The major aspect of the repair was the replacement of the frames of 15 box coolers. To minimise the time spent in dock, 12 of these were prefabricated prior to the Jumbo Javelin arriving at Van Brink, and the remaining three were built during the docking period. The majority of the steel work was performed by Damen Group company and steel specialist Niron Staal Amsterdam.

Additional works included a modification to an existing tweendeck to make it more suitable for its purpose, and the repair and repositioning of the exhaust pipe stack. The lifeboats also underwent routine maintenance. The works were completed in the time originally specified in the quotation.

The 145m vessel was built at Damen Shipyards Galati in 2004, along with three similar vessels for the same owner. Together, the Jumbo Javelin, Fairplayer, Fairpartner and Jumbo Jubilee make up the Jumbo J-Class fleet. As well as general heavy-lifting assignments – the Javelin recently transported two, large accommodation modules from Croatia to Cameroon – the four ships are active in offshore O&G and wind projects, including installing transition pieces for wind turbines. The Jumbo Javelin previously spent 50 days in 2014 at Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam for repairs and her second special survey.

Jeroen van Kralingen, Superintendent at Jumbo, commented: “The project was an unexpected repair. Damen Shiprepair Van Brink Rotterdam was a convenient location given the position of the ship at the time, and they offered a good price. We have worked with Damen Shiprepair before, but this was our first time at Van Brink. We found the cooperation to be excellent and the quality of the work first class.”

David had been with the BPA for 24 years overseeing huge change in the industry during this time. Under his leadership the BPA has grown into an extremely effective trade association representing 100 UK port authority members in the municipal, trust and private sectors.

David commented “It has been a huge privilege to the lead the BPA and work with so many professional colleagues who keep the ports open and running efficiently. I very pleased to handing over to Richard to continue the vital work of the Association”

Richard Ballantyne joined the association in 2007 and was previously the BPA’s Senior Policy Adviser leading on a number of policy areas, membership services and external communications.

The BPA Chairman Rodney Lunn welcomed the appointment and said: “We are delighted that Richard is the BPA’s new Director leading the Association. Richard has a great understanding of all the key policy issues facing the UK ports sector and he also has an excellent rapport with the BPA’s membership.”

On his appointment Richard Ballantyne said: “I am excited to take up the new and important role and I would like to thank the BPA’s members for the faith they have shown in me. I look forward to the new challenge and also continuing the excellent work of my colleague David Whitehead, who I wish a long and happy retirement.”

Before joining the BPA Richard spent five years at Westminster political consultancy and also previously worked for an MP in the House of Commons.

In April 2016, DFDS initiated a trial period with three weekly departures between the Baltics and Europe, via Klaipeda in Lithuania and Fredericia in Denmark. The Port of Fredericia has frequent connections to European and overseas destinations.

“The third call has had a break during the summer, but a continued high activity level means that we now continue the additional call, making it three calls every week between Klaipeda and Fredericia. This provides our customers with easy access to very large markets”, says Lars Hoffmann, Route Director at DFDS.

Frequent access to large markets
The Port of Fredericia is located centrally in Denmark in a multimodal hub with easy access to motorways and railway and has optimal conditions for efficient transshipment and handling of cargo. Moreover, a high concentration of transport and logistics operators lies in the hinterland close to Fredericia, offering transport of the RORO cargo to and from the Port of Fredericia.

“Our focus has been on attracting increased volumes of cargo to and from Europe and the Baltic countries, as our port is located ideally as hub for European and Baltic RORO customers. The fact that DFDS adds a third call is therefore very satisfying for us”, says Ole Haugsted Jørgensen, Strategic Sales Manager at ADP A/S. “We hope that Baltic customers will welcome the increased frequency and the possibility of connecting to a large European and of course Danish market”, concludes Ole Haugsted Jørgensen.

Patria Seaways will premiere on 11 October from Fredericia to Klaipeda.

The long-term plan for Colonel’s Island’s south side, detailed at today’s State of the Port, will eventually add 540 acres in GPA-owned land to the auto processing operation. Another 140 south side acres owned by Mercedes and International Auto Processing brings Brunswick’s total vehicle space to 1,039 acres. “No other autoport in the nation even approaches that capacity,” Lynch said.

Also at the State of the Port, Lynch announced that Logistec, an international terminal operating company, has just opened two new warehouses totaling 221,675 square feet for wood pellet storage along the Brunswick River.

Brunswick, Ga. – Oct. 5, 2016 – At the annual State of the Port address hosted by the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce Wednesday, Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch announced a 100-acre expansion of the Colonel’s Island auto terminal, and welcomed Logistec’s announcement of the completion of 221,000 square feet of wood pellet storage at GPA’s East River Terminal.

“The additional 100 acres will allow GPA to grow along with our existing customers, and to attract additional carmakers to the nation’s second busiest auto port,” Lynch said. “This new roll-on/roll-off capacity is part of an initiative to service a growing market, while staying 20 percent ahead of our current demand.”

Twenty of the 100 acres are paved and in use by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, while International Auto Processing has leased another 49 acres it will occupy by May 2017. Just last month, the GPA Board of Directors approved the development of a separate 30-acre parcel, which should come online in January.

“These modern buildings are a part of Logistec’s commitment to upgrade and expand its dry bulk facilities in Brunswick. Our terminal is ideally suited to biomass cargo handling, and we look forward to working with the Georgia Ports Authority and our customers to meet long-term growth demands,” said Madeleine Paquin, President and CEO of Logistec. “We are committed to doing business here for the long term. With the addition of these warehouses, we can store higher volumes and have increased our throughput capacity.”

The state-of-the-art facilities opened this week are expected to handle more than 600,000 tons of wood pellets annually. The new buildings represent a 101 percent increase in capacity over two previous warehouses that totaled 110,000 square feet.

The wood pellets are a renewable biomass fuel source shipped largely to Northern Europe, where they are used in energy production. The pellets are sourced mainly from the Georgia forestry industry. This improved infrastructure will aid GPA’s efforts to support Georgia’s forest products sector.

In other news:
• Lynch reported that in the past fiscal year, the ports authority completed an 8,700-foot rail expansion at Anguilla Junction, for a total of 39,000 feet of track. The added track will provide greater flexibility and storage capacity to build longer trains carrying exponentially more cargo.
• With a 10-year compound annual growth rate of 11.9 percent, compared to the national CAGR of 2.6 percent (FY2006 to FY2016), Colonel’s Island is the fastest growing autoport in the U.S.
• Fiscal Year 2016 was the fourth straight year that auto volumes in Brunswick topped 600,000 units. Brunswick Ro/Ro units totaled 621,934 in FY2016. Another 41,323 moved via Ocean Terminal in Savannah.
• The Port of Brunswick’s total cargo in FY2016 was 2.8 million tons.
o Colonel’s Island: 1,753,128
o East River tonnage: 929,230
o Mayor’s Point: 161,333