Representing an initial and major part of the biggest single investment that will have ever been made by the Board in Dover and its port, tenders are being invited for construction companies to get involved in one of the most exciting development opportunities in the region.

“Today’s positive decision is a bold one that demonstrates the Board’s commitment to deliver for Dover.  It is far sighted and reflects the shared vision that has been created by the Port, together with its customers and community to create long term prosperity for Dover and for the nation” said George Jenkins, Chairman of Dover Harbour Board.

“I am absolutely thrilled by this decision. It represents a further investment of up to £120 million (USD195 million) in Dover and the employment prospects of current and future generations of local people over the next few years. The message today is that we are 100% for Dover, we are putting our money where our mouth is and we very much hope that this will give others the confidence to do the same,” said Tim Waggott, Chief Executive, Port of Dover.

“The studies have been done and the conversations have been had with our customers, with our community and with our staff. Now it is time for action. Now it is time to deliver for Dover.”

For Damen’s Service Hub Nigeria this job is one of the first successes. Damen Shipyards Group standardly has a spares-stock available in Nigeria for standard dredgers such as the CSD500. In addition, Damen field service engineers are continuously available locally. For cutter suction dredgers, Damen offers maintenance contracts to keep the vessels in tip-top condition. This results in maximum uptime of the (modular) dredger and a satisfied contractor who can do exactly that for which his dredger has been designed: making money by continuous dredging.

The most challenging side of this job was the assembly. It was planned at a scrap yard on the swampy side branch of a river. Local conditions were worsened by the rainy season. The locally sourced cranes of 250 tonees and 500 tonnes got stuck in the mud more than once. When the cranes arrived at the assembly site, the ground had to be strengthened. Moreover, the dredger had to be hoisted no less than 25m from the river bank as conditions were too swampy right next to the shoreline.

The Damen Cutter Suction Dredger 500 dredges at maximum 14m and pumps some 4.000 m3 of mixture per hour. The standard dredger has been outfitted with an accommodation unit. The unit includes a kitchen, a sitting area and sanitary facilities. The dredger currently works on a land reclamation job near Warri.

The AEO initiative was introduced by the European Commission through the Union Customs Code to help simplify customs procedures and secure international supply chains.

Commenting on the accreditation, Clemence Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, owners of the Port of Felixstowe, said:

“Being the first port in the UK to achieve full AEO status demonstrates our commitment to providing the best possible level of service to our customers. It recognises the robustness and consistency of the port’s procedures, giving customers and UK Customs comfort that the high standards required to achieve accreditation are maintained.

“It is becoming increasingly important to cargo owners that everyone involved in the international supply chain is able to demonstrate the highest standards of customs simplification, safety and security. Ports play a vital role in this regard and this designation gives them that assurance.”

The AEO certificate is an internationally recognised quality mark issued by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs giving surety that the holder’s role in the international supply chain is secure, and that their customs controls and procedures are efficient and compliant.

The crane, built by Finnish manufacturer Konecranes, arrived in Kiel on September 25th from Gdynia in Poland aboard the heavy load vessel “Meri”. The unloading took place under the crane’s own power via a ship ramp. Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG) commented: “the new portal crane is our contribution to moving more cargo onto environmentally-friendly rail services”. It is planned to take the new crane into service at the end of the year after final fitting, tests and acceptance procedures have been carried out. “The new portal crane will become a new scenic landmark at the Schwedenkai, just like the old port cranes used to be for bulk cargo handling”, said Dirk Claus.

The new 140 ton portal crane, a rubber-tyred gantry crane (RTG), is 29 m wide and straddles three track widths and the corresponding rail terminal loading lanes. Its lifting height below the spreader is 14 m and its overall height is 21 m. The RTG is suitable for handling  trailers, containers and swap bodies and has a lifting capacity of up to 40 tons. Its movement alongside the rail tracks is GPS supported. The new unit represents an investment of 1.55 million Euros and was funded by the Government under a programme to promote intermodal handling facilities.  “Because of the new crane and the expansion of train services to and from northern Italy, I am convinced that we will this year pass the 25,000 consignment mark in intermodal rail-ship cargo traffic”, said Dirk Claus.

The Port is linked to the national rail network by shuttle trains which connect Kiel with Hamburg’s Billwerder Marshalling Yard five times a week in both directions. In addition there are complete block trains serving the Ruhr and northern Italy. The direct train link to and from Duisburg was opened at the start of 2014 and since then has operated two round trip services a week. The connection between Kiel and Verona in northern Italy has been in existence for two years and was expanded at the start of September this year to three round trips a week. “Schwedenkai may be only a relatively small operation”, said Dirk Claus, “but growing rail cargo traffic there represents a challenge which we want to take up with our fast and high-capacity new portal crane”.  In the first eight months of this year a total of 16,300 trailers and containers were loaded onto the railways at Schwedenkai and in the Ostuferhafen. That’s an increase of 1.5% over the same period of last year.