The UK’s largest port operator has committed nearly £30 million to upgrading Hull Container Terminal including the purchase of four new Liebherr ship-to-shore cranes, two of which were delivered in 2016 with two more scheduled for delivery in 2018. Immingham Container Terminal, which also took delivery of a new Liebherr crane in 2016, will be further extended with major investment in new equipment and technology. Across the two ports, capacity will be more than doubled to allow them to handle around 550,000 units. The investment has coincided with a renewed focus on customer service with improved quayside handling rates and reduced waiting times for hauliers.
ABP Humber’s investment case is based on figures showing that across the Humber container terminals there has been a 41% growth in volumes since 2013. The business plan the company is working to anticipates significant continued growth in this area and discussions with current and potential customers have given ABP confidence that this trend looks set to continue in a post-Brexit economy.
This investment in the Humber comes on the back of the recent investment by ABP in Southampton of a further £50 million on a vehicle handling terminal which will predominantly be handling UK manufactured vehicles for export around the World. Taken together, this means that ABP has invested around £100 million since the EU referendum result was announced.
“We have seen significant growth at our Humber container terminals in recent years and all the indications are that this will continue despite Brexit,” says ABP Humber Director Simon Bird.
He continued “We anticipate growth in container shipping in the coming years and ABP in the Humber are keen to position ourselves to take advantage of that growth. This is a huge vote of confidence in the economy of the North of England at this crucial time.”
The combined strength of ABP’s four ports on the Humber (Grimsby, Goole, Immingham and Hull) make up around half of the company’s revenue and roughly around 13% of all of the UK’s seaborne trade. The Humber estuary is increasingly being promoted by business and politicians as the UK’s energy hub with significant growth in the renewables sector along the Humber being a major part of that role.
Alongside this, the growth in container shipping is an indicator of how the economy is performing as a whole.
The Humber’s position in the middle of the country speaks for itself, but the strength of ABP’s Humber ports can be said to go well beyond geography. The Humber is one of Europe’s best-connected roll- on roll-off and lift-on lift-off hubs. The Humber offers a multitude of services providing links to a very high number of destinations, which gives businesses choice. Combine this with its close proximity to the main industrial and consumer centres of the North and the Midlands, and transport companies can make the most of their time and assets.
The Hull and Immingham investments are just a part of ABP’s commitment to £1 billion of investment across all its ports over the next five years. There are exciting times ahead, and the opportunities are about far more than excellent port operations.
ABP is one of the UK’s largest industrial landowners and within its total 12,000 acres there are significant land areas available for development. Some of this land is within the ports and some is in the near vicinity. All of it offers fantastic opportunities for activities such as port-based advanced manufacturing, automotive added-value, warehousing or cross-docking.
In particular, ABP has an eye on the possibility of new Free Trade Zones post-Brexit. These could allow for goods and parts to be imported, manufactured and re-exported from the designated Zone without incurring the usual import procedures or tariffs.
“Brexit represents opportunities for port-based, export led manufacturing, particularly if the Government was able to introduce Free Trade Zones at ports,” says Mr Bird. “This would provide great opportunities for customers to reduce costs for inbound materials and also take advantage of spare capacity in containers, trucks and ships, to re-export.”
ABP has a strong track record in providing major industrial and logistics facilities in the Humber for customers, including the recent investment Immingham Renewable Fuels Terminal, built for Drax, and Green Port Hull, developed for Siemens.
ABP invests for growth despite Brexit
The Port of Montreal joins a select group of smart ports
The ports are invited to not only share their vision of a smart port, but also to pool best industry practices to deal with a dynamic market. This approach makes it possible to go beyond traditional bilateral partnerships.
The steering committee of chainPORT established principles for its members. These principles will guide the actions of the various working groups in place, so that they can address major themes and issues ranging from mega-ships to the digitization of the port environment. The overall aim is to stimulate the exchange of ideas and the development of innovative projects.
The Port of Montreal is the ninth port authority to join the group, after the ports of Hamburg, Antwerp, Busan, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Rotterdam, Singapore and Indonesia Port Corporation. This select group consists not only of large maritime hubs, but also of ports that have proved their ability to innovate.
“The MPA is honoured and enthusiastic to join the ranks of the chainPORT group, which will allow us direct access to our international partners’ innovative ideas and projects,” said Sylvie Vachon, President and CEO of the MPA. “This membership shows yet again the Port of Montreal’s leadership in matters of innovation, and our participation in this group will definitely help us achieve our vision of the smart port.”
Boskalis acquires EUR 250 million port dredging contract in joint venture in Mumbai India
The contract carries a value of approximately EUR 250 million with a 50% share for Boskalis. The works are scheduled to commence in the coming weeks and will be completed within two years.
The areas to be dredged include the 35.5 kilometers long access channel and various turning basins and anchorage areas. In total more than 40 million cubic meters of sand, silt, clay and rock will be removed. For this project a jumbo trailing suction hopper dredger will be deployed in combination with a jumbo cutter suction dredger and a large backhoe. Jawaharlal Nehru Port is the largest container handling port in the country. Upon completion of the project the port will be able to accommodate larger container vessels.
The Boskalis strategy is designed to benefit from the key macro-economic drivers that fuel global demand in our selected markets: global trade, increasing energy consumption, population growth and the challenges of changing climate conditions. This project is driven by the growth in global trade.
Liebherr delivers new cranes to Latin America
In Puerto Rico, Liebherr Container Cranes has completed delivery of three new ship-toshore (STS) container cranes to Crowley Maritime’s Isla Grande Terminal at the Port of San Juan. The units have an outreach of 39.62 metres, a span of 30.48 metres and a back reach of 15.54 metres. The machines, which feature a lift height over rail of 35 metres and a safe working load of 65 tonnes under twin lift spreader, are the first STS cranes to be shipped fully erect from Ireland, where they were assembled at Cork Dockyard facility.
Gerry Bunyan, Sales and Marketing Manager at Liebherr Container Cranes, said: “This is our first order to the island of Puerto Rico and we are happy to play a part in helping to improve the shipping services to the people on the island. The cranes were designed and manufactured in our Irish facility, where we have been making container cranes since the 1960s, and incorporate the latest technology including semi-automatic mode which maximises the efficiency of container handling.”
MHC deliveries
In Jamaica, Liebherr Maritime Cranes has delivered a new MHC type LHM 600 in high- rise version for Kingston Wharves Limited’s multipurpose terminal at the Port of Kingston. The machine, which is the biggest crane operated in the Caribbean, is equipped with an elongated tower extension of 12 m to increase safety thanks to a higher position of the tower cabin of 37 metres. The King of the Caribbean has a maximum outreach of 58 metres and is able to handle fully loaded containers in the
19th container row across a ship. The new LHM joined an LHM 550 high-rise version unit already in operation at the terminal.
In Mexico, Liebherr is currently assembling two new mobile harbour cranes (MHCs) type LHM 420 in Altamira for the company Bredero Shaw International B.V. The units, which feature a 48 metres boom and a maximum lifting capacity of up to 124 tonnes, will also be equipped with a special pipe handling attachment and a camera system installed on the attachment to improve sight on the load.
Friend in Need
Furthermore, Liebherr Maritime Cranes delivered two mobile harbour cranes to the customer Freeport Container Port. At the Bahamas, they were in big trouble after the hurricane Matthew. A lot of port and yard machinery was extensively damaged by the category 4 hurricane. Two STS cranes were toppled backwards.
Liebherr has a good partnership with Freeport Container Port, which is operated by Hutchison Port Holdings. They were looking for a quick and uncomplicated bridge over solution until some new STS cranes are ready for operation. Therefore, Liebherr provided them an LHM 550 and an LHM 600 in order to keep their business going. The delivery of the two cranes was managed in only 4 weeks’ time. Thanks to Liebherrs highly skilled service engineers, the installation of the two cranes took only one additional week.
After only five weeks Freeport Container Port was again able to serve container vessels. Since then Liebherr Maritime consistently receives tremendous feedback from the customer. A Liebherr spokesperson comments: “They are very happy with the performance of the cranes. We demonstrated Freeport Container Port/Hutchison that we are able to help when they needed us and that we are the right one to ask when it comes to nearly impossible challenges.”