The Port of Brisbane has seven container berths with a total of 1.8km of quay, which are leased and operated by two stevedores; DP World Brisbane leases and operates berths 4-7, while Patrick leases and operates berths 8-10. Hutchison Port Holdings will occupy berths 11-12 in 2012 and 2014, respectively. The Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd owns the wharves, provides a significant proportion of fixed improvements, and issues priority-use licenses and leases for their operations. The port of Brisbane awarded the AusD26.9 million construction contract for its’ ninth dedicated container berth 12 to Brisbane-based construction company, Smithbridge Australia. The new berth will be operated by HPH on completion. HPH will also operate berth 11, which is currently under construction, becoming the Port of Brisbane’s third container stevedore. The new berth will be 305m long and is due for completion by 2014. When completed, both berths 11 and 12 will increase the port’s container handling facility by 25%. Smithbridge was the obvious choice for the port as the company is already constructing berth 11, so 12 would be a mere extension to their contract. The company has previously worked on berth 8 and the general purpose berth projects, and are also currently working on the Captain Bishop Bridge Project. Construction of berth 11 is progressing on schedule, with almost half of the concrete deck pours complete. Piling is well ahead of programme, and completion of the facility is well on track for 2012. At the end of April (year-end) container trade through Brisbane increased by 4.8% to reach 805,200 TEU. The increase was largely driven by strong growth across most import commodities, particularly electrical equipment, paper and wood pulp, and iron and steel. Total trade increased 0.8% to reach 26.7 million tonnes year-to-date, also driven by strong growth in imports (up 4%). Significant growth was recorded in imports of iron and steel, timber, fertiliser and chemicals, and paper and wood pulp. Exports decreased 2.1% overall, but cotton, meat products, and iron and steel all recorded strong growth.
Melbourne remains strong
Melbourne continues to lead the way for Australian container ports as container volumes surged by nearly 13% to a record volume of 2.35 million TEU in 2010. The strong trade result was boosted in the first half of 2010 when container volumes grew at an average monthly rate of 15.8% in the six months from January to June – the strongest ever result for that period. In the second half of the year, the Port of Melbourne recorded four separate months where container throughput exceeded 200,000 TEU, including a national record of over 217,000 TEU in October 2010. For 2011, the port is predicting container throughput of 2.45 million TEU. New shipping lines calling at Melbourne include TS Lines, Yang Ming, Hainan Pan Ocean (PO Shipping), Agility Shipping and Gulf Agency Company. The port has eight container berths –four each at Swanson Dock East and Swanson Dock West. Total berth length is 1828m, comprising 884m at Swanson Dock East and 944m at Swanson Dock West. Having completed its Channel Deepening Project the previous year, the Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) won the prestigious National Infrastructure Project of the Year Award in March 2010, which was shared with its dredging Alliance Partner, Royal Boskalis. Two weeks after the award, the port hosted its largest ever container vessel when the Xin Yan Tai called at the port with a draught over 13m. With trade forecast to grow to around 4.4 million containers, PoMC is looking at options for additional container capacity. Having undertaken an extensive market sounding process, PoMC has prepared a discussion paper for Government consideration on options for international container trade and automotive terminal development. To supplement the market soundings, PoMC has also undertaken detailed design work, approvals and business case development in order to be in a state of readiness should the Government decide to proceed with container capacity expansion. Rehabilitation of the port’s international container terminal, Swanson Dock, was also completed in 2010 with an investment of over AUSD40 million to extend its operational life time. PoMC does not operate the container terminals. They are leased to DP World Melbourne (Swanson Dock West) and Patrick Stevedores (Swanson Dock East) – part of the Australian publicly listed company Asciano Limited.
Sydney buoyed by higher imports
Sydney handles around one-third of all container movements in Australia and across the 2010 calendar year, the Port handled a total of 1,985,919 TEU – a 10.8% increase in container traffic driven largely by full imports which increased over 10% when compared with 2009. This was the ninth year in a row that the Port of Sydney’s container business recorded an increase, a record that will be sustained in 2011 with an increase approaching over 4% to around 2.072 million TEU being forecast. Port Botany currently has six container berths, divided between Patrick and DP World, and has achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4% (financial year) for the past forty years and an annual average growth rate (AAGR) of 7.9% (financial year). However, capacity to handle growing trade has been well managed which has led to an AusD1 billion project to expand Port Botany by 60ha on reclaimed land in what will be Australia’s largest port expansion project for at least three decades. The expansion, known as the Third Terminal (T3), will provide an additional five berths with 16.5m depth alongside, an additional 1,850m of quay and an associated back-up area on 63ha of reclaimed land. T3 will double the current container handling capacity of the port. Port Botany’s current planning approval limits annual container throughput to 3.2 million TEU. A new road link is being put in place, and the project will also involve dedicated rail access into the expansion area. Sydney International Container Terminals (SCTL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) has been named as the new operator of the T3. With base construction of T3 completed in June 2011, SCTL is expected to take over the site by mid-2011 in order to fit-out the terminal to enable operations to commence in early 2013. Container flows through Port Botany grew by 5.6% in April 2011 compared with the same month last year. “Container volumes through Port Botany have maintained their strength throughout the 2010/11 financial year,” commented Sydney Ports Chief Executive Officer, Grant Gilfillan. “It is important to note while Port Botany’s container trade has been buoyed by higher imports due to the surging Australian Dollar, a solid trading performance by the state’s regional and rural export sector has also contributed to the result. “For the month of April 2011, total container volume through Port Botany was 162,205 TEU – a record for the month of April. “Total container trade through Port Botany reached 1.693 million TEU for the financial year to date (1 July 2010 to 30 April 2011) representing an increase of 5.7% on the same period last year. “These figures show that on an annualised basis, Port Botany’s container trade volumes are forecast to reach over 2 million TEU for the first time,” Gilfillan concluded.
BOX Story
Third dredging contract for JV Van Oord and Dredging International
The Joint Venture between Van Oord Australia Pty Ltd and Dredging International (Australia) Pty Ltd has been awarded a third contract for the Western Basin Main Works Dredging at the Port of Gladstone. This third contract signed with the Gladstone Ports Corporation on 15th July 2011 represents a value of AusD120 million and involves the dredging of Parcel 7 for the Western Basin Development. The total value of the three contracts awarded to date by the Gladstone Ports Corporation to the Joint Venture for the same Western Basin development exceeds AusD925 million. The dredging volume of Parcel 7 will be approximately 2.9 million cubic meters for the construction of one coal berth, c
omprising a berth pocket, berth pocket extension, departure/arrival channel and a swing basin. The multi-billion dollar industry-funded Wiggins Island Coal Terminal is expected to provide 80 million tonnes per annum in additional export coal capacity through the Port of Gladstone once fully commissioned. The Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal Pty Ltd (WICET) is owned and being developed by existing and potential coal exporters in Queensland. The total scope of work for all three contracts awarded to date to the JV Van Oord Australia Pty Ltd and Dredging International (Australia) Pty Ltd includes the dredging of various channels, swing basins and bypass channels for the access to various berth pockets, embarkation docks and material offloading facilities. The total dredging volume of the three contracts will exceed 27 million cubic meters of dredged material. Dredging has commenced in early June and will be completed in 2014. A heavy-duty cutter suction dredger with floating booster stations, a large trailing suction hopper dredger, two backhoe dredgers, a back-actor and a spread of split barges will be deployed to execute these important dredging assignments. Special attention will be given to the Environmental Management and the Management of the Possible Acid Sulphate Soil in the reclamation area. All environmental and dredging plans are verified and permits are in place. The dredging of the Western Basin Dredging Project will facilitate both the provision of increased long term export coal capacity and the export of the LNG produced at the facilities under construction in Gladstone. The AusD1.3 billion development of the Western Basin area will expand the footprint of Queensland’s largest multi-commodity port and will make the Port of Gladstone one of the largest ports in Australia.