Port News

Port of Rotterdam Authority presented the first version of its new digital application Pronto. Pronto constitutes a major step forward when it comes to improving efficiency for the some 30,000 vessels that call on Rotterdam every year. The application allows ships visiting the port to cut their waiting time by an average of 20 percent. The application enables more effective utilisation of capacity at the port terminals, as well as the precise planning and coordination of a range of vessel services, including bunkering, servicing and maintenance and provisioning.

Plans are in motion to develop a new vehicle processing roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) facility at Alabama’s Port of Mobile in the U.S.Today in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Alabama State Port Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding with AutoMobile International Terminal, a joint venture of Terminal Zárate S.A. and SAAM Puertos S.A., to develop and operate the new $60 million facility, which is expected to be completed in 2019.The agreement marks a giant step forward in supporting automotive logistics in the Americas and abroad…

Egypt will keep its ports running for 24 hours a day, up from 16 currently, in an effort to cut down on "long waiting times" for shipments, Transportation Minister Hesham Arafat said on Wednesday. The extended port hours will not come at any added cost for shippers, he said. Arafat did not specify when the new port hours would come in to effect or how long the new policy would remain in place. Traders have complained of growing demurrage fees in recent months caused by long delays for their vessels at Egyptian ports that have raised the cost of doing business.

Africa needs to take advantage of the economic potential of its ports and shipping sector if it is to realise its growth ambitions. Globally, ports are gateways for 80% of merchandise trade by volume and 70% by value. Investment in ports and their related transport infrastructure to advance trade and promote overall economic development and growth is therefore vital – particularly in emerging economies that are currently under-served by modern transportation facilities. However, port investment must be channelled appropriately to ensure financial sustainability and economic growth.

Peel Ports Group and ASV Global (ASV) have launched a partnership which will develop the use of autonomous vessel technology for U.K. port operations.The partnership kick-started with a visit from ASV’s team to the Port of Liverpool, to demonstrate the C-Cat-3, an autonomous vessel ideal for shallow survey operations.The C-Cat 3 operated in Brocklebank Dock carrying out seabed survey using a Norbit iWBMS multibeam echo sounder.The successful demonstration has led Peel Ports Group…

APL, one of the world’s leading ocean carriers,  announced that its China Philippines Express 1 (CP1) service will be making additional calls at the Chinese port of Xiamen and Batangas in the Philippines. This development extends the market coverage of the shortsea service that links South China and the Philippines. Each week, the enhanced CP1 service will directly call the Batangas port, facilitating shipments into and out of the economically-thriving Calabarzon region in the Philippines.

Trials are underway at Southampton as part of a pilot scheme to launch the eco-friendly HullWiper hull cleaning technology at the port. HullWiper is working to test the system on a range of vessels including cruise liners, Ro-Ro ships, container ships and general cargo carriers at the south coast port. Managing Director Simon Doran explains that the trials are to demonstrate the efficiency of the diver-and brush-free ROV to the harbour authority, Associated British Ports (ABP) in Southampton: “HullWiper provides an affordable…

Moscow tightened its grip on Russia's biggest port operator on Friday, making a government official chairman and ousting representatives of the only private shareholder from the board.The changes follow the arrest last month on organized crime and embezzlement charges of Ziyavudin Magomedov, head of the Summa conglomerate which with a joint venture partner owns a 50.1 percent stake in the port operator. He denies the charges.Several senior Russian business executives have said the prosecution would allow the state to extend its control over the Russian economy…

Greek ferries remained docked at the country's ports on Wednesday as seamen, marine engineers and ship cooks walked off the job to protest against planned government reforms which they say will further hurt their labour rights. The 24-hour strike was organised by Greece's seamen federation (PNO), which said the leftist-led government was preparing a reform allowing non-European flagged transport ships to sail in Greece, leading to job losses for Greek crews. The reform is coming on top of pension cuts, rising unregistered labour and work without any insurance, PNO said.

China aims to establish a free trade zone in Hainan by 2020 and will encourage multinationals to set up their international and regional headquarters in the province, state news agency Xinhua reported citing a government document. The guidance was jointly issued by the ruling Communist Party and State Council, Xinhua said. It comes after President Xi Jinping announced on Friday that the country would grant foreign firms greater economic freedom in the southernmost province. Known for its sandy beaches and resort-lined coast…

The Port of Rotterdam Authority is calling on the Dutch Government to form a coalition with countries in North-West Europe so that a joint CO2 price can be introduced. At the Port Authority’s Energy in Transition Summit 2018 on the RDM site in Rotterdam, Port Authority CEO Allard Castelein made a powerful case for a much higher CO2 price in conjunction with a new industrial policy for the Netherlands. At the summit, the Port Authority also revealed the results of the CO2 impact of marine and inland shipping.

The first ‘saltie’ of the 2018 commercial navigation season is on its way to the Port of Duluth-Superior. The 656-foot bulk carrier Federal Weser is scheduled to pass beneath Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge by 10 p.m. tonight and is expected to start loading Monday morning at the CHS terminal on the Superior side of the harbor. If all goes according to plan, the ship should depart late Tuesday or Wednesday with 21,400 metric tons of durum wheat bound for Algeria. The Federal Weser, part of the Fednav fleet, last visited the Twin Ports in 2015.

Danish shipping and logistics group DFDS has acquired Turkey’s largest operator of Ro-Ro freight ships and will be a major player in the strong and continuously growing trade between the EU and Turkey. U.N. Ro-Ro operates five routes connecting Italy and France with Turkey, 12 ships and port terminals in Trieste and in Pendik, Istanbul. U.N. Ro-Ro employs 500 people. The deal is subject to approval by the authorities. ​Today, Danish shipping group DFDS signed an agreement to acquire 98.8 % of the shares in the shipping company U.N.

Singapore is set to get new technology to help in preventing ship collisions.The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said it has engaged the services of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), Singapore Management University (SMU) and Fujitsu to develop new predictive technologies for maritime vessel traffic management. These predictive technologies will tap the power of artificial intelligence and big data analytics, to enhance navigational safety within the Port of Singapore.

The Georgia Ports Authority achieved 14 percent growth in March container volumes, moving 355,208 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit containers. For the fiscal year to date (July-March), TEU container trade grew by 9 percent, or 255,786 additional units for a total of 3.08 million, a new record for Savannah. "Savannah's continued strength is a reflection of our customers' commitment, Georgia's leadership, and the many dedicated service providers, GPA employees and ILA members who come together every day to achieve great things," said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch.

The Domino Theory was the Cold War concept that if communism obtained a foothold in a region – say Vietnam in Southeast Asia – other countries would soon fall like a perfectly aligned row of dominoes to communism (e.g., Cambodia and Laos). Whether one supports the theory or not, it has at least one strong point: it was a simple story to tell. It feels like California has adopted its own version of the Domino Theory: if California pushes the regulatory envelope for zero emissions, other states and countries will certainly adopt similar strategies.

The Port of Felixstowe has taken delivery of its first two remote control ship-to-shore (STS) gantry cranes. The two new cranes, the 32nd and 33rd at the UK's largest container port, were delivered on the Zhen Hua 23 from ZPMC in Shanghai. "These new cranes are the latest acquisition in our ongoing investment programme to provide the best equipment, infrastructure and systems for our customers. They will further enhance our capability to work multiple mega-vessels simultaneously. "Remote control quay cranes have been pioneered at other Hutchison Ports terminals.

This March, a robot called Fleet Cleaner was deployed to clean both floaters of Heerema’s semi-submersible crane vessel Thialf in the Port of Rotterdam.The Fleet Cleaner is equipped with a magnetic system that allows it to attach to vessels for cleaning above and below the waterline. The robot captures all removed fouling so that the water environment is not affected by the cleaning operation. Waste is collected, weighed and disposed of, and wastewater is filtered and clean water released.The Thialf hull cleaning was the vessel's first since it last went to dry dock six years ago.

Dutch-based transport company A2B-online Container B.V. has added a fourth weekly sailing on its service between Hutchison Ports London Thamesport and Moerdijk in The Netherlands. The new sailing is inaugurated today (18 April 2018) by the first call of the m.s. A2B Spirit (ex-Norfeeder), a Sietas 151 type 508 TEU container ship, the fourth of this class owned and operated by A2B. Commenting on the new sailing, Clemence Cheng, Executive Director Hutchison Ports, said:“London Thamesport offers its customers a service tailored to their specific demands.

Chilean maritime services and logistics company SAAM announced its plans to invest some $85 million to reinforce its tug fleet and maintain port equipment and infrastructure. "In 2018, we expect to invest close to $85 million, which will be used to maintain our port equipment and infrastructure and reinforce our tug fleet. This could also include inorganic growth opportunities that we are constantly evaluating,” commented SAAM’s chairman, Óscar Hasbún. After concluding a high investment cycle last year, the company’s investments this year will focus on ports and its tug fleet.

Busan Port Authority carried out marketing activities to attract T/S cargo from three global major shipping alliances through visiting their Asian Pacific regional headquarters. The three global alliances, 2M(Maersk, MSC), OCEAN (CMA·CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, OOCL), THE(Hapag-Loyd, Yang-Ming, ONE), calling at Busan Port account for 80percent of global cargo volume. Busan Port handled 71 percent(7.28 million TEU) of their T/S cargo and it played a significant role in achieving 20 million TEU.

The major ports in India have recorded a growth of 4.77 per cent and together handled 679.35 Million Tonnes of cargo during the period April 2017 to March 2018 as against 648.39 Million Tonnes handled during the corresponding period of previous year. Nine Ports - Kolkata (including Haldia), Visakhapatnam, Paradip, Kamarajar, Chennai, Cochin, New Mangalore, JNPT and Deendayal also registered positive growth in traffic. Cochin Port registered the highest growth of 16.52 per cent, followed by Paradip 14.68 per cent, Kolkata (incl.