“As a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Lindsey Graham  ensured the omnibus appropriations bill included language to benefit our port system,” said Bill Stern, SCPA Board Chairman. “Senator Graham continues to demonstrate his support for SC Ports and a clear vision for the future competitiveness of South Carolina. There is no question that his leadership has enabled the positive progress of our harbor deepening efforts.”

 The bill includes funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to continue its Feasibility Study of the Post-45 Harbor Deepening project, which expects to receive its Chief’s Report in September 2015, as well as construction funds for Charleston that could facilitate the deepening project moving forward without delay upon receipt of the Chief’s Report. 

Additionally, it contains language pertaining to emerging harbors that could provide opportunities for the Port of Georgetown to compete for maintenance funding to restore its harbor depth.

“Senator Graham recognizes the rich opportunities for South Carolina when our ports remain competitive and invest in the future,” said Jim Newsome, SCPA president and CEO.  “He is an incredible advocate for our state, and his efforts in the passage of this bill safeguard the progress of the Ports Authority’s key strategic initiatives.”

The bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday with support of five members of the South Carolina delegation. It now goes to the President’s desk for signature.

The order has been booked into Cargotec’s 2013 fourth quarter order intake.

The contract, which supports the company’s expansion plans in Oman, comprises the delivery of a road-mobile Siwertell 10 000 S unloader unit and a road-mobile Siwertell PumpMaster blow pump conveying unit, commissioning, supervision, and spare parts.

The combination of screw type unloader and blow pump conveyor has a number of advantages including the low energy consumption of mechanical unloading combined with the convenience of pneumatic conveying.

The system will have a rated cement discharge and conveying capacity of 300t/h. “This is a particularly high value, considering that the distance from the unloader and blow pump unit to the silo top is about 270m with an elevation of about 40m,” explains Peter Göransson, Siwertell Sales Manager.
He adds: “Raysut chose this system because it is one of the very few products on the market that offers such a high discharge capacity while remaining fully road mobile. Siwertell equipment has a proven track record of reliable performance and minimal environmental impact; these were also important factors in the decision to opt for a Siwertell system from Cargotec.”

The system will be built at Cargotec’s Siwertell manufacturing facilities in Bjuv, Sweden, and delivered by July 2014. It will serve the Sultanate of Oman’s eastern port of Duqm, located on the Arabian Sea, and one of its largest ports, Sohar, which is situated on the country’s north coast in the Gulf of Oman.

The Port Choice Model and Port 360° evaluate the competitive advantage of a given port within its environment. Developed by BMT following years of academic research and professional consultancy assisting governments and stakeholders, the tools uniquely apply both quantitative and qualitative methodology and measure a spectrum of criteria, defined by leading economists and technical port experts. 

With the growing complexity of the port sector, BMT recognised the need to assess competition with greater, critical scrutiny. Typical market share studies draw on historical market share data, distance, or travel time estimates, but BMT’s assessment tools are designed to take analyses a few steps further.

“What investors need to know today is how the distribution dynamics of cargo – from ocean to hinterland – will impact future profits,” notes Dr. Richard Colwill, Managing Director, BMT Asia Pacific.  “Ultimately we are looking to help clients invest wisely, and in today’s dynamic investment market this has never been more important.”

The time and cost items of BMT’s Port Choice Model include trucking time and cost from factory to port, average waiting time in ports due to customs inspection and cargo handling, frequency of sailings, specifics on the terminal handling charges, ocean freight costs differentials, as well as a series of other appropriate factors. This detailed analysis can give very specific results.

Dr. Simon Su, Director and Chief Economist, BMT Asia Pacific, explains: “Using the Port Choice Model we can more accurately predict how cargo owners and shippers choose their ports and the value they place on each of these factors, including intangible costs.”

The Port 360° tool, which reviews the competitive strengths of ports or between terminals within the same port, completes the picture of competitiveness and can be used in isolation when time or availability of data are limited. Port 360° reviews 12 criteria relating to four aspects of a port: Demand (cargo throughput), Physical Attributes, Hinterland Connectivity, and Management and Operating Systems.

Dr. Colwill concludes: “Port competition is fierce and operators and investors need a robust and reliable approach to measuring competition and addressing the possible outcomes as a result of changes in the market. We are very pleased to be introducing two new tools which further enable us to communicate our specialised knowledge to customers in a coherent and meaningful way. “

The visionary prototype machine was created in partnership with Kalmar’s customer Global Service, the leader of the pilot and one of the most important players in the equipment rental business in Italy.

The prototype reachstacker is expected to deliver significant results in terms of environmentally friendly operation. The machine is based on the adaptation of a Kalmar reachstacker to a motorisation for reducing the environmental impact and the energy consumption.

Stefan Johansson, Director, Business Development & Product Marketing, Kalmar, said: “Kalmar is driving innovation in reachstackers ever since the 1980s, when we commercialised the first generation of reachstackers. Last year we introduced Gloria, our fifth generation reachstacker, which represents a milestone in reachstacker productivity and performance. This dual-fuel machine is expected to offer our customers an alternative for moving cargo in a more energy-efficient way as well as cutting down emissions at the terminal. 
 
“LNG as fuel is a future trend within the vehicle and shipping industries to reduce the exhaust emissions. When more and more ports will have LNG available, there will be possibilities to run also other terminal products on LNG. LNG will reduce the carbon footprint and there are also expectations on lower operation cost per hour. The demonstration unit shows up to 20 percent lower fuel cost per hour,” commented Johansson.
 
Liquefied natural gas is natural gas, mostly methane, which has been cryogenically super-cooled and condensed into liquid form for storage and transport. LNG is lighter than air, so when gas leaks out it evaporates into the atmosphere. By contrast, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is heavier than air and falls to ground level when released.
 
The pilot is part of the GREENCRANES project aimed at developing green technologies and eco-efficient alternatives for port container terminals. Other participants in the pilot were the PerCro laboratory of the Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant’Anna (SSSUO), Livorno Port Authority, RINA and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.