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PORT NEWS
Auckland cuts the glare
In many parts of the world ports
and terminal operators are under
pressure to cut “light pollution”
and save energy in the process and,
indeed, in some areas this is a major
priority ranking alongside
noise, air quality and other environmental
nuisances.
Philips has completed the largest
outdoor installation of its
OptiVision Floodlighting lighting
system to date at Ports of Auckland
Ltd (POAL) in New Zealand.
After an energy efficiency audit
identified lighting as an area where
the port could cut energy use,
Philips’ lighting engineers recommended
redesigning the port’s
lighting system and replacing 1300
older style floodlights with 670
new OptiVision asymmetrical
floodlights. These use the same
1000W metal halide lamps but
focus light much more effectively,
producing 10 times less light spill
outside the port area.
OptiVision features asymmetric
optics designed to achieve peak
intensity at 600 and a sharp back
light cut off of light at 800. Philips
NZ’s national sales supervisor Brian
Brandford explains that in the
POAL environment both horizontal
and vertical illuminance has
to be considered as truck drivers
and ground workers are looking
ahead while straddle crane drivers
are predominantly looking
down. Tests in an operational area
showed that OptiVision could
provide better light with fewer
lamps - lux measures increased
from 25 to 60 lux average.
Although “spill” outside the
port operational area has been reduced,
the main complaint about
Auckland’s existing lighting was
Nightscape of POAL’s Axis Fergusson container terminal before (above) and
after the Philips OptiVision installations. Note the marked reduction in
“scattering” above the light poles
glare, both from vantage points
looking over the port out towards
the water and from the north side
of the harbour looking towards
the CBD behind the port.
Reduction in glare is much
more difficult to measure but the
accompanying images show a visible
improvement and Auckland
City’s CBD projects team has
endorsed the upgrade, noting that
nightscapes are now much clearer
from main vantage points. The
port itself says the reduction in
glare has made berthing at night
easier for pilots and tug operators.
Philips was able to reuse existing
control gear, cabling and other
infrastructure and reduce the
number of lighting towers. The
project cost NZ$900,000 and
POAL expects to recoup this
within three years through a 15
per cent reduction in power consumption.
The energy audit also
identified that power usage could
be cut by a further five per cent
by installing power factor correction
equipment in the two main
substations at the port.
New landlords take office
Nigeria has taken another step in
its port reform programme with the
formation of the Lagos Ports and
Harbours Authority (LPHA) and
Niger Delta Ports and Harbours
Authority (NDPHA), which have
been set up in time to hand over
port control to the successful bidders
in the concession process.
The two authorities will be
regional regulators, acting as port
landlords and overseeing the work
of the concessionaires to be appointed
to manage the various
ports and terminals within their
jurisdictions. The LPHA and
NDPHA, which are staffed by
former Nigerian Ports Authority
(NPA) employees, are to finalise
the details of the contracts to be
offered to private sector bidders.
The creation of the two authorities
is part of the overall
shake-up of the country’s port
regulatory structure. The NPA will
PSA-HNN and a consortium of
K-Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin
(KYH) are forming a joint venture
company, Antwerp International
Terminal NV, to operate multiple
berths at PSA-HNN Deurganckdok
Terminal in Antwerp with effect
from next January.
The lines are long-standing
customers of PSA round the world
and the joint venture is an important
step, says PSA-HNN,in further
strengthening their partnership.
Antwerp will become the
European hub for KYH to handle
its rapidly expanding Far East-
Europe trade.
continue to act as the national
regulator and the federal government’s
watchdog for the entire
sector, as the government seems
to have reversed its original recommendation
that a separate
regulator should be set up.
The new authorities cover the
two most important shipping areas
in the country. The Lagos ports
of Apapa, Lagos and Tin Can Island
handle 70-75 per cent of all
Nigerian trade, while the
NDPHA will act as landlord for
the Port Harcourt ports that serve
the country’s large and growing
oil and gas sector.
● A scheme has been proposed to
open up the Port of Ikot Abasi,
which currently only serves the
aluminium industry, to the wider
business community (cf flour milling).
Ikot Abasi lies at the mouth
of the River Imo in the eastern
Niger River Delta. It is the only
PSA-HNN inks new
deal in Antwerp
PSA-HNN plans to invest
more than €500 mill in the next
five years to double its terminal
capacity to more than 10 mill
TEU/year at all its riverside terminals
in Antwerp - Europa and
Noordzee on the right bank as
well as Deurganck Terminal on the
left bank.
“This KYH-PSA joint venture
cements PSA’s long time business
relationship with KYH, and signifies
the beginning of a new partnership
to meet the changing
needs of KYH and its customers,”
said Pierre Timmermans, CEO of
PSA Europe.
port in Akwa Ibom state, although
the state contains three export
processing zones, and has served
the Aluminium Smelter Company
of Nigeria (ALSCON) since it was
completed in 1997.
Also in the Delta area, the federal
government is seeking to restart
construction work on the
Port of Onitsha. Work on the halfbuilt
facilities was suspended in
1983 following the change of government
but a site survey has revealed
that the original works can
be retained.
Luanda set to expand
The Angolan government hopes
that a fourth terminal can be developed
at the port of Luanda to
cater for the needs of the growing
oil and gas sector as part of
the modernisation of the entire
port. Much of the country’s infrastructure
is in a dilapidated
state after over a quarter of a century
of civil war, but it is believed
that a combination of donor support
and Angola’s growing hydrocarbon
revenues can fund the rehabilitation
of rail and port infrastructure.
The government and the
World Bank have carried out a
study to identify the best strategy
for modernising Luanda’s existing
facilities, improving port efficiency
and building the new terminal.
Large scale spending on cranes and
other machinery should comprise
a large proportion of the new investment.
The minister of transport,
Andre Luís Brandão, says that
the investment is required to at
least bring Luanda up to the standards
of Africa’s other main ports.
APM Terminals is now one
WorldCargo
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year into the 20 year contract it
won to operate Luanda’s container
terminal. Under the terms of the
deal, the company must invest
US$55 mill by 2009 in increasing
the terminal’s capacity from
200,000 TEU to 300,000 TEU a
year. After improving the quay
area, the company is expected to
invest in new cargo handling
equipment, including one mobile
harbour crane and two gantry
cranes. However, APM has spent
much of the first year of its concession
removing wrecked vessels
from the harbour and dredging
both the harbour and the approach
channels.
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