“This appointment says volumes about the work our staff is doing in Seattle,” said Yoshitani. “Our team has developed a reputation for generating new ideas on environmental sustainability, strategic foresight and financial stability of the port. I look forward to advancing the conversation on trade promotion and other issues critical to the future of ports throughout the Americas.”

AAPA is an alliance of leading ports in the Western Hemisphere that advances its members’ interests through public advocacy and professional development. Yoshitani will assume the role of chairman, an uncompensated position, at this fall’s AAPA convention in Orlando.
Yoshitani has been chief executive officer of the Port of Seattle since 2007. He is former chief executive of both the Maryland Port Administration and the Port of Oakland and served as deputy executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.

Born in Japan, Yoshitani is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a Vietnam veteran and holds a master’s in business administration from Harvard University.
  

The actions follow an extensive 18-month review of port operations, including the evaluation of two private proposals to assume operations of the port. In 2011 Gov. Bob McDonnell tasked the board to conduct a detailed review of port operations to identify actions necessary to grow cargo volumes and return the port to profitability.

“We are transforming The Port of Virginia to meet a changing and increasingly competitive environment,” said William Fralin, chairman of the VPA board. “We will move forward as a stronger, leaner organization that is better-positioned to serve the ocean carriers and port customers, attract cargo to Virginia and be more accountable to Virginia taxpayers.

“The Port of Virginia looks forward to continuing to operate as the premiere gateway for international maritime commerce on the US East Coast.”

The board will convert Virginia International Terminals (VIT) from a non-stock corporation to a single member Virginia limited liability corporation under more direct control by the VPA. The new structure will eliminate duplications, increase efficiencies and reduce costs.

The board will also begin the process of recruiting the permanent executive director and chief commercial officer to lead the streamlined organization, and expects to have the permanent leadership in place as early as fall 2013.

“Moving forward, it is imperative that we empower and hold accountable a strong leadership team that can successfully continue our drive toward greater efficiency and reduced costs,” Fralin said. “We want leadership who can deliver premiere port service and sustained cargo and economic growth to Virginia.”

The board will also overhaul its strategic plan to determine ways to ensure the port remains competitive over the long-term. The strategic plan will focus on advancing major capital improvements, reducing debt levels and attracting new distribution centers and manufacturers to help drive increased cargo and economic development across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

As part of today’s action, the board terminated review of unsolicited proposals submitted by APM Terminals, Inc. and Virginia Port Partners (VPP), noting that neither proposal accurately reflected the potential net present value of the state’s terminals and revenue potential.

The 12-member board weighed the reorganization plan against two unsolicited proposals from APM Terminals North America and JP Morgan that were each seeking a long-term concession to be the VPA’s terminal operating company. Those proposals were submitted to the state’s secretary of transportation last April and December, respectively, under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995.

After careful analysis and consideration of the risks and opportunities the board determined that the retention and improvement of the public sector operator is a more attractive opportunity for the Commonwealth of Virginia. In making its determination, the board took into account a number of factors, including the following:

• The analysis of cash flows calculated for the APMT and VPP proposals and the public sector comparator shows that the public sector comparator provides more net cash flow as compared to the best achievable proposal. The analysis includes operational changes and execution of key structural business model changes;

• An analysis of the revenues and cargo volumes forecast by APMT and VPP as compared to revenues and cargo volumes forecast by the public sector comparator shows that the public sector comparator is comparable to a concession;

• The belief that the public sector comparator has the ability to generate sufficient revenue over time to allow the VPA to service its existing debt and fund the capital expenditures described in the VPA’s updated 2040 master plan;

• While both PPTA proposals present an opportunity for the VPA to acquire APMT’s marine terminal in Portsmouth, the VPA already has control of this facility until 2030 pursuant to the lease between the VPA and APMT;

• Cargo volumes at the Port of Virginia are beginning to show improvement following several years of slow growth. Calendar year 2012 was the port’s second best year on record in terms of cargo volume and the port is off to a strong start in 2013. Given the port’s improving market outlook, the Board does not believe it is beneficial to implement a concession at this time; and

• Given the port’s natural and infrastructure advantages and position on the East Coast, combined with the future prospects of significant changes in shipping trends as a result of the Panama Canal Expansion, the increased use of the Suez Canal, and the move to substantially larger cargo vessels, now is not the optimal time to concession operations at the Port of Virginia.

“We thank both of the companies that put forth proposals because their very real interest in The Port of Virginia, I believe, affirms a long-held belief within the industry that Virginia is home to the premier port on the US East Coast,” Fralin said.

Last fall, after a year of discussion, the VPA brought forth its proposal to restructure VPA and VIT and the board began its consideration of the plan in parallel to the privatization offers. The focus of the reorganization is to create a more unified – streamlined — organization focused on port growth, improved communication between the two entities and creating efficiencies across the board.

This means that cargo can be shipped there directly, without transhipment in Europe.

“This is really good news. We know this region is important to many companies in Sweden and the Nordic region, for example for the export of steel,” says Magnus Kårestedt, CEO Gothenburg Port Authority.

South Korea is experiencing considerable industrial growth. Renowned export brands include Samsung, LG, Hyundai and Kia. The country is also a major manufacturer of tyres, which are exported to Sweden and elsewhere. For Swedish companies, South Korea is also an important market for items such as forestry products, steel and car parts.

Busan, in the south-eastern part of the country, has a favourable geographical location both for reaching important industrial regions in South Korea and for onward transport to Japan and Russia. It serves as a complement to the city of Kwangyang in the west of the country, which is already served by Maersk Line via a direct route from the Port of Gothenburg.

“New destinations in our product portfolio strengthen our position on the market,” says Magnus Kårestedt.

The transport time from Sweden to Busan is 40 days, and the route offers weekly departures from the container terminal in the Port of Gothenburg – APM Terminals Gothenburg.

Here is the entire route: Gdansk (Poland) – Århus (Denmark) – Gothenburg (Sweden) – Bremerhaven (Germany) – Rotterdam (the Netherlands) – Tangiers (Morocco) – Singapore – Yantian (China) – Hong Kong – Busan (South Korea) – Kwangyang (South Korea) – Ningbo (China) – Shanghai (China) – Tanjung Pelepas (Malaysia).

Offshore wind turbines have a decisive advantage over onshore turbines: They have significantly higher energy yields due to better wind conditions. However, this advantage is accompanied by a considerably higher structural complexity. This includes, among other things, the foundation, which anchors wind turbines securely and permanently to the ocean floor. Most offshore wind turbines use a system known as the so-called “tripod foundation.” It is a tripod structure made of steel tubes that support a main pile underwater. The wind turbine’s tower is placed on this main pile. The tripod is anchored with smaller piles that are driven into the ocean floor. “Our task was to load a number of the steel support piles required for this structure from lowbed trailers onto a transport ship that would take the components to the wind farm’s location,” says Sarens Project Manager Hendrik Sanders. However, the job was not as simple as it sounds. “The biggest problem was the ground, which would not be able to support the weight of the Terex crane without support – especially since we had to equip the CC 9800 with a self-propelled counterweight carrier for this project,” reports crane operator Peter Derniest.

Complex preparation work

In order to adequately stabilize the work area for the crane, the Sarens team built a platform made of concrete plates, steel plates, and wooden planks on the wharf. In addition, a path for the counterweight carrier, which was loaded with 640 tonnes, was set up in a semicircle around the platform. The crane was set up with an SSL configuration with a 66 meter-long main boom. The counterweight on the superstructure weighed 235 tonnes.

With these preparations done and the crawler crane properly configured, the CC 9800 was ready for the upcoming lifts. “We had to load two different types of piles onto the transport vessel: Pile 1 had a length of 40 meters, a diameter of 3.5 meters, and a weight of 400 tonnes; pile 2 was significantly heavier and larger with a length of 70 meters, a diameter of 3.9 meters, and a weight of 750 tonnes,” says Hendrik Sanders

Thanks to the way the working area was prepared, crane operators Peter Derniest and Joaquim “Chuckie” Tegeleiro were able to perform the lifts with no delay: to perfectly balance the piles, a spreader was mounted on the CC 9800’s hook block. This enabled the crane to pick up the piles in a stable horizontal position, swing them within a 90° radius, and deposit them safely on the transport vessel. “The CC 9800 proved to be an outstanding machine during the lifts: It is extremely easy to operate and at the same time very precise. This is important when working with this type of load,” explains Chuckie Tegeleiro. Peter Derniest adds: “The crane was already impressive during the setup: I can’t believe how a crane of this size can be so easy to rig. The conditions at the site were challenging and we assembled the crane without a single problem.” 

The crane will be performing these lifts until the entire wind farm is completed, which is expected to be in 2013.

The Terex® CC 9800

The Terex® CC 9800 is based on the existing CC 8800-1 and uses the same machine components as the larger CC 8800-1 TWIN lattice boom crawler crane, which is one of the largest mobile cranes in the world with its lifting capacity of 3,200 tonnes. The CC 9800’s maximum load moment with 1,122 tonnes at 24 m radius, and an 800 tonne Superlift counterweight is 26,930 mt.  Meanwhile, its maximum main boom length when using an SSL/LSL configuration is 156 meters. When using the typical configuration used for lifting wind turbines, the crane features a main boom of up to 144 meters and an 18-meter luffing fly jib that is tilted forward at an angle of 20° (SSL/LSL + LF). When equipped with a 132-meter main boom and an 18-meter extension, the machine features a lifting capacity of 380 tonnes and a hook height of 147 meters. The longest possible SWSL combination (luffing fly jib with Superlift) is 108 m + 120 m, resulting in a maximum hook height of 223 meters.