A boost in container exports brougth about this significant increase (+13%). All in alll, this traffic category accounted for 22% of the Port’s total. Exports through the Port of Bilbao grew by 4%  as a result of greater exporting activity in Spain.

Total traffic in 2012 was  29.5 million tonnnes (-7.8%). This means a loss of some 2.5 million tonnes on the previous year meanly because of lower demand in some hydrocarbons.

With regards to solid bulks, there was a 6.5% growth owing to  the increase in coal and coke. In some measure, this can be attributed to the opening of the new petroleum coke facility.  Cement & clinker, and soya beans also experienced growths.

The European Atlantic, as always, is Bilbao´s main market with almost 50% of total throughput. In addition, the North American Atlantic  has registered the highest growth, thus consolidating second place. Notable increases were also recorded in both the South American Pacific and Atlantic faces. Outstanding countries are Russia, United Kingdom, Mexico, USA and the Netherlands.

There was intense maritime-rail activity at the Port of Bilbao throughout the year which produced a 9% increase in intermodal flows; container traffic by rail grew  16% as a consequence of port operators introducing new rail services to and from the Port.

 Constant investment has been requiered since the commencement  of the Port´s extension works in the Outer Abra twenty years ago. This effort, made possible by the Port Authority´s healthy finances, has produced an investment of 33 million Euros in 2012 which will reach 56 million in 2013.

The government of Parana authorised the start of the bidding process for the acquisition of the new shiploaders for their Export Corridor at the Port of Paranagua. With the installation of the new equipment the government hopes to increase the speed of loading ships by 60% and ultimately the flow of cargo going through the port, further boosting exports.

The tender states that the new shiploaders will have a nominal capacity of 2,000 tonnes of grain per hour. The current equipment has a nominal capacity of 1500 tonnes per hour, however due to their age they average about 1200 tonnes per hour. The deadline to complete the installation of the four shiploaders is 22 months.

The Port Authority of Panama (AMP) is implementing an automated system with the purpose of providing additional and irrefutable support to the payments made by the terminal operators to the Panamanian Port Authority, in compliance with today’s government “Contraloria” requirements. Currently, there is no system to audit data, and the introduction of an automated system will enable a streamlined solution of the audit process. Additionally, statistics regarding the movement of containers will be available in real-time, whereas currently the information is provided on a monthly basis. 

The crane OCR systems will capture, recognize and read the specific number unique to each and every container during discharge and load operations, without human intervention, as they are handled by the ship to shore cranes.

Since the Panama Port Authority is primarily interested in automating the counting of container moves and each container is only counted once although handled twice (discharge and load), it is critical for the system to accurately identify the container number. Terminal operators may pursue additional functionalities associated with the OCR systems in the future to automate business processes on the waterside operations. 

“HTS is honored to be chosen by the Port Authority of Panama for this crucial project, and it underscores the leadership position HTS holds in the international marketplace for its rich suite of Crane OCR solutions.” Said Benjie Wells, VP of Cargo Systems, HTS.

About HTS 

HTS is a leading developer and supplier of proprietary optical character recognition (OCR) and computer vision systems for a wide range of applications in the security, automation and management fields for the ports, transportation, safe city and parking markets.

HTS has successfully implemented commercial Container Code Recognition (CCR), License Plate Recognition (LPR) systems and other computer vision systems in ports, traffic and security sectors in over 40 countries worldwide, and has established partnerships with top-tier global companies. HTS has branched in Europe and the United States.

In the marine terminal market, HTS has an installed base of more than 750 OCR systems in over 50 facilities and 17 countries.

The total of handled volume was 106k TEU. DCT’s success is even greater as it is the 1st time that any Polish container terminal achieved such a result. DCT wants to maintain its rapid development and, thus, signed this morning a lease agreement with Port Authority of Gdansk to confirm and finalize the previously announced plans of creating DCT2. When, at the beginning of 2016, DCT 2 terminal will be fully operational, the total capacity of DCT and DCT2 will comprise of up to 4 million TEU.

Boris Wenzel, CEO of DCT Gdansk, comments: ‘I am pleased that DCT begins the year of 2013 with such a success. It reassures me that the decision concerning DCT’s investments in further development was correct. I am confident that DCT’s track of success and its reputation for delivering results for its clients will continue.’

Upon signing the lease agreement for DCT 2 with Port Authority of Gdansk, Boris Wenzel will step down from DCT to take over a senior management position in Noatum Ports in Spain.