Control Tower News

From Congestion-as-Normal to Time-as-a-ServiceAt the Port of the Future Conference in Houston, Texas, I had the privilege of speaking on a subject that, at first hearing, may sound radical, perhaps even impractical: “Zero-Queue Ports – No Anchored Ships and No Truck Lines.” Yet the packed room, the close attention of the audience, and the thoughtful discussion that followed confirmed something important. The maritime world is ready to challenge its old assumptions. It is ready to ask whether congestion…

There is an increasing expectation that oil and gas firms can demonstrate their value and efficiency through more data-centric processes, managing costs and reacting more quickly to changing market conditions. While the sector has typically been slow to adopt digital innovations, today’s offshore energy markets are fluid and fast-changing, and the ‘business as usual’ model will not necessarily yield the best future results.AI, automation and data-driven solutions are helping companies across industries to reduce costs, improve efficiency and cut emissions.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, collaborated with the St. Paul District, of the Mississippi Valley Division, to bring the Dredge Goetz onto the Missouri River from late October through early November 2021 to participate in a pilot project to dredge sediment that had created shallow areas in the shipping channel.The Goetz has provided critical assistance to the Kansas City District through this pilot program, said Maj. John Chambers, deputy commander of the Kansas City District.Chambers noted that as a learning organization…

Unable to get a slot on a container vessel, Lee Sang-hoon is considering using fishing trawlers docked for repair in the South Korean port of Busan to meet surging export orders for the car engine oil he sells to Russia."China is the black hole in this shipping crisis, all the carriers are headed there," said Lee, owner of Dongkwang International Co. in Busan which makes about 20 billion won ($17.60 million) in annual revenue."Those fishing boats out there could be an answer for us because we're already one month behind schedule.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is evaluating remote operation of locks within the U.S. inland waterways system. Timetables are hazy, but the Corps plans to include remote operations capabilities during rehabilitations or new construction, in the work planned, for example, in the Upper Ohio Navigation Project, part of the USACE’s Pittsburgh District.In fact, the first install project is being readied at Lock & Dam 4 on the Monongahela River. L&D 4 is also known as Charleroi Locks and Dam because it’s at Charleroi, Pa, at river mile 41.5, between Pittsburgh and Fairmont, W.Va.

The Suez Canal blockage laid bare many of the challenges being faced by the global shipping industry today. With 12% of global trade passing through the canal each day, the total revenue lost from delayed, damaged or lost goods due to its blockage is estimated to be up to $10 billion. Many of the organizations that faced a logistical nightmare in the face of the Ever Given blockage struggled to respond to things as they happened and make informed predictions about future occurrences…

Workers in the port of Antwerp will next month begin testing wristbands developed by a Belgian technology company that could help guarantee the social distancing required during the COVID-19 pandemic.Rombit, also Antwerp-based, already supplies wearables resembling a sports watch that can warn workers if vehicles are approaching, provide an alert if someone falls into the water or control who uses what equipment or enters specific zones.New software recently installed could help…

Iran's Chabahar port expects 20% increase in cargo handling operations in the current year.The Director General of the ports and maritime of Sistan and Baluchistan, Behrouz Aghaei,  announced the economic, marine, technical, and maintenance priorities of the ports of the province in 2019-2020.Mentioning the economic, marine, technical, and maintenance priorities of the ports of Sistan and Baluchistan province, Behrouz Aghaei stated that dredging of the canal of Shahid Kalantari port and providing full radio coverage in the coastal waters of the Sistan and Baluchestan are the priorities of the General Directorate of Ports and Marine Affairs of this province.He continued: "In the port and economic section, the conclusion of a contract with 5000 billion Rials worth of investment in the Chabah

No two oil spill response operations are the same. Each can present new and even tougher challenges for spill responders as they detect, contain and recover spilled oil. Diverse aspects affecting oil spill response operations can be the physical environment, spill monitoring, use of chemical dispersants, and the availability of proper technology for the situation.Some challenges have been met through research and technology development of techniques for dealing with spills. However…

SWIVEL Software announced, at the 3PL Value Creation Asia Summit in Hong Kong,  the launch of SWIVEL 360, a Logistics Control Tower that can provide both visibility and transparency between all parties in the supply chain. With SWIVEL 360, all parties can get real time alerts and search the status of a shipment based on SKU or item code, purchase order, bill of lading, container, or customer. The collaboration portal also allows simple tasks as searching airline and sailing schedules, communication with factories overseas, booking freight to logistics partners/carriers, and much more. SWIVEL 360 has many other valuable attributes and functionalities including…

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono has visited the port of Colombo in Sri Lanka. Kono was briefed by Sri Lankan government officials about a project under consideration to expand the port. The Japanese Foreign Minister  also visited the newly built control tower and the Colombo Port Expansion Project currently known as the Colombo south Port. Colombo is the largest port in Sri Lanka, which is a strategically important point in Indian Ocean sea lanes. Taro Kono was briefed by the Chairman of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake about the project, the consideration to expand the facility and the ‘Three Year Plan’ that has currently been initiated to develop the Port of Colombo. The Japanese government has been involved in building port facilities there for many years.

Pilbara Ports Authority has awarded a contract to Australian Maritime Systems Pty Ltd to design and install a Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) system in a new state-of-the-art shipping control tower in Port Hedland. The VTS system is a critical component of the new Integrated Marine Operations Centre (IMOC), which would help manage the safe and efficient movement of approximately 6,000 vessel movements through the port each year. “The fit-for-purpose VTS system integrates radar, radio, CCTV and scheduling information to oversee the increasing number of vessels through the port,” said CEO Roger Johnston. Australian Maritime Systems Pty Ltd is a global specialist in marine navigation and one of the country’s leading provider of VTS systems.

The Aircraft Carrier Alliance successfully lifted one of the final sections of the second Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier in Rosyth on Friday, January 8 following its arrival from Glasgow. The 750-metric-ton block was raised 25 meters in the air using the Goliath crane and placed on the deck of HMS Prince of Wales, bringing assembly work on the ship significantly closer to completion. This section to be assembled is known as the Aft Island and will control aircraft operations aboard HMS Prince of Wales.

Those killed in the collision of the Jolly Nero one year ago on May 7, 2013 were remembered in a memorial Mass celebrated by the Cardinal of Genoa, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco. Seafarers’ charity Apostleship of the Sea also held a commemoration in Genoa at the hour of tragedy on Wednesday to offer support and prayers for survivors and families affected. The day of remembrance concluded with boats gathering at the sight of the collision to pray for the deceased and to cast wreaths on the water.

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world’s biggest shipbuilder, announced today it will accelerate technology-centered management innovation with the establishment of Integrated HHI Group R&D Center and the creation of Technology/ICT Strategy and Planning team. The signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the establishment of the R & D center between HHI and Seongnam City held today at Seongnam City Hall was attended by Kang Hwan-goo, President & CEO of HHI and Lee Jae-myung, mayor of Seongnam City, and other guests. Upon completion of the R&D center by 2020, it will work as a backbone of HHI Group’s technological development and innovation by carrying out basic researches for product development and securing new technologies.

Huntington Ingalls Industries says that its Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division recently placed a new upper-level structure on top of USS Abraham Lincoln's (CVN 72) island, which is similar to an airport control tower. The aircraft carrier is undergoing its refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH), during which the shipyard refuels the ship's reactors, paints the ship's hull, modernizes systems and performs a complete recapitalization of the entire ship. HII explains that the structure, which will contain the ship's primary flight control systems when outfitted and serves as the platform for many of its various radars and antenna systems, is one of the largest structure lifts that will be performed during the RCOH process.

The giant mural on one of the walls of the Deurganck dock lock has been completed. Graffiti artist Cazn took a total of 10 weeks to complete the 300 meter long and 9 metre high mural which starts with a desert landscape then merges into birds in a nature reserve followed by colourful fish, sharks, a mermaid, Neptune and ships in the port, all along the inside wall of the lock. The mural will remain visible from the control tower, although some of it will disappear under water from time to time depending on the state of the tide. In the meantime preparations are being made on the construction site to start filling the lock with water on 27 April.

The bridge section of the U.K.’s second Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier has been loaded out of its dock hall in Glasgow ahead of its first sea voyage to Rosyth. Upper Block 07 is where HMS Prince of Wales will be commanded atop the flight deck and is known as the Forward Island. As the main hub of the ship it contains the bridge and approximately 100 vital mission systems compartments. The Forward Island has been under wraps in Govan since construction on the section began in December 2013, but it is now visible from the west end of Glasgow.

The bridge section of the second Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier set sail today from Glasgow on its first sea voyage to Rosyth. Upper Block 07 is where HMS Prince of Wales will be commanded atop the flight deck and is known as the Forward Island. As the main hub of the ship it contains the bridge and approximately 100 vital mission systems compartments. Mick Ord, Managing Director at BAE Systems Naval Ships, said, “This Forward Island is a remarkable feat of engineering…

The final section of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first of two new aircraft carriers being built for the U.K. Royal Navy, has left BAE Systems’ shipyard at Scotstoun today to embark on a 600 mile journey to Rosyth. The Aft Island, also known as Upper Block 14, is the air traffic control tower of the ship and the center of all flight operations. Travelling around the north coast of Scotland, the block is scheduled to arrive into Rosyth on Thursday 20 June. Once the island has arrived all sections of the first of class HMS Queen Elizabeth will have been delivered. Angus Holt, Queen Elizabeth Class Block Delivery Director for BAE Systems, said, “The delivery of the Aft Island is a huge milestone for the aircraft carrier program and we are extremely proud to have achieved this.

CEVA Logistics, one of the world's leading supply chain companies, has been named Logistics Company of the Year in Italy for the fifth time by Assologistica, the leading Italian association of logistics companies. This year's award was given in recognition of CEVA's TechCity - a logistics hub dedicated to the warehousing, handling and cross-docking of products for the electronics sector - which was opened in June 2014. TechCity covers an area of 90,000 sq m and is strategically-located in Pognano, in the province of Bergamo. Thanks to its location at the heart of CEVA's integrated European logistics network, TechCity provides access not just to the whole of Italy, but also to all other major markets throughout Europe.

The final section of aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales began its delivery voyage from Glasgow to Rosyth today, 10 weeks ahead of schedule. As part of the the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier program, newbuilds HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales will be the Royal Navy’s largest and most advanced ever warships and were constructed in blocks in different shipyards throughout the U.K. The final section being delivered, known as the Aft Island, weighs 750 metric tons and will control aircraft operations aboard the second aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales.

HE Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti, Chairman of Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) and Sheikh Ali bin Jassim bin Mohammad Al-Thani, Chairman of Qatar Navigation (Milaha), today witnessed the signing of an agreement between Mwani Qatar and Milaha to establish a new company, QTerminals, to manage Hamad Port. As per the agreement, the new company will be co-owned by Mwani Qatar; 51%, and Milaha; 49%, and will manage operations at Hamad Port as an independent company with its own board of directors, executives and staff. The deal was signed by Mwani Qatar CEO Captain Abdulla Al Khanji and Milaha President & CEO Abdulrahman Essa Al-Mannai.