Existing Port News

A study commissioned by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD), in collaboration with Lloyd’s Register and ARUP, has identified low port readiness as a major hurdle bottlenecking the adoption of onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS) systems as a practicable decarbonization solution.Whilst the technologies required for offloading onboard captured CO2 exist at high levels of maturity, safe operationalisation of captured CO2 transfer by trained personnel has not been demonstrated.The report…

New York City is looking at ways to help shift freight transportation off of its busy roads and onto the waterways.The city's Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) on Wednesday jointly released a Request for Information and Expressions of Interest (RFEI) seeking private sector feedback to help it gauge industry challenges and opportunities, and explore ways to implement and support businesses to engage in waterfront freight operations.The initiative is part of NYC's "Blue Highways" program, launched under the city's previous mayor, Bill de Blasio.

The U.S. Gulf Coast region, the nation's primary offshore source of oil and gas, has cheap electricity and lacks state mandates for renewable energy procurement, making it an unlikely place to expand one of the most expensive forms of clean energy.That is why players in the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry are looking beyond the grid when the Biden administration holds the first-ever offshore wind auction in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, eyeing the sale instead as a way to…

Hubbard, a new ferry built in 2019 for Alaska's Marine Highway System (AMHS), was formally christened this week after a change of plans put the vessel's entry into service on hold.The vessel is the second of two Alaska class ferries designed by Seattle-based Elliott Bay Design Group and constructed at Vigor Shipyard in Ketchikan, Alaska. Construction of both vessels began in October 2014. The series' first ferry, Tazlina, was christened in 2018, and Hubbard was completed in 2019.Intended to operate as day boats to serve the AMHS Lynn Canal route between Juneau…

The Canadian government has approved a marine container terminal expansion project in Delta, B.C., following a environmental assessment process that started in 2013.The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project includes building new land and a new three-berth marine container terminal near existing port terminals at Roberts Bank in Delta, B.C., about 35 kilometers south of Vancouver. The project will incrementally deliver an additional 2.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of capacity…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) making available more than $662 million in Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 funding for MARAD’s Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP).The PIDP investment is intended to help modernize the nation’s ports and strengthen supply chains.“America’s ports play a central role in our supply chains,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “With today’s announcement…

A significant element of the U.K. government’s levelling up plan to create thousands of jobs, regenerate more deprived areas and attract overseas investors is the introduction of freeports. These special low-tax trading zones allow all kinds of businesses to trade.Under the U.K. model, freeports can encompass two different kinds of sites. On customs sites, authorized businesses will be able to import certain goods with simplified customs documentation and without paying tariffs. Domestic goods can also be held in a customs site and used in any manufacturing process.

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced more than $703 million to fund 41 projects in 22 states and one territory that designed to help improve port facilities through the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program. Following is the full list of FY 2022 Port Infrastructure Development Grant Awards:ALASKANorth Extension Stabilization Step 1 Project ($68,700,000), Anchorage, AlaskaThe Project will reconfigure and realign the shoreline within the “North Extension” (the area north of the existing general cargo terminals) at the Port of Alaska in Anchorage, Alaska.

The St. Lawrence Seaway is made up of a broad network of interconnected infrastructures. Channels, canals, port facilities and fleets illustrate the connections between transportation equipment, industrial production and the artificial, human-made environment.This valuable infrastructure represents significant capital investments that have already been amortized. The maintenance, modernization and adaptation of the sea-river network make it possible to meet the demands for capacity, fluidity and reliability imposed by the transport industry.From their position as supply chain nodes, the St.

As the Second Global Ocean Conference opens today in Lisbon, governments in Asia and the Pacific must seize the opportunity to enhance cooperation and solidarity to address a host of challenges that endanger what is a lifeline for millions of people in the region.If done right ocean action will also be climate action but this will require working in concert on a few fronts.First, we must invest in and support science and technology to produce key solutions. Strengthening science…

As reported in a Maritime Reporter and Engineering News February 2022 article, Offshore Wind Development Gains Speed in the United States, the offshore wind (OSW) market is beginning to heat up. The White House policy target of 30 GW of offshore wind power by 2030, increasing the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM’s) leasing awards, and permitting target approval dates, together with more state energy procurement awards, are creating demand for more port infrastructure, Jones Act compliant vessels, and manufacturing facilities for wind farm components.

A new all-electric, zero carbon emissions harbor tug currently being built at the Vallianz PT USP shipyard in Batam, Indonesia is expected to be the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region.Based on the “E-Volt Electric Tug” design by SeaTech Solutions International Pte Ltd, the e-tug will be driven by a fully-classed electric battery system provided by Canadian-based Shift Clean Energy. This follows a recent memorandum of understanding between Vallianz and Shift to collaborate…

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) has an open request for proposals (RFP) that demonstrate microgrids for marine terminal operations. Closing bid date is February 16. Total funding could equal $1.5 million. This is a cost sharing effort. MARAD’s share tops at 50% of total project cost.This effort builds on MARAD’s Maritime Environmental and Technical Assistance Program which partners on projects to investigate, test, and demonstrate the use of alternative fuels and technologies to reduce air emissions from vessels, ports, and marine terminal operations.

Global port operator DP World has signed agreements with the government of Senegal to develop a deep-water port at Ndayane worth a total of $1.127 billion, its biggest investment in Africa to date, the company said on Wednesday.DP World Dakar, a joint venture between the Dubai-based logistics provider and the Port Authority of Dakar (PAD), will finance, design and develop land and maritime infrastructure for the new 600-hectare (1483 acres) port about 50 km from the existing port.The agreement to build the port was reached after talks between President Mack Sall and DP World Chairman Sultan bi

A report commissioned by Crown Estate Scotland has found that Scotland has good technical capability to support offshore wind port functions in some, but not all locations and that investments in port capacity will be required to meet the needs of the growing offshore wind industry.Arup, technical consultants tasked with producing the report on the Scottish ports' role in the offshore wind space, said there was a significant risk that existing port capacity will be insufficient to support the offshore wind build-out rates required in Scottish waters to meet the UK-wide net-zero target.

Six European shortsea and feeder ship operators have filed an official complaint to the European Commission, claiming International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) attempts to force ships to use dockers for container lashing violate EU competition law.In a letter to the Directorate-General for Competition dated May 19, 2020, the operators call for an official investigation into the ITF and affiliated Dutch union FNV Bondgnoten, and their campaign to compel operators to stand down seafarers from shipboard container lashing.

Economic relief is on its way for Singapore's passenger vessel owners and operators, as well as passenger terminal operators, who have seen a drop in passenger volumes due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Heng Swee Keat, announced Thursday, as part of the Resilience Budget.The 50% port dues concession to passenger vessels from March 1 to August 31, announced by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's (MPA) in February, will extend for another four months until December 31, 2020.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced that it has awarded more than $280 million in discretionary grant funding through the new Port Infrastructure Development Program. This funding is designed to improve port facilities at or near coastal seaports.The Port Infrastructure Development Program supports efforts by ports and industry stakeholders to improve facility and freight infrastructure to ensure our nation’s freight transportation needs, present and future, are met.

Steve Felder, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia has outlined the developments in 2019 and what we can expect in 2020:“While the global container demand was lower in 2019 due to weaker growth in the global economy, India witnessed a broad-based slowdown in its import export trade as well after a growth of several years. This is aligned closely with the weaker domestic demand, tight liquidity and working capital as well as a reflection of the overall cyclical weakening of the economic environment in all the main global economies.

The Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat) and the Port of Rotterdam Authority celebrated the completion of the deepening of the Nieuwe Waterweg and Botlek on Thursday (October 03).One of the busiest waterways in the Netherlands has been deepened by a metre and a half across a distance of 25 kilometres, said a press note from the largest port in Europe, located in the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands.The ceremonial opening of the deepened Nieuwe Waterweg and Botlek was performed by Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (Infrastructure & Water Management) and Ronald Paul, the Port of Rotterdam Authority’s Chief Operating Officer.The opening included a spectacular nautical salute together with vessels from contractors Van der Kamp and Boskalis…

Niam Chiang Meng, Chairman of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), opened a new 24/7 Maritime Cybersecurity Operations Centre (MSOC) yesterday (May 16). The MSOC will be operated by ST Engineering in its Hub.According to a press release from MPA, MSOC will conduct 24/7 monitoring and correlate data activities across all maritime Critical Information Infrastructure (CII). It will have the capability to (a) detect and monitor cyber-attacks by analysing activities in the IT environment; (b) detect anomalies and threats; and (c) respond to the cybersecurity incidents using available technology solutions.The objective of MSOC is to strengthen Singapore’s maritime cybersecurity posture through early detection…

Europe's largest port, the Port of Rotterdam ended 2018 with a total container throughput at 469.0 million tonnes (MT) which slightly higher than in 2017,  which was itself a record year (467.4 MT).Container transhipment was the engine of growth again, with a 4.5% increase in tonnage. Measured in TEUs, the standard unit for containers, the increase was 5.7% and the annual total was 14.5 million TEUs – also a record.This strengthens the position of Europe’s largest container port in this strategically important market segment. Significant underlying shifts were observable in the goods segments.Whereas container transhipment continued to grow at a healthy pace, that of crude oil, mineral oil products and agribulk fell.

The last Trilogue negotiation between the Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament on the “European Maritime Single Window environment”, (EMSWe) took place in Brussels.The EU is streamlining its ship reporting systems by creating a EMSWe, which will bring together all reporting formalities associated with a port call.The final text contains a compromise that provides security for Port Community Systems in relation to the public National Single Windows that have to act as access points at the national level for all reporting formalities.Port Community Systems that meet the requirements of the European reporting interface module must be allowed by member states as additional reporting systems.