The Port of Gothenburg has developed this business venture in collaboration with the storage company Scandinavian Tank Storage. Smaller tankers from Russia and the North Sea can discharge crude oil into the underground cavern at Syrhåla, located at the Tor Harbour. The oil is then stored on an interim basis before being transported on larger vessels to Asia, the USA and other markets. Previously, the oil that is now being reloaded at the Port of Gothenburg was reloaded at one of the large ports on the continent, such as Rotterdam, or out at sea from vessel to vessel. The latter could entail certain environmental risks, particularly in bad weather. “Reloading crude oil at sea involves environmental risks which we will now avoid as the whole procedure can instead take place safely at the quayside at the Port of Gothenburg,” reports Magnus Kårestedt. In April last year the first vessels arrived to discharge crude oil into the cavern, which was subsequently filled to capacity. That crude oil will now be transferred back to tankers for onward transport. “We have come full circle and we can ascertain that everything has worked out extremely well on every level. The cavern will now be refilled with new crude oil,” states Claes Jacobsson, President of Scandinavian Tank Storage. The pier at the Tor Harbour has been fitted with a facility which cleans and recycles the gases that arise when the crude oil is being loaded. Thanks to gas recycling there are virtually no emissions into the air or water. Other investments that have been made include new pipelines, pumps and a control room.
Kiel cargo handling rises by more than 25%
Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG), said “continuing economic growth in the Baltic region, well-timed investment by our shipping companies and the port itself, as well as the continuous expansion of our services are all having a real effect. For the first time ever, Kiel will this year turn round more than 6 million tons of cargo.”
The concentration on Kiel of Stena Line ferry services between western Sweden and Germany has of course given an additional impulse to the port. The ground for this has been laid over the past two years with the investment of well over EUR 30 million in Kiel’s Schwedenkai Terminal, which has turned it into one of the most efficient facilities of its kind for the handling of big RoPax ferries. Today the “Stena Germanica” and the “Stena Scandinavica”, the longest RoPax ferries in the Baltic and, in terms of freight capacity also the biggest, serve out of Schwedenkai and between Kiel and Gothenburg. “On all the ferry services out of Kiel, ship owners are now introducing top, modern tonnage. It’s a competitive advantage which is reflected in the lines’ good transport volumes” commented Dirk Claus.
Boskalis wins € 90 million worth of contracts in Nigeria
Boskalis will reclaim approximately 180 hectares of land for the further development of the Onne Port Oil & Gas Free Zone. The material required for the reclamation works will be sourced from nearby creeks and rivers using a cutter dredger and a medium-sized hopper dredger. The project is set to commence mid-2011 and will last approximately two to three years.
Three other recently awarded projects in Nigeria are related to construction of riverbed protection works, maintenance dredging of canals and land reclamation works – all in the Niger Delta.
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, expanding population pressures and the challenges of changing climate conditions. These projects are driven by the need to expand port infrastructure to facilitate the export of oil and gas as well as to protect the shoreline from erosion.
Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. We provide creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world including the construction and maintenance of ports and waterways, land reclamation, coastal defense and riverbank protection. We offer a wide variety of marine services through SMIT and we have positions in strategic partnerships in the Middle East (Archirodon) and in offshore services (Lamnalco). The company holds important home market positions in and outside of Europe. Boskalis has a versatile fleet of over 1,100 units and operates in over 65 countries across six continents. Including its share in partnerships, Boskalis has approximately 14,000 employees. Boskalis celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010.
Kuwait's ambition to become a leading trading centre for the region took a step forward in April
Developed in five stages, the port superstructure is expected to cost KD40m ($144.5m), while the wider infra-structural developments for the island could total as much as KD305m ($1.1bn). While these plans have been on paper for some time, the commencement of actual construction, by the Korean contracting firm, Hyundai, should build confidence in the government’s ability to deliver on these ambitious plans. These developments would help reposition Kuwait’s standing in the region and enable it to better compete with other ports in the area. Kuwait is well placed to grow its cargo traffic. Situated at the head of the Arabian Gulf, the country provides a perfect entry point to the growing Iraqi market and a useful transit corridor to the rest of the peninsula.
The government, therefore, hopes to build on this demand. The forecasts largely support this optimism. According to market research by Business Monitor International, Kuwait’s two main ports, Shuaiba and Shuwaikh, are both expected to experience growth in 2011. The former is expected to post growth of 3.44%, with a total throughput of 20.55m tonnes, while the latter should see traffic grow by 2.93% to a total of 9.33m tonnes this year. However, both ports are still struggling to reach their pre-downturn handling levels, with Shuaiba not forecast to hit these heights again until 2013. To truly reach its target of becoming a logistics hub for the entire region, the country will have to work on a number of other measures to attract traffic. One of the most pressing measures will be expediting the process of moving goods through the country’s various ports. This will be as much about the procedural environment as about the infra-structural capacity. According to the World Bank’s “Doing Business 2011” report, Kuwait ranked 113th, out of 183 economies for trading across borders. As the report highlights, it remains costly and time-consuming to shuttle goods through the emirate’s ports. It currently takes 17 days, at a cost of $1060, to export a container through Kuwait’s ports. For imports, the figures are 19 days at a cost of $1217. Indeed, the country scores poorly compared to others in the region, ranking a full 80 places lower than Bahrain and 95 places lower than its neighbour, Saudi Arabia. If the government can address this issue, it may see its exports and re-exports inch steadily northwards, from the 2010 figures of KD1.24bn ($4.5bn) and KD512m ($1.9bn), according to the Central Bank of Kuwait. While much still needs to be done to bolster these figures, the Mubarak Al Kabir Port is a good start, not only because it will boost the country’s port capacity, but also because of the signal of intent it sends for wider infra-structural development. Indeed, Boubyan is simply one part of a much larger spending plan to dramatically improve the transport network in the country. The national development plan, approved by the parliament in February 2010, has earmarked $108bn to help diversify the Kuwaiti economy, with spending targeted in areas such as health care, housing and transport. This should provide a timely boost to plans for the upgrade and overhaul of the country’s road and rail networks. However, the most important project that falls under the plan is the expansion of Kuwait’s International Airport. Currently, in the design phase, the project hopes to boost capacity from 7m passengers a year to more than 20m. The new 13m-passenger terminal is expected to be completed by 2016 with the cost estimated to be between KD350m ($1.3bn) and KD500m ($1.8bn). There has, however, been some scepticism over the ability of Kuwait to deliver on these plans. While the national development plan has been welcomed, caution remains the prevailing sentiment. As such, the breaking of ground on Mubarak Al Kabir was a significant moment for the country. Kuwait has always had the funds and the demand dynamics to meet its ambition of becoming a regional trading centre. What the ceremony in April tells us is that this might now be matched by the
required intent.