- World Cargo News

WorldCargo
news
JULY 2005
EGC action in Norfolk
Virginia Port Authority (VPA)’s
unique elevating girder crane design (EGC) built by ZPMC has
entered service at Norfolk International Terminal. “We are monitoring moves in an effort to determine the relative advantage over
standard cranes,” remarks Dave
Rudolf, formerly VPA’s engineering director and now an independent consultant (see WorldCargo News
February 2005, p2).
It will probably take 6-9
months of data to make a determination. Rudolf says that the
VPA/VIT computer simulations
predicted, for the same profile of
ship calls, that productivity would
increase by five and 22 per cent
depending on the elevation.
The EGC concept took a long
time to come to fruition. As previously reported (WorldCargo News
July 2002, p21 and July 1994, p37),
the basic idea is that big cranes are
relatively inefficient when working
small ships or barges with small
stack heights because of rope
pendulation, driver “parallax” effects
and so on. Instead the crane will
Reducing driver “parallax” vision effects and sway propensity through shorter
rope lengths are key aspects of the elevating girder crane design
be more productive if the driver is
closer to the target and the hoist
ropes are shorter.
VPA arrived at the EGC from
its earlier elevating second hoist
cranes built by Kone. Originally
it considered a crane where the
boom could be lowered every
time a tier was taken off, but it
settled for a more conservative
solution whereby the lift height
ZPMC/ABB scoop
Euromax orders
ZPMC and ABB have won the
orders for all cranes and automated
stacking cranes (ASCs) for the
new Euromax terminal in Rotterdam, with a total of 16 quay
cranes and 59 ASCs to be delivered between November next year
and December 2008.
ABB is supplying drives and
crane management systems for all
the equipment as well as the automation and controls for the
ASCs which, as previously reported, will operate as pairs on the
same rails per stack module.
The total deal is said to be
worth US$210 mill. Most of the
deliveries will be made during
2007 and 2008.All the quay cranes
are rated at 70 tonnes under
spreader.The 13 “Suezmax” cranes
have a lift height above rail of 40m,
modifiable to 46m if required, and
a waterside outreach from front
rail of 64m (23-wide).
One of these cranes will be a
double hoist unit and the others
will be capable of retrofitting if the
crane is a success in double hoist
mode. Recognising that big cranes
has five settings ranging between
20m and 40m above rail.
The EGC, the final one of a
batch of eight giant cranes ordered
for VIT in 2002, was delivered in
January this year but took almost
seven months to prepare for use.
“No additional training was
needed,” says Rudolf, “just a little
bit of extra familiarisation for the
safety crew.”
are inefficient handling smaller
feeders and barges, Euromax has
also ordered three 36m outreach
cranes lifting just 22m above rail.
The ASCs are rated at 40
tonnes and will long travel at 270
m/min.top speed The rail span is
32.25m (10-wide blocks) and
most will have a lift height of
18.2m (1 over 5 x 9ft 6in high).
ZPMC has also booked more
cranes for APM Terminals in both
Rotterdam and Zeebrugge (see
annual crane survey on page 17).
For calendar 2005, ZPMC is
reporting total ship-to-shore container crane, RTG and RMG deliveries of 141, 288 and 13 respectively.The RMGs are all ASCs
for ECT, with Siemens drives and
Stinis spreaders, slated for delivery in December.
New auto Boost for PTP...
twistlock
launched
K-Line and lashing equipment
manufacturer Taiyo Seiko Works
Co have jointly developed a new
fully-automatic twistlock - the
FA-8 - as part of the Japanese operator’s “New Lashing System
Development Project.”
Designed to make manual
locking and unlocking unnecessary in order to cut operational
costs and save time during loading and discharging, the new design was successfully tested on
board K-Line’s V E R R A Z A N O
BRIDGE on a voyage in May between the Far East and North
America.
According to K-Line, as
containerships get bigger, it is increasingly dangerous for lashers to
climb on stacks and manually unlock twistlocks with long, heavy,
release poles, which have caused
numerous accidents over the past
few years.The new FA-8 resolves
this problem as the twistlocks are
inserted into the container’s lower
corner castings on the quay, lock
automatically when placed in the
stack, unlock automatically when
the container is lifted for discharge and are removed manually on the quay.
As a failsafe, an incorrect direction mechanism is incorporated to prevent locks from being secured back to front, while
the FA-8 is also smaller and, at
only 5.8kg, 20 per cent lighter
than twistlocks currently in use.
Developed over an 18 month
period, the first application of the
FA-8 will be on K-Line’s four
8000 TEU newbuildings under
construction in Japan by IHI Marine United, which are scheduled
for delivery from the autumn of
next year.
The Port of Singapore will be one
of the biggest losers if Maersk
Sealand is merged with P&O
Nedlloyd (P&ONL), the world’s
third largest container carrier,
which handles more than 1 mill
TEU at Singapore annually.
Most of this throughput is likely
to be transferred to the neighbouring Malaysian Port of Tanjung
Pelepas (PTP), Maersk’s regional
hub, in which affiliate APM Terminals has a 30 per cent stake.
PTP handled a record 4.02
mill TEU last year and volumes
for the first six months of 2005
have already exceeded 2 mill TEU.
It is estimated that the P&ONL
Having already lured Maersk Sealand
and Evergreen from Singapore, PTP
is set to gain P&ONL traffic too
business will be worth more than
US$50 mill annually to PTP,
which earlier lured Maersk
Sealand and Evergreen Marine of
Taiwan from Singapore.
The feeder lines that currently
call Singapore to service P&ONL
will also shift to PTP to service
the merged company. PTP chief
executive Mohd Sidik Shaik
Osman said the port is poised to
add “a few more” independent
shipping lines, but declined to
elaborate further.
...takeover challenged
South African fruit and wine exporters have lodged an objection
to the European Commission
(EC) over the proposed takeover
of P&O Nedlloyd by AP MøllerMaersk on the grounds of reduced
competition. While the takeover
would give the Danish giant only
17 per cent of global shipping
trade, it would control 77 per cent
of the reefer trade between South
Africa and Europe.At present, only
Maersk Sealand and Safmarine,
which are both controlled by AP
Møller, P&O Nedlloyd and Mediterranean Shipping Company
(MSC) offer specialised refrigeration services to transport South
Africa’s rapidly growing fruit and
vegetable exports to Europe.
If the takeover is completed,
South African exporters fear that
competition from MSC and conventional vessels will not be enough
to prevent AP Møller determining
market rates.They also fear that they
will have too little choice regarding sailing times. Apart from the
impact on reefer traffic, the takeover would also give AP Møller an
overwhelmingly dominant position
on total container traffic between
South Africa and Europe. Estimates
of the combined market share of
the two companies range from 60
to 82 per cent.
The EC is understood to be
seriously considering the objection
and has asked the South African
Competition Commission to make
a submission on the issue. AP
Møller is believed to be considering selling off P&O Nedlloyd’s
South African interests in order to
allow the deal to go through.While
the takeover may still go ahead, it
seems unlikely that the EC would
countenance a single company taking such a dominant position
within the European market.
IN THIS ISSUE
NEWS
Mantsinen on rails
London gateway “on”
LA’s “Janice” crane row
QR buys CRT
Another Smart box
CMA CGM in for Delmas?
2
5
8
16
18
19
CARGO HANDLING
XIIth annual container crane
survey - records shattered 22
Too big for their boots
24
ZPMC doubles up twice 25
Encoders and cables
26
Home comforts for cabs 28
Floating gantry crane
29
Anti-collision on the quay 30
Crane brake safety
31
Postponing retirement
32
Sidelifter update
37
CHINA/KOREA SURVEY
Shanghai looks west
33
Remote cranes for ZPMC 35
PECT automated
36
CONTAINER INDUSTRY
Boxes stack up
39
Euro builders battle on 40
Cold comforts for reefers 42
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING NEWS
NTS fissile testing Capacity
Further information is available
about the new, US$35 mill Radiological-Nuclear Countermeasures Test and Evaluation
Complex (Rad-NucCTEC) being built at the Nevada Test Site
(NTS) to verify claims made for
fissile material detection equipment intended for installation in
US seaports, airports, border
crossings, etc (see WorldCargo
News June 2005, p16).
The new facility will evaluate detection devices built by at
least 10 separate international
companies vying for a major
contract, which is expected to
be awarded next year. The successful company will be called
upon to provide over 2000 devices for more than 350 points
of entry throughout the US.
The systems will be designed
to detect uranium, plutonium and
other radiological materials,
which terrorists might try to
bring into the country in containers, trucks, or luggage. At a
demonstration organised by
Bechtel Nevada, the NTS management company, trucks laden
with various problem materials,
such as cat litter and fertiliser,
which are known to confuse current detection devices rushed into
service after 911 (see WorldCargo
News May 2005, p3), were driven
through lanes containing the 10
different detection devices.
Testing on the new systems
will begin using plutonium and
uranium during an eight-week
period starting next month. RadNucCTEC will not be fully operational until 2007 and a temporary site has been installed
nearby in the interim. The first
of the new nuclear detection devices are expected to be in use at
border checkpoints in June 2006.
Nuclear threat from terrorists
has tended to be considered an
unlikely scenario by some, but it
has been given weight by prominent figures such as Admiral James
Loy, until recently the deputy secretary of the Homeland Security
Department (HSD).
scoops US
postal job
US-based terminal tractor manufacturer Capacity of Texas, Inc, part
of Collins Industries’ specialty vehicles group, has been awarded a
contract worth almost US$28.5
mill to suppy depot yard tractors
(“spotter” units) to the United
States Postal Service. It is anticipated that all the tractors will be
delivered during fiscal 2006.
“We look forward to working
with the postal service on the development of their spotter truck
training program,” said Collins’
president and CEO Donald Lynn
Collins.
● Phillip Ford has been appointed
president of Capacity of Texas and
a sister company under Collins,
Mobile Products, Inc. Ford replaces Randall Swift, who has
been named to the post of vice
president/COO of Collins, based
in Hutchison, Kansas.
Mantsinen launches
rail-mounted crane
Finnish crane manufacturer
Mantsinen is expanding its crane
portfolio, which is based on a
range of excavator-based diesel
hydraulic tracked and tyredcranes, with the development of
its first electro-hydraulic railed
mounted design.
The first machine was purpose-built for the specific requirements of M Zietzschmzann
GmbH, in Duisburg, Germany,
but will now form the basis of a
new range.
The new design is intended to
compete in the replacement market for conventional rope grab
cranes and fill the gap between
older conventional cranes and
modern harbour mobile cranes for
handling smaller vessels and barges.
The Mantsinen 140 ER is
mounted on a portal with a rail
gauge of 14m to suit the existing
rails at the Duisburg terminal, and
Mantsinen’s latest crane design moves away from a conventional excavatorbased configuration, but still retains the hydraulically-actuated jib
has a maximum horizontal outreach of 30m, with a lifting capacity of 8.5 tonnes at 25m
The crane, which weighs some
140 tonnes including portal frame,
features electrically-powered bogies
for long travel, a cable reel power
supply system and a separate, static,
cab sourced from Finland. No diesel engine is fitted. The crane will
be employed mainly for grab work,
although it will also be equipped
with a steel coil attachment for
export duties.
Liebherrs for ABP
Associated British Ports (ABP) has
purchased two more Liebherr
LHM 320 harbour mobile cranes
for its operations in Goole and
Hull. The machine for Goole is
already in operation and the one
for Hull is due to be handed over
by the end of this month.
Liebherr has been supplying
harbour mobile cranes to various
ABP ports for the past 10 years.
Goole already operates an LHM
250, while Hull acquired its first
LHM 320, with a lifting capacity
of 104 tonnes, in 2002. This was
supplied with a fully automatic
telescopic spreader, a motor grab
control system as well as double
supporting pads to meet quay
limitations.
Goole and King’s Lynn also
operate an LHM 70, the smallest
2
Liebherr LHM 320 (foreground) and
LHM 250 at ABP Goole
harbour mobile crane in the
Liebherr range introduced in
2003, while Newport operates an
LHM 150 in four-rope configuration for its general cargo and
coal handling needs.
The two new LHM 320s for
Hull and Goole are aimed mainly
at container handling and they
include Liebherr’s economy software for reduced fuel consumption as well as a second cabin on
the slewing platform offering the
same features as the tower cabin.
In Hull, the quay has load limitations that meant again a special
propping base and an increase in
the number of wheel-sets (to 22)
to reduce travelling loads.
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING NEWS
Cargotec New Terbergs for VTE
interim
results...
Cargotec Corp has announced that it
received orders in the first half of this
year valued at €1216 mill, only just above
the figure for the first half of 2004 (€1213
mill). There was a marked slowdown in
the second quarter, with orders received
totalling €571 mill (€677 mill in 2Q
2004). Kalmar accounted for €581 mill
of orders received in the first half (unchanged), Hiab €416 mill (unchanged)
and MacGregor (whose purchase was finalised in March) €220 mill (€217 mill).
Net sales for the first half rose by 29
per cent to €1154 mill (€891 mill). Net
sales during the second quarter were
€610 mill (€487 mill). Kalmar’s net sales
in the second quarter came to €304 mill,
almost 50 per cent up on 2Q/2004 (€220
mill). In Kalmar, service revenue grew
by 22 per cent from a year earlier and
accounted for 22 per cent (26 per cent)
of its net sales. Kalmar’s service revenue
grew both organically and due to acquisitions (Peinemann Kalmar CV and
Peinemann Kalmar Rental BV in the
Netherlands were both acquired in
March 2005).
Kalmar’s new assembly plant in
Shanghai will start operations by the
beginning of next year and expansion of
Bromma’s spreader plant in Ipoh is
underway. As reported in last month’s
WorldCargo News (p2), Kalmar has started
production of medium FLTs, mostly
DCE140s and DCE160s for heavy industry, at the Ottawa terminal tractor
plant in Kansas.
“The second quarter of the year was
better than we expected,” commented
Cargotec’s president and CEO CarlGustaf Bergström. “We received slightly
fewer orders than during the comparison period, but the markets continued,
nevertheless, stronger than expected. Our
operating model based on product development, assembly and service has
shown its effectiveness and has enabled a
significant increase in sales and a strong
improvement in profits.”
Terberg has delivered 14 YT222 terminal
tractors toVTE Genova, PSA Sinport’s flagship operation in Italy.The new machines
are fitted with the Cummins ISBe-220
engine matched to an Allison MD3060
electronic transmission and form part of
VTE’s planned investment package for
2005-2009 of around €70 mill.
Terberg has enjoyed considerable success in the past in Italy, having delivered
terminal tractors in big series to both
CICT Cagliari and TCT Táranto. This
latest order from VTE followed extensive
trials with one of the slightly less powerful YT182 designs. Both models were
launched last year as replacements for the
longstandingYT180 and YT220 marques.
Other new investments at VTE include two 18-wide, low profile (shuttle
boom) ship-to-shore cranes from
Fantuzzi-Reggiane and another 21
“cornerless” bombcarts from Fabrisem in
Spain.VTE is planning to change the yard
from a mixed RTG/reach stacker operation to a pure RTG operation and will
install a new TOS accordingly.
Throughput is expected to increase by
200,000 TEU/year because of the switch
of P&O Nedlloyd from La Spezia (see
WorldCargo News April 2005, p7), starting
this September with the call of the 5600
TEU P&O NEDLLOYD VESPUCCI.
Saskia Kunst and George Terberg are just visible inspecting the line-up of new equipment
As previously speculated (see
WorldCargo News, May 2005, p42) this deal
with P&ONL, under which the carrier
has acquired a 30 per cent stake in the
terminal (with an option to increase it to
37 per cent) has enabled VTE to keep
Contship Italia SpA out of Voltri. Genoa
Port Authority has just confirmed that it
has awarded VTE the next development
plot, Module VI.
VTE is forecasting traffic of 1 mill TEU
this year (+3 per cent) and is projecting
1.5 millTEU/year by 2009 and 2 mill TEU
by 2014. Productivity has already increased
from 15.2 to 18 moves/gross crane hour
and the target is 20 by year end.
...adds All
Set Marine
Cargotec Coporation is continuing its
expansion drive with the acquisition,
subject to relevant competition authority approval, of container securing equipment specialist All Set Mar ine
Lashing. All Set will be integrated into
Cargotec’s MacGregor business unit’s dry
cargo division.
Sweden-based All Set’s products include twistlocks, turnbuckles and other
loose container securing fittings, bottom
foundations, lashing points and other
fixed fittings. It had net sales of around
€14 mill last year.
“The company is known in the market as a high quality supplier to the leading container lines to which we can provide additional value by combining our
expertise in seaborne container technology,” said MacGregor’s president Hans
Pettersson.
● MacGregor has received its biggest ever
order for shipboard cranes from Korean
shipyard Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co Ltd
in conection with the yard’s contract from
German ship owner Offen for 20 x 1800
TEU container vessels, slated for delivery
in 2007-8.The value of MacGregor’s order is around US$30 mill.
MacGregor also reports an order for
hatch covers from IHI, which is building
six more 7500 TEU Mondriaan-class vessels for P&O Nedlloyd (MONDRIAAN and
MANET have already been delivered). The
hatch covers have been built at
MacGregor’s partner plant NCSC in
Nantong, China.
July 2005
3
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING/PORT NEWS
Liebherr trailing ahead! Four eye TCM to Hitachi
Dunkirk
Four superpost-Panamax cranes
recently delivered to New York
Container Terminal (NYCT) by
Liebherr Container Cranes Ltd
feature what Liebherr describes as
an ultra-modern trailer positioning system (TPS).
Laser scanners mounted at sill
beam level are employed on each
crane, coupled with signal lighting systems for truck drivers at
end-carriage level. Each scanner
services one truck lane and there
are four under the cranes. A signal
light mimic panel is also provided
in a convenient position in the
crane driver’s cabin under the
driver digital display.The software
is designed to position 20/40/45ft
and 2 x 20ft containers optimally
under the crane.
In operation, truck drivers
position trailers in the service lane
target area and a confirmation
light denotes optimum positioning for the next crane motion.
Wasteful and time-consuming
gantry inching is eliminated and
the crane driver can load or unload intensively to the same bay.
WorldCargo
news
VOLUME 12 NUMBER 7 • ISSN 1355-0551
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PUBLISHED BY WCN PUBLISHING
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The laser-based trailer positioning
system at NYCT enhances quay crane
productivity, says Liebherr
The system incorporates several
innovations aimed at counteracting problems due to weather or
environmental variation.“Feedback
indicates that the system works extremely well and makes a valuable
contribution to increased terminal
productivity,” says Liebherr.
● Liebherr has handed over a 40
tonne-29.5m outreach (10-wide)
crane to ABP Connect in
Immingham. The cranes feature
Liebher r ac drives, Liebherr
Acvert speed control and Winscan
crane management systems.
In response to a tender, APM Terminals (APMT), Dubai Ports International (DPI), CMA-CGM,
and Australia’s International Infrastructure Management (IIM)
have expressed interest in operating the container terminal at
Dunkirk in France.
The terminal is currently controlled by Nord France Terminal
International (NFTI), in which
the Dunkirk Port Author ity
(PAD) has a 70 per cent stake.
After years of stagnation, the
terminal has enjoyed a renaissance
after Maersk Sealand chose it for
one of its Europe/Far East services, the AE7 line, in addition to
its Andean Service to South
America.
These new calls followed the
purchase of three post-Panamax
gantry cranes and extension of
quay lengths and yard surfaces.
The terminal can accommodate ships up to 10,000 TEU with
draughts of 16.5. NFTI handled
200,000 TEU last year although the
terminal’s capacity is 600,000 TEU.
Japan’s TCM Corporation is now
regarded as a consolidated company under Hitachi Construction
Machinery after the latter increased its stake in TCM to 46 per
cent earlier in the year. Although
it does not have a majority stake
in the company, Hitachi is regarded as the majority owner as it
has effective control of TCM’s
Board. Hitachi began building its
share of TCM Corporation in
1999 and by 2003 had become its
largest shareholder with a 31.25
per cent stake.
Hitachi and TCM have been
involved in a collaborative project
to develop a universal wheel
loader design but Hitachi no
longer has any presence in port
equipment where TCM has extended its range from forklifts and
straddle carriers to RTGs, reach
stackers and gate systems. Port
equipment sales manager Hirokazu Daimaru says that despite
the change of ownership there
will be no change to the range
and brand of port equipment offered by TCM.
TCM model 420 reach stacker handling end-on 20ft in Karachi
Konecranes package for Malta
In what is believed to be its first
“package deal” since it acquired
SMV Lifttrucks AB (now SMV
Konecranes), Konecranes has secured an order from Malta
Freeport Terminals Ltd for eight
8-wheel RTGs, two dedicated EC
masted lift trucks (1 over 6 x 8ft
6in high) and one 37 tonne FLT,
as well as modernisation services
provided by KCI Konecranes’ Port
Services operations.
Delivery of the units will commence in 2005 through 2006.The
order includes an option for six
more RTGs.
The all-electric RTGs, which
are rated at 50 tonne SWL for
twin lift and stack 6+1 and 1 over
5 x 9ft 6in high (Freeport’s existing RTGs stack 1 over 4), will be
able to stack an extra layer of containers when compared to the
ones currently available at Malta
Freeport.The order is understood
to be Konecrane’s biggest to date
for the 8-wheel version, introduced last year, of its successful
all-electric RTG design.
Malta Freeport Terminals Ltd,
which is part of CMA-CGM, recently launched a €40 mill investment programme aimed at raising throughput from 1.46 mill to
2 mill TEU/year over the next
three years.
Who said
what to
whom?
Dear Sir,
With reference to your tyres
article in the May 2005 issue
of of WorldCargo News (pp6566), I would like to point out
that you mistakenly quoted
Bjorn Fritzell instead of me as
saying: “Procurement of steel
has been difficult recently but,
being a good customer to steel
mills for STS and RTGs, it
does not affect big lift truck
production at all.Tyres are another matter as most wellknown brands (ie Bridgestone,
Simex and Yokohama) have
their year’s production fullybooked. We have been working closely with Simex and
have our 2005 and 2006 production covered.”
What Mr Fritzell said to
forkliftaction. com was actually:
“We can’t promise customers
a specific brand, if required, at
all times...higher cost of production, some steel qualities
sharply up.”
Yours faithfully,
SUBSCRIPTIONS
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Entire contents © WCN Publishing 2005
4
Jimmy Lozada
Fantuzzi Product Manager
Noell Crane Systems
(China) Ltd
Fujian Province, China
Editor’s note: We mistakenly
assumed that the quote referred to Konecranes’ STS and
RTG production as well as
SMV’s reach stacker and FLT
output. Sorry for the error to
all concerned.
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
PORT NEWS
Green light for London Gateway
P&O and the Port of London Authority
have welcomed the British government’s
announcement that it is “minded to approve” the London Gateway schemes for
a major new deepsea container terminal
and ro-ro facility and, with Shell, the adjacent logistics and business park.
The approval is subject to satisfaction
on a number of outstanding issues, including the provision of additional highway capacity in the area. A final decision
is expected by October.
P&O anticipates that the first container berths will be operational by the
first half of 2008 and the first business unit
occupied by the end of 2007. It is envisaged that both the port and business park
will be built in phases to meet market
demand and that they will take between
10 and 15 years to complete fully.
As previously reported, the former
Shell Haven is a 607 hectare brownfield
site with a two mile River Thames frontage. On build-out there could be a
2300m long container quay with a capacity of 3.5 mill TEU/year. There will
be immediate provision of the ro-ro
berth able to handle two vessels with
stern/bow loading simultaneously.
According to P&O, the final destination of a quarter of the containers currently imported into the UK is within a
40km radius of the proposed new facility. Of more relevance, however, is the
stripping point of the containers, as there
has been a growing tendency for distribution centres to be located outside the
south east.
In this respect, the new logistics and
business park should have a crucial part
to play. It will cover a development area
of 300 hectares and can accommodate
rail-connected warehousing units of up
to 100,000 m2. The park will be linked
to the rail network, states P&O.
According to the RSPB, London
Gateway is likely to damage part of
Mucking Flats, an important area of
mudflat for wintering waders and wildfowl in the Thames Estuary and Marshes
SPA (special protection area). However,
the RSPB is satisfied that the damage will
be offset by the creation of new mudflats,
saltmarsh and grazing marsh in south
Essex and north Kent.
As previously reported, the real bête
noire for RSPB and other members of
the Portswatch “green” alliance is
Hutchison’s Bathside Bay scheme, as this
site is a designated SSSI as well as an SPA
under EU law. In contrast Hutchison’s
Felixstowe South scheme will not harm
internationally important wildlife sites.
So Portswatch is calling on the government to accept Felixstowe South as
well as London Gateway, which will
render Bathside Bay unnecessary.
Feds make move on ILA
The United States Attorney’s Office, the
New York FBI and other parties have
filed a civil racketeering case against the
International Longshoremen’s Association and top ILA officials.
Following federal prosecutions linking the leadership of the Genovese and
Gambio organised crime families to
various ILA officials, this new civil case
names four of the so-called “big six” ILA
executive officers as defendants: president John Blower, secretary-treasurer
Robert Gleason, executive vice president Albert Cernadas and assistant general organizer Harold Dagget.
Allegations include rigging elections,
defrauding funds and pension plans and
awarding contracts to companies affiliated with organised crime. The plaintiffs are seeking court orders barring the
defendants from any involvement with
the ILA or its welfare and pension funds.
“Today’s histor ic filing builds
upon...the series of successful criminal
prosecutions brought in this district. It
seeks, once and for all, to end mob
domination of this important labour union and put its future back into the
hands of the rank-and-file members it
was designed to serve,” said Roslynn
Mauskopf, US Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York.
Mumbai box
terminal in
demand
India’s Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) has
shortlisted 11 Indian and international
port developers for the development and
operation of an offshore container terminal.
Port officials said the response was very
encouraging considering that initial attempts to generate interest in the project
failed because none of the bidders submitted financial bids last December.
The shortlisted bidders include P&O
Ports, Dubai Ports International, APM
Terminals, Evergreen Marine and Mitsui
OSK Lines of Japan, as well as Indian
companies Larsen & Toubro,Adani Ports,
United Liner Agency, Gammon India
and ABG Heavy Industries. At least 24
companies picked up request-for-qualification documents and 12 of them submitted bids.
After the earlier attempt failed, MbPT
offered several new concessions to the
bidders to make the offshore terminal financially attractive. Potential developers
were reluctant to make financial bids the
last time because they were unsure of the
traffic potential for the offshore terminal.
They also pointed out that they would
have to compete against two existing container terminals at the nearby Jawaharlal
Nehru Port, and a third being developed
by APM Terminals and Container Corporation of India.
This time around MbPT has also offered its container terminal at Ballard Pier
to the successful bidder of the offshore
terminal. “In other words, the successful
bidder could start earning money from
day one as Ballard Pier berth is operational,” a Mumbai Port official said.“The
berth can handle about 200,000 TEU
annually.They will not have to wait until
they develop the offshore berth.”
The bidders have also been assured
that deepening the channel to 15m at
berthside will not be their responsibility.
The offshore container terminal,
which is expected to cost Rs 10 bill
(US$230 mill), will be built in two phases.
The first phase will see development of
two berths capable of handling 800,000
TEU/year, with a second phase adding a
third berth which will have the capacity
to handle a further 400,000 TEU/year.
The successful bidder for the first phase
will also have the first right of refusal to
build and operate the third berth.
July 2005
5
WorldCargo
news
PORT NEWS
Teesport puts case for the north...
UK ports operator PD Teesport
has called on the government to
recognise the importance of building new deepsea container port
capacity in northern England. Although there are proposals in relation to both Hull and Liverpool,
Teesport believes that its own
scheme to create a 1.5 mill TEU/
year capacity deep water riverside
facility in two phases, requiring an
investment of up to £300 mill, is
the best option.
Regional port development is
a key part of the “northern way”
report which Yorkshire Forward,
the North West Development
Agency and One North East have
prepared for the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister as the
backbone for a regional economic development strategy.
This is a “once in a generation
opportunity,” says PD Teesport’s
development director Martyn
Pellew, to opt for new port capacity in the north east and generate
new economic activity there (estimate of up to 7000 new jobs in
area of high unemployment).
With a decision now (almost)
reached in favour of London
Gateway, what happens to the
other two big south east schemes,
Felixstowe South and Bathside
Bay - a decision on both is expected in the autumn - could be
crucial to PD Teesport’s plans and
probably those of Bristol Port
Company (see WorldCargo News
June 2005, p7) as well. The three
south east schemes together
would add more than 6 mill TEU
of annual capacity, enough for the
next 10-15 years, and would kill
off demand from shipping lines
for new capacity elsewhere.
6
Bathside Bay may well be
turned down, but if Felixstowe
South (1.8 mill TEU) gets the goahead (likely), Teesport can no
longer “slot in” behind it because
of the London Gateway decision.
The difficulty for PD Teesport has
always been that although London Gateway involves major
dredging, has road and rail access
problems and raises environmental concerns, it is in the heart of
the Thames Gateway regeneration area.
From a carrier’s perspective
the ideal location for new capacity was Southampton as it entails
no deviation for north continent,
but once Dibden Bay was killed
off the next best options are the
Haven and Thames estuaries.
But Pellew makes the point
that if the capacity is provided in
the north east carriers can easily
adjust because the way that major alliances organise their services in strings enables them to alternate ports of call.
It was the rejection of Dibden
Bay which sparked Bristol’s plans
for a new deepsea terminal, based
on carrier interest and encouragement. Teesport sees no conflict between its own aims and
Bristol’s as the latter port is wellplaced to serve large parts of the
south and south west and West
Midlands.
As frequently put forward, PD
Teesport’s case is that over 2 mill
TEU of container traffic in Britain has o/d points north of the
Midlands and should be moved
over a northern gateway which
is not only physically much closer
to the markets but also, unlike the
congested south east, has no
Impression of deepsea container terminal which PD Teesport wants to build at
Teesport, attracting main calls away from the congested south east
landside connectivity problems.
Long-distance trucking in the
UK faces serious problems due
to congestion, drivers’ hours
regulations, driver shortages, etc,
while rail network capacity is also
constrained. And, crucially in
terms of North Europe-Far East
trade flows,Teesport is located on
the eastern side of the country.
As regards its own deepsea
project, PD Teesport has prepared
the environmental scoping and
terminal construction reports
which are required for its harbour
revision order application, which
it plans to lodge with the Department of Transport later this year.
The EIA will be carried out for
PD Teesport by Dutch-based
Royal Haskoning.
On build-out, the facility
would provide 1000m of linear
riverside wharf with a depth of
16.4m alongside and with 14.5m
in the channel. There is no
greenfield development involved.
It would take in the original
shor tsea container ter minal
(TCT 1) along with 600m of the
former Shell Oil quay. The CY
and near-dock railhead would
occupy around 75 hectares.TCT
2, the £12 mill development
which opened in October 2003,
would be dedicated to feeder and
shortsea traffic.
TCT 2 doubled Teesport’s annual container capacity to 160,000
containers or 272,000 TEU (the
port uses a 1.7 multiplier because
of the large number of 45fts it
handles). There is provision to
double TCT 2’s capacity to
160,000 containers by doubling
the CY and adding a third crane.
...the Haven defence
Dear Sir,
In your article “Coming up with
a decongestant,” (June 2005,
p23), you make the point that
extra deep sea capacity should
not be concentrated in the south
east, but should instead be spread
out to avoid what you call “the
most crowded part of the country where congestion is endemic
and set to get worse.”
However, both Felixstowe
and Bathside, to which you refer, are in the eastern region.
Reference to the latest government statistics on average traffic
speeds show that the eastern region is not as congested as you
imply, and on the contrary, apart
from the south west, its trunk
roads move more freely than any
other part of the country includ-
ing those in the north east and
Humberside.
One of the major impediments to the development of
coastal shipping in the UK is the
lack of critical mass to support
high frequency services.The development of Bathside Bay and
Felixstowe South would create
a complex in Harwich Haven
best suited to supporting daily
feeder services.
This will achieve greater
modal shift than building a
number of relatively small deep
sea ports dotted around the
country.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Davey
Corporate Affairs Manager
Hutchison Ports (UK)
Auckland back in
public ownership
After extending its takeover offer
several times, Auckland Regional
Holdings (ARH), the investment
arm of the Auckland Regional
Council, has finally succeeded in
acquiring 90 per cent of the shares
in Ports of Auckland Ltd (POAL)
enabling it to compulsorily acquire
the remaining 10 per cent.
The takeover is largely driven
by ARH’s desire to control the
waterfront estate owned by POAL,
much of which is industrial land
expected to be re-zoned for urban and commercial development.
There have been calls for port
operations to be moved out of
downtown Auckland and the
ARC, POAL and the regional
council are car rying out a
“visioning process” to map out
land use into the future. It is highly
unlikely, however, that POAL’s
main container operations would
have to relocate.
POAL CEO Geoff Vazey said
that the company’s focus on “operating a world class port for the
Auckland region” will not change
under full public ownership.”
Projects to extend the Axis
Fergusson container terminal and
dredge the main shipping channel are continuing.
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
PORT NEWS
Thamesport fine tunes
To cater for traffic growth, HPH
Thamesport is to undertake a
number of measures, which can
be accomplished at the relatively
low cost of £4.5 mill, as an interim step prior to a more ambitious expansion programme. The
operator has adequate reserves of
land available, but its quay frontage is limited to two berths by the
adjacent BG and BP jetties.
The arrival of Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and growth
of the 4Xpress service has put
pressure on the terminal. Additionally, Evergreen is starting to
phase in its 8200 TEU ‘C’ type
vessels. Throughput increased 10
per cent during the first six
months of this year compared to
2004, which saw an increase of 18
per cent over 2003.
Initially more dedicated EC
stacks will be paved with the aim
of taking empties out of the nine
550m long, automated RMG
stacks. More ECH mast trucks will
be acquired and an order will soon
be placed for 13 more terminal
tractors. Terberg is the predomi-
Thamesport is investing in RTGs to expand the CY as quickly as possible
nant supplier to Thamesport, but
the contract could go to MOL as
part of a “two supplier” policy.
Thamesport is also planning the
acquisition of three or even four 1
over 5 RTGs which will offer a
faster solution to capacity constraints than laying more automated
RMG stacks. A paved area outside
the main stacks has already been
identified. If 16-wheel RTGs are
specified, civil engineering works
will be minimal.The contract could
be placed later this year or early next
year and will almost certainly be
bundled into a Felixstowe order for
RTGs from ZPMC.
The go-ahead for the second
phase expansion will probably depend on the outcome of the
Bathside Bay project at Harwich.
Observers believe that if the
Felixstowe South redevelopment
and expansion is approved, but not
Bathside Bay, Hutchinson will focus more attention on Thamesport.
Gelderland
for HPH bulk
After what it describes as “five
turbulent years with our company,” ECT has announced that
Jan Gelderland, its head of operations, is taking up a new position
in the Hutchison Port Holdings
(HPH) Group.
Gelderland is appointed director, non-containerised cargo. As
previously reported in WorldCargo
News, Hutchison has already expanded into dry bulk operations
with a stake in an iron ore terminal in China and has been looking for further opportunities in
China and Australia.
Gelderland will focus on
projects in wet and dry bulk and
other port activities of interest to
the group.The fact that he will be
reporting to Richard Pearson, managing director of Hutchison West
Ports, indicates that opportunities
in bulk handling are being sought
in Europe and the Americas.
Jasper Hooykaas, up to now
ECT’s director of personnel and
organisation, succeeds Gelderland
as COO at ECT.
Row over LA’s
“Janice” cranes
The City of Los Angeles is currently negotiating with China
Shipping over reimbursement for
the extra cost of low profile cranes
at China Shipping’s new terminal
at berths 100-102. Low profile
cranes were not contemplated under China Shipping’s original lease
but are now required for further
expansions as part of the settlement of a suit brought by the
Natural Resources Defence
Council against the Port and City
of Los Angeles in 2001.
So far the port has waived over
US$12 mill in charges to settle
China Shipping’s claim relating to
delays in construction, commissioning the first four cranes and
the use of alternative marine
power (“cold ironing”) and terminal tractor fuel (LPG).
Los Angeles Harbour Commission proceedings show China
Shipping now wants to exercise
its right to have berth 100 extended to accommodate further
cranes but wants the port to pay
the difference in price between an
A-frame gantry with a raisable
boom and a low profile shuttle
boom crane. As the cranes will
have a 22-row outreach, this is
likely to be significant.
LA City Councilwoman
Janice Hahn, who supported the
campaign against “skyline pollution,” reportedly asked ZPMC
president Guan Tongxian to design a low profile crane with a 22row outreach during a visit to
China in 2002. In 2003 ZPMC
presented her with a model of
such a crane, which has been
dubbed the “Janice.” Lobby groups
are putting pressure on LA and
Long Beach to require that all future cranes be low profile designs!
Dhamra on track
The proposed Dhamra bulk port
in the eastern Indian state of Orissa,
which has been delayed for numerous reasons in the past, is expected
to achieve financial closure before
the end of the year, a senior official
of Larsen & Toubro said.
K Venkatesh, vice president of
Larsen & Toubro’s engineering
and construction division, said
construction work at Dhamra will
begin early next year.
Larsen & Toubro’s Singaporebased subsidiary International Sea
Ports Ltd (ISPL) was the original
promoter of Dhamra, but its partners in the project - Precious
Shipping of Thailand and
Stevedoring Services of America
- pulled out two years ago (see
WorldCargo News June 2003, p10).
ISPL has now taken Tata Steel,
India’s largest private sector steel
company, as a 50 per cent partner
in the Rs15 bill (US$345 mill)
project.
With an initial capacity of 15
mill tons/year, Dhamra is expected
to handle 10-11 mill tons annually for Tata Steel with the rest
available for other exporters and
importers of bulk materials.
“Dhamra port will be one of
the biggest bulk handling ports in
the country ,”Venkatesh said.A 60
km long railway line will link the
port to Indian Railways (IR)’s East
Coast Railway.
Dhamra has seen many ups and
downs and most recently its construction has been opposed by
environmental group Greenpeace
on the grounds that it will pose a
threat to the nearby Gahirmatha
beach, which is the world’s largest
nesting ground for Olive Ridley
sea turtles, an endangered species.
Venkatesh said financing arrangements for the project will be
known as soon as technical specifications of the project are finalised.
CMA CGM’s eastern
terminal moves
It is understod that CMA CGM
is prepared to invest US$80-120
mill in the construction of a
200,000TEU/year container terminal in the Port of Saint
Petersburg.The line’s traffic over
the port has quadrupled in the
past year or so, according to its
local partner Sovmortrans, and
has now reached about 100,000
TEU/year.
In addition, CMA CGM has
signed a Letter of Intent with the
Ukrainian Transport Ministry to
invest up to €500 mill in the
construction of a new container
terminal in one of the Odessa
ports - Odessa proper, Ilyichevsk
or Yuzhniy.
Finally, as expected (see
WorldCargo News December
2004, p1), CMA CGM has acquired a 10 per cent share in
Antwerp Gateway, the new terminal being developed by P&O
and others at Antwerp’s new
Deurganckdok. P&O Ports’s
share remains at 42.5 per cent
while the shares of P&O
Nedlloyd and Cosco fall from 25
to 20 per cent and Duisport’s remains at 7.5 per cent.
● P&O and Severstaltrans have
announced a plan to double the
size of their joint venture VICS
8
port operations at Vostochny.
P&O originally owned a 25 per
cent stake in VICS, which has a
long term concession to operate two container berths with a
capacity of 400,000 TEU/year
Following the transaction, P&O
holds 25 per cent of a new joint
venture, Railfleet Holdings Limited (RHL). RHL holds 100 per
cent ofVICS and freehold rights
to four container berths.
Total capacity of the four
berths, comprising the current
two berths operated by VICS
and two adjacent berths, is estimated at 0.8-1 mill TEU when
fully equipped.This capacity will
be developed in line with demand which grew at a compound annual growth rate of 45
per cent from 2000 to reach
273,000 TEU last year.
● Israel’s Ofer Group, which now
owns Zim Line, has signed an
MoU with the Ukrainian Transport Ministry covering an investment of US$1 bill in the
construction of two new container terminals in Odessa. The
UTM’s national development
plan specifies an increase in the
port’s annual container capacity
from 0.3 mill TEU today to 5
mill TEU by 2010.
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
PORT NEWS
Singapore leads Hong
Kong in port rankings
Singapore has maintained its lead over
Hong Kong in the first half of 2005 to retain its title as the world’s largest container
port. Singapore handled 11.38 mill TEU
in the first six months, up around 11 per
cent, while throughput at Hong Kong rose
just 1.3 per cent to 10.74 mill TEU.
PSA Corp, the dominant operator in
Singapore, shifted 10.93 mill TEU in the
first half, up 10.3 per cent, while the smaller
Jurong Port handled 440,000 TEU, up 54
per cent over the same period of last year.
June throughput at Kwai Chung container port, which accounts for more than
60 per cent of Hong Kong’s throughput,
rose 10.4 per cent to 1.21 mill TEU, pushing its six-month total to 6.84 mill TEU,
up 11.1 per cent year on year.
Modern Terminals (MTL), the second
largest operator at Kwai Chung with
seven berths, saw June volumes rise 23.7
per cent to 440,400 TEU, taking its halfyear total to 2.49 mill TEU. MTL’s growth
rate is high because Maersk Sealand is
shifting around 30,000 TEU a month
more across its berths after moving its remaining business from CSX World Terminals’ one-berth Terminal 3 (now operated by Dubai Ports International) in
December.
June throughput at the two-berth
Cosco-HIT terminal was up 29.6 per
cent to 169,800 TEU, lifting its sixmonth total to 942,500 TEU, while
monthly throughput at Terminal 3, now
renamed DPI Terminals, is running at
about 12,000 TEU, with Hamburg Sud
accounting for more than half the total.
Hongkong International Terminals,
the largest operator at Kwai Chung, does
not release monthly figures, but insiders
said it handled more than 3 mill TEU in
the first half, recording growth of more
than 9 per cent.
Midstream handlers saw their business
shrink by about 31 per cent to 1.58 mill
TEU in the six-month period because
the main terminals have cut their handling charges to lure intra-Asia transhipment business.
Hong Kong Container Terminal Operators’ Association (HKCTOA) chairman Alan Lee said the terminals have
cut handling charges by 20-30 per cent
over the past five years.
Lee said Hong Kong’s throughput
growth would probably be just two per
cent this year because of growing competition from Shenzhen terminals where
costs are lower.
The Trade Development Council has
forecast that Hong Kong’s export growth
will slow to 8.5 percent this year from
16.9 percent in 2004.
If Singapore maintains 10 per cent
growth rate in the second half, it will take
the top port crown. Since 1987, Hong
Kong has been the No 1 container port
each year with the exception of 1990, 1991
and 1998 when Singapore held the title.
Busan rent resistance
Terminal operators in Busan are understood to be resisting a rent increase
sought by the Busan Port Authority
(BPA) and are seeking to limit any increase to the wholesale inflation rate
(around 1.5 per cent).
Operators are feeling the squeeze as
handling charges have fallen, while operating costs and wages are rising. Korea is gradually moving to a five day week
and from July all businesses with more
than 300 employees have to pay overtime for work on Saturdays.
Busan handled 2.8 mill TEU in the
first quarter, an increase of 4.2 per cent
over 2005. However, import volumes fell
1.3 per cent to 789,320 TEU and exports 2.3 per cent to 776,596 TEU.Transhipment increased 14.5 per cent to 1.23
mill TEU but growth rate is falling.
Import/export traffic is being lost to
Incheon and Pyongtaek but it is transhipment cargo that is the biggest concern. The BPA has now been in existence for 18 months and has embarked
on a global road show marketing the advantages of Busan at ports around the
world.However, one of Busan’s biggest
competitive threats is direct services to
China and there is little it can do about
the growing handling capacity at Chinese ports.
Westport
on the up
Malaysia’s Westport terminal expects to
handle 3 mill TEU this year, up from 2.55
mill TEU in 2004, according to executive chairman G. Gnanalingam. In the first
half of this year, the terminal, located at
Port Klang, handled 1.4 mill TEU.
Gnanalingam cited productivity as
one of the key factors in Westport’s success, adding that Westport also offers one
of the cheapest tariffs in the region at
US$50 per box.
He said that without any further investment, Westport could handle up to 6
mill TEU per year, but aims to handle only
5 mill TEU by 2010. Phased expansions
will increase handling capacity to 12 mill
TEU/year by 2020.
Shipping lines are expected to start 11
new services from the terminal over the
next six months, Gnanalingam said. Current clients include Maersk Sealand,
Hanjin Shipping, Evergreen Marine,APL,
CMA-CGM, China Shipping Container
Line (CSCL), Goldstar and Norasia.
“These companies started by handling
around 10,000 to 15,000 boxes a year. Now
CMA-CGM is doing 100,000 boxes,
CSCL 500,000, Goldstar 300,000 and
Norasia 350,000 boxes,” Gnanalingam said.
Last month, CMA-CGM signed a
contract to use Westport as a key Asian
transhipment hub for 15 years, while
CSCL is moving its regional office to
Westport from Singapore this month to
support its growing transhipment volumes
at the port, which are expected to grow
17 per cent this year.
Operated by Kelang Multi Terminal
(KMT), Westport is one of two terminals
at Port Klang. The other is Northport.
Rumours of a possible merger of the two
operators were quashed last month by
Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, chairman of
NCB Holdings, operator of Northport,
who said the terminal would focus on enhancing competitiveness and increasing the
range of its services.
Takeover talk first surfaced last year
when Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi
instructed government-linked companies
to ensure better return on investment.
Between them the two terminals handle about 6 mill TEU annually.
July 2005
9
WorldCargo
news
PORT NEWS
Cape Town
expansion
project
Pusan Newport Company Ltd (PNC) has taken delivery of its first shipto-shore cranes. ZPMC’s ZHENHUA 9 arrived recently with the first three of
26 massive cranes from Shanghai. Six more are slated for delivery prior to
the scheduled opening of the first three 350m berths next January and the
remainder will be shipped in time for the second and third phases (each of 3
x 350m berths) of the development in 2007 and 2009. As previously
reported, the cranes have a rail gauge of 42.7m to allow ample space for
nine lanes of truck traffic, to eliminate congestion hampering crane productivity
while operating on large container vessels with multiple cranes.The expanded
rail gauge also provides improved stability for the 22-wide range rated at
65 tons under twinlift spreader at full 65m outreach. The first batch of the
81 RMGs ordered from Doosan HI for 2005-2009 delivery have also
arrived (see this issue p36)
Shenzhen on course
to handle 15 mill TEU
First half figures indicate that
throughput at the southern Chinese port of Shenzhen, the world’s
fourth-largest, will top 15 mill
TEU this year, boosted by the
country’s booming exports. In the
first six months, Shenzhen terminals handled 7.43 mill TEU, up
22.8 per cent over the same period of last year.
Figures released by the
Shenzhen Port Authority show
that the nine-berth Yantian International Container Terminals
(YICT), the largest in Shenzhen,
saw volumes increase about 20 per
cent to 3.31 mill TEU in the first
half. Despite a slowing growth rate,
YICT is expected to handle 7 mill
TEU this year.
Throughput at Chiwan Container Terminals (CCT), the second-largest, rose 69 per cent to 1.98
mill TEU, indicating its volumes
will total 4 mill TEU in 2005.
Shekou Container Terminals
(SCT), the third-largest, saw volumes rise 12 per cent to 1.12 mill
TEU because some of its customers restructured their sailing schedules, according to chief executive
The South African National Ports
Authority has unveiled a R1.3 bill
improvement plan for the Cape
Town container terminal.
The Ben Schoeman Dock is
to be deepened to 16m below
mean sea level, which will require
suction cutting and blasting.
Dredge material will be used to
expand the container yard by
infilling a 300m long area located
to the north east of the existing
facility.
A quay face along approximately 1200m of quay from existing berths 601 to 604 will be
repiled and a new landside crane
rail laid for 30m gauge cranes as
well as existing 20m gauge units.
When completed the project
should boost Cape Town’s annual
capacity from 550,000 TEU to
1.5 mill TEU. The dredging and
reclamation are still subject to
various environmental approvals.
Melbourne SEES
gets underway
TheVictorian government has released draft guidelines for public
comment on the Supplementary
Environment Effects Statement
(SEES) process for the Port of
Melbourne’s proposal to deepen
the channels in Port Phillip Bay.
The SEES was a key outcome
of a Planning Panels Victoria review of the original EES, which
generated 137 recommendations
for changes, improvements and additional studies (see WorldCargo
News May 2005 pp37-38).
Planning Minister Rob Hulls
said the SEES would build on the
earlier EES process by providing
more detailed information and
research “for the effective environmental management of the channel deepening project.”The public has until August 9 to comment
on the draft guidelines and submissions will be taken into account when developing final
guidelines to be released later in
the year. Once the final guidelines
have been developed, the Port of
Melbourne Corporation (PoMC)
will prepare the SEES which is
then, once again, subject to an independent panel inquiry.
Meanwhile, although the state
government has now given the
necessary environmental approvals for the recommended trial
dredging programme (see
WorldCargo News June 2005, p10),
the project is still awaiting Commonwealth clearance – even
though the dredger QUEEN OF THE
NETHERLANDS has been in standby
in Dubai for an expected early
August start.
Victor ia’s Department of
Sustainability and Environment
advised that an EES was not required for the trial due to its small
scale, localised nature, seasonal
timing and short duration; accordingly the Minister for the Environment issued a Coastal Manage-
ment Act consent for the trial,
which requires the use of an independent auditor and a comprehensive Environmental Management Plan to ensure the trial will
be subject to strict environmental
controls.A Commonwealth decision on the trial, under the Environment Protection and
Biodiversity Conservation Act, has
also been sought by the PoMC.
The trial dredge is expected to
take place during a period of nine
to ten weeks between August and
October in small sections of the
south and north of the Bay, as well
as The Heads. While not providing any additional depth to the
channels, it will provide important
information to resolve some of the
key issues for the assessment under the supplementary EES process, the government said.
”The trial dredge will remove
1.7 mill m3 of material and is comparable in size to maintenance
dredges carried out every three to
five years in the shipping channels of Port Phillip Bay. However
the technology being used for the
trial dredge is far superior to any
which has been previously used
and is regarded as world’s best
practice for dredging,” it said.
Cheyenne Yu. “We were aiming
for about three million boxes this
year, but now it looks like we may
end up a bit short,” he said.
Business at YICT will be
boosted with the launch of eight
new services this month, including four by Maersk Sealand and
one each by Hanjin Shipping,
Hamburg Sud, Norasia, and The
New World Alliance (APL,
Hyundai Merchant Marine and
Mitsui OSK). The new sailings
will increase the total number of
weekly services operated from the
terminal to 70.
YICT management has been
streamlining operations to squeeze
more capacity out of existing facilities before embarking on the sixberth Phase IIIb expansion, land for
which has already been reclaimed.
“We believe we can increase productivity by 20 or 25 per cent,” a
company executive said.
YICT, which set a target to
achieve an average quay crane rate
of 35 moves per hour, has already
hit an average of 35.45 moves per
hour in the first half of the year.
AAT takes over
Toll car terminal
Toll Holdings has sold the lease
of its mostly-unused Webb Dock
West vehicle terminal in Melbourne to Australian Amalgamated Ter minals (AAT), the
Patr ick/P&O Ports auto/
breakbulk joint venture.
The Webb Dock terminal was
originally developed by Strang
Stevedoring and mainly serviced K
Line, through a joint venture
known as PrixCar, and NYK.
However subsequent to Toll’s acquisition of Strang, the Japanese
lines decided to consolidate their
vehicle trade activities Australiawide and this saw Melbourne trade
centred at Patrick Corp’s Webb
Dock East berths. For the last few
years Toll has used Webb Dock West
only to store cars prior to despatch
on its overnight Toll Shipping service to Burnie, as well as some trailers from the same service.
Toll put the lease up for sale
late last year, leading to speculation that the facility could prove
attractive to various operators
seeking berth/terminal facilities in
Melbourne. However, in its current form, Webb Dock West has
only limited infrastructure and is
July 2005
understood to be unsuitable for
stack weights necessary for intensive container operations.
AAT is a 50/50 joint venture
between Patrick and P&O Ports
and already operates at Glebe Island in Sydney and soon at Brisbane’s Fisherman Islands as car
trades are moved downriver from
Hamilton Wharves. AAT is also
developing auto/breakbulk facilities in Port Kembla, which are
expected to take over from Sydney when cargo operations are
evicted from Darling Harbour
and, eventually, Glebe Island.
The AAT Webb Dock West
deal represents the re-entry of
P&O Ports into the car trade in
Melbourne, abandoned some
years ago when the company gave
up trying to squeeze the business
through restricted facilities at
Appleton Dock. It also gives
Patrick some relief at Webb Dock
East, where facilities are becoming saturated with expanding imports and particularly exports. On
several occasions in recent months
Patrick Autocare has been forced
to temporarily “borrow” space
from stablemate Patrick Shipping.
11
WorldCargo
news
PORT NEWS
Row brews
in Madeira
Business trickles into ACT
After remaining idle for about a
year, the gantry cranes at Asia Container Terminals (ACT), the twoberth facility now operated by
Dubai Ports International (DPI) at
Hong Kong’s Kwai Chung container port, are seeing some action.
The terminal, which has been
used by small feeder operators, has
welcomed its first big ship, NYK’s
SOGA, operating within the Grand
Alliance, under a spillover arrangement with Modern Terminals
(MTL). The SOGA discharged 83
TEU and 38 FEU at ACT because
all seven MTL berths were occupied with the onset of the peak
shipment season.
Throughput at ACT, which has
been less than 500 TEU/month
so far, should climb into four figures as more ships of the Grand
Alliance, MTL’s largest customer,
will use it during the peak season.
MTL officials declined to give figures, but it is understood that the
combined annual throughput of
the Grand Alliance lines at Kwai
Chung is around 2.3 mill TEU.
DPI is still trying to secure its
first big customer in Hong Kong
since acquiring ACT and the oneberth CT3 from CSX World Terminals. Singapore’s PSA International has also invested in the two
terminals.
Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) has also signed a
spillover handling agreement with
ACT. Similar arrangements have
existed between MTL, HIT and
CT3 for a some time.
A Fantuzzi Reggiane type 115 harbour mobile crane is seen last month
being lifted by the floating crane BRABO onto the quay at Seaport Terminals’
new barge terminal at the Kallo Lock in Antwerp. The new facility will
allow container barges to be handled directly on the Scheldt for the first time
The vexed question of building a
new commercial port for Madeira
at Caniçal has been given a new
twist after an influential local residents’ association threw its weight
behind the growing oppostion to
the plans.
In a meeting with the island’s
autonomous government, officials
were asked why the new port was
being built next to an area of intense banana production, although
in freight transport terms the new
port would seem to be better for
exporters than trucking to Funchal.
The association has also demanded the creation of a Port
Commission, which would monitor efficiency, quality and productivity at the new facility.
Under the plans, all container
handling and other cargo operations are due to be transferred
from the existing port in the capital to Caniçal on the island’s east
coast by the end of 2006. The
cargo wharves at Funchal will be
converted into berths for cruise
liners and more moorings will be
made available for luxury yachts.
Tin Can Island concession
Nigeria’s Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) has named a shortlist
of 54 interested parties for the contract to manage the port of Tin Can
Island in Lagos, in the latest stage
of the country’s port tender process. The government and the BPE
have decided to stagger the tenders
for each of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) contracts on offer,
possibly in an effort to snowball
interest in the process. The BPE
hopes that all NPA port facilities
will be managed by different companies in order to engender a high
level of competition.
Tin Can Island boasts 10
berths with average draught of
10.5m, on a 73 hectare site. It is
the third port to enter the tender
process, following Port Harcourt
and Apapa. As with the other tenders, a large number of domestic
and foreign companies and consortia have expressed an interest
in bidding, but the BPE hopes to
whittle the list down to a more
manageable number.
Although the gover nment
would like to see Nigerian firms
involved, possibly as part of a consortium, it is thought that the selected bid is likely to come from
an established international operator. A BPE spokesperson said that
the organisation would judge bidders on two main criteria: their
ability to improve port efficiency;
and their potential profitability.
Private in Gwadar
on either a Build Own Operate
(BOO) or Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis.
The Gwadar project came
about as a result of a Sino-Pakistan agreement in March 2002,
under which China Harbor Construction Corporation built the
port, with Beijing contributing
US$198 mill for the first phase
of the project and Islamabad
US$50 mill. Phase 1 provides
three 200m long multi-purpose
berths, each capable of handling
vessels up to 30,000 dwt.
Capt Anwar Shah, director-general of Pakistan’s Ports and Shipping Organisation, recently used
the forum of an Asian Development Bank event to promote investment in the second stage development of Gwadar port. The
proposed development involves
the construction of 10 more
berths, two of which will be used
to handle dry bulk, two for pe-
troleum products and six for containers. There would also be a
600m turning basin.
The private sector will be
asked to create a 5km long access
channel, which would enable vessels drawing up to 16m to enter
the port. PR3 bill (US$50 mill)
has been made available in the
2005-06 budget, although private
sector contracts will be awarded
Aguadulce upgrade
Panama’s Port of Aguadulce is to
be modernised and upgraded under new concession processes approved by the Panamanian government. The cost of the work is
estimated at US$6 mill and, if no
private sector bids are received,
the state will include the investment in its 2006 budget.
The port, which is located in
the Cocle province on the Pacific,
handles cabotage traffic, although
is viewed as having great poten-
tial for import/export agricultural
products.
The main cost will be dredging work, estimated at US$4.3
mill. Some US$590,000 will be
used to refurbish the main quay,
which will then be extended in
distinct phases at a cost of another US$640,000.
Work will also begin on maintaining the yard and improving
drainage, for which US$365,000
has been set aside.
Chittagong moves
Bangladesh’s Shipping Ministry is
seeking to transfer 57 acres of land
at the Port of Chittagong to private investors, in the hope of encouraging the establishment of
CFS facilities, supply base stations
and inland container depots
(ICDs).
Eleven ICDs with a combined
22,250 TEU capacity have already
been established in the general
region of the port since 1998 the year the government intro12
duced its new policy promoting
such facilities.
However, an official embargo
has so far prevented companies
from introducing ICDs within a
20 km radius of the port, effectively blocking potential development.The government’s relaxation
on rules concerning private ICDs
is partly due to a recent report
suggesting that they could attract
much-needed local and foreign
investment.
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
PORT NEWS
Ethiopia still looking
Since losing its ports following the secession of Eritrea, the government of landlocked Ethiopia has sought to secure access to other ports in the region. Mombasa is an option but there is no rail link
between Addis Ababa and the distant
Kenyan port, so closer alternatives have
been considered. A series of discussions
have been held with Djibouti over using
that country’s shipping facilities and now
the government is also looking at the
Port of Berbera in Somaliland.
Aside from the lack of rail links with
Berbera and the poor state of road infrastructure in the region, the biggest obstacle to using Somaliland for Ethiopian
trade is the fact that the country does not
officially exist! This entials, inter alia, that
international shipping standards do not
apply at Berbera.
A former British colony, Somaliland
was absorbed into a united Somalia, until
that country dissolved into anarchy 15
years ago. Somaliland responded by seceding from Somalia and although it is
not recognised by the rest of the world,
its government has set about the task of
turning it into a functioning state. A delegation of Ethiopian officials visited
Somaliland for bilateral discussions at the
end of May. Said Sulub, Somaliland’s minister of public works, commented that the
visit of the Ethiopian delegation “is connected with the agreed usage of Berbera
port by Ethiopian businessmen for the
transit of goods and fuel to Ethiopia.”
A customs agreement between the
two territories has already been signed,
although funding for road improvements
has yet to be secured. At present, Berbera
is mainly used for exporting livestock and
periodically importing aid relief for Ethiopia.The EU has already funded improvements to the port’s infrastructure, because
of its strategic importance in providing
aid supplies to the region.
Problems for Mombasa
In a blow to plans to outsource many
functions at the Port of Mombasa, the
company that was awarded a contract to
manage port waste in 2002 has closed
down its operations because it claims that
the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has
failed to honour its side of the contract.
KPA has a “proactive outsourcing policy,”
although it intends to retain responsibility for port management at this stage.
East African Marine Environmental
Management Company (EAMEMC)
has decided to close its KSh400 mill
waste management unit just three years
into the contract but KPA has yet to
decide whether to renegotiate it, seek
another concessionaire, or take over the
company’s function itself.
EAMEMC’s concerns are believed to
centre on KPA’s failure to agree tariffs for
waste collection, treatment and disposal.
The company is believed to be considering its options to recover its lost investment and the KSh4 bill it had expected
to earn over the lifetime of the contract.
Meanwhile, KPA is seeking to increase
the use of the port of Mombasa by
Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan in order to
decrease its dependence on Ugandan
imp/ex traffic. KPA also hopes that promoting the port’s use to the wider eastern African region will help to counter
opposition from the Tanzanian port of
Dar es Salaam.
The main reason for Uganda’s domination appears to be the rail link between
the port and the Ugandan capital, Kampala. It offers a markedly superior means
of transporting cargo to the port than the
region’s poor road network, as many roads
in the region are unsurfaced and can become unusable during periods of heavy
rainfall. This factor has prompted moves
towards extending the railway into
Burundi and Rwanda over the past few
years, while political changes in Sudan
have raised the prospect of a spur line
being developed to southern Sudan.The
KPA is banking on improvements to the
road between Mwatate andTaveta inTanzania to improve the route to Mombasa.
ATI upgrade
Asian Terminals, Inc (ATI) is forging
ahead with the upgrade of its flagship
Manila South Harbour terminal, despite
setbacks last year in its international container and non-container operations.The
publicly listed company has eight new
terminal tractors on order and rcently
bought 25 55t trailers and two laden container-handling FLTs.The purchases follow the delivery last October of four new
Mitsui-Paceco rubber-tyred Transtainers.
The reefer yard is being expanded from
360 to 420 outlets and Piers 3 and 5 are
being dredged to a depth alongside of 12m
and 11m respectively. Recently completed
improvements include a new dangerous
goods holding area within the international
CY, an expanded truck-mounted container
examination area and a dedicated 120-car
parking lot for port visitors. Over US$4
mill has been earmarked for the latest
equipment purchases (excluding the four
RTGs) and for completed and ongoing
improvements in infrastructure.
Given the slowdown in international
cargoes at South Harbour, ATI appears
to be laying more emphasis on its domestic operations in the area.Three scanning machines for passenger luggage have
been installed at the Eva Macapagal Super Terminal as part of tighter port security under the ISPS Code.
Artoni bags
ro-ro deal
Artoni Transport has been awarded a 50year concession by Trieste Port Authority
(APT) to manage and operate a 2.2 hectare ro-ro terminal on the south side of
the Zaule industrial canal. The facility has
a 141m long quay with a depth of 8m
alongside, but this will be extended to accommodate vessels up to 150m long.
Artoni, specialising in road transport and
logistic services, is expected to invest €5.5
mill in the terminal, which will have a rail
spur added to facilitate ro-rail services (for
swap bodies). The company recently acquired Frigomar, the frozen fish transport
specialist and the new terminal is aimed
mainly at food product shipments.
Artoni has two cold stores, each with a
capacity of 4100 pallets, at its disposal and
hopes to have the ro-ro operation up and
running before the end of the year.This is
the second longest concession ever awarded
by APT, after the 90-year concession
awarded to Evergreen at Porto Vecchio.
Artoni, based in Reggio Emilia, has 65
distribution centres throughout Italy, either
owned or franchised, with more than
89,000 m2 of warehousing. Its fleet includes
1800 swap bodies and trailers.
July 2005
13
WorldCargo
news
PORT NEWS
MOL’s Jaxport deal
Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd (MOL) has
announced its intention to sign a
30-year lease agreement with
Jacksonville Port Author ity
(Jaxport).The deal will provide the
Florida port with its first direct
container ship service with Asia.
Under the agreement, a new
terminal will be built for MOL at
Dames Point, located 10 miles
from the Atlantic and one mile
from the port’s Blount Island Marine Terminal.
The first phase of the contract
calls for Jaxport and MOL to fund
construction of a 158-acre facility, which will include two 1200ft
berths, six post-Panamax container cranes and other infrastructure necessary to accommodate
MOL’s operations. The terminal
will be operated for MOL by its
US daughter company TraPac.
Additional phases of the project
could expand the terminal to
more than 200 acres, all on
Jaxport-owned property.
The estimated cost for termi-
nal construction is US$200 mill,
cranes and equipment included.
MOL will pay principal and interest on debt issued to pay for construction, said Ron Baker, Jaxport’s
deputy executive director and CFO.
Construction will begin in the
coming months and take approximately two years to complete.
According to Jaxport, which
handled 727,000 TEU last year, the
agreement will initially increase its
annual container traffic by 50 per
cent as the plans call for the new
terminal to handle 360,000 TEU/
year.This number could eventually
grow to more than 800,000 TEU/
year, says the port.
Beypore
agreed
K-Line’s new Husky Terminal at the Port of Tacoma will officially open for
business this month with the call of the VERRAZANO BRIDGE on July 15.
Relocated from Terminal 7 on the Sitcum waterway to Terminal 4 on the Blair
Waterway following Evergreen’s move fromTerminal 4 to the new Pierce County
Terminal, the newly renovated Husky Terminal opens as a 74 acre (30-hectare)
facility and will be expanded to 93 acres (37.6 hectares) by March 2006.
Operated by Husky Terminal and Stevedoring Services, part of International
Transportation Services (ITS), a member of the K-Line Group, the terminal is
equipped with four post-Panamax container cranes on two berths totalling
1,900 feet (579m) - large enough for the 5,500 TEU vessels K-Line plans
to bring to Tacoma next year. Renovation work began in January 2005 and
was completed in just four months. In addition to K-Line cargo, Husky Terminal
- through slot charter and vessel-sharing agreements - will also handle Cosco,
Hanjin,Yang Ming and Zim vessels
India port boost for
domestic operators
India’s Shipping Ministry has
come out in favour of a system of
bidding for port terminals that will
help domestic companies compete
more effectively against foreign
port operators.
A draft of the new guidelines,
circulated by the Ministry, says that
domestic companies will have the
first right of refusal when bidding
for a port terminal.
All privatised container terminals in the country are currently
being run by foreign operators like
P&O Ports, PSA International,
APM Terminals and Dubai Ports
International, although Indian
companies have minor ity
shareholdings in some of the terminals.
The new draft guidelines say
that if an Indian company has
quoted a revenue share of 5 per
cent less than the highest bidder,
the company will have the right
to match the highest quotation.All
bids will now be on the basis of a
share of gross revenue.
An Indian company is defined
in the draft as a company registered in India in which a majority stake is held by resident Indians.
The draft also seeks to relax the
equity holding of constituents of
a joint venture or consortium that
wins a project. At present, one
constituent of a joint venture must
hold at least 51 per cent of the
equity for a period of four years.
After the lock-in period, the constituent is allowed to dilute his
equity to 26 per cent.
The draft suggests reducing the
minimum equity holding from 51
per cent to 11 per cent.
Extending Broome
The first piles have been driven
in the A$16.8 mill jetty extension
at the north-west Western Australian port of Broome, a project that
will provide an additional berth
and double the port’s capacity.
The upgrade will also provide
an additional working deck area
and sufficient berthing space to
allow a petroleum tanker to safely
discharge without having to close
the port to other customers.
The 148m jetty extension will
bring the structure’s total length to
331m and, weather permitting, will
be completed by May next year.
The government of Kerala in south
India is expected to sign a 30-year
concession agreement next month
with Parissons Group for the development and operation of
Beypore port on a build-operatetransfer basis (see WorldCargo News
January 2005, p9).
Kerala’s ports department said
it was setting up a special purpose
company to participate in the equity of Beypore along with
Parissons Group, but it is not clear
what that equity share will be.
Officials said the state government
had invested a considerable
amount in building breakwaters
and a berth at Beypore and that
will be regarded as its payment for
the equity.
The first phase of the project
will involve increasing the length
of the existing berth and deepening the draft The initial plan for
Beypore was to build six berths
so that the port could handle general cargo as well as petroleum
products. Also planned were dedicated berths for handling timber
and scrap cargo.
However, the cost of project
has been cut back to Rs 2 bill
(US$46 mill) from Rs5 bill
(US$115 mill) following an assessment of the economic and technical proposals for the project by
IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDC) so it is
lilely that the development has
been scaled back accordingly.
● Sharjah-based Universal Lubricants has submitted a final proposal
for building and operating a port
at Azhikkal, also in Kerala.The cost
of the project has been scaled
down from the original estimate
of Rs17.5 bill (US$403 mill) and
some of the facilities like a shipbreaking yard and a container handling facility may become a casualty of the cost-cutting exercise.
The West Kimberley is one of
the fastest-growing regions in
Australia, with trade throughput
and trading vessel visits at Broome
more than doubling in the last
seven years. The project will ensure Broome has the capacity to
service the booming oil and gas
trade and provide for growth in
the container and general cargo
trade, cruise shipping; and servicing of the regional pearling, fishing and charter boat fleets.
Nacala under fire
Despite the fanfare surrounding the country’s port and rail
concession programme, the
Mozambican government has
begun to criticise one of the selected consortia.
Minister of Transport
Antonio Mungwambe has described the early rail performance of the Nacala Corridor
Development
Company
(SDCN) as disappointing. The
SDCN consortium, which includes Railroad Development
Corporation (RDC) of the US,
Tertir of Portugal and Rennies
of South Africa, was awarded a
contract in July last year to manage the port of Nacala and the
railway linking it to western
Mozambique and landlocked
Malawi.
While Mungwambe said
that the government was satisfied with improvements at the
port, he criticised the pace of
rail improvements, the high
number of unexpected station
closures and the lack of nego14
tiation with local Mozambican
authorities on rail use. While
SDCN cannot be criticised for
the number of locomotive
breakdowns since it took up the
contract, the government seems
annoyed that RDC chairman
Brad Knapp has not returned to
Mozambique since the deal was
signed.
The port of Nacala is already
reported to have increased its
handling capacity. A spokesperson for SDCN commented that
the backlog in containers waiting to be transported by rail
from the port had fallen to less
than half the 5000 which were
held up there before SDCN
took over.
However, some rail improvements are required before
Malawi can make the most of
the railway. While the main
stretch of the line from Nacala
to Cuamba is in reasonable condition, the final 77 km needs to
be overhauled to ensure efficient transport of cargo.
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
INLAND/INTERMODAL NEWS
New horizontal transfer system
Another new craneless intermodal transfer system has been unveiled in Germany
by a team made up of the German Russian Railway Company (DREE), WTTRail GmbH, wagon builder Windhoff and
the Technical University of Hannover.
The new system can cater for complete vehicles as well as unaccompanied
trailers and it is understood that a pilot
shuttle service, comprising a train of 30
wagons with unaccompanied trailers, will
be started up next year between Soltau
and Kaliningrad via Poland, with departures every other day each way.
The cost of the pilot project, including all necessary certifications as well as
the hardware, is put at €15 mill. All the
finance is coming from the private sector, says DREE, without recourse to any
national or EU “modal shift” funding.
The WTT transfer system, comprising a ramp with an in-built sideways transfer platform, was demonstrated to German and Russian transport companies and
forwarders at the Soltau cargo terminal
earlier this year.The trailers can weigh up
to 40t.The tests reportedly showed that a
30-unit train could be exchanged in just
half an hour. There is no need for diesel
shunt locos as all (un)loading takes place
under catenaries.
● The accompanying picture shows
Kögel´s X-Maxx Plus mega-trailer being
handled onto a low bed mega pocket
wagon at the Hupac terminal in Singen
in southern Germany. Following test loading measures at Singen, the X-Maxx Plus
has been awarded full DB approval for
rail carriage.
Launched by Kögel last year, the trailer
has a maximum internal load height of
3000mm and is aimed at paper and board
products, automotive components, beverages, etc. The floor is certified for 7500
kg FLT axle load and there is a choice of
ride heights, - low-liner and midi-liner.
The running gear is fitted with 455/40/
R22.5 tyres which allows use of brake
discs with a diameter of 430mm.
Saudi rail
progress
The freight aspect of the Saudi Rail Organisation (SRO)’s Saudi Rail Expansion
Programme, the landbridge project, is
apparently gaining momentum, with as
many as 250 companies expressing an
interest in involvement in various aspects
of the project.
As a consequence. the SRO has extended the deadline for receipt of requests
for approval from “potential committed
sub-contractors to be members of more
than one consortium” to near the end of
this month.
The companies that have received the
RFPQ documents for the project range
from civil engineering firms and consulting engineers, banks, financial and management consultants, specialised track layers, electrical equipment suppliers, etc,
from across Europe, North America and
Asia as well as from Saudi Arabia and the
wider Arab world.
As previously reported in World Cargo
News (February 2005, p43), the programme includes the landbridge project
and the Makkah-Medinah rail link. The
project would connect Jeddah on the
Red Sea to Dammam and Jubail on the
Gulf, via the capital Riyadh. With over
1000 km of new railway to be laid, the
project is due for completion in 2010. A
north-south “mineral” link (JubailHazm Al Jalamid via Damman-Riyadh)
is also included in SRO’s longer term
programme.
Melbourne gap
closed by AAR
In a boost to the AustralAsia Railway
(AAR), operator FreightLink is extending
its Darwin-Adelaide rail service east to
Melbourne, addressing an acknowledged
handicap in its attempts to develop more
north-south (and vice versa) traffic.
A code share arrangement with the
Australian Railroad Group (ARG) is due
to take effect on July 4 to provide
FreightLink customers with the additional
benefit of a regular Melbourne link six
times a week to and from Adelaide to
hook up with the existing five weekly
services between Adelaide and Darwin.
FreightLink CEO John Fullerton said
the company would initially make available 75 slots a week on the new service,
giving Northern Territory businesses
more direct access to and from the South
East Australia region as AAR develops the
domestic and international markets.
“The service between Melbourne and
the Northern Territory will be known as
NT Direct and will offer a low cost, reliable alternative for the movement of
goods to and from the NT,” Fullerton said.
FreightLink says the new service will
also provide an opportunity for customers to redirect the supply of some household and commercial goods from Melbourne to the NT rather than via Brisbane, which currently supplies a large
proportion of the Darwin market by road
transport.
July 2005
15
WorldCargo
news
INLAND/INTERMODAL NEWS
QR expands with CRT buy
In a move that marks further major consolidation of Australia’s intermodal sector, Queensland Rail (QR) has purchased
the Melbourne-based CRT Group, one
of the nation’s leading freight logistics
companies.
The unusual acquisition of a private
company by a government-owned organisation signals QR’s determination to
improve its grip on a position in a rail
logistics market forecast by rival Toll to
reduce to just two principal groups
within five years.
Queensland Transport and Main
Roads Minister Paul Lucas said the acquisition would enable QR to become
an even bigger force in the national
freight and logistics business. CRT had
built up a strong reputation in the logistics business and is nationally integrated
across road, rail and sea, specialising in
handling, packaging, storage and distribution of polymer (plastics) and food
ingredient products.
CRT has been a major customer of
the rail network, with QR providing rail
linehaul transport for CRT containers
between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as terminal facilities at
Altona in Melbourne and interstate.
Lucas noted that rail freight was one
of the fastest growing markets in Aus-
tralia and on the east coast alone, was
expected to quadruple over the next 20
years: the new acquisition will give QR
an A$80 mill boost to its revenue. He
said QR was Australia’s last remaining
government owned rail corporation and
had proved itself more than equal to the
market pressures that have emerged as a
result of the new competitive business
environment.
CRT director Phillip Rees said the
sale would position CRT to offer its customers an even broader service, backed
by the strength and balance sheet of QR.
Following last year’s acquisition of regional rail company Freight Australia by
the Toll/Patrick joint venture Pacific
National, and Patrick’s separate takeover
of FCL Interstate Transport, which is still
pending,the Australian “railscape” now
largely consists of Pacific National, QR
and the Australian Railroad Group, with
SCT the only sizeable remaining independent rail logistics provider.
Like the sale of FCL, the Rees family’s decision to dispose of CRT reflects
the inability of independents to match
the capital and market firepower of the
big players. While the company has garnered many industry and customer
awards for innovation and service it could
not achieve the necessary national scale.
Some aspects of the CRT business, including its Cargo Sprinter shorthaul rail
system, will remain in the control of the
Rees family.
New Pagny
terminal
Inland waterway transport in France has
experienced a remarkable rejuvenation
and container traffic in particular - ISO
containers, containerised waste, etc - is
now growing at around 30 per cent/year
and new services and terminals have appeared on the Rhône/Saône and Seine.
François Bordry, the president ofVoies
Navigables de France (VNF), has inaugurated construction of a new container
barge terminal at Pagny-le-Château (near
Beaune) on the Upper Saône. Due for
completion this autumn, the Burgundian
facility, which will have a capacity for
20,000 containers/year, will be the
northermost river port served over Marseilles-Fos, with onward connections
available by rail as well as road.
The €1.2 mill project is being co-financed by VNF (37.6 per cent) and various local and regional organs in equal 20.8
per cent shares.There is already a logistics
park managed by Gazeley at Pagny and the
small port handled about 130,000 tonnes
of bulk traffic last year (grain, salt and coal).
Considerable potential exists on the
Seine-Nord axis to link the Paris region
with Lille, Dunkirk and the ARA ports
and, in April last year the government allocated VNF the task of carrying out the
Seine-Nord Europe feasibility study,
which should be ready next spring.
Assuming the works are adopted by
the government, construction should begin in 2007 and the 105km long canal
between Compiègne and the Canal du
Nord will be ready by 2012.
As previously reported the SeineNord link will be built to class Vb gauge
to accept convoys up to 4400 tonnes and
barges with containers stacked 3-high.
Delta 3 boost
The Delta 3 trimodal terminal at Dourges
(Lille) is making progress thanks to traffic
generated by its distripark. Of the 34 hectares set aside for logistic activities, almost
21 are already occupied or spoken for.
Gefco is moving into a 36,000 m2 facility at the Distripole area by the end
of this year and has an option on a further 12,000 m2. FNAC already operates a
22,000 m2 warehouse and will soon be
taking up more space.
In the Distrirail section (rail-connected warehousing), work on the first
34,000 m2 facility is underway, while, DIY
retail giant Leroy Merlin has stated that it
wants to build a 56,000 m2 facility, with
an option on a further 12,000 m2.
The operator of the intermodal terminal, Lille Dourges Conteneur Terminal), anticipates an increase in traffic this
year of around 12,000 TEU.
● Réseau Ferré de France (RFF), the
French track authority, is soliciting bids
for its network of 40 rail/road combined
transport terminals throughout France. A
huge void has been opened up by the
drastic scaling back of CNC and RFF is
seeking new operators to take over the
operations in whole or part.
RFF’s freight head Pascal Fouet has
stated that the strategy is aimed at attracting combined transport specialists, able to
offer local road drayage where demanded
and possibly also train marshalling.
Each terminal would be allocated to
a single operator, but clearly RFF wants
to attract a mix of investors with rail haulage, forwarding and handling expertise
into the companies that it hopes will bid
for the concessions. It is also hoped that
competition between different terminals
will breathe new life into combi-transport in France.
Corrigendum
Container liner bag manufacturer Philton
Polythene Converters (PPC) has asked us
to point out that it introduced its Safety
Liner concept in 2003, not 2004 as stated
in the May 2005 issue of WorldCargo News
(p74). Apologies for any confusion that
may have been caused.
16
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CONTAINER INDUSTRY NEWS
InBulk solves waste problem
Following a review of its landfill operations in the light of forthcoming EU legislation, UK-based waste management
company Cleanaway has adopted InBulk
Technologies’ V Type ISO-Veyor for the
transport of hazardous oil sludge.
Hitherto, oil bearing interceptor wastes
have been treated, skimmed, blended with
polymers and then centr ifuged at
Cleanaway’s Pitsea landfill site in Essex.The
process produces a non-hazardous liquid
effluent and a hazardous “centrifuge cake,”
which has previously been sent to third
party landfill for disposal
However, the new Landfill Directive
Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC), which
is due to become law in the middle of this
month, means that this method will no
longer be viable as all wastes containing
greater than 5 per cent inorganic carbon
will no longer be allowed to go to landfill.
They will have to be disposed of through
incineration, blending or composting.
After considering a number of alternative solutions, Cleanaway asked InBulk
Technologies to devise a system that
would be able to collect the hazardous
centrifuge cake, transport to Cleanaway’s
high temperature incinerator in Ellesmere
Port and inject it into the rotary kiln at a
controlled feed rate.
Following a full scale trial, which met
all operational criteria, Cleanaway has ordered 5 x 15m3 V Type ISO-Veyors and
two NCH tipping trailers, which are used
to lift the ISO-Veyor on its end for discharge at the incinerator. Discharge is effected by the unit’s on-board dense phase
pneumatic conveying system.
The V Type ISO-Veyor, with a volume of 15m3 gives Cleanaway the option
to fill with 18 tonnes of sludge material,
which is well within its operating parameter of 15 tonnes of sludge per day.
Preparing for discharge: Cleanaway is using V
Type ISO-Veyors to transport hazardous oil
sludge to its Ellesmere Port incinerator
New depot
in Savannah
Bucking the trend in the US container
depot industry, Marine Repair ServicesContainer Maintenance Corporation
(MRS-CMC) has announced the opening of a new facility in Savannah, located
in the Effingham Park of Commerce.
Completed in February, the new depot is now fully operational and offers a
comprehensive off-port container maintenance, repair and storage service that
will serve as a model for additional depots being built in Baltimore, Norfolk,
Jacksonville and Nashville.
In common with all MRS-CMC depots, the new facility offers factory-authorised warranty repair service for Carrier Transicold,Thermo King, Mitsubishi
and Daikin reefer units.
“Providing all our customers with first
class service is our number one priority.
These new, modern facilities are just one
part of our commitment to meet all of
our customers’ needs,” said Joshua H
Cooley, vice president of MRS-CMC.
Based in Staten Island, New York,
MRS-CMC also operates wholly-owned
depots in Wilmington and Charleston. In
addition to the opening of additional offport facilities and constructing facilities
in new markets, the company is expanding its trucking network into the south
east, and developing a new web-based
billing and accounting system.
IICL exams
in demand
The Institute of International Container
Lessors (IICL) reports that more than 500
people have signed up for its Inspector’s
Examinations to be held on September
24, 2005. In response to demand, IICL
has added test centres in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, Chennai, India, and Montevideo, Uruguay among others.
“The record registration numbers this
early in the season combined with the
many requests for new testing locations
continues to demonstrate that the IICL
Examination Program fills an important
need for training and expertise in the
container and chassis industries,” said reported IICL president Hank White.
This year, the Chassis Inspector’s Examination will be offered in Shanghai,
Guatemala City, Seoul and Ho Chi Minh
City at the request of candidates in those
countries. The chassis test has previously
been offered in the US and Western
Hemisphere countries only as much of
the information tested pertains to US
regulations on chassis.
Candidates may register for the examination at the regular registration rates
of US$325 for the container test and
US$225 for the chassis test until August
12.. A late registration period extends
from August 13 to August 26, with a registration fee of US$350 for the container
exam and US$250 for the chassis.
Candidates interested in registering
may do so online via IICL’s website at
www.iicl.org. Test Information Bulletins,
sample questions and a list of test centres
are also available on the website.
July 2005
17
WorldCargo
news
CONTAINER INDUSTRY NEWS
CSIRO MCT keeps the Thermo King reaches
vegetables fresh
reefer milestones
After almost 16 years at its South Plainfield address, US container and
trailer parts distributor Martec International has moved its headquarters as
well as its New Jersey operations into the Port of Elizabeth in order to serve
customers more effectively as well as position itself for future growth. “This
move presents us with some great opportunities,” said Alex Ewig, president
of Martec. “It will not only bring us closer to our local New Jersey/New
York customer base but also, due to the size of our warehouse will allow us
to expand our product base and mix. Located in Dowd Avenue, the new
50,000 ft2 warehouse will stack a comprehensive range of container, chassis,
trailer and ship lashing repair and replacement parts. A member of the
Intermodal Equipment Alliance (IEA), a worldwide cooperative for the
purchase and sale of repair parts, Martec serves its customers through six
strategically placed locations throughout the USA and Central America and
via a nationwide delivery system. Other members of the IEA are Van Doorn,
headquartered in the Netherlands, and covering the European and Near
East markets and Gavan with headquarters in Australia and New Zealand
and covering the Far East markets.
Trials of a new export packaging
technology developed by Australia’s CSIRO have shown it can
maintain freshness of selected fruit
and vegetables during extended
periods of storage and shipping.
CSIRO’s Moisture Control
Technology (MCT) can greatly
reduce problems of moisture loss
during storage and long distance
shipping, which reduces produce
quality and saleable weight, by
managing the water vapour content around the produce.
The MCT involves the use of
a liner, which is a simple bag that
fits inside a normal carton or box.
By keeping humidity high, MCT
liners can reduce moisture loss significantly during long sea voyages.
CSIRO claims the design of
the MCT liners also prevents any
condensed moisture, which may
have formed inside the bag as a
result of temperature fluctuations
during transport, from finding its
way onto the produce. Eliminating free moisture on the surface
of fruits and vegetables reduces the
potential for produce breakdown
due to pathogens.
“In a recent export trial of oranges to the US, not only did the
MCT liner reduce moisture loss, it
significantly reduced the incidence
of defects such as chilling injury and
rind breakdown, which in some
years can be a serious concern for
the industry,” CSIRO’s Dr Rob
Walker said. “The technology can
be incorporated into current export systems and has excellent potential for improving returns for
exporters of fruit, vegetables and
possibly even cut flowers.”
Dr Walker said MCT could
also be combined with other new
technologies to extend shelf life,
with the possibility of opening up
new overseas markets that are currently too far away to be practical
for surface transport. CSIRO is
now discussing the potential for
larger scale export trials of the
technology with major exporters
of fresh horticultural produce.
Reefer machinery manufacturer
Thermo King Corporation recently completed the production
of its 25,000th MAGNUM scroll
compressor-equipped unit since
the design was launched in 2002.
The landmark machine is part of
a 1300 unit order from Compania
Chilena de Navegacion Interoceanica SA (CCNI) that will
double the Chilean operator’s
current fleet size.
Thermo King is also celebrating its tenth year of scroll refrigeration unit production, which
started with the launch of the
CSR-40 design in 1995. Due to
customer demand, the company’s
scroll compressor production
reached 83 per cent of its total
reefer container machinery output last year and scroll technology is now the main choice for
all direct unit sales to shipping
lines, the company says.
“The industry is seeing the
value and performance capabilities that scroll technology provides,” said Dermott Crombie,
vice president, Global Marine Solutions. “The leading shipping
companies are demanding scroll
compressors on all new unit orders. Reciprocating compressors
are becoming obsolete as they
can’t compete with the operat-
The 25,000th MAGNUM unit is
scheduled for delivery later this month
to Chilean operator CCNI
ing efficiencies, fuel savings, increased capacities, reliability, and
easier servicing benefits of scroll
technology.”
Thermo King claims that with
the unique combination of digital scroll compressor technology
and R404A refr igerant, the
MAGNUM design has superior
capacity in the frozen ranges and
higher pull-down capacity for
quick recovery and temperature
reduction in the chill range than
competing scroll or reciprocating
designs.
As the benefits of the scroll
compressor continue to be understood and experienced, the
transition to scroll compressors
throughout the industry is expected to continue, Crombie said.
During 2004, 44 per cent of industry-wide new refrigeration
unit production was with scroll
compressors. Of those sold directly to shipping lines, almost 70
per cent included scroll technology.With several customers moving to scroll compressor technology in early 2005, scroll-equipped
unit production could top 80 per
cent of total production this year.
Another Smart box
to be put to the test
Belmont, North Carolina-based
Powers International Inc, a developer of container and trailer
security systems, is about to start
the first phase of long-term trials of what the company claims
is the only end-to-end “smart
box” system currently in existence.
Smart boxes, now under development through several government and private-sector
programmes, utilise var ious
technologies to track ocean
containers, identify their contents, and alert users to security
breaches anywhere in the
world.
Powers International’s SeaCure Satellite System (SCSS),
which combines RFID (radio
frequency identification) and
satellite technologies, was selected for the trials by Germany’s Bremer InnovationsAgentur GmbH in cooperation
with German terminal operator Eurogate as a preparatory
programme under the auspices
of the EU’s Global Monitoring
for Environment and Security
(GMES) programme. The first
SCSS-equipped container will
be shipped to Bremen next
month for static display and
18
breach-detection demonstrations. Ten others, retrofitted in
North Carolina, will depart for
Europe in late August or early
September.
According to Dr. Jim
Giermanski, chairman of Powers International, the SCSS system electronically captures shipping data, the identity of the
person supervising the stuffing
of the container at the point of
origin and the identity of the
person with first access to the
container at destination. SCSS
also tracks the container, detects
breaches at any point in the box
and reports those breaches via
satellite, thus monitoring the
integrity of the container on a
door-to-door basis.
“Having successfully demonstrated the RFID portion of
the system under a US Department of Energy contract last
year on the US-Mexico border,
and the combined RFID/satellite version in Charlotte, NC,
in April, we expect that in the
coming months we will successfully demonstrate the enriched
SCSS application between the
German Port of Bremerhaven
and a US port to be selected,”
Dr Giermanski said.
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
SHIPPING NEWS
Norfolkline makes move Rickmers opts for Vista
Refrige Mobile Terminal
for Norse Merchant
Norfolkline, a member of the AP MollerMaersk Group, has announced its intention to acquire Irish Sea ro-ro/ferry operator Norse Merchant Ferries.
Norfolkline and Wayzata Investment
Partners, on behalf of the shareholders of
Norse Merchant Group Ltd (NMG), have
signed a Letter of Intent and the parties
expect to reach a definitive agreement on
the purchase in due course subject to due
diligence and necessary third party and
governmental consents including antitrust
approvals. Wayzata, a fund manager based
in Minnesota, USA, and the majority shareholder of NMG led the restructuring of
the group (formerly Cenargo International)
in UK administration proceedings in 2003.
Should the deal be completed successfully, the proposed acquisition of
Norse Merchant Ferries will strengthen
Norfolkline’s brand name and create an
opportunity for further development in
the European ro-ro market, a statement
said.
“Norse Merchant represents a strategic opportunity for Norfolkline to
expand our core business in a complementary manner within a market we know well
and where our trailer and logistics business
is already very active. It will give us flexibility and add further value to our customers.We are very much looking forward
to combining the forces of two strong companies,” said Norfolkline managing director Thomas Woldbye
Six 3500 TEU newbuildings being built
at the Hyundai Mipo yard in Korea for
Hamburg-based B Rickmers are to be
equipped with HM Stein Sohn’s Vista
Refrige reefer monitoring system.
For the first time, the installation will
include Stein’s new MobileTerminal,
which has been developed as a robust,
manageable and illuminated unit (IP 65)
for operation on-board ships.The handheld device is claimed to make the
monitoring and transmitting of externally registered data to theVista Refrige
system easier for the ship’s crew. Reefer
containers can quickly be identified by
the integrated bar code scanner.
Data can be recorded and transmitted
to the reefer monitoring system, where the
linking and processing of the data is carried out. The results can be exported into
any required reporting lists in Microsoft
Excel format, thereby eliminating the need
to compile paper lists manually.
The Vista Refrige MobileTerminal from HM
Stein Sohn
CMA CGM to
buy Delmas?
Bolloré has entered into exclusive talks
with CMA CGM to negotiate a sale of
its marine shipping interests - Delmas,
Otal and Setramar and its 50 per cent stake
in Sud Cargos - along with associated
assets such as containers, flatracks, etc.
Bolloré is said to be looking for around
E490 mill on the deal.
The exclusivity clause lasts until the
end of August (extended from the end of
this month), at which juncture, should the
parties have failed to agree terms, Bolloré
can consider other potential offers. Interested parties are believed to include MOL
and MSC.
Bolloré’s stevedoring and land transport and forwarding interests are outside
the scope of the negotiations with CMACGM. However, in a separate move,
Bolloré has sold 40 per cent of its stake in
Port of Abidjan concessionaire Sté
d’Exploitation du Terminal de Vridi
(SETV) to APM Terminals. SETV was
controversially awarded the 15+10 year
option concession in the Ivory Coast port
last year (see WorldCargo News March
2004, p9).
Samskip set to
take Seawheel
Icelandic shipping line Samskip is set to
acquire long-established shortsea shipping
operator Seawheel. The two companies
have announced that due diligence procedures have been completed and all that
remains is the final approval from the
regulatory authorities.
Samskip recently acquired shortsea
intermodal operator Geest North Sea
Line (see WorldCargo News March 2005,
p16) with the intention of combining the
Dutch company’s North Continent/UK/
Ireland/Spain service network with its
own North Continent/Scandinavia/Baltic Sea services. Now, Seawheel’s operations will also be merged into this system, thus expanding further what is
claimed to be Europe’s most comprehensive shortsea container shipping network.
“By acquiring a major shortsea
intermodal operator like Seawheel, we
will be able to achieve significant economies of scale, reducing costs whilst offering greater port coverage and sailing frequency to the benefit of our customers,”
commented Samskip CEO Michael F
Hassing. “With our expanding network,
we are convinced that we will be able to
attract more freight off roads and onto an
intermodal system that combines shortsea,
rail and inland waterways. This has many
environmental benefits.”
Seawheel was the subject of a management buyout led by managing director Alan Jones from former owner the
Simon Group in July 2003.
July 2005
19
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
Another massive surge in container crane orders
Another year, another record, but given
the levels of activity of ZPMC, this is
not a surprise. Of the 334 cranes listed
in Table 1, ZPMC accounts for 223 (67
per cent). How long will this momentum last? This time last year, ZPMC
was showing around 85 cranes for 2005
delivery. This time round, it is showing
about 150 cranes for 2006 delivery and
its order book, further boosted by the
huge Euromax order, stretches into 2008.
Of the >150 container cranes which ZPMC
is currently listing for delivery during calendar
2006, only 37 are for Chinese customers
(including Hong Kong and Taiwan)
WorldCargo News’ XIIth annual ship-to-shore container crane
survey has turned up orders for 334 cranes
In total, ZPMC is set to deliver 141
ship-to-shore container gantry cranes in
calendar 2005. Of these, as just noted,
around 85 were logged in last year’s survey (eg commencement of deliveries for
PNC Busan, 12 for PSA Singapore, 13
for Shanghai Yangshan) so they are not in
Table 1. The pie chart on p22 shows that
60 per cent of 2005 deliveries are for
Chinese customers, including those in
SAR Hong Kong and in Taiwan.
Where they are going
The high level of domestic Chinese demand is welcome for other crane suppliers, as they have more scope to compete
in international markets. So long as Chinese demand ties up so much of ZPMC’s
output, they have a chance. Table 3 on p23
indicates how important non-Chinese
OEMs still are.
But is this picture going to change?
Of the ≈150 cranes which, as of now,
ZPMC is showing for delivery in calendar 2006, less than 40 (< 26 per cent) are
for customers in mainland China including those in SAR Hong Kong and in Taiwan. Instead, 23 cranes are slated for 2006
delivery to customers in North and Central America, 39 are headed for Europe,
another 23 for the Middle East/Gulf region, nine for the sub-continent, etc.
Of particular note, starting at the end
of 2006 and stretching into 2008, ZPMC
has bagged all the quay cranes and automated stacking cranes for the Euromax
terminal in Rotterdam.ABB is providing
all the drives and automation systems and
possibly the ASCs are a joint venture
project led by ABB (see also p1).
Price-led purchases
Today cranes are commodities and purchases are taken on a price-led basis so
long as the equipment is deemed fit for
purpose.The irony is that although “blue
chip” terminal operators and shipping
lines that control terminals like to project
a quality image to the market, they are
generally opting for relatively inexpensive cranes.
It is at least debatable whether they
factor in lifetime costs. Handling rates are
so low that it must be hard to justify paying a premium price for cranes. Or is it
the case that buyers do look at the bigger
picture but the NPV still comes down in
favour of the cheapest price because the
price gap is so large?
It is interesting to note that ZPMC is
striving to move further up the addedvalue chain. As well as making a determined effort to have more of its own
componentry accepted by the market,
special cranes already in the field include
the elevating girder crane and the twin
hoist crane for side-by-side 40ft lifting.
Now it has an order for a twin 40ft double hoist crane in the pipeline (see p25)
and is working on a superpost-Panamax
low profile, shuttle boom gantry crane for
Los Angeles (see “Janice” on p8).
Prices rising?
Price trends are always difficult to judge
but it appears that prices have risen over
the last 12 months and this has been confirmed by ZPMC and SPMP. Steel prices
are currently falling but the cost of European components to Chinese producers
has risen sharply due to appreciation of
the Euro.To a certain extent this has been
offset by a greater acceptance of Chinese
components, including gear reducers,
brakes and spreaders.
ZPMC is also facing more competition from within China. Dalian-based
crane manufacturer DHI-DCW won the
order for eight units from Gwangyang by
undercutting ZPMC with a price of
US$5.56 mill per crane. DHI-DCW did
not take part in the first bidding round,
which ZPMC won. But a contract could
not be awarded because bid rules stated
at least two bidders had to be under the
budget price of US$6 mill or another
round called for. ZPMC’s was the only
bidder under budget and it actually raised
its price in the second round, it is understood, but was undercut by DHI-DCW.
Just for the sake of comparison, the
two Panamax cranes delivered by Doosan
HI from Korea to Fraser Surrey Docks,
20
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
Table 1: Ship-to-shore and barge-to-shore container gantry crane orders since July 2004 (Copyright WorldCargo News)
TOTAL:334 ship-to-shore gantry cranes and one barge-to-shore gantry crane
1
Supplier
(Partner)
2
3
Location
Nos
4
5
Mode of Year of
shipment delivery
(Options)
6
Capacity under
spreader beam
(mt) (mt)
7
O/R
(m)
8
Rail
gauge
(m)
9
B/R
(m)
10
Inside leg
clearance
(m)
11
Overall
width
(m)
12
13
14
Portal
Lift
Hoist speed
height height
rated empty
(m) above/below (m) (mpm) (mpm)
15
Trolley
speed
(mpm)
16
Max
hoist
accel
17
Max
trolley
accel
Rows on deck
Dalian HI-DCW KCTA Gwangyang
Doosan HI
Fraser Surrey, BC
Fantuzzi group
Noell China
P&O Ports Qasim
P&O Ports Chennai
P&O Ports Mundra
MOT Hong Kong
Reggiane Cranes
AP Trieste
Kramer Con. Depot, Rott.
AP Napoli
Gottwald
Impsa PS
Unnamed Italian customer
Rhein Waal, Emmerich 1
8
2
erect
erect
by 12/06
02/05
61
66
2
1
2
6
4
2
2
2
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
part-big
part-big
part-big
part big
part-big
part-big
erect
part-big
part-big
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
on site
part-big
part-big
part-big
part-big
erect
erect
06/05
06/05
09/05
2006-7
02/05
04/06
09/06
2006
04/05
3Q/06
1Q & 2Q/06
2Q/06
2Q/06
09/06
07/06
40
60
55
60
45
40
42
50
40
51
40
40
50
82
40
40
63
40
62
45
60
40
40
40
50
50
50
60
40
50
40.6
50.8
04/06
02/06
07/06
06/06
06/07
09/06
11/05
09-11/06
09/05
60
65
51
60
40.6
40.6
61
65
61
BAR/WID
TCP Paranaguá
1
TRG Rio Grande
2
Torsco Port of Penang
2
Torsco Northport Klang
3
Torsco
PTP T/Pelepas
3
T.Brakie TPS Surabaya
1
UMSA
Santos Brasil
1
Kalmar
MSC Home Antwerp
5
RST Rotterdam
2 WID
PA de Guadeloupe
2
KCI Konecranes Port of Koper
1
PA de Nantes-St. Naz.
1
Port of Kotka/Finnsteve 1
Port of Kotka/Steveco
1
AS Muuga Tallinn
1
BCT Gdynia
2
C Rokas
Astakos Terminal
3
Liebherr
Exolgán, Buenos Aires 1
Gulftainer, Khorfakkan 4
Forth Ports, Grangemouth 1
Port of Wellington
2
Mitsubishi HI
HCT Fukuoka
1
Colón CT, Panama
2
Paceco licensees
Hyundai-Samho PSA Singapore
8
Sinsundae Busan
2
PPC Balboa Panama
3
Mitsui Zosen
ITS Long Beach
4
SBMA Subic Bay
4
NUCT Nagoya
1
Paceco España
TdS Málaga
1
MSC Valencia
6
Marítima Valenciana
1
SPMP
Guangzhou Port
3
DanDong Port
1
Qingdao
2
Shanghai
1
ZPMC
HIT China
5
HIT China
3
Lianyungang NOCT
2
Lianyungang NOCT
4
Ningbo PA
4
Ningbo PA
4
Ningbo PA
2
Ningbo Daxie CT
4
Pyung Taek CT, Korea
2
Pyung Taek CT, Korea
2
Qingdao Qianwan CT
2
Qingdao Qianwan CT
2
Xiamen Xianyu FTZ Hujian Q. 3
Shanghai Hudong CT
1
Shanghai Pudong ICT
1
Shekou CT phase III
4
LBCT Long Beach
2
2
Global Term. & Serv. NY
Tecon Suape
2
Qinzhou NCT
2
Yang Ming MTC
1
Zhangjiagang Win Han. CT 1
Port of Rizhao
2
Port of Beirut
1
Port of Beirut
1
Taicang ICT
2
Taicang ICT
2
OOCL Kaohsiung
1
Shanghai Yangshan Deep. 3
PHA Houston
4
GMP Le Havre
6
MIT Panama
3
MIT Panama
3
Port of Felixstowe
1
APMT Rotterdam
3
SCCT East Port Said
2
TPS Valparaíso
2
Guangzhou Port Nansha 6
DPA Jebel Ali
6
APMT Los Angeles
4
Libra Terminais Santos 2
Maersk NAC, Los Angeles 4
SSA Terminals Seattle 4
Hutchsion Laem Chabang 2
PICT Karachi
1
Port Otago Ltd
1
Port of Keelung
1
Cosco-HIT Hong Kong 4
Port of Portland (Or.)
1
Dalian CT
3
Gateway TerminalMumbai 8
ECT Rotterdam
6
ECT Rotterdam
2
Evergreen kaohsiung
3
YICT Yantian
3
YICT Yantian
8
TIPS Laem Chabang
2
Eastern Sea Laem Chabang 1
APMT Zeebrugge
5
MCT Gioia Tauro
4
Malta Freeport Terminals 4
Damietta CH Company 2
PSO Iran Khomeini
2
PSO Iran Shahid Rajaee 8
APMT Göteborg
3
Salalah Port Service
4
NST Bremerhaven
2
Patrick Corp, Aus.
7
CTA Hamburg
1
Fuzhou Jianying ICT
2
Euromax Rotterdam
4
Euromax Rotterdam
1
Euromax Rotterdam
11
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
part-big
part-big
part-big
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
erect
16 mths (2006)
14 mths (2006)
12 mths (2006)
16 mths (2006)
16 mths (2005)
12 mths (2005)
14 mths (2005)
02-08/06
10/05
03/06
12 months
20 months
12 months
12 months
13 months
17 months
10 mths
12 mths
12 mths
03/05
60
01/06
60
06/05
41
10/05
61
03/05
61
06/05
61
07/06
61
06/05
65
06/05
50
10/06
50
08/05
70
12/05 80 LT (twin 40)
10/05
41
09/05
61
10/05
60
11/05
65
11/05
65 LT
11/05
65 LT
11/05
65
11/05
65
11/05
55
12/05
40.5
12/05
50
12/05
60
08/06
60
12/05
40 LT
06/06
60
12/05
55
12/05
65
01/06
65 LT
01/06
65 LT
01/06
65
03/06
50
02/06
60
02/06
65
02/06
61
02/06
50
02/06
65
03/06
60
03/06
65
03/06
50
03/06
65
03/06
65 LT
03/06
60
03/06
45 LT
04/06
60
04/06
50
04/06
60
04/06
60 LT
04/06
65
05/06
61
05/06
77 (ropes)
10/06
77 (ropes)
05/06
40
06/06
61
10/06
61
06/06
50
06/06
50
07/06
65
08/06
65
08/06
65
08/06
60
08/06
40
09/06
65
09/06
65
10/06
65 LT
10/06
65
11/06
65
11/06
61.7
12/06
61
12/06,11/07,12/08
70
03/07
70
12/06 6-8/07
70
63 22 30.5
40 13 24.38
20
55
44
27
70
54
30
70
55
30
66
24.38
80
40
29.7
-28
35
60
52 30 & 29
57
48 18 27.03
52
26
44
70 50.5 18 18
50
50 18 18.54
50
46 16 30.5
63
51 18 30.48
100 62.5 22 30.5
55 39.7513 18
50 48.77 16 18
56 20
30
30 10
48
43
78
43 16
50
37 13
18
70
46 16 16.2
50
36 13
15
50
36 13
15
50
36 13 15.24
60
46 17
20
65
44 16
24
70
45 17 31.37
30
70
61 22
50
32 12 19.81
55
43 16 22.86
48.7
52
30.48
80
52.5 30.48
15
15
15
12
13
28
18
6.5
13
15
14.7
14
17
24
16
15.24
25
21
15
12
20
25
25
14
20
12
14
16
15
14.7
15
15
56 18 30.48
63 22 30.5
40 14 15.24
54
30.48
37
30
50
30.5
60 22 30.48
60 22 30.48
60 22 30.48
30
63 22
22
38 13
70 ≥ 25
30
60 22
65 22 24.383
63 22 24.383
16
44 16
30
55 20
35
63 22
35
63 22
30
63 22
35
65 22
51 18 30.5
51 18 30.5
70 ≥ 25 35
65 22
35
54 18
26
30
63 22
30
55 18
30
65 22
62 22 30.48
56.4 18 30.48
47.5 17 30
30
55 17
55 17 24.38
16
44 16
30
55 18
60 20 30.48
60 20 30.48
20
45 17
30
47 17
55 18 30.48
30
65 22
54.25 18 30.48
35
60 20
65 22 30.48
52 18 30.48
30
62 22
35
67 22
62.5 22 30.48
50 18 24.38
30
63 22
68.2 25 30.48
65 22 30.48
18
50 18
65 22 30.48
62 22 30.48
55 18 24.384
36
54 18
46 17 25.3
15
46 17
63 22 24.384
51.6 18 30.48
35
65 22
53 18 30.48
65 22
35
65 22
35
50 18 24.384
30
65 22
30
65 22
25
48 18
25
48 18
65 22 30.48
62 22 30.48
65.5 22 30.48
56 18 30.48
45 16 17.5
35
61 21
62 23 30.48
68.5 25 30.48
62.5 22 30.48
49 18 25.3
35
61 22
60 22 30.48
36 < P 30.48
64 23 30.48
64 23 30.48
12
20
13
22.9
12
15
14
25
14
18
12
18
16
80
80
71
78
80
78
18
18
18
23
17
17
17
17
16.5
18.3
18.2
17
17
18
17
16
17.1
27
27
27
27
27
27
31.74
27.3
13.2
13.5
13.5
13.5
14
16
14
15
17
14
15
14
13
13.5
14
14
25
16.75
17
16.75
16.75
16.75
17
17
16.76
17
17
16.76
17
16.76
27
27
28
27.7
27
27
27
27
30.8
27
27
31.04
26.2
26.2
26.8
30
27
25
27.5
30
25.5
27
28
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14.78
14.76
14.5
14
12
13
18.3
18.3
18.3
25.6
27
26
13
16.5
12.5
18.28
17
18.28
18.3
16
18.3
18.3
27
27
27
27
27
27
90
180
240
34/17
35/23
35/23
44/
30/17
22/12
34/16
34/15
15.5/9
35/17
33.5/14
34/16
42/22.5
41/20
32/15
33.5/14
38/22
22/11
33/15
30/14
33/16
26/10
26/10
28/14
34/15
30/10
32/15
39/17
25/10
32/16
36.5/15
34.7/17
70
70
70
90
60
50
60
70
30
75
70
70
70
90
65
70
90
50
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
45
75
80
70
150
150
150
180
150
100
130
140
60
150
150
170
170
180
130
150
180
100
120
120
120
120
120
120
120
120
130
150
100
175
160
150
210
210
210
244
180
160
180
210
150
210
180
210
210
240
180
180
240
180
180
150
180
180
180
150
180
180
200
220
175
200
210
210
40/19.2
40/19
36/23
38/
32.5/
36/
40/16
40/20
40/12
40/17
27/15
48/20
39/15
43/16.76
43/16.76
34/
40/
70
90
60
80
60
70
90
90
90
70
60
90
87
70
70
75
75
170
180
135
160
120
160
180
180
180
0.5 m/sec2
0.6 m/sec2
0.6 m/sec2
0.78 m/sec2
0.5 m/sec2
0.3 m/sec2
0.5 m/sec2
0.78 m/sec2
1.7 secs
2.33-4 secs
2-4 secs
3 secs
1.9-3.75 secs
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6
m/sec2
m/sec2
m/sec2
m/sec2
m/sec2
m/sec2
m/sec2
m/sec2
4.7 secs
6.66 secs
6 secs
3.5 secs
5.7 secs
4 secs
6 secs
2.33-4 secs
0.75 m/sec2
6.66 secs
1 m/sec2
0.625 m/sec 2 0.45 m/sec2
0.5 m/sec2
0.5 m/sec2
0.5 m/sec2
0.6 m/sec2
0.55 m/sec2 0.6 m/sec2
0.55 m/sec2 0.6 m/sec2
0.5 m/sec2
0.5 m/sec2
0.55 m/sec2 0.55 m/sec2
2
0.5 m/sec
0.5 m/sec2
2 secs
2 secs
2 secs
1.5 secs
6 secs
5 secs
6 secs
5 secs
0.5 m/sec2
0.5 m/sec2
0.58 m/sec2
0.58-0.63 m/sec2
240
240
210
240
180
180
16.83
215
11
240
215
14
240
2 secs
11
120
150
13
180
240
5 secs
168
240
150
240
150
240
150
180
150
240
39 main + 20/15.5/ 75 main-50
240
42/20
90
180
240
39/18
90
180
240
41/18
90
180
240
34/18
70
170
210
34/18
70
170
210
42/20
90
180
240
45/20
55-90 110-180 240-250
40/20
60
150
210
39/18
90
180
240
39/15
90
180
240
43/18
90
180
244
39.6/18.3
75
180
240
38.1/18.3
73
152
244
36/16
60
170
210
38/17
70
160
240
40/16.4
70
150
240
27/12
50
120
240
38/16
60
130
180
37/20
60
120
180
37/20
60
120
180
36/18
60
120
180
38/18
75
150
210
40/15
75
150
240
43/18
90
180
240
30.48/24.4 76.2
182
244
40/22
90
180
210
36/
90
180
240
34/15
90
180
240
37/19
70
150
210
41/15
90
180
240
40/18
90
180
240
34.5/17
120
180
210
45/17
70
150
240
41/16.5
75
150
210
41/15.5
90
180
244
35/14.4
90
180
240
41/15.5
90
180
240
38.7/18.3
90
180
244
40/19
70
150
210
38/17
80
150
240
35/19
70
150
240
33/15
70
150
210
43/16.76
70
150
240
29/13
67
120
180
42/18
70
180
240
38/18
90
180
240
43/17
75
180
240
43/17
75
180
240
35.5/
90
180
210
42.2/16.8
70
150
240
44.5/16.8
70
150
240
38/13.5
80
160
180
38/13.5
80
160
180
41/15
90
180
240
43/20
100
180
240
39/18
90
180
210
38/15
90
200
210
30.5/19
60
130
180
42/18
90
180
250
41/15
90
180
240
42/17
60
170
240
42.5/23.5
90
180
240
37.5/15
75
150
240
38.5/23 80 main/75 aux
220 main /240 aux.
40/20
90
180
210
22/22
70
140
200
40/21 90 main/60 aux
270 main/120 aux.
40/21
90
180
270
5 secs
5 secs
11/07 3-6-9/08
Note: Reggiane’s unnamed customer is believed to be VTE Genova (PSA Sinport/P&O Nedlloyd) and that information has previously been published in WorldCargo News
July 2005
21
WorldCargo
news
Table 2: Features of new orders
(Copyright WorldCargo News)
NOTES:
Drive type (Column 3). A - full rope
drive. B - semi-rope drive. C - full
machinery trolley
BC in February this year each cost
about Can$10 mill (US$8.1 mill),
according to Fraser Surrey.
Rising labour costs
In the longer term two important
price factors will be how far
Beijing moves on revaluing the
Yuan (it cannot be pegged to the
US dollar indefinitely), and the rising cost of labour in China, and
in Shanghai in particular. This
might eventually restore some
equilibrium in the crane market.
SPMP’s vice-general manager Zhang Jian says labour cost
for skilled workers such as welders has been increasing at 10 per
cent/year. To a certain extent
ZPMC’s base on Changxing Island insulates it from the Shanghai economy, but it too will
eventually be affected.
After a period when it reorganised its crane business under
the SPMC banner, Shanghai Port
Machinery Plant is back marketing its cranes as SPMP. There has
been some change in the ownership of the company with ZPMC
now owning 15 per cent through
Hong Kong-listed shares and
CBC of Japan 10 per cent. The
remaining 75 per cent is held by
China Harbour Engineering.
In 2004 SPMP delivered 30
cranes, including some grab
unloaders and Zhang Jian says it
has to complete 32 units this year,
including six grab unloaders. All
of this business is in the Chinese
market, but SPMP is again targeting export orders and is bidding
on five cranes for Jurong Port in
Singapore. SPMP now has three
CARGO HANDLING
Crane
Supplier
Client/
location
Drive
type
Boom
type
Skew/Trim/List
Anti-Sway
Snag/Catenary Spreader
protection
features
Main electrical
and control features
Special
features
Gottwald
Hyundai
rot.trolley; energy chain
RWT Emmerich
C
lattice, fixed
no/no/no
mechanical
no/no
Kaup
thyristor all ac
PSA Singapore
B
monogirder
all yes
none
yes/no
Ram
Seoho-Siemens all ac thyristor motorised festoon
Sinsundae Busan
double girder
all yes
none
yes/yes
Bromma
Seoho-Siemens all ac thyristor
PPC Balboa
double girder
all yes
none
yes/yes
Ram
Seoho-Siemens all ac thyristor
Impsa
TCP Paranaguá
A
double girder
± 3/3/3
electronic
yes/yes
Bromma
IPS-Siemens full ac IGBT
TRG Rio Grande
A
monogirder
± 3/3/3
none
yes/yes Bromma twin 20
IPS-Siemens full ac IGBT
Penang
B
double girder
± 3/2.5/3
electronic
no/yes Bromma SSX45
IPS-GE full ac IGBT
Northport
A
monogirder
± 6/6/6
electronic
no/no Bromma twin 20
ABB full ac IGBT
Surabaya
A
monogirder
± 5/5/5
electronic
yes/no
Bromma
IPS-GE full ac IGBT
on board diesel
Tanjung Pelepas
B
monogirder
±6/3/6
electronic
yes/yes
IPS-Siemens full ac IGBT motorised festoon
Santos Brasil
B
monogirder
± 3/3/3
none
yes/yes Bromma twin 20
IPS-Siemens full ac IGBT
energy chain trolley
Kalmar MSC Home Antwerp
A
double girder
all yes
none
yes/yes Bromma SSX 45
Siemens all ac
RSTRotterdam
C
lattice
no/yes/no
mechanical
no/no
Stinis
Kalmar-Siemens all ac
energy chain trolley
PA Guadeloupe
B
lattice
yes/yes/no
electronic
no/no Bromma SSX45
Kalmar-Schneider all ac
energy chain trolley
Konecranes PA Koper
B
monogirder
all yes
electronic
elec./no Crancont twin 20
Konecranes all ac
PA Nantes-St Naz.
B
monogirder
all yes
electronic
mech./no Bromma twin 20
Konecranes all ac
B
monogirder
all yes
electronic
elec./no
Bromma
Konecranes all ac
Kotka (both cranes)
AS Muuga
B
monogirder
all yes
electronic
elec./no
Bromma
Konecranes all ac
BCT Gdynia
B
monogirder
yes/yes/no
electronic
elec./no
Bromma
Konecranes all ac
C Rokas Astakos Terminal
B
monogirder
all yes
electronic
mech./no
Bromma
Konecranes all ac
Liebherr
Exolgán
B
lattice/mono
± 3/5/5
mechanical
yes/yes Bromma STR 45
Liebherr dc thyristor
Gulftainer
B
lattice/mono
± 3/5/5
mechanical
yes/yes Bromma STS 45
Liebherr dc thyristor
TBD
Liebherr dc thyristor
Grangemouth
B
lattice/mono
± 3/5/5
mechanical
yes/no
Wellington
lattice/mono
± 5/7/3
mechanical
yes/no
Ram 2920
Liebherr dc thyristor
Mitsui
ITS Long Beach
B
monogirder
Mitsui-Paceco
Fuji all ac
SBMA Subic Bay
B
monogirder
Mitsui-Paceco
Fuji all ac
NUCT Nagoya
B
monogirder
Mitsui-paceco
Fuji all ac
Paceco Esp. TdS Málaga
A
double girder
- /± 3.5/ electronic
yes/no
Bromma
Siemens all ac
MSC Valencia
A
double girder
±5/5/5
none
no/no
Bromma
Siemens all ac
Marítima Valenciana
A
double girder
- /± 3.5/ electronic
yes/no
Bromma
GE DC2000
Noell
POP Qasim
C
lattice girder
± 5/5/5
electronic
yes/no
Ram twin 20
Noell-Siemens all ac thyr. on board diesel
A
double girder
± 5/5/5
electronic
yes/yes
Ram 2910
Noell-Siemens all ac thyristor
POP Chenn. & Mund.
MOT Hong Kong
C
monogirder
± 5/5/5
electronic
yes/no
Noell-Siemens all ac thyr. energy chain trolley
Reggiane
AP Trieste
B
monogirder
± 5/5/5
electronic
yes/no
Reggiane
Reggiane-Siemens all ac thyr.
Kramer CD
C
double girder
± 5/5/5
elec. & hydr.
no/no
Reggiane
Reggiane-Siemens all ac thyr. energy chain trolley
AP Napoli
B
monogirder
± 5/5/5
electronic
yes/no
Reggiane
Reggiane-TBD all ac thyr.
VTE Genova
A low profile shuttle
± 5/5/5
electronic
yes/yes Bubenzer all-elec.
Reggiane-Siemens all ac thyr energy chain trolley
SPMP
Guangzhou
Stinis twin 20
Yaskawa
DanDong
Ram twin 20
Yaskawa
Qingdao
Bromma twin 20
Siemens
Shanghai
Bromma twin 20
Yaskawa
ZPMC (some features)
Ningbo PA (03/05)
double hoist cranes
Qingdao Qianwan CT(12/05)
80 LT SWL - twin 40ft and double trolley cranes (four spreaders per crane)
ZPMC: Electrical partners for newly-listed cranes
ZPMC with Siemens components - 79 cranes (HIT, Cosco-HIT, Lianyungang, Pyong Taek, Qingdao Qianwan 12/05, Shanghai Hudong, Tecon Suape, APMT Rotterdam, Zeebrugge,
Aqaba and SCCT Port Said and Maersk LAC L/Angeles and NST Bremerhaven, Libra Santos, HPC Laem Chabang, PICT Karachi, Otago, Salalah, Gateway Terminal Mumbai,
Malta Freeport, PSO Iran)
Siemens - 45 cranes (Yang-Ming NTC, OOCL Kaohsiung, Keleung, GMP Le Havre, APMT los Angeles and Gothenburg, HPH Felixstowe and ECT, TPS Valparaíso, SPA Jebel Ali,
Damietta CH, Patrick Aus. and HHLA-CTA)
ABB - 42 cranes (Incheon, Qingdao Qianwan 08/05, Shekou CT, Global NY, Beirut, PHA Houston, MIT Panama, Evergreen Kaohsiung, Euromax
Yaskawa - 36 cranes (Ningbo PA and Ningbo Daxie, Xiamen X., Shanghai Pudong, Shanghai Yanshan, Qinzhou NCT, Taicang 06/06, Guangzhou Nansha, Dalian CT,
YICT Yantian, TIPS Laem Chabang, Eastern Sea Leam Chabang, Fuzhou Yangyiang)
Fuji - 7 cranes (Zhangjiagang Win Hanverky CT, Rizhao, Taicang 12/05, SSAT Seattle)
Alstom - 4 cranes (MCT Gioia Tauro)
GE - 1 crane (Port land, Or)
of its own delivery ships and is in
the process of converting a fourth.
SPMP has had some success
with its lightweight off-the-shelf
design, the “2000 model,” which
was developed for river ports
where weight and wheel loads are
restricted. The crane has a lattice
boom and with a 40t SWL weighs
as little as 570t. Over 10 units have
been delivered to date.
For now SPMP’s pressing
problem is a lack of capacity at its
existing facility on the Huangpu
in downtown Shanghai. Zhang
explains that SPMP has good fabHyundai-Samho HI’s order book
includes eight 18-wide Paceco
Portainers for delivery to PSA
Singapore next April. This picture
shows Portainers built by Hyundai HI
for Charleston and Philadelphia just
prior to delivery from Korea towards
the end of 2003
rication capacity but its assembly
area is cramped and its load out
dock is just 55m long.
The current site is one of several required for the World Expo
in 2010 and SPMP will next year
relocate to Changxing island, next
to ZPMC. SPMP’s new facility
will be much larger, with a quay
length of 850m.
Defiant “old guard”
Despite ZPMC’s prodigious output, the market has grown so
much that there has been plenty
of business for the “old guard” in
Europe, Korea and Japan, and famous names such as Konecranes,
Liebherr, Kalmar (Nelcon), Mitsui,
Hyundai, etc remain major players, while Impsa, too, has been able
to broaden the geographical scope
New business for Noell China (Fantuzzi Noell group) includes cranes for three
P&O Ports-led operations in India and Pakistan
of its customer base.
Kalmar is quieter this year
than last in terms of new orders
but it is still rolling out its big series orders for P&O Ports and
HNN in Antwerp. Its performance in meeting HNN’s tight
schedules for 10 cranes for MSC
Home Terminal was rewarded
with the order for five more
cranes for the facility.
At the time that second order
was placed (late 2004), it brought
to 33 the number of ship-to-shore
cranes on Kalmar’s books and
company president and CEO
Christer Granskog stated: “In
order to be able to deliver this
extremely high order backlog in
a short time frame our partnership with Hollandia, the Dutch
steel structure manufacturer, is
essential.” As if prescient, the astute Granskog added: “It gives us
the upwards flexibility to meet this
exceptionally high level of demand,
but also the flexibility to adapt our
capacity when the market returns
to more normal levels.”
The “specs” of the extra five
56m outreach (20-wide) cranes are
basically the same as the first 10 for
MSC Home Terminal, except that
SWL under twin 20 spreader has
been increased from 63t to 65t and
lift height above rail has gone up
Currently ZPMC is showing a much smaller share (about 27 per cent) of
domestic deliveries for calendar 2006. (Source: WorldCargo News)
22
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
Right: Liebherr cranes at NewYork Container
Terminal, Howland Hook
these principles, which could be bought
by a crane OEM and “dropped” into a
double girder boom, was worked out by
US-based Casper, Phillips & Associates.
It is true that hoist motors are much
bigger and heavier than trolley motors but,
on the other hand, putting them on the
trolley shortens the hoist ropes considerably and subjects them to less abuse. In
addition placing the trolley motors in the
machinery house allows them to be oversized and the trolley tow ropes can be
thicker and stiffer. This means a fast response should be provided without any
slippage every time, irrespective of
weather conditions. Certainly most crane
drivers would appreciate that. ❏
Kalmar cranes at MSC Home Terminal,
Antwerp
by 3m to 38m. HNN, by the way, has
been looking for two new cranes for its
OCZ Zeebrugge operation and Kalmar
may win this order.
New entrants
Despite (because of?) the competitiveness
of the market, there is always room for
“newcomers.” In Italy, Paolo de Nicola,
appointed a Paceco Corp licensee in 2003
(WorldCargo News, December 2003, p2),
is understood to have won its first contract for ship-to-shore container cranes:
two Panamax Portainers have been ordered by a port operator in S E Asia, although the identity is being withheld
pending completion of all particulars.
The scope of supply includes design,
engineering, mechanical and electrical
components, supervision of erection by
the local sub-contractor for fabrication,
and commissioning. Assuming the order
is confirmed, the deliveries are due in the
second half of 2006.
De Nicola has been “under a cloud”
because of problems faced by Lugli, which
acquired it in 2004. However, it is understood to have a new “industrial partner.”
De Nicola has a good working relationship with Paceco España. This is in contrast to former times: Fruehauf España and
OMI Reggiane used to fight for business
in neutral territory “like cats and dogs.”
Gulf production
IMCC, based in Abu Dhabi, was formerly
known as IMAC when it was part of
Preussag in Germany and fabricated cranes
for Noell. It has gone its own way with a
number of former Noell engineers and has
already turned out RTGs in big series for
customers in Mauritius and Turkey under
the brand name of Gulf Port Cranes.
Around 60 per cent of IMCC’s turnover
comes from the offshore oil and gas sectors and cranes for ports are viewed as a
natural extension of activities.
Gulf Port Cranes has started tendering for ship-to-shore cranes and
believes that something will be won
before the end of this year. There are
no surprises in the basic design, taking
into account the know-how of the exNoell engineers, with features such as
a monobox boom and a self-drive trolley with machinery house hoist.
One of the main collaborators on the
electrical side is Pfenning Elektro-anlagen GmbH, whose managing director
Wilhelm Pfenning is also a shareholder
in Consens Transport Systeme GmbH, the
company formed around ex-Noell personnel in Würzburg (see last month’s
WorldCargo News, p28 for update).
Different approach
Another, albeit less common, “semi-rope
trolley” solution is to put the hoist motors on the trolley and drive the trolley
from the machinery house. In fact, recently
a design for a complete trolley based on
Table 3: recent ship-to-shore
container crane deliveries
2004 2005
ZPMC
domestic
export
65
55
Non-Chinese OEMs 80
Total
200
85
55
120
260
Notes: WorldCargo News’ estimates,
rounded to nearest five. ZPMC domestic
includes SAR Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“Non-Chinese” includes Noell China (10
in 2004 and five in 2005)
July 2005
23
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
Cranes getting too big for their boots
Restricting rail span and width for
operational reasons is causing major dock
load and crane design problems
Container cranes are becoming impossibly tall and long for their feet.The “standard” rail span doubled from 50ft (15m) to
30m about 15-20 years ago but the time
has come to extend it by another 10-15m.
Width over bumpers is “stuck” in the 2627m range so that adjacent cranes can
work within a 40ft/2 x 20ft hatch of each
other. These traditional operational requirements are probably no longer sus-
tainable in the age of 40m + lift heights,
65-66m outreaches and 80t SWLs.
According to Arun Bhimani, CEO of
Liftech Consultants, Inc,“we are paying a
big price for restricting width.” All the
time cranes are getting taller.Already 40m
lift height above rail is commonly specified and 46m may be required soon.
The “footprint” may have to be sized up
At TOC Europe in Antwerp last
month, Bhimani stated that many operators are already finding that their cranes
are too flexible in the gantry travel direction and during boom raise and lower.
Stiffening up
If width can be increased, cranes could
be made stiffer without adding so much
weight. Tall, narrow cranes need to be
heavy to be stiff enough to avoid flexing
and even rotating under load. In the latter case, it is imposssible for the crane
driver to control the load (load skew).
Bhimani was co-leading a session on
crane loads and quay structures with Dr
Susan Grummitt of civil engineers Cullen
Grumitt and Roe (UK).The topic is too
complex to be dealt with here, except to
say that wheel loads are now a real problem. They have risen from 20t per metre
of rail in the 1960s to 110-120t/m of rail
today! Where will it stop, asks Grumitt.
A number of crane purchasers lack
expertise in the complex quay/crane interface arena and this has created a window for some suppliers of heavy cranes
to mix standards and definitions and quote
lighter wheel loads than competitors
which are actually offering lighter cranes!
Allowable loads are often expressed as
loads per metre of rail. Because of the way
loads are transferred into the ground, it is
legitimate to increase wheel centres from
1m to 1.5m and adjust main and secondary rocker beams. But moving the bogie
pin still further away from the corner can
add to stability problems in side winds.
Just a few
A handful of operators are specifying
wider rail spans, such as PNC Busan
(42.7m) and PTP Tanjung Pelepas for its
next phase (45m). In PNC’s case the increase is more about having extra lanes
between the legs to increase crane productivity, whereas PTP is anticipating the
need for bigger cranes handling heavier
loads (see WorldCargo News, July 2004, p9).
These are exceptions to the rule, however. Most operators are reluctant to go
beyond 30-30.5m, even when they are
thinking about 120t SWL cranes for 4 x
30t 20ft lifts. Hutchison Ports, for example, wants compatibility between the
planned Felixstowe South extension and
the existing 30m gauge berths.
However, there is much to be gained
by going the Tanjung Pelepas way. One
crane maker, Liebherr, states that wheel
loads of a “megamax” crane on 45m span
rails would be about 10 per cent lower
than one of the same type on 30m span
rails today. The extra steel is more than
outweighed by the reduction in ballast in
the landside legs. This also means savings
in motor sizes, electricity costs, etc.
Richard Clarke from Halcrow says
that some ports are considering moving
to a 35m gauge, “but that’s a short term
solution.” In defence of crane operators,
however, moving the landside rail could
have cost implications for some types of
quay construction, such as suspended deck
structures, which Grummit notes are
popular in the US and Asia.
Compelling reasons?
Nevertheless, there could be compelling
reasons for increasing the crane’s “footprint.” Experience of most terminal operators is that ships cannot be worked effectively by more than > 4 < 5 cranes
because of traffic management problems.
However, shipowners are demanding
that cranes become more productive, so
as not to slow down turnaround time for
bigger ships exchanging more containers. A solution is to widen the rail gauge
and create more lanes for straddle carriers or IMVs to reduce queues (cf PNC).
In a kind of “virtuous circle,” this
promise of higher crane productivity may
undermine the case for ≈ 27m overall
width. As cranes will be tied up for less
time working any particular hatch, they
have more time to work on another one.
To that extent, does it matter if adjacent cranes have to work two 40ft hatches
apart? Ports are way ports or end ports,
hub ports or feeder ports. Is there not
scope for changing the ship unloading and
reloading pattern?
As noted, not only are cranes getting
taller and longer, some operators are looking for SWLs of 120t to handle 4 x 30.48t
20fts. Surely something has to give! ❏
24
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
ZPMC doubles and then doubles again
ZPMC has already delivered double trolley cranes with an intermediate platform
(Ningbo, CTA Hamburg) and twin 40ft
cranes (Dubai, Shanghai). The Port of
Qingdao (Qianwan) has now ordered a
crane with both a double trolley system
and twin 40ft capability.
Each trolley will have the twin
headblock configuration with an SWL of
80t.The main (vessel) trolley is faster with
hoist speeds of 90 and 180 m/min and
trolley travel up to 240m/min. The
landside trolley will hoist at 50 and 100
m/min and travel at 150 m/min.
The crane will weigh in at a massive
2300t compared to 1500t for a “normal”
double trolley crane. Wheel loads will be
in the 92-95 t/m of rail range with 10
wheels per corner, although the out-toout width has not increased beyond 27m.
Theoretical productivity of the design,
says ZPMC, is 70 -100 40fts/hour - more
than twice that of normal cranes.
ZPMC is building a crane that combines
twin 40ft handling with a double trolley
reeved to fixed points on the headblock.
In components, ZPMC is working on
a new type of cable carrier for high speed
trolley applications.This is said to be more
similar to a cable chain than the driven
cable tender system already in use on a
handful of cranes with a maximum trolley speed of 350 m/min.
ZPMC is also investigating a parallel
lay cable reel for main power supply. Parallel lay reels were used many years ago
but gave way to monospiral reels. Tian
says power requirements are getting to the
stage where the cable is getting too fat
and putting too much pressure on the reel.
Oil and gas
ZPMC has grown its container crane
business phenomenally over the last 12
years and is looking to diversify into offshore heavy duty equipment for the oil
and gas industry. It is bidding on a massive 28,000t floating crane that will be
used to recover disused oil rigs and drill-
ing platforms. At least two shipyards will
be involved in building the vessel while
ZPMC hopes to fabricate the crane on
Changxing island. In a sense this is “full
circle” for ZPMC’s general manager Guan
Tongxian as he began building floating
cranes at SPMP before starting ZPMC.
To demonstrate its competence in
building such a large crane, ZPMC is
building a 7000t floating crane for its own
use.The SHANGHAI is a 360 deg. revolving
crane with full capacity at 43m outreach
when the jib is fixed towards the stern
and 3000t at 40m outreach when revolving. It is scheduled to be put into operation at the end of 2006. ❏
ZPMC reckons that the crane will be capable
of 70-100 40-45fts/hour
Face the other way
Qingdao is also considering another development that has been in operation at
Ningbo for some months now - a separable cab mounted in front of the trolley
so the driver faces back towards the quay
instead of away from it. This particular
crane is a double trolley unit and the
driver controls only vessel operations as
the travel and positioning of the second
trolley are automated.
The cab has its own drive system with
a lower speed than the trolley drive
(120m/min compared to 240m/min), but
can be coupled to the trolley if required.
ZPMC’s vice president and R & D director Tian Hong says that separating and
aligning the cab this way gives the driver
a better view and reduces fatigue. It also
improves the acceleration time as the efficiency of the acceleration period is dictated by the anti-sway system and not by
the driver, reducing the acceleration period from typically 6-8 secs to 3-5 secs.
Convinced
ZPMC is convinced of the merits of the
double trolley and twin 40ft concepts.The
second trolley solves the problems of the
increasing hoisting height of cranes (driver
“parallax,” sway control, etc).As far as twin
40ft handling is concerned, a number of
terminals want to be prepared should it
prove successful and are specifying cranes
with up to 80t SWL under spreader.
Tian opines, however, that a single
hoisting system is not the best solution.
Having two separate hoists through a differential reducer enables the relative positions of the headblocks to be varied; one
container can be lowered ahead of the
other to make landing the spreaders and
containers on chassis simpler. Furthermore, if two 40fts cannot be lifted together
because of excessive misalignment the
headblock linking and adjusting cylinders
can quickly be separated and one spreader
raised out of the way without having to
stop operations and change spreaders.
ZPMC is confident of the productivity improvements that twin 40 and double trolley cranes can deliver and is willing, to some extent, to build a performance guarantee into the price.Tian stresses
that this is negotiable on a case by case
basis, but a percentage of the premium
above the price of a standard crane can
be subject to a previously agreed performance guarantee on crane productivity.
More to come
Other research and development projects
under way includes 22-row outreach low
profile cranes with seismic protection for
the China Shipping terminal at LA (see
page XX). Japanese crane manufactures developed seismic isolation systems following the Kobe earthquake in 1995 and new
cranes at the Oh’i terminal in Tokyo have
been designed to withstand an equally
strong shake (7.2 Richter).
ZPMC is also developing a new crane
drive and anti-sway system using the differential gear reducer and a 6-rope reeving pattern. The hoist and trolley drive
mechanisms are combined in one system,
similar to a 4-rope grab crane, but with
two additional ropes to stop the load “flipping” during trolley travel. All ropes are
July 2005
25
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
Hübner’s new encoder system
install step-up gearboxes to use
overspeed swtiches with very
slow drives.
Five superpost-Panamax container cranes just delivered to
Eurogate Hamburg by ZPMC
(last month’s WorldCargo News,
p10) are the first application in
the container crane field for a
new, modular encoder system
from Johannes Hübner GmbH.
The cranes are fitted with ac
drive controls on all motions
and Alstom, the electrical contractor, has used Hübner’s new
“Unit One” universal encoder
for the control tasks of the hoist
and boom hoist drives - speed,
overspeed and position control.
Easy programming
Complex job
In conventional systems an incremental encoder is fitted on the
hoist motor side and electrical signals are transmitted via copper
cable. This is a complex solution
as the rope drum side requires mechanical cam limit switches, speed
increasing gears, a mechanical
overspeed switch, extra gearbox
and drum shaft couplings, etc.
This is an expensive assembly
and can be high maintenance.
There can be up to six units in
the assembly on the rope drum
side. In all up to 20 cables may be
connected to the crane PLC.
Six in one
Above: conventional encoder assembly
on the hoist drum side, with different
encoder assemblies, distribution gear
box and mechancial cam limit switch.
Below: The new Unit-One universal
encoder incorporates up to six functions
in one
The Unit One universal encoder
incorporates up to six functions,
with modules for decoding/receiving, overspeed switching (two
programmable speeds), absolute
position and incremental output,
along with f/o signal transmission
and diagnostics.
All modules are linked by an
internal Bus net structure and can
be freely connected as required,
using series plug-ins. There is a
choice of protocols, including
CANopen and ProfiBus.
The new system, says
Hübner, provides considerable
cost savings, due to its simple
mechanical fitting, standardised
electronic modules and reduced
wiring requirements.
As noted, only one base encoder is required on the motor
side and one on the hoist drum
side, together with one optical
fibre cable (immune to EMI)
connection from the switchgear
cabinet to each of the encoders. The modules are located in
the cabinet, which simplifies the
wiring and plug-in connections.
Electronic function modules in
switching cabinet
The EGS 4 safety technology
in the overspeed detection module complies with DIN/EN 9541. Switch-off speed ranges range
from 4800 rpm down to 0.63 rpm
for slow speed boom hoist drums,
freely-programmable in 0.1 rpm
increments. There is no need to
New crane cables from Nexans
Cable manufacturer Nexans has
recently come up with several new
cables for cranes and other materials handling equipment applications. One of these is Rheycord
(BS), a new Rheycord control ca-
Nexans is bidding for a bigger share
of the market for crane cables
ble for spreaders with traditional
baskets on top of the headblock.
This is claimed to have
higher tensile strength than
competing baloney cables despite having a thinner outside
diameter, due to the use of
optimised high end aramid
strength members as used in
Rheycord (RTS) spreader reeling cables.
No lead
As an environmetal “plus,” says
Nexans’ product manager Roland
Carrière, Rheycord (BS) incorporates steel instead of lead to provide the mass needed for wind resistance.This is regarded as important as spreader cables are a high
maintenance item and have to be
changed out at regular intervals.
Taking the lead away is thus a positive contribution to occupational
health and safety.
On average, says Nexans,
spreader reeling cables last for
2500h or 100,000 cycles while
baloney cables last about six
months, again depending on use.
As one might expect, Rheycord
(BS) is aimed mainly at the retrofit market as hoist speeds of new
cranes are typically too high for
basket winding to be effective and
reeling solutions are almost always
used accordingly.
Flat courses
Last year Nexans designed new flat
reeling cables and focused on reducing the outer dimensions and
weight in comparison to competitor products. Product manager
Frank Müller notes that flat cables can traditionally be used only
for reeling applications with slow
travel speeds and the monospiral
reel must be positioned very precisely to ensure there are no reeling problems.
However, flat cable has advantages, too, and is still specified for
some reeling applications. For example, more flat cable can be
reeled on a monospiral reel in
comparison to a parallel wind reel
and for very long travel applications a monospiral reel is the
cheaper alternative.
The new product is called
Rheyfirm (Flat) and was tested
extensively with Stemmann in
China before being launched.
According to Müller, the outer
dimensions and weight are 40 per
cent less than established (mainly
Japanese) flat reeling cable designs.
This means not only the cable, but
the complete reeling system is
cheaper to purchase as the reel and
motors are smalller.
Rheyfirm (Flat) is aimed at
new rather than retrofit applications. Last year Nexans supplied
Stemmann with (N)TSFLGCWOEU Rheyfirm (Flat)
26
The Windows-based software provided with the overspeed switches
facilitates comfortable programming of both overspeed and
underpseed limits, as well as a
switching delay to blank out very
short overspeeds.
Hübner Giessen is reckoned to
have about a 70 per cent share of
the market for encoders used in
container cranes. so the new technology looks set to have a big
impact. More orders are in the
pipeline. Other applications include high speed trains, mining
and heavy industry (rolling mills,
shipbuilding, paper, etc). ❏
cable in a 1350m length of 3.6/6
kV, 3x50/50+OFE 6G62.5/125
configuration, and in a 1305m
length of 0.6/1 kV, 6x(4x2.5) configuration, in connection with cable reels for coal handling equipment in China.
A new cable for special applications is Rheyfirm (SI), a single
core cable typically used in short
lengths as the connection between
a short circuit breaker and mobile
transformer, but it can also be used
in energy chains. Also new is
Rheycord-Pur R, a control cable
for spring-operated reels and energy chains.
Finally, last year Nexans came
up with Rheycord-OFE SR,
again after development work
with Stemmann. This is a special
version of the roundfor m,
Rheycord-OFE R optical fibre
data transmission reeling cable
with extra tensile strength and has
been retrofitted to overhead
cranes in a steel works where it is
exposed to very high temperatures
and has to operate at very high
speeds.
Shipboard leader
Nexans is the world leader in shipboard cables - it recently inaugurated a new plant in Shanghai and, says Jean-Philippe Machon,
vice president, marketing, it can
see from the backlog in shipyards
in China, Korea and Japan that
ports will need many more cranes.
Machon says that Nexans is
in a strong position to challenge
for a bigger share of the handling market, where Pirelli is
currently market leader (estimated 70 per cent share of container handling cranes) because
it has a strong balance sheet and
is carrying hardly any debt. It is
thus well-placed to grow organically and by acquisition.
Nexans says it uses special
compounds and jacket and core
constructions which enable it to
deliver thinner, lighter cables and
hence cheaper overall reeling solutions for the same or better tensile strength and mecnahical stress
properties.
Strong contenders
The company claims that typically
its medium voltage reeling cables
have twice the tensility but have
seven per cent thinner outside diameter and weigh 11 per cent less
than competitors’ cables.
Recent customers include
OEMs such as ZPMC, Doosan,
Gottwald, KSR and MitsuiPaceco (a Japanese “breakthrough”
for Nexans), cable reel and festoon suppliers such as Delachaux,
Stemmann,Wampfler and Cavotec
and end users such as EEVC Rotterdam, PSA-HNN Antwerp, P &
O Ports Antwerp,Verbrugge Terminal, the Port of Tianjin and the
Port of Tilbury. ❏
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
Cab focuses on crane driver comfort
Driving a ship-to-shore container crane
is one of the most demanding of all crane
driving tasks. A container crane driver
must travel with the load at relatively high
speeds and acceleration, be accurate to
within a couple of centimetres and maintain high cycle speeds. He is required to
work relatively high over the load, without any assistance from the ground and
operate at night and in foggy weather
while the ship can also move, both vertically in a swell and also along the quay.
These conditions place a strain on the
operator, who spends most of the shift
peering between his knees, and it is small
wonder that there is a high rate of lower
back problems amongst container crane
drivers. Some terminal operators work a
“hot seat” shift, with two drivers covering, say, a 12h shift and working a typical
pattern of two hours on/two hours off,
but this does not really lessen the pressure on the driver on duty.
“closer” to the drivers and recognise the
importance of their views when choosing equipment. But when it comes to “big
ticket” items such as cranes the decisions
are taken at more rarified management
levels and in any event the cab is such a
small part of the overall cost.
Driver friendly
Custom-designed
Manufacturers of mobile container handling plant, such as reach stackers, FLTs
and terminal tractors have long recognised
that a comfortable and ergonomically
designed cab increases driver productivity and acceptance.
Purchasers at this level tend to be
In any event, Holland-based crane cab
specialist Merford has experience of a
wide range of cabs for different crane applications and cam up with Ergocab specifically for container cranes.
The Ergocab cab is relatively compact
and would not look out of place on a
typical reach stacker or Poclain tower
crane. However, its design is completely
different, even if incorporates some ROPS
technology, in that the seat, which it can
also supply as an option for a non-Ergocab
cab design, is suspended from the roof
rather than mounted on the floor.
The suspended position, Merford
claims, reduces the impact force to the
cab, and hence the driver, when the cab
crosses the hinge gap between the boom
and the portal frame. The company believes that while air or hydraulic cushioned seats can reduce this impact to the
operator on a conventional cab, it still
generates vibration within the cab which
External and interior views of an Ergocab with
Ergoseat at Thamesport
increases noise levels and will transmit
vibration even to an air-ride seat.
As previously reported (WorldCargo
News, July 2004, pp24-25), Ergoseat was
designed in conjunction with the Dutch
scientific institute TNO, which also undertook an independent evaluation of the
seat on a retrofit application at
Thamesport. Here, drivers prefer the
Ergocab fitted with the Ergoseat over
conventional cabs.
Strategic placement
Prior to the upgrading of the 15-year old
MGM cranes at Thamesport, Merford
placed one of its cabs in the workshops at
the terminal. Thamesport management
had not anticipated a positive reaction to
this: the British dockworker is not renowned for his enthusiasm to management suggestions. But such was the feedback from the drivers, even on a static
cab, that it was decided to replace the
existing cabs. As with reach stackers and
FLTs it was the drivers that pushed for
the cab change rather than managers.
The TNO study found that the outside view, the climate control, the noise
insulation, and the suspension were all
considered to be better in the Ergocab
fitted with the Ergoseat. The only aspect
they considered not to have been improved in the new cab compared to the
traditional cabin is the “sense of space”
due mainly to the relative narrowness of
the design.
This is not helped by having to have a
separate PLC and cabinet installed to interface between the cab and the crane’s
drive system, a relatively old GE Fantuc
system which does not employ current
generation communication networks.
Sitting comfortably
With regard to the seats, the Ergoseat was
preferred to the traditional seat, mainly
because of its suspension characteristics
and its larger adjustability.Those who preferred the traditional seat do so mainly
because the seat back can be set back further. Operators leave it in this position
and stretch their back whenever they can.
A feature of the Ergoseat that most
drivers appreciate is the wedge in the
front part of the cushion and the possibility for them to spread their legs
underneath the armrests. Not only does
the seat no longer obstruct the view,
leg support is also maintained while
sitting with the legs spread.
When asked about preference for joystick operation, the results were not so
clear. Some prefer the traditional, while
others prefer the new arrangement. This
might be explained by the fact that the
Ergoseats were equipped with joysticks
that were somewhat too long.
The larger fore-aft travel of these joysticks and the use of armrests do not go
well together and may even hamper the
control of the joysticks. The latter would
not have been the case had smaller grips
on the joysticks been used. ❏
28
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
Crane goes swimming with the tide?
A
s reported in the April 2005 edition of WorldCargo News (p4),
Dutch consulting enginers Royal
Haskoning is promoting a floating container crane concept based on a kind of
catamaran hull.
One of the arguments put forward by
Haskoning is that ship sizes are going up
dramatically and rapidly towards the
suezmax limit of 12,500 TEU, but mainly
in the height and width dimensions. Ship
length is not increasing in proportion to
ship size. In broad terms, capacity of a
modern panamax ship is around 15 TEU/
m of length while capacity of a suezmax
ship is around 34 TEU/m of length.
Terminal operators have generally
found that no more than 4-5 cranes can
be deployed efficiently along the side of
a ship so clearly the industry is faced with
a dilemma. Furthermore, the bigger the
ship the harder it is to maintain crane productivity, because of the size of the load
path, sway problems, driver “parallax” effects, and so on.
wharves, by placing them in a “strip” between the quay wall and mooring dolphins. In this case the backreach is used
to pick up and land containers (see small
figure right), so the hatch covers have to
be landed on a structure between the pontoons. For humanitarian relief or military
support operations, ships could be handled offshore, with barges or small craft
taking the containers to the shore.
In this case, the crane enables a big ship to use
a shallow berth
More work needed
As previously reported, Haskoning says
that its concept is logistically, technically
and financially feasible. However, this conclusion is based on somebody’s master’s
Haskonning’s floating crane concept, in this case deployed as an extra quay crane
thesis at TU Delft and it will take more
than that to convince people. Haskoning
itself says that more work needs to be done
on the boom. In any event, it has opened
discussions in an informal way with prospective OEMs and operators and says that
feedback is very encouraging. ❏
Jumbo comparison
Haskoning draws a parallel with civil aviation when the Jumbo jet was introduced.
Economy of scale was its main advantage
but its scale was also its main problem and
hub airports had to come up with faster
boarding and deplaning for passengers and
luggage.The seaports are facing the same
challenge but have not yet risen to it.
The latest move to provide a step
change in crane productivity is focused
on double lifting - twin 20 spreaders for
20fts, tandem spreaders for 40fts, possibly
even four 20fts lifts with twin 20 tandems
or cranes with double hoists each fitted
with twin 20 spreaders, and so on.
This approach is looking promising,
but looked at another way, it is only a
substitute for double cycling. Unfortunately double cycling is all but impossible in today’s environment, with cranes
digging tier upon tier of imports from
China out of the ship.
A floating crane, deployed on the far
side of the ship moored alongside the quay,
adds another “hook,” but without the
expense of an indented dock such as Ceres
Paragon in Amsterdam. Unlike a concrete
dock the floating crane can be towed or,
if engined, power itself to any other part
of the port or loaned to a neighbouring
port.
Playing pontoon
In the Haskoning design, the crane is
mounted on two pontoons. They would
house generators, fuel and ballast tanks
an other installations and their dimensions
and shape determine stability to a large
degree. This concept allows the crane to
transload containers from the mother ship
to feeder ships or barges moored between
the pontoons and outwith the rear pontoon (see big figure above).
Although the pontoons would provide basic stability, dynamic motion suppression systems may have to be fitted as
well to enable the driver to pick up or
spot containers more easily. Rigid mooring (eg vacuum mooring with Cavotec
Moorfender) of the feeder ships and
barges may help in this respect.
In Haskoning’s vision, a port such as
Rotterdam handling suezmax vessels
would use four or five large cranes on
the shoreside in the normal way, supplemented by a similar number of floating
pontoon cranes on the seaward side.
The ship plan could be built round
the floating cranes transloading directly
to barges for inland waterway distribution. Alternatively, the barges could be
used as buffer stacks for rehandling in offpeak hours. Hatch covers can be stored
on one of the pontoons but Haskoning
suggests it would be better if they were
all landed on the apron by the shore-based
cranes to prevent them getting mixed up.
Oldest idea in the book
Floating cranes are probably the oldest
type of crane and the most universal. As
Haskoning points out, they need never
have idle time since they can be spread
around the port and shared among operators according to work load.
They can also be used at shallow
July 2005
29
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
Things that go bump in the night
Anti-collision systems are usually aimed
at preventing collisions between adjacent
quayside cranes. They cannot tackle the
problem of collision between crane boom
and a ship’s upperworks or deck stow of
containers, as Doppler range measurements work in a straight line.
Kalmar tackled the problem of shipcrane collisions in a relatively low cost
manner when it supplied Interforest Terminal in Rotterdam (ITR) with a gantry
crane last year. ITR needed the crane as
its main customer Star Shipping is carrying a growing number of containers on
deck. The ships are equipped with
Munck-type deck gantry cranes with
hinged cantilevers to allow the trolley to
run out over the side and transfer paper
rolls between the holds and the quay
If the container crane is working one
section of the ship while the deck gantry
cranes are discharging paper reels from
an adjacent hold, there would be a risk of
the cantilever hitting the quay crane.The
solution was to fit the quay crane with a
vertical laser sensing system between the
portal and the outermost waterside bogies. If the beam is broken the crane will
Left:The Kalmar crane at ITR Rotterdam
stop. There is a radio data link to a portable alarm carried by a shore-based stevedore. This is linked into the shipboard
crane’s drive system which will then stop
all long travel movement.
Little and large
Bristol Port Company (BPC) faced a different problem at its Avonmouth container terminal. This is equipped with a
widespan, low height crane inherited from
the former Bell Line operation and a second crane sized to serve the largest ships
capable of entering Avonmouth Docks.
This crane is taller and has more outreach
and works on a narrower rail span.
Neither crane was originally fitted
with a ship/crane anti-collision device
and, possibly as a consequence, both have
experienced collisions with vessels. The
newer crane was hit by a ship-mounted
jib crane which was moved without
warning by the crew while the older crane
was driven into a ship’s radio antennae
while the driver was plumbing a load in
the backreach. Considerable damage was
done to this critical equipment and a substantial claim ensued.
It is difficult to see how any anti-collision device could have prevented the first
incident, but BPC considered that an effective anti-collision system should be installed due to the nature of the typical
duty cycle of these cranes and the possibility of more accidents in the future.
As previously reported in WorldCargo
News (May 2005, p2), it commissioned
Navtech Electronics to develop a system
capable of detecting objects as thin as
10mm and in all weather conditions at a
sufficient distance to enable the crane to
be brought to a halt without impact.
On the radar screen
The Navtech crane anti-collision system
uses high-resolution radar to identify hazardous obstructions in the path of the
moving crane boom. Should the crane
approach the ship too closely or the ship
drifts towards the crane, the system will
generate alarms to the control systems.
The system measures the speed of the
crane during long travel and automatically measures the time to impact in both
directions of travel as well as the range to
the obstacle and the closing speed. Time
to impact and distance are used to generate warning and stop signals.
The radar sensor acquires measurements through a 360 deg arc from 2m to
100m. Multiple measurements are taken
within the radar beam width to ensure
there are no missed segments. Several radar measurements are compared to reduce
nuisance alarms and improve detection
probability, to provide a probability of
detection for a thin whip antenna at 50m
of 99.95 per cent, with higher detection
probabilities for larger objects.
As the crane approaches an obstruction, ranging from a small whip antenna
to a part of the ship, a relay contact is
activated to alert the crane control system to slow down at a pre-determined
time to collision. If the crane continues
towards the obstacle the crane is alerted
to stop short of the obstruction. The radar cancels the stop alarm when it detects that the crane is reversing direction.
Due to the high resolution of the
N100-AC radar system, the crane can
approach closely the ship without triggering the alarm, so operating efficiency
is not affected.The system also tracks the
trolley position as it moves through the
detection zones to avoid false alarms. ❏
Aspect of Navtech radar system at BPC Bristol
26
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
Safety improvements for container crane brakes
This is the second article in a series
being written for WorldCargo News
by Bill Casper, PE of Casper, Phillips
& Associates,Tacoma, Washington
Inability to release the brakes
may result in catastrophic failure.
At least one brake manufacturer, Bubenzer, has recently offered to provide a push button
brake release that the crane operator can use to deal safely with
a slow motion event such as the
tide going out.
●
A
s explained in the first article in this ser ies
(WorldCargo News, May
2005, pp60-61), container crane
main hoist brakes have a dual role.
They serve as holding brakes for
normal operations because the
motors are used to provide both
hoisting and stopping torque.
But they also serve as stopping
brakes when, for whatever reason,
the main hoist motors have inadequate braking capability for
emergency situations. Typical
emergencies include loss of electrical power, E-stops, overload
trips, overspeed trips and snag
loads.
Modern practice is to have two
independent sets of brakes to ensure that there is adequate stopping torque for such emergencies.
One set comprises the operating
brakes coupled to the hoist motors.The other set are emergency
brakes that act directly on the wire
rope drums.
Shaky practice
For these typical emergencies it is
necessary to have adequate thermal capacity as well as adequate
braking friction. Industry practice
is a little shaky when it comes to
ensuring adequate thermal capacity because full scale drop test facilities are not available.
Therefore, to perform a proof
test for a new crane it is necessary
to use that crane in lieu of a drop
test tower.To minimise the risk of
a proof test failure and to provide
maximum future operating safety,
it is best that all brakes act as fast
as physically possible.
This is fine so far as it goes.
Let us assume we have done everything we can to ensure the
brakes can always stop the main
hoist system. But when can having too much braking capacity be
dangerous?
One is too many
Here are a few examples. They
occur infrequently; some perhaps
never occurred. They are classic
examples of low probability of
occurrence and high consequence
of failure.
A dramatic accident occurred
when a barge suddenly became
unstable and rolled over before the
crane operator could release the
twist locks. E-stopping the main
hoist brakes would have caused the
hoist ropes to pull down on the
boom and perhaps overturn the
crane.
The crane operator saved both
himself and the crane by calmly
letting out rope while trollying
backwards to gain stability. No one
pushed E-stop but the hoist ran
out of rope after the operator had
trolleyed back some distance. By
this time the barge had completed
the roll over and there was only
minimal overstress as the rope
broke free of the drum.
Another actual case is a combination of a container jammed
in a ship cell with the ship going
down as the tide was going out
and brakes set due to a power outage. The solution was to cut the
hoist ropes free with a cutting
torch. Apparently there was a reason why the brakes could not be
manually released.
Mooring failure
What if a ship has a mooring failure and pulls away from the dock
while the crane is picking a load
from within the ship’s cell? A few
years ago a home video clip of a
crane collapse was transmitted
July 2005
A practical answer
Figure 1: “Gantry snag.”The spreader twistlocks are engaged, the container is
attached to the ship.... the ship or the crane moves. (Casper, Phillips & Associates)
worldwide via e-mail. This accident was reported to have been
caused by a mooring failure that
let the ship move downwind along
the dock while the crane was
motionless.
A similar accident could occur if the spreader is deep in a cell
when the crane gets hit by a
microburst wind.The crane starts
to run away, the crane operator hits
E-stop, and hoist rope tension rapidly increases pulling mostly
downward yet doing very little to
resist the horizontal wind force.
Evidence pointer
Also consider the following case.
The evidence indicated that it
happened, although it was never
confir med. The container is
jammed on a hatch cover and the
crane operator is unable to break
it loose.The crane has suffered irritating snag trips so the snag system valves are turned off.
The crane operator tries to
break the container free by pulling sideways with the gantry. By
starting full stick with the hoist
ropes vertical, the gantry rapidly
gains considerable momentum
before the hoist ropes pull taut
and trips the overload switch
that automatically sets the all
crane brakes. With the brakes
now set it is a case of the moving mass of the gantry versus the
mass of the moored ship. Guess
which won?
the ropes are seldom the weakest structural element.
Graphic descriptions
Plots of typical loads to one of the
hoist ropes due to gantry snag are
shown in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5.
These plots are all for the same
assumed gantry configuration.
There is no particular significance
to that configuration. They just
have differences in initial hoist location and initial rope tension.
Figure 2 is for the hoist located
in a machinery house with zero
initial rope tension. Figure 3 is the
same hoist location with rated load
initial rope tension. Figures 4 and
5 are similar except the hoist is
located on the trolley, which is the
worst case for gantry snag because
total rope length is shorter.
The common factors with
all the accident scenarios described above are:
● Hoist is stopped so the hoist tachometer is reporting zero speed.
● The hoist tension reaches overload tension so the overload
switch trips.
● The operating brakes are set and
the emergency brakes may be set.
● There is little or no danger if the
hoist brakes could be automatically
released in a controlled manner.
With some R&D effort a similar automatic brake release system could become an industry
standard. Here is one practical
solution:
● Container crane brakes are set
by mechanical springs and released
by hydraulic pressure. For emergencies that include loss of electrical power a back-up hydraulic
release could be used; one that has
an accumulator to store pressurised hydraulic fluid and has standby battery power to the necessary
controls and valves.
● Copy automotive anti-lock
technology to invent a release that
produces a pulsed series of releaseset cycles. Pulsed release has been
demonstrated to be necessary for
consistent and reliable anti-lock
braking.
● Use the concurrent condition
of zero hoist tachometer and
overload trip to automatically
signal a pulsed brake release
mode. Stop this mode when the
overload signal reduces below
operating level rope tension.
Restart mode if the overload
signal again reaches the trip
level; continue until crane driver
or maintenance eng ineer s
manually take control of the
crane.
Not transparent
Most accidents involving container cranes go unpublicised
and uninvestigated.There is no
equivalent to the accident investigations that follow airline
or railroad accidents.
It is human nature to be reactive rather than proactive so
the usual results are knee-jerk
actions by those directly involved. This approach to accident safety has served over a few
decades to produce safer and
safer brakes gradually.
Almost all such improvements
have been made in response to a
buyer’s purchase specification requirement. Perhaps the suggestions given above will be instituted
Figures 2-5 (Figure 2 above) all show typical loads to one of the hoist ropes
during a gantry snag event. (Source: ibid)
Figure 3
Figures 4 and Figure 5 (below) are the “worst case” examples because the rope
length is shorter, so the ship or cranes travels a shorter distance before breaking
load is reached. There is nothing special about the gantry crane configuration,
although the configuration is the same in all cases. (Ibid)
as part of this continuing process.
Certainly, nothing has been
suggested that is too technically
challenging, but implementation always depends on economic justification. ❏
“Gantry snag”
We have coined the term “gantry
snag” to describe the latter three
failure scenarios. Gantry snag is
depicted in Figure 1. Picture that
the container is attached to the
ship and the gantry moves to the
right. Or the gantry stays fixed and
the ship moves to the left. Either
way the hoist ropes start vertical
with all hoist rope tension pulling
straight down.
For gantry snag there is no initial horizontal pull on the gantry.
As a horizontal pull develops it is
accompanied by a large increase
in vertical pull. This continues
until either relative motion stops
or the magnified rope loads cause
something to fail - boom, forestay, trolley, or hoist rope.
Usually the hoist ropes have
a safety factor of between 3.0
and 5.0. So the crane will survive if nothing else fails and
relative gantry motion stops
before reaching a tension level
of 3 to 5 times rated load tension. Otherwise, the result is
likely to be catastrophic because
31
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
Where there’s life, there’s hope
P
rojects to modify or upgrade cranes often arise
when the cranes have
plenty of useful life left in them
but have been overtaken by
changes in ship sizes. An interesting project in this regard has been
executed recently by Noell
Konecranes for Thamesport,
Hutchison’s London terminal.
To cater for the latest 8200
TEU Evergreen ships,Thamesport
needed to extend its 15- year old
MGM cranes from 16- to 17wide outreach and raise lift height
under the spreader by 3m as the
new ships stack 7-high on deck.
Various alternatives were examined, with the most popular
being the traditional manner of
cutting the crane legs and inserting a new section as well as lengthening the boom with a new end
section. Noell Konecranes had already successfully used a set of lifting towers to raise four cranes at
Felixstowe. Alternatively, heavy
floating cranes could be used.
These are readily available at Rotterdam, and were used to raise a
crane for ECT, but would have
to be brought in from the continent for Thamesport.
Compact trolley
Eventually, however, a solution was
adopted that entailed less out-ofservice time and less disruption to
the two-berth quay. To gain the
additional clearance height and
outreach, it was decided to fit a
new trolley and rope reeving system.The new trolley design has a
lower depth than its predecessor,
which gains 3m. As it is also
shorter, it can run further out on
the boom and thus achieve the
extra 2.5m of outreach required.
The new trolley required the
reeving system to be changed, but
over the years this had been a
source of problems anyway. Some
of the sheaves also had to be relocated, including those on the
headblock, which were moved
through 90 deg.
The anti-sway system was also
removed to provide additional
clearance height. It was a fairly
cumbersome arrangement and
crane at the end of the quay to
allow the work to be carried out.
The quay is an apron supported
on piles and connected to the
mainland by bridges, so the cranes
could not be rolled back out of the
way. Despite this handicap, it took
just three weeks to modify the last
crane from start to finish as experience had accumulated.
Miami thrice
Thamesport cranes: the upper landside sheaves had to be relocated to suit the
lower height of the new trolley
was not used by the crane drivers.
In any event, the change in the
headblock sheave orientation
should provide more predictable
sway patterns. Due to the different height of the trolley and cab,
it was also necessary to modify the
access walkways and introduce
new safeguards for gate opening.
Noell Konecranes suggested
the fitting of a catenary trolley.
Thamesport has decided to monitor the first crane to see if one is
required. In the event, the crane
operated smoothly, so none of the
cranes were fitted with the catenary supports.
Possibly the most disruptive
part of the programme involved
moving the crane to be modified
off the quay and onto a barge
which could then position the
Cur rent projects for Noell
Konecranes include one for Port
of Miami Crane Management.
The new berth No.6 was completed in April and the port will
station three of its 10 cranes there.
However, it is at an angle to the
existing quay and the cranes do
not have turnable bogies. Noell
Konecranes will use its Fluidts
transport system to turn the cranes
through 20 deg, transport them
40-50m to the new quay and position them on the rails.
The project is due for completion by the end of this month.
Noell Konecranes also has an order from GPA Savannah to raise
three cranes by 6m using a lifting
tower. In addition, turnable bogies
will be retrofitted to a Kocks crane
at Ocean Terminal so it can negotiate a curve.
Last year in Miami, East Coast
Cranes & Electrical Contracting,
Inc (ECC) completed a project on
three low profile, shuttle boom
Kocks cranes (WorldCargo News,
March 2004, p2). Shortly afterwards
the port began a project to electrify cranes 4-10 driven by onboard diesel generators.
As of May this year, all work
which includes the installation of
the cable trench, strengthening of
the crane rail support beam, new
crane storm tiedowns, electrical
underground duct banks and
manholes, electrical pits and new
fenders had been completed at
Berths 3, 4 and 5, although Berth
2 has been delayed until the port
completes required dredging.
Additionally, the construction
of the new electrical vault and
switch gear room is complete as
well as the main underground
duct banks to the electrical pits.
Installation of the electrical
components is under way. Nearly
all substations, cable reels and
diverters have been installed by
ECC and work on the first crane
should be completed soon.
Other projects for ECC include three cranes acquired by
Tampa Port Authority (TPA) for
its Hooker’s Point Container Terminal. As previously reported
(WorldCargo News, March 2005,
p25), the cranes are low profile,
Panamax Paceco Portainers previously with APM in Newark and
they have now arrived in Tampa.
TPA purchased the cranes
from Universal Maritime Service
Corp in New Jersey, a subsidiary
of APM Terminals. The cranes
were shipped by barge (above) contracted by ECC, which is carry-
Tampa’s second-hand cranes were
barged in by the main contractor, ECC,
which believes this is the first time that
three container cranes have been moved
on one barge shipment
ing out the crane modifications.
Specifically, ECC will install
new festoons, Cavotec cable
reels, Hillmar gantry wheel
brakes, substations from GE
and hurricane tie-downs.
The cranes are a key component of the TPA’s 10-year plan to
expand its container terminal handling facilities. “Tampa is attracting more attention from container
lines looking for efficient,
uncongested access to our significant local market,” said Wade
Elliott, TPA’s marketing director.
The local trucking market is >
230,000 TEU/year.The port’s customers include Zim, Osprey,
Tropical Shipping and Seatrade.
Le Havre job
In France, Kalmar was contracted
by GMP to upgrade three cranes
at Europe Atlantique Terminal in
Le Havre. Work on two of the
cranes has now been completed.
The cranes were built in 1990
by Caillard and have been a source
of problems for a number of years,
with severe cracks appearing in
various structures such as the
boom, forestay and backstay.
The cranes were built later
than the one that led to the death
of its driver in Le Havre several
years ago when its boom and trolley collapsed onto a ship’s deck because of a backstay failure. GMP
had nonetheless carried many repair jobs over the years in order
to ensure the safety of the cranes
but had been advised that several
critical parts of the cranes were
life-expired based on their classification and usage expectations.
The Kalmar solution has extended the crane life by 0.5-1 mill
cycles.The forces in the crane have
been reduced by installing a new
trolley which, at around 45t, is
about 40 per cent lighter than the
80t trolley it replaced.
In addition the boom has been
replaced with a new boom that is
about the same weight as the old
one but is of trapezoid box construction, which is more rigid and
better able to withstand eccentric
loads. The electrical installations
have also been updated to reduce
maintenance costs.
Kalmar is also working on
crane modification and/or upgrade projects for ECT Rotterdam and HPH Gdynia, in each
case involving Nelcon cranes. ❏
Infra-red PM equipment
A new infra-red analyser for preventative maintenance has been
introduced for crane maintenance engineers by Belgiumbased DSG bvba. It covers electrical parts, mechanical parts,
couplings, bearings, motors, cable reels, etc. Tests have been
under way with PSA-HNN in
Antwerp..
The camera takes a video
picture as well as a thermographic image which identifies
the inspected parts’ heat signature and finds hot spots indicating that there is problem. Temperature readings are said to be
accurate to within ± 0.1 deg C.
The whole camera assembly
weighs just 3 kg. The software
32
automatically links the video and
infra-red images to prevent confusion about the components
needing attention. Inspections
can be downloaded using a pcmcia memory card.
DSG (Depauw Service
Group) also carries out repairs
on crane electrical cables and
cable reels, installs HV cabinets,
builds MV and HV containers,
repairs reefer containers, etc.
An associated company,
Electrical Power & Applications
(EP&A nv), is the Belgian agent
for Cavotec group’s Specimas
cable reels, for which recent applications include two Reggiane
ship-to-shore cranes at HNN’s
Nordzee terminal. ❏
July 2005
CHINA: PORT DEVELOPMENT
Shanghai leads the race west
Shanghai is looking to the Yangshan development and Yangtze river network to
sustain its phenomenal growth rate, but it
faces increasing competition from Ningbo
Shanghai International Port Group
(SIPG) is making a series of investments
at terminals in Shanghai and along the
Yangtze river delta in a bid to establish
Shanghai as the premier gateway for the
mid-central region. Its strategy is to provide a transport system based around
feedering cargo down the Yangtze to terminals at Waigaoqiao and eventually the
new Yanghsan development.
Years in the planning, the first phase
of the Yangshan deep water development
is scheduled to start trial operations soon.
SIPG’s deputy general manager Tao Huifu
says the project is on target.The preparatory work for the start of phase 1 is going
smoothly, he says. Shanghai Shengdong
International Container Terminal Co Ltd
(SSICT), the operator of Yangshan Phase
1, was officially established this June and
is expected to start operation by the end
of this year.
Phase 1 will have a total quay length
of 1600m with five deep water berths
equipped with 15 cranes initially. The
cranes will have an outreach of 65m and
an SWL of 65t for twinlift operations.“As
volumes rise,” says Tao,“SSICT will consider purchasing more quay cranes.”
The CY will measure 1200m x
1600m and be equipped with 50 RTGs.
Importantly, the yard will be directly behind the quay cranes and not separated
from the quay by long bridges as at the
Waigaoqiao terminals.This will allow the
number of terminal tractors per crane to
be reduced from 4-5 to 3-4.
Donghai bridge to Yangshan. There will
be no toll to use the bridge but to minimise costs to shippers and reduce traffic
SIPG recognises that trucks need to carry
Shanghai East Container Terminal. Note the
feeder cranes in the distance facing the other way
WorldCargo
news
a load both ways. A new container management department will be set up to help
lines and trucking companies match truck
availability with jobs.
The original plan for Yangshan featured a road and rail bridge but the rail
link was dropped as too expensive. Instead a rail terminal will be built at
Luchaogang, by the mainland end of the
bridge and SPMP is building four RMGs
for the terminal. In the longer term it is
planned to build a dedicated rail bridge
out toYanghsan but rail volumes, currently
less than one per cent of Shanghai’s total
throughput, will have to grow significantly
before it can be justified.
Dragon’s tail
In 2004 1.6 mill TEU were barged down
the Yangtze to Shanghai, 11 per cent of
Channel dredging
Tao says Yangshan’s deep water berths are
not a panacea for all Shanghai’s current
difficulties and the Yangtze channel still
needs to be dredged. He points out that
Yangshan can only accommodate the annual increase in Shanghai’s business, and
it still has 13m TEU as well as bulk cargo
to manage. Bulk vessels are currently
lightered in the channel by MV XIN
SHAUANGFENGHAI which is equipped with
two gantry grab unloaders running on
rails along the deck. Current depth is 10m
with a 2.5m tide and phase 3 of the dredging programme should see this improved
to 14m plus tide by the end of 2007.
SIPG is thinking long and hard about
how best to integrate Yanshan with its
existing terminals.There had been speculation that Yangshan could be used to
lighter and top off vessels coming or going from Waigaoqiao but Tao says calling
at two terminals would be inefficient. To
make full use of the draught, SIPG intends to encourage European services
with the largest vessels to call initially, although this will of course be adjusted
according to need.
What SIPG does not want to see are
road trucks travelling empty on the
SIPG for Peru?
China’s state-owned Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) is reported to
be negotiating 50 year concessions for 10
Peruvian ports, according to the El
Comercio newspaper in Lima.
The announcement was made during
a recent visit to China by Peru’s president Alejandro Toledo, who commented
that if Peru wanted to be competitive, it
would have to improve its ports, airports
and highways.
Technicians from SIPG plan to visit
Peru to look at the current ports privatisation process and provide specialist assistance where possible. The current national upgrading plan for ports in Peru
involves an investment of US$1 bill until
2012, of which US$224 mill is scheduled
to be spent in 2005-06. Of this, US$193
mill will be used to develop the leading
import/export port of Callao. ❏
July 2005
33
WorldCargo
news
Shanghai’s total throughput. SIPG
expects barge volume to grow at
an average annual rate of 12.5 per
cent, which would see it doubling
to 3.2 mill TEU/year by 2010. As
previously reported SIPG and its
subsidiary Shanghai Port Container Company (SPC) are participating in the restructuring of the
Wuhan Port Group.
Upriver investments
This is one of many investments
planned forYangtze terminals and
SIPG says it has “already invested
or is looking at investing in
Chongqing, Changsha, Anqing,
Wuhu, Jiujiang, Nanjing and
CHINA: PORT DEVELOPMENT
Dafeng as well.” These port developments are part of the wider
“go west” strategy being promoted by Beijing to encourage investment away from the three
main coastal markets.
Wuhan has long been targeted
by investors, initially those looking to establish a transport network linking theYangtze to Hong
Kong. In 1992 Hong Kong’s
Wharf Holdings was involved in
a plan to funnel containers from
Wuhan to Hong Kong via barge
to Changsa and then onto
Guangzhou on the BeijingGuangzhou rail route.The following year Wharf Holdings got pro-
vincial approval to for a scheme
linking Chongqing and Wuhan
with Beliun in Ningbo, but it
never went ahead.
Regional hub
Wuhan is a major city but is probably more important as a gateway
for exporters in neighbouring regions who use trucks and barges
to move containers to Wuhan
where they are transhipped to
Shanghai-bound services.
Chinese state news agency
Xinhua recently reported that
Wuhan handled 80,000 TEU of
exports in the first five months of
this year, up 75 per cent over last
year. Over 90 percent of the containers originated in Chonggqing,
Changsha and Xinyang. Of the
two main container terminals
Yangsi recorded a 22 per cent increase to 55,700 TEU while
Yangluo handled 21,800 TEU, the
same as its total 2004 volume.
The new Wuhan Port Group
plans to upgrade some of the existing facilities and develop new
container capacity.Yangluo will get
four new container berths while
Yangsi will be expanded to cope
with an extra 500,000 TEU.
Projects under way at the
Tunkpu ro-ro terminal and the
Zuoling dangerous cargo terminal will be completed, while the
passenger terminal at Hankpu Wuhan being a busy port forYangtze cruises - will be upgraded.
At other Yangtze ports container handling is very difficult as
the water level varies by as much
as 20m with the seasonal fluctuations in the Yangtze. Some of this
variance will be eliminated by the
Three Gorges project but several
ports will continue to use floating cranes and cable cars to get
containers up to land.
River highway
Improving port capacity needs to
be matched by investments in the
Yangtze waterway itself and Tao
says the Ministry of Communications is taking a strong lead on
this. At present many small craft
and towed barges ply the river and
navigation can be dangerous. Tao
says the MOC is developing a
Yangtze navigation system and by
the end of this year many smaller
craft will be banned from the river.
Old barges of 20-30 TEU capacity are being replaced with new
250-350 TEU dedicated container
barges and within five years only
they will be allowed to carry containers. The river is over 100m
deep in places, but other parts require regular dredging and regular maintenance and this is being
addressed.
Xinhua also reported that foreign lines are also interested in operating on the Yangtze and Evergreen reportedly sent a delegation
to Wuhan to investigate the market. The timing is propitious as
China has to allow foreign ownership of logistics ventures by the
end of this year as a condition of
WTO membership and Wuhan is
an ideal base from which to serve
the mid-central Chinese market.
SIPG also needs to be mindful of how to cater for the growing barge volume at Shanghai.The
The new Ningbo Daxie Container Terminal. China Merchants International
holds a 45 per cent stake in this facility and City Group 20 per cent
SPC terminals, Shanghai Hudong
Container Terminals (Phase IV)
and Shanghai Mingdong Container Ter minals (Phase V) at
Waigaoqiao have smaller cranes for
barge handling but there are no
plans for a dedicated barge terminal or lower cranes atYangshan for
at least two years.
However,Tao says barge facilities will be included within the
completed Yangshan facility.
Eventually it will have 30 berths
able to handle 13 mill TEU/year.
SIPG is not the only operator
looking to develop terminals on
the Yangtze. Hong Kong-based
Modern Terminals Ltd (MTL) is
involved in building a new dedicated container ter minal at
Taicang, about 50 miles from the
mouth off the Yangtze.
Earlier in the year MTL’s managing director Erik Bøgh Christensen said that the feeder network
to Shanghai needed to be addressed as existing services to
Waigaoqiao are “not that good.”
Competition
Their rival administrations have
long been competing to attract
manufacturers and other investors
but competition between the
ports of Shanghai and Ningbo has
been muted by the long road distance between the two and Shanghai’s lack of deep water. The official line that the two port groups
are complementary has to a large
extent been true as many carriers
call at Shanghai and then Ningbo.
Two developments mean this
is about to change: Yangshan will
soon be open for business; and the
bridge across the Hangzhou Bay
is nearing completion. Although
Ningbo is just 136 n/m from
Shanghai trucking time is around
six hours as trucks must use the
Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo expressway. A bridge across the
Hangzhou Bay is under construction and, when completed in approximately 12 months, will cut
journey time to two hours.
Offering a stake
Ningbo Port Group has recently
admitted it is developing facilities
to compete with, rather than complement, Shanghai (WorldCargo
News, February 2005, p6). It is also
prepared to offer lines a stake in
container terminals and, as previously reported, Evergreen has a 50
per cent share in two berths at
Phase IV while OOCL and MSC
have investments in facilities in
build in the Chuangshan area.
Most ambitiously, Ningbo
plans to build a container terminal complex to rival Yangshan on
Jintang Island. China Merchants
is also pushing for Daxie Island,
where the new Daxie Container
Terminal recently opened, to become a free trade zone. As the
competition heats up shippers are
expecting each port group to increase incentives on offer, and
some are joking that Zhe Jiang
Province will impose a hefty oneway toll on containers taking the
Huangzhou bridge to Shanghai
while letting containers flow to
Ningbo for free.
Daxie up
The Ningbo Daxie container terminal opened for business this
month and is now looking for
customers. It has seven cranes, the
first three of which are installed
on a 360m berth and the next four
will operate over 570m of additional quay, currently in build.
The 35-ha yard is equipped
with 12 RTGs and another nine
will be added next month.A gatehouse with eight lanes and a 9857
m 2 CFS warehouse have been
completed. When the terminal is
finished by the end of 2006 it will
have 16 cranes on 1500m of quay
and a capacity of 2 mill TEU/year.
China Merchants International Terminals Co Ltd holds a
45 per cent stake, Ningbo Port
Group 35 per cent and City
Group 20 per cent. Jack Huang,
Ningbo Daxie’s vice manager,
business department, says Daxie
offers considerable advantages
over other terminals in Ningbo
including deeper water: 17m at the
first berth compared to 13.5m at
other Ningbo ter minals, and
18.5m in the channel. It is also
more sheltered from strong currents and inclement weather and
Huang says it will suffer far fewer
operational delays than the other
Ningbo terminals and Yangshan.
Concerns about overcapacity
are mounting in Ningbo, but although growth has slowed from
44 per cent in 2004 to 28 per cent
in the first five months of this year,
the cargo base is growing rapidly.
Daxie hopes to attract customers
by being part of a network offered
to lines through China Merchants’
network of terminals.
Huang says many lines currently call and Shanghai and then
Ningbo before heading down to
the Pearl River Delta and China
Merchants is offering lines packages across all three of the main
Chinese markets. Operationally,
this will help carriers as delays at
one port can be made up at another. Huang adds that as a Sinoforeign joint venture, CMHI can
be more flexible on price as it
operates more efficiently than terminals run by state port operators.
Traditional floating crane and cable car transfer system on the Yangtse, near
Shanghai. (Photo: Jon Monroe)
34
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CHINA: PORT DEVELOPMENT/CARGO HANDLING
Automated EC yard cranes
ZPMC is commissioning its novel
automated yard handling system featuring remote controlled cranes for
the truck/tractor interface and automated stacking cranes (ASCs) for
conventional yard stacking.
As previously reported (WorldCargo
News, February 2004, p1), the design features portal RMGs with two trolleys operating over the yard blocks and smaller,
single cantilever RMGs for the vehicle
Yanghsan will remove Shanghai’s water depth disadvantage but Shanghai’s rivals are questioning its claim thatYangshan
will be able to operate 340 days a year.
Port operators in Ningbo and Busan say
the Waigaoqiao terminals struggle to get
this many days and inclement weather,
particularly high wind, will be a greater
problem at Yangshan further out in the
East China sea. In fact, the Shanghai government has announced that it wants to
erect 33 wind power generators on the
Donghai bridge as it is the most cost-effective location.
interfaces at either end of stacking blocks.
The cranes are installed at Shanghai
Port Container Co’s (SPC) Waigaoqiao
Terminal branch, otherwise known as
Waigaoqiao Phase II and III. The site is a
test bed or ZPMC, SPC and its parent
Shanghai International Port Group
(SIPG) and will handle operations in an
empty CY. The capacity of each crane is
limited to 6 tonnes for EC operations and
the maximum gantry speed is 120 m/min.
As can be seen (right), the containers
are stacked transversally in the yard rather
than end-on and can be stacked up to 8high. Three 40ft containers can be stacked
between the crane rails and each trolley
on the yard ASCs can pass the other in
the trolley travel direction allowing independent operation.
The interchange area between the yard
ASCs and the vehicle transfer cranes has
six fixed stacking guide frames on the
ground spaced the same distance apart as
the twin trolleys on the yard ASCs. This
enables the ASCs to pick two 40ft containers and then travel to the yard.
Yaskawa input
ZPMC has developed the automated
crane control system in conjunction with
Yaskawa, which supplied the drive system components. Gantry and trolley pos-
Operating lessons
Shanghai’s throughput reached 7.01 mill
TEU in the first five months of 2005, up
27 per cent on 2004, and SIPG expects
the port will handle 17 mill TEU this year.
The most recent terminal addition is
Phase V at Waigaoqiao that has 1110m of
new berth with 14 cranes and is operated
in a joint venture with HPH as Shanghai
Mingdao Container Terminals.
Despite adding capacity at Waigaoqiao
steadily since it opened in 1992, SIPG has
had to rely heavily on increasing efficiency
to cope with rising throughput – traffic
has increased >50 per cent over the last
two years but wharf length has increased
by just 14 per cent. One of the main ways
SIPG has met the shortfall is by increasing crane density.
The Waigaoqiao terminals now have
a crane density of one crane per 80-90m
of berth. In fact, Phases II and III operated by SPC now have 22 cranes over a
total quay length of 1565m, almost one
every 70m! Whilst other operators firmly
believe 4-5 cranes is the limit over a vessel before landside congestion becomes a
problem and productivity starts to diminish, Tao says SIPG uses eight and even
nine cranes on the largest vessels.
The first cranes and Waigaoqiao had a
width over buffers of 29.5m but this was
reduced to 27m to enable increased density. Terminal tractors are served in the
tunnel and the backreach, unless hatch
covers have to be put there. As the quays
at Waigaoqiao are built out into the water and connected to the yard by bridges,
4-5 tractors are needed per quay crane.
Record claimed
SPC’s deputy general manager Bo Hai Hu
claims the terminal achieved a world
record in June 2004 when it recorded a
vessel productivity rate of 529.23 moves
in one hour. This was achieved during a
5600 TEU exchange that was managed
in just nine hours. Nine cranes were used
initially and then eight. SPC is regularly
handling 13,000 containers a day and, says
Bo, can handle up to 20,000/day. The terminal handled 4.61mill TEU last year and
this year is targeting 5 mill TEU.
Yard capacity is maximised through
strictly enforced limits on dwell time set
by the Ministry of Communications. Export containers are not accepted at the
terminals until three days before loading
date, imports must be removed within
four days and storage is charged after three.
Empty containers have to be collected
after just one day before incurring charges
and in no case are allowed to remain in
the terminal longer than seven days.
Other measures include using twinlift
spreaders on all the quay cranes (except
smaller barge handling units) and simulation software to optimise container stacking and tractor routing. SIPG has developed its own TOS, called TOPS (Terminal Operating Port System), which runs
over an Oracle database. Further systems
are being developed by the Shanghai
Harbour E-Logistics Software Company,
a subsidiary of SIPG. ❏
July 2005
35
WorldCargo
news
ition are controlled by laser sensors and gantry fine positioning is
achieved with a two-motor system on the long travel drive. Using a differential gear reducer a
large motor is used for the main
gantry travel and a smaller motor
for fine positioning in the 1020mm range.
Stacking is controlled with a
stack profile system and telescopic
stacking guides that extend below
a hoisted container to the sides of
the container below to align the
containers. Positioning over terminal tractors and road trucks is
controlled remotely using CCTV
images at two stations in the main
control room.
SPC’s Waigaoqiao Terminal
deputy general manager Bo Hai
Hu says the cranes will be put into
operation shortly, following function and yard planning tests. He
expects the system to be able to
handle 120 empties/hour.
A company called Zhenhua
Harbour Mechanism Group has
applied for a patent over the “relay system” with two different
sized yard cranes. ZPMC vice
president and director of research
and development Tian Hong is
listed as the inventor. ❏
CHINA/KOREA: PORT DEVELOPMENT/CARGO HANDLING
Keeping the crane standards up
S
tandards verification services
provider BureauVeritas (BV)
China now has 21 engineers
in its crane and port machinery
division in Shanghai.
Country manager Rakesh
Kumar explains that BV can provide all services from pre-construction design review and independent structural analysis to quality and safety inspection during
fabrication, erection, installation,
testing and commissioning.
Most ports pay close attention
to specifying components but
Kumar says reliability and longevity is also very much influenced
by build quality and, in particular, how the crane is assembled.
Some ports send their own personnel to China to supervise fabrication either during key stages
of the construction process or at
pre-defined intervals but inspection requires different skills.
Structural quality requires adherence to standards selecting
materials and at the cutting, welding, assembly, shot/sand blasting
and painting stages. Familiarity
with crane fabrication is vital as
and heavier, weight verification
has become increasingly common
and Kumar says 70-80 per cent of
customers require cranes to be
weighed. A two or four jack test
can be specified and BV’s rôle is
to witness the test.Variation is expected but is normally minimal.
The final test before a crane is
shipped is normally an endurance
test where the crane runs under a
specified load continuously for a
period - commonly 24 or 48h.
covering 112 ship-to-shore gantry (STS) cranes and 327 RTGs.
Main clients include HPH and
P&O Ports but, increasingly, it is
delivering services for Chinese
customers. Kumar says there has
been a “sea change” in expectations from Chinese buyers in the
last few years, driven by experience in jv terminals.
BV is currently providing
TPI services on two STS and
33 RTGs for Yangshan Tongsheng Port Construction Co,
two ship unloaders for Yantai
Wanhua at Ningbo and two STS
cranes for Yantian West Port. ❏
this is the stage where intervention is required if specifications are
not being met.
As components are installed
and the crane is assembled experience is needed to ensure that
alignment of the main drive
mechanism is correct and that fleet
angles in the rope reeving system
are measured and verified.
Some of the more difficult decisions to be made during the
construction process occur when
the manufacturer wants to devi-
ate from specifications or where
they are exercising discretion to
select an “equivalent” component.
Kumar says it is not the third party
inspector’s rôle (unless explicitly
asked) to determine whether a
deviation from standard is acceptable, but to identify deviation and
advise the customer. For example,
ASTM/DIN steel has been difficult to source recently and the end
user has to decide whether to accept an alternative.
As cranes have become bigger
Pusan East Container Terminal (PECT) has become the
first terminal in Korea to implement automated cranes,
commissioning five automated RMGs, termed automated transfer cranes (ATCs),
from Hyundai Samho Heavy
Industries at new berths 4-5.
The cranes stack 9-wide between a 28.5m rail gauge and have
dual cantilevers covering two road
lanes. Stack height is 1 over 6 x
9ft 6in high and operational speeds
are 150 m/min for the gantry, 120
PECT gets automated
In beano veritas
Over the last eight years BV China
has provided verification services
m/min for the trolley and 75-80
m/min for the empty hoist.
The crane control and automation system was developed by
Seoho Electric around Siemens
drives components and GPS technology very similar to a previous
ATC demonstrated in the railyard
at Gwangyang and also proven
over five years on an autosteering
system on seven RTGs at
Gwangyang’s Phase II. Gantry and
trolley position are determined by
GPS with encoders for back-up.
Hoist position is calculated with
encoders and laser range finders
for stack profiling.
The ATCs will be combined
with PECT’s existing RTG operation parallel to the quay and
operate over road trucks and terminal tractors. Final spreader positioning over road trucks will be
by remote control, similar to the
bridge cranes at Singapore’s Pasir
Panjang terminal, while handling
terminal tractors will also be automated. Both cantilever areas will
be fenced off from the stacks.
Road trucks will be directed
to the correct position underneath
the crane by a light system activated by sensors mounted between the bogies. When the
spreader is 400mm over the container the remote operator takes
over and controls the crane via
three monitors showing up to 18
camera angles.
All handling in the stack is
automated, although a remote
operator in the control room or
on the ground with a hand-held
unit can intervene if for some reason a spreader cannot be landed
or during maintenance. Seoho director Seung Nam Kim says the
GPS/encoder position system is
accurate to within ± 10-15mm.
For further fine positioning the
spreader is fitted with six laser sen-
sors that control four fine positioning winches giving 150mm of
movement in each direction.The
spreaders are fitted with hydraulic flippers, as is standard in Korea
for most yard cranes.
In a demonstration performed
for WorldCargo News one ATC
built and then dismantled a stack
of six containers landing the
spreader correctly every time and
aligning the containers much
more accurately than most RTG
operators. Another notable impression was the almost silent operation. There was no audible
noise from the spreader hitting a
container or the containers contacting with each other.
30-40 per cent
PECT’s president I J Kim expects
automation to deliver major cost
benefits and the ATCs to be 3040 per cent more productive than
RTGs. Currently four RTGs are
needed for three quay cranes per
berth but this will be reduced to
three ATCs. Operating costs are
expected to fall by 20 per cent and
maintenance costs should be
much lower as controlled container placement reduces wear and
protects the sensors and cameras
on the spreader. Kim expects the
extra cost of the ATCs to be recovered within 3.5 years. At this
stage it has not been decided
whether one or two remote operators will be required. ❏
DPI’s Pusan Newport Co Ltd (PNC) has taken delivery of the first batch
of 81 rail-mounted gantry cranes from Doosan. As previously reported the
dual-cantilevered RMGs are rated at 65 LT and stack 9-wide between
legs and 1 over 6 x 9ft 6in high. They are fitted with semi-automated
controls from Seoho-Siemens, along with GPS position determination and
trailer positioning systems. Other main components include Cavotec cable
reels and Bromma “Marathon”YTR45 yard crane spreaders with “smart”
communications and twin-twenty detection as an added safety measure for
truck drivers. The first 3 x 350m berths should be ready for opening in
January next year, followed by three more in 2007 and the final three in
2009. Capacity on final build-out is conservatively estimated at 5.5 mill
TEU/year.The first batch of ZPMC quay cranes, with a 22-wide waterside
outreach, and a rail span of 42.7m to allow for nine traffic lanes between
the legs, are due to arrive at the end of this month
36
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
Sidelifter safety in the spotlight
Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia continue to be three of the
largest markets for self loading
trailers (SLTs) or “sidelifters” as
they are better known, although
on a per capita basis, Iceland and
Isle de Réunion would take some
beating. The transport sectors in
the three first-named countries
have grown strongly in recent
The market for self loading trailers in Australasia is
booming and manufacturers are focusing on safety
as Australia considers a separate standard for SLTs
years and the two largest manufacturers, Steelbro of NZ and
Hammar of Sweden, have facilities in all three markets.
block trains between ports and a
handful of inland centres.
The need for Linercrane disappeared over night and after
lengthy DTI mediation, Blatchford’s bought it back. Subsequently the rights to Linercrane
and the Blatchford T-Lift designs
and references passed to Herbert
Pool Ltd. Later still Nigel Pool licensed T-Lift to Michael
Blatchford and the right to offer
Linercrane for sale (WorldCargo
News, July 1999, pp30-31).
Steelbro’s sales and marketing
manager Albear Montocchio says
demand is growing in line with
general growth in containerisation
and Steelbro is expanding its global coverage and now has machines in 100 countries.
Production of the Klaus designs (purchased by Steelbro in
2001) has ceased but existing machines continue to be supported
and some military units are currently being refurbished.
Hammar NZ’s managing director Fredrik Sandberg says 32
new SLTs were registered in NZ
last year, a high number considering the market is mature and most
units are replacement models.The
Malaysian market is currently one
of the strongest and Hammar says
it delivered 42 units last year and
is targeting 50 machines in 2005.
Devonport link-up
Focus on safety
Working in collaboration with the
railway equipment division of
Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd
(DML Devonport) as the party to
modernise and recommission the
Linercrane, Blatchford offered it
as a candidate for the SRA’s
intermodal prize scheme, but his
proposal was turned down.
It would cost £5-10,000 to
disassemble Linercrane and take it
to DML Devonport for a complete overhaul. Electrical contactors and relays and cabling would
be replaced by digital drives and
fly-by-wire controls and new
power-on-demand (load-sensing)
hydraulics would be fitted. The
engine would have to be replaced
by one which complies with today’s emission norms, at least for
service in Europe.
The cost of renovation and
recommissioning is not known,
but is nothing compared to the
benefits, says Blatchford, if only
potential investors could see beyond next year’s balance sheet. He
has appealed to the DTI to step
in and provide the necessary funds,
but is adamant that this is not a
“lame duck” exercise.
Both Blatchford and Pool are
convinced that the Linercrane has
a future. Road congestion is endemic and set to get worse; oil
prices are set to stay high and rail
uses less oil per tonne moved; the
shortage of truck drivers as a result of drivers’ hours regulations
is now estimated at around 35,000
nationwide, and so on.
“We don’t want Linercrane to
become discarded technology just
when the wheel is about to turn
full-circle,” says Blatchford. The
Linercrane concept can bring
modal shift to the regions where
gantry cranes or reach stackers
and the associated civil engineering costs cannot be justified and
it can be moved around the network to create “temporary” terminals as required. ❏
For the Australasian market SLTs
are built to Australian Standard
1418 that covers cranes and general lifting appliances. AS1418 is
currently being revised and a separate set of regulations for sidelifters
being considered. Hammar Australia’s managing director Peter
Levison says the review is still under way and as yet there are no
separate standards for sidelifters.
Steelbro has recently launched
two new models and a new load
monitoring system, called SmartLift. Montocchio explains that
using mechatronic design technology Steelbro has focused on developing machines that meet customers’ demands for greater lifting capacity within axle weight
limits, increased safety and improved reliability of the lift arms.
The end of the line?
An innovative British rail /road
intermodal transfer tool is heading for the scrap heap, unless
last-ditch efforts to save it are
successful. The rail-mounted
Linercrane has been parked up
in Woking for the past 14 years,
but EWS now needs to clear the
siding for reconstruction and it
has given the machine’s owner,
Nigel Pool, until the end of August to take it away.
The Linercrane was developed
by Ralph Blatchford for Freightliner (FL) in the early 1980s. The
project was funded 20 per cent by
the Blatchford family and 80 per
cent by the DTI under its PPO
(pre-production orders) scheme
on the basis of commitments to
use given by FL. At the time FL
was looking to expand its inland
operations and planning to convert a number of disused sidings
to intermodal depots.
Anywhere on W6A
Linercrane, which fits below overhead catenaries in handling as well
as in transport mode by virtue of
its T-Lift cross travel design, could
be hauled by the train on any W6A
route between depots. Being selfpowered, it could also be used instead of locos for shunting and
marshalling in the depots as well
as for handling containers.
The sidings were already there
and no reinforced paving was
needed as is the case when heavy
mast trucks or reach stackers are
used. The background work in
favour of a self-handling, self-powered rail car had been prepared by
BR’s consultancy arm Transmark.
Originally BR-FL looked at an
extant German system, ULS, but
plumped for the Blatchford design
because it was more flexible.
FL duly acquired the Linercrane but, apart from a few
handlings in Bristol, could not find
a use for it. There were some
teething problems because the
drivers were not used to the drive
systems, but the real problem was
that, by this time, BR had puts its
freight expansion drive into sharp
reverse in the light of increases in
EU road vehicle gross weights
(first from 32t to 38t), which were
strongly supported by the “antirail” Thatcher government.
Now in political retreat, BR
raised the bar for rail to compete
with road from hauls of 60-80
miles to 200 miles. Instead of expanding the depot network, many
depots were closed and the sole
focus for FL became container
To enable the machine to cope
with a range of different loading
conditions Steelbro lets the operator determine where and at what
angle the stabilisers are positioned.
SmartLift incorporates position
Swingthru model 27T in USA
New models
The first new machine is marketed
as the SB361 in Europe and NZ
and the SB401 in Australia. The
difference reflects the extra lifting
capacity requirement in Australia,
where Steelbro says it now offers
the world’s first 40t sidelifter. Both
versions feature SmartLift which
uses intelligent software and sensors to monitor and control the
lifting operation every 50 milliseconds.
The Linercrane in action in Radstock in 1985. Blatchford and Pool believe
there ought to a place for this concept, an all-in-one marshalling and handling
unit which gives trains self-loading capabilities, as a facilitator of modal shift
July 2005
37
WorldCargo
news
CARGO HANDLING
sensors that prevent the load being extended beyond steeply angled stabilisers or being moved
over the off side of the trailer.The
system also prevents the sidelifter
being used on dangerous gradients and cambers and the stabilisers being moved once there is a
load on the lifting pin.
Less stress
The new SB 121M from Steelbro, with three crane arms
Montocchio explains that
SmartLift has major benefits for
the owner of the machine as well
as the operator. Controlling the
lifting environment means less
stress is placed on the crane units
and this reduces wear and main-
tenance costs. To prevent crane
overload and ensure that axle
weight limits are not exceeded
SmartLift weighs each container
to within an accuracy of 1 tonne.
The electronic control system
has an IP65 housing and records
data including lifts per day, weight
record, safety interventions and
fault events to identify how hard
the machines are being used and
where they are being pushed to
the limits.The control system also
self-diagnoses electrical and sensor faults, for easier maintenance.
At this point SmartLift is available only on the new SB361,
SB330 and SB401 units but
Steelbro aims to offer a retrofit for
some older models soon. Looking further ahead, options are being considered for remote communication with the control system that could also be combined
with a tracking system.
Empty cycle
The second new model is the
SB121M – a 3-arm machine with
centre and rear cranes that fold flat
for handling two 20ft or one 40ft.
The SB121M has a 12t capacity
and has been designed specifically
for lightly loaded and/or empty
containers.
While standard sidelifters can
carry two 20ft containers they
must always be handled together
whereas a third crane gives flexibility to handle 20fts independently.The rear flat folding arm also
allows for rear dock loading.
A large part of the demand for
the SB121M is expected to come
from operators that have three or
more sidelifters operating in a fleet,
as is common in Australasia and
Malaysia. In these markets drivers
are making short journeys and
performing up to 15-20 lifts/day.
Customers pay much less for
moving empty containers than full
and the SB121M can help operators achieve operational savings, as
a lightweight 2-axle prime mover
is sufficient instead of a heavier and
more expensive 3-axle unit
needed for a heavier sidelifter.
Longer Hammar
Hammar has no plans to follow
Steelbro and offer a 3-crane machine at this stage. Sandberg predicts demand for such a model will
be limited to perhaps five units/
year. Hammar sees more potential in SLTs that can handle 45ft
containers and has just delivered
its second such unit to NZ.
Unlike other 45ft machines
the trailer is fixed and not a trom-
LCD display on Steelbro’s new SmartLift system
bone design and Sandberg says it
can be operated on NZ roads with
an overlength permit. Sandberg
thinks there will be a growing interest in 45ft containers from exporters more concerned about
volume than weight as the price
of shipping a 45ft is not that different to a 40ft.
Hammar is of course watching the review of AS1418 carefully but Sandberg does not expect to have to make major design changes. He says that it is possible to make a sidelifter absolutely
foolproof to operate, but as there
is no standard lifting environment
there is not much point.
Hammar considers the best
way to make sure the operator uses
the machine correctly is driver
training and it offers all customers a day’s training with new purchases. However, transport companies across Australasia are currently contending with a major
shortage of truck drivers and
turnover is high.As no special permit or license is required to operate a sidelifter many operators get
no formal training.
Another concern for Hammar
is the cost of any extra safety systems that may be required.
Hammar has managed to hold its
price in NZ for seven years by
achieving economies of scale in
purchasing and manufacturing
and increasing its sales volume.
Sandberg says a new tractor
and SLT is a huge investment for
its customers, particularly owner
operators, and it does not want to
add extra cost unnecessarily.
Swing Thru the US
Another New Zealand manufacturer, Swing Thru International
Ltd, is having good success in the
US where it has taken orders for
five machines in the last three
months. Swing Thru is now represented in the US by Container
Handling Solutions of Rochelle,
Illinois and recently launched a
new model for the US market, the
27T. Managing director Geoff
Kidd explains that the 27t
(59,000lb) capacity reflects the 25t
maximum container weight on
US roads plus a safety margin.
The 27T incorporates Swing
Thru’s special arched overdeck stabilisers on one side and angled
beam “Swing Thru slam-down”
stabilisers on the other. “The
overdeck side is for transferring
containers to and from other
trucks, trailers and railway wagons
as an overdeck leg has the best stability and also allows transhipment
to other vehicles without having
to be placed on the second vehicle,” says Kidd. The rapid deploying slam-down legs are used in
pick-and-carry applications.
Container stiffeners
Kidd adds that a particular challenge in designing for the US
market is the prevalence of lightweight trailer designs that rely on
the container itself to keep them
rigid with a heavy load.The crane
units for the 27T are 2t lighter
than SwingThru’s 35t machine.
Another Swing Thru design
targeted at the US market has a
10t capacity and four simple
38
manually deployed vertical cylinder stabilisers mounted on a US
built trombone trailer. Units have
been sold to container lessors.
Military muscle
Swing Thru has previously supplied military machines for the
NZ and US armed forces and although the US military’s recent
purchase of several hundred rough
ter rain container handlers
(RTCHs) suggests it favours this
technology, Kidd says experience
with the RTCH has enhanced the
opportunity for Swing Thru.
The US National Defence Industrial Association has reported
that the RTCHs in Iraq have been
subject to frequent damage, mostly
due to poor operator training, and
difficult to maintain in the desert.
Swing Thru is currently preparing a machine for service in Iraq
and has been asked to remove all
the electronics and fit a manual
control system. Steelbro has also
recently sold sidelifters into Iraq.
Another development is a rail
maintenance machine designed to
lift 60ft sections of track complete
with sleepers weighing up to 11t.
The crane units would be
mounted on a rail car and lift track
from the adjacent double track, the
design is being developed for a rail
track maintenance provider.
With regard to safety, Kidd
notes that SwingThru has for several years had a system that prevents the machine becoming overloaded or operating dangerously.
The lifting boom will not operate until a pre-load is detected on
the legs and when the machine
gets to 90 per cent of its SWL a
warning sounds and orange lights
flash on the control unit. At full
capacity a siren and red lights are
activated and the units stops.
Value-added
Last year Containerlift, the UK
operator of Steelbro sidelifters,
introduced its own intermodal
service based round a curtainsided swap body for which local c
& d services would be provided
by a sidelifter (WorldCargo News,
September 2004, p16).
This was an interesting probe
into the “retail” sector but it has
to be pitched carefully because
Containerlift is also the agent for
Steelbro and it cannot compete
with potential customers on that
score. But it was probably the lack
of interest in SLTs in the UK
which led Containerlift to become an operator in its own right
in the first place and it has enjoyed
considerable success on that score.
A similar development has
taken place in Germany, where
Mafo, the agent for Steelbro (and
Klaus), has launched a service
called Intermoder, for 20ft containers or C type swap bodies.
The new initiative was announced at the Munich Transport
Fair in May by Mafo’s managing
director Robert Huthloff and Ralf
Jahncke of intermodal consultancy
Transcare.A study by Transcare has
indicated that considerable cost
savings can be achieved using
Intermoder and it is a good way
of promoting traffic shift from
road to rail. ❏
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CONTAINER INDUSTRY
New boxes stacking up in China
A
s this issue was going to press, it
was estimated that upwards of
800,000 TEU of new container
equipment was stacked up in Chinese
container manufacturers’ yards awaiting
pick up. Add depot stocks and the total
idle equipment inventory in the country
is probably over 1 mill TEU.
The situation is a far cry from the same
time last year, when box builders were
working flat out, leasing companies were
hard pressed to meet demand and only
the most heavily damaged equipment remained in depots.
Seasonal delay
20ft unit by the fourth quarter of this year.
Ironically, this situation has arisen at a
time when upwards of 1 mill TEU/year of
new capacity is being brought on stream
in China this year and next, which can only
serve to put further pressure on prices.
CIMC has already opened new
150,000 TEU/year plants this year in
Yantian and Taichang, boosting its own
capacity to over 2.3 mill TEU/year, while
the start of production at China Shipping’s
CIMC is using the new Ningbo Daxie
container terminal to store production from its
Ningbo plant
new 150,000 TEU/year facility in
Lianyungang is said to be imminent.
Meanwhile, the former 100,000 TEU/
year LACI plant in Lianyungang has been
taken over by major creditor the Heilan
Group and production has resumed there.
Heilan also plans to restart production at
LACI’s former sister plant, SACI in Suzhou.
Both plants closed last year in the wake of
financial irregularities.
Elsewhere, CXIC is building a new
200,000 TEU/year plant in Huizhou
(Guangdong), while the same location has
been earmarked by Singamas for a similar sized facility. MCI is slated to open its
new 100,000 TEU/year dry freight plant
in Dongguan (Guangdong) in the second quarter of next year and is reportedly planning a similar facility in East
Shanghai, also for start up in 2006. ❏
Observers say that the traditional peak
shipping season, when consumer goods
start flooding into Europe and the US
in the lead up to Christmas and boxes
are in short supply, simply has not yet
happened this year.
At the same time, with ever larger vessels at their disposal shipping lines have
become far more efficient at repositioning their empty equipment from “graveyard” locations in the US and Europe to
demand centres in the Far East, which
has impacted their requirement for new
leased equipment.
With ongoing consolidation in the
liner shipping industry - the latest examples being the imminent Maersk Sealand/
P&O Nedlloyd merger and news that
China Shipping, CMA CGM and possibly Hapag-Lloyd are stalking CP Ships that process can only accelerate in the
years to come.
And though there are signs that things
are finally starting to move, it is naturally
shipping line-owned equipment that is
going out first. Lessors are still anxiously
waiting for demand to take off and though
some have the financial strength to hold
their nerve until the peak season really
arrives, others are reported to be slashing
their per diem rates in a desperate bid to
get boxes on hire.
No options
The upshot for the manufacturing sector
at what is usually the busiest period of
the year is that few buyers took up their
options in the second and third quarters
and production has dipped significantly.
Any thoughts of matching last year’s
record output, when over 2.6 mill TEU
of dry freight equipment was built, have
gone completely out the window.
Local reports indicate that of CIMC’s
13 dry freight factories, only three - Shekou,
Yantian and Xinhui, all in the southern
Guangdong province - are currently working on two shifts. All the others are on a
single shift or in stop-go mode.The Shanghai CIMC Far East Container Co factory
in Pudong (Shanghai) has been closed
pending a move to a new location near
the city’s new port area next year.
Similarly, only one of Singamas’ six dry
freight plants - SSPC in Guangdong - is
currently working on two shifts. Plants
in Xiamen, Shanghai (two) and Tianjin
are on single shift operation, while QPCC
in Qingdao is reported to have temporarily suspended production because of a
lack of orders.
Jindo’s plants in Guangdong and Shanghai are reported to have orders until the
end of the year, but its Dalian plant is said
to be working only spasmodically. Other
“independent” factories are also said to be
working reduced hours.
Price slide
Not surprisingly, perhaps, ex-works prices,
which peaked at around US$2350 for a
standard steel 20ft unit in the south of the
country earlier this year due to a combination of high demand and rising corten
steel prices, have started to slide.With corten
down to US$620 per ton from US$740
earlier in the year, recent quotes have been
made at US$2100 in the south, US$2000
in the Shanghai area and US$2050 in the
north, although commentators say that
with the current dearth of business, manufacturers are prepared to slash up to
US$100 off those prices for orders of
around 10,000 TEU or more. Indeed, some
buyers are anticipating a further fall in
ex-works prices to around US$1850 per
July 2005
39
WorldCargo
news
CONTAINER INDUSTRY
European container makers battle it out
T
he European box building
industry is losing ground
steadily, as it grapples with
high overheads and relentless
competition from China. Even the
production of more specialised
containers could soon be denied
to it, as leading Chinese firms,
headed by CIMC (China International Marine Containers Ltd),
Singamas Container Holdings, and
Jindo factories in Guangzhou and
Shanghai, are aggressively chasing
this business as well.“The Chinese
appear more committed than ever
to taking over all types of container manufacture, no matter how
diversified, specialised and localised it is, and are equally intent on
ending all foreign competition,”
said one still-prominent container
builder in Europe,
European manufacturers have
already relinquished virtually all
their former production of dry
freight specials and more latterly
have lost a substantial share of
palletwide 45ft “Eurobox” production.This has followed an ear-
Europe’s container manufacturing industry faces
increasingly tough times as it continues to grapple
with high production costs, lack of volume orders
and relentless Chinese competition
Swap bodies, like these 7.82m units
built by Gulf Intermodal sp Zoo for
Vos Logistics, now form a major part
of European box builders’ output
Increasingly, it is feared, only
the most “specialised of specialised manufacture” will be left to
European companies, primarily
customised swap bodies or units
dedicated for use by the military
or nuclear industry.
Falling output
lier exit from the ISO standard
market and many are now becoming concerned that the manufacture of swap bodies could head the
same way.The latter have, for some
years, been a mainstay of production and kept a considerable part
of the European industry alive.
Container output from Europe has
fallen steadily in recent years and,
given the increased amount of
highly specialised manufacture, has
little relevance today in the global
context. Estimates suggest that Europe’s total combined output of dry
freight equipment, including maritime, palletwide and swap body,
declined to around 50,000 TEU in
2004. Around 70 per cent (or
35,000TEU) came from factories
based in Western Europe, with the
balance produced in Eastern Europe, Russia and Turkey.
Total European production in
2004 divided as around 20,000
TEU of maritime containers,
20,000 TEU as swap bodies and
10,000 TEU palletwide units. In
addition, 17,000 TEU of ISO reefers were constructed in Denmark
by Maersk Container Industri
during 2004, together with around
2500 TEU of maritime and swap
tank containers at various factories across West Europe.
Even when all production is
included, Europe barely accounted for 2.5 per cent of world
container output in 2004, although its contribution remains
more important when calculated
in terms of production value.
The current outlook for 2005
suggests a further slight fall in
overall European dry freight production, perhaps to around
45,000 TEU, while the reefer and
tank component will likely be
similar to 2004.
European builders were still
producing over 100,000TEU in
2000, including 80,000TEU of
dry freight types. The following
five years have seen factories
switch to alternative (and more
profitable) production or cut back
their manufacturing in volume
terms. Even the recent big jump
in finished container prices has
brought little respite, as competitors in China remain intent on
chasing more specialised business
and, in most instances, can still undercut rivals in Europe.
Material costs
Moreover, the European industry
has been hit just as hard as its Chinese counterpart by the large rises
in the cost of steel and other raw
materials, while the greater overheads carried by European plants
and their lack of volume production have limited the scope for
other cost savings to be made.
European builders have long
been impacted by the continued
high strength of the Euro, which
further undermines the industry
in comparison with China. Despite the 50 per cent recovery in
Chinese container prices last year,
factories across Europe are still
unable to compete at all in the
ISO sector, even when the cost of
repositioning from China to Europe is taken into account.
Furthermore, container builders in China are continuing to
benefit from the strong westbound
movement of exports into Europe,
which has created increased cabotage opportunities and minimised
repositioning costs, as well as permitting Chinese suppliers to
match the delivery times offered
by local manufacturers.
This is why European builders
have already lost a big share of
palletwide box manufacture to
China, including the all-important
45ft “Euro” length. The vast majority of cellular palletwide contain-
Appliance of science
With financial support from the
EU’s Marco Polo programme,
German household appliance
manufacturer BSH Bosch and
Siemens Hausgeraete has
switched a significant proportion
of its Germany-UK traffic from
pure road transpor t to a
multimodal alternative using extra high cube 45ft palletwide containers on inland waterway and
short sea shipping services.
Hitherto, the company has used
jumbo trailers with an internal
height of 3m to transport refrigerators, dishwashers and cookers
from its production facilities in
southern Germany to its UK distribution centre in Milton Keynes.
Following a workshop in
2003 organised by the Bonnbased Short Sea Shipping Promotion Centre, BSH investigated alternative transport concepts and
appointed Robert Kukla as its
freight forwarder. The latter uses
short sea shipping for 50 per cent
of its transport needs.
It was quickly ascertained that
the 2,690mm internal height of
existing 45ft palletwide container
designs was insufficient for BSH’s
needs. Certain appliances, such as
dishwashers, could only be stacked
two high compared with three high
in jumbo trailers.“The shift of these
goods to water would only be economically viable if there was the
same volume capacity in the means
of transport,” said Knut Sander,
Kukla’s transport manager.“Freight
40
45ft x 10ft 6in high palletwide boxes
have allowed BSH to shift much of
its Germany-UK traffic from road to
multimodal transport
costs are always broken down into
each loaded appliance. With conventional containers we would have
had a disadvantage of 30 per cent.”
The solution came in the shape
of a 45ft palletwide container design with an external height of 10ft
6in, allowing it to precisely match
the loading capacity of jumbo trailers. Built for Kukla by Italian manufacturer Cobra Containers, the unit
features internal dimensions of
13.57m long x 2.44m wide x 3m
high. Tare weight is 4,850 kg and
maximum payload 29 tonnes.
Since April this year, appliances
for the UK market have been
loaded in the oversized boxes at
BSH’s Bretten production centre
and transported by specially designed trailers to the trimodal GUT
terminal in Gernsheim.There they
are loaded onto barges for transfer
to Rotterdam, where they are transhipped to short sea vessel and
moved to Purfleet in the UK. From
Purfleet they move by road to
Milton Keynes from which the
entire UK market is served.
BSH is anticipating that 60.3
mill tonne-km per annum from the
Bretten plant will be shifted from
road to multimodal transport by
2007. By the end of this year, annual short sea volumes are forecast
reach 45,000 TEU. ❏
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CONTAINER INDUSTRY
ers have long been constructed in China,
or elsewhere in Asia, and Chinese producers are also currently meeting a large proportion of Europe’s requirement for noncellular palletwide equipment, having only
entered this sector five or so years ago.
Much of this latter output is 45ft, with
the Chinese on target to supply over 80
per cent of such equipment this year. The
balance still comes from Europe, as do virtually all 30ft palletwide bulk containers
and the residual production of 20ft and 40ft
palletwide units.
Around 8500 x 45ft pallet-wide containers are currently being built annually,
almost 70 per cent of which are purchased
by Unit45 BV of the Netherlands either
for direct sale to its growing operator clientele or for inclusion within its newly
formed rental fleet.
Unit45 sources all its 45ft equipment
in China - dry freight equipment from
Guangzhou Jindo and its growing reefer
requirement from MCI-Qingdao. The
company aims to place around 1500 x
45ft units on lease during 2005 and procure a further 4000 units for third party
customers.
By the end of 2005, Unit45 will have
sold/financed or leased over 13,500 x 45ft
containers (including several hundred
reefers) since starting up in early 2003. It
already claims many repeat customers, including Eucon, ECS (European Container Services BV), BG Freight and
Transfennica. Newer names are Finnlines,
Seawheel and Versteijnen (Netherlands),
which all received their first 45ft equipment from Unit45 in 2005.The company
has also recently expanded its customer
base to include intermodal logistic providers, such as Van Dieren Maritime, and
is now targeting the Mediterranean region as well.
Its growing business activity is endorsed
by a recent study carried out by ING Lease
(also of the Netherlands), which indicated
that 45ft transhipment traffic was continuing to grow annually by more than 20 per
cent on European shortsea trades. Such
equipment is strongly challenging the more
traditional use of 13.6m trailers, not least
because of its ability to carry the same load
of 33 europallets.
which carry a dual corner fitting assembly to enable the unit to be transported
on older-style chassis built originally for
the carriage of 7.15m length bodies. A
further eight per cent of output will comprise 7.82m swap bodies, which compete
effectively with the shorter semi-trailer
combinations operated in Scandinavia,
and the balance will be of the longer
13.6m length. Despite the inexorable rise
in 45ft palletwide container use, demand
for 13.6m swap bodies is reported by
Krone to have risen again in recent years,
although some are clearly being built as
replacements.
Krone’s main production site has been
enlarged in recent months, following the
purchase of an adjacent plot vacated by
NATO.This has provided additional areas
for storage and production, although there
has been no further expansion of the factory line. The main aim, according to export manager Jorg Sanders, has been to cut
former production backlogs and accommodate larger inventories of materials/
components and finished production.
The existing manufacturing process is
already described as “state-of-the-art,”
having been subject to substantial investment over the past five years. All welding
and painting is automatic, with the latter
deploying an advanced electrodeposition/
powder coating system. In addition to its
swap body work, Krone is building upwards of 20,000 road trailers, chassis and
other transport units at its principal German site, plus 3000 reefer trailers at the
former Norfrig plant in Denmark, which
was purchased by Krone in 2000.
Production has also been increased at
another separate factory, in Lubtheen in
former East Germany, which was acquired
by Krone in late 2003.The Lubtheen site
was originally established by Graaff in the
early 1990s, but was later bought out by
the existing management and subsequently went into receivership. It has since
been refitted by Krone to carry out its
entire range of swap body construction
and today offers much the same level of
sophistication of the company’s main
plant, although it is tending to accomplish more specialised work. One recent
order concerned the production of 500
x 30ft swap bodies for EuroShuttle, featuring full side access, which are being
used to transport large paper reels from
Finland to Italy.
Despite its move into the former East
Germany, Krone harbours no plans to
move production “offshore” to lower labour cost areas. Sanders explains that due
to the high usage of automation, the company’s wage cost component remains relatively at less than 10 per cent of all overheads. Moreover, as the majority of specialised steel and components used in
swap body manufacture is still sourced locally in Germany, distribution costs would
likely rise if manufacturing was moved
elsewhere.
Competition from China is, therefore,
largely dismissed by Krone, even though it
remains a long-term threat. Sanders indicated that manufacturers there have difficulty procuring materials of correct specification and are limited to constructing only
the simplest design. Neither can they easily guarantee the on-time delivery of finished production to the customer, nor all
European niches
The market for 30ft palletwide bulkers is
both smaller and less dynamic than the
45ft sector, with around 3000-4000 units
constructed annually at various factories
across Europe. These go exclusively to
European logistics service providers
headed by UBC and Bulkhaul.
The production of swap bodies has
similarly stayed relatively flat at around
15,000 units annually in recent years, with
most output concerning units of 7-8m
length and still destined either for Germany or Scandinavia. As indicated earlier, some European manufacturers are
having difficulty meeting the price of
Chinese swap body production, although
they do still have a greater leeway when
carrying out such work.The average European ex-works price for a standard
7.45m swap body is currently put at between €5500-7000, which is equivalent
to a delivered Chinese price of around
US$7000-9000 for the same specification,
including positioning into Europe. Although achievable, this leaves little margin for the Chinese producer, which also
has more difficulty securing vessel space
for the repositioning of non-ISO equipment, into Europe.
For the time being, at least, swap body
production is confined to a handful of European factories, headed by Fahrzeugwerk
Bernard Krone, in Germany and Sicom
SpA in Italy, as various other former participants in Germany and elsewhere have
reduced their involvement.
Keeping busy
Krone has been busy over the past year consolidating its position as the world’s leading producer of steel-clad swap bodies.The
company continues to operate its highly
automated plant in Germany on three shifts
and expects to produce around 7000 swap
bodies in 2005. This compares with 5800
delivered in 2004 and the majority will
again be of standard steel box-type and feature the company’s smooth (shallow corrugation) design of panel.
Over 80 per cent of this year’s production will be of 7.45m length, all of
July 2005
41
WorldCargo
news
the necessary extras (such as double-casting sets and landing legs).
Matching current German prices
is also hard for the Chinese, even
given their lower labour costs and
the unfavourable Euro/US dollar
exchange. In short, the Chinese still
find it difficult to compete with
German producers serving a predominantly German market, Sanders said.
Italian job
Rather, much of Krone’s competition now comes from Italy and
Sicom in particular. The latter is
now Europe’s leading dedicated
container manufacturer, both in
CONTAINER INDUSTRY
terms of its annual production and
revenues. Output from Sicom has
approximated to 12,000-13,000
TEU in recent years, although
turnover is increasing as production becomes ever-more specialised and high-value.
According to Roberto Gai,
director of marketing/sales, the
Sicom factory lines at Cherasco
in northern Italy are booked almost to the year-end (accommodating the usual maintenance
break in August) and output will
be as highly diversified as ever.The
majority of its customers place repeat orders and, despite recent
price rises due to increases in ma-
terial costs and some production
backlog in recent months, have remained loyal.
Sicom’s core production is still
centred on the 45ft palletwide
box, with the balance comprising 7.45m swap bodies, 30ft bulk
containers and smaller runs of
specialised ISO equipment. However, the company is also increasing its fabrication of more specialised palletwide boxes and swap
bodies. One such development is
a new design of curtainside 45ft
palletwide container, featuring a
sliding roof, which is under production for Van Dieren Maritime.
The company also recently
launched an open top version of
its 7.45m swap body design.
Although the quantities are no
longer huge Gai said that production of steel-clad swap body and
palletwide containers was holding
firm. He also noted that the requirement for 30ft palletwide bulk
containers had picked up during
the past year after a period of
weaker demand, although the production of maritime open tops for
local shipping companies has now
all but dried up. The production
of all other ISO dry freight specials, including flatracks, cellular
palletwide, ventilated etc has long
since been relinquished to China.
Instead, the company’s recent
manufacture of ISO equipment
has been confined largely to10ft
modules for the Italian Interior
Ministry.
Gai concurs that although
Chinese builders are aggressively
chasing orders for most specialised
containers, they have yet to make
real inroads into the swap body
sector. The Chinese also tend not
to go after 30ft palletwide bulk
business because of its strong regional focus and the relatively limited size of annual demand. As already implied, a central problem
is the logistical and marketing
hurdle faced by would-be Chinese
competitors selling small production runs of specialised equipment
into Europe.
All round competition
Sicom sees Sea Containers’ subsidiaryYorkshire Marine Containers Ltd (YMCL), as one of its main
“all round” competitors, even if
the UK firm is still largely occupied with supplying specialised
equipment to its affiliate GE
SeaCo.YMCL’s annual production
has recently amounted to 50006000 TEU, also comprising a mix
of swap bodies, palletwide boxes
and other specials.Another, smaller
rival is Equimodal in Spain, which
has long produced swap body and
palletwide box equipment, albeit
in limited runs, and is understood
to have recently secured an order
for 300 x 45ft containers from a
Spanish intermodal customer.
Sicom’s longstanding Italian
rival, Cobra Container, also remains in production, but at only a
fraction of its former level. Output from its factory in northern
Italy has averaged around 3500
TEU during the past three years
and again compr ised mainly
palletwide and customised ISO
units and a few swap bodies.
In the swap body sector, Krone
42
Sicom’s new curtainside 45ft palletwide container under construction for Van
Dieren Maritime features a sliding roof (below)
and Sicom also have a number of
other competitors, primarily in
Germany, although all produce
such equipment on a relatively
limited scale and mainly as plywood or other specialised types.
A few hundred container-type
swap bodies are constructed annually by Kögel Fahr-zeugwerke
AG and Sommer Fahrzeugbau
GmbH, each of which remains
more heavily committed to serving the road transport sector.
Sommer introduced its own version of smooth steel-panelled swap
body several years back and has
more recently launched a 7.15m
module suited specifically for the
carriage of furniture (see p39).
Another established German
name is Kotschenreuther (KR).
Although better acquainted with
the manufacture of highly specialised equipment for the local market, this company has also recently
unveiled its own style of steel
7.45m swap body suited for Europe-wide operation, known as
Cargo Box.
Wecon is also still active as a
producer of more specialised swap
body and road transport equipment and has been working on
two swap body development
projects in conjunction with the
German engineering consultancy
firm, Contec. This design work
was carried out, respectively, for
Italian inter modal operator,
Ambrogio, and Warsteiner Brewery of Germany.The former centred on a new-generation 13.6m
Cold comforts for
reefer builders
The production of specialised refrigerated containers remains a
forte of European companies,
even if the mainstream reefer
market has shifted to China.
Graaff Transportsysteme
GmbH of Germany, for example, recently introduced a new
design of 45ft reefer swap body,
targeted at intermodal users. It
can accommodate 33 (800mm
x 1200mm) europallets and utilises a purpose-built reefer unit
capable of maintaining very low
(hard-frozen) temperatures.The
container features lifting points
at the 40ft and 45ft positions and
can be stacked two high when
laden and three high empty.
Overall external length of
the new design, including the
reefer unit, is 13.93m, external
width is 2.6m and height 2.77m.
Internal length is 13.36m and
height is 2.42m, giving a maximum cargo loading volume of
81m3. The reefer features a tare
weight of 5.4 tonnes and maximum gross weight of 24 tonnes.
Prior to its downsizing in the
1990s, Graaff led the reefer
manufacturing sector, regularly
building over 10,000 TEU per
annum. The company recently
sold a number of key reefer patents to its former licensee China
International Marine Containers (CIMC), including those relating to the well known 20ft
“Volumax” design, and is now
focused entirely on the specialised end of the market.
By contrast, Finsam Refrigeration AS, of Grimstad, Norway,
has always been small in scale and
highly specialised. It has continued in this vein right up to the
present, having recently completed a highly customised contract for 100 “expandable” reefer
containers.
This business, worth €14
mill, was secured from the Belgian Army and finally completed
early in 2005, working in conjunction with Uniteam International of Oslo. It involved the delivery of three different types of
special container, based around
the ISO 20ft module, which
provides 35m2 of expanded area,
corresponding to the floor area
provided by three standard 20ft
reefers placed together. Finsam/
Uniteam previously supplied a
similar type of design to the
Norwegian Army for use as an
operating theatre.
The military sector has become an important market for
Finsam in the past five years. It
has also been cooperating closely
with Uniteam, which handles
some of its marketing and assists
in the production/sale of numerous specialised containers
(reefer and standard) for military
applications.
One of Finsam’s most recent
projects has concerned the development of a new type of container material, again suited for
military application. It is based
on a sandwich construction
made from polyurethane and
aluminium sheet, and offers a
combination of low weight, high
strength and good insulation. ❏
July 2005
WorldCargo
news
CONTAINER INDUSTRY
curtainside unit, while the latter comprised a 43ft box type.
GIZ an order
Both the latter designs have since gone
into series production at another wellknown European factory, Gulf Intermodal
sp Zoo (GIZ), located in northern Poland. Formerly known as Unikon and
bought out by management several years
ago, the facility was acquired by Gulf
Container Systems of the UK in 2003
and has since been upgraded and placed
on a firm financial footing.
The UK parent organisation has itself
undergone a further streamlining and is
now controlled by holding company,
Gridpath Ltd, which is in turn wholly
owned by the Ron Moore 1990 Discretionary Trust. GIZ represents Gridpath’s
container manufacturing arm and main
overseas division.
As explained by sales director, Mark
Pett-Ridge, the Polish factory has two
lines dedicated to swap body manufacture and a third building ISO or generic
equipment for intermodal, military and
offshore end use. Recent production has
included the aforementioned 13.6m
curtainside swap body for Ambrogio, with
around 200 built to date.
More recently, GIZ has constructed a
run of 20 x 43ft units for Warsteiner and
signed a contract for another 50 to be produced later this year. The initial prototype
was completed late last year in conjunction with another partner, Orten GmbH.
Besides its connection through Ambrogio
andWarsteiner, GIZ is working withWecon
on other projects involving customers in
Germany, Austria and Belgium.
However, GIZ’s largest contract to date
covered the construction of 600 x 7.82m
swap bodies for Dutch customers, and
mainly Vos Logistics. This business was
originally secured in 2004 by Intermodal
Sales and Employment (IS&E), which is
now representing GIZ in the Netherlands.
Although the factory’s overall output
is relatively small, with a maximum of 1500
units predicted for delivery this year, the
range of production is highly diverse. PettRidge reported that over 20 different designs and configurations have been built
since 2003 and a similar number is planned
for introduction in the coming year.
The company is also carrying out
some ISO-type production. It is working
closely with Bison Concrete Products Ltd
(BCPL) to develop 30ft and 40ft flatracks
for use in distributing products to/from
the latter’s new flooring technology production centre in Swadlincote (UK).
These units will be the first to be registered under BCPL’s own name.
GIZ is also building 20ft half height
flatracks for Capital Intermodal, while finishing a run of specialised 20ft modules,
of an expandable type, for the transport
of laundry by the British Army. Other
recent work has encompassed the manufacture of offshore boxes for the group’s
leasing division and the refurbishment of
swap bodies for GE SeaCo.
Pett-Ridge commented that Poland
is still a good location for specialised container production as wages and other
overheads remain relatively low. However,
Poland’s recent accession to the EU is expected to force costs up.
been building dry freight specials in limited numbers, including open top, open
side and half heights, as well as 7.45m boxtype swap bodies. However, it has more
recently branched into the manufacture
of heavy-duty containers for the carriage
of nuclear waste and other hazardous/
combustible materials, and has just
launched a collapsible version suited for
the one-way disposal of refuse.
Finally, Med Union continues to produce containers in Turkey, alongside its
smaller rival ESEN. However, production
from both is below former years, with Med
Union reporting an output of 6000 TEU
for 2004. It is expecting an increase to 8000
TEU this year, comprising a variety of dry
freight and special units, though this will
still be below its single shift capacity of 38
TEU per day. ❏
Sommer’s furniture remover
German road trailer and swap body
manufacturer, Sommer Fahrzeugbau,
has developed a swap body aimed specifically at the transport of furniture.
The lightweight 7.15m unit comes
fitted with special securing equipment,
which is integrated directly into the plywood panels. It includes integrated
cargo restraining tracks, shoring poles
and two “SALS” cargo control tracks
fitted into the floor section.The panelling is GRP-coated plywood and the
one-piece roof is covered as standard
with an innovative Supertherm coating,
which is claimed to reduce the effect of
heat and UV radiation by 70 per cent.
Internal cargo-loading space has been
maximised to provide a length of 7.03m,
usable width of 2.48m and height (under
roof bow) of 2.5m. The unit has the usual
maximum gross weight of 16 tonnes and
can be provided as a fully demountable or
non-demountable version.
A further innovation is the company’s “mega-tilt” swap body WP-155-CU,
which has a 7.82m external length, high
cube height of almost 3.2m and width of
2.55m, providing internal loading dimensions of 7.7m (length), 3m (height) and
2.47m (width). The unit incorporates a
flat, high strength underfloor structure
and new design of longitudinal roofmember. The latter has minimised the
thickness of the roof section, which in
turn enables the sidewalls to withstand
higher lateral forces than in more standard models. It has also helped to maximise the body width and allow for an
economic stow of europallets.The roof
section can be lifted by 0.3m from one
or both sides.
This swap body meets the requirements of the cargo securing directive
VDI 2700 and DC 9.5, and is rated to
16 tonne maximum gross weight.
Losing out
Other container factories in Eastern Europe are already understood to be losing
workers to the lure of better working conditions in the west. Not that there are many
such factories left within the former eastern bloc, as the majority have now either
shut completely or switched to other types
of business, leaving GIZ as one of the largest still to be in container production.
Baltcontainer, outside St Petersburg,
is still active, offering ISO dry freight,
palletwide units and swap bodies. Customers include Transfennica, Northern
Shipping Co and Bruhn, which has been
a big purchaser of palletwide bulkers from
the factory. Swap bodies have, meanwhile,
gone to DHL Group and Zapfumzuge
of Germany. Annual production from
Baltcontainer has held steady in recent
years, at around 2000 units.
Some equally limited container production is still being carried out by Contis
(amongst others) in Romania, Ilyichevsk
ShiprepairYard in Ukraine and Container
doo in Slovenia.The latter factory has long
July 2005
43