The Port of Virginia has set a new annual record for container cargo volume having handled more than 2.84 million TEU — a 7% increase over last year’s total.
In 2017, loaded import and export volumes were up 8.6% and about 1%, respectively, over the prior year.
The port saw increases in TEUs, truck volume, rail volume and total volume at Richmond Marine Terminal (RMT), the port’s growing barge terminal on the James River.
The number of ships calling at Virginia dropped by 9% in 2017 due to a trend of fewer but bigger ships with increasing cargo loads.
Learn more about how shipping containers revolutionized the movement of goods in the 'Automated Stacking Cranes In Port Terminals' technical paper by Paul Blaiklock, Marketing Manager, TMEIC Corporation, Virginia, US
This development has driven terminal expansion projects and larger effort to dredge the Norfolk Harbor to 55 feet and widen its in- and out-bound commercial navigation channels.
December is Port of Virginia’s half-way mark in the fiscal year 2018.
TEU volumes are at 1,456,234, an increase of 5.7% when compared with the same period last fiscal year, with gate volumes at 514,097 moves, up 9%, and loaded imports and exports up 8.4% and 5.7%.
In 2017, December’s TEU volumes reached 237,525 TEUs, an increase of 3.4% when compared with last December.
Rich Ceci, Senior Vice President of Technology and Projects, Virginia International Terminal, has discussed their integration with the Navis Business Intelligence Portal and the effective results VIT has seen with N4:
Both Port of Virginia and Navis will be speaking at Port Technology's Container Terminal Automation Conference on March 14 – 15, 2018 – London, UK
John F. Reinhart, CEO and Executive Director of the Virginia Port Authority, said: “In 2017, we moved 185,000 more TEUs than we did in 2016, which until now, was our highest volume year on record.
“For calendar 2017, we had a perfect streak with every month setting a new month-record, bringing us to a new annual record and did this while undertaking the largest infrastructure project in the port’s history.
“The growth is significant – 15,442 TEUs a month, on average – and we have responded with improved throughput and safety in all facets of the operation.
“With this level of growth, we are truly solidifying our position as the Mid-Atlantic’s global gateway.
“In 2018 we will continue on our forward trajectory.
“Our focus now is the expansion of Norfolk International Terminals (NIT), taking delivery of the first group of rail-mounted gantry cranes later this month and then bringing the first new stacks at Virginia International Gateway (VIG) online in April.
“We are moving forward on our wider, deeper, safer initiative that will make the Norfolk Harbor the US East Coast’s deepest and safest harbor.
“The Port of Virginia brand and its reputation as a world-class port are growing.”
Read more: The Made in Virginia television series, a show that explores the best and most unique products across the US state, has covered the topic of automation at the Port of Virginia with crane engineering and control systems specialist TMEIC
