“Antwerp Port intends to participate in Hazira port project of Essar Group,” Antwerp Port Authority managing director Eddy Bruyninckx told ET without disclosing numbers. “The talks are on between the newly-formed subsidiary, Port of Antwerp International (PAI), and Essar Group.”

It is believed that PAI is working with reserves of €25 million and it has already acquired stakes in port projects in Oman and Congo. The move is in keeping with the Belgian company’s expansion plans firmed up last year, when it evaluated 20 projects and zeroed in on a few of them to expand its presence out of Europe through equity participation. Subsequently, it signed an MoU with Essar Group in February for strategic collaboration in consultancy, investment, training and enhancing commercial relations in the port sector.

“We are exploring opportunities overseas to expand our footprint by sharing our expertise in port development and management through a newly-formed subsidiary. We have a strong belief in cooperation with India which has a huge potential and ambition to develop ports,” Bruyninckx said.

Antwerp Port Authority is also keen to strengthen its ties with the Indian steel companies. “We want Indian companies to bring their steel service centres to Antwerp,” said Bruyninckx. Essar Steel, which operates a capacity of 8.6 million tonne per annum and is set to expand it to 14 million tonne by the end of this financial year, routes its cargo to European markets through Port of Antwerp.

During the first six months of 2011, Antwerp port handled 96 million tonne of freight, an increase of 10.4% compared with the first half of 2010. Essar’s port arm manages capacity of 88 mmtpa, which is being expanded to 158 mmtpa over the next few years at an investment of Rs 9,300 crore. It has two operational ports – at Hazira and Vadinar.

At Hazira, on Gujarat’s west coast, Essar Ports operates an all-weather deep draft port with 30 mmtpa of dry bulk cargo capacity, which is being expanded to 50 mmtpa. “The company is setting up a dry bulk terminal at Hazira with a capacity of 20 mmtpa, which will be operational by the second half of 2013-14. Environment and CRZ clearances have been received. Forest clearance is pending for part of the project.

Cargotec’s growing electric-drive RoRo reference portfolio now includes the first vessel to have all-electrically-driven RoRo access equipment entering service. The 4,000-unit pure car truck carrier (PCTC), Iris Ace, is owned and operated by Japanese company, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd (MOL) and features an electrically-driven MacGregor stern quarter ramp/door, side ramps and two movable ramps from Cargotec.

 Iris Ace was delivered from Japanese shipbuilder, Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding Co Ltd earlier this year and was followed into operation by a pair of 6,400-unit PCCs, Cattleya Ace and Carnation Ace, from the same builder. Each of these two ships features an electrically-driven MacGregor stern quarter ramp/door, a centre ramp/door and six movable ramps. All equipment is operated by electric winches and actuators, eliminating the use of hydraulic oil in the operating system.

“Shin-Kurushima, MOL and Cargotec are all committed to clean seas,” says Magnus Sjöberg, Sales Director for RoRo ships at Cargotec. “The cooperation between the companies has resulted in these exceptionally efficient, environmentally-friendly vessels. Our collaboration was an essential part of this technology’s development; and we are seeing a steadily growing demand for it”.

“On average, electric drives consume less energy than their hydraulic equivalents, therefore, their introduction into MOL’s recent newbuilds was a natural progression in the company’s environmental initiatives,” says Mr Sjöberg.

“When you replace hydraulically-powered deck machinery with electric versions, one of the greatest environmental benefits that you gain is the elimination of potential hydraulic oil leaks. These cause pollution and can also damage cargo. It was the high incidence of cargo damage that was a primary concern for car manufacturers, who ultimately put pressure on shipowners to come up with a solution to the problem.”

Last year Cargotec and the Shin-Kurushima Dockyard group also signed further agreements for four pure car carriers (PCCs) to be fitted with fully electrically-driven RoRo access equipment. “This means that five car carriers and two RoRos now have all of their RoRo equipment electrically-driven.”

He also inspected the ongoing trial run of the Vessel Traffic Management System for Gulf of Kutch centre at Kandla.

He later reviewed the performance of Kandla Port with the officers and met various stakeholders of the port and discussed the issues requiring attention of the Central Government for further growth of the Port and the Port city. He stated that the Government is fully aware of the issues of Kandla Port and that the proposals of developmental activities are being pursued with concerned Ministries. He sought full co-operation and support of all concerned to realize the huge potential of the port.

He expressed satisfaction that the Port is going to become 100 MMTPA Port in near future after implementing the projects in hand. The Port has big plans for Road, Rail connectivity and Storage besides augmenting of infrastructural facilities like berths and cranes.

Construction of Berths Nos. 13, 15 and 16, for which the foundation stones were laid, are to be developed at an estimated cost of Rs. 544 crore. These berths have a handling capacity of 6 million tonnes per annum. The barge jetty, of IFFCO Kisan Bazar & Logistic Ltd, will also be of 2 million tonnes capacity with the estimated cost being Rs 27 crore. The Rs 28.32 crore mobile harbour cranes is of 63-tonne capacity with handling capacity of 2.4 million metric tons per annum.

K. Mohandas, Secretary, Shipping; Mrs. Poonamben Jat, MP, Kutch and other dignitaries were also present.

“Genoa will be used as gateway to western Europe by delivering to destinations by road. Italy exports lot of engineering goods, plant and machinery and heavy equipment. Genoa is preferred port by all users being cost effective and good productivity and connections” Mr. Sharma said.
By having presence in Italy, OWS will give push to its new product “assistance in procurement” to its customers. OWS help its customers in procurement of their goods, consumables, spares and urgent material through its own offices where staff personally interact with the supplier for timely delivery, packing and shipment. In some cases, OWS procures and invoice emergency and urgent requirement saving time to its customers of hassles of Letter of Credits or direct transfer.

With a motivated set of professionals having a diverse range of experience, OWSFS Italia is looking to establish the India-Italy trade lane both for console and LCL cargo as well as FCL and project cargo. The company already offers these services through its group companies own offices in India, UAE, Oman and USA.

The ratings affirmation was based on Fitch’s positive analysis of the harbor system’s strong financial liquidity, scheduled tariff increases for cruise, cargo and pipelines, and the increased stability of the state’s economy.

Governor Neil Abercrombie said, “No other state relies as heavily on their harbors as Hawaii does and our future modernization plans will continue to increase efficiency into the future. This rating is a vote of confidence in our harbor system and our ongoing economic recovery.”

Under the state Department of Transportation, the Harbors System operates ten commercial harbors on six islands. Hawaii imports approximately 80-percent of its consumable goods, of which, 98-percent of these imports enter the state through the harbor system.

In issuing the upgrade, Fitch identified the following as positives of the harbors system:

Strong State Economy: Stability of the state’s underlying economy through the downturn with signs of stabilization and return to growth in recent periods.

Natural Monopoly: The port system provides essential maritime services and serves a state without an efficient alternative means of transporting goods to and throughout it.