John Meredith, Group Managing Director of HPH, said: “StellarTrak is the latest innovation in HPH’s longstanding commitment to port and cargo security.  Cargo theft, spoilage, and smuggling continue to be major concerns for our customers and all supply chain participants.  LoadStar (HPH’s cargo security division) has the know-how, and leading edge technology, to make significant improvements to supply chain security and product integrity.”

StellarTrak™ provides LoadStar customers with true, real-time information about their cargo and assets.  Simply by logging in to StellarTrak, customers know the precise location of their cargo and assets, as well as the security and environmental status of the products inside. Customers can also subscribe to LoadStar’s monitoring service, and LoadStar will actively provide cargo monitoring and issue processing for them.

Neil Smith, LoadStar CEO adds:  “We provide our customers with a service that gives them control of their supply chain, allows them to manage by exception, and provides them with immediate and substantial bottom line benefits.  StellarTrak is set-up quickly, at low cost and with no up-front investment required.  It’s software-as-a-service, available on a pay-as-you-go basis, and is easy to install and use.  All of this is made possible through HPH’s decade of experience using the latest wireless technologies to secure the supply chain around the globe.”

In the past, the scrap loading, unloading and stockpiling operations on the dock were carried out by contracted large rubber tyred mobile harbor cranes. Now that the first E-Crane has proven itself for several years and has passed numerous tests verifying reliability and hourly production rates with flying colors, it is time to move forward again. The first E-Crane has realized ship loading rates that were 100% higher (!) when compared with the mobile harbor cranes. The filling factor of the 12 m3/15 yd3 grab with fast opening and closing times also provides a substantial contribution in achieving these unsurpassed loading and unloading rates. Rik Debaere, CEO of the Galloo Group, reported as follows: “The E-Crane at Van Heyghen has shown us clearly that the loading of scrap into large ocean going vessels on our export terminal at Ghent could be done with more efficiency, with increased safety and in a more economical manner when compared with the past. With the investment in a second dock side E-Crane we can offer our worldwide clientele better service and we can optimize the use of our quay by substantially reducing vessel loading times.”

The delivery of this second big E-Crane, the fourth E-Crane on the terminal, is planned for the third quarter of 2012.

CdM is a joint venture formed in 1998 by Rotterdam-based Cornelder Holding and Mozambique Ports & Railways Company. CdM manages the multipurpose container and general cargo terminals of the Port of Beira and is aggressively investing in both additional infrastructure and machinery to be able to cope with the expected regional growth.

“Adding two Konecranes STS cranes will increase the terminal capacity to 500.000 TEU and this will ensure that Cornelder de Moçambique and the port of Beira will continue to be the main gateway to/from the world for DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana for many years to come,” says Mr Carlos Mesquita, Executive Managing Director, Cornelder de Moçambique.

“We are very proud that Cornelder de Mozambique selected us to deliver these two STS cranes,” says Antoine Bosquet, Sales Director, WEMEA, Port Cranes at Konecranes. “Cornelder de Moçambique is a key partner in the economic development of the Southeast African region and a principal catalyst in promoting this development, Konecranes is delighted to be able to contribute to this development.”

The ordered STS cranes have an outreach of 40m and a lifting capacity of 65t under spreader. The cranes are designed to handle twin lift operation. They will be delivered fully erected to the terminal.

The cranes are equipped with remote access technology, enabling remote diagnostics and the related in-depth expertise and maintenance services that are available in the Konecranes TRUCONNECT® offering. Each crane will also be wirelessly connected to the maintenance office, to allow monitoring as well as accurate and fast trouble shooting.

Why Brazil, Why Now?

Dredging in Latin America has been steadily growing over the last few years including such mega-projects as the Panama Canal. Now Brazil is booming, and many projects and works are going on or being planned for the near future. No wonder that the Brazilian Chapter of the Western Dredging Association (WEDA) (ABD, Associação Brasileira de Dragagem) – together with other interested parties – has repeatedly asked IADC to organise a Seminar in the region.

Seeing is Believing: Visit to Van Oord site at the Port of Suape

Part of the beauty of the IADC Seminar is getting out of the classroom and into the field. In that context, we are delighted that Van Oord, one of the world’s largest dredging companies, has invited us to visit their dredging site at the port of Suape. Most likely the cutter Hercules and hopper Lelystad will be available for a visit. This is absolutely a unique opportunity for participants.

The Suape project involves dredging the access channel to the shipyard Atlantico Sul in the harbour of Suape. This means dredging six million cubic metres in total – two million cubic metres of which will be reclaimed. The other four million cubic metres will be discharged at sea. Van Oord is deploying cutter suction dredger