As a leading freight transport insurer TT Club numbers many port terminals a cargo handling facilities among its Members and as such occupies a prime position from which to identify the primary causes of risk and to advise on how such causes can be minimised.  An extensive analysis the Club’s historic claims data has shown that 68% of the cost of claims results from incidents of an operational nature within the port or terminal and a further 14% from poor or insufficient maintenance.  The remainder were weather related. 

“It is clear,” emphasised Emmanuel, “that many of these incidents are avoidable if operators were to pay greater attention to some key safety related processes, install more available technology to help prevent collisions and give a higher standard to training to their employees.” 

The analysis of a total of over 9,500 claims over a seven-year period totalled some US$ 400 million and covered bodily injury, property and equipment damage and liability.

Emmanuel was at pains to point out that much can be learned from the analysis and that TT Club is ready, willing and able to advise its Members and the industry in general on how such incidents can be avoided and claims minimised.  “The reduction of claims assists the efficiency and profitability of many operators.  It is not just the unforeseen costs of such accidents and the crucial eradication of injury to staff and third parties that results from good risk management,” argued Emmanuel.   “The reputation of the cargo handling organisation is enhanced through an improved safety record.  Operational delays are lessened and customer service levels heightened,” he emphasised.

TT Club strongly urges the use of industry best practice when it comes to safety and security procedures, regular training regimes for management and employees and the inclusion of quality safety devices when designing handling equipment specifications and/or budgeting for retrofitting such devices.

In his presentation to industry professional from throughout the ASEAN region Emmanuel gave several examples of how the later measure can be particularly effective.  “31% of the quay crane damage identified in our analysis was as a result of crane boom collisions; either crane-to-crane or the crane boom hitting a vessel.  There is a good choice of effective boom anti-collision sensors on the market, which if installed professionally and maintained correctly would avert a large number of these accidents,” he noted.  In the container yard, automated stack profiling systems are also available, which would have helped avoid some of the 339 claims incidents experienced by TT over the seven years covered by its causal analysis.

Likewise much of the cost of theft can be alleviated by employing improved security regimes.  These may involve physical barriers such as better fencing and more CCTVs but should also include more effective processes such as paperwork checks and IT anti-hacking software.

Emmanuel concluded, “Prevention through careful risk management is by far the best cure for costly incidents.  A combination of safe and physically secure facilities and equipment; rigorous checks and double-checks on safety procedures and well-trained, well-motivated employees will go a long way to improve operational loss in ports.”

Andrew Moffat, Port of Tyne Chief Executive Officer, said that 2013 had been another record year, and looking back over five years, the Port had achieved substantial growth not only in the performance of the business, but also in the investments made in Port infrastructure, and in the impact the Port has had on the regional economy.

“We have continued to develop the Port’s vital infrastructure and have invested a total of over £60 million since 2009 with £15 million invested just last year.

“As a result, the Port of Tyne is now a larger and more sustainable business, offering greater resilience to our growing customer base in world-wide markets and bringing even greater economic value to the North East.”

In 2013, 8.1 million tonnes of cargo was handled at the Port of Tyne, 625,000 passengers used the International Passenger Terminal, 640,000 cars crossed the quays making the Port the UK’s biggest car exporting facility, and over 60,000 container units (teus) were either imported or exported.

Profit before tax in 2013 whilst still strong at over £6 million – three times higher than profit achieved in 2009 – decreased in 2013.  This was due to crane outages which resulted in significant repair and associated operational costs, and also because of further investment made in the planned expansion of wood pellet facilities.

The number of employees has increased by 27% since 2009, and now the workforce stands at almost 600, including 16 new apprenticeships this year.  “We have also continued to invest in the people who make the Port successful – the employees – and whilst we already are in the top 2% of Silver status Investors in People accredited businesses in the UK, this year we are striving to achieve gold.”

Over the last five years the impact the Port has on the regional economy grew by 38% to over half a billion pounds supporting almost 10,500 direct and indirect jobs that depend on a thriving Port.

Capital investments since 2009 have included major infrastructure developments including new cranes, quays, land acquisitions and dredging. The Port of Tyne now has over 600 acres of land and 3,000 metres of quays.

A £25 million capital programme to extend the main Riverside Quay by 125 metres, and also to connect the Port’s south bank estate to the recently acquired 17 acre adjacent site, is due to start by the end of June. 

Supporting the growth of renewable energy, including plans for a potential £180 million extension of wood pellet cargo facilities, remains central to the future of the Port of Tyne.

“With its existing assets, the Port is now in a position to take advantage of opportunities in the renewable energy and offshore sectors.  We will do this by implementing strategies that develop and utilise the recently acquired quays and operational land to maximise their potential.  And in this way we will continue to diversify the business of the Port,” added Andrew.

The Port has committed 1% of profit before tax to the Port of Tyne Community Action Fund, making it the biggest corporate fund of its kind in the area, distributing £119,000 during the year to charitable organisations supporting young people, communities and the environment.

In total, the Port invested just under half a million pounds – £446,000 – in its community engagement programme designed to support thriving communities within its area of operations.

SmartGrip provides a number of valuable advantages, including higher performance and zero overloads. The development of SmartGrip is based on recent turnover analyses in various ports around the world. The data showed that, on average, only 70% of the grab capacity is used. There are many factors why the grab is not operated at full capacity, including suboptimal grabbing angle and varying material density. For crane operators the estimation of the material density and the right grabbing angle may turn out to be a real challenge. As a result, ports are faced with less turnover [t/h] than expected.

“With (this) action, SHEP has officially received a green light,” said Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Curtis Foltz. “This project is the result of an open and collaborative process involving all interested stakeholders which received approval of multiple regulatory agencies. We would like to thank the Administration, our elected officials in Washington and Georgia, Senator Isakson, Congressman Kingston, Governor Deal and all of those who worked tirelessly to reach this critical milestone.”

The next step for SHEP calls for Georgia to enter a Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, defining how the costs of the project estimated at $706 million will be shared between the state and federal government. Foltz said he expects to have a binding PPA within 90 days, allowing accelerated use of Georgia’s portion of the funding. These funds will be credited against the state’s ultimate cost share at the end of construction.

Seeing the port deepening through to final authorization has been a top priority for GPA Board Chairman Robert Jepson during his two years leading the board.

“The harbor deepening is recognized across Georgia as the state’s most important infrastructure project in terms of future economic development,” Jepson said. “Because Gov. Nathan Deal and the General Assembly had the foresight to set aside $266 million toward construction, we will be able to start the project this year using state funds.”

Federal studies show that for every dollar invested in the deepening, the nation’s economy will reap $5.50 in net benefits. Lower prices per container slot on Post-Panamax vessels will save U.S. companies moving goods through Savannah 20 to 40 percent on transportation. Port users can realize further savings on land transit because of the terminal’s adjacent network of distribution centers and its location 100 miles closer to Atlanta than any other port.

“A deeper harbor will fully complement the landside infrastructure improvements that are currently under way to increase the Port of Savannah’s capacity and improve services throughout our maritime logistics network,” Foltz said. “Garden City Terminal now employs 25 of the largest ship-to-shore cranes on the East Coast, 116 rubber-tired gantry cranes, two on-terminal rail yards, and, soon, direct highway access from the port to Interstates 95 and 16.”

Jepson also noted the GPA board’s recent $86.5 million purchase of four new Super Post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes and 20 new rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTGs) – set to start arriving in 2016. The board has also budgeted $8 million to continue the transition of Garden City’s RTG fleet from diesel to electric power – a move that will help the GPA avoid the use of millions of gallons of diesel each year and the associated air emissions.

Foltz said that at 3 million twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) per year, the Port of Savannah now moves four times the containers it handled when Congress initially authorized SHEP in 1999. He said improved efficiency will allow the GPA to more than double its annual throughput to 6.5 million TEUs without increasing the physical footprint of the 1,200-acre Garden City Terminal.