Crane Rates Soaring > Top Class Lashing ... - Ports of Auckland

OPERAtIONS
REVIEW:
wHILE 2010/11 wAS A
CHALLENGING yEAR FOR
POAL OPERATIONALLy,
IT ENdEd ON A HIGH
NOTE wITH ALL TIME
BEST CRANE RATES
RECORdEd IN THE JUNE
qUARTER, UP 4.1% ON
THE PREvIOUS BEST
qUARTER. OvERALL,
CRANE RATES wERE UP
2.4% ON 2009/10.
Stevedoring Manager Jonathan Hulme
says crane rates benefited from a
substantial increase in the proportion
of containers being twin-lifted and
the recruitment of additional straddle
drivers and lashers.
Over the past two years, POAL has doubled
its twin-lifting ratio across the berth and
in the yard. This has meant that POAL
typically twin-lifts 50% of all containers
across the berth and 20% of all containers
in the yard.
SEPTEMBER 2011
“Other key factors included the freeing up of
space by the demolition of the SeaPack shed and
expansion of the Fergusson empty container depot.
These moves have freed up space in the yard and
enabled us to significantly improve yard planning
and utilisation.” Nevertheless, yard utilisation at
POAL remains high compared to many other ports,
which is why the good results are particularly
pleasing, Mr Hulme says.
“Our high level of yard utilisation means straddles
need to navigate through a large number of stacks
to reach their destination, increasing the time taken
to move a box.”
Another key driver behind enhanced productivity at
the port has been the Sattel safety and productivity
system, which was introduced a year ago on POAL’s
43 straddle carriers.
“Thanks to Sattel, we’ve had a 90% reduction in
damage costs – to straddles and to containers.
we’ve also achieved a sustained 6% boost in
straddle driver productivity – in terms of moves
per hour – over the last six months. The monthly
results are conveyed to drivers individually, with the
top 10 performers congratulated and thanked. we
also consult with the high performers using their
feedback to see how we can do things better.”
As part of its commitment to achieving further gains
in productivity, POAL is measuring its performance
against the Australian waterline Standard, as part
of a new Ministry of Transport study to benchmark
productivity at all the container ports in Australia
and New Zealand. Mr Hulme says POAL is pleased
to see greater transparency over productivity
measures. “It will be great to be able to benchmark
our performance against comparable ports in New
Zealand and Australia.”
POAL publicly released actual crane rates for the
first time this year, with data showing that under the
waterline Standard, crane rates at POAL improved
from 23.47 in 2007 to 26.31 in 2011.
Mr Hulme cautions that crane rates are purely a
measure of speed, rather than productivity, and need
to be considered alongside a range of other measures.
“Over the same time period POAL’s staff hours per
container have decreased 16% – this is probably a
better reflection of how productivity has improved at
the port over the last five years. we anticipate further
productivity gains over 2011/12 with strong results in
July and August getting the new financial year off to
a good start. For us the key is consistency – while we
have always been able to deliver some good individual
results on particular ships, we want to ensure we can
deliver top results day in, day out,” Mr Hulme says.