he new services will enable MSC and Maersk Line to accommodate the incoming volumes from the recently announced slot purchase agreements with Hyundai Merchant Marine and Hamburg Süd. The two carriers will move cargo, but not operate vessels in the 2M network.

“With these exciting product improvements we confirm our commitment to provide extensive direct coverage and best in class transit times to our customers in the Asia-Europe and Transpacific trades,” says Silvia Ding, Head of Trade in Maersk Line.

“Our new slot agreements require that we increase our capacity. With these service improvements we are adding the necessary capacity to match the increase in volumes. Our aim is and continues to be to manage our capacity efficiently and maintain the stability and continuity of our network.”

The AE7 will significantly improve Maersk Line’s product from East China into Rotterdam in The Netherlands and Hamburg in Germany. E.g., the transit time from Shanghai to Rotterdam and Hamburg will improve by three days respectively.

In the Transpacific, the TP16 will provide new opportunities in the Asia – US South Atlantic trade. The transit time from South China to the US South Atlantic will improve by eight days, which will be the fastest in the market.

In addition, Maersk Line will merge the TP8 and TP3 services between Asia and the US West Coast into one service, the TP8.

The enhancements are effective 1 April 2017.

The project is the first of two large-scale expansion projects that, when complete, will increase the port’s overall annual container capacity by 40 percent, or 1 million container units, by 2020. “This is an important day in the history of The Port of Virginia; it is an important milestone in our effort to increase sustainability and to prepare this port for what is to come,” said John F Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority (VPA). “We are adding capacity now so we can handle the cargo that will be coming to us in the very near future. The big ships are here — more are on the way – and they are carrying significant amounts of containers and Virginia will be ready to accommodate that volume.” Survey crews began the preparatory work to expand the rail/container stacking yard at VIG. From a wider perspective, this work signals the start of the effort to double the existing container capacity at VIG. The overall project includes expanding the container stacking yard, doubling the on-dock rail operation and the expanding the truck gate. “This sends a very clear message — worldwide — that The Port of Virginia is investing for the long-term and we will be able to service the vessels of any ocean carrier here at what will be one of the most modern and efficient container terminals in North America for decades to come,” said Virginia Gov. Terry R McAuliffe.
Project scope
The wharf work will create new berth space, which will be used to handle a larger class of container ship that will begin crisscrossing the Atlantic Ocean before year’s end. A longer wharf will make way for four new Suez class container cranes that will handle the big ships and their cargo loads. The wharf project begins March 15 and is scheduled for completion in the winter of 2018. When complete, the capacity expansion at VIG will create the ability to process 1.2 million containers annually at the terminal; present capacity there is 650,000 containers. Further, the expansion’s potential economic impact could result in 166,000 jobs across the Commonwealth, USD22 billion in additional spending and more than USD636 million in state and local taxes. “If we continue pairing our natural advantages with our strategic vision for growth and diversifying our services across the port’s network of terminals, we will strengthen the port’s position as a catalyst for commerce throughout Virginia,” said John G Milliken, chairman of the VPA board of commissioners. “The additional cargo moving across these expanded facilities equates to jobs, investment and positive economic impact.” Last November, the port and Virginia International Gateway, LLC, agreed to a new long-term lease for the 576-acre facility. The lease, which went into effect November 17, 2016, and extends through 2065, cleared the path for the port to begin work on the expansion. In July, the port will begin work on its other large capacity project: the expansion of the south stack/container yard at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT). This USD350 million project will allow the port to create greater density for cargo at NIT and expand annual capacity there by 400,000 containers. For this project, the container stack yard will be completely reconfigured and it will be served by 60 new rail-mounted gantry cranes. The project will be complete by 2020. “We believe that the continued investment in people, technology and those capacity projects being undertaken at The Port of Virginia during the next three-to-four years are positioning this port to become the US East Coast’s premiere port: a true gateway to world trade and a catalyst for commerce in Virginia,” Reinhart said. “Very soon, we are going to see vessels in the 12,000-plus TEU range, we are processing record amounts of rail cargo and the demand for our services is growing. We have momentum and our timing coincides well with the changes in the industry.”

This dredging, which was intended to allow access to the port by ships of up to 80,000 tonnes, making the port of Maputo more competitive in regional and international markets, “is a strategic decision that will help to achieve the set target of processing 40 million tonnes of cargo by the end of the year 2020.”
Osório Lucas, Executive Director of the MPDC, said during the ceremony that marked the completion of the channel dredging that the idea behind the investments was to transform the port of Maputo “not into an alternative port but into a port of choice.”
“The additional three-metre depth of the access channel allows us to say that Maputo now has a port prepared to receive larger ships,” said Lucas, who added that a ship with a draft of 12.9 metres left the port last week without having to wait for the tide, which could not happen before.
The Minister of Transport and Communications, Carlos Mesquita, quoted by news agency AIM said in turn that the Maputo port had gained a prominent place in the region, consolidating its complementary position to the South African ports of Durban and Richard’s Bay .
This dredging operation was awarded to international company Jan de Nul Dredging Middle East FZE which, with three dredgers in operation, removed about 14.5 million cubic metres of sediment and rock material.
The total cost of the work was US$84.1 million, obtained through loans from Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (BCI) and Standard Bank and the MPDC’s own funds. (source macauhub)