In his sixth address since joining the SCPA, Newsome discussed the port’s strategy for maintaining the strong volume gains seen in recent years and the investments underway to prepare new and existing facilities for the changing needs of the shipping industry.

The SCPA boasted 8 percent volume increases in FY2014, with 9 percent growth the previous fiscal year. The Port of Charleston ranked ninth in the country for 2013 cargo volumes measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), with growth trending above the market average year over year.

“Diversity of cargo across market segments, including container, breakbulk and cruise, contributed to our strong volume gains, Newsome said. “Over the next several years, the upgrades planned for existing SCPA terminals and new capacity offered by the Navy Base terminal will ensure our facilities are capable of attracting and retaining cargo in each of these key business areas, which are important to the port’s long-term success.”

Newsome said above-market growth will continue to be a key priority for the port. Main drivers of volume gains in recent years include expansion of discretionary cargo, including plastics and agriculture products; utilization of project cargo capabilities; recruitment of indigenous cargo, routed through Charleston for lowest inland transportation costs; and maximization of the port’s intermodal rail capabilities and a deepwater harbor.

In addition to construction of the Navy Base new container terminal, Newsome cited long-range plans with Georgia Ports Authority to construct a terminal in Jasper County, given market demand and harbor depth. He also noted that in spite of the need to restore the Port of Georgetown to an authorized depth of 27 feet, its volumes grew nearly 12 percent in fiscal year 2014.

SCPA’s projects and capital investments reflect the changing fundamentals in the shipping industry and necessity to accommodate the deployment of post-Panamax vessels to the East Coast.

“SCPA is well-positioned to meet and exceed the industry’s requirements for a modern port,” Newsome said. “With the harbor deepening project, Charleston will remain the deepest harbor in the Southeast and offer post-Panamax vessels the opportunity to call on our terminals without tidal restrictions by late 2018. The movement of cargo from our capable, productive facilities to its inland destination is increasingly cost-competitive with dual rail service and the Inland Port.”

Newsome noted that while the Southeast is a growing region for both consumption and manufacturing, it is also a highly competitive market served by several ports. With overall market growth slower this decade than last, all ports are challenged by the significant investment required to construct and modernize facilities.

“SCPA’s mission is to be the preferred port in the U.S. for our carrier and cargo clients,” Newsome said. “Our aggressive plan ensures that we are well poised for the future in our industry and as an economic driver and catalyst for business development in South Carolina and across the Southeast. Our best years are ahead.”

“The port’s year-over-year volume growth speaks to the leadership and vision of Jim and his team,” said SCPA Board Chairman Bill Stern. “There is no doubt that the future for our state port system is bright.”

“The latest United Nations projections see a nearly 11% growth in Latin America’s population to 690 million by 2025, nearly 200 million more than the current combined population of the European Union countries. The total container throughput for Central and South America, in comparison, grew by only 1% in 2013, to 45.7 million TEUs. Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, handled 8.6 million TEUs in 2013, approximately the same number as the Port of Antwerp, the 3rd-busiest container port in Europe” observed Mr. Laursen, noting, “this underperformance will only become more acute without a new and invigorated strategy to address and promote necessary infrastructure investment”.

The cost of this port and transportation infrastructure will require significant amounts of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as Latin American nations develop new strategies for the infrastructure to catch up with current and projected future requirements. The importance of developing master plans covering ports as well as the roads and rail connections needed to efficiently link the ports with main population centers was also emphasized, as otherwise these hinterland connections will only create more bottlenecks in the future.

Latin America attracted FDI, excluding offshore financial centers, of $182 billion in 2013, or 12.9% of total global FDI of $1.4 trillion last year. The World Economic Forum’s 2014 assessment of port infrastructure ranked major Latin American economies Brazil, Colombia and Argentina 131st, 110th and 99th, respectively, out of 148 nations within their annual survey.

“Successful strategies to promote investment and partnerships with the private sector will become significantly more important to address these port and transportation infrastructure opportunities, with realistic and practical concession terms an increasingly crucial component of this process” said Mr. Laursen.

APM Terminals owns a 50% share in Brasil Terminal Portuário, which opened last year in Santos, Brazil, Latin America’s busiest container port, and currently has new terminal development projects underway at Moin, Costa Rica, and Lazaro Cárdenas, Mexico, as well as a major terminal expansion and upgrade in Callao, Peru.

The RTG project has a total value of USD 14 million, including the cranes, spare parts, training for operators and technicians as wells as civil works and other auxiliary equipment required to automate certain RTG processes. The order was booked in June 2014 with a delivery and start-up date in July 2015.

The Kalmar RTGs will enable Phase 1 of the terminal’s capacity expansion of 450,000 TEUs as part of PCE’s plan to become one of the largest container terminals in Chile. Besides a fast delivery time, it was vital for PCE to have the cranes delivered as fully erect.

“Kalmar RTGs are a well proven product that allows us to ensure the success of our project in the short and long term. In addition, the deal will allow us to focus on other areas of our project, like civil works and subsidiaries’ contracts,” explains Mauricio Argandona, Infrastructure and Equipment Manager of Puerto Central S.A.

The Kalmar diesel-electric E-One2 RTGs provide unrivalled performance at minimum energy consumption and easy maintenance. The RTGs will incorporate an optional variable speed generator which enables fuel consumption savings of up to 45% by automatically optimising the engine’s RPM according to the required power. This innovative technology can reduce CO2 emissions by 100,000 kg a year compared to a conventional RTG, based on a fuel consumption level of 21 litres per hour and 4,000 operating hours a year. The Kalmar E-One2 RTG’s maintenance interval of 1,000 hours is the industry’s longest.

Kalmar’s SmartFleet, SmartStack and SmartRail systems are also part of the order, along with a full training package for RTG operators and technicians. Kalmar SmartFleet is a process automation solution that improves operational transparency in the port, while SmartStack eliminates the problem of lost containers. Kalmar SmartRail is an automated gantry steering solution for RTGs that improves both safety and operator performance.

In Santos, the port with the highest cargo volumes in South America, 50 km east of São Paulo, the Brazilian terminal operator Cia. Bandeirantes Logistica Integrada (Bandeirantes) has an additional two Terex® TFC 46 M reach stackers in container handling operation.

The main reason for choosing TPS, according to José Eduardo Ornellas Priante, Maintenance Manager at Bandeirantes, was the good experience Bandeirantes had already enjoyed with Terex reach stackers and with TPS’ reach stacker distributor in Brazil, Equiport – Equipamentos para portos LTDA. (Equiport): “We started operation with our first Terex reach stacker in 2005 and since then we have systematically expanded our fleet to six machines. The machines provide excellent availability, in which the fast and competent service from Equiport also plays a part.” Another factor in favor of the Terex® TFC 46 M stackers purchased was their combination of a compact design with high performance: “In our terminal in Santos, we have to make use of the space as efficiently as possible. So we need compact and maneuverable machines which can stack containers as high as possible. With the equipment from TPS we managed to increase our stock capacity by approximately 30 %, while still fulfilling the increasingly strict safety regulations” says Ornellas Priante.

With a wheel base of 6.5 m, the TFC 46 M reach stacker can stack up to six full high-cube containers (9’6″) in the first row and up to five in the second row. The maximum load capacity is 45 t in the first, 35 t in the second and 19 t in the third row. It has a maximum travel speed of 25 km/h and a lifting speed of 0.48 m/s – performance specifications which exactly match the requirement profile of Bandeirantes, as Andrés Ramirez, Marketing Manager of Equiport, explains: “The TPS model range covers all requirements, from a small, simply equipped reach stacker to a high-performance intermodal machine with extensive equipment. So we can always offer our customers, like Bandeirantes now, the machines to meet their current requirements. That is also why we currently have more than 460 Terex reach stackers in operation here.”