USD1,4 Billion Project of New Container Terminal at Sabang Port

Sabang Port of Aceh in Indonesia is constructing a new container wharf of 423 meters at Sabang Bay. The management board of Sabang freeport and freetrade zone (BPKS) plans to have several container wharf to accommodate future size super container. Blessed with nutural deep sea at its quay side of 22 MLWS in average has made the port as one of the deepest port in the world.

Sabang is located strategically at the most western tip of the Malacca Straits, the busiest shipping routes in the world with more than 55,000 ship use the strait every year. Sabang is like a gate to enter the strait from Indian Ocean and Andaman Sea.

The construction of the new wharf of 423 meters will be completed at the end of this year. However, to start the operation, the container terminal still need another one yaer to equip itself with necessary things such as quay crane (ship-to-shore), container yard, and other types of crane for container handling at CY.

According to BPKS, the port still need a huge investment to make it as international transhipment hub to avoid congestion at the Malacca Straits. According to the port authority, the intent to build the port is not to be a rival to current transhipment port in the region such as port of Singapore, Port Klang and PTP, but to complement one another. The port, according to a source, will start the operation in 2013 or 2014.
(Subhan/Aceh)

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Rotterdam terminal sale to Rhenus for USD35 million

DFDS is to sell its redundant Maasvlakte port terminal in Rotterdam to Rhenus Logistics for Dkr182 million (US$35m).

The sale follows the Danish shipping line’s acquisition of Norfolkline in July 2010 and the integration of its operations in the North Sea.

At the beginning of the year, DFDS’s ro-ro route between Rotterdam and Immingham was transferred from Maasvlakte to the Norfolkine terminal in Vlaardingen.

Following the sale, DFDS will increases its pre-tax profit expectation for this year to around Dkr595 million from Dkr550m.

DFDS entered a concession agreement for operating the Maasvlakte port terminal in 2002 and, following development operations, commenced in 2003. The terminal covers an area of 200,000sq metres, including three warehouses.

Rhenus Logistics has a business area focused on port terminal operations.
(Source: cargosystems)

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UK ports ready for greener future

UK ports can play a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the industry’s hugely complex supply chains, according to new research by the University of Hull (UoH).

The university mapped the environmental actions of 72 UK port locations and compared them with those carried out by leading ports overseas.

The research said that with more than 50% of global container traffic being controlled by 20 major ports companies, ports could take a leading role in bringing about major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from shipping.

Although shipping is a relatively clean form of freight, in 2007, international shipping accounted for 2.7% of global carbon emissions, according to report by the International Maritime Organisation.

Dr Patrick Rigot-Muller, from the UoH Business School, said: “There is scope to reduce carbon emissions in the maritime industry by between 25% and 75%, using a range of technical and operational measures,” he said.

Existing measures include the use of “green passports” that offered reduced port fees for vessels meeting specified environmental requirements for emissions. This is currently used at four Dutch ports.

Cold-Ironing is another measure currently in use. The report said: “This is far more efficient than generating power on board ships for heat, lighting and other operations

“If energy from the grid is from sustainable sources, the environmental benefit is even greater.”

Truck control and vehicle booking systems are in use at the US port of Los Angeles. This reduces carbon emissions by providing time slots for haulage vehicles to be at the quayside, limiting the amount of time spent in port with engines running. It has reportedly reduced port truck emissions by 70%.

David Gibbs, a Professor at the UoH said: “There is a good track record of shipping companies working in partnership with port operators to improve environmental standards, given the right incentives.”

However, he said, for agreements to be effective, they would have to be adopted at a Europe-wide level.

“The UK, such as any country, should act carefully on taking unilateral decisions, since the ports industry is a very competitive market.

“For example, an environmental levy through UK ports could divert traffic to continental ports with the final leg being done by road. This scenario would be much worse in terms of carbon emissions.

“So, as always, there is a balance to be struck.”
(Source: Cargosystems.net)

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Shipping lines suspend calls to worst-hit Japanese ports

(ifw-net.com) Shipping line services to Japan’s ports worst-hit by the recent disaster have been suspended, while other major terminals continue to suffer from congestion.

Maersk Line said services to and from Sendai, Hachinohe and Onahama had been suspended following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit the country on Friday.

And it warned that services to the ports of Tokyo and Yokohama could be delayed because of congestion caused by their closure on Friday and Saturday.

“We are following the authorities’ recommendations on safety matters,” the Danish carrier said. “There are no commercial restrictions in booking with Maersk Line to or via Japan.”

“Depending on how the situation develops, it may be decided to deviate vessels. Specific contingencies will be communicated on a vessel basis. We are following the situation intensively.”

OOCL said its services to all Japanese ports, except Sendai, Hitachinaka and Kashima, were returning to normal.

Bookings to those three ports would be suspended until further notice, it said.

“All cargo on its way to the affected areas, will be discharged at the ports of Tokyo or Yokohama until the situation becomes more stable.”

It added that “force majeure” had been declared for one vessel, the NYK Themis (pictured), that had been carrying cargo destined for the port of Sendai.

The line said the cargo would be discharged at Tokyo, “and it is customer’s responsibility to make arrangements for cargo delivery. OOCL will contact affected customers individually for details”.

It added: “We are still evaluating the impact of the export cargo from the affected areas. We will keep you informed of the latest updates of the situation.”

Hapag-Lloyd said its staff and offices, major vendor facilities and cargo operations were largely unaffected, but bookings had been suspended for Sendai, Hachinohe, Ofunato, Onahama and Hitachinaka.

“At this point, we do not expect any vessel diversions, however, schedule delays are possible and we will keep [customers] informed about any schedule changes,” it said.

CMA CGM said its services were not affected, but vessels would avoid the North-east of Japan.

The brief closure of all of Japan’s ports was expected to cost the country more than US$3.4 billion in lost seaborne trade, according to IFW sister publication Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

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Does Size of Containership Really Matter?

(IFW-net.com) Maersk’s new ships have been ordered from South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and are scheduled for delivery between 2013 and 2015.The deal includes an option for 20 more such vessels, which would make it worth $5.4 billion – the largest single contract in the history of shipping.

Possibly the main reason for so many headlines about the ships, known as Triple-E vessels, is their scale: they have a capacity of 18,000teu, 16% more than the current largest vessel, Emma Maersk; they will be 400 metres long; 59 metres wide; 73 metres high; and have a draught of 16 metres.

They will be the largest ships sailing the world’s oceans. Not however the largest ever built, this was the tanker Knock Nevis, which was 458 metres long. And while the Triple-Es are 16% larger than the Emma Maersk in terms of capacity, they are only four metres longer, three metres wider and half a metre higher. The extra carrying capacity is due to their u-shaped hull, as opposed to the current v-shape of most ships today.

The ships’ environmental credentials are also impressive: the Triple-Es will produce 20% less carbon per container moved than Emma Mærsk, and 50% less than the industry average on the Asia-Europe trade lane.

This is largely due to increased economies of scale. A smaller engine will produce a lower top speed, of around 19 knots, a heat recovery system will capture and reuse energy from the engine exhaust gas for extra propulsion and they will have two propellers as well as their specially optimised u-shaped hull.

Maersk Line is also introducing a ”cradle-to-cradle passport” for the Triple-E ships. This means all the materials used to build them will be documented and mapped, so when they are retired from service, the document will ensure all the materials can be recycled or disposed of in the safest, most efficient manner.

Daryl Ridgway, Maersk customer Kuehne + Nagel’s Senior VP of sea freight for North-west Europe, believes KN could use the environmental credentials of the new ships to win business from customers concerned with the impact their supply chain has on the environment.

The economies of scale offered by the Triple-Es’ capacity should also result in cost savings. CEO of Maersk Line Eivind Kolding says the new vessels will reduce transport costs by around 20-30% per container.

But members of IFW’s LinkedIn group are questioning whether the reduced costs will be passed on to shippers.

One member, from a shipping firm, points out that freight rates are based on supply and demand, meaning bigger ships do not necessary equate to lower rates.

Kolding says the ships will only call at around three or four ports in North Europe and has named Rotterdam, Felixstowe and Bremerhaven as three potential calls. But this has caused concerns that there will be an increase in transhipment and cause congestion at the ports because of the time it will take to unload the ships – issues that could be exaggerated if other carriers follow suit and order ships of the same size.

Andrew Traill, Policy Director at the European Shippers’ Council and MD of online forum Shippers’ Voice, says: “Has anyone stopped to ask what impact these ships will have on service for those shippers whose goods will need to be transhipped?”

A shipper adds: “We can’t afford to risk waiting for connecting vessels that might be four or five days after arrival at the transhipment point. And if there is a delay to the connection, will the lines accept responsibility for claims on product we can’t use?”

Regarding delays caused by congestion, there seems to be consensus that ports will need to step-up and increase berth productivity, something Maersk Line’s General Manager of Terminal Strategy, Soren Thomsen, recently indicated was an area of concern.

On the question of whether containerships will keep getting bigger, Kolding says: “We have raised the bar again, and it is our belief that this size of ship will be the largest you will see for quite some time.

“Theoretically, you could make ships longer, but that would mean certain ports would need to expand their capacity. And making them wider would be more difficult, because container cranes today can only reach across 23 or 24 rows.”

However, he adds: “But we cannot exclude the possibility that we will be standing here in the future announcing a new record.”

By Damian Brett
(IFW-net.com)

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