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Efficiency of multi-trailer systems for ship to stacks container transportation Jul 27, 2010 Efficiency of multi-trailer systems for ship to stacks container transportationA multi-trailer system (MTS) allows transportation of a larger number of containers as opposed to the traditional single trailer systems. Therefore terminal and port operators consider the MTS as one of the options for increasing efficiency. Read more...
Coal handling at the Port of Seward looks set to improve after ship loader conveyor upgrade Jun 15, 2010 Coal handling at the Port of Seward looks set to improve after ship loader conveyor upgradeThe Port of Seward has completed a conveyor system upgrade for its coal handling operations that has increased throughput by an estimated 20%, allowing Alaska’s largest coal producer to better compete for international customers. Read more...
A study for optimisation of double cycling in container ports May 21, 2010 A study for optimisation of double cycling in container portsIn a rapidly changing marine environment, worldwide container terminals are concentrating on improvement in productivity to reinforce marketing power and to obtain competitive power. In modern terminals, equipment, and facilities, productivity is rapidly developing. Specifically, productivity is progressing with a great deal of investment focused on improving equipment functionality and infrastructure. Read more...
Avoiding being crushed in "elephant land": Innovative lasers detect obstructions Apr 22, 2010 Avoiding being crushed in "elephant land": Innovative lasers detect obstructionsIt’s a problem worldwide. Ships getting bashed by container cranes; straddle carriers nearly losing their cabs as they stray into the path of a crane spreader; not to mention the damage to containers as a misaligned spreader bounces off its side. Read more...
Achieving the diamond standard: Conveying challenges with Dos Santos Apr 07, 2010 Achieving the diamond standard: Conveying challenges with Dos SantosFifteen years ago, "going green" wasn't quite the popular phrase that it is today. However, that is when Joseph Dos Santos, President of Dos Santos International was presented with a challenge to go green like no other. The challenge was to use the least amount of space possible to process and separate one of Earth’s greatest treasure - diamonds. Canada's first completely underground diamond mine, Snap Lake was the motivation for the DSI Snake Sandwich Belt Conveyors in the Northwest Territories. Read more...
New developments in continuous ship unloading Mar 02, 2010 New developments in continuous ship unloading The Garant Feed Mills group, who since 1999, have had extensive experience working with a Flexiport unloader at their mill in Pöchlarn, Austria, on the Danube River, decided to install the same unloader type at another of their mills; in Aschach, Austria. The new Flexiport, which has been incorporated with the latest technical developments, was delivered to Aschach, also on the Danube, and installed at the beginning of 2005 (see Figure 1). Read more...
Achieving maximum productivity with older cranes Feb 26, 2010 Achieving maximum productivity with older cranesAs ports face the continued push to reduce port of call mooring time, an overall productivity improvement may be necessary to remain competitive in the container shipping industry. Read more...
The World’s first LNG onboard regasification port Feb 09, 2010 The World’s first LNG onboard regasification portFebruary 20th 2007 saw the first ever flows of natural gas from a liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship directly into the onshore natural gas grid – the culmination of a remarkable 12 month project to create the fastest and lowest cost LNG importation facility in the world. Read more...
Investing in the future: tackling the economic slowdown Jan 22, 2010 Investing in the future: tackling the economic slowdownThe economic slowdown has undoubtedly offered a big challenge to the shipping industry, but those who have the foresight to plan ahead will be better prepared for when the industry does make a recovery. Read more...
Effective storage tank management programme Dec 16, 2009 Effective storage tank management programmeCompanies that store bulk liquids in aboveground storage tanks face the challenge of developing and maintaining a tank management programme. An effective tank management programme is necessary to ensure that tanks operate safely and are inspected and maintained on a regular basis in a cost-effective manner. Read more...
Dry bulk terminal expansion or redesign? Dec 10, 2009 Dry bulk terminal expansion or redesign?Due to the high demand for energy and mineral resources many dry bulk terminals around the world are expanding and seriously increasing their capacity. One approach to expansion can simply be copying the existing facilities until the required capacity is reached. In this way however the terminal does not only lose the opportunity to utilise the developments made over the last decades on terminal design, it will also end up with a costly operation. In addition it may not be able to reach the environmental restrictions imposed on terminal operations nearby environmentally sensitive areas. Read more...
Prolonging the life of your crane and your bank account Dec 08, 2009 Prolonging the life of your crane and your bank accountThe speed and subsequent depth witnessed in the current economic slowdown has clearly presented the port industry with a wholly different range of decisions to ponder whilst formulating Capital expenditure budgets for 2010, and perhaps beyond. There has, as a result, been a marked shift from the purchase of new capital-intensive items such as cranes to meet growing volumes and replace aging equipment, by projects more akin with conserving cash. Read more...
Automation – a case for the future Nov 30, 2009 Automation – a case for the futureWhile the demand for designs of container terminals with part automation has increased significantly, some within the industry remain sceptical about the future of full automation. Despite the progress with system designs there is certainly a reluctance to commit to full automation and the use of automated Horizontal Transfer Equipment (HTE) – either AGVs or Automated Shuttle Carriers. Read more...
Fast tracking fuel supply in Chile Nov 24, 2009 Fast tracking fuel supply in ChileChile has a dependence on imported natural gas, which supplies a large proportion of their electricity generation. At present, gas imports are predominantly via pipeline from Argentina. However, in 2004 Argentina decided to reduce its gas exports to Chile, forcing a dependence on more expensive fuel oil to make up the difference whilst an increased hydroelectric capacity is developed. Read more...
New bulk loaders for Bayóvar (Peru) and Port of Marseille Nov 18, 2009 New bulk loaders for Bayóvar (Peru) and Port of MarseilleTAIM WESER, a Spanish company that specialises in latestgeneration bulk handling equipment and solutions, was recently awarded the contract to install conveyor belts and a ship loader for phosphate, with 3,500 t/h capacity, for the Bayóvar Port Terminal in Peru. Read more...
Port of Helsinki, Vuosaari Harbour Center: Automatic Gate System Nov 16, 2009 Port of Helsinki, Vuosaari Harbour Center: Automatic Gate SystemVisy Oy was selected as the gate technology provider for the Port of Helsinki, Vuosaari Harbour project – a massive undertaking which involved moving and combining two commercial port areas from the center of Helsinki to a new, single, location east of the city. Read more...
Is yard automation getting easier? Nov 13, 2009 Is yard automation getting easier?ABB, formerly ASEA, has been actively supplying cranes and related equipment for over 100 years and has delivered electrical and automation equipment to more than 1,200 cranes of all types and in all parts of the world. ABB has and will supply automation and electrical equipment to a number of demanding automation projects, such as CTA, Hamburg, Euromax/Rotterdam, Hanjin and PNC in Korea and Kaohsiung and TPCT in Taiwan. Read more...
Container handling alternatives: the benefits of sidelifters Nov 03, 2009 Container handling alternatives: the benefits of sideliftersThere has been much discussion about the place in the industry for sidelifters. Why have sidelifters seen huge success and are in extensive use in some regions whilst still not even heard of elsewhere? Apart from the obvious benefits of the sidelifter service to shippers, packing containers safely at ground level, there are also many benefits to be had by container terminal operators. Traditional container handling equipment such as reach stackers, forklifts, straddle carriers, etc, can be expensive. There are purchase, setup, operational and maintenance costs. Read more...
Workarounds: just say no! Oct 30, 2009 Workarounds: just say no!Marine terminal operators have been searching for accurate Position Detection Systems (PDS) for about a decade and, while several types of solutions have been deployed (RFID/RTLS and DGPS at the top of the list), few, if any, have truly delivered the throughput gains, cost reductions, and process forensics operators expected. Read more...
Latest technology in cargo handling attachments Oct 28, 2009 Latest technology in cargo handling attachmentsStevenel, based in Tampere, Finland is an engineering company who have, for the last 10 years, been designing and manufacturing attachments for general cargo for ports and industrial terminals. All of their products include CE-marking, thus, EU-directives are the basis for their engineering. Stevenel design and manufacture attachments solely for general cargo focussing on break bulk cargo. Read more...
New paradigm on the lashing process in container ports Oct 27, 2009 New paradigm on the lashing process in container portsCurrently, we are living in a rapidly changing and developing world in connection with port operations. In particular, port equipment is improving so rapidly, we need to redefine even the concept of container ports themselves. This technical progress is the primary concern of the container terminal operators. Read more...
Chemical storage tank systems: good practice guide - Operation, inspection and maintenance: Part 2 Oct 26, 2009 Cleaning of chemical storage systems can be a hazardous activity, and is important for the long life of a system. Some good practice guidance on cleaning of systems is given below: • Depending on the nature and scale of cleaning, specialist contractors may be required. This is particularly true for inside tanks which are classed as confined spaces, thus special training and apparatus are required. • Specialist cleaning machinery is available for certain cleaning tasks such as machines for lowering into tanks and wall climbers. Read more...
Port of Göteborg gets results with new staff and equipment planning system Oct 21, 2009 Port of Göteborg gets results with new staff and equipment planning systemThe complexities in balancing the productivity of a terminal operation, in relation to the level of service required by its customers and the cost efficiencies required to stay competitive, demand a high level of decision support. Borrowing some capability from the airline and rail planning businesses can turn out to be a strong move. Read more...
Calling for more stringent crane ‘tie-down’ procedures Oct 20, 2009 Calling for more stringent crane ‘tie-down’ proceduresWith damaging hurricanes in the Atlantic, typhoons and cyclones in the Pacific, monsoons in the Indian, and random windstorms occuring anywhere, port equipment, premises and liability insurer, TT Club is strongly recommending that terminal operators urgently review their terminal emergency plans for dealing with high winds and in particular crane tie-down procedures. Read more...
Clearer outlook with vapour recovery Oct 15, 2009 Clearer outlook with vapour recoveryIncreased measures to reduce volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions during the loading operations for crude oil, both offshore and onshore, are being required by the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT) and international environmental agreements. Read more...
Continuous bulk material loading for all types of vessels Oct 13, 2009 Continuous bulk material loading for all types of vesselsRecently, bulk material handling company Bedeschi was asked by Coeclerici Logistics, Italy to install some of its coal industry applications, in particular those applicable to coal conveying systems, to a plant in India. Bedeschi has been commissioned to provide: Read more...
Optimising container terminals using simulation and emulation methodology: Part 2 Oct 12, 2009 Optimising container terminals using simulation and emulation methodology: Part 2A system working on the lowest level of detail does not consider the operation system the terminal uses. The capacity of a container terminal is limited by the capacity of the container stacking area and the quay. The latter is limited by its length and by the capacity of the ship-to-shore cranes available. The aim of such a system is to surmise the current point at which the terminal bottlenecks. Read more...
Investing in the future: tackling the economic slowdown Sep 04, 2009 Investing in the future: tackling the economic slowdownThe economic slowdown has undoubtedly offered a big challenge to the shipping industry, but those who have the foresight to plan ahead will be better prepared for when the industry does make a recovery. This year is a time for re-evaluating and transforming the industry in which we work. In my opinion, it is essential for companies to be forward thinking in order to survive this tough time and come out on the other side stronger. Read more...
Crane drive and control systems: Part 2 Sep 01, 2009 Crane drive and control systems: Part 2The container transpor tation industr y has witnessed a remarkable growth over the last decade. Control system wise, the programmable logic controller (PLC) was the preferred solution for motion control and general interlocking. As technology evolved over the years, so have the cranes, which are now bigger, faster and more complex electrically. Read more...
Common quay crane modifications Aug 26, 2009 Common quay crane modificationsCrane modifications are often required to service larger vessels, increase productivity, allow for a different terminal operation, or reduce maintenance costs. Modifying existing cranes is quicker and often a more economical alternative than purchasing new cranes. Modifications to the crane’s geometry allow an existing crane to service larger vessels. The most common geometry modifications are increasing the lift height or increasing the outreach, backreach, or both. Read more...
Offshore transshipment terminals: a valid alternative to port infrastructure Aug 20, 2009 Offshore transshipment terminals: a valid alternative to port infrastructureIn the present world economic scenario, characterised by high uncertainty and market instability, the port sector is holding back expansion plans. These projects provide for huge investments, which are necessary for upgrading and building the new facilities required to accommodate the ocean going vessels trading worldwide, whose cargo carrying capacity has augmented to minimise the ocean freight impact. Read more...
Optimising container terminals using simulation and emulation methodology: Part 1 Aug 19, 2009 Optimising container terminals using simulation and emulation methodology: Part 1Over the last 50 years simulation technology has found its way from technical applications to logistics. Due to the demands of high productivity and automation, as well as increasing vessel sizes, special computer systems for simulation and emulation have been developed for container terminals. Read more...
Effective operations in ports Aug 18, 2009 Effective operations in ports“Global logistics chain suffers port bottlenecks”, “Seaports struggling with increase in container vessel sizes”, “Citizen complaints over port neighbourhoods”...The above list of newspaper headlines could be prolonged endlessly, highlighting that obviously seaports have some technical and organisation problems to deal with. Read more...
Research and development of automatic bulk cargo equipment in modern ports: Part 2 Aug 11, 2009 Research and development of automatic bulk cargo equipment in modern ports: Part 2Part 1 introduced bulk grab ship unloaders and automatic and fully automatic bulk loading bucket wheel stacker-reclaimers, jointly developed by Shanghai Port, Shanghai Port Machinery Plant, ABB (China) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Read more...
No growth? Squeeze the lemon! Aug 10, 2009 No growth? Squeeze the lemon!It appears that everything is coming to a standstill due to the economic panic all around. The reality of the here and now is a drop in container handling volume to levels of 2006/2007. Most terminals will end 2008 still at par with 2007 as the first nine months showed steady growth. Read more...
Euromax: a new standard in container handling Aug 07, 2009 Euromax: a new standard in container handlingThe Euromax Terminal is situated at the north-westerly corner of the Maasvlakte, just around the corner from the entrance to the Rotterdam port. From the North Sea, container vessels can be moored at the new container terminal in no time at all and shipping traffic is not hampered by any restrictions whatsoever. Read more...
Flexible material handling solutions Jul 30, 2009 Flexible material handling solutionsWith two port sites in Terneuzen and Vlissingen near the Belgian border, the Dutch port operator Ovet B.V. is an important regional player in bulk materials handling. Two quays with a combined length of 2,400 metres are available, and four floating cranes and a mobile quay crane provide a total handling capacity of some 5,000 tonnes per hour. Read more...
Integrated check-in and security system goes over above ISPS code compliance Jul 29, 2009 Integrated check-in and security system goes over above ISPS code complianceThe International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code makes the adoption of security and monitoring systems mandatory for both accessing ports and transiting through boarding areas. Read more...
Modern interface between the TOS and the Crane Control System Jul 28, 2009 Modern interface between the TOS and the Crane Control SystemA modern container terminal needs an interface between the Terminal Operating System (TOS) and the crane control system onboard the cranes. If the terminal includes fully automatic cranes, it is an absolute necessity to be able to send work orders directly from the TOS to the cranes. Read more...



Intermodal transportation: The next wave?Holidays are almost over, for those lucky enough to go on vacation. I spent my time away from the sea, and well above sea level. Just for reassurance. As you might know, the majority of Dutch grounds are below sea level (about 65%), and we keep dry feet by pumping water. Without that, we would build our sandcastle around "Amersfoort at the Sea" (a city some 80km inland). However, spending time in the Alps, some 800m above sea level, my rectangular box driven mind did not come to a complete standstill, wondering about hinterland transportation.
New Strategy & Development Director appointed at Dunkerque PortJean-Frédéric Laurent has just been appointed Strategy and Development Director of Dunkerque Port, replacing Pierre Joly on his retirement. He is 41.

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