Kwiatkowski, who will commence as DCT’s CEO at the start of April, has 30 years of experience in the port industry with a strong focus on operation, design and construction of container terminals. DCT’s new CEO has successfully run projects in Australia, Asia as well as South America.

‘I am very excited about joining DCT’ said Maciek Kwiatkowski. ‘I look forward to partnering with authorities and for customers’ support in the implementation of the DCT development plans on time and within the budget.’ With the construction of the new container terminal (DCT2) the  vision of Gdansk as a gateway to Central Eastern Europe and Russia will become a reality.

Speaking in Kingston recently, Giorgio Valentini, World Bank Group representative to Jamaica, described the logistics hub initiative as ‘transformational’ and foresaw benefits for the whole Jamaican economy in addition to its maritime industry. “It is important to emphasise that the hub is not just about the port, it involves many moving parts and will significantly enhance Jamaica’s potential for growth,” Mr Valentini said.

Jamaica’s proposal to become the fourth node in the global logistics chain, announced in January, is the centrepiece of the Government’s growth strategy and is expected to transform the Jamaican economy, create jobs and position Jamaica on the global value chain alongside Rotterdam, Singapore and Dubai. Jamaica’s plans intend to make the most of the significant economic opportunities expected to emerge from the expansion and development of the Panama Canal.

Thanking the World Bank Group for its support, Industry Minister Anthony Hylton said the endorsement brings the vision one step closer to reality. The Minister will lead a mission to Washington from February 18-22, 2013 to continue talks with the World Bank Group on additional areas of collaboration and support. Minister Hylton will also have meetings scheduled with international investors who have expressed an interest in the Logistics Hub Initiative, and will meet with private sector groups. The Ministry plans a public education campaign to keep the country appraised of how the public and private sectors can collaborate to transform Jamaica through the Global Logistics hub initiative.

A 16 person delegation from the World Bank group visited Jamaica and has already started to provide technical assistance in the development of the master plan for the logistics hub. The pillars of the master plan, which should be unveiled by June 30, will feed into the final version of the World Bank’s Country Partnership Strategy with Jamaica. This document will govern the relationship between the island and the World Bank for the period 2014-17.

The acquisition will expand ABB’s crane system portfolio to the container terminal market. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013.

Established in 2002, APS employs approximately 50 full-time people in its headquarters in San Diego, California, and its office in Long Beach, California. APS is a leading global supplier of vision based automation solutions that identify containers, trucks, rail equipment, and other transport assets for ports and intermodal container facilities. These systems help container terminals, port authorities and shipping lines to streamline their operations by automating manual processes within gate, vessel, rail and yard operations.

This addition will help ABB to expand its crane systems portfolio for the container terminal and adjacent supply chain markets. APS will join ABB’s Process Automation division.

“The acquisition of APS is an important milestone for us to expand our terminal automation offering and provide our customers with added-value integrated solutions,” said Heikki Soljama, head of ABB’s Marine and Cranes business unit. “This acquisition is a good strategic fit for our existing solution portfolio, and will further strengthen our product portfolio.”

“Joining ABB will enable us to extend our support and engineering capabilities as we expand into new geographic regions,” said Russ Scheppmann, CEO and founder of APS. “Our customers will also benefit from ABB’s global reach in sales and service, and combined efforts in R&D projects.”

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 145,000 people.

The port already operates five mobile harbour cranes from Liebherr Werk Nenzing and due to operational requirements at the King George Dock in the Port of Hull the operator, Associated British Ports, had a need to supplement the existing cranes with an additional crane to meet operational demand as soon as possible. As the port currently operates Liebherr mobile harbour cranes with an exhausted range of spare parts, technical knowledge and operational experience the company opted to order a similar crane to satisfied demand. No indication of price was given and no service contract has been awarded.