Port Authority News

In December Nauticor's “Kairos” received the first license to conduct LNG ship-to-ship bunkering operations in the port of Rostock. The long-term permit was issued by the port authority of Rostock.The permit to conduct ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operations in the largest German Baltic Sea port was awarded in a timely manner and will be the basis for the supply of LNG to a variety of customers. The preparations for the supply of LNG to their vessels are already ongoing and the first operations will be conducted within the next weeks.

The international container terminal operating company APM Terminals (APMT) said it has opened a new container terminal in Vado Ligure, on the Italian Riviera, which will be capable of handling 900,000 TEUs of containerized cargo.APMT has a 50.1% share in the “Vado Gateway,” while Cosco Shipping Ports has a 40% share and Qingdao Port International has a 9.9% share. APMT said the project is part of the “New Silk Road.” Chinese firms have invested in more than a dozen European ports…

Europe’s largest bunker port Rotterdam said that the new low-sulfur bunker oil VLSFO (Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil with a maximum 0.5% sulfur) has become extremely popular in the port.Half of all November bunker sales were for VLSFO. This became apparent from the bunkering notifications via the Port of Rotterdam Authority’s TimeToBunker App.As of 1 January 2020, sea-going vessels on the world’s oceans may only use fuel with a sulfur content of no more than 0.5%. The current maximum is 3.5%.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority is starting a trial digital service providing application-based advice on public berths for inland shipping.As they are approaching the port, users of RiverGuide - the digital route planner for inland navigation - will receive a push message asking them whether they require a berth.The aim of the trial is to validate whether voyage data and vessel characteristics can be used to provide correct advice on berths. "We shall also be assessing whether the skipper appreciates the advice provided.

Wilhelmsen has launched an early adopter program for 3D printed marine spare parts. A strategic move by the six early adopters, Carnival Maritime, Thome Ship Management, OSM Maritime Group, Berge Bulk, Executive Ship Management and Wilhelmsen Ship Management have all signed up with Wilhelmsen’s Marine Products division to begin utilizing on-demand additive manufacturing.Wilhelmsen, in cooperation with Ivaldi Group, will provide spare parts on demand to the selected six customers’ vessels around the globe.

In a signed declaration, the Nordic ports have agreed to cooperate, exchange information and share approaches in a number of areas relating to the environment and climate. The Port of Gothenburg has joined a collaboration with ten other Nordic ports. IBy connecting land and sea – and by being connecting nodes of global trade and world economy – ports play a vital role in contributing to e.g. UN’s Global Sustainability Goals (SDGs) and creating a sustainable future in line with the Paris Agreement.Therefore…

U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administrator Rear Adm. Mark Buzby joined elected officials and leadership from Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) and SSA Marine on Nov. 22 to break ground on a new state-of-the-art international container terminal at JAXPORT’s Blount Island Marine Terminal.The SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal is an expansion of SSA’s current leasehold at Blount Island and includes $238.7 million in infrastructure and equipment upgrades. Operations will continue throughout the redevelopment…

The Port of Hamburg announced that in the course of the Elbe's river dredging, construction stones to improve usability for shipping, were successfully build into the "Medemrinne" and "Neufelder Sand".Specifically from March until October 2019, around 1,200,000 tons were build in the above mentioned underwater deposit areas (UDAs).Machulez KG, a member of the Cuxhaven Port Authority (HWG), coordinated the logistics requirements between the underwater construction companies, the quarry and the locally responsible institutions.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) on Monday formally agreed to provide 140 million euros (USD $154.5 million) to support expansion and upgrading of Piraeus Port, Greece's main port.The largest ever loan for port investment in the country by Europe’s long-term lending institution, will support the implementation of part of investments at the Port of Piraeus in a total investment plan of more than EUR 600 million. The 20-year loan was signed in Athens in the presence of Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis…

The Gothenburg Port Authority recently launched a data system designed to coordinate and monitor work at the Port of Gothenburg Energy Port, the largest open access energy terminal in Sweden, handling more than 20 million tonnes of energy products annually."The ultimate outcome of the digital solutions is more rapid and more efficient handling of goods - quicker, safer, and less administration," claimed the port authority in a press release.“We operate in a high-intensity environment where safety is our first priority.

Costa Cruises and the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority have reopened the Calata delle Vele cruise ship quay and Palocrociere Terminal One in Italy’s port of Savona following an extensive renovation.The ceremony was attended by the city's mayor, Ilaria Caprioglio, the Liguria Region president, Giovanni Toti, the president of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, Paolo Emilio Signorini, and the president of Costa Cruises Neil Palomba. In keeping with tradition, the ceremony was also blessed by Mons.

The Maritime Singapore Green Initiative (MSGI), which was due to expire at the end of the year, will also be extended by five years, said Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) chief executive Quah Ley Hoon."As a key maritime nation, Singapore is committed to promoting environmental sustainability of the industry. MPA has reviewed its MSGI to keep it relevant, with a new focus on decarbonisation," she said.Under the enhanced MSGI, new carbon emissions-related incentives…

Germany’s largest universal port, the Port of Hamburg, reported a container throughput of 7 million TEUs for the first three quarters of this year, representing a growth of 6.9 percent year-over-year.The climb in container handling is primarily attributable to the four new transatlantic services, plus four new Baltic feeder services. Since the beginning of the year, the new transatlantic services operated by Hapag-Lloyd and ONE have connected Hamburg with ports in the USA, Canada…

The world’s largest wind turbine, Haliade-X, is being tested on Maasvlakte at Port of Rotterdam. This ‘test rig’ was realised via innovative cross-pollination between the American GE Renewable Energy, Sif Netherlands and Pondera Consult.Huge 107-meter-long blades have recently started rotating on Maasvlakte. These are part of the Haliade-X12 MW, the world’s most powerful wind turbine.It is 260 meters high and has a 12-megawatt capacity, sufficient to generate energy to supply electricity to some 16,000 households in the region.

On Saturday, November 2nd, the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) received two new rubber-tired gantries (RTGs), increasing the number of RTGs at the Paul W. Conley Container Terminal to 16. Adding equipment is part of an $850 million investment to keep Conley Terminal competitive and efficient with truck turntimes averaging under 35 minutes. Another two RTGs were also delivered back in May. The Port of Boston contributes over $8 billion to the regional economy and supports more than 9,000 direct jobs.

The British Columbia Government has joined Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and FortisBC to establish the first ship-to-ship LNG marine refueling – or bunkering – facility on the west coast of North America.The use of LNG to power the world’s ocean-going vessels is forecast to expand and B.C. is well positioned to benefit from this growth.According to industry standards, replacing diesel fuel with LNG has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by approximately 20%. Because FortisBC’s Tilbury facility runs on clean B.C.

A top hostage negotiator, the CEO of a company which supplies environmental products to ship owners and operators and the heads of two maritime technology firms are all part of an impressive line-up of speakers scheduled to speak at the 2019 Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) AGM & Conference which takes place next week from Tuesday, October 29, to Friday, November 1. The four-day event is being hosted by WISTA Cayman Islands and is expected to bring over 200 maritime experts from 30-plus countries.

The Portuguese government has issued a an international public  tender for the development of the Vasco da Gama container terminal at the Port of Sines, seeking a concessionaire who would invest in the project.According to the government sources, public tender will for a concession period of 50 years with an investment of 642 million euros, adding that the specifications include the construction and operation project, with a deadline of nine months for the submission of proposals.The…

ABB signs a landmark contract with Singaporean shipyard Keppel Offshore & Marine to enable autonomous tug operation in 2020.ABB, in collaboration with Keppel O&M’s technology arm, Keppel Marine and Deepwater Technology (KMDTech), will jointly develop the technology for autonomous vessels and retrofit a 32-meter harbor tugboat with leading-edge digital solutions, enabling autonomous vessel operations in the Port of Singapore at the end of 2020. Upon project completion, the vessel is anticipated to be South Asia’s first autonomous tug.During the initial phase of the project…

The Swedish container market had a slight downturn during H1 2019, with a 1% fall, but the Port of Gothenburg has reported a steady rise in both market share and volume.Between January and September this year, the figure stood at four per cent, due largely to continued influx of hinterland rail volumes at the port.Container traffic continues to grow at the Port of Gothenburg following a downturn in 2016-2017. The recovery was particularly noticeable in 2018 with road-based traffic…

The technology group Wärtsilä, in collaboration with PSA Marine, has achieved a breakthrough in its IntelliTug project.Following the successful installation of a first-of-its-kind Dynamic Positioning (DP) system onboard the harbor tug ‘PSA Polaris’, trials are now being carried out in the Port of Singapore under real-world conditions. This phase of the project implementation, which has been approved by Lloyd’s Register, moves the bar higher on safety standards for vessel automation and autonomy.

A fire broke out onboard the Panama-flagged tanker 'HOYU' within Singapore waters, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said in a statement on Thursday.Shipping data in Eikon showed that the tanker was fully laden with an unspecified oil cargo and was bound for the Philippines.The Singapore Civil Defense Force, Singapore Police Coast Guard and the Republic of Singapore Navy deployed vessels to render assistance to the HOYU crew, the statement added.All 18 crew members have been safely evacuated, and the fire has been put out, it said.There were no reports of injury or pollution and shipping traffic was unaffected.MPA is investigating the incident, it said.

Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Heng Swee Keat, DPM Heng announced the launch of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s (MPA) ‘digitalPORT@SG’, a digital Portal for One-stop Regulatory Transactions, which is Singapore’s maritime single window system that will serve as a one-stop portal for maritime regulatory and port services transactions.It will be developed in two phases: Phase 1 – users can obtain approval for all arriving and departing ships from three public agencies – MPA…