The orders were received during the annual North American dealer meeting organised in Bonita Springs, Florida, on 28-30 January, 2015. The total value of orders is close to EUR 40 million.

The new Kalmar Ottawa T2 terminal tractor was introduced to the North American market in February 2014. It was developed in close cooperation with dealers and their customers, resulting in superior performance, productivity and serviceability. The T2 has gained vast success in the region since its introduction.

Dan Pettersson, Senior Vice President, Mobile Equipment at Kalmar said: “The Tent Sale, where the dealers had the opportunity to buy trucks for stock, their rental fleets and in anticipation of customer opportunities, generated an impressive 425 orders in 2014 and in 2015 completely surpassed everyone’s expectations with total unit orders of 512; this record total for orders at the sale was a result of the dealer’s confidence in Kalmar Ottawa T2 tractor and in the economic outlook for 2015.”

The units will be delivered to dealer bodies across the United States, Canada and Mexico during 2015.

According to year-end totals, 490,526 TEU (twenty-foot-equivalent units) moved through the Port’s Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal during the 12 months – an 8.8 percent increase over the 2013 total of 451,057.

“Strong export markets, primarily for chemical and agriculture products, together with new inbound customers such as Chiquita contributed to record container volumes,” said Port President and CEO Gary LaGrange. “New services in 2015, such as the recently announced CMA CGM weekly European service, and a full year of Chiquita cargo could translate into robust results again in 2015.”

The Port welcomed a new weekly European service from French container carrier CMA CGM Feb. 2 with the arrival of the CMA CGM Jamaica. In addition, Chiquita Brands International, along with their sailing partner Mediterranean Shipping Company, began weekly service to the Port in October, after relocating its shipping operations to New Orleans after a 40-year hiatus.

New Orleans Terminal and Ports America jointly operate the container terminal – with New Orleans Terminal handling the new Chiquita cargo and Ports America handling the CMA CGM service. The new services join existing customers MSC, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, Seaboard Marine, CSAV, Zim, NYK, Orient Overseas Container Line, American President Line, Hyundai and MOL offering regular container services at the terminal. In an effort to attract new container services, the Port’s Board of Commissioners recently approved a new incentive dockage rate for a new service’s first 20 vessel calls.

“It takes a collaborative effort of the entire maritime community to achieve success, compete globally and sustain that competitive advantage,” LaGrange said. “We will continue to be proactive in meeting our customers’ needs.”

Efforts to expand the container terminal are well underway. The new Mississippi River Intermodal Terminal is taking shape within the terminal, which will result in a modern and efficient intermodal container transfer terminal to facilitate the movement of marine and rail cargo, while enhancing safety and reducing the carbon footprint of the regional and national transportation systems. The total investment for the 12-acre project is $25.1 million, which includes a $16.7 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant. The intermodal terminal will add an estimated 200,000 TEUs of capacity to the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal – bringing total capacity to 840,000 TEUs per year. Expected completion date is February of 2016.

In addition, the Port and New Orleans Terminal are jointly investing $7.9 million in a refrigerated container racking system within the container terminal to store more than 600 refrigerated containers at once, due to the surging demand for refrigerated cargo in New Orleans – primarily imported bananas and exported poultry. The installation is scheduled for completion by year’s end.

The Port of New Orleans is a deep-draft multipurpose port at the center of the world’s busiest port system — Louisiana’s Lower Mississippi River. Connected to major inland markets and Canada via 14,500 miles of waterways, six class-1 railroads and the interstate highway system, the Port is the ideal gateway for steel, project cargo, containers, coffee, natural rubber, chemicals, forest products, manufactured goods and cruising. An extensive network of ocean carrier services, along with added-value services like transloading of bulk into containers, make the Port of New Orleans the superior logistics solution for many types of cargo. To stay ahead of market demand, the Port has invested over $100 million in capital improvement projects since 2012 and has a Master Plan to expand the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal to an annual capacity of 1.6 million TEU.

The quay will have a length of 165m and an initial depth of 7m and eventually around 10m. UWT will use the quay to replace one of the current ones in the 1st Eemhaven. The construction of the quay was commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and is expected to be completed at the end of September.

The main purpose of the quay is for the handling of empty containers, but it is also suitable for full containers. This means that UWT can easily accommodate the increasing modal shift from truck to inland shipping. According to expectations, around 40% of all empty container movements will in time be made via inland shipping.

Restructuring
The construction of the quay forms part of a total restructuring of the terminal, which was given a new, central entrance for trucks. In addition, drivers can now drive directly to the exact location to pick up containers, with the aid of the correct pre-arrival notifications. UWT’s aim is to reduce the average length of stay for trucks on Bunschotenweg by approx. 50%.

The new quay also offers more possibilities for combining full and empty containers. This is particularly important for inland shipping to and from the Maasvlakte. Trucks can save an average forty-five minutes if they have to make one less stop.

Sustainable transport
It is the aim of United Waalhaven Terminal and its shareholders, the Waalhaven Group and the ECB Group, to offer sustainable solutions in the field of modal shift and empty container logistics. The increase in capacity provides the shipping companies and lease companies, as clients of UWT, with more options for keeping empty containers more closely available to the shippers. Ultimately, this yields savings in terms of road kilometres, environmental pollution, time and money.

The remaining 2015 capital budget funds will be used for railroad improvements, channel development, port security, building renovations and information technology.

Significant infrastructure improvements planned during the next few years are aimed at accommodating the arrival of larger vessels and increased cargo resulting from the pending Panama Canal expansion as well as regional population growth. Ongoing expansion along the Houston Ship Channel likely will trigger an increase in plastic resin exports.

Maintaining and improving efficiency at the public terminals through more modern facilities and equipment is essential to meeting the Port Authority’s mandate to promote and facilitate commerce.