Four STS cranes, the largest of their type anywhere in the world, have been brought onshore, ready for commissioning, at Algeciras port in Spain. Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS), the world’s leading maritime services provider, was drafted in by ZPMC to act as agents for the break bulk carrier, Zhen Hua 25, and to manage the safe and timely discharge of her cargo.

The Broward County Board of County Commissioners, which governs the Port as a self-funded enterprise fund, approved the Port Everglades 2014 Master/Vision Plan today during its regularly scheduled meeting. Over the past year, Port staff and maritime consultant AECOM Technical Services, Inc. held more than 20 meetings with customers, stakeholders and the general public to develop the Plan.

“This is the second update to the original Master/Vision Plan that was adopted in 2006. At that time, the Commission directed staff to update the plan every two to three years to take a hard look at market trends and how we could maximize existing facilities to ensure that Port Everglades continues to be an economic powerhouse,” said Port Everglades Chief Executive & Port Director Steve Cernak.

Market Forecast

Market assessments, critical to identifying the Port’s future infrastructure needs, predict steady growth in all business sectors at Port Everglades.

The cruise business at Port Everglades is forecasted to reach 5.6 million passenger moves in 2033 compared to 4 million expected during fiscal year 2014 (ending September 30, 2014).

Port Everglades is expected to continue as Florida’s leading containerized cargo port, reaching 1.7 million TEUs (the industry standard measurement of 20-foot equivalent units) in 2033 compared to 943,000 TEUs expected during FY2014. Non-containerized cargo such as steel, lumber, aggregate, cement and vehicles is forecasted to reach nearly 3.3 million tons by 2033, which is triple the amount moved through Port Everglades today.

Petroleum products, especially gasoline and jet fuel, which are moved by ship and rail to private petroleum terminals inside the Port, are also anticipated to increase as South Florida’s consumer population continues to grow. Total volumes are projected to grow from 300,000 barrels daily to 376,000 barrels daily in 2033, with jet fuel replacing gasoline as the top petroleum commodity moving through the Port.

Infrastructure Highlights

Current keystone capital improvements are providing a springboard for future growth and infrastructure enhancements. Those current projects include lengthening the Southport Turning Notch from 900 to 2,400 feet to add up to five new cargo berths; deepening and widening the navigation channels; and, opening this July, the Florida East Coast Railway’s new intermodal container transfer facility (ICTF).

Projects in the five-year Master Plan include:

Complete Southport Turning Notch expansion

New bulkheads for Berths 1, 2 and 3

Expand Slip 1 for petroleum operations

Create a new neo-bulk storage yard for non-containerized cargo

Lengthen Slip 2 for larger cruise ships using Cruise Terminal 4

Improve Cruise Terminal 25 by adding an enclosed corridor to Cruise Terminal 22/24

Purchase the first two of five super post-Panamax cranes

Add an outbound lane for cargo trucks on McIntosh Road

Mitigation in West Lake Park

Longer-term projects in the 10- and 20-year Vision Plans include:

Cruise Terminal 29 improvements

Fill in the Tracor Basin to lengthen Berth 29 to accommodate larger cruise ships

Continue to replace bulkheads throughout the Port

Build a new parking garage for Cruise Terminals 2 and 4 in Northport

Purchase three additional super post-Panamax cranes

Reconfigure Berth 33 to accommodate larger cargo ships

Deepen and widening the Port’s navigational channels

Construct a crushed rock (aggregate) facility with an underground conveyance from the docks to the rail facility

The plan also includes conducting traffic and environmental studies for projects in the five-year Master Plan, and an affordability analysis for the projects in the 10-year timeframe. The complete 2014 Master/Vision Plan is available at www.portevergladesmasterplan.com.

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) Greece was honoured by the Chairman and CEO of the Port of Piraeus, Mr Yiorgos Anomeritis on Monday 23rd June 2014, for the company’s contribution to the development of the port and for its dedicated service to the Greek cruise industry.

A team from ABP Port of Southampton tackled Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowdon in aid of their local charity of the year, Countess Mountbatten Hospice. The group of four climbers and two drivers took 27 hours to complete the mission, which saw them walk 24 miles, drive a further 450, and climb 10,000ft.

Meanwhile, colleagues from ABP’s four Humber ports, along with teams from Drax Power Ltd and ABP’s head office tackled the Yorkshire Three Peaks in aid of Marfleet Primary School, taking in Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. The 26-mile challenge formed part of a raft of activities organised to mark the centenary of Hull’s King George Dock.

Staff from ABP Humber chose the school to benefit from their fundraising efforts because of its links to the Port of Hull. It was built in 1892 to provide education for the children of dockworkers and the money raised from ABP’s blister-inducing activity will help fund a new classroom.

ABP Communications Coordinator Humber Rachel Addison explained why Marfleet Primary School has been chosen as ABP Humber’s Charity of the Year.

She said: “The school was originally built to educate the children of dockworkers but is now struggling to accommodate its pupils in a tiny Victorian building sandwiched between large industrial units.

“We wanted to help Marfleet build the extra classroom it desperately needs so it can continue to provide a first-rate education for the children of local area.”

Both teams encountered some hairy moments on their ascents.

ABP Environmental Manager Liz English, part of the Southampton team, said: “The weather closed in on us on Snowdon and we could barely see. The visibility was awful and you could hardly see what was an arm’s length away. Luckily our map readers, Will and Gideon, got us through it and it made us realise just what a huge challenge we’d undertaken.”

Lindsay Jameson, ABP Communications Coordinator Head Office, added: “Unfortunately my team thought that a couple of weekends spent traipsing round Box Hill would prepare us for this challenge; we were sadly mistaken. To say the final ascent was the toughest would be to entirely understate the fact that the first two were also horrendous.

“Luckily, however, we were buoyed by the camaraderie of our colleagues, and marching across the Yorkshire Dales to the tunes of the Dambusters and the Battle of Britain certainly put a spring in our otherwise painful steps.”

As well as supporting charities across the country ABP makes an essential contribution to the UK’s economic life by supporting trade and enabling growth.  It is estimated that its ports support around 84,000 jobs and contribute £5.6 billion to the UK economy every year. 

Caption: ABP Humber’s Odd SOCCs (Security, Operations, Commercial, and Comms) make it to  the summit of Pen-y-ghent