And ever since, the oil spill response industry worldwide has been troubled by questions of whether they have prepared enough for a spill 5,000 feet under the ocean. Several US task forces and other study panels are preparing reports that are expected to a tough new round of laws governing offshore drilling and oil spill response preparedness. A ripple effect globally is expected and the industry has it eyes wide open that it’s going to be a tougher environment in future. The battle to fix the blown-out well has cost at least USD40 billion so far and stretched over several months until it was declared capped and fully sealed on September 19, 2010. Keeping the oil off the beaches of the Gulf States became top priority for many of the world’s oil spill response companies. BP is setting up a USD20 billion trust fund to guarantee payment of individual damage claims and over 170,000 claims totalling USD1.2 billion have been paid so far by late October. The Gulf of Mexico rig blow-out spilled an estimated 4.9 billion barrels of oil (source, geology.com), but it doesn’t rank as the worst in US history. That title goes to the Lakeview Gusher in 1910-11 when a pressurised well erupted as crews couldn’t store the oil fast enough, spilling an estimated 9 billion barrels on land before it played out naturally a year later. But, in a world of instant headlines and rapidly growing social media, the Deepwater Horizon spill drew more worldwide attention than any spill since the Exxon Valdez disaster in March 1989 (a spill of 10.8 million gallons, that Alaskan disaster is incredibly small by the Gulf of Mexico crisis this year).

First responder
BP called the industry-created non-profit Marine Spill Response Corporation based in Virginia, as its first responder and as the crisis worsened it was aided by the for-profit private sector National Response Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seacor Holdings Inc. in Ft. Lauderdale Florida. Numerous attempts to have the two agencies spell out their response involvement by World Port Development were unsuccessful. But, the agencies quickly expanded their helpline as did BP. Through a contract arrangement with BP, the world’s largest manufacturer of oil spill response equipment, the Lamor Group, Finland, was called in and within 36 hours had six experts on site involved in decontamination and decommissioning. At its peak, Lamor assembled 20 engineers in the gulf and shipped over 300 kilometers of boom, 600 skimmer systems, 50 offloading systems and countless tanks and other ancillary equipment to dozens of customers along the entire Gulf Coast. “We were working at full capacity, increasing production and shifts,” says Andrew Crawford, Senior Vice President, Global Business for Lamor and based in the Isle of Wight. “Our commitment is to be ready anytime anywhere and thanks to us being a global company with production set up through a network or subcontractors managed by our production teams we were able to react very quickly and manufacture a large amount of equipment at various sites in a very short time.”

Other spills
And it was a taxing time as there were three other oil spills on Lamor’s plate – in Singapore, China and in Lake Michigan in the Great Lakes – that were responded to with equipment and personnel. Just before the BP well blow out, Lamor deployed equipment and teams to the site of an airliner crash in Estonia after an Antonov 26 cargo plane made an emergency landing on Lake Ulemiste near Tallinn. The frozen solid lake was the principal drinking reservoir for the city and Lamor had the task of cleaning up oil and other chemicals that had leaked below the ice from the fuselage. It was a time of sacrifice as Lamor staff responded to the emergencies around the world, says Crawford. “They gave up vacations, weekends and so on to make this happen.” From August until November 2009, Lamor equipment was used in another major oil well blow out, this time in the Timor Sea. The West Atlas oil spill was Australia’s largest and according to Crawford, “one of the worst environmental disasters the country has seen.”

Alaskan help

Alaska Clean Seas out of Anchorage was also heavily deployed in the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and had supervisory teams in at least three different areas of the gulf. “They had lots of labourers but needed organised teams,” says Alaska Clean Seas General Manager, Ron Morris. “Our people were spread out all over creation down there and there were 44 involved at one time or another.” The Alaskan oil spill responder helped assemble a fleet of response vessels using operating shrimp and oyster boats outfitted with boom arms and brush skimmers with polytanks on deck to gather oil – up to 40 barrels in three hours at one stage in near shore activities near the Chandeleur Islands off Louisiana. Despite the massive amount of oil spilled by the well blow out, Morris says the impact on gulf beaches was “not that bad” because of the oil interception at the source of the sunken rig. Alaska Clean Seas has a mandate to provide effective response services for the Alaska North Slope crude oil producers and the first 167 miles of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System – a jurisdiction that covers both land and water. Morris says no one in the industry anticipated a spill as big as Deepwater Horizon and it was the first time Alaska Clean Seas had been called on oil spill response outside its own territory. “It was quite an investment in time, but our employees were enthusiastic to help.” As well as personnel, the responder sent 82,000 feet of boom and two skimmers that were surplus to its own readiness needs. Over 25,200 personnel were still involved in the response effort late in October as BP and MSRC and others continued the cleanup with 670,000 feet of containment booms still deployed. At its peak oil spill responders used up to 3.5 million feet of boom.

Tougher laws
Morris expects the US to come up with tougher new laws governing well safety and blow out issues. “Individually, responders anticipate a new number for worse case scenarios and plans for response. Currently that figure is 5,500 barrels per day in Alaska.” Alaska Clean Seas has already increased it equipment inventory in 2010 to meet contingency plan requirements of expanding oil company members. Another among the response teams was the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC), which had a minimum of about 14 personnel on hand helping out during the height of the oil spill crisis. For all responders, the Gulf of Mexico spill was “one you can learn from,” says Bruce Turnbull, Business Support Manager for the Western Canadian response corporation and he expects a “spate of legislative improvements” to follow. At home on the west coast, Turnbull says there have been only small quite localised spill responses to deal with in 2010 with some product transfer booming, a tug rollover and a forklift plunge in a dock collapse, but neither had product spills. Thanks to a 10-year capital plan, WCMRC’s inventory is continuing to climb. Just in case it had its own crisis during the Gulf spill, which was keeping oil spill responder equipment manufacturers busy, the Canadian agency also stocked up on such things as absorbents, “we didn’t want to be caught short.”

More inquiries
Readiness is obviously on a lot of minds thanks to the Deep Horizon well blow out and massive spill. Lamor Group’s Crawford says the global company has noticed “a much higher level of inquiries and requests from the market than normal due to the highly-publicised news coverage of the Gulf of Mexico incident. “Public and government awareness and concern about oil spills was reignited by the Gulf incident and that certainly made it clear that corporations are taking some risks due to shrinking oil reserves, rising oil prices and offshore oil deposit discoveries in deep waters,” says Crawford.”  However, the primary source of accidental oil spills into seas these days is still associated with transportation by tankers and pipelines, and incidents have been in decline over
the past 30 years. Under the International Maritime Organisation banner, Crawford says the global community has “done a huge amount to improve the situation” with the introduction of the OPRC Convention, the Bunker Convention, and more recently the HNS Protocol, “but progress has been slow, especially in the developing countries where oil exploration and production is most active.” As a global responder, Crawford says Lamor is supporting these organisations with the best solutions, available at short notice, and backed up with teams of professionals available worldwide.

The RTM will showcase US port sector best practices and technologies, including Vessel Traffic Management Systems, Integrated Port Communications Information Systems and port security and surveillance technology, through site visits and meetings with US firms and operations in the ports sector. But would such RTM be beneficial for businesses across the US? In principle yes it would be but this particular RTM has been planned for a long time and has been delayed several times by the USTDA, therefore it makes you wonder if such an ‘investment’ is still achievable and necessary for both parties. The items on the programme are a necessity to improve security and safety. These items have to be implemented as soon as possible and in an ‘ideal world’ shouldn’t be delayed. For example Vessel Traffic Management Systems (VTMS) is something high on the safety priority list of the Government of Morocco, due to an increase in cargo vessels calling at their ports. Back in September 2009 the Government of Morocco issued a tender for a Ports Vessel Traffic Management and Security and Surveillance Systems feasibility study, partly financed by the USTDA, and for the Ports of Casablanca and Safi, which have been identified as priority projects by the Agence Nationale des Ports (ANP).  According to ANP the addition of a VTMS/security system, as part of their ongoing efforts to increase the efficiency, safety and marketability of their ports, is a must to become a major hub in the Mediterranean region. According to the tender, Morocco’s 33 ports, of which 12 are open to international commerce, handled 76.8m tonnes (41.7m tonnes import, 26.2m tonnes export and 8.9m tonnes trans-shipment through Tangier Med). In 2008, all Moroccan ports under direct supervision of ANP, with the exception of Tangier Med, handled 815,000 TEU in container throughput, which is an increase of 12.6% from 2008. Casablanca handled 86% of container traffic and Safi handled 5m tonnes of general cargo, which represent 6% of total traffic. Overall, 98% of Morocco’s trade originates through its ports. Therefore ANP has taken it upon itself to start awarding contracts to other non-US firms to start work on their VTMS plans as it can not afford to wait until an accident happens. In September, Transas Marine in cooperation with its local partner Soremar announced it completed 2 VTS installations in the ports of Agadir and Nador. Both systems successfully passed acceptance tests and fully comply with the requirements set by ANP. The VTS systems supplied will enable operators to monitor all vessels’ activities in the area. The scope of supply in each port included an operator workstation, a high performance Shore-Based Radar in redundant configuration, 2 CCTV Systems with thermal imaging, AIS Base station, a Voice Communication System with 3 VHF and 1 HF stations, Direction Finder and Weather Station. The solution also includes a remote terminal in ANP offices. In addition, Transas Marine specialists carried out comprehensive operational and maintenance training for operators and technicians at both sites. The success of the project became possible due to cohesive actions of Transas Marine and Soremar.  In total, Transas Marine has now commissioned five Vessel Traffic Management Systems in Morocco including previously installed systems in Mohammedia, Tanger and Jorf Lasfar. Often with these kinds of projects it would be beneficial to work with one supplier, which would make it more difficult for others to enter an arena that – in this case – is well-known to Transas both in system infrastructure, scale and complexity and knowledge of the local market. The latter has also contributed to the success of a contract that was awarded by the Libyan Ports and Maritime Transport Authority (PMTA) to Transas Marine. The VTMS contract include the supply and installation of a Coastal Surveillance System and was signed on 14th October in Tripoli, Libya during a signing ceremony attended by Capt Hannibal Mouamar Gaddafi and Dr Mohammed Sweidan, the Libyan Minister of Transportation. The system will provide total coverage of the entire Libyan coast, which is almost 2,000km – from Tunisia to Egypt, as well as areas of responsibility of the 15 main ports in Libya. The project includes a combination of 15 local VTS incorporated under management of two National Control Centres in Tripoli and Benghazi, which perform vessel traffic and coastal surveillance services. In addition, 8 remote sites will also form part of this solution. The newly released Transas Navi-Harbour 4.3 software, being at the heart of the project, will ensure continuous surveillance of the territorial waters, safety of navigation, reduction of illegal immigration and protection of the marine environment. Significant qualitative improvements in Libyan ports’ operations, service and traffic management are on their way. This sophisticated infrastructure will reinforce the implementation of port operations management with an aim to be in full compliance with Part B of the ISPS Code. The Libyan VTMS project represents a significant success for Transas Marine, and the end result will be one of the most modern and powerful coastal surveillance systems installed by the company. The plan also incorporates further coverage as an extension to this system, by adding additional sites in the future.

 “This is leading to a ‘normalisation’ of equipment discussions, with conversations restarting with various ports on expansion projects.” Benefiting from its existing grasp on the market, Bromma has also recorded a large number of orders for replacement spreaders. Most prominently, though, the manufacturer underlines the rising demand from developing markets and an increase in orders from customers in the US. Its major, recent all-electric yard spreader orders include: six all-electrics to Kalingrad, Russia; 11 all-electric YSX40E spreaders for Xiamen, China; six all-electrics to Konecranes for delivery to Turkey; and six all-electrics to Saigon, Vietnam. Furthermore, Bromma recently won smaller all-electric spreader orders for Bejaia Port, Algeria and Vladivostok, Russia. In terms of orders for ship-to-shore operations, Bromma was recently awarded new orders for a total of 34 separating twin-lift STS45 ship-to-shore spreaders for delivery to customers in Malaysia, the United States, Panama, and Turkey. Pieter Verdonschot, Sales Manager of spreaders at Dutch manufacturer VDL, reports that his company has noted an upturn in the market. “The market is picking up in our opinion. More and more customers are getting the budget available for making new plans and also for making investments,” he says. “We have recently received orders for multiple spreaders for both the US and the east side of Europe, which are relatively new markets for us. We’ve also seen some more movement in central Europe regarding inquiries and sales for new spreaders over the last couple of months.” Verdonschot adds that VDL has recorded strong demand from customers asking for custom-made spreaders, citing one good example as a recent delivery to Italian crane manufacturer Cimolai Technology. Offering versatile operations, these ‘Piggyback’ spreaders for the Rete Ferroviaria Italiana terminal featured cornerflippers, gravity adjustment and rotation. Among other notable recent orders, VDL lists: three CH6320 all-electric spreaders for the Department of Sanitation of New York (DSNY); one CH6400 for an inland port in the US; one overhead frames (OHFs) for CTS Container Terminal in Köln, Germany; one CH6400 all-electric spreader for Bosche Container Terminal (BCT) in Den Bosch, Holland; three CH6020s for a port in Georgia; one ECH 2400 for Progeco in Rotterdam; and one CH6400RTGA for GHSA in Spain. While Sweden’s Timars stumbled somewhat at the outset of 2010 in terms of orders, Product Manager Joakim Carlsson reports that the company has noted a pleasing upturn as the year has progressed. “The first three months of 2010 were a bit disappointing, as we saw tendencies of a better market at the end of 2009. The only market that really lived up to our expectations was the Russian market, with several deliveries of Timars C-lift spreaders and Timars Gravity Centrelizers,” he explains. “The market really picked up in April and we did experience a very busy summer with many orders, and since then we have continued to gain orders from both new and previous customers.” Among the company’s orders in 2010, Timars’ Russian distributor, Roxor Industries, gained orders for nine units of its C-lift model, four units of the Timars Gravity Centrelizer and one unit of the Timars OHA, with a fully automatic overheight frame. When speaking to WPD, the company stated that it will probably have added at least five spreader orders from the Russian market to this list before the end of the year. The company also recorded orders for C-lift spreaders and the Gravity Centrelizer from Kokkola Port in Finland (Polar versions), Izmir Port in Turkey and Carbones Del Cerrejon in Colombia. At the time of going to press, the most recent order on Timars C-lift was for six units to Gortan Yachting in Croatia. Timars sold a record number of Gravity Centrelizer units in 2010, 10 years after it was introduced to the market. The company also delivered Gravity Centrelizer orders to Jacinto International in Texas and SMART in Mayotte. In terms of its OHFs, Timars is still drawing interest from an international base of customers, including orders in 2010 from customers in St Petersburg in Russia, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Norrkoping in Sweden and Noumea in New Caledonia. The company’s new distribution partner in UK, Seward Wyon, has also scored several projects on OHFs for Timars over the year. The Timars C-lift is a semi-automatic fixed container spreader with a very low weight. Timars states that it has “several unique advantages” that optimise efficiency and ease of operation. Timars’ Gravity Centrelizer is a “unique lifting device” that complements the container spreader for efficient and safe handling of unevenly loaded containers. Owned by a Consortium of private industrialists, selected from several heavy industries in Sweden, newly formed independent company SweFrame Port Equipment AB recently picked up a contract from the Port of Tilbury, UK, for two I-40 model light-weight ship-to-shore single-lift spreaders. The port placed this order to replace two light-weight spreaders in existing cranes. The I-40 is designed to handle containers sized from 20 to 40 feet with ISO twistlocks. The I40-H is an electric hydraulic spreader, with the principle facets including high availability, simplicity and maintenance-friendly solutions. It combines SweFrame’s lighter platform with the components and hydraulics of the heavier spreader platform to achieve a dedicated spreader for ship-to-shore applications where tare weight is of concern. Independent of any other equipment manufacturer and other parties within the business, SweFrame specialises in container handling, focused on spreaders. The company professes to have “engaged some of the most experienced spreader professionals in the world to create a high quality spreader for the demanding container handling environment”. SweFrame adds that it places serious onus on meeting high ISO standards and its commitment to quality, using the best grades of steel, always from original European suppliers. “The objective of SweFrame is to produce a spreader that maximises the operators’ availability while keeping it as simple as possible for maintenance,” says SweFrame Sales Manager, Mikael Pettersson.

Electric stock 
Bromma attributes much of the appeal of its all-electric spreaders to the financial advantages they offer customers in a still challenging financial climate. Among these perks, the manufacturer lists a lower spreader weight, resulting in reduced power consumption and a lifetime diesel cost saving of EURO 30,000. Unsurprisingly, the other beneficial cost-saving and performance facets of these spreaders relate entirely to reduced energy consumption, reduced maintenance costs, and an optimised product lifetime in comparison to their hydraulic counterparts, starting with a reduction in power consumption of as much as 90%. Additionally, they offer a major reduction in service points – the company states that one customer reported savings of more than 60% in terms of annual labour and material costs when compared with the hydraulic spreaders in their fleet. Finally, to complement lower consumable costs such as no oil or filters, the company hails the “tremendous cumulative lifecycle cost benefits” offered by all-electric spreaders. Bromma states that through its ecological, trademark Greenline spreader, it can offer a saving of up to half of the original spreader cost. The leading spreader in Bromma’s ship-to-shore canon is the STS45, which it boasts is the industry’s best-selling STS spreader. It attributes this success to STS45’s versatile, “proven, reliable, and highly productive” separating twin-lift solution, capable of single and twin-lift (20-foot containers) operations. “Growing terminals need durable and flexible equipment that can seamlessly handle the variety of box sizes – 20-foot, 40-foot, and 45-foot – often found on container ships,” states the manufacturer. “The flexible and reliable performance characteristics of the STS45 leads to faster ship turns, due to higher rates of boxes moved per hour, and the
greater revenue potential.” The company adds that the STS45 is lighter than most comparable STS separating twin spreaders, weighing 12.7 tonnes in comparison to rivals that can weigh as much as 14.2 tonnes – delivering reduced CO2 emissions, operating costs and power consumption. In terms of the aforementioned versatility, the STS45 offers “options for almost every terminal preference,” including height indication; LED lamps; side flippers; a Twin Twenty Detection System to detect gap risks; SCS3 advanced spreader diagnostics technology; and noise reduction technology.The company has introduced a new, second generation all-electric spreader, the first of which will be placed into service in the Port of Lyttelton on the south island of New Zealand.  The new, second generation Greenline spreader headed to Port Lyttelton has many new design enhancements designed to improve spreader performance. In addition to reduced energy consumption and CO2 emissions, these include:

second generation spreaders featuring a new twistlock gearbox, with brakes and sensor adjustments eliminated

a telescopic gearbox further enhanced for even greater reliability

fixed twistlock linkage, eliminating the need for maintenance technicians to perform adjustments, and improving uptime

removed adjustment points to minimise the risk of broken linkages

additional space in the corner boxes and an improved end beam design, which provides easier access for maintenance staff

easier access, meaning faster and simpler spreader maintenance, which boosts uptime.

Stepping up
Addressing its latest technological spreader innovations, VDL highlights that it will see out 2010 having supplied its first all-electric telescopic yard crane spreader to BCT in Den Bosch. “We have done a lot of engineering for this project and are now ready for the delivery of this spreader,” states Verdonschot. “This is a very important step, because now we will have a good reference for our electric telescopic spreader which is also very close to our factory.” He adds: “For a project in the waste department of the city of New York we will supply three fixed 20-foot spreaders with fully electric flippers. We are now testing our electric flippers design in our factory to make sure the flippers work perfectly when this project has to be delivered.” One of Timars main, recent developments has been the fifth edition of Timars’ OHA, fully automatic over-height frame, which was released at the end of 2009. This new version included over 20 improvements that made the OHF “stronger, easier to maintain and even more efficient.” Says Carlsson: “We are very satisfied with the result of this new version, and so are the customers that have operated it.” During the summer, Timars also delivered a special version of its HCL spreader to Buffers USA. The HCL is a robust, semi-automatic fixed spreader, and for this order Timars manufactured and delivered three 40-foot units with a low total lifting height. The lifting height was halved compared to standard spreaders, facilitating the operator to store more containers. The company also recently launched a new, low-cost fixed semi-automatic container spreader that it states is “as simple as it gets, without neglecting the true Timars quality.” Timars states that this spreader offers a reliable spreader at a very good price. The new spreader can also be assembled in the port, which decreases the freight cost to many customers by up to 80%. Bromma states that worker safety has been one of its priorities for decades, and an important factor in its recent technological spreader developments. Most recently, the company introduced a new load-sensing system in spreaders, believing that there is a compelling case for the safety-related benefits of such technology, given the risks associated with container eccentricity and overload conditions.

“Bromma’s new load-sensing system, engineered by Swedish and German engineers, provides the information needed to perform a safer lift, and nothing is more important operationally than safety,” the company states.The system features a load sensor in each of the twistlocks, displaying the full twistlock system. Bromma load cell technology is based on strain gauges, which are an integral part of the load cell mounted in the twist lock assembly. These strain gauges are individually calibrated at the factory and temperature-compensated to increase the accuracy of their load measurement. Among many benefits that the company lists, Bromma states that the system provides a warning for when containers are lifted with one or more twistlocks stuck in the container stack or in trailer chassis. It also provides a warning system for snag loads in ship cells, or for when all twistlocks are not actually locked into the corner castings. Measuring containers during the normal load cycle, under normal conditions the system causes no interference with the terminal operation. The company states of the safety enhancements available to customers: “The cost to a terminal from overloaded containers is considerable. Continued overload lifts produces accumulated stress on lifting equipment, which can impact spreader lifetime, and require an accelerated spreader replacement cycle. Accidents resulting from overload conditions can lead to property damage and/or staff injury. Accidents result in direct property cost loss, as well as higher insurance costs. The ‘costs’ of injury are both financial and reputational – accidents damage labour relations and morale, impair performance, and are financially damaging. The bottom line in terms of return on investment is this: increase worker safety, reduce commercial risk.”

Additionally, Bromma has introduced a new OSR45 automatic 20-45-foot OHF. The company states that the two main advantages of this product are its high flexibility and, staying true to the aforementioned remit, the greater safety due to automatic operation. The OSR45 can flexibly adapt to various Bromma spreaders, with safer and faster handling of flats, ISO containers, or overheight containers. As the spreader telescopes, the overheight frame telescopes simultaneously, allowing the unit to handle 20-foot, 30-foot, 40-foot and 45-foot containers with overheight cargo. The OSR45 OHF is only mechanically operated and requires no power supply or hydraulics, either for attaching or operation. The twistlock is based on the Bromma floating twistlock.

On the boom
The development of spreader technology is integral to global commerce and the transportation of goods. The demand for spreaders is unrelenting, even in periods of economic instability. Delivering safe and efficient technological solutions to customers’ needs is of paramount concern to manufacturers, who undoubtedly have an impressive mandate to satisfy in a market that rather aptly continues to boom.

This article was published in the November 2010 issue of World Port Development. To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

Uruguay’s Ports in 2010

Uruguay’s economic development began around its main port – the Port of Montevideo. Over half of the country’s population lives in the Montevideo metropolitan area, and the region still relies heavily on the port for its economic health. Gordon Feller explains…

The port of Montevideo is well positioned on the Rio de la Plata and is the deepest natural harbour of the River Plate area. It receives sea carriers from around the world and handles most of Uruguay’s foreign trade.  Since its construction, the port has played a key role in the development of the country and the region due to its strategic location, its competitive advantages in terms of natural characteristics and infrastructure, and its services and investment opportunities. The port has become a catalyst for integration in the region due to its immersion in the area of influence of almost 200 million inhabitants with the highest per capita income of Latin America.  The port has also become an important trans-shipment site for merchandise bound for neighbouring countries. Over 50% of containerised merchandise has a regional destination.  The operations of the Port of Montevideo have been in the hands of the private sector since 1992, when law No. 16,246 ended state control. The law promoted a remarkable transformation in the port’s activity; commercial competition propelled growth in activity, improvement of services, and an increase in new traffic. It also created opportunities for service providers working with goods bound for other places in the region. Infrastructure improvement has accompanied this new momentum. Docks have been reinforced, obsolete warehouses have been demolished, new container terminals have been created, and high-resistance pavement and circulation routes have been refurbished.  Power, water, sanitation, security and communications installations and equipment have all been updated and modernised.  The “Free Port” system, created under the same law, allows for the free circulation of goods within the port premises exempt of all import-related duties and tariffs. Activities which do not alter the nature of merchandise but increase value added (such as consolidation, classification, and re-labeling) are also permitted within this system.

River Transportation System
The governments of Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia are jointly working together on what has become the largest Latin-American “regional integration” project – the joint use of the 2,500-mile long Parana-Paraguay-Uruguay rivers for the transportation of goods from the five countries to the Atlantic Ocean. The ongoing project calls for investments on the order of USD935 million including civil construction (around USD120 million), dredging and maintenance (USD150 million), ports (including cargo handling equipment – USD115 million), and fleet (USD 550 million). Further opportunities for foreign involvement lie in the development of the administration of the waterways. Major international investments in Uruguay’s forestry sector have also created the need for new and modern ports along the Uruguay River (Fray Bentos and Nueva Palmira) and on the Atlantic Ocean (La Paloma). Nueva Palmira is the terminal port of the 2,200 mile-long Paraná-Paraguay river transportation system flowing through Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil. The development of smaller commercial ports along the Uruguay River should provide significant opportunities for foreign suppliers. As Uruguay positions itself as a major logistics hub for the region, service providers may find an attractive niche in this sector.

Port of Nueva Palmira
Located 170 miles west from Montevideo on the left bank of the Uruguay River close to the limits with the River Plate and facing the mouth of the Paraná Bravo, it is the second largest port in Uruguay. It is at the origin of the navigation waterway knows as the Paraná-Paraguay waterway that reaches up to Puerto Cáceres in Brazil. It is the main port of the waterway system, which provides great possibilities for the efficient development of cargo transfer operations, from river boats to ocean-bound vessels. The port is currently used mainly for the shipment of lumber and citrus fruits (82% of Uruguayan citrus exports leave through Nueva Palmira as well as 88% of the soybeans). US-based Navios Corporation and Archer Daniels Midland operate grain terminals at the port. In 2008, Nueva Palmira handled a total of 3.9 million tonnes of cargo and has a depth of 32 feet. Part of the port is located within a bonded warehouse system and has a 5,500-pallet capacity refrigerated warehouse owned by a joint venture between Uruguayan, Danish and Swedish investors.

Port of Montevideo
The Government of Uruguay recently announced plans to call for the construction and operation of a second container terminal at the Port of Montevideo. Port users and operators almost unanimously agree that the ports are in urgent need of further infrastructure improvements and most importantly, increased capacity. The Government of Uruguay recognises the need to continuously renovate and modernise its port equipment. Both the Port of Montevideo and the Port of Nueva Palmira receive regular attention due to their importance in international trade, not only for Uruguay, but as trans-shipment ports for merchandise coming from Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil. Transit and trans-shipments account for a little over 50% of cargo movement. As a result of the global economic downturn cargo movement during the first six months of 2009 decreased 12% over 2008 figures. Signs indicate that a recovery is underway starting at the end of 2009 though annual growth is expected to remain at zero. Growth in 2006 (14%), 2007 (15%), and 2008 (13%) far outpaced growth projections made in 2005 of 5%. Trans-shipment of goods has not been affected and continues to increase each year. According to major port operators, the current lack of space and adequate infrastructure are the primary obstacles to increased trans-shipment growth.  Within the Port of Montevideo there are two major container terminal operators, Montecon with a 33% market share (mostly import/export), and Terminal Cuenca del Plata with the remaining 67% market share (mostly trans-shipments). Terminal Cuenca del Plata (TCP), who won a thirty-year BOT concession at an auction in 2001, operates eight Super Post Panamax Portico Cranes, one mobile harbour crane, 15 straddle carriers (Montevideo is the only Port in Latin America to use straddle carriers), and 10 reach stackers. Both TCP and Montecon have announced substantial  investment in infrastructure upgrades and renewal. TCP recently installed four Chinese super post- panamax cranes (from ZPMC) while Montecon announced investments of over USD10 million in 2010 for the purchase of six container handling forklift trucks (five for loaded containers and one for empty containers), and a 24% increase in electrical power for reefer hook-up.  Major purchasers of port equipment are the National Port Administration (ANP), TCP and Montecon. The ANP typically utilises a bidding process while TCP, given its ample experience in administering worldwide terminals generally relies on well-known suppliers. There is no local manufacture of port equipment and supplies.

The National Ports Administration (Administración Nacional de Puertos – ANP) is a decentralised entity of the Executive Branch responsible for the administration, conservation, and development of the Port of Montevideo, Colonia, Fray Bentos, Nueva Palmira, and Juan Lacaze. It also advises the Executive Branch on port matters. As of 1992, private operators are permitted to offer services to cargo and passenger vessels under a free competition system. Commercial competition propelled growth in activity, improvement of servi
ces, and an increase in traffic.

The main projects currently under consideration or implemented are:

New container terminal
A proposal is currently in Parliament that calls for the construction and operation of a new 80-acre container terminal to be built in the middle of the Bay of Montevideo. The thirty-year BOT concession will likely be auctioned in the second half of 2010 among interested operators. There will be no government participation in the project. The terminal is expected to be fully operational by 2015 and the investment to estimated to be USD270 million.

Dock C

Construction of a new dock – estimated 1,100ft long and 147ft wide. Estimated cost is USD62 million and IADB financing has been secured. Construction is expected to begin in the near future.

Dock D
This project offers a 30-year BOT initiative principally for the use of industrialised forestry products such as sawn wood, planks and cellulose. The project will be a deep-water extension of Dock C and is expected to cost around USD24 million.

Forestry Terminal
The proposed project suggests a full private-sector initiative to reclaim land from the sea. The terminal which will be created will be used exclusively for forestry products such as logs and chips. Expected investment is USD50 million.

North Port Access
The North Port Access will see a land fill of 25 hectares gained from the bay to serve as a truck parking area and offering cargo related services. When the project is completed the fence around the port perimeter has to be relocated. Estimated cost of the project is USD10 million.

Capurro Fishing Terminal
This project calls for the construction and operation of a new fishing terminal in two stages. The first to handle the local fishing fleet and the second, of deeper draught, to handle the international South Atlantic fishing fleet based in Montevideo. Estimated investment for the first segment is USD3 million and USD37 million for the second. Sea-bed exploration is currently underway but land still needs to be expropriated so commencement of works remains uncertain.

Puntas de Sayago
This project consists of modernising existing, and adding new infrastructure to the premises formerly used by a major slaughterhouse across from the Port of Montevideo on the other side of the bay. The project had formerly been adjudicated to a foreign consortium that lost all rights for failing to carry it out during the stipulated timeframe. The area has approximately 250 acres and will include free port areas and a free zone. The Port at Puntas de Sayago will be considered a natural extension of the Port of Montevideo.

Railway Interconnection
The proposed project will utilise the former railway parking spaces for the storage of containers in an area of 10 acres. Furthermore, intermodal activities are expected to take place in this area.

Dredging Projects
Port access channels and the Montevideo Bay itself are often dredged to allow for the easy passage of ultramodern container ships. Formerly dominated by Dutch and Belgian companies, the ANP has lately contracted Chinese companies mainly due to costs.

La Paloma Port
At the beginning of 2009, Spain’s BENEL/Iberinsa began feasibility studies for the construction of a deep-water port at La Paloma on the Atlantic Ocean. The Port will require a USD1.2 billion investment and be fully operational by 2020. Portugal’s giant paper conglomerate Portucel has been indicated a possible partner in the project, as well as Rio Tinto Mining Company to use the port to ship iron-ores from Bolivia and Brazil. The project includes the port, a re-gasification plant, and the construction of a gas pipeline and railway from La Paloma to Montevideo. Other interested parties are a Chilean group to introduce Nigerian coal, and the Spanish South Atlantic Fishing Fleet. Expansion projects include deepening the draught to 72 feet.

Cruise facilities
In October 2008, Royal Caribbean International expressed an interest in constructing a 12-acre yacht and cruise port (in addition to other facilities including a hotel, shopping mall, etc.) Major cruise ships call on Uruguayan ports on average a 180 times each year from December through March creating major congestion problems in the main port. This problem is expected to worsen as the number of ships increases each year.