Cargo Handling Services News

Through a complex operation to offload bulk salt, NORDEN is optimizing the supply chain for customer Empremar.At a chemical plant in California, 30,000 tonnes of salt is being offloaded from a bulk carrier onto a private terminal. The salt will be taken directly to the plant and used to make chlorine.This shipment is one of eight per year that NORDEN will make for Chilean salt miner Empremar. While NORDEN has been shipping salt to the US for Empremar for 20 years, this is the…

More than 30 vessels carrying over 14,000 passengers in total chose to call in at Falmouth Cruise Port, Australia as part of their 2019 programme and even more have already booked for next year.The cruise ship operations are managed by FDEC (Falmouth Docks and Engineering Company) which is part of the A&P Group. FDEC is a statutory harbour authority, responsible for the area of water immediately surrounding Falmouth Docks. FDEC offers a range of services including cruise ship operations, quayside storage, letting facilities, towage services and cargo handling services.Drystan Jones, Port Operations Director of FDEC, said: “We already have a 20 per cent increase in cruise ship visits booked in for 2020 with a number of the ships staying overnight…

The terminal automation and energy-efficient cargo handling services provider Kalmar and Finnish operator Ukkoverkot have signed a two-year co-operation agreement with Nokia for the design, construction and operation of a private LTE network for Kalmar.Nokia brings the digital automation platform that is well suited for mobile machinery and industrial Internet of Things.A test network reflecting an actual terminal environment will be built for research and development purposes. Machine-to-machine communication will be tested in the new private 4G/LTE (Long Term Evolution) environment and compared against previous wireless technologies with the focus on developing innovative business applications.

Dubai-based global port operator DP World and the Rwandan government have opened East Africa’s first Inland Dry Port, 20 kilometers from the capital city Kigali and close to the international airport.DP World Kigali logistics hub is a secure, bonded facility spread over 13 hectares and features an Inland Container Terminal (ICT) with modern warehousing capacity, a container yard, administrative and services buildings, parking areas and other facilities.According to a release from the world's port terminal operator, DP World Kigali accesses two secure trade gateways for eastern Africa, the port of Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

The Ports of Indiana is a statewide port authority, established in 1963, which operates three ports: two on the Ohio River, one on Lake Michigan. Port officials refer to the three as “America’s Premier Inland Port System.” They cite location, location, location, providing access via two critical freight arteries – the Great Lakes and the Inland Waterway System and proximity to the world’s most productive industrial and agricultural regions. The Ports is the only statewide port authority in the Midwest.

The European Commission decided to refer Spain to the EU Court of Justice over its rules on hiring port lab our in several Spanish ports. Currently, cargo-handling companies in these ports are not allowed to resort to the market to employ their staff. On the contrary, the rules in place oblige cargo-handling companies to participate financially in the capital of private companies, which in turn provide them with the required workforce. It is only when the workforce proposed by these private companies is not suitable or not sufficient that cargo-handling companies may freely hire staff from the market. The Commission considers that cargo…

Ten Konecranes Rubber Tired Gantry (RTG) cranes delivered to Ports and Cargo Handling Services (PCHS) Ltd. PCHS, the port operations arm of the Nigerian Sifax Group, is a major player in port operations and related services in West Africa. The RTGs were ordered at the end of last year and delivered on time to the company’s terminal in Tin Can Island Port and are equipped with the new Konecranes cabin offering improved ergonomics and visibility. The RTGs are also equipped with the latest DGPS-assisted technology for container yards including Autosteering.

Associated Terminals recently expanded its stevedoring and material handling operations on the lower Mississippi River with its acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Gulf Coast Dockside, Inc., along with a substantial interest in Bulk Material Transfer, Inc. Gulf Coast Dockside is a stevedoring company whose primary operations are located in Chalmette, LA, near milepost 90.5 of the lower Mississippi River. The company’s assets include three high capacity floating cranes and all of the attachments and equipment related to the stevedoring operation. Associated also assumes all of the existing contractual stevedoring obligations. Bulk Material Transfer operates a bulk material handling facility at the Chalmette slip within the St. Bernard Port, Harbor and Terminal District.

According to a Trade Arabia report, more than 180 leading marine companies from 28 countries will participate in the fourth edition of Gulf Maritime to be held at Expo Centre Sharjah from April 24-26, 2006. Gulf Maritime 2006 will showcase the latest vessel building designs and technology, equipment for fishing, offshore support vessels, cargo ships, tankers, tugs, ferries, patrol boats, all types of ship repair and port operations products, and cargo handling services. The Gulf's maritime sector generates over $1 billion worth of business annually. The last edition of Gulf Maritime attracted a total of 2,401 trade visitors from the global maritime community. Source: Trade Arabia

P&O Ports has signed an agreement to acquire two businesses from BCR Marine in Canada for CDN$105 million. The assets concerned are the CASCO container terminal (Centerm) in Vancouver and Canadian Stevedoring, which offers cargo handling services in ports throughout British Columbia. It is P&O Ports' first venture into the Canadian market and its first acquisition on the West Coast of North America. Completion of the transaction is anticipated in the first quarter of 2003. Vancouver is one of the fastest growing container ports on the West Coast of North America and has established a strong competitive position. It benefits from good intermodal links into both Canada and the US.