Technical Papers

Diagnostics for crane systems come in a variety of formats and capabilities. Systems are generally dedicated to a particular manufacturer’s control system and users must adopt their design. As ports add more cranes to their facilities, owners can have a variety of systems to maintain all with varying capabilities. Avtron has developed a solution for this problem in its CraneView™ Crane Management Systems (CMS).

Perimeter security is the first defence in maintaining a high level of port security, thus choosing the right fence material is paramount. Mini-mesh, expanded metal and welded wire are just some of the options to consider for fencing materials. It’s simple: the thicker the metal wire or tighter the weave, the more difficult it is to climb and the more time consuming it is to cut. Mini-mesh is a very heavy duty, tightly woven chain-link fence that has no toe holds for climbing, can’t be easily crawled under, and the weave is too small for bolt cutters.

India is one of the main engines of world economy. The country is the second fastest growing major economy in the world, with a GDP growth rate of 9.4 per cent for the year 2006 – 2007. It has been predicted that within 10 years, its economy will overtake Japan’s and become the third major power. As India prepares itself for becoming an economic superpower, it must take steps for overcoming infrastructure bottlenecks inherent in its system. Availability of physical infrastructure is central to sustainable economic growth. In particular, power availability is a key factor to ensure the economy stays ahead in the race for global supremacy; it is a fact that availability of adequate and modern forms of energy is generally correlated with human and economic development.

Until recently, the typical causes of crane incidents were adverse weather, earthquakes, ship berthing procedure, and inattention to either operations or maintenance. But today’s situation has become much more complex. First, due to increases in the number of quay cranes in operation over the past 15 years, there have been proportionate increases in the number of crane incidents. In addition, cranes have become much larger in size and are far more challenging to operate – with less visibility, controllability and slower response times due to the greater working distances involved.

Increasing complexities The challenges facing port authorities and the companies responsible for shipping are increasing. The sheer growth in movements, driven by globalisation, is dictating new supply chain flows around the world leading to dramatic expansion in port traffic. New shipping technologies for energy transportation, such as that developed for LNG, and the impact of new security measures also need to be factored in.

The Portable Piloting Unit (PPU) will be used in nearly all pilot assisted operations within a few years. Technology has brought the weight down, electronic charts are becoming more accurate, and software has become more powerful and user friendly. Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as GPS, GLONASS and GALLIEO are working hand in hand offering unique reliability and accuracy and lest not forget pilots are becoming more IT minded in adopting this new tool.

Venice, the world famous city in the sea, is regularly inundated with water. It is a city built on many thousands of oak pilings, but unfortunately, its wooden foundation is unsound and has subsided by a half a metre over the centuries. To make matters worse, the Adriatic Sea’s level is also rising. The Plaza San Marco is often flooded and the walls of palaces, churches and apartments are saturated with water. The dykes built to protect Venice from floods are too weak.

Terminal productivity is one of the main conference themes of TOC Asia 2008. In an exclusive preview, PTI offers a sneak peak at one of the presentations.

There is no doubt that automation is playing an increasingly important role for container terminals. That’s why Gottwald Port Technology (Gottwald), known as a pioneer in the field of automated port technology, has recently enhanced its line of automated products. The newly developed Automated Stacking Crane (ASC), employing the stack management software (ASC-MS) developed in-house, is, from several points of view, both a novel and a resilient automated container stacking crane. With the ASC the company is following up its success story with Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) seamlessly and is now said to be the only supplier to actually be able to supply an automated system from A to Z with all the required hardware and software components. Designed to work hand-in-hand on quayside and landside with different kinds of transport vehicles such as AGVs, straddle carriers, road and terminal trucks, the new Gottwald ASC is addressing new terminals and the conversion and/or expansion of existing terminals.

X-ray inspection systems for cargo containers have now become a standard feature in many ports. This rapid adoption has been accelerated by the needs of port security, but made practical by the systems’ unique ability to non-destructively penetrate entire containers and generate images of the contents in just a few seconds. Even at this large scale, the resulting images are comparable to those obtained through traditional baggage scanning at airports and capable of identifying objects smaller than a baseball Consequently, these systems are commonly employed for manifest verification and contraband interdiction in a variety of environments.

The port industry has been growing exponentially in the past few years and 2007 was no different as the year saw a number of new port construction projects come to fruition around the globe. China has been leading the charge with several state-of-the-art container terminal grand openings. Profiled here are two such terminals: Xiamen Songyu and Guangzhou South China Oceangate.

The NOFI Current Buster and Harbour Busters are both designed to be towed in fast waters or at significantly higher towing speeds than conventional oil booms which will fail, i.e. the encountered oil will escape below the skirt at 0.7 to 0.9 knot. Both the Current Buster and the Harbour Buster have been tested at the US Ohmsett test tank in oil at towing speeds ranging from 2.5 to 3.5 knots and with insignificant losses of diesel (Harbour Buster) and regular oils (Current Buster).