.Portolab was started in 2007 and includes cooperation with over 110 institutes in Italy across all the city ports where Contship Italia holds investments.  It has attracted more than 30,000 children and each year the project donates 10,000 free copies of the Contship school diary to students and schools. Control Techniques has supported the project since it began and this year renews its endorsement to ensure its continued success.

Gianbattista Dubini, Director of Marketing for Cranes at Control Techniques, says: “Portolab is a fantastic project which allows children to directly experience all aspects of life inside a container port.  As container ports are usually not open to the public this is a highly unusual opportunity for them.  The port and container industry is central to the economy and it is really important that children are able to learn about it. 

“I think it is fantastic that Contship Italia works so hard to support the local communities around the ports where it operates, and I am very pleased that Control Techniques is able to support the Portolab project.”

 Daniele Testi, Marketing and Corporate Image Director at Contship Italia, says: “Everyone at Contship Italia is extremely proud of the Portolab project.  It is really important that we do everything we can to support the communities that are based around our ports, and also that we do everything we can to educate the public about our business.  Control Techniques is one of the primary sponsors of the Portolab project and I am very grateful for their continued support.”

Targeting heavy-duty industrial and terminal applications, the new models meet the market’s current and prospective demands for a higher-powered tractor that can handle the increasingly heavy loads seen in modern industries. 

Cargotec is the largest heavy terminal tractor supplier in the world and boasts 20 years’ experience in heavy industrial tractor operations. Developed in response to customer feedback, the new models extend the proven technology and systems from across the Kalmar tractor range to provide an agile, flexible and cost efficient heavy-duty handling solution. 

Key features include:

Industry leading capacities

Compliance with emissions legislation

Enhanced safety and operator environment

Easy maintenance and reduced ownership costs

Deliveries will take place in Q4 2013 and Q1 2014. The parties have agreed not to disclose the value of the order.  

Khalifa Port is owned by the Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) and operated by Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT). ADPC and ADT are pleased with the commercial progress of the new port. In a rare occurrence with large infrastructure developments of this kind, Martijn Van de Linde, CEO of ADT, commented: “ADT is pleased to announce that we are two months ahead of schedule for completing the transitioning of all container traffic from Mina Zayed to the Khalifa Port Container Terminal. We had initially anticipated completion of the process by the end of Q1 2013, but now we are projecting completion in January 2013.”

A supplier of automated container yard systems is judged both on the performance of its technology and its ability to deliver and commission the equipment within the flow of the total project. “I am proud of our ability to consistently deliver automated container handling systems on time, with high quality,” says Jussi Suhonen, General Manager, RMG Cranes, Konecranes. “Our growing list of automation references speaks for itself. With each delivery, we gain strength and expertise. This extension order granted to us by ADPC is proof of their confidence in us.”  

The 12 ASCs in the extension order are identical to the 30 ASCs delivered in the first phase. They have a lifting capacity of 40 tons, stacking one-over-five containers high and nine wide. They are equipped with automation controls and Konecranes’ Active Load Control (ALC) system. ALC combines advanced sway control and horizontal fine positioning, providing very efficient container handling in the ASC yard, both automatically and remotely. This is especially true in the transfer areas and inside the stack, where placement tolerances are always present. The Konecranes ASCs will be interfaced with the Khalifa Port Terminal Operating System (TOS), delivered by Konecranes in the first phase of the container terminal construction.

That is when the Yangtzehaven cut-through will start. The temporary inland lake that was created on Maasvlakte 2 will disappear so that the new port will soon be accessible to the ships which need to moor at the APM Terminals Maasvlakte II (AMPT MVII) and the Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) terminal in 2014. Both container terminals are hard at work with the construction on their freshly reclaimed land.

APM Terminals Maasvlakte II

As a future operator on Maasvlakte 2, APM Terminals Maasvlakte II (AMPT MVII) is making good progress on its new container terminal. The construction of the terminal is proceeding on schedule with the opening planned for November 2014. The terminal design signifies a step forward in productivity and sustainability. The cut-through of the Yangtzehaven next weekend is important for APMT MVII so that it can receive its first ship with crane parts in the spring of 2013.

With a quay wall depth of 20 metres and the highest deep sea cranes in the world, this terminal will soon be open for the arrival of the latest generation of 18,000-TEU container ships. The first phase of the terminal covers 86 hectares and has a capacity of 2.7 million TEU per year. The terminal can expand to 167 hectares and a capacity of 4.5 million TEU per year.

Rotterdam World Gateway
The construction of Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG), Rotterdam’s new container terminal on Maasvlakte 2, is on schedule. The site on the Amaliahaven is gaining more and more shape now that RWG started on the asphalting in the summer. It is anticipated that the terminal will be opened in the autumn of 2014. The placement of the quay cranes one year before that is an important milestone. Terminal testing will also start around that time, so that by the spring of 2014 the first ship can moor.

The terminal is shooting up on a 108-hectare site and has a deep sea quay of 1150 metres long and 20 metres deep. A 550-metre inland shipping quay has also been constructed. Eleven deep sea cranes and three cranes for inland vessels will be placed on these quays. Together with around 50 stacking cranes and 60 AGVs (automatically guided vehicles that will move the containers around the site), this will ultimately deliver a capacity of 2.35 million TEU.

Railway connection
Both terminals are expected to be the most modern in the world. This will make it possible to handle the next generation of ultra-large container ships in Rotterdam. The new container terminals will each have rail connections which must meet the latest requirements in rail safety. The connections for both terminals are planned to be ready by the end of 2013. This will enable the terminals to be fully set up for the intermodal handling of the cargo – the basis of the modal shift objective of the Port of Rotterdam Authority. This means that as many containers as possible are transported to the hinterland by inland shipping and rail.

Road and rail along the seawall

The Yangtzehaven will be connected to the ports on Maasvlakte 2 next weekend and that is due to the opening of the road and rail along the new seawall. The road and rail were opened on 19 and 28 October respectively, opening up access via Maasvlakte 2 to the businesses of Euromax, MOT and GATE. This made it possible to remove the existing infrastructure on the Yangtzehaven shortly afterwards. In the short time between 11 July (closing of the seawall by Queen Beatrix) and the end of October, the last section of the seawall was raised to the required height and the road and rail were built. The sport beach has also been open since October.

Viaduct Junction E

Construction work at the entrance to the ECT and APMT terminals on Maasvlakte 1 has also commenced. Traffic from and to Euromax has not come past here since October. Traffic to the new APMT terminal on Maasvlakte 2 will travel from this junction when it is opened in 2014. The traffic will then be able to be properly integrated with the existing infrastructure, although a flyover intersection will be required in the future to allow the smooth flow of all the truck traffic. The coming two years is a period of less traffic than before (Euromax traffic) and after (more traffic again to the new APM terminal). That is why the junction is being redeveloped between now and the summer of 2014. The current level junction with traffic lights will turn into a flyover junction. Contractor MNO Vervat is constructing this Viaduct Junction E.

Service port

The Prinses Margriethaven opposite FutureLand will be set up as a service port in 2013. Waiting berths for inland shipping and nautical service providers such as tugs and boatmen will come here.

Agreements with stakeholders

Numerous agreements with authorities and NGOs about the way Maasvlakte 2 would be constructed, the effects it would be permitted to have on the environment, compensatory measures in the existing port area and suchlike were made before the construction of Maasvlakte 2 started. These agreements were laid down in agreements and licences. Thus various authorities, social interest groups from the business sector and nature and environmental organisations, and the Port Authority concluded the Vision and Trust agreement in May 2008. It was agreed that DCMR would monitor compliance with the agreements for the coming 25 years. The obligations have been met thus far and only the accessibility of the beach by public transport has turned out to be a difficult point to achieve.

A report on the effects on life in the North Sea will be published in 2013. Even before construction commenced, a start was made to measure life at a large number of locations in the North Sea (among other things) several times a year and at different times of the year. Due to the large number of factors affecting this, it is not possible for a long time to say whether the construction of Maasvlakte 2 has any effect. Currently the measurements give no reason to think that this is the case.