Exports grew 5.7%, while imports fell 0.9%. In October, the NWSA’s overall container volumes were 310,066 TEUs, a 7.2% decrease from an unusually high October 2018. International imports were down 15.4%, while exports were down 4% for the month. Full exports for the month grew 7.1% due to strong demand for U.S. agricultural products in established and emerging markets in Asia outside of China. The impact of the ongoing trade war continues to be felt with full international imports contributing to most of the decline. Domestic container volumes in October increased 6.8% over October 2018. Alaska’s and Hawaii’s year-to-date volumes were up 6.1% and 1.4%, respectively. Our Terminal 5 modernisation project continues in the North Harbour. Soil excavation to install new crane rail are underway. Crews are also installing rebar and forms for a new electrical vault. Upgrading the power supply from 5 MW to 25 MW will provide shore power capabilities and supply power up to 1,000 refrigerated containers.
Federal government awards JAXPORT USD20 million for terminal improvements
The funding is part of a USD238 million plan to expand and upgrade the facility, with more than 65 percent of funds coming from private partner SSA Marine. The enhancements will increase efficiency and allow the terminal to accommodate more containers on an expanded footprint. Once completed, the facility will be able to handle approximately 425,000 additional TEUs annually. Other improvements to the terminal include storm drainage, enhanced lighting, signage, utilities and more. Funds were awarded through the Better Utilising Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Discretionary Grant programme, a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) initiative to invest in port and other transportation projects to achieve national objectives. “The continued demonstration of support from our state and federal partners shows that the future of JAXPORT is strong,” said Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry. “As we continue to expand the capabilities of our port, jobs and economic growth will follow.” “The award of this highly competitive grant speaks volumes about the significance of this project to the economy of our region and country,” said JAXPORT CEO Eric Green. “We are grateful to Secretary Elaine Chao and our state and federal elected officials who continue to advocate for our growth – further positioning Northeast Florida to take full advantage of the economic opportunities our thriving seaport creates.” Supporters of JAXPORT’s grant application include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Rick Scott, Congressman John Rutherford, Congressman Ted Yoho, Congressman Al Lawson, Congressman Michael Waltz and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry. The SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal is a public-private partnership between JAXPORT and SSA Marine. SSA Marine is contributing up to USD129.7 million for the use of the terminal and facility upgrades, including the addition of three 100-gauge container cranes. In addition, USD109 million in berth rehabilitation and upgrades are currently underway that will allow the terminal to simultaneously accommodate two post-Panamax vessels. The federal project to deepen the Jacksonville shipping channel to 47 ft. is scheduled to be complete in 2023, based on continued funding from all partners, and will allow the facility to accommodate more cargo aboard the larger ships calling on JAXPORT from Asia.
Navis MACS3 on board of two newbuilding series
Due to the owner’s decision to have this loading computer installed, they are moving to support safer and more effective onboard cargo handling. The newbuildings are currently being built at two different Chinese shipyards. The Jiangnan shipyard is currently building four container ships with a capacity of 2,500 TEUs, which will be delivered between February and November 2020. Two other 1,800-TEU fully containerised vessels are being built at Jiangsu New Yangzijiang shipyard and are planned to be commissioned in March and May 2021 by Evergreen, currently operating a fleet of around 200 owned and chartered-in vessels. All vessels will sail under Japanese classification society Class NK. As the industry standard loading computers for container vessels, MACS3 provides an advantage for cargo securing rules. MACS3 incorporates the most comprehensive set of updated lashing regulations of all major classes that provides vessel operators a greater flexibility forplanning the vessel’s utilisation while being compliant in terms of safety. “Ensuring the availability of most accurate lashing force data is an important step towards our goal to optimise the vessel utilisation,” saidCapt. Hwang, Deputy Senior Vice President at Evergreen. “Our software engineers collaborated closely with the classification societies in order to secure the implementation of all rules provided by different systems into MACS3, while maintaining the performance of the loading instrument,” said Ajay Bharadwaj, Head of Product Management for Navis Carrier and Vessel Solutions. “We will work to ensure that all of our customers reap the benefits of applying the updated lash rules from MACS3.” Navis also recently launched MACS3 API Services, offering lash rules calculations in the cloud. For the first time, ocean carriers, terminal operators and other key stakeholders in the shipping industry can directly access ship-specific loading calculation results for lashing and integrate them into the workflow of stowage planners. Additionally, Navis will be hosting its one-day customer and user conference in the EMEA region on December 3, 2019 at the Empire Riverside Hotel in Hamburg. Attendees at the event will be able to discuss the advantages and accessibility of MACS3 along with other topics within its theme of,Standardisation of Data Flow and Interoperability Challenges.
Konecranes wins mobile harbour crane order from Northport New Zealand
The crane will be delivered and commissioned in the first quarter of 2020. It will expand the facility’s container handling capacity and help to handle general cargo and bulk materials. Northport is the northernmost multi-purpose, dry-cargo port in New Zealand, with its three berths handling traffic to and from most of the country’s international markets. Northport is looking to grow, and therefore decided to invest in a new crane to work alongside the Konecranes Gottwald Model 4 Mobile Harbour Crane they’ve been operating since 2015. “Since we started handling containers, we’ve received outstanding support from Konecranes,” says Jon Moore, CEO of Northport. “They’ve provided a high-performance crane that gives us wide flexibility in handling any kind of cargo. Once we had decided to expand our capacity, it was an easy decision to work with Konecranes again.” This time, Northport opted for a Konecranes Gottwald Model 6 Mobile Harbour Crane in the G HMK 6507 variant. With this new crane, Northport can now serve container vessels up to post-Panamax class. The crane’s maximum lifting capacity of 125 tons extends their flexibility in handling general and heavy cargo. Equipped with a motor grab, it can also handle bulk materials. In addition to the eco-efficient diesel-electric drive, an external power source can be used to operate the crane, which gives the possibility to use back-up power options and complies with the New Zealand government’s strict guidelines for sustainable energy use. “It’s been a pleasure working with Northport,” says Michael Green, Regional Director Sales APAC, Konecranes Port Solutions. “We admire their long-term commitment to providing reliable and efficient cargo handling. We look forward to continuing our relationship with them in the future.”