Evergreen, Taiwan’s largest shipping company, launched KTP to boost regional trade between the three trading economies, plying the ports of Incheon and Kwang Yang, South Korea; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Batangas, Manila, and Subic Bay, Philippines; and back to Kaohsiung.

New Container Terminals 1 and 2 serviced the 1,440-TEU capacity Cape Fulmar’s inaugural call in Subic last 19 April, marking the launch of the KTP service in the Philippines. Around 400 TEUs were jointly serviced by ICTSI subsidiaries Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC) and ICTSI Subic, Inc. on 19 April.

Cape Fulmar is one two vessels deployed in the KTP weekly service. The other vessel is the 1,440 TEU-capacity Cape Faro.

“It is our pleasure to have this new service in Subic due to market demand and requests from our current clients in Philippines,” says Paul Huang (Huang, Pao-jen), Evergreen Executive Vice President.

“We have no doubt that Evergreen can provide the best service to our customers with our good partner, SBITC terminal in Subic Bay,” he adds.

Roberto Locsin, SBITC President, responds: “We are glad that Evergreen has chosen Subic as a key port of call for the KTP service. This is a welcome development as trade between the Taiwan, Korea and the Philippines have been growing in recent years,” says Mr. Locsin.

“We thank Evergreen for the trust and confidence they have for Subic and ICTSI,” he adds.

Taiwan and South Korea are among the Philippines’ major trading partners. Taiwan is the Philippines’ sixth biggest trading partner, facilitating around US$ 7.85 billion worth of bilateral trade in 2015. Currently, the Subic Bay Freeport Zone hosts 52 Taiwanese companies with US$ 500 million worth of investments and over 12,000 jobs generated.

South Korea, on the other hand, is the Philippines’ fifth largest trading partner in 2015. In 2014, bilateral trade between the two countries reached US$ 13.4 billion, a number that is expected to reach US$ 20 billion over the next five years.

This projection has triggered the increase of Korean investments in the Philippines in recent years, with construction, cosmetics and food companies looking to invest in the country.

Cooper has supplied a Mantsinen 95R, the only machine to be specified with tracks, in a customised solution designed specifically for the Port of Ipswich.
There were a number of technical considerations, including the port’s suspended quays, which are load sensitive, and the restricted distance between the quay face and the warehouses in certain parts of the operation. Since the new Mantsinen hydraulic crane is replacing an existing DD2 quay crane, there was also a need to match performance and lift the same loads at the same operational radius.
ABP’s existing DD2 wire rope cranes operate on 4 metre wide rails, so Cooper Specialised Handling had to take into account where they lie relative to the quay edge to ensure the Mantsinen 95Rwould perform all operations whilst situated on these crane rails. The crane has also been specified with an extra high slew ring, which sits at 7 metres, to aid the operation.
To ensure a clear view into the largest vessels and hoppers, the cab height needs to be a minimum of 10 metres above ground level. The Mantsinen 95R’s cab elevator is therefore a distinct advantage, as it affords crane operators a direct line of sight into the hold and means they do not have to rely on cameras.
Andy Constable, ABP’s Head of Operations at the Port of Ipswich, said: “Our investment in Mantsinen’s award-winning crane technology offers ABP and its customers increased options in terms of flexibility and productivity, as the 95R can operate in a number of locations on the port and is capable of being driven on and off the quay and moved between berths with ease.
“It’s been specified with a range of different size grabs, so is capable of handling every type of cargo, and the Mantsinen machine’s faster cycle time will improve throughput, with a corresponding impact on productivity. We will also benefit from better berth utilisation, enabling us to service more vessels, and this, in turn, will enhance the service we provide to our customers.”
Sited on 275 acres at the head of the River Orwell and 12 miles from the open sea, ABP’s Port of Ipswich handles three million tonnes of cargo per annum and is the UK’s largest export grain port, exporting 500,000 tonnes of cereals a year. The new Mantsinen crane will be deployed to load/unload bulk cargo, predominantly fertilisers and animal feeds, but also has the capacity to handle aggregates. It has been supplied with Mantsinen’s quick release system for easy interchanging of attachments, which include a semi-automatic bag frame, four hydraulic grabs and a hook and rotator to facilitate the handling of a variety of cargoes.
Tony Rooney, Managing Director of Cooper Specialised Handling, said: “With the customised Mantsinen 95R we have been able to achieve a cost-effective solution that will not only meet the diverse cargo handling needs at the Port of Ipswich, but will also support ABP’s expansion plans by boosting productivity.”
The Mantsinen 95R crane has a longer lifecycle when compared with competitor machines, making this a significant investment in the future of the Ipswich facility by the UK’s leading port operator. The crane is one of five separate contracts for Mantsinen equipment and represents a total investment by ABP of £6million.
Caption: The Mantsinen 95R provides ABP with a customised, cost-effective cargo handling solution at the Port of Ipswich.

San Juan is the second terminal to go live with Tideworks’ TOS in the Crowley network following the deployment at Crowley’s Port Everglades terminal in September 2016. Crowley’s terminal in Jacksonville, Florida is expected to go in June 2017.

“We have truly enjoyed partnering with Crowley on this series of deployments, and we’re pleased the second go-live went so smoothly,” said Michael Schwank, president of Tideworks. “We’re confident our TOS solutions will give Crowley the tools they need to operate seamlessly and efficiently, ultimately leading to improved productivity and enhanced customer service. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Crowley as we prepare for the next implementations.”

The go-live at San Juan is the first phase of a multi-phase deployment project at the terminal. In the first phase, Crowley deployed Tideworks’ Mainsail Vanguard® core TOS as well as its GateVision® gate operating system. Both are hosted under CitadelMC?, Tideworks’ SaaS TOS offering. Subsequent phases of the TOS project will take place in May and June as Crowley prepares for the introduction of its new container/roll-on roll-off (ConRo) vessels into the service between Jacksonville and San Juan. During that time, Tideworks will implement Spinnaker Planning Management System® and Traffic Control™ to support Crowley’s vessel and yard operations.

“Our goal is to transform the San Juan terminal into a modern, state-of-the-art port facility so we can operate as smoothly, safely and efficiently as possible,” said Jose Ayala, vice president and general manager of Puerto Rico services at Crowley. “Partnering with Tideworks brings us closer to achieving that goal. Their team has provided excellent support throughout the implementation process and we look forward to continuing to partner with them on the next phases of the project.”

Tideworks provided full support throughout the implementation, including project management, software configuration and installation, user training and go-live assistance. Tideworks will continue providing ongoing maintenance and support services, which include 24/7 technical support and software upgrades.

Tideworks is also providing Disaster Recovery (DR) capabilities. The DR facility is located in a geographically disparate region, so if a catastrophic event were to occur at Tideworks’ primary data center, the TOS will fail-over almost immediately, ensuring that Crowley’s terminals will continue to function.

Phase one of Crowley’s deployment at its San Juan terminal went live in April 2017. The final phase is scheduled for completion at the end of Q2 2017.