Negotiations started in June 2013 and have led to an agreement that gives clarity to those employees currently working at the company’s Maasvlakte I facility who want to transfer to the new terminal being built which opens November 1, 2014. The new collective labor agreement matches new operating procedures, practices and functions at the new facility, which will set new standards in safety, sustainability and productivity as one of the most advanced, automated container terminals in the world.

The new agreement offers salaries adjusted for inflation each year plus wage increases of 0.5% (2015) and 1% (2016) on top of inflation, plus EUR 3600 in one-off payments over the CLA period. One of the key elements is 24/7 operations which is crucial to meet customer demands for higher productivity.

APM Terminals Maasvlakte II Managing Director, Frank Tazelaar stated: “The new CLA contains clear labor condition agreements for employees interested in transferring to our new facility. And for our customers, they know they will be able to access 24/7 operations at our terminal.”

APM Terminals has two terminals in Rotterdam: APM Terminals Maasvlakte I which is currently operating; and the new APM Terminals Maasvlakte II which is being built. The new terminal is already in the testing phase since July 2013 for new computer systems and equipment and opens November 2014.

The object of the system is to make it more physically intolerable for the criminals to approach the ship and to persuade them to abort their attacks. The video and data from all incidents will be archived for subsequent transmission to the data centers of the shipowner and WatchStander for training and evidential purposes.

The system is designed to keep the attackers beyond the range of their guns and thereby protect the ship and its crew from potential danger. “What makes our system unique is that it disrupts the attack without burdening the crew in a way that is affordable,” states company President David Rigsby.

The fully automated WatchStander system, which combines intelligent software with a range of non-lethal countermeasures and is, has been satisfactorily tested on a number of ocean-going ships over the past 6 months and is now ready to be installed on ships in the commercial fleet.

The system uses a cost-effective high resolution radar to automatically identify surrounding traffic and assess their behavior over time to identify hostile targets.  The system then operates non-lethal countermeasures to respond to the threats if they continue to approach the ship.

The system is based on technology developed by the Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University for use by the US Navy and adapted for use on commercial ships and other maritime installations such as oil-rigs under contract for WatchStander LLC.

WatchStander has an exclusive license from the ARL to use its patented intelligent control technology to develop cost effective solutions of a legal and non-lethal nature, and market them to the commercial shipping and oil and gas industries.

WatchStander will use the services of various maritime installers to put the system on board ships that operate through the high-risk areas and maintain and service them.

Now that both the House and Senate have passed their respective pieces of water resources legislation, they will appoint a conference committee to resolve differences between the two bills.

“House approval of the Manager’s Amendment was essential to allow Port Everglades to move forward with deepening and widening our harbor, which is critical to sustaining local jobs that are increasingly dependent upon the larger cargo ships that our customers are already starting to deploy to compete in today’s global marketplace,” said Steven Cernak, Port Everglades Chief Executive & Port Director, during a press conference today at Port Everglades. “I have to credit our Broward County Commissioners, Broward County Congressional Delegation, especially Congresswomen Lois Frankel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leadership and their staffs, for working together to find a bi-partisan solution to finally move this critical project forward. We continue to aim for the finish line, and this is an important step in the right direction.”

“Port Everglades is one of the economic giants of Florida,” said Congresswoman Frankel. “And, with the passage of the bi-partisan WRRDA bill in the United States House of Representatives, our Port can position itself to create thousands of more jobs right here in our backyard.”

The next step in the process is to gain Senate support through the conference committee in favor of WRRDA that includes language similar to that in the House bill.

“Despite all of the excitement in Washington over the past few weeks, I am pleased that the members of Congress representing Broward County, in particular Lois Frankel, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Mario Diaz-Balart, worked together in a bi-partisan way to include meaningful amendments to the Water Resource Reform and Development Act that positively impacts Broward County and the expansion of Port Everglades,” Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca said. “This project is a true job creator!”

“We are tremendously grateful for the efforts of our Congressional delegation, especially Congresswoman Frankel and Congresswoman Wilson, for seeing that we will be able to move forward with the expansion of Port Everglades,” Broward County Commissioner Tim Ryan said. “Thanks to their advocacy and willingness to work in a bipartisan way with House committee chairs, we will be able to take the next steps with this project. It will take major investment on the part of Broward County, and that is a much easier step to take when we know that the federal government has expressed a willingness to be our partner in port expansion, which has a tremendous economic impact on our region. We look forward to working with our federal partners to see that Port Everglades can continue to be a world class port and major job creator for South Florida and beyond.”

On June 28, 2013, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its draft report for deepening and widening Port Everglades’ navigational channels to enable safe passage of deep draft post-Panamax cargo ships. According to the report, the total project will deepen Port Everglades’ channel from 42 feet to 48 feet (when constructed, the project will include an additional two feet of allowable overdepth for a total of 50 feet), and widen the channel entrance so that cargo ships can safely pass cruise ships docked along the Intracoastal Waterway inside the Port. The total cost for deepening and widening Port Everglades’ navigational channels is estimated at $313 million, which will be paid for through a combination of federal funds, port user fees and possibly state funds. No local tax dollars will be used for this project.

“We have immediate business needs now,” Cernak said. “Post-Panamax ships are already coming to Port Everglades thanks to our strong global trade connections, but some of these vessels have to be lightly loaded due to our existing channel depth limitations so we need deeper water to allow them and the port to operate more efficiently. We have been working with the Army Corps of Engineers for 17 years and cannot afford any further delay.”

“Today is a very important day for Port Everglades. I want to thank the Florida delegation for all of their efforts to move this project ahead. This is a critical step forward that will help to insure the economic competitiveness and vitality of South Florida,” said local businessman Terry Stiles, Chairman and CEO of Stiles Corporation.

Jose Diaz, Jose Alberto Diaz, Vice President & General Manager of Florida International Terminal, LLC, told the audience that his company’s future at Port Everglades depends on deeper waters for the larger post-Panamax ships that are coming to the port from South America.

“This is definitely a giant step. Rarely do you see this type of event with good news that represents so much for the future of Port Everglades,” Diaz said. “We are already seeing some bigger ships. The future is here.”

Container terminal operator Mardas Marmara Denizcilik Isletmeleri A.S. (Mardas), located in the metropolitan area of Istanbul, Turkey, chose to retrofit six of their Terex® Gottwald Model 7 mobile harbour cranes as it was a cost effective solution to meet their changing needs to load and unload larger container vessels. Beginning in February, the TPS team, with the help of their service partner, Eksen Makina Servis Ticaret S.A. (Eksen), has adapted the geometry of each crane with regard to working radius, boom pivot point and viewing height for the crane driver. Adaptions included extending each crane’s tower by five meters and increasing the working radius from 51 to 54 meters. During the project, Eksen was responsible for assembly while TPS was in charge of commissioning the cranes.

Cranes can now serve higher container stacks and a further row

The six converted Model 7 cranes, two G HMK 7608 variants and four G HMK 7408 variants, are part of an existing fleet of 11 Terex Gottwald machines, which Mardas operates in its terminal in the Port of Ambarli, west of Istanbul. Thanks to the increased height of the boom pivot point, which is now 28.3 meters for the G HMK 7608 cranes and 28.6 meters for the G HMK 7408 cranes, handling alongside vessels with higher container stacks on deck is now possible with the retrofitted cranes. In addition, the machines can serve one container row more than before. Since the tower cab is now also higher, with an eye level of 31.5 meters, crane drivers have an excellent view of the work site that helps them to work efficiently and safely.