing<br />
<strong>crane</strong>” operator’s license<br />
is needed to operate a reach<br />
stacker and this is more difficult<br />
and expensive to obtain than a<br />
FLT license. However, Larsson and<br />
other suppliers say this is not a<br />
major impediment once operators<br />
understand the real benefit of a<br />
reach stacker.<br />
In recent months Kalmar has<br />
delivered two DRS4527-S5<br />
ContMasters to Patrick Logistics<br />
in Laverton, Victoria and a<br />
ContChamp DRF450-70S5SX<br />
to each of Colin Rees Transport’s<br />
(CRT) facilities in Guildford,<br />
NSW and Altona, Victoria.<br />
Stepping up<br />
CRT is an example of an Australian<br />
operator that recently made<br />
the switch to reach stackers and is<br />
continuing with the concept. It<br />
began with a ContMaster DRS<br />
4540 S5 with a 7m wheelbase at<br />
it Melbourne facility in 2002 and<br />
has now moved to the higher<br />
“spec” DRF ContChamp series.<br />
The machines for Laverton<br />
and Guildford will be fitted with<br />
jacks for 30t lifting from the second<br />
rail. Other recent orders for<br />
Kalmar include two DCE75-6HE<br />
FLTs with legacy vacuum suction<br />
clamps for Norske Skøg’s paper<br />
operation at Albury.<br />
Finally, SMV Kone<strong>crane</strong>s has<br />
reported the delivery of three new<br />
generation (TB) reach stackers to<br />
customers in Venezuela -<br />
Intershipping, Grupo Hersan and<br />
Lemont Estibas.<br />
Another five machines are due<br />
to be delivered to Venezuela this<br />
year, with Rentacarga, a first-time<br />
customer, ordering four reach<br />
stackers. “All markets are very important<br />
for us but this is an excellent<br />
example of us gaining market<br />
share, as we have had only had<br />
one or two machines orders in<br />
Venezuela before,” said SMV’s<br />
managing director KG<br />
Salomonsson. ❏<br />
September 2005
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Linde Material Handling
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
CARGO HANDLING<br />
Spreader manufacturers ride a high tide<br />
With ship-to-shore and yard gantry<br />
<strong>crane</strong> orders running at record levels,<br />
spreader manufacturers have had their<br />
work cut out to meet demand and several<br />
are taking steps to increase production<br />
capacity.<br />
Bromma has expanded its main production<br />
plant in Ipoh, Malaysia. Elme has<br />
announced further expansion of its plant<br />
in Älmhult, Sweden (see below) and Stinis<br />
is adding a new, 1400 m 2 assembly plant<br />
in Krimpen aan de Lek (near Rotterdam),<br />
with full start-up by the end of this year.<br />
This shows confidence in the future, since<br />
land in the Rotterdam area is expensive.<br />
44<br />
Spreader suppliers are faced with record<br />
<strong>crane</strong> buying patterns and continuing<br />
demand for research and development<br />
Stinis has also found a new site to build<br />
straddle carrier spreaders (cf twin 20 types<br />
for Noell) and this will free up capacity<br />
for still more <strong>crane</strong> spreaders in Krimpen.<br />
The company’s planned output next year<br />
is about 40 per cent up on production<br />
for this year (all spreaders) and production<br />
this year is more thn 50 per cent<br />
above output in 2004. A big order for 29<br />
Long-Twin spreaders was received recently<br />
from a leading North Continent<br />
terminal operator with terminals in<br />
southern Europe as well.<br />
Good start<br />
In January and February alone Bromma<br />
reported sales of almost 150 spreaders and<br />
later it forecast that spreader sales for the<br />
Elme launched its separating centre twin 20<br />
spreader, with a lateral misalignment<br />
adjustment feature, earlier this year. The<br />
company says that it is expanding production<br />
capacity to handle increased demand for <strong>crane</strong><br />
and lift truck spreaders<br />
year would top the 600 mark - ship-toshore<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s, mobile harbour <strong>crane</strong>s and<br />
yard <strong>crane</strong>s. Bromma also manages the<br />
Kalmar spreader production plant in<br />
Tampere. This business is entirely separate,<br />
although Bromma is able to make a<br />
few of its own spreaders there as well.<br />
Looking west<br />
The company also reported a crop of new<br />
orders on the North American west coast,<br />
with a total of 39 spreaders during January<br />
2005, representing a record month for<br />
the region. The contracts included 13<br />
STS45s (Bromma’s separating centre twin<br />
20 model) to APM Terminals, Los Angeles,<br />
17 YSX40E Marathon all-electric<br />
spreaders to P&O Ports [Canada] for<br />
Centerm, Vancouver and nine STS45s to<br />
Long Beach Container Terminal. All the<br />
spreaders are equipped with Bromma’s<br />
SCS2 spreader condition monitoring and<br />
diagnostics technology.<br />
Bromma then reported record first<br />
quarter sales for its Marathon yard <strong>crane</strong><br />
spreader family. Of the total of 96 Marathons<br />
sold during the period, 79 were allelectric<br />
spreaders.<br />
Orders continued to roll in in the second<br />
quarter. In June KCI Kone<strong>crane</strong>s<br />
fordered 13 all-eectric Marathons - 11<br />
YSX40E spreaders for RTGs at Malta<br />
Freeport and two YSX45E spreaders for<br />
service in Multi-Link terminal operations.<br />
KCI Kone<strong>crane</strong>s also purchased four shipto-shore<br />
<strong>crane</strong> spreaders for use at Malta<br />
Freeport.<br />
Other contracts included one from<br />
Gulf Port Cranes (GPC), part of Gulf Piping<br />
Group, Abu Dhabi, for another 17<br />
Marathon all-electric spreaders in connection<br />
with RTGs for Marport, Turkey.<br />
This took GPC’s total order to 44 allelectric<br />
spreaders over the past 18 months.<br />
Two contracts were received from the<br />
Port of Felixstowe for a total of 21 allelectric<br />
Marathons and ZPMC ordered<br />
18 all-electric Marathons for delivery with<br />
new RTGs to DPA Jebel Ali.<br />
Third quarter orders include: 13 Marathon<br />
spreaders ordered by KCI<br />
Kone<strong>crane</strong>s for RTGs for the Port of<br />
Houston Authority; 10 Marathon spreaders<br />
for Georgia Port Authority; 25 Marathon<br />
separating twin-lift yard <strong>crane</strong><br />
spreaders for delivery to Modern Terminals,<br />
Xiamen; and another 20 Marathon<br />
all-electric spreaders for GPC.<br />
Bromma has also taken direct charge<br />
of its own Far East sales by buying out<br />
Portek’s 50 per cent stake in Bromma Far<br />
East (<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>, August 2005, p3).<br />
This chimes well with Kalmar Industries’<br />
general “keep it in the family” approach<br />
to sales and marketing. Possibly, too,<br />
Portek’s growing rôle as a terminal operator<br />
was creating conflicts of interest.<br />
Here to stay<br />
The all-electric yard <strong>crane</strong> spreader is here<br />
to stay and it rounds off the environmental<br />
“credentials” of all-electric RTGs available<br />
so far from KCI Kone<strong>crane</strong>s and<br />
Kalmar. On the ship-to-shore <strong>crane</strong> side,<br />
there is still widespread reluctance to go<br />
all-electric. Most of the pioneering work<br />
in this field has been done by Bubenzer -<br />
a newcomer to the spreader field but an<br />
acknowledged leader in harbour <strong>crane</strong><br />
braking systems.<br />
September 2005
CARGO HANDLING<br />
ZPMC twin hoist <strong>crane</strong> for 2 x 40/45ft lifts<br />
However, Ram Spreaders has also now<br />
announced a new all-electric twin 20<br />
spreader range (series 3900), starting at<br />
the top with a separating centre type<br />
(3910), the prototype of which is being<br />
<strong>built</strong> in Singapore (<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>, June<br />
2005, p3). It is possible that Ram would<br />
welcome initial testing by PSA, which in<br />
the past has been an important proving<br />
ground for other Ram products, such as<br />
ShockAbsorb for its ship-to-shore <strong>crane</strong><br />
spreaders. Ram says that it is close to announcing<br />
another significant product development.<br />
No information was available<br />
in time for this article, but it could be<br />
related to twin 40/45ft handling.<br />
The latest developments from<br />
Bubenzer are the Eagle and the Red Kite,<br />
twin 20 telescoping spreaders with 45ft<br />
stops for ship-to-shore <strong>crane</strong>s and yard<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s respectively. Eagle is rated at 41<br />
tonnes SWL at 45ft, 50 tonnes at 40ft and<br />
65 tonnes in twin 20 mode.<br />
Tare is 12,800 kg, Red Kite has a tare<br />
weight of 10,500 kg and has an SWL of<br />
60 tonnes in twin 20 mode. Both spreaders<br />
are <strong>built</strong> to DIN 15018, classification<br />
H2 B4 (2 million cycles), the same as the<br />
Hawk and Falcon single lift 20-40-45<br />
models for ship-to-shore and yard <strong>crane</strong>s.<br />
Red Kite is provided with movable gather<br />
guides and torque force of 3000 Nm is<br />
the same as on Eagle and Hawk.<br />
40:40 vision?<br />
Twin 20 or separating centre twin 20<br />
spreaders account for an ever bigger share<br />
of spreaders supplied with new ship-toshore<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s. Almost inevitably terminal<br />
operators and shipping lines are looking<br />
for increases in productivity handling 40/<br />
45ft containers. 40ft containers account<br />
for roughly half the current global population<br />
of around 12.2 mill ISO containers<br />
and their influence is particularly<br />
marked on certain trade routes. (In contrast,<br />
although the population of 45ft ISO<br />
containers has grown rapidly, they still<br />
number only about 150,000).<br />
As previously discussed in <strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
<strong>News</strong>, there are three known approaches<br />
to the problem (four if Ram is doing<br />
something as well), and the “jury is still<br />
out.” The ZPMC twin hoist solution is<br />
in service on new <strong>crane</strong>s suplied to DPA<br />
Jebel Ali. The hoists are actually fitted with<br />
Stinis Long-Twins. Given big enough<br />
<strong>crane</strong>s and hoist power, this system could<br />
be applied to 4 x 20ft lifts as well.<br />
Bromma is also taking this line with<br />
some of its various Tandem designs. Its<br />
proposed T45 is a separating centre twin<br />
20 Tandem, able to lift two 40fts or 45fts<br />
side by side or four 20fts and separate each<br />
pair of 20fts by up to 1.5m.<br />
Tare weight is given as 31 tonnes and<br />
SWL in double twin 20 mode is given as<br />
2 x 65 tonnes, so the <strong>crane</strong> would need<br />
to be able to carry 165 tonnes on the<br />
ropes. Bromma itself concedes that this is<br />
unrealistic, but 115-135 tonnes on the<br />
<strong>crane</strong> ropes looks feasible. A variation on<br />
the T45 concept is Tandem Quattro<br />
(<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>, June 2005, p29).<br />
Payback?<br />
Bromma has put considerable work<br />
into Tandem over the past few years<br />
but until recently it was all taken up in<br />
testing and trials - the telescopic 40/<br />
45 Tandem (APMT Algeciras) and fixed<br />
40 Tandem (Uniport Rotterdam).<br />
A commercial breakthrough came<br />
with Hutchison’s order for a 40/45 Tandem<br />
for retrofitting to a <strong>crane</strong> in one of<br />
its Chinese terminals. With chronic trade<br />
imbalances, there are opportunities to<br />
unload 40ft empties in export ports and<br />
reload them in import ports two at a time.<br />
As empties are carried high up on deck,<br />
possible problems using tandems in the<br />
cells could be avoided.<br />
The third approach is the Stinis split<br />
headblock design which can accommodate<br />
two (“tandem”) spreaders or just one.<br />
A prototype of this is to be tested shortly<br />
on a Noell <strong>crane</strong> by APM Terminals in<br />
Rotterdam, Stinis unveiled this idea several<br />
years ago (<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>, June<br />
2002, p4). Again, subject to <strong>crane</strong> hoist<br />
power, each spreader could be a twin 20<br />
or a Long-Twin each lifting two 20ft<br />
loaded containers or a 40ft or 45ft.<br />
Elme expands again<br />
As noted above, Sweden-based Elme<br />
(Elmhults Konstruktions AB) is expanding<br />
its production facilities in Älmhult.<br />
The company says it is doing this to meet<br />
growing demand, particularly for <strong>crane</strong><br />
spreaders “where we are continually receiving<br />
market share.”<br />
It says that the order books for <strong>crane</strong><br />
and truck spreaders are at an all-time<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
There are indications that major terminal<br />
operators are close to placing significant orders<br />
to achieve twin 40ft/45ft handling capability.<br />
This shows Bromma’s 40/45 Tandem in<br />
earlier trials with APM Terminals in Algeciras<br />
high in both Europe and the Far East<br />
and that “output for this year will exceed<br />
700 units.”<br />
Elme last added new buildings in 2000<br />
and 2001 but these are now at full capacity.<br />
The fact that it needs to grow again,<br />
says Elme, vindicates its strategy of unifying<br />
all production in Sweden. “With<br />
proper investments and lean manufacturing,<br />
our production does not have to be<br />
moved to low cost countries.”<br />
The new investment is worth about<br />
€2 mill. It covers an extension of 2600<br />
m 2 , production machinery and additional<br />
September 2005 45
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
CARGO HANDLING<br />
Left: VDL Smits Spreader Systems is<br />
supplying spearating centre twin 20 spreaders<br />
on two ZPMC <strong>crane</strong>s for TPS Valparaíso<br />
employess and should be ready before the<br />
end of this year. A new offfice building<br />
will be completed early next year, housing<br />
design technicians, sales and marketing<br />
and after-sales staff.<br />
Recent <strong>crane</strong> spreader business for<br />
Elme includes a new 40 tonne SWL 20-<br />
40ft unit for the Port of Kaliningrad. According<br />
to port spokesman Jeanne Meiler,<br />
the spreader has been installed on a 50<br />
tonne “Phoenix” multi-purpose portal<br />
<strong>crane</strong> jointly supplied by Kranbau<br />
Eberswalde and locally-based <strong>crane</strong> maker<br />
Baltkran more than one year ago.<br />
This is a single point lift <strong>crane</strong> and,<br />
it is understood, the previous attach-<br />
The five (soon to be six) new RMGs from Gottwald at Hupac’s expanded Busto railhead<br />
in Italy are fitted with DSD (Hillgers) combi-attachments. Hillgers supplied the combiframes<br />
for the six KSR RMGs supplied when Busto was last enlarged three years ago<br />
ment did not have centre of gravity<br />
adjustment. However, the hydraulically-driven<br />
Elme spreader is self-levelling<br />
and is therefore better able to<br />
cope with eccentric loads.<br />
Container throughput is growing<br />
quickly in Kaliningrad, from 27,000 TEU<br />
in 2003 to around 45,000 TEU in 2004<br />
and 35,000 TEU were handled in the first<br />
seven months of this year. Hence there<br />
has been pressure to speed up handling<br />
productivity and the investment in the<br />
Elme spreader seems to be paying off.<br />
It is also understood that Elme recently<br />
secured an order for five or isx<br />
<strong>crane</strong> spreaders from ECT, Rotterdam.<br />
Earlier this year Elme introduced a separating<br />
centre twn 20 ship-to-shore <strong>crane</strong><br />
spreader (<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong>, February<br />
2005, pp45-6).<br />
New pastures<br />
Two former Elme personnel are now<br />
working for Holland-based VDL Smits<br />
Spreader Systems BV, as the company targets<br />
a bigger slice of the <strong>crane</strong> spreader<br />
market. Beat Zwygart is understood to<br />
be responsible for the Asian market and,<br />
more recently, Frank van Laarhoven has<br />
assumed responsibility for <strong>crane</strong> spreader<br />
sales in the Dutch and Belgian markets.<br />
Smits already has spreaders on <strong>crane</strong>s<br />
in the Dutch and Belgian ports but there<br />
is much bigger potential here for the company,<br />
says Van Laarhoven. Elsewhere, new<br />
business for Smits includes CH6550 separating<br />
centre twin 20 spreaders, with gravity<br />
point adjustment, for the two post-<br />
Panamax (18-wide) <strong>crane</strong>s ordered from<br />
ZPMC by TPS Valparaíso, slated for delivery<br />
next February.<br />
Smits is also continuing to work on a<br />
lightweight version of the CH6550,<br />
where the customer specifies an SWL of<br />
2 x 25 tonnes instead of 2 x 32.5 tonnes.<br />
In one case, the customer is said to be a<br />
leading carrier/terminal operator.<br />
Busy Earls<br />
New business for Canada-based Earls Industries<br />
Ltd includes two twin 20 spreaders<br />
and headblock assemblies for the Port<br />
of Portland (Or), in connection with the<br />
new, post-Panamax <strong>crane</strong>s which the port<br />
has ordered from ZPMC, slated for delivery<br />
next April.<br />
The spreaders weigh 11.48 tonnes and<br />
the customised headblocks 2.95 tonnes.<br />
These bring the number of spreaders purchased<br />
by the port from Earls to 10, starting<br />
from 1994. In that time it has also<br />
supplied replacement headblocks for virtually<br />
all the container canes in the port<br />
so the extra headblock associated with the<br />
new ZPMC <strong>crane</strong> is sutiable as a spare<br />
for all the other <strong>crane</strong>s.<br />
In addition, Earl’s has delivered a separating<br />
centre twin 20 (ST20) spreader to<br />
the Port of Houston - its first spreader in<br />
this port - along with three overheight<br />
attachments. Two ST20s are headed for<br />
Global Terminals, New Jersey and three<br />
have gone to TSI, Vancouver (BC) in connection<br />
with the three <strong>crane</strong>s recently delivered<br />
by ZPMC (two for Vanterm and<br />
one at Deltaport). In addition, Earls says<br />
it is supplying ST20 spreaders for RTGs<br />
slated for delivery by ZPMC to TSI’s<br />
Vanterm facility this month.<br />
Earls says it has thus far delivered a<br />
total of 45 ST20s to eight locations - 15<br />
to Maher Terminals, NJ, 12 to TSI, six to<br />
CSX Caucedo (now run by DPI), five to<br />
the Port of Seattle, three to PRPA Philadelphia,<br />
and one each to Houston and<br />
APM Terminals in Tacoma. ❏<br />
46<br />
September 2005
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REEFER IND<strong>US</strong>TRY<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Reefer machinery builders scroll ahead<br />
Producers of reefer container machinery<br />
have rarely been as busy<br />
as in recent years as they have<br />
strived to meet a sizeable and sustained<br />
year-on-year growth in demand.<br />
Annual production of reefer machines<br />
has increased by almost 10 per cent on<br />
average during each of the past five years,<br />
boosting output from around 50,000 machines<br />
of maritime build in 1999 to almost<br />
80,000 last year (see Table 1). The<br />
forecast for 2005 is around 86,000, depending<br />
on the performance of the reefer<br />
industry during the final quarter.<br />
All four established reefer machinery<br />
producers - Carrier Transicold, Thermo<br />
King Corp, Daikin Industries and<br />
Mitsubishi Reefer - benefited from<br />
record orders during the opening half of<br />
2005, when over 45,000 units are reckoned<br />
to have been delivered.<br />
This longstanding quartet has been<br />
joined by a newcomer in the shape of<br />
Maersk Container Industri (MCI), which<br />
has carried out its first series manufacture<br />
of the new StarCool machine<br />
launched late in 2004 (see <strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
<strong>News</strong> November 2004, p60). Around<br />
1500 units are due for construction this<br />
year at MCI’s reefer factory in Qingdao,<br />
all for sister company, Maersk Sealand.<br />
No third party sales are planned as yet,<br />
until the units are further field tested and<br />
a more comprehensive after-sales network<br />
has been established.<br />
Picking up<br />
Reefer demand only slackened slightly<br />
throughout the summer months, allowing<br />
manufacturers some time for staff<br />
breaks and routine maintenance, and it<br />
is expected to pick up again in the fourth<br />
quarter. In this respect, the refrigerated<br />
container market is currently holding up<br />
more strongly than its dry freight counterpart,<br />
while the outlook for reefer demand<br />
remains upbeat for 2006 as well.<br />
Output has been driven up most recently<br />
by shipping lines, which directly<br />
purchased roughly 70 per cent of all<br />
reefer <strong>box</strong>es produced in 2004, equivalent<br />
to over 55,000 units. They are expected<br />
to take an even higher share (75<br />
per cent or greater) in 2005.<br />
Production for leasing companies last<br />
peaked in 2003, with these buyers taking<br />
far fewer in the two years since. The<br />
inexorable shift towards the 40ft high<br />
cube reefer has continued as well, with<br />
over 85 per cent of all new machines now<br />
fitted into containers of this size. The<br />
balance goes for 20ft end-use. As such,<br />
there has long been a decreasing tendency<br />
on the part of some machinery<br />
suppliers to offer a separate 20ft model,<br />
while the former price differential (of a<br />
few per cent) existing between machines<br />
of 20ft and 40ft size has shrunk to almost<br />
nothing.<br />
Carrier still produces a specific 20ft<br />
model, while most other suppliers usually<br />
advise the fitting of their 40ft machinery<br />
to 20ft reefer bodies. This offers<br />
the benefit of a proportionally higher capacity<br />
rating, which is often desirable as<br />
20ft equipment is still predominantly<br />
used to carry deep frozen perishables,<br />
requiring high performing refrigeration.<br />
With close to 50 per cent of reefer container<br />
units now equipped with scroll compressors,<br />
and the recent scaling up of production,<br />
machinery prices have been forced down to<br />
their lowest level in many years<br />
Price drop<br />
Despite the strength of demand, machinery<br />
prices have generally fallen in recent<br />
years and are today at a very “competitive”<br />
level. Models of the most basic type<br />
can currently be acquired for less than<br />
<strong>US</strong>$8000, assuming a sizeable order run,<br />
and it is rare now to pay over <strong>US</strong>$8500-<br />
9000 for any design, even when various<br />
add-ons (such as controlled atmosphere)<br />
are included.<br />
This compares with the <strong>US</strong>$9000 or<br />
greater paid on average two or three years<br />
ago. Naturally the recent weak <strong>US</strong> dollar<br />
exchange has helped hold down the prices<br />
of some components, while the earlier reentry<br />
into the market by Daikin, plus the<br />
intensified competition existing between<br />
Carrier and Thermo King, have also<br />
played their part.<br />
The recent relocation of production<br />
by Carrier and Thermo King, respectively<br />
to Singapore and China, has further<br />
helped to force down manufacturing<br />
costs.<br />
Conversely, as the price of reefer machinery<br />
has fallen, the average cost of a<br />
refrigerated body shot up between 2003<br />
All over the world<br />
Antwerp<br />
Dubai<br />
Genoa<br />
Gothenburg<br />
Hamburg<br />
Hong Kong<br />
Lisbon<br />
London<br />
Madras<br />
New York<br />
Rio de Janeiro<br />
San Francisco<br />
Seoul<br />
Shanghai<br />
Singapore<br />
Sydney<br />
Taipei<br />
Tokyo<br />
and 2004, due largely to a sharp rise in<br />
the cost of stainless steel and foaming material.<br />
A 40ft high cube reefer of standard<br />
build increased by over <strong>US</strong>$1000 in<br />
the year to late 2004, to top <strong>US</strong>$9000,<br />
although this figure has since dropped<br />
back again to below <strong>US</strong>$8500.<br />
Scroll impact<br />
The increased uptake of “scroll-platform”<br />
machinery, which features a single<br />
scroll compressor in place of the more<br />
traditional reciprocating version, has also<br />
had an impact on finished machine<br />
prices. Scroll compressors have fallen rapidly<br />
in price as they have become more<br />
commonplace, while their operational efficiency<br />
has improved. The use of a scroll<br />
compressor can also cut machinery<br />
weight and dimensional size.<br />
Table 1: Summary of recent maritime<br />
reefer container machinery output<br />
Year Total R134a R404A Other*<br />
Units (%) (%) (%)<br />
1999 51,000 82.5 7.5 10.0<br />
2000 55,500 86.5 7.5 6.0<br />
2001 52,500 90,5 8.5 1.0<br />
2002 65,500 91.0 9.0 -<br />
2003 71,500 89.5 10.5 -<br />
2004 79,000 88.5 11.5 -<br />
2005** 86,500 87.0 13.0 -<br />
*Mainly R22. **Projected at third quarter<br />
A growing number of shipping lines<br />
have switched to specifying scroll com-<br />
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September 2005 47
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
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Despite the trend towards scroll<br />
compressors, MCI has opted to use a<br />
special reciprocating unit in its<br />
StarCool design<br />
pressor machines when purchasing<br />
new reefers and it now remains<br />
for the leasing sector to be<br />
won over as well. Recent audits<br />
carried out by Thermo King and<br />
Daikin indicate that a rising 44<br />
per cent of all units sold in 2004<br />
were of scroll-platform type (over<br />
35,000 units), with the balance<br />
comprising reciprocating compressors.<br />
Moreover, scroll compressors<br />
featured in around 60 per<br />
cent of all purchases made directly<br />
by shipping lines during last year.<br />
This share is expected to rise<br />
to nearer 80 per cent in 2005, as<br />
other companies (including<br />
Maersk Sealand) have now made<br />
the switch and because of an overall<br />
increase in the volume of orders<br />
being placed generally by<br />
shipping lines. Scroll compressor<br />
machinery is expected to dominate<br />
within a few years, with the<br />
most optimistic prediction suggesting<br />
it might feature in as much<br />
as 50 per cent of all operational<br />
reefer <strong>box</strong> equipment by 2010.<br />
This would compare with a current<br />
share of below 20 per cent.<br />
Scrolling forward<br />
Thermo King has long been an<br />
advocate of scroll compressor<br />
technology, having launched its<br />
original (CSR-40) design back in<br />
1995. It has since followed up<br />
with the single-scroll MAGNUM<br />
model in late 2002. This followed<br />
Daikin’s introduction of a wholly<br />
redesigned unit (LXE 10E) in<br />
2001, which also featured the exclusive<br />
use of scroll technology.<br />
Mitsubishi had already taken its<br />
development in much the same<br />
direction and not to be outdone,<br />
Carrier brought out its own single-scroll<br />
machine (EliteLINE) in<br />
2001. The latter has undergone a<br />
further refinement during 2005.<br />
One industry estimate suggests<br />
that Carrier <strong>built</strong> a little over 15<br />
per cent of scroll-operated reefer<br />
machines in 2004, as compared to<br />
over 25 per cent from Thermo<br />
King, almost 50 per cent from<br />
Daikin and around 10 per cent<br />
from Mitsubishi.<br />
The vast majority of Carrier<br />
production is, however, still of<br />
ThinLINE (69NT40) type, featuring<br />
its own proven 06D semi-hermetic<br />
reciprocating compressor,<br />
with these machines remaining a<br />
firm favourite of the leasing sector.<br />
Interestingly, MCI’s StarCool<br />
machine also utilises reciprocating<br />
rather than scroll technology, notwithstanding<br />
the prevailing industry<br />
trend and the recent decision<br />
by Maersk Sealand to opt for scrollbased<br />
machinery from all its third<br />
party suppliers, including Carrier.<br />
However, MCI based its choice on<br />
an extensive evaluation of the market,<br />
opting for a wholly new design<br />
of lightweight reciprocating<br />
compressor, which, at half the usual<br />
weight, is closer to that more normal<br />
for a scroll version. It has, furthermore,<br />
incorporated technology/components<br />
hitherto not associated<br />
with reefer container applications<br />
in order to minimise<br />
power usage, maximise performance<br />
and cut maintenance costs.<br />
Long gestation<br />
The StarCool unit has been the<br />
product of almost seven years of<br />
development, and utilises a specially<br />
adapted aluminium semihermetic<br />
two-stage compressor<br />
from German manufacturer<br />
Bitzer. The latter weighs just 58kg<br />
<br />
and operates with R134a as<br />
standard.<br />
A key innovation is the use of<br />
a Danfoss frequency converter to<br />
drive the compressor, which allows<br />
for an infinitely variable capacity<br />
regulation by varying the<br />
motor speed. MCI claims that an<br />
energy saving of up to 30 per cent<br />
is possible, as compared to machinery<br />
using suction modulation,<br />
while the capacity of StarCool is<br />
typically 20 per cent higher than<br />
achieved by most existing R134a<br />
machines, whether fitted with<br />
current-generation scroll or reciprocating<br />
compressors.<br />
The StarCool has shown in tests<br />
that it is able to maintain temperatures<br />
at-30degC in a 50degC ambient<br />
without problems. Moreover,<br />
the overall unit weighs just 460kg,<br />
due to a use of marine-grade aluminium<br />
in the frame section. The<br />
main criticism levelled by rival producers<br />
(and some potential third<br />
Thermo King delivered its 25,000th MAGNUM reefer unit earlier this year<br />
<br />
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<br />
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REEFER IND<strong>US</strong>TRY<br />
party customers) is that the machinery<br />
is relatively expensive to build<br />
and unlikely to fall in price in the<br />
near future.<br />
Leading the way<br />
Carrier continues to dominate<br />
reefer machinery sales, accounting<br />
for almost 60 per cent of all<br />
machines constructed in 2004.<br />
Around 27 per cent was apportioned<br />
to the leasing sector and<br />
32 per cent to shipping line customers.<br />
The vast majority of all<br />
remaining production went to the<br />
lines, rather than lessors, with<br />
Daikin accounting for over 20 per<br />
cent of total production, Thermo<br />
King almost 15 per cent and<br />
Mitsubishi 5 per cent.<br />
When shipping line purchases<br />
are viewed in isolation, these respective<br />
shares change to 46 per<br />
cent for Carrier, 31 per cent<br />
Daikin, 17 per cent Thermo King<br />
and 6 per cent Mitsubishi. The<br />
current outlook for 2005 is much<br />
the same as last year, although<br />
Carrier may lose a slight share to<br />
Daikin and Thermo King, not to<br />
mention MCI.<br />
Thermo King is continuing to<br />
place great store in its MAGNUM<br />
machine, having notched up total<br />
sales of 25,000 units by July 2005.<br />
It was, at that time, supplying 1300<br />
units to CCNI (Compania Chilena<br />
de Navegacion Inter-oceanica),<br />
which was in the process of doubling<br />
its 40ft high cube reefer fleet<br />
and planning to use the new reefers<br />
to transport Chilean salmon.<br />
Amongst other customers to<br />
have recently bought MAGNUM<br />
machines for the first time is the<br />
banana carrier, Dole Ocean Cargo<br />
Express, which has just acquired<br />
1000 x 40ft reefers. It was attracted<br />
by the potential weight saving offered<br />
by the unit, its low servicing<br />
costs and ability to rapidly pulldown<br />
temperatures. The latter has<br />
proven particularly important, as<br />
Dole does not generally pre-cool<br />
its bananas prior to loading in order<br />
to achieve a faster turnaround.<br />
With Dole carrying over 70,000<br />
container-loads of bananas into the<br />
<strong>US</strong> every year, the above savings<br />
are expected to add up rapidly.<br />
Thermo King’s production of<br />
MAGNUM machines will again<br />
increase this year, and is likely to<br />
top 10,000 units overall. The<br />
MAGNUM, which is of “40ft capacity”<br />
and utilises a digital scroll<br />
compressor from Copeland, accounted<br />
for 83 per cent of all<br />
reefer machinery manufactured by<br />
Thermo King in 2004 and is expected<br />
to take an even greater<br />
share this year. Steve Bryant, global<br />
director, Thermo King product<br />
marketing (containers), confirmed<br />
that “the [digital] scroll<br />
design is now the leading technology<br />
favoured by shipping lines<br />
for their directly purchased reefer<br />
equipment.”<br />
Moreover, he went on to suggest<br />
that a wholesale shift to scroll<br />
compressor use could represent<br />
“one of the biggest technical<br />
changes to have occurred in the<br />
reefer container industry since the<br />
move to 40ft high cubes in the<br />
early 1990s,” and even surpass the<br />
more recent phase-out and substitution<br />
of R12 and R22 refrigerants.<br />
Bryant explained that the<br />
latter could usually be exchanged<br />
(with R134a or interim blends)<br />
without any necessity for the machine<br />
to be replaced, unless it was<br />
of very old design. This contrasts<br />
with a switch to scroll compressor<br />
use, which operates with altogether<br />
different technology to reciprocating<br />
types.<br />
Energy savings<br />
The MAGNUM unit is claimed<br />
to use 30 per cent less power than<br />
many competing technologies,<br />
thereby cutting carbon dioxide<br />
emissions, while it can hold temperatures<br />
as low as -35degC in an<br />
September 2005
REEFER IND<strong>US</strong>TRY<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Food safety<br />
standard<br />
Failures in the food supply chain can<br />
be dangerous as well as costly in terms<br />
of company reputation, financial penalties<br />
and shareholder value. Food producers,<br />
manufacturers, handlers or suppliers<br />
know that customers expect<br />
them to identify and control food<br />
safety hazards and the conditions that<br />
impact on food safety.<br />
A new British Standard (BS EN<br />
ISO 22000:2005 Food safety management<br />
systems. Requirements for any organisation<br />
in the food chain), is designed to<br />
help eliminate weak links in the food<br />
supply chain and benefit the consumer<br />
as well as business.<br />
BS EN ISO 22000 specifies the requirements<br />
for a food safety management<br />
system in the food chain where<br />
an organisation needs to demonstrate<br />
that it can control food safety hazards<br />
and provide consistently safe end-products<br />
that meet both the customers’ requirements<br />
and food safety regulations.<br />
The standard combines generally<br />
recognised key elements to ensure food<br />
safety along the food chain, including<br />
interactive communication, system<br />
management, control of food safety<br />
hazards through pre-requisite programmes<br />
and HACCP plans, and continual<br />
improvement and updating of<br />
the management system.<br />
BS EN ISO 22000 is applicable to<br />
any organisation participating in the<br />
food chain, including primary food<br />
producers through to food manufacturers,<br />
including food processors, retail<br />
and food service outlets, feed producers,<br />
transport and storage operators,<br />
producers of equipment and packaging<br />
material and producers of cleaning<br />
agents, additives and ingredients.<br />
Copies of the new standard are<br />
available from BSI Customer Services. Telephone:<br />
+44 (0)20 8996 9001. Fax:<br />
+44 (0)20 8996 7001. Email<br />
orders@bsi-global.co. Price £106,00 plus<br />
P&P (£53.00 for BSI subscribing<br />
members). ❏<br />
ambient of 38degC or greater. This suits<br />
it for the carriage of fish, seafood, ice cream<br />
and other high value commodities, all of<br />
which require hard frozen transport.<br />
The machine also features an advanced<br />
temperature control system, while its low<br />
temperature performance helps combat the<br />
efficiency losses that occur as reefer containers<br />
age and suffer increased heat leakage,<br />
due to insulation breakdown. This can<br />
average 3-5 per cent per annum throughout<br />
a reefer’s service life of up to 15 years<br />
and requires an ever greater compensatory<br />
performance by the machinery.<br />
A central characteristic of the MAG-<br />
NUM is the use of R404A refrigerant,<br />
which has long been favoured by the <strong>US</strong><br />
trucking industry and is now gaining<br />
popularity with some shipping companies.<br />
Although the gas is still less common<br />
than the industry-standard, R134a,<br />
its growing use as a shipboard refrigerant<br />
ensures a relatively good supply and it is<br />
now the favoured choice for over 10 per<br />
cent of all new machinery.<br />
Five years ago, R404A was almost<br />
three times more expensive than R134a,<br />
but its price per kilogram has fallen significantly<br />
as usage amongst reefer operators<br />
has increased. However, it remains unpopular<br />
with some operators and most<br />
reefer lessors, which to date have virtually<br />
no reefers charged with R404A<br />
within their combined operating fleet.<br />
Thermo King naturally views the leasing<br />
sector as a key target market, which<br />
has still to be fully won over. Supporting<br />
this initiative is a new reefer leasing entrant,<br />
Magnum Lease, launched earlier this<br />
year by investors in Hong Kong. This<br />
company, as its name suggests, is exclusively<br />
focusing on the lease of 40ft high<br />
cube reefers fitted with MAGNUM machinery<br />
and, although Thermo King itself<br />
has no stake in the business, it is firmly<br />
behind the venture (see page52).<br />
Bryant noted that despite Carrier’s<br />
continued dominance in the area of machinery<br />
sales, Thermo King has committed<br />
to a similar investment in technical<br />
research during recent years as has the<br />
world’s leading supplier. Current emphasis<br />
is being placed on further improving<br />
machine reliability and component life.<br />
Thermo King has also successfully<br />
switched all production from the former<br />
sites in the <strong>US</strong> and Denmark (originally<br />
acquired from Sabroe Reefer Cool) to a<br />
brand new purpose-<strong>built</strong> factory in<br />
Suzhou (China). This opened in 2004 and<br />
is already working at full speed, having<br />
trained up local personnel, and is bringing<br />
sizeable cost savings.<br />
Important milestone<br />
Meanwhile Carrier will celebrate an important<br />
milestone itself this month with<br />
the construction of its 500,000th reefer<br />
machine. This comes 37 years after the<br />
company first entered the reefer machinery<br />
sector in 1968, and 17 years since it<br />
achieved sales of 25,000 NT reefer models<br />
(1988). Its annual production has surpassed<br />
45,000 machines in recent years<br />
and is still rising.<br />
According to Scott Pallotta, marketing<br />
director of Carrier Transicold Container<br />
Products Group, the relocation in<br />
2003 of Carrier’s entire reefer machinery<br />
building operation to a newly enlarged<br />
site in Singapore has already brought some<br />
benefit in the form of lower production<br />
costs and rising factory productivity and<br />
The NT ThinLINE range, utilising a standard<br />
reciprocating compressor, remains the mainstay<br />
of Carrier’s output, but sales of its EliteLINE<br />
model, fitted with a scroll compressor, are on<br />
the increase<br />
TRAVEL MAGNUM CLASS<br />
MAGNUM is a totally new way to ship. It's in a class<br />
of it's own. And when it comes to shipping premium<br />
cargo like seafood, Thermo King MAGNUM is the only<br />
container refrigeration unit in the world with the ability<br />
to maintain -35ºC in any ambient temperature.<br />
Seafood shipped at this temperature has been proven to<br />
deliver significant taste and quality benefits over normal<br />
reefer units that can only reach -22ºC. Benefits that<br />
could have far reaching and positive effects on the<br />
future direction of your business.<br />
MAGNUM is a sure-fire investment, it's absolute peace<br />
of mind whatever or whenever you're shipping.<br />
Soon everyone will ship this way.<br />
www.thermoking.com<br />
September 2005 49
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
REEFER IND<strong>US</strong>TRY<br />
enabled Carrier to compete effectively<br />
with Thermo King’s new<br />
Chinese operation and with the<br />
scaled-up production from Daikin.<br />
Indeed, Pallotta stated that the<br />
company’s new dedicated plant<br />
has been hard pressed to keep pace<br />
with demand during the past year.<br />
The mainstay of Carrier’s production<br />
continues to be the NT<br />
ThinLINE range, utilising standard<br />
reciprocating compressor technology,<br />
although the EliteLINE model,<br />
fitted with a RS-105 scroll compressor<br />
from sister company Carlyle<br />
Compressor, provides a scroll-platform<br />
alternative. The slimmer profiled<br />
StreamLINE machine (also<br />
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scroll-driven) was developed specifically<br />
for the 20ft market. All Carrier<br />
models operate with R134a as<br />
standard.<br />
The combined annual production<br />
of EliteLINE and Stream-<br />
LINE machinery is still relatively<br />
limited, at several thousand units<br />
in total, but has increased throughout<br />
the past year.<br />
Design upgrade<br />
As indicated earlier, Carrier’s existing<br />
EliteLINE machine has<br />
been subject to a major redesign<br />
in recent months to improve performance,<br />
serviceability and reliability.<br />
The new model (EliteLINE<br />
Van Doorn Container Parts B.V.<br />
Ron Mekkes, General Manager<br />
Tel: 31-10-429-6030<br />
Fax: 31-10-428-0299<br />
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GAVAN Container Products Pty Ltd<br />
Gavin Condon, Managing Director<br />
Tel: +61 (02) 9540 5566<br />
Fax: +61 (02) 9540 5407<br />
gavincondon@gavan.biz<br />
www.gavan.biz<br />
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at the Intermodal Transport &<br />
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Machinery weight has been<br />
reduced and it offers a better airflow<br />
rate, while the internal transport/mixing<br />
of oil has been enhanced<br />
through the adoption of<br />
new methods, which no longer require<br />
an in-<strong>built</strong> separator.<br />
Pallotta confirmed that the<br />
upgrade came in response to customer<br />
requests, particularly from<br />
Maersk Sealand, and was a reflection<br />
of the gradual growth in sales<br />
of the EliteLINE model.<br />
Nevertheless, Carrier is not<br />
about to turn its back on those<br />
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With an estimated output of over 20,000 LXE10E units, Daikin is on course<br />
to build over half of all scroll compressor-equipped machines this year<br />
(many) buyers that still prefer its<br />
established NT reciprocating<br />
compressor range, arguing that “it<br />
is advantageous to be able to provide<br />
both types, especially given<br />
the shift by all our major competitors<br />
towards an exclusive supply<br />
of scroll-compressor machines.”<br />
According to Pallotta,<br />
many customers, including most<br />
lessors, still prefer the uncomplicated<br />
design, proven performance<br />
and ease of servicing associated<br />
with a reciprocating compressor,<br />
even if it is no longer always the<br />
cheaper option.<br />
Carrier is inevitably having to<br />
face up to a changing market,<br />
however, and suggests that split<br />
between scroll and reciprocating<br />
designs may settle for a while at<br />
50:50 as there now appear to be<br />
fewer buyers switching over to<br />
scroll compressors than last year.<br />
Opposite view<br />
Daikin, in contrast, takes the opposite<br />
view. This Japanese supplier,<br />
which in the late 1990s “came<br />
back from the dead” by radically<br />
revamping its manufacture of<br />
reefer machinery, is now the largest<br />
producer of single-scroll machines,<br />
with almost 18,000 units<br />
sold in 2004.<br />
This figure is certain to exceed<br />
20,000 this year as Daikin has also<br />
achieved exceptional production<br />
in recent months. Its Japanese plant<br />
has been operating on two shifts<br />
Taking Charge As A World Leader In<br />
Reefer Power Connections<br />
ESL Power Systems, Inc. 2800 Palisades Drive, Corona, CA 92880-9427 <strong>US</strong>A<br />
(800) 922-4188 (951) 739-7020 info@eslpwr.com eslpwr.com<br />
since last year and only witnessed<br />
a slight drop in business during the<br />
summer holiday period. Demand<br />
for production space from October<br />
on is again strong, the company<br />
says.<br />
Healthy sales are still being<br />
made to shipping companies in<br />
both Asia and Europe, with an<br />
order for 2000 of its LXE10E<br />
machines just received from Yang<br />
Ming Marine Transport. The company<br />
claims to be supplying 14 of<br />
the top 22 shipping lines, plus an<br />
additional 12 smaller names, with<br />
at least four others currently conducting<br />
trials. This represents a<br />
fivefold increase in its customer<br />
base since 2000,and is a reflection<br />
of its more globally-orientated<br />
marketing and competitive pricing.<br />
It is also now “routinely quoting<br />
for leasing company business,”<br />
according to David Marjoram,<br />
general manager, refrigeration<br />
business unit, Itochu Europe, represents<br />
Daikin in Europe.<br />
Marjoram indicated that<br />
Daikin is set to construct over half<br />
of all scroll compressor machines<br />
in 2005, hinting that the “tipping<br />
point” at which the industry as a<br />
whole will switch to using this<br />
technology is fast being approached.<br />
Daikin has been carrying out<br />
a continuous programme of refinement<br />
to its existing model and<br />
plans to unveil further improvements<br />
to the basic design shortly.<br />
Mindful of past criticism of the<br />
relatively high power-draw of the<br />
LXE10E model, the company has<br />
been working on a modified energy-saving<br />
system that has been<br />
fully field tested and is due for incorporation<br />
in all newbuild machines<br />
from later this year. It can<br />
also be retrofitted to existing<br />
equipment.<br />
Daikin’s reefer container machinery<br />
clearly benefits from the<br />
manufacturing clout of its parent<br />
organisation, which is the world’s<br />
largest producer of scroll compressors<br />
and sold over one million units<br />
for all industry applications last year.<br />
Most other reefer components are<br />
similarly made in-house, and in<br />
large volumes, which has further<br />
helped keep production costs<br />
down. All Daikin reefer machinery<br />
runs with R134a as standard,<br />
which is a further simplification.<br />
The existing production line<br />
in Japan is highly automated, requiring<br />
a small labour content, and<br />
has been scaled up progressively<br />
to generate additional savings and<br />
maintain high competitiveness.<br />
Nevertheless, Daikin has hinted<br />
that it might soon relocate its<br />
reefer machinery production to<br />
China as it already operates several<br />
factories there, producing air<br />
conditioning equipment, and can<br />
easily acquire qualified staff. A<br />
study evaluating the potential for<br />
such a move was carried out<br />
recently,and suggested that savings<br />
would be made over the longerterm<br />
once the initial cost of factory<br />
start-up was covered.<br />
Holding up<br />
Mitsubishi also currently carries out<br />
all reefer machinery production in<br />
Japan, although its output is far<br />
smaller than Daikin’s and has not<br />
changed significantly in recent<br />
years. It <strong>built</strong> an estimated 4000 machines<br />
in 2004, the majority of<br />
which were R134a/scroll-driven,<br />
and went to repeat customers, including<br />
Evergreen, NYK and<br />
OOCL, plus a few to Cosco.<br />
A similar sales volume is forecast<br />
for this year, while the company<br />
is continuing to build up its<br />
global presence. Naturally, it would<br />
like to emulate the success of<br />
Daikin, but suggests that some of<br />
the latter’s additional business may<br />
have been won through particularly<br />
aggressive pricing.<br />
A proposed merger between<br />
Mitsubishi’s Refrigeration and Air<br />
Conditioning Division and<br />
Hitachi Air Conditioning Systems,<br />
originally planned for April 2005<br />
(see <strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> July 2004,<br />
p1) did not take place, due to differences<br />
at the “eleventh hour,” but<br />
the two corporate divisions have<br />
since entered into a working collaboration<br />
covering production,<br />
component sourcing, marketing<br />
and technical research. This has<br />
further assisted Mitsubishi in its<br />
tendering for big reefer machinery<br />
orders.<br />
The global network has, meanwhile,<br />
been strengthened by additional<br />
personnel, including the<br />
appointment of a service engineer<br />
solely to cover the market in South<br />
America. ❏<br />
Envirotainer in Japan<br />
Envirotainer, which pioneered the<br />
use of active temperature-controlled<br />
air cargo containers, has enhanced<br />
its container leasing and<br />
cold chain management services<br />
in Japan to help food, healthcare<br />
and pharmaceutical companies<br />
comply with the country’s strict<br />
regulatory requirements.<br />
Envirotainer has been active<br />
in the Japanese market for 10 years<br />
but previously only sold containers<br />
to airlines and freight forwarders.<br />
The decision to launch container<br />
leasing services in Japan, already<br />
provided across the rest of<br />
Envirotainer’s worldwide network,<br />
reflects increased demand from<br />
Japanese importers and exporters<br />
of temperature-sensitive health<br />
care and pharmaceutical products.<br />
Companies within the food,<br />
healthcare and life sciences industries<br />
in Japan will also be able to<br />
take advantage of Envirotainer’s<br />
Cold Chain Management services<br />
to help them manage and meet<br />
internal and external quality requirements<br />
with regard to the integrity<br />
and reliability of their<br />
product cold chain.<br />
To support the growth in its<br />
activities in Japan, Envirotainer has<br />
appointed Nankai Express as its<br />
general sales agent and also established<br />
container fleet inventory<br />
points in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.<br />
“With Nankai Express’s<br />
proven track record in handling<br />
import/export cargo in Japan and<br />
its presence at key airports, we will<br />
be able to meet the increasing demands<br />
of global companies that<br />
see Japan as a key market,” said<br />
Envirotainer CEO Magnus<br />
Welander. ❏<br />
50<br />
September 2005
REEFER IND<strong>US</strong>TRY<br />
Keeping fresh food fresh<br />
Although much of the recent focus in the<br />
reefer industry has been on on compressor<br />
design, research has continued in other<br />
areas of technological development.<br />
The provision of controlled or modified<br />
atmosphere (CA or MA) remains an<br />
important add-on feature and both Carrier<br />
and Thermo King offer their own<br />
proven systems to preserve the freshness<br />
of many different commodities. The Carrier<br />
version is known as EverFresh, while<br />
Thermo King provides AFAM+ (Advanced<br />
Fresh Air Management), which is<br />
a microprocessor-driven air exchange system.<br />
The latter has been tested successfully<br />
with over 40 different types of fruit<br />
and vegetable.<br />
One of the best known independent<br />
suppliers of CA (and MA) is TransFRESH<br />
Corp, which, as part of the Performance<br />
Food Group, has been active for almost<br />
40 years and currently protects over<br />
500,000 tonnes of chilled containerised<br />
produce every year. Many tens of thousands<br />
of reefer containers are fitted with<br />
its microprocessor-controlled Tectrol delivery/exit<br />
port and servicing/operational<br />
support is now available at 16 seaports<br />
around the world.<br />
Over a dozen different commodities<br />
are regularly shipped using TransFRESH<br />
CA from the Americas, South East Asia,<br />
Africa and Europe. Amongst recent shipping<br />
line customers is Yang Ming, which<br />
received 1000 x 40ft high cube reefers<br />
fitted with TransFRESH CA capability<br />
in July 2005. The Taiwanese carrier has<br />
worked with TransFRESH since 1996 and<br />
has historically used its system to ship<br />
export produce from California.<br />
Cold chain<br />
world first<br />
In what is claimed to be a world first,<br />
the Adelaide-based national Cold<br />
Chain Centre (CCC) has launched a<br />
new Food Export Logistics Training<br />
(FELT) scheme for all staff in the industry.<br />
The blueprint programme covers<br />
security, food tampering, hydro and<br />
vacuum cooling, packaging atmosphere,<br />
record keeping, Food Act requirements,<br />
and route selection.<br />
CCC chief executive Steve<br />
Houghton said, “Historically the cold<br />
chain business has been too fragmented<br />
and the development of a<br />
whole of industry training programme<br />
has been too difficult to achieve. That<br />
process has been severely hampered by<br />
the fact that there are 81 separate legislative<br />
requirements or industry standards<br />
across the national cold chain industry.”<br />
The nationally-accredited FELT<br />
initiative has a clear mandate: to improve<br />
the safe delivery of fresh produce<br />
“from the farm to the plate” in<br />
Australia, and to overseas markets.<br />
Houghton said the safe delivery of<br />
fresh produce affected the daily lives<br />
of millions of Australians, yet doesn’t<br />
get the attention it deserves from the<br />
majority of the population.<br />
“As an industry we are acutely<br />
aware of the problems associated with<br />
poor food handling,” he said. “There<br />
has been a massive void in the industry<br />
for a programme of this magnitude<br />
for a long time.”<br />
The package is available as hard<br />
copy or on CD and will be outsourced<br />
to nationally-registered training organisations.<br />
The CCC was established by the<br />
South Australian Sea Freight Council<br />
to improve SA’s and Australia’s cold<br />
chain perishable logistics performance<br />
in order to strengthen export competitiveness<br />
in target national and international<br />
markets. The Centre is the<br />
state’s and nation’s best practice solution<br />
provider for all cold chain logistics<br />
problems, providing “virtual” links<br />
to its customers and members around<br />
Australia and in overseas markets, offering<br />
a globally connected service. ❏<br />
TransFRESH is reporting record sales<br />
for 2005, with significant additional shipments<br />
being made from ports in South<br />
America and Africa and many lines in the<br />
process of enlarging or upgrading their<br />
CA capability. “Provisioning containers<br />
with CA has become an attractive option<br />
for those operators wishing to use it<br />
at short notice but which do not necessarily<br />
want to invest in complete installations<br />
at the time the containers are<br />
manufactured,”the company explained.<br />
TransFRESH is carrying out this<br />
provisioning work at many of its servicing<br />
centres around the world, thereby enabling<br />
end-users to rapidly upgrade to CA operation.<br />
The provisioning option only requires<br />
cables and a purging inlet port to<br />
have been installed at the time of machinery<br />
construction, as these are too difficult<br />
to incorporate and seal in the field.<br />
TransFRESH is further offering shipping<br />
lines the option of utilising<br />
remanufactured fan panels, containing the<br />
CA hardware, which obviously saves on<br />
cost. The container operator can choose<br />
to return such equipment to TransFRESH<br />
for complete rebuild, including the replacement<br />
of defective parts and installation<br />
of updated electronics. The renewed<br />
1 High Performance<br />
●Sufficient pull down performance<br />
●Maintains –29°C inside temperature<br />
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2 High Reliability<br />
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section can subsequently be returned into<br />
the field and fitted into a provisioned unit<br />
within just one hour.<br />
Meanwhile, the company continues to<br />
highlight “the crucial importance of good<br />
post-harvest practices,” which is leading to<br />
an increasing demand for consulting services,<br />
even for products that are not currently<br />
shipped using CA at all. Customers,<br />
in short, are becoming more familiar with<br />
the vital post-harvest steps that have to be<br />
taken before the cargo is stowed prior to<br />
transport and are keen to take advice.<br />
Another company working on a bespoke<br />
CA system is Cargofresh Technologies,<br />
of Germany, which has carried out<br />
further field tests of its existing prototype<br />
during the past year in an effort to<br />
incorporate additional technical enhancements<br />
and reduce production costs.<br />
(14 year History)<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Precise details of the design have not<br />
been released but managing director Peter<br />
Wich says that the basic thinking behind<br />
the system remains unchanged and<br />
it is still being targeted at the perishable<br />
airfreight market.<br />
In addition to controlling the concentration<br />
of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide<br />
and other gases, the membrane-based<br />
Cargofresh CA can also maintain high<br />
humidity within the container, as and<br />
when it is needed.<br />
Cargofresh remains of the opinion that<br />
the uptake of CA by mainstream reefer<br />
operators could be as great as 10 per cent<br />
of the reefer market as a whole once the<br />
concept is wholly proven. This compares<br />
with a current, if increasing, usage rate of<br />
roughly 2-3 per cent by the world’s reefer<br />
container industry. ❏<br />
3-1, Asahi, Nishi biwajima-cho, Kiyosu-City, Aichi Prefecture 452-8561, Japan<br />
Phone : +81-52-503-9312 Fax : +81-52-504-7552 http://mhiks.mhi.co.jp:13081/acrmw/service/<br />
September 2005 51
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
REEFER IND<strong>US</strong>TRY<br />
New lessors join the fray<br />
Little over a year after announcing<br />
that it planned to invest <strong>US</strong>$500<br />
mill over the next five years to expand<br />
its reefer leasing activities, Marubeni<br />
America Corporation (MAC), parent company<br />
of Carlisle Leasing, has apparently decided<br />
that the reefer container business is<br />
not one it wants to be in after all.<br />
Carlisle, whose circa 115,000 TEU fleet<br />
recently overtook that of GE SeaCo to<br />
make it the world’s largest reefer lessor, is<br />
being touted for sale, but with a price tag<br />
of around <strong>US</strong>$900 mill, it seems unlikely<br />
that any existing container lessor will be<br />
tempted. After several months of discussions,<br />
final bids are reportedly due to be in<br />
by the middle of this month and a number<br />
of private equity investors are said to be in<br />
the running to take the company over.<br />
A well-known German Bank, which<br />
specialises in transport finance, is also rumoured<br />
to be taking a close look at Carlisle<br />
with a view to placing equity into the<br />
German KG (Kommanditgesellschaft) fund<br />
market and possibly keeping part of it for<br />
its own account.<br />
Either way, now would appear to be a<br />
good time for Marubeni to sell and a good<br />
time for a new owner to come into the<br />
market. Initial capital investment returns<br />
on reefer containers, which have lagged<br />
behind those of standard dry freight<br />
equipment in recent years, have improved<br />
significantly of late. With a strong cash<br />
flow, Carlisle may well prove to be an attractive<br />
buy.<br />
Indeed, the improved returns available<br />
in the reefer leasing market have prompted<br />
a flurry of activity in the sector with at<br />
least three new entrants tossing their hats<br />
into the reefer leasing ring in recent<br />
months.<br />
Magnum Lease Ltd, which claims to<br />
have strong financial backing from German<br />
KG funds, has been formed by Flex-<br />
Magnum Lease has ordered 1000 x 40ft high<br />
cube reefers fitted with MAGNUM machinery<br />
from Shanghai Reeferco<br />
Box Ltd and two other Hong Kong investors<br />
to focus exclusively on the leasing of<br />
reefers equipped with Thermo King’s<br />
MAGNUM scroll compressor/R404A<br />
machinery. Flex-Box, a well known container<br />
trader and agent for a number of<br />
container lessors, is also acting as Magnum<br />
Lease’s agent in Asia.<br />
Hitherto, the leasing sector has declined<br />
to invest in MAGNUM units, but with an<br />
increasing number of lines opting to buy<br />
scroll compressor-equipped reefer machinery,<br />
Magnum Lease clearly sees a market<br />
opportunity. Though Thermo King has no<br />
direct involvement in the company or its<br />
shareholders, it has endorsed the use of the<br />
name Magnum. “It is in our interests to<br />
promote the company,” said Steve Bryant,<br />
global director, of product marketing (container)<br />
for Thermo King.<br />
Magnum Lease is offering long term,<br />
short term and finance lease options and<br />
has already concluded its first term lease<br />
deal with Singaporean operator Pacific International<br />
Lines (PIL), reportedly for 100<br />
x 40ft high cubes.<br />
The latter units were <strong>built</strong> by PIL affiliate<br />
Shanghai Reeferco (Singamas) and<br />
according to Flex-Box managing director<br />
Henrik Nielsen, Magnum Lease has now<br />
placed an order for 1000 x 40ft high cube<br />
units with the same manufacturer, some of<br />
which will be fitted with Thermo King’s<br />
AFAM+ (Advanced Fresh Air Management)<br />
system.<br />
The company plans to build MAG-<br />
NUM reefers on a continuous basis and<br />
hold them in stock in China or other locations<br />
for immediate delivery. “Magnum<br />
Lease intends to build new reefers in volume<br />
and enter the lease market with an<br />
aggressive approach to rapidly gain market<br />
share,” Nielsen said.<br />
Another new entrant concentrating<br />
exclusively on the reefer leasing market<br />
is Copenhagen-based Arctic Leasing,<br />
formed earlier this year by former Carlisle<br />
Leasing executive Søren Klinge (see<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong> May 2005, p28). Arctic<br />
plans to build up to 1000 x 40ft high cube<br />
units this year fitted with Carrier, Thermo<br />
King or Daikin machinery according to<br />
customer requirement.<br />
The new company is offering a range<br />
of flexible leasing contracts, including long<br />
term operating leases with purchase options,<br />
short term master leases, sale and<br />
lease back and full payout finance leases.<br />
Though the initial focus will be on 40ft<br />
high cube equipment, Arctic is also prepared<br />
to offer 20ft units, gensets and special<br />
reefer designs, the latter on a lease<br />
purchase basis.<br />
Finally, Hong Kong-based Grand View<br />
Development (GVC), which operates a<br />
fleet of 110,000 TEU of standard dry freight<br />
containers, has made a foray into the reefer<br />
market with a term lease deal with<br />
Sinotrans Container Lines (SCL) for 200<br />
x 40ft high cube units <strong>built</strong> by Shanghai<br />
Reeferco and fitted with Thermo King<br />
MAGNUM machinery.<br />
GVC has, in fact, had 50 units on lease<br />
to SCL since 2001 but this latest deal marks<br />
the company’s first serious move into the<br />
reefer sector. “We see an opportunity in<br />
the reefer market and intend to explore<br />
future opportunities with our existing customers<br />
as well as with new lessees,” said<br />
GVC president Danny Wong. “While we<br />
do not intend to build reefers on a speculative<br />
basis, we will continue to buy based<br />
on concluded transactions.” ❏<br />
52<br />
September 2005
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TANK CONTAINERS<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
Focus on customised<br />
tank components<br />
Leading tank component manufacturers are strengthening their<br />
positions by adding new models tailored to specific customer<br />
requirements to their product portfolios<br />
As with every other sector of the tank<br />
container industry, pressures to reduce<br />
unit costs constitute a key driver for tank<br />
component manufacturers. So, while an<br />
ideal world for equipment suppliers might<br />
be one where their products were constantly<br />
being replaced during routine<br />
maintenance, the real world is one where<br />
customers want longer and longer service<br />
lives from the tank components they<br />
purchase without having to pay more for<br />
them.<br />
Component manufacturers are meeting<br />
these changing market needs in innovative<br />
ways, not least through the use<br />
of replaceable valves seats and parts lined<br />
in specialist engineered thermoplastics to<br />
protect against corrosive attack by aggressive<br />
products.<br />
The two leading component suppliers<br />
to the tank container industry, in<br />
terms of their ranges of products on offer,<br />
continue to be Fort Vale and Perolo.<br />
Both companies have been through<br />
changes in recent months and the staffs<br />
of both concerns would argue that they<br />
have been changes for the good. Fort Vale<br />
has opened a new facility in China and<br />
is about to move to a new purpose-<strong>built</strong><br />
manufacturing centre in the UK, while<br />
Perolo has been the subject of a management<br />
buyout.<br />
Both companies augment their full<br />
ranges of equipment for the tank container<br />
market with similar packages of<br />
key components for road tankers. The<br />
past 12 months have been spent further<br />
augmenting these product ranges, not<br />
only with longer service life options but<br />
also with models specifically tailored to<br />
various regional markets and dedicated<br />
products.<br />
Fort Vale expands<br />
Fort Vale Engineering Ltd reports that, as<br />
regards its own operation, 2005 has been<br />
an exceptional year in terms of innovation<br />
and service, while the company’s<br />
three-phase expansion programme is on<br />
schedule.<br />
As befits a leading supplier of components<br />
to the tank container sector, one<br />
part of the expansion programme involves<br />
the opening of a distribution facility<br />
in China, a country which has now<br />
become the world’s leading manufacturer<br />
of tanks. In addition to this major parts<br />
centre, which has recently been commissioned<br />
in Shanghai, Fort Vale is proceeding<br />
with the planned expansion and relocation<br />
of its Dutch office and UK head<br />
office and manufacturing site. The new<br />
UK headquarters is a purpose-<strong>built</strong> facility<br />
10 miles away from the current site<br />
in Nelson, Lancashire.<br />
Fort Vale supplies equipment for both<br />
tank containers and road tankers and,<br />
historically, the tank container sector has<br />
been its core business. “We believe that<br />
we have maintained and strengthened<br />
our role as the world market leader in<br />
the tank container sector at a time when<br />
this market has become increasingly costsensitive,”<br />
states Phil Day, the company’s<br />
business development manager. “We have<br />
done this by developing our core product<br />
range of high-quality components to<br />
increase product longevity, thus resulting<br />
in cost savings to the client.”<br />
Mirroring its portfolio of tank container<br />
products, the Fort Vale range of<br />
road tanker equipment includes five basic<br />
components - the Pennine manlid,<br />
Sealtyt footvalve, Tankpro butterfly valve,<br />
Blacko airline valve and the Super Maxi<br />
relief valve.<br />
“Our involvement with the road<br />
tanker market has always been with an<br />
eye towards gaining growth on a global<br />
basis similar to what we have experienced<br />
with our container tank business,” continues<br />
Day. “Following considerable research<br />
and development work over the<br />
last two to three years, the entire range<br />
of five road tanker products has been<br />
completely redeveloped to incorporate<br />
many innovative advantages. This effort<br />
has been supported by Fort Vale’s recent<br />
investment in a rapid prototyping sys-<br />
tem and continued use of the magma and<br />
finite pro-engineering design software.”<br />
Univalve takes the stage<br />
The most recent product development at<br />
Fort Vale has been the Univalve, a brand<br />
new combination bottom discharge valve<br />
for tank containers. The company points<br />
out that one of the main plus points for<br />
tank operators and lessors is the reduction<br />
in maintenance costs made possible<br />
with the Univalve. This has been achieved<br />
by eliminating the intermediate gaskets<br />
and simplifying the process of changing<br />
the main butterfly seal.<br />
“While the valve assembly uses standard<br />
seals, O rings and closure components<br />
for maximum spares economy and<br />
interchangeability, these are the only features<br />
that are standard on what is a valve<br />
of unique design and one that offers several<br />
advantages over a conventional arrangement,”<br />
comments Day. “The avoidance<br />
of intermediate gaskets, for example,<br />
eliminates a potential leak path, thus<br />
saving many a headache!”<br />
The Univalve assembly comprises a<br />
homogeneous cast footvalve/butterfly<br />
valve body, which results in a more compact,<br />
lightweight assembly than a traditional<br />
three-closure system. An optional,<br />
integral Hastelloy seat area may be incorporated<br />
into the footvalve for maximum<br />
longevity and protection against<br />
crevice corrosion.<br />
“The Univalve is available in a<br />
number of inlet/outlet configurations. It<br />
also boasts improved access to the tank<br />
mounting fasteners and the low profile<br />
butterfly valve has integral TIR and<br />
@@@@@@@@e?@@@@@@@@e?@@@@@@@@?e@@@@@@@@e?@@@@@@@@?e@@@@@@@@e?@@@@@@@@?e@@@@@@@@e?@@@@@@@@?e@@@@@@@@e?@@@@@@@@?e@@@@@@@@e?<br />
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This comprehensive 245 page study is an in-depth analysis of capacity constraints, productivity, selectivity<br />
and flexibility of different container handling systems in terminals of different types and sizes: common-users<br />
or dedicated; hub centre (transshipment and/or relay) or import/export vocation; gateway or feeder port;<br />
intermodal rail or truck distribution inland; with or without CFS, etc. Profusely illustrated with charts,<br />
figures and explanatory tables. Effects of different call patterns of containerships and dwell day regimes.<br />
Predictive power provided through development of queuing theories. Hundreds of detailed equations.<br />
Price: £165 or <strong>US</strong>$245 or €245 including postage and packing.<br />
■ I enclose my cheque or bank draft for £..................<strong>US</strong>$................. This must be drawn on a UK bank.<br />
■ Please invoice my company - we will mail study on receipt of payment.<br />
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Please make payments to: WCN Publishing WCN PUBLISHING VAT No: 644 2190 53<br />
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CERTIFICATE No. 95/6243<br />
AN INTERNATIONAL COMPANY<br />
Available from <strong>WorldCargo</strong> <strong>News</strong><br />
“Container Terminal<br />
Planning - A Theoretical<br />
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A major study by Dr Itsuro Watanabe<br />
(Container System Technology)<br />
Low Cost Buildings<br />
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September 2005 53<br />
R<br />
@@
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
TANK CONTAINERS<br />
Left: The new Univalve from Fort Vale - an<br />
alternative bottom discharge valve to the<br />
traditional three-closure system. Right: Fort<br />
Vale’s Hastelloy Highlift footvalve; the red area<br />
signifies the Hastelloy insert<br />
mounting point for a fusible element and<br />
remote closure device,” adds Day<br />
Replaceable seats<br />
Another recent Fort Vale product innovation<br />
stems from the company’s introduction<br />
of the replaceable seat footvalve<br />
concept five years ago. The use of<br />
Hastelloy seats in corrosive and aggressive<br />
product environments has resulted in<br />
a significant reduction in the incidence<br />
of crevice corrosion.<br />
Market feedback and expressions of<br />
customer satisfaction since the concept<br />
We’ve Got You Covered<br />
was launched have been so favourable that<br />
Fort Vale has now applied the Hastelloy<br />
seat principle to its standard Highlift<br />
footvalve body. “The result is a Highlift<br />
footvalve that is lower in cost than the<br />
demountable seat option,” explains Day.<br />
“In addition to the cost advantage,<br />
the valve dimensions are identical to<br />
standard, thus saving on the 5mm increased<br />
length and bottom dead centre<br />
dimensions of the demountable seat<br />
Highlift assembly. This has been achieved<br />
by incorporating a cast Hastelloy insert<br />
fabricated into the seat area of a standard<br />
stainless steel Highlift, which is then<br />
machined to become homogeneous with<br />
the valve body.”<br />
Fort Vale is to make the new Hastelloy<br />
insert Highlift valve available in all configurations,<br />
ie 30deg, 45deg, 90deg, and<br />
with the usual choice of standard flange<br />
drillings.<br />
Valve for viscous liquids<br />
Fort Vale has also developed a new 4in<br />
90deg footvalve specifically for European<br />
road tankers engaged in the transport of<br />
viscous products. Available with either hydraulic<br />
or pneumatic actuators, the unit<br />
is compatible with standard tankpad<br />
drillings and interchangeable with existing<br />
footvalves for this application.<br />
The design is based on the company’s<br />
established Highlift concept, incorporating,<br />
as it does, an internal spring<br />
pod. Fort Vale states that the high-load<br />
spring will crush any crystallised product<br />
residue in the sealing area, ensuring<br />
a leak-proof seal. The spring pod may be<br />
jacked and secured in the open position<br />
for ease of disassembly and to allow the<br />
main seal to be changed safely. The main<br />
seal is a double PTFE envelope with an<br />
elastomer core to allow maximum cargo<br />
compatibility while retaining resilience.<br />
The new 4in 90deg footvalve can be<br />
supplied with an elongated body to accommodate<br />
extra tank cladding if required.<br />
Shaft seals are of a sprung energised<br />
design to reduce PTFE extrusion,<br />
a problem common with chevron seals.<br />
It’s hard to concentrate on the road<br />
ahead of you when you’re worrying<br />
about what pressure relief device you<br />
have behind you. For years, Girard<br />
Equipment has revolutionized the way<br />
corrosives are hauled in acid transports.<br />
Our patented Pressure Relief vent, with<br />
an integral Teflon ® liner, protects the<br />
relief vent’s vital components from<br />
chemical attack. Single function<br />
vents, such as rupture discs,<br />
usually fail at the most inopportune<br />
time, when it’s time to deliver a payload.<br />
This often means a driver must perform<br />
either a dangerous field repair or must<br />
face rejection from the facility<br />
altogether. These are two options that<br />
wouldn’t sit well with any carrier. If<br />
you're planning to purchase a new<br />
trailer or updating an existing<br />
one, insist on Girard products<br />
because "We've Got You Covered".<br />
Girard Equipment, Inc., 3301-A Tremley Point Road, Suite 7 Linden, NJ 07036<br />
800-526-4330 www.girardequip.com<br />
® Teflon is a Registered Trademark of Dupont.<br />
Drive for<br />
quality<br />
After 12 years with Dutch tank lessor<br />
Trifleet Leasing BV, most recently as<br />
director of leasing, Carol de Ronde<br />
Maddox has decided to leave the company<br />
and progress her career on a freelance<br />
basis.<br />
Maddox has formed Maddox<br />
Quality BV, whose scope of activities<br />
will include ISO 9000:2000 pre-audits<br />
and assessments, sales and office<br />
management and specific projects all<br />
with the goal of providing a better<br />
quality of life for both customers and<br />
their employees. Services will be<br />
aimed primarily, but not exclusively,<br />
at the tank container market.<br />
Until the end of 2005, Maddox<br />
will continue to support Trifleet on a<br />
self-employed basis, carrying out<br />
projects in the areas of risk and quality<br />
management and additionally effecting<br />
a smooth transition of her sales<br />
function to Robin Pol, who has been<br />
promoted from technical manager to<br />
director of sales for Trifleet with effect<br />
from September 1. ❏<br />
54<br />
September 2005
TANK CONTAINERS<br />
Perolo’s fusible link device activates closure of tank footvalves in the event of fire<br />
Fort Vale has also developed a<br />
version of the valve specifically for<br />
the <strong>US</strong> tank truck market. This is<br />
provided with Truck Trailer Manufacturers<br />
Association (TTMA) outlet<br />
drilling and TTMA-recommended<br />
elbow dimensions.<br />
Dry options<br />
The dry bulk tipper and fixed<br />
chassis road tanker market is another<br />
sector to which Fort Vale engineers<br />
have been devoting attention.<br />
Although dry bulk tanks are<br />
predominantly manufactured in<br />
aluminium, there has been a drive<br />
among some leading manufacturers<br />
of such vehicles to change<br />
some of the components to stainless<br />
steel in order to provide a<br />
longer service life.<br />
Fort Vale’s new range of equipment<br />
for the dry bulk tanker market<br />
includes a 600mm discharge<br />
cone, manifold and a blower relief<br />
valve, which features a cowl facility<br />
to deflect air flow downward.<br />
All these components are manufactured<br />
in accordance with Europe’s<br />
new Pressure Equipment<br />
Directive (PED) and can be CEmarked<br />
where applicable.<br />
Finally, as part of the response<br />
to the UK Health & Safety Executive<br />
(HSE)’s Safe Working Practice and<br />
Working at Height initiatives, Fort<br />
Vale has launched a cable-operated<br />
airline ball valve. The unit is connected<br />
to a bottom, framemounted,<br />
manually-operated handle<br />
assembly via a push-pull cable.<br />
“The development of each of<br />
these new Fort Vale components<br />
for the tank container and road<br />
tanker sectors is in line with the<br />
company’s philosophy,” concludes<br />
Day. “That is, to offer an innovative<br />
original product, which provides<br />
cost savings to the operator,<br />
lessor and manufacturer.<br />
“Fort Vale remains committed<br />
to ensuring that its products meet<br />
all current design regulations and<br />
perform fully in accordance with<br />
them. The company continues to<br />
invest in the latest technology and<br />
in a programme of personnel development<br />
and training of its staff<br />
to achieve and exceed these goals.”<br />
Perolo in new guise<br />
Perolo SA of Blaye, some 45 km<br />
from Bordeaux and a long-established<br />
supplier of tank container<br />
and road tanker components, was<br />
the subject of a management<br />
buyout earlier this year, as Gardner<br />
Denver relinquished control to an<br />
in-house team led by Thierry<br />
Bourguignon.<br />
Product development has continued<br />
apace under the new ownership<br />
arrangement, one of the<br />
new products being Hastelloy inserts<br />
for footvalves, echoing developments<br />
at Fort Vale. In respect<br />
of footvalves per se, Perolo has introduced<br />
3in and 4in versions of<br />
its Chemflow 90deg footvalve, a<br />
new unit which completes the<br />
company’s range of equipment for<br />
road tankers serving the chemicals<br />
and foodstuffs sectors.<br />
In response to recently introduced<br />
<strong>US</strong> regulations, Perolo is<br />
marketing its fusible link device<br />
that activates closure of tank<br />
footvalves in case of fire. The attachment<br />
of the safety system to<br />
the remote control cable ensures<br />
the automatic and immediate closing<br />
of the footvalve when the<br />
temperature reaches 121degC.<br />
Another recent addition to<br />
the package of Perolo safety components<br />
is a high-flow version of<br />
the company’s 3in Superventix<br />
safety relief valve. The flanged<br />
vent valve has been configured<br />
specifically to protect against accidental<br />
overpressure during the<br />
operation of higher capacity tank<br />
containers.<br />
Whereas a number of manufacturers<br />
have recently augmented<br />
their product lines with Tefloncoated<br />
equipment, Perolo has<br />
taken similar steps using Halar,<br />
another specialist engineered thermoplastic<br />
lining designed to protect<br />
against the corrosive attack of<br />
some aggressive products that not<br />
even stainless steel can withstand.<br />
The company is introducing<br />
Halar-coated versions of a wide<br />
range of its equipment.<br />
Relief from Girard<br />
In a similar vein, the most recent<br />
addition to the range of stainless<br />
steel tank container pressure/<br />
vacuum relief vents supplied by<br />
<strong>US</strong>-based Girard Equipment Inc<br />
is the new Teflon-lined (IMF-TL)<br />
relief valve. All internal wetted<br />
parts are covered with a 0.125in<br />
Girard has recently introduced the IMF-TL Teflon-lined vacuum relief valve<br />
thick Teflon lining to protect the<br />
steelwork from chemical attack by<br />
the more aggressive products carried<br />
in tank containers,<br />
The valve is designed for use<br />
without the need for a rupture<br />
disc between the vent and the<br />
cargo space. The vent is compatible<br />
with a wide variety of seals,<br />
irrespective of manufacturer.<br />
Girard has been fabricating,<br />
testing and certifying pressure/<br />
vacuum relief vents and related<br />
pressure control devices for tanks<br />
for over 30 years. The 316 stainless<br />
steel units are electro-chemically<br />
polished to reduce the possibility<br />
of contamination, while<br />
seals are arranged so that there is<br />
metal contact between the pressure<br />
pallet and the valve body following<br />
initial seal contact. This arrangement<br />
promotes longer seal<br />
life and serves to minimise leakage,<br />
even following total seal failure<br />
such as would occur in a fire.<br />
This summer, Girard introduced<br />
a new air-operated version<br />
of its hydraulic vapour recovery<br />
adaptor for road tankers. Designed<br />
to be compatible with Girard’s existing<br />
hydraulic product line, the<br />
adaptor is configured with the<br />
same housing and seal sets. Girard<br />
points out that the new air-operated<br />
model is particularly suited<br />
for use with tank trailers engaged<br />
in the carriage of acids and other<br />
corrosives as such vehicles often<br />
do not have hydraulic systems. The<br />
vapour recovery adaptor is designed<br />
so that the air pack can be<br />
removed and serviced, if necessary.<br />
Heat tracing<br />
A relatively new name in the tank<br />
components sector, Eltherm of<br />
Germany provides electrical heat<br />
tracing systems, based on the fitting<br />
of resistance heating cable<br />
around the outside shell of the<br />
pressure vessel, to enable the close<br />
temperature control of tank container<br />
cargoes.<br />
The increasing sophistication<br />
and high-value of many of the<br />
cargoes carried in dedicated tanks<br />
today requires control of the temperature<br />
variation to within<br />
±1degC. To manage this degree<br />
of control Eltherm has adopted<br />
the PTFE, FEP and PFA resistance<br />
cabling it originally developed<br />
for industrial production<br />
applications to meet the needs of<br />
tank operators.<br />
Rolf Viehmann, marketing<br />
manager at Eltherm, points out<br />
that the advantages of his company’s<br />
heating cables in tank container<br />
applications include high<br />
PTFE heating cable from Eltherm<br />
enables close temperature control of the<br />
tank contents<br />
chemical and vibration resistance,<br />
ease of repair and maintenance,<br />
efficient heat distribution, resistance<br />
variation without the need<br />
for a transformer, moisture resistance<br />
and a low power output,<br />
which prevents the occurrence of<br />
heat spots on the container shell.<br />
In addition to the cabling,<br />
Eltherm also provides ancillary<br />
equipment such as measuring and<br />
control devices. As tank containers<br />
requiring such sophisticated<br />
heating systems are usually dedicated<br />
to a specific product with<br />
its own unique carriage requirements,<br />
Eltherm advises tank<br />
manufacturers and operators in<br />
<strong>WorldCargo</strong><br />
news<br />
the planning phase when the tank<br />
design is still on the drawing<br />
board. ❏<br />
We control our quality . . .<br />
. . . assured through internal manufacturing processes<br />
Unsurpassed<br />
to<br />
t<br />
Service<br />
h<br />
38<br />
years<br />
e I<br />
s<br />
ndu<br />
t<br />
ry<br />
TM<br />
TM<br />
Fort Vale Engineering Ltd.<br />
Head Office & Manufacturing<br />
T : +44 (0)1282 440000<br />
F : +44 (0)1282 440044<br />
Email: sales@fortvale.com<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Specialist design<br />
service<br />
Full product range with<br />
industry approvals<br />
Worldwide spares &<br />
technical support<br />
network<br />
www.fortvale.com<br />
© Fort Vale Engineering Ltd. 2005<br />
September 2005 55
FOR SALE - <strong>US</strong>ED EQUIPMENT<br />
3 Reach stackers:<br />
• 2 x PPM TFC45 – 2000<br />
• 1 x PPM TR45-28 CE – 2004<br />
• Very good condition<br />
6 x Empty container handlers:<br />
• 1 x Kalmar DCD70-40E5 – 1997<br />
• 1 x Kalmar DCD80-45E7 – 1998<br />
• 1 x Kalmar/Sisu TD4ECR – 1997<br />
• 1 x Kalmar/Sisu TD5ECR – 1998<br />
• 1 x Kalmar/Sisu TD6ECR – 1993<br />
• 1 x Kalmar/Sisu TD6ECR – 1995<br />
• Very good working condition<br />
5 x Forklift – Frontloader:<br />
• 1 x Kalmar DC42-1200 – 1987<br />
• 1 x Kalmar DC20-1200 – 1993<br />
• 2 x Kalmar DCD136-6 – 2001<br />
• 1 x Fantuzzi FDC160 – 1998<br />
• All in very good working condition<br />
8 x Terminal tractor:<br />
• 1 x Terberg TT17 (4x2) – 1991<br />
• 1 x Terberg YT17 (4x2) – 1996<br />
• 5 x Terberg RT20 (4x4) – 1991/1992/1995/1998<br />
• 1 x Terberg RT22 (4x4) – 2000<br />
• Very good condition