She departed on a freight train bound for London. Baroness Kramer is pictured with John Smith, Managing Director of GB Railfreight (left), and Clemence Cheng, Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited Chief Executive Officer (right).

During a tour of the port, which handles a wide range of goods for both South Wales and other UK businesses, Mr. Vaughan visited a steel tube manufacturer, HDM Tubes Ltd, which has recently invested several million pounds in advanced tube welding lines alongside ABP’s investment in new storage and handling facilities.  The investment has already seen the creation of 35 jobs and the firm aims to build on that as its production expands.  

HDM Tubes Ltd is just one example of the investment and new jobs ABP is helping to bring to Wales.  ABP’s planned investment across its ports at Newport, Cardiff, Barry, Port Talbot, and Swansea promises to generate an extra £100 million for the Welsh economy every year, adding to the estimated £1 billion the ports already contribute.  A recent study carried out by Arup has also demonstrated that ABP’s ports in Wales currently support some 15,000 jobs.    

Speaking after his visit, Mr. Vaughan said: “I was very much impressed by the facilities at the Port of Cardiff and to learn more about the critical role ports can play in helping drive economic growth. HDM Tubes Ltd was a real example of how ports can boost growth, not just by supporting trade, but also by offering an attractive base for manufacturing on or near the port.  It is great to see more manufacturing and investment coming to Wales, and it is clear our ports are key to that.” 

ABP Port Manager Callum Couper, who accompanied Mr. Vaughan during his visit, said: “We were delighted to welcome Derek on his visit to the port.  It was a fantastic opportunity to show how ABP’s ports are delivering for the Welsh economy. Jobs, investment and growth are at the heart of our commitment to Wales and we look forward to continuing to work with our partners to deliver more.” HDM Tubes Ltd General Manager Cagri Coskun added: “We saw Wales as a real opportunity to develop and grow our business. The Port of Cardiff was selected for this investment reflecting good support from Associated British Ports and Welsh Government.  It was a real privilege to welcome Mr. Vaughan to our new facility and to discuss our plans for future growth.”

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“The analysis of these incidents makes interesting reading, particularly against the back-drop of a number of major ship casualties during the year” says Uffe Ernst-Frederiksen, Head of Cargo Management at Maersk Line, and CINS chairman.

The CINS initiative, created in late 2010 by five of the top 20 liner operators, seeks to capture structured data from incidents and problems that regularly disrupt operations in order to better protect lives, property or the environment. During 2013, ten liner operators have been populating the database – hosted by the COA (Container Owners’ Association) – and a number of others have been monitoring the findings or expressed interest in joining. Participants in CINS account for about 60% of container slot capacity (source: Alphaline)

In addition to this in part being driven by continued pressure on capital expenditure, both small and blue chip corporates are realising the benefits of tapping into a process that can prove to be just as an effective tool in providing the latest productivity, technology and safety standard advances, but at a fraction of the cost.
 
As Derek Hicklin, Commercial and Development Manager at Konecranes here in the UK states: “Despite the fact that many economies appear to be clawing their way back to something that resembles a healthy position, it will not only be companies that remain competitive by keeping abreast of technical change by investing in it, it will also be those that have the dynamism and foresight to explore exactly what the best options are when it comes to increasing productivity. 
 
Whilst most production, manufacturing and operational managers/directors would probably prefer to see their operation’s continue to invest in new technology, this is not always the best course of action, and suppliers to the lifting business such as Konecranes has a duty of care to help present the best options dependent upon a whole host of criteria,” he added.
Crane modernisation schemes broadly fall into one of two categories: pre-engineered upgrades and engineered crane modernisations. Within the former process, Konecranes offers upgrades and smaller improvements that can be applied to equipment conveniently at a customer’s site or sites. These upgrade services improve the functionality of the cranes, therefore cutting down on the incidence of repeated failures that often result in inconvenient downtime and associated increase in cost.

Commissioning is done in a planned manner and within a short time frame to minimise disturbance to production. Pre-engineered modernizations can include hoist replacements or other upgrade packages such as overload protection.
 
Engineered modernisations are projects for overhead cranes and port cranes. Here experts in crane electrics, mechanics, and automation combine to deliver a complete and often turnkey solution.
 
Before recommending which route is the best option for a client, it is important to focus on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), a process centres on using the specialist skills of your lifting equipment supplier to provide a detailed examination of older equipment as a means of determining the requirement for upgrades in order to maximise both operating efficiencies and investment.       
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