During the first nine months of the fiscal year which began July 1, the SCPA’s box volume was up 10 percent over the same period last year, with 1,160,999 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled at the SCPA’s two container terminals in Charleston through March 2013.

“We are pleased that our actions to increase volume are bearing fruit,” said Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the SCPA. Newsome noted that the upcoming fourth quarter of the fiscal year traditionally has been a period of strong numbers. “There are a number of deployments of large vessels which should further influence volume, especially on the export side.”

The Port of Charleston handled 136,877 TEUs in March, a 1.5 percent increase over the same month last year and a 13.8 percent increase over March 2011.

Bulk and breakbulk tonnage similarly posted positive year-over-year results during the first nine months of the fiscal year. The SCPA’s non-containerized facilities in Charleston and Georgetown handled 1,205,194 pier tons of cargo from July to March, a 14.5 percent gain from the same period in fiscal year 2012.

In other action, the SCPA Board approved $12.9 million in additional funding toward the South Carolina Inland Port (SCIP) in Greer, SC, currently under construction. The project’s design is now more than 90 percent complete with a projected opening in September 2013.

“What we have is a much more robust facility than initially planned,” Newsome said. “We have designed and will construct the inland port to bring optimum benefit to our customers and a greater return on investment over the longer term.”

Located 212 miles from the Port of Charleston, the SCIP will serve as the extension of the SCPA’s coastal facilities in the middle of the largest concentration of in-state port customers in the Upstate region of South Carolina. Importantly, the facility immediately will convert 25,000 existing truck trips on I-26 to rail transportation. The SCIP will have an expected capacity of 40,000 containers at start up and, with the newly approved funding, will grow its capability to around 80,000 lifts a year.

The Board also approved the transfer of 2.24-acres of property to Clemson University for the wind turbine testing center under construction in North Charleston on the former Navy Base. The property will be used to house an electrical power station for the Clemson University Restoration Institute wind turbine project.  

In March, the port handled 179,518 TEU, an increase of 12,799 units when compared with March 2012. Export TEUs tallied 93,172 and import TEU were 86,346, an increase of 3.1 and 13.1 percent, respectively.

“We’ve seen growth in January, February and March and our year-to-date TEU volume is up 6.2 percent, a difference of nearly 30,000 TEU,” said Rodney W. Oliver, the Virginia Port Authority’s interim executive director. “Given what we’ve seen thus far in 2013, we’re optimistic about the coming months and focusing all of our energy on leveraging this port’s assets to build volumes.”

Also in March:

• Total barge volume was 4,262 containers (+11.4 percent).

• General cargo tonnage was 1,560,896 (+5 percent).

• Total rail containers were 36,046 (+14.3 percent).

• Virginia Inland Port containers were 2,877 (-8.6 percent).

• Total ship calls were 158 (-8.7 percent).

The contract will see Orbita supply its GateSuite optical character recognition (OCR) solution to automate 10 new entry and exit truck lanes being built as part of a major expansion programme at the leading Spanish container terminal. Now underway, and due for completion this November, the project includes installation of truck lane gantries equipped with GateOCR, Orbita’s automated container identification and truck license plate reader system. GateOCR combines IP camera technology, megapixel sensors and sophisticated image processing using neural networks and other vision techniques to deliver high reliability in reading ISO container numbers and truck license plates, as well as capturing images for container damage inspection control. Orbita will additionally supply its GateOS software to integrate gate OCR data with ARGOS, Grup TCB’s terminal operating system (TOS) and will provide the hardware and systems needed for truck drivers to interact with the TOS, including QR Code readers and RFID readers. Theproject also covers the removal and relocation of TCB’s existing Megaports radiation detection portals and infrastructure to the new terminal gates.

TCB, which handled close to 800,000TEU in 2012, is one of Spain’s longest established and largest terminals. Serving global carriers including CMA-CGM, Maersk Line and the G6 Alliance, it is a major Mediterranean gateway for the Far East container trades, plus American, Caribbeanand African services. As a predominantly import-export facility, 80% of TCB’s container traffic enters or exits on the landside by truck and rail, making the gates critical to overall terminal performance. The current manual gates can handle up to 200 transactions per hour at peak times. When the new automated gate complex is fully installed, TCB expects to boost capacity by nearly 25%, serving a terminal now being expanded from 57 to 81 hectares. “The new process will bring maximum reliability to the gate operations and increase the productivity of the terminal at the gates,” said Narcis Pavon, Terminal & Operations Manager at TCB. “This investment will also help improve our damage inspection control, claims handling and security processes.”

TCB anticipates significant improvements in operational efficiency, not just for the terminal but also for customers and the wider port community. “The new automated gates will bring a lot of benefits to everyone in the logistics chain,” added Pavon. “All of the current paperwork will disappear, as every single operation will be identified by a pre-advised PIN code that the truck driver will input at the entrance gate. The new process will allow us to optimise terminal planning, resource allocation and cost control, while trucking companies will be able to plan their schedules better.”

David Serral, IT Director for Grup TCB, explained that TCB is already running a truck prebooking system and is now planning to upgrade this in agreement with the local port community. “The combination of this with the new OCR technology will allow us to create faster and more efficient gates to the benefit of all.” This is the third gate automation project undertaken worldwide by Grup TCB and the second with Orbita, following installation of the GateSuite technology at its TCV terminal in Valencia last year. “Our previous experience with Orbita was very successful,” noted Serral. “Their perfect integration with our ARGOS TOS, and the general quality of their system, were key factors in selecting them again for TCB Barcelona.” “Orbita is very pleased to have been chosen by Grup TCB for this prestige project,” said

Francisco Grau Cavanillas, Account Manager for Ports and Terminals at Orbita. “Our design and engineering team is collaborating closely with Grup TCB’s IT and Civil Engineering departments to ensure that once again we deliver a highly successful outcome.”

The agreement signed between Anthony Hylton, Jamaican Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, and Kuwaiti Minister of Finance, His Excellency Mustafa Al-Shemali, is part of a broader high-level Ministerial Trade Mission to the Middle East Gulf States of Kuwait, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It forms a crucial part of the Government of Jamaica’s push to create Jamaica into one of the world’s top four logistics centres.

The Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between Jamaica and Kuwait will seek to provide fundamental protection for Kuwaiti investments in Jamaica, ranging from the usual national treatment and most favoured nation treatment, as well as guarantees for fair and equitable treatment for investors of either state.  It provides companies with the necessary legal standing in dispute settlement matters and also makes specific reference to corporate social responsibility for companies operating in either country. 

The purpose of the Ministerial Mission to the Gulf States is to engage potential partners and investors in the region, as well as to promote investment opportunities in the logistics and other sectors in Jamaica.  In addition, the delegation is seeking to gain insight and greater perspective on global best practices in logistics in developing the Master Plan for Jamaica’s logistics industry.

The Ministerial Mission to the Gulf States follows similar Jamaican Government-led delegations to Panama as well as to China and Singapore to both benchmark Jamaica against its proposed developments in the logistics sphere and to pursue potential partnerships with investors in the logistics area. 

The Minister’s visit to the Emirate State of Dubai will focus on the aviation aspect of the logistics project.  Securing investments into the project is also a significant aspect of the mission and is the basis of a number of the meetings planned during the mission.  While Dubai, is the main focus of the mission, the team will also take advantage of being in the region to hold meetings in Kuwait and Abu Dhabi with potential financiers and investors in the projects, as well as, other business opportunities that require investor support.