Cruise ports need to upscale their representation by subscribing to the WPSP

by & filed under Port-city relations.

The launching of the World Ports Sustainability Programme (WPSP) by the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH), the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), AIVP – The Worldwide Network of Port Cities (AIVP) and the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) in March is a major step towards a responsible growth of the port industry. It is a most welcomed initiative by all of us serving ports and the maritime world.

WPSP aims to demonstrate global leadership of ports in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. This initiative wants to empower port community actors worldwide to engage with bule growth of the port industry. It is a most welcomed initiative by all of us serving ports and the maritime world.

siness, governmental and societal stakeholders in creating sustainable added value for the local communities and wider regions in which their ports are embedded. It is not surprising that nearly 1,000 ports and port-related companies committed themselves in Antwerp to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. All those loving the industry are pleased that an idea advanced by IAPH  (note: congratulations to a fellow PortEconomics member, Patrick Verhoeven for his leading role in making this happen) developed to a concrete initiative. The port Community has appreciated the initiative and works full steam ahead to make it happening.

The missing piece: cruise ports associations

What seems surprising though, is the slow reaction of the cruise port community: specialised associations representing it were absent from the signatories’ list. When societal pressures are mounting this presence would be more important than ever. Cleaner fuel consumption, reduced emissions, aesthetics of large ships, balanced deployment of cruise vessels, better waste reception treatment, the avoidance of overcrowding, environmentally sustainable chains, and nature and wildlife conservation, are few of the relevant issues that challenge cruise port. The cruise port community needs more than anybody else to develop synergies to solve collective active problems in and outside the port area.

It was for precisely these reasons, that cruise and ferry ports throughout Europe have been fully committed to serve the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. In recent times this was demonstrated at various other fronts as well, whether this translates to being instrumental at the European Sustainable Shipping Forum, or to specialised cruise and ferry ports Associations working within the ESPO Cruise and Ferry Ports Network to develop collaborative initiatives that combine the growth of cruise activities with social responsibility and environmental friendly strategy.

Thus, one would expect them to be vocal in favour of the WPSP cause.  Ufortunately, silence has prevailed this time.

Upscale of efforts is urgently needed

The slow reaction should be reversed, and cruise ports to be effectively represented. Cruise ports associations should continue to demonstrate in practice the existing commitment of their memberships to sustainable development in all respects, by subscribing to the aims of the World Ports Sustainability Programme. Cruise ports associations need to be partners of WPSP, in a move that would commit them to:

 

  • Contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals where and when possible within its own field of activity, competence and responsibility through existing as well as new projects and initiatives;
  • Encourage their members to sharing best practices as well as relevant information about running and new initiatives as well as publicly available data;
  • Provide guidance, support and recognition to their members on the areas covered by the 17 sustainable development goals;
  • Engage their organisation to promote the activities of the World Ports Sustainability Program;
  • Exchange on regular basis information, to evaluate the implementation of initiatives and commitments and to assess ways to strengthen cooperation.
  • Establish and maintain best practices;
  • Function as think-tanks and breeding ground for new collaborative projects;
  • Report regularly about the sustainability performance of the cruise ports sector.

 

WPSP offers a unique opportunity not to be missed:

By signing or practically supporting the WPSP Declaration cruise ports and their associations will engage to continuation and further development of existing initiatives towards sustainable and social responsible growth of cruise activities.

Associations representing cruise ports should jockey towards this end, rather than confirming any signs of inertia.

 

Source: Porteconomics

 

 

 

 

ROTTERDAM PROMOTES LNG AS THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE

by & filed under Port infrastructure.

A Port of Rotterdam event saw discussion on the benefits of LNG as a safe and attractive fuel for meeting IMO regulations.

‘Fuelling the Future: LNG’, saw over 50 representatives from several shipping companies and terminals informed about the benefits of LNG and the possibilities available at the Port of Rotterdam. “Our shared goal is to limit pollution. LNG is acceptable, available and affordable,” said Stefaan Adriaens, commercial manager at Gate Terminal BV, in a presentation. “You are not alone. There are plenty of suppliers and terminals around the world that can offer LNG.”

 

Bunkering opportunities

According to Cees Boon, safety advisor at the Port of Rotterdam Authority, LNG ship-to-ship bunkering during simultaneous operations (SIMOPS) is possible and allowed in Rotterdam, as long as it is safe and controlled. Similar to conventional bunkering, this bunkering activity takes place at the terminal although there are excellent additional possibilities at the buoys and dolphins and in the future, maybe also at anchorage.

 

LNG bunker suppliers Shell, Nauticor, Titan LNG and Total are ready for LNG bunkering at the port and heavy investments have been made and will be made in the coming period. The port said that the ‘chicken and egg’ situation has been broken but it now needs all stakeholder to work together to realise the potential of the fuel going forward.

 

Source: GreenPort

REMOTE CONTROL GANTRY CRANES AT FELIXSTOWE

by & filed under Digitalization.

The Port of Felixstowe has received its first two remote control ship-to-shore gantry cranes from ZPMC to help it handle multiple mega-vessels simultaneously.  The new cranes are capable of working vessels with containers stowed 11-high and 24-wide on deck. Instead of being in a cab 50 metres above the quay, the drivers will be located in a nearby operations centre.  Clemence Cheng, CEO of the Port of Felixstowe and executive director of Hutchison Ports, said: “These new cranes are the latest acquisition in our ongoing investment programme to provide the best equipment, infrastructure and systems for our customers. They will further enhance our capability to work multiple mega-vessels simultaneously.

 

“Remote control quay cranes have been pioneered at other Hutchison Ports terminals. Their introduction at Felixstowe will improve the working conditions of the drivers, enhance safety and benefit communications within operational teams.”  The cranes were delivered to Felixstowe, the UK’s largest container port, on the Zhen Hua 23 from Shanghai.  In addition to the new cranes, the port is creating an additional 18,000 teu of container storage capacity, upgrading its terminal operating system, raising the height of 10 ship-to-shore cranes on Trinity Terminal and has eight additional yard cranes on order for delivery in early 2019.

Source: PortStrategy

Singapore to Get New Technology Preventing Ship Collisions

by & filed under Digitalization.

Fujitsu Limited, Singapore Management University (SMU), and A*STAR’s Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) have teamed up on developing new technologies for vessel traffic management in the Port of Singapore, with the support of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

These predictive technologies will use artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics to optimize the management of Singapore’s port and surrounding waters, which sees an immense volume of seaborne trade and traffic, the partners said in a joint statement. The technologies will also be validated using real-world data to improve the forecasting of congestion and identification of potential collisions and other risk hotspots before they occur at sea.

The research and development for these new maritime technologies have been conducted under the guidance of the Urban Computing and Engineering Centre of Excellence (UCE CoE), a public-private partnership consisting of the Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), SMU, and Fujitsu, that was established in 2014. The outcomes of the research, as well as the practical knowledge and experience gained through the project trials, will be integrated into Fujitsu’s future maritime solutions. As a result of the collaboration between Fujitsu, IHPC, and SMU, technologies which are being developed include prediction models, risk and hotspot calculation models and intelligent coordination models.

As explained, these technologies will eventually be integrated and test-bedded for their potential to enhance navigational safety, such as the ability to detect and recognize a near-miss risk prior to the event by combining short-term trajectory prediction with risk calculation. Another target is to forecast and mitigate the dynamically changing hotspot before it is generated by integrating long-term traffic forecasts, hotspot calculation, and intelligent coordination models.

“As Singapore develops future capabilities that will enhance our port operations, research and innovation will remain key to the maritime industry. As part of the recently launched Sea Transport Industry Transformation Map, MPA is supportive of collaborations among local Institutes of Higher Learning and technology companies to explore new technologies that will raise the standards of navigational safety within the Port of Singapore,” Capt. M Segar, Assistant Chief Executive (Operations), MPA, commented.

“Multi-agent technology has been used extensively in coordinating the movements of unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned ground vehicles. In this project with MPA, SMU is breaking new grounds in research by proposing a next generation maritime traffic coordination technology that is akin to air traffic control, yet respecting major differences and constraints between air and sea navigation. With the advent of autonomous ships, this technology can potentially disrupt vessel traffic management to reduce human errors and improve navigational safety,” Professor Lau Hoong Chuin, SMU’s Lab Director and Lead Investigator of the UCE CoE, said.

Source:World Maritime News

Synchromodal integrated planning

by & filed under Integration in the supply chain and synchromodality.

A PhD dissertation which proposes an integrated approach for optimising synchromodal container transportation seeks to bring together optimal transport planning in intermodal networks and the design of an optimal fare class mix of customer-oriented services.

 

Optimal Transportation Plans and Portfolios for Synchromodal Container Networks, written by Bart van Riessen for Erasmus University Rotterdam, looks at the concept of synchromodality, which makes use of whole networks of intermodal services, and saw the development of five models for practical problems in synchromodal networks. The research addressed the planning problems in synchromodal networks from two sides, firstly to optimise transportation plans for minimum costs and secondly, to optimise the fare class mix of a transportation portfolio for maximum revenue. Almost all results show a substantial room for improvement in a synchromodal setting in comparison with a traditional approach, found the research.

 

Quantitative planning

The paper concluded that to optimally operate a synchromodal network, an operator must focus on an integrated transportation planning approach. Quantitative planning methods provide an opportunity for substantial improvement compared to relying on human insight and planning expertise for creating transportation plans or the portfolio structure. Perspective is crucial in synchromodal transportation, found the research. Especially in the service network design, both the type of modelling and the results depend strongly on the cost structure of the intermodal network. For integrated networks, substantial cost savings can be attained if an integrated network plan is made, in comparison to optimising each corridor separately.

Synchromodal transportation operators should focus on creating good initial plans for optimisation. For dealing with disturbances, it is more important to have alternatives per container available than to be able to update the entire plan. Support for real-time planning is also valuable both for new incoming orders, as for re-planning in case of disturbances.

 

Fare class mix

For better utilisations, higher revenue, and higher on-time performance, it is crucial to achieve a good fare class mix and it is important to understand that cargo can be rerouted and long-term commitments must be adhered to. The benefit from the flexibility that arises from offering different services is likely of more value than the potential revenue increase, found the research. For tactical and operational planning optimisation in synchromodal networks, it is beneficial to create an integral plan for a network of multiple corridors.

 

Source: Port Strategy

 

Report: 28 of 100 World’s Largest Ports Offer Incentives for Green Ships

by & filed under Environment.

Today, 28 of the 100 world’s largest ports in terms of total cargo volume handled offer incentives for environmentally-friendly ships, a new report released by the International Transport Forum (ITF) shows.

Greenhouse gas emissions from shipping currently represent around 2.6% of total global emissions. Without reduction measures, this share could more than triple by 2050. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) last week set a target of reducing shipping CO2 emissions by “at least” 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels. To achieve this, stringent measures now need to be put into place, according to the report. Many of these measures focus on ship design and operations. However, ports also play an important role in reducing the global carbon footprint of maritime shipping, the report says.

Some US ports offer reductions for ships reducing speed when approaching the port. In addition, the Panama Canal Authority provides priority slot allocation to greener ships. What is more, Spain includes environmental incentives in the tender and license criteria for the towage services provided in ports, while Shanghai has an emission-trading scheme that includes ports and domestic shipping. Moreover, Norway has a NOx tax in place. However, the impact of port-based incentives on global shipping emissions is said to be marginal. The only scheme for which serious impact studies exist is the vessel speed reduction scheme in Los Angeles and Long Beach in the United States.

As informed, green incentives typically apply to less than 5% of the ships calling at a port with an incentive scheme. Only five ports use CO2 emissions a substantial criterion for incentives. Any incentives shipowners may currently have to order more efficient ships with lower emissions can only to a very small extent be a result of savings from port-based incentives, the report finds. The report thus recommends to acknowledge the important role of ports in mitigating shipping emissions, expand port-based incentives for low-emission ships, link port-based incentives to actual GHG emissions and move to a more harmonized application of green port fees.

“Ports clearly play a hugely important role in helping the shipping sector to manage the transition to clean shipping,” Olaf Merk, ports and shipping expert at ITF, said. “Port-based incentives for greenhouse emission mitigation could provide an important supporting role,” he added.

Source: World Maritime News

Fluxys to Add LNG Bunkering Facility at Port of Antwerp

by & filed under Accessibility and Standards.

There are several EU and national climate measures for implementation of the Paris Agreement that oblige ports to reduce the carbon footprint of their land-based activities. Most of the European ports have  set goals towards decarbonisation of shipping activities by providing green services. Under the EU Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive (DIRECTIVE 2014/94/EU) , LNG bunkering facilities and On-shore Power Supply should be provided in ports of the TEN-T core network by 2025. Belgium-based Fluxys has taken over the concession in the port of Antwerp to make liquefied natural gas (LNG) available as an alternative fuel for ships and barges.

The company will add a permanent LNG bunkering facility by the end of next year to complement the existing mobile (truck-to-ship) bunkering service at the port.Over the next year and a half the company will construct the infrastructure needed for barges and smaller seagoing ships at quay 526-528 to fill up with LNG at a permanent facility with LNG storage.

For this purpose the company is working closely with G&V Energy Group, which will also build an LNG filling station for trucks on the same site.Fluxys already enables barges and smaller seagoing ships to bunker LNG using LNG tanker trucks, a procedure known as truck-to-ship bunkering.

Source: World Maritime News

The infrastructure investment needs and financing challenge of european ports

by & filed under Governance.

PortEconomics co-director Peter de Langen has co-authored a study for the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), examining ‘The Infrastructure Investment needs and Financing Challenge of European Ports’, so as to answer these questions.

Among others, the study focuses on the diversity of port investments, make the case for investments in basic port infrastructures, explains how investment needs of EU ports are driven by external developments, and details the role of EU funding for port investments. On these bases, it discusses the past use of EU instruments by ports, and make suggestions for the right mix of funding instruments for port investments, the clarity on the relevance of EU added value in the evaluation and methods to assess EU added value, and call for further alignment of grant allocation processes with the port industry needs. The report, which has been submitted by ESPO as part of its contribution to the European Commission public consultation on EU funds in the area of strategic infrastructure, includes several recommendations based on the findings of the study. Peter de Langen will present the study at the ESPO conference to be held in Rotterdam on 31 May 2018.

The development of the Single European Market required the elimination of a range of barriers to trade. Nowhere is this more evident than in Europe’s seaports where the work to create a level playing pitch has been a project of decades. In recent years, however, there has been a range of inter-related EU policy initiatives which have largely created the level playing pitch in the port sector. As a result, seaports are now in the position to fully realise their potential and maximise their contribution to the prosperity of people and communities throughout the EU.

Central to this change has been the increased focus on ports as commercial entities with increased financial autonomy in most cases. However, this new perspective highlights a conundrum at the heart of port development plans. In many cases, the main benefits of port projects accrue to the wider community and economy rather than to the port authority itself. This is particularly true when ports invest in basic infrastructure to provide capacity for future growth. Beyond that, the requirement for ports to invest in basic infrastructure has been joined by a range of investment requirements as a result of wider societal imperatives particularly in the areas of environmental policy and energy policy. The challenge ports everywhere face now, is to implement projects which often are financially unattractive to the port authority and even less attractive to external investors but which are essential for wider societal and economic reasons.

 

Some ports are financially strong enough to finance such projects and accept the low financial returns. Other ports are challenged to implement projects which are essential but are entirely beyond their means. The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is the essential means to resolve this conundrum. TEN-T policy recognises ports as engines for growth. Europe’s ports have the projects ready to meet TEN-T objectives. CEF is the facilitator. As CEF ll is being prepared, the experience and expertise of Europe’s ports has been harnessed in this study report by ESPO to provide Europe’s institutions with an informed viewpoint on the needs of ports and on how ports can contribute to the achievement of TEN-T and other EU policies. ESPO recognises that there are many demands on the EU budget at a time when the size of this budget is challenged by Brexit. But there are important choices to be made in how scarce resources are allocated.

 

ESPO contends that investment in Europe’s seaports is essential if critical policy objectives are to be met in a wide range of EU policy areas. If Europe’s seaports cannot make the investments that are needed, then key policy objectives in the areas of transport, energy and environment will be compromised. Nine key findings are presented in this report, which go beyond a simplistic request by ports for more funds, to inform the debate and discussion of the size and allocation of the budget for the second Connecting Europe Facility.

 

PORTS WARY OF THE BITCOIN BUBBLE

by & filed under Safety & security.

Ports are sniffing around cryptocurrencies, but with a great deal of trepidation, finds Martin Rushmere. Port authorities and terminal operators are traditionally  eat-and-potatoes types for technology. Reliable, proven and trusted have always appealed to their tastes. New types of gantries, straddle carriers and automation were seen as strange types of food,  picked at gingerly before being enthusiastically seized on. Along comes blockchain and its cryptocurrency derivative. The offering is pushed away with a shudder.

 

“The problem is that the two are often confused as being the same thing,” says a US analyst, “largely because Bitcoin has become so prominent in the news. Added to this, there has been an explosion of digital start-ups promising their cryptocurrencies can be used for any industry and are secure and legal.”The analyst says that the market place has become so competitive that start-ups are making unverifiable claims and trying to outdo each other. Ports point out the turmoil and uncertainty in trading markets as the most immediate deterrent to being involved. Observers agree that in the current climate this is certainly a valid argument, but should not be the reason for avoiding crypto indefinitely.

 

Legality concerns

Aljosja Beije, logistics & technology lead for Blocklab in Rotterdam, says: “Right now cryptocurrency is not an accepted payment for logistics and the supply chain. We must remember that it is not legal tender – yet.” He says it would need to become so in the future for critical national businesses such as ports to deal with it on the same basis as physical currency. “The price and valuation bubble has finally burst, as we knew all along it would.” But Mr Beije cautions against the antipathy going too far. “The price crash and uncertainty does not mean the underlying idea of cryptocurrency is wrong. What it has been used for is very limited – illegal activities are the main focus of attention – and there is so much more potential. People in the maritime industry (and of course elsewhere) do not understand the technology.”  Despite the torrent of negative publicity causing ports to avert their eyes, international banks, traders and consultants are holding more seminars and conferences – albeit without some of the breathless hysteria that accompanied cryptocurrency three years ago. Public sentiment emerging from these is that four conditions have to be present for the system to be more palatable and for publicly-owned or operated enterprises to take part: insurance/underwriting and legal redress mechanisms have to be established when payments go wrong; the laws and regulations need to match in applicable trading centres; and there has to be financial stability. The fourth conditions, and with the most long-term implications, is tax. The IRS in the US is working itself into a frenzy over effective ways to keep track of payments and establish procedures to decide just which transactions, and what proportion, are taxable.

 

Prohibitive fees

Ian Chan, a blockchain professional with Deloitte in Canada, notes that transaction fees of, mostly, Bitcoin are extremely high. “It’s crazy,” he says. Others back up his observation, pointing out that a main advantage of cryptocurrency – cutting out intermediaries – is lost when fees are higher than for other forms of payment. He says digital currency needs hedging just like any other currency, however, “the volatility is so much that the cost of hedging makes it prohibitive”. Mr Chan emphasises that ports must, however, realise that blockchain is “an absolute necessity for the supply chain. I always ask clients to look at what they can do with blockchain today compared with what they could do before it appeared.” The distaste for any form of Bitcoin in the US is demonstrated by the response from the Port of Los Angeles: “We have not used Bitcoin cryptocurrency, not looking into and have no plans to look into it,” says a spokesman.

 

San Francisco on the West Coast however, is considering whether to take a taste sample. Leslie Katz, one of the four port commissioners said: “We are looking at crypto generally and are not considering any specific product”. Recent reports in US and foreign publications claimed said that San Francisco and other West Coast ports were interested in AML Bitcoin. However no port contacted by Port Strategy confirmed this to be the case and four of the biggest West Coast ports said they were not discussing any type of Bitcoin.

 

Crypto advantages

Ms Katz notes the advantage of cryptocurrency cutting out the layers of intermediaries in international commerce. “We would of course make sure that any form of digital payment we might use would conform to the highest legal and ethical standards. San Francisco is a forward-thinking city and we would be crazy not to look at new technology.” Rotterdam’s Blocklab, which includes the port authority as a partner, is steering clear of involvement in digital currency for the moment and working on projects to improve the efficiency of the supply chain through blockchain. “Supply chain invoices, combining waybills, are of particular interest to us,” says Mr Beije. “The supplier gets paid immediately with no involvement of human beings. It can be used for any other logistics transaction. Inventory finance is another area, where small and medium businesses can get their inventory financed by banks and other financial entities. The data stays in the system and you can make sure people are not messing with the system.” Mr Beije adds that projects are in the early stage. “We did a proof of concept for demurrage and detention, bringing together logistics providers and a big shipping line. Freight forwarders and lines don’t see eye to eye and just getting them in same room is something of an achievement.” Blocklab is also working on automation of trade lanes between the UK and the Netherlands, partly because of Brexit.

 

“Tokenisation is the way forward, for the supply chain,” he says, “not as a currency but as replacement of bills of lading. That’s where I hope it is going to go. The difficulty is getting the ecosystem to accept it. “We are looking at smaller scale logistics, with barge loading. Blockchain will allow customers to trade places easily with someone who is willing to take their token.”

 

IoT engagement

The lab is also researching blockchain integrating with IoT, using a consensus protocol.

“Our aim is to close down the lab eventually – we will not become a software vendor and we are blockchain agnostic, open to working with any protocols.” The three being used at the moment are Ethereum, IOTA, IBM Hyperledger. In the US, Nevada startup Filament is developing software and Blocklet Chip to allow devices to work together in a blockchain. The company says its technology is “well-suited for environments that operate frequent scheduled services including maritime projects and ports that require attestation to verify specific details of container shipping services.” Says  executive Allison Clift-Jennings: “For example, container shipping companies may want their containers to track time from points of origin, around container terminals, and to final destinations in order to improve inefficiencies. In these cases, our blockchain native chip, which brings an established root of trust to a device, can secure data in transit and attest to time. “Once you have Blocklet Chips securing physical assets within the machines themselves, it’s a natural extension to provide native cryptocurrency capabilities to these machines, including internal corporate tokens,” says Ms Clift-Jennings.

 

Source: PortStrategy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Docks the Future kick off meeting

by & filed under Project news.

A very successful and well-planned kick off meeting took place in Genoa on 15thand 16th January 2018.

DocksTheFuture, which is co-funded by the Horizon 2020 Programme, consists of defining the Port of the Future, meant as a near future (2030) which should face challenges related to simplification and digitalization of processes, dredging, emission reduction, energy transition, electrification, smart grids, port-city interface and the use of renewable energy management.

All five partners (Circle, University of Genoa, PortExpertise, Magellan and the Institut für Seeverkehrswirtschaft und Logistik – ISL ) have met in the historical Genoese University branch of Via Balbi 5.

The first day of the meeting was marked by an intense schedule. Once completed the partners’ mutual introduction and the welcoming address by the Project Coordinator (Alexio Picco), the day has been intensely dedicated to the Technical Management Committee.

During the afternoon session, Mr Sergio Escriba (Project Officer at European Commission), explained the role of DG Move and the main differences between DG Move and INEA, stressing the matter of the main DG Move’s  expectations from the project as well as giving useful insights into several features of the co-funded project from both the organizational, administrative and strategic point of views: the importance of accuracy in reporting and in deliverables submission as well as how to manage subcontracting and payments.

These two days kick-off meeting marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration within the DocksTheFuture project.