This article was published in July/August 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

Rail wagon unloader makers want more than inquiries

The trouble with being in the middle of a worldwide recession is that it’s difficult to find a way out as Ray Dykes reports…

Manufacturers of rail wagon unloaders around the globe are still hoping 2010 will be their year of recovery. Some report a disastrous first half to 2009 that left them reeling and their order books flat or simply blank. “There was a lot of people being very cautious and delaying projects,” says Harry Edelman, Executive Vice President of US company Heyl & Patterson, which has been in the bulk materials handling business for 123 years and has some of its customers still operating machines that are up to 100 years old. However, new equipment inquiries began picking up as 2010 opened with new hope and promise. But, the recession – especially in Europe where not just companies but countries have serious financial difficulties – refuses to go away. Product inquiries don’t necessarily mean product orders and for most manufacturers of rail wagon unloaders (also known as rail car dumpers, tipplers or tippers) only the backlog has saved the day. “We’ve been working through our backlog and inquiries have been picking up,” says Edelman. “But, between backlog and inquiries, we need orders.”

Good time
It’s a good time to buy a rail wagon unloader. For starters delivery times are about as short as they can get, competition among the big players is keen, and buyers can write the book on what they want in customer service. But, all is not lost and the order books might soon be flush again as they were in 2007 and 2008. More and more would-be buyers have commissioned studies and at least one globally experienced engineering consultant sees that as a good sign that orders aren’t far away. “A lot of clients are commissioning study work and that’s usually one of the first things they cut when in difficulties,” says Greg Andrew, Chief Engineer Mechanical, for engineering consultants Worley Parsons in Vancouver BC. “We are being kept busy with study work; things are definitely getting better.” That feeling is echoed in Holland where cement handling specialist Aumund Holding BV is receiving “a reasonable level of new inquiries for wagon tipplers, with one or two promising prospects.” Rail wagon unloaders are not a “flagship product” for Aumund and that makes the surge in recent inquiries even more significant. And while Aumund/Schade, as it is also known, sold no wagon tipplers in 2009 and hasn’t landed a sale yet in 2010, the company says it is hot on the trail of orders in India, Iran and South Africa. “The combination of technical developments at Aumund/Schade, new sales strategies and a slowly strengthening marketplace will see increasing activity for us,” says a company spokesperson.

Top-ranked
Perhaps the top-ranked manufacturer of rail wagon unloaders in the world, Metso Minerals, based in Finland, has had similar experiences of languishing business through 2009 and signs of a welcome recovery in 2010. David Hicken, Vice President of Bulk Materials Handling Global Sales, who covers much of Europe and even South Africa from his United Kingdom office, says that while 2009 was “lean on major contracts” Metso ticked over on doing major service and upgrade work in the United States and Australia. India performed well, however, with a number of new rail wagon dumper contracts. “Our 2010 has improved,” adds Hicken, who visited the Pittsburgh Metso office in July and also South Africa. “We have a number of significant orders for dumper change-outs in the US and orders for new high capacity dumpers in Australia and China. “We are hopeful of further orders from South America, China and Australia later in 2010 and the India continues to do well for us,” says Hicken. And while there’s no mistaking the current climate for a boom as there was in 2007 and 2008, Hicken is confident the market will remain steady. Another of the world’s leading suppliers of rail car dumpers, ThyssenKrupp Fordertechnik GmbH (TKF) of Germany, has weathered the recession storm well, according to Dr Wei Ye, Vice President of Project Sales. And TKF has been successful recently in several port handling projects, which have included rail car unloaders, in Brazil, Australia and Russia.

Largest order
The largest order in company history – a five tandem rail wagon unloader project for Vale’s Tubarao iron ore operations in Brazil – was completed in 2009 after installation began in 2007. That success may have sparked wider interest as TKF’s Brazilian subsidiary located at Belo Horizonte received an order in April 2010 for two tandem wagon unloaders at Porto Sudeste in the State of Rio de Janeiro for LLX Sudeste Operacoes Portuarias LTDA. Dr Ye sees that project as an excellent example of the cross-country cooperation of different TKF subsidiaries, bringing technical know-how coupled with first-hand knowledge of the country. Based on an existing dumper design, the two machines will be organised by both the German and Brazilian subsidiaries, while the electrical, hydraulic and mechanical components will be engineered and supplied from both Germany and Brazil. The rail wagon positioners will be able to handle trains of up to 160 wagons and up to three locomotives. The two rotary tandem dumpers will each be capable of 40 cycles per hour. In another Brazilian order, TKF is working with iron producer CSN on a two dumper order for their Itaguai port development project to be commissioned in 2012. Early engineering design work is underway and Dr Ye says TKF is expecting the actual purchase order from CSN later this year. All work will be shared by the company’s German and Brazilian subsidiaries.

New design
In a third major order, TKF is playing a role in the upgrade of the eastern Russian Port of Posjet, in the Japan Sea, which serves exports of coal to Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia for the Mechel Group. ThyssenKrupp is supplying all of the bulk material handling for the port upgrade including two side discharge coal car dumpers; a shiploader, two bucket wheel stacker-reclaimers, crushing and a complete conveyor system including all galleries, transfer towers and conveyor bridges. The customer Mechel chose side discharge unloaders over rotary coal car dumpers so that the receiving hoppers are kept flat to reduce the costs of civil works and to avoid the influence of high level ground water. Using one rail line, the new port coal handling system will have a total throughput of 7 million tonnes a year. TKF designers have devised new concept twin side discharge car dumpers with 75 tonne payload,  which can reach a maximum cycle time of 20 wagons per hour each to a maximum of 3,000 tonnes per hour

Good start to 2010
Meanwhile, another European rail wagon unloader maker, Tenova-TAKRAF of Italy, has had a good start to 2010 with two contracts for two wagon dumpers in Iran. The iron ore dumpers for MSE Co will be built by the Italian company’s German manufacturing facilities, according to Pietro Bibolini, Tenova-TAKRAF’s Commercial Director. Tenova TAKRAF is also in the hunt for projects from Brazilian iron ore giant Vale, which is venturing into coal mining in at least one project that involves mine facilities, railway construction, and port facilities. A preliminary tender call has gone out for rail wagon unloaders, conveyors and a shiploader. “There’s tough competition, all of the major suppliers are seeking to win the project and we are vying for the entire contract including the rail wagon dumpers,” says Bibolini.

Innovations
Meanwhile, the revolution in rail car dumper
design these days may not be entirely in the unloaders. Greg Andrew of engineering consultants Worley Parsons in Vancouver BC, says over the past year or two larger companies have started looking at specially designed rail cars to reduce dumping times and reduce manual labour. Bottom dumping cars, which are normally less complex and cheaper overall than rotary dumpers, for example, have also been more prominent, particularly in Australia and New Zealand. One firm with a growing reputation Down Under for bottom dumping freight cars is Downer EDI Rail based in Granville, New South Wales. Downer EDI has developed a new generation of bottom dumping freight wagons for Australia’s important iron ore industry. Known as model AHOF, the wagons minimise dump time and reduce the risk of hang up. The structure was developed using 3D graphics and optimised using finite element analysis (FEA), while performance was fully assessed using vehicle dynamic simulation software. Door discharge test results were outstanding, the company says, with a total discharge cycle time considerably less than 20 seconds and with no product hang-up.On the coal side, Downer EDI has a range of stainless steel coal hopper wagons with a 98-tonne payload and a low tare weight of 22 tonnes. The high capacity, low weight wagons feature aerodynamic design and low maintenance automatic bottom dump doors. Downer EDI claims the wagons have been the most reliable operating in the Hunter Valley coal chain since 1953. Andrew says the bottom dumpers also would make it easier to deal with weather challenges such as freezing in the Canadian Rockies and are proving a lot less involved to dump.

Bigger and better
For Metso Minerals, David Hicken says there’s always a demand for bigger trains, higher throughput, and a larger range of rail rolling stock. “Development in control systems helps with this and the use of modern design tools like 3-D CAD and FEA help us to optimise designs.” Hicken adds that Chinese buyers are particularly fond of having “bigger and better” and Metso recently installed a quadruple dumper system at the growing Caofeidian Port in Northern China, which serves the Baohai Economic Circle including seven provinces and cities such as Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. The new dumper unloads four rail wagons at a time. Hicken sees the Metso strength in the market relates to the integrity of the company’s rail wagon unloader design. “Our dumper systems are designed for long life and to last under arduous conditions,” he explains. “They are built to the highest quality anywhere in the world.” Nowhere is this more important than in Australia where he says clients demand the highest product integrity and have the most onerous design standards.

The logistic chain is the single most important service function that any business continuously strives to improve.  Controlling logistic costs allows companies [and countries] to maintain a competitive edge and to benefit from trade growth, since any savings that can be made on freight costs reflects on the competitiveness of the supplier and consequently the final product price. When Italy-based Logmarin Advisors was formally launched in Genoa, (under the aegis of the Banchero Costa and Rina Groups), its aim was to address this vital element. Having made its name in the floating terminal market thanks to its versatility in waterborne logistics, Logmarin also provides comprehensive consultancy services in the field of landside port facilities and coastal engineering.

Project management
The company’s service offering starts from the project outset, with a comprehensive feasibility study and examination of the realities of the requirements in order to find a solution to suit the specific needs of clients. This approach provides suitable tools to enable a smooth decision process for the client. During the Project Implementation stage, Logmarin can provide overall advisory services on behalf of the client, including basic design, project management and monitoring, assistance in shipping, shipyard and logistics contracts negotiations, thus coordinating and facilitating the project implementation process.

At the terminal operational stage Logmarin can supervise commissioning, transfer knowledge by training counterpart staff and monitor performance. “We do not sell standard logistics solutions, because there are no standard clients,” says Mario Terenzio, Technical Manager at Logmarin. Traditionally, the stevedoring service consists of supplying equipment, infrastructure and labour for cargo handling operations while the vessel is in port, berthed alongside a quay with basic infrastructure. The main criteria which make a port project economically viable are the availability of large amount of commodity to handle, water depth at the site and large flat areas for commodity handling and storage, i.e. as it is the case of Richards Bay. However, open land next to deep water is not easily available and dredging, by its very nature, is an environmentally sensitive issue that usually causes concerns within the local community, therefore, building new deepwater ports is expensive and time-consuming. Many ports are attempting to improve their existing approach channels and berthing facilities to enable them to handle the modern fleet of vessels. However, the cost of such adaptations to suit the increasing dimension of the vessels is not always economically justifiable for port authorities. As the result, raw material producers and end-users are penalised compared with some of their competitors, who can rely on the necessary infrastructure to accommodate larger vessels.

A viable alternative
When trade volume is not large enough, and/or environmental restrictions are hard to crack, the floating terminal can provide a commercially viable alternative. Despite the global economic downturn, coal demand for coal-fired power stations in the Far East (Indonesia, Vietnam, India, China, Philippines, etc) is growing steadily. As a result power projects in the Asian region continue to expand and an increasing number will come on line within 2015 (a large number of coal fire projects will open in Indian, Indonesian and Vietnam).  A dominant factor in logistics costs for most of the new coal fired power stations is the cost of ocean freight, mainly due to limited accessibility of larger bulk carriers to both suppliers (Indonesia, Vietnam) and end-users (located in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, etc.), because a large number of the new power stations are affected by shallow water draught, thus preventing end-users to benefit from the utilisation of the larger size of modern vessels. As a consequence of this growing trend, the producers and the receivers would need to increase infrastructure capacity considerably, to cope with the volume surge and to propose alternative cost-effective means of sea logistics solution to feed the power stations smoothly and efficiently. Logmarin Advisors are currently working on some Floating Terminal projects worldwide, out of which the Coal Floating terminal Princesse Chloe (see table with main features, table 1), and Mara (figure 1) are in the advanced stage of implementation and will start operation in Indonesia in the last quarter of this year. There are many cases in coal, iron ore, copper and aggregates markets where commodities are moved solely due to the introduction of the floating terminals. Nowadays, Floating Terminal facility technology has matured and there is a wealth of knowledge arising from many examples of floating terminals in operation all over the world, and the trend toward the utilisation of this alternative is still growing. Indonesia is home for the largest population of floating cranes. As many as 50 trans-shipper units are supporting the Indonesia coal industry (we estimate that over 120 millions tonnes is loaded by means of floating facilities on an annual basis)

Environmental Impact assessment and obtaining the related permits is getting more and more complicated, expensive and restricted because almost in every part of the world there is a strong environmental lobby amongst local communities against shore facilities and political pressure is brought to bear in many cases. For this reason a shore terminal implementation schedule can often exceed a five year period. With a floating terminal the environmental impact is very limited and in most cases it is hardly noticeable from the shore.  A fixed shore infrastructure is un-movable, i.e. you must use it only where built, whereas a floating terminal can, by its own definition and nature, be moved elsewhere should demand call for it. The ability to relocate the facility and secure alternative employment limit the operations exposure to unforeseen business disruption in the case of a floating terminal. Solutions for logistics supply chain are almost infinite. High versatility, a solid knowledge of the markets, knowledge of the material and how it handles, the technical and operative know-how are all necessary to produce a solution which delivers value to the client in any market condition.  Part of Logmarin’s role is to make the customer more aware of the advantages arising from a global view of the supply chain. Rather than deploying new technology, the emphasis is placed on a combination of the most proven technologies to ensure they are reliable, flexible and as efficient as possible. The concept of ‘value-added’ is always uppermost when designing solutions. Logmarin has been deeply involved in supporting activities for both the logistics chain ends, worldwide, both on shore and “floating”. Logmarin’s growth is the result of many factors among which the most important is a great management team with multidiscipline backgrounds.  Their clients include world class commodities suppliers such as, Anglo, Marubeni, VALE; end-users including Japan Power, ENEL and Kepco; logistics services providers such as Dreyfuss, Mitra Swire CTM and Scorpio. All of these companies have opted for Logmarin’s services to improve their seaborne supply chain.

New strategic alliance
To better serve its customers with a wider offering, Logmarin has, together with Bedeschi and Liebherr, founded a new strategic business alliance, launched under the name of BulkLogisticLandmark(BLL). A recent project developed by BLL is the upgrading of the Toros Ceyhan shore terminal, located in the Bay of Iskenderun in Turkey. Two new travelling cranes, hoppers and feeder conveyor system have been successfully commissioned. With the new unloading facility the terminal has the capability to unload coal, phosphates and other dry bulk materials from the largest post panamax vessel at an average daily rate exceeding 25.000 tonnes. At the delivery test the unloading system has achieved an hourly unloading rate of ab
out 1700 tonnes of coal per hour. By means of travelling hoppers, the commodities can be conveyed either to the silos warehouse or onto trucks for direct distribution to inland network.  A second project undertaken by BLL involves the floating terminal Princesse Chloe, owned and operated by PT Mitra SwireCTM, which is under construction at Keppel Subic Shipyard under Registro Italiano Navale (RINA) and Logmarin surveillance/supervision. She will be delivered from the yard in December this year. With a daily designed loading rate of 50,000 tonnes Princesse Chloe is capable to load over 800,000 tonnes of coal monthly. The environmentally friendly coal transfer operation will be carried out at a daily average rate exceeding 40,000 tonnes and, thanks to the innovative telescopic shiploader which is equipped with a distribution chute, loading operations are carried out smoothly and efficiently even in cases of high coal stowage. The efficiency of this coal handling facility will enable PT Berau Coal, one of the larger Indonesian coal producers, to maximise the vessel’s cargo carrying capacity (avoiding broken space in the vessel’s hold) and minimise the vessel loading time thus reducing transportation costs significantly. ‘Motions damping device’ bilge keels are fitted on each side extending to about 3/4 length of the pontoon; structural anti-rolling fins are also fitted. Therefore the Logmarin’ floating crane concept is less sensitive to the adverse weather conditions as compared with the standard floating cranes. Consequently, Princesse Chloe has significant competitive advantages over existing trans-shipper units. The coal handling equipment designed by Liebherr and Bedeschi with the support of Logmarin, are manufactured in compliance with the highest classifications for heavy-duty work in open water conditions.

Customised solution is key
In conclusion, in today’s market, in order to remain competitive it is not only essential to focus on one’s own line of business, it is vital to employ creativity and innovation just as much as knowledge and experience, to ensure sound results suiting the specific client’s situation to eliminate bottlenecks in the supply chain.

This article was published in July/August 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

World Port Development talks to Thomas H Hagen, Chief Operating Officer Demag Cranes AG

1. What was the career path you followed to reach your current position?

After graduating in Business Administration I started my career with Daimler-Benz AG. After that, I held various management positions with such multinational enterprises as ABB and Lahmayer. Finally I was CEO and President of the Weidmüller Group with responsibility for that company’s successful restructuring before I was appointed, with effect from 1 May 2007, to the Demag Cranes AG Management Board. Here, I am COO with responsibility for all operative business and for the Industrial Cranes and Port Technology segments.

2. Why do you believe you were chosen for this role?

That’s a question that should really be addressed to our Supervisory Board which is responsible for such appointments. My personal opinion is that there were two main reasons: on the one hand, there is the international experience I have gathered during the various positions I have held in numerous foreign countries. And, on the other hand, I have collected considerable experience over the years in leadership and the restructuring of enterprises. During my last post as sole member of the Management Board at Weidmüller, I was in a position to draw together all these threads and apply them to reorganising the entire business. I can now use these skills in my role as COO of Demag Cranes AG in many ways, including, of course, the current restructuring and integration process.

3. What is your greatest motivating force?

The idea that every day we can improve a little. In such  multinational enterprises as Demag Cranes AG, there are constantly new opportunities for optimising products, services and processes as a result of the continuously changing business environment and requirements. We consider ourselves to be the innovation leader in our fields. That is only possible if your enterprise has creativity and a feeling for tomorrow’s customer requirements. I try to transfer this attitude to my staff. Add to this a particular enthusiasm for excellence and a problem solving approach aimed at increasing our competitiveness. It was only recently that our crane components production facility in Wetter, Germany, achieved second place in the “Best Factory” competition. This was the result of excellent team work and made me very proud. This is just one of many examples of how motivation leads to success and success promotes motivation.

 4. Of the many challenges you have faced at Demag Cranes, which one sticks in your mind?

The one which has affected us most and is still with us: coping with the impacts of the worldwide financial and economic crisis to which we had to respond by implementing a tough restructuring programme and applying the strictest cost controls to secure the long-term welfare of the company. We have achieved a lot in this field but we have not reached our targets yet. We have set ourselves the task of integrating Demag Cranes AG to include all its subsidiaries and functional areas to form a single enterprise and to manage it as such. That cannot be achieved overnight.

5. In your view what are the core strengths of your Port Technology business?

First and foremost, there are our employees, who demonstrate time and again their passion for new tasks and their commitment to finding solutions. This is one reason why we consider ourselves to be technological and innovation leaders. One might say that our employees feel themselves to be entrepreneurs within the company who identify closely with the Gottwald brand name. This attitude is accompanied by our good relations to customers, which are no doubt strengthened by our Customer Voice events that are organised to support our continuous improvement efforts. These good relations are also a forum for generating new product ideas, both for tangible products and our service products, which are, after all a key reason for our high reorder levels.

6. In such a competitive market what are the challenges facing Demag Cranes over the next few years?

All in all, the intensity of competition has increased particularly in the Mobile Harbour Crane market as a result of the financial crisis. However, the Gottwald brand, a Demag Cranes brand, has the largest number of crane installations of this type and can look back over more than fifty years of experience. We have every reason to be optimistic about the future and are expanding our product range in response to market developments. Currently, we are filling the gaps in our Generation 5 crane series to provide smaller cranes. In addition, we have often noticed that customers are not just looking for individual cranes but complete, integrated systems. In this field, we are well placed to offer terminal automation solutions incorporating our own software.

7. How do you see the market for port automation developing and what is your strategy to ensure Gottwald will be a leader in this field?

There can be no doubt that the financial crisis caused a large number of key projects to be postponed or reduced in size. But this postponement does not mean they have been cancelled. We did not just sit back and wait for things to happen, but made use of the time available to expand our capabilities as a supplier of integrated systems. I am convinced that automation in ports and terminals is inevitable in the medium to long term. Our AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) is a tried-and-tested, highly competitive product which we have made even more productive with our Lift AGV and, with our Battery AGV, more ecologically compatible. With our ASCs (Automated Stacking Cranes) we have now managed a quantum leap in the land-side transfer of containers to road trucks by upgrading our semi-automatic solution to a fully-automated one. Due to the hit rates achieved, operational manpower can be reduced by up to 75%. The basis for all this is, understandably, our sophisticated software which, like the hardware, is all provided from a single source. With innovations like these, we will maintain our pole position in automation technology.

8. What do you consider the most important technical initiatives/ projects undertaken in the Port Technology segment?

There are many. Take environmentally aware technologies, for example. Things are happening here that will change the shape of the market in the future. And this is why we are investing tremendous time and effort in designing future-orientated, environmentally compatible technologies in line with the need for sustainability. Key components in the market of the future will be battery-powered drive trains and hybrid drives. In this context, I am pleased to see our technological partnership with our customer HHLA continuing to develop, for whom we have developed the first Battery AGV, which has now successfully completed the test phase. I am also enthusiastic about the significant fuel savings that can be achieved with the world’s first hybrid drive for Mobile Harbour Cranes which has just completed successful trials in Antwerp under tough terminal conditions. An essential objective for the AGVs is to open up additional fields of application in industry and logistics hubs. The Battery AGV is well suited to these applications because its emissions-free drive technology means it has tremendous potential in production and storage buildings. It would be possible, for example, to combine AGVs and indoor cranes, which are also made within the Demag Cranes Group, so that would activate certain synergies.

We aim to develop innovative new products and refine our existing technologies further to help to interlink ships, rail and road trucks more intensively and more efficiently, which, again, will have a positive impact on the environment. Our object
ive is to increase the performance of these systems and make them more productive. Our experience in port terminals gives us strength in the knowledge that our skills and know-how are not restricted to the quayside but can be applied very successfully to the hinterland.

Bulk cargo is like gold dust for the Australian Government and it is therefore no surprise that major investments in boosting iron ore and/or coal trade are fully supported.  Recently, two major initiatives boosted port expansion and development in Australia – one is part of new Australian agreements with China while the other is a major initiative by the New South Wales government. At Abbot Point, Queensland the Chinese are involved in a new coal mining development including the railway infrastructure while at Oakajee in Western Australia they support a rail project and the construction of a deepwater port. The planned initial annual capacity of the port is 45 million tonnes and features two Cape Class berths. The terminal will be designed for easy expansion in order to increase capacity as and when. The integrated rail network would connect the new port with mines in the Mid-West, and would be linked to other rail links in the state. According to former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, the development in Abbot Point is linked to a trade agreement with China and is worth USD8 billion and “is expected to result in approximately AUSD4 billion in exports every year for 25 years.” The construction of the new port at Oakajee will be financed by Karara Mining and China Development Bank Corporation. Both parties agreed to an investment of USD1.2 billion for the construction along with its rail infrastructure, while the New South Wales government (together with the Australian Government) is contributing an additional USD345 million for the port infrastructure including the construction of the channel, breakwater, turning basin, navigational aids, port administration offices and associated roads and utilities. This infrastructure will be government-owned with port users being charged for its use on a commercial basis. The state will also own the adjacent industrial estate. The port is scheduled to open in 2014. Earlier this year, BHP Billiton announced approval for USD1.93 billion of capital expenditure to increase installed capacity at the company’s Western Australia iron ore assets to 240 million tonnes per annum during calendar year 2013. The expenditure will allow early procurement of long lead time items and detailed engineering to continue the expansion of the inner harbour at Port Hedland, progress rail track duplication works and expand the Jimblebar mining operation. “This investment is the continuation of our long-term strategy of adding capacity in our high quality iron ore business to support our confidence in the longer term demand for iron ore globally,” said Ian Ashby, BHP Billiton President, Iron Ore. In June 2009, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto signed an agreement of core principles to establish a production joint venture covering the entirety of both companies’ Western Australian iron ore assets. As a result, Rio Tinto will have the option to participate in the developments by paying its share of invested capital but this decision will be made after the Joint Venture transaction is completed, estimated to occur in the second half of 2010. But it may not only be dry bulk that the Government is interested in, other investments in container port expansion plans have also been announced despite the fragile global economy. Recently, Sydney Port Corporation announced that it will invest AUSD314.4 million to improve Port Botany. This will include a further AUSD168.7 million to be spent on the Port Botany Container Terminal Expansion project, which is to create a new 1.8km wharf with five new shipping berths. While, Port Kembla Port Corporation announced that it will invest AUSD23.8 million in reclaiming an initial 8-10 hectares of land and developing the Outer Harbour. And the Port of Newcastle will see investments of almost AUSD8 million to improve port infrastructure and services.

Brisbane optimistic about the future
For the first time in 25 years, the port of Brisbane recorded a decrease in container throughput in 2009 handling 876,744 TEU down 10.10% on 2008 when it handled a total of 952,678TEU. However, the Port is optimistic about the future and says that a return to positive container growth is expected by the end of the year, due to increased construction activity and import retail products. Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd (PBPL) is committed to the long-term growth and development of the port. Over the last two decades, PBPL has invested over AusD1.6 billion in capital works, and plans to spend another AusD870 million over the next five years.  Major infrastructure projects finalised in 2009, included the early completion of berth 10, PBPL’s seventh dedicated container berth. This project enabled Patrick Terminals to open its new state-of-the-art terminal 10 Autostrad facility and DP World Brisbane to begin an expansion of its container terminals on berths 4, 5 and 6. Each operator now has approximately 900m of quayline, which can simultaneously accommodate six large container vessels. PBPL is also progressing with the construction and design of its next two container facilities – berths 11 and 12 – to be operated by the port’s new stevedore Hutchison Port Holdings. The berths are due for completion in 2012 and 2014, respectively.  Beyond this, PBPL is continuing to develop its 230ha Future Port Expansion precinct, to provide additional land and quayline for future port-related activities. In 2009 PBPL also completed its second common-user wharf, the general purpose wharf, which will provide additional capacity for bulk and project cargoes. Work is also underway on the duplication of the Captain Bishop Bridge, which will include major upgrades to the port’s main entry point to maintain efficient port access. Development of PBPL’s port transport and logistics precincts is continuing. Port Gate, located minutes from the main Fisherman Islands port complex, is already well established as a warehousing and freight-forwarding precinct, and negotiations are underway to secure tenants for the remaining land. While Port West, located 6km from Fisherman Islands at Lytton – ultimately boasting 90ha of land, three wharves and over 900m of quayline – is in the early stages of planning and will support the future needs of the motor vehicle and general cargo industries. 2009 marked a significant year in the port’s history, with a decision made by the Queensland Government that the Port of Brisbane Corporation (now Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd) will become a private entity. This process is well underway and it is likely the final transaction will occur in the last quarter of 2010.

Melbourne predicts modest growth
In 2009 the Port of Melbourne handled 2,085,988 TEU representing a drop of 9.43 percent on the 2008 figure of 2,303,186 TEU. Encouragingly, the Port is forecasting an estimated 2,235,800 TEU for 2010. Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) owns and manages 510 hectares of port land including 34 commercial berths at five docks and at river wharves with a total length of nearly seven kilometers. Two modern, purpose-built international container terminals at Swanson Dock are the centrepiece for Australia’s international container trade and a number of multi-purpose terminals handle cargo including timber, paper, iron and steel. In terms of international container trade, Patrick, part of the Australian publicly listed company Asciano Limited, operates berths 1-4 at the Swanson Dock East terminal with a total land area of 40 hectares and a length of 884m. DP World operates berths 1-4 at the Swanson Dock West terminal with a land area of around 30 hectares. The Port of Melbourne hosts the largest motor vehicle terminal in Australia and also provides specialised berths for dry cargo including cement, sugar, grain and gypsum, as well as berths for handling bulk liquids from petrochemicals to crude oil and molasses. The Station Pier facilities cater for both international and domestic passengers. In November 2009, Port of Melbourne Corporation completed its award-winning Channel Deepening Project – the largest marine infrastructure project in the history of the port. Completed well under bud
get, ahead of schedule and within strict environmental guidelines, project provides a draught of 14m at all tides exceeding the previous 11.6m constraint. In addition to dredging nearly 23 million cubic meters of sand and silt, the project involved numerous major construction works, including re-positioning and installing 25 land-based and marine navigation aids and providing vital berth upgrades for use by shipping vessels. According to PoMC the project set new benchmarks for innovation in terms of its alliance contracting arrangement with the Dutch dredging partner Royal Boskalis, the scope and methodology of its environmental monitoring and in the solutions it devised and adopted to meet specific challenges including underwater service protection and dredging of hard rock at the entrance to the bay. Major rehabilitation of all eight berths at Swanson Dock (East and West) has been completed representing a US$335 million investment. This important project extended the life of the berths at Swanson Dock by repairing or replacing steel piles and concrete sheeting, rehabilitating the fenders and replacing crane rails. The project also included the largest cathodic protection program of its type ever undertaken in Australia and helps bolster Swanson Dock’s claim to being the largest and most efficient container terminal in this country.

Sydney highlights its strength
Sydney Ports Corporation reported total container throughput of 1,792,320 TEU in 2009 representing a drop of 3.49% on the 2008 figure of 1,856,971 TEU. The drop is attributed to the global financial crisis with low businesses confidence and the reduction of private investment affecting the import consumption across New South Wales (NSW). Full container imports were down 4.8% on the previous year. However, healthy growth conditions in North-West and Central-West regions of NSW and a favourable exchange rate have supported the rise of full container exports which were up 6.2% on the previous year. Like many ports worldwide, Sydney is expecting a modest rise this year and says a total of 1,842,861 TEU is forecast for 2009/10. This represents a 3.3% growth in comparison to 2008/09 TEU throughput. Sydney Ports Corporation is highlighting its strength as a leader of Australian ports through a number of major infrastructure developments and regular engagement with industry stakeholders and customers to improve port performance and facilitate future trade growth. As Sydney continues to grow, so does the demand for imports and exports and the associated distribution and delivery of these goods. One of the future challenges for Sydney’s ports is to accommodate this steady growth in trade.  As such, Sydney Ports is taking a leadership role by working with industry to implement various initiatives and infrastructure projects to improve the port’s performance and help facilitate this forecast future trade growth. These initiatives and projects include the Port Botany Landside Improvement Strategy (PBLIS); the Port Botany Expansion (PBE) Project and the Intermodal Logistics Centre (ILC) at Enfield.

The AUSD1 billion, 60 hectare, Port Botany Expansion (PBE) project involves constructing a third container terminal (T3) at Port Botany and is one of the largest port infrastructure projects undertaken in Australia in the last 30 years. Once completed, the new terminal will double the current container handling capacity of the port as well as introducing further competition and efficiencies at the stevedoring level.  In December 2009, Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) signed a 30-year lease with Sydney Ports Corporation (SPC) to develop and operate four of the five T3 berths. Construction of T3 is well underway and operations are scheduled to commence in 2012. In an ambitious move to increase efficiency, consistency, transparency and productivity at the port, the New South Wales (NSW) Government in Australia is pioneering a world first by regulating stevedore and carrier performance at Port Botany. These landmark reforms will help ease daily truck congestion and freight delays at the port. The first phase of the reforms will involve a new Operational Performance Management (OPM) framework between stevedores and transport carriers at Port Botany. The proposed framework establishes a clear commercial relationship between carriers and stevedores whereby penalties would be paid by either party for failing to achieve agreed performance benchmarks. As part of the PBLIS solution, the OPM will also be supported by new technology at the port which will accurately and transparently monitor landside operations. Sydney Ports will introduce new truck tracking monitoring technology to independently monitor the flow of trucks in and out of the port precinct. This will ensure there can be no argument over the performance of stevedores and truck carriers. A key part of the plan to manage congestion will be the proposed construction of a truck marshalling area in the precinct. This will provide a designated facility including driver amenities for truck drivers waiting to access stevedore terminals PBLIS will complement both the PBE Project and ILC at Enfield development by improving landside transport infrastructure over the next 10 years.

Hedland gearing up for growth
The Port Hedland Port Authority (PHPA) achieved a record port tonnage of 178.6 million tonnes in financial year 2009-10 (168.8mt in calendar year 2009 with projected throughput of 201.4mt for 2010), representing growth of approximately 20 million tonnes from the previous financial year. The PHPA is the largest tonnage port in Australia and the largest iron ore port in the world and largest bulk minerals export port in the world. Iron ore exports continue to dominate port trade (Port Hedland Port’s trade by tonnage is 97% iron ore), with the balance comprising other bulk minerals, salt, petroleum products, general cargo, livestock and acid. Should existing port customer expansion plans and a number of proponent development plans within the Inner Harbour proceed, it may well see the port more than double the current tonnage levels in the next 3 years. The full development of the inner harbour in the coming years could well see trade levels exceed 400 million tonnes a year. Expansion beyond 495mtpa or so would require to be handled through the planned multi-user Outer Harbour port facility which will have a capacity of 400mtpa, bringing PHPA’s iron ore export potential to beyond 800mtpa. Future plans including the Outer Harbour will clearly provide export means for the next 20 years for those seeking to export via Port Hedland. PHPA has also been concentrating on the construction of a multi-user berth at Utah Point. The Utah Point project includes dredging, the multi-user public berth with a capacity of about 18 million tonnes per annum and is able to accommodate Panamax and small Cape size vessels of up to 120,000dwt, a travelling shiploader designed to load at a rate of up to 7,500 tonnes per hour will be installed and associated materials handling infrastructure, a multi-user stockyard facility and new access road to Finucane Island. The wharf, access road and civil works for the project are now complete. The bulk of the outstanding scope, involving the completion of final steel erection and mechanical and electrical fit-out and commissioning is scheduled for the end October 2010. Once constructed, the Utah Point berth will bring significant economic and regional benefits including facilitating trade for current and emerging iron ore and other mineral producers; helping alleviate the impact of truck movements through the town of Port Hedland and reduce congestion at the three existing PHPA common-user berths, It will also free up available capacity for extra trade of general cargo, containers and new bulk trade over the existing PHPA berths and improving amenity, reducing dust and health risks at the west end of the town of Port Hedland with the relocation of manganese and chromite stockpiles away from the town to be exported through the Utah Point berth. Export capacity in the Inner Harbour is limited and constrained
to a maximum of 495 million tonnes per annum due to a number of factors including significant tidal variations, operational constraints and necessity to have safe separation distances between departing ships. Furthermore, there are a limited number of berths that are able to be constructed as well as and environmental and heritage constraints. With the expected increase in vessel movements, size of ships and throughput in the Port Hedland Inner Harbour the Port Authority is continuing to investigate ways in which capacity can be optimised in the Inner Harbour, whilst still ensuring that the harbour is managed with a high standard of safety. The PHPA recently completed a high spot dredging campaign in the Inner Harbour channel to increase the available draught of departing vessels, thereby optimising the capacity available in the Inner Harbour to meet the medium term requirements for future iron ore exporters. The objective of the project was to identify and remove high spots within the channel using the Leonardo da Vinci dredger and achieve an increase in available draught of between 0.2m and 0.5m using a cutter suction dredger. This project has been successfully completed and currently the Port Authority is awaiting the results of a survey to quantify the improvement in the channel draught. The PHPA also identified the need to undertake yearly maintenance dredging campaigns to maintain the depths within the channel to design depth and remove siltation losses in order to be able to operate at the higher level of throughput.  The PHPA is planning to lease a trailer suction hopper dredger to undertake the maintenance dredging annually in lieu of 3 yearly. Other Port Authority’s in Western Australia would benefit from this arrangement as the PHPA will provide hire opportunities and sharing of the dredger amongst other Ports needing to undertake maintenance dredging campaigns. The PHPA conducted an Expression of Interest process and has received submissions from companies/consortia to provide a long term lease and manning of the trailer suction hopper dredger. The submissions are currently being assessed.  PHPA has also been investing in new equipment and technology. The Cavotec MoorMaster suction mooring system, the Rocktec twin mobile feed hopper trains and the custom built shiploader are innovative and specialised pieces of equipment sourced for Port Hedland Port Authority’s Utah Point multi-user berth project. The new MoorMaster suction mooring system offers a number of benefits over conventional rope mooring, including increased speed of mooring and releasing vessels, and enhancing the safety for personnel and crews working on wharves. The suction mooring system uses 14 vacuum units, capable of handling ships with 120,000 tonnes deadweight at Utah Point. The installation of this new system at Utah Point may encourage other proponents in the Port Hedland Inner Harbour investigating for their future berths in the port, to do away with ropes and use suction pads to secure their vessels. The Rocktec twin mobile feed hopper trains, which are part of the Utah Point shiploading system, have been delivered at the Utah Point wharf site. The mobile feed hoppers are a specialised piece of equipment which will be installed and connected together on 400m of railway, that can drive alongside the stockpiled ore and take the ore from large front-end loaders, loading from the stockpile, through the feed hopper into an overland conveyor, which then feeds the shiploader directly into the ship’s hold. The two mobile feed hopper trains can feed onto the shiploading system at a rate of 7,500 tonnes per hour and the equipment is fully automated and can be controlled remotely from the Port Hedland Port Authority’s control room.