This annual award was created to recognize and reward a Hamilton port partner’s contributions to respecting and protecting the natural environment.

“Federal Marine Terminals has the largest footprint of any tenant on port property, and the company is a leader when it comes to environmental protection,” noted Bruce Wood, HPA President and CEO.  “Environmental stewardship is central to our mission at the port, and we are always pleased to work with port partners like FMT who share this commitment.”

FMT has taken several measures to achieve a high level of environmental performance. For example, on-site dust is controlled using a new road sweeper, significantly reducing airborne particulate. An advanced equipment wash pad system captures wash water and separates out oil.

FMT is an active participant in the North American environmental improvement program Green Marine, achieving level 4.3 (out of 5.0) in 2011, in the following areas: greenhouse gases, water and land pollution prevention, and conflicts of use with neighbouring population. The company has a comprehensive environmental policy in place that addresses key aspects of Green Marine, including a stormwater and spills prevention management policy.

 The HPA Environmental Recognition Award recognizes environmental leadership by allocating funds to an environmental agency or project, as nominated by the winner. FMT has chosen the Hamilton Air Monitoring Network (HAMN), which since 2003 has been carrying out ambient and point source air quality monitoring in the Hamilton area.

Paul Gourdeau, President of FMT, said: “We are honoured to be the first recipient of this award.  As a company, we are continuously looking for new ways to reduce our environmental footprint and have a team at our headquarters dedicated to ensuring we operate our businesses in a sustainable manner. We look forward to allocating the award funds to HAMN, which is an important project because of the role it plays in helping to determine where progress is being made and identifying air quality issues in the Hamilton area.”

A 2,527 mile ocean odyssey will see them cross the Atlantic from Halifax in Canada to arrive at the Port of Liverpool in early October. It is more than half a century since the locomotives were last on UK soil.

From the Port of Liverpool’s Seaforth docks they will continue their journey by road and travel more than 150 miles north east on low-loader to the National Railway Museum in Shildon. The locomotives each weigh 94 tonnes.

Following a short period of display at Shildon, Dwight D Eisenhower will then move to York to be given a fresh coat of green paint in the museum workshop, whilst the Dominion of Canada will be painted the same iconic shade of blue as Mallard in the workshop at Shildon.

The reunion is part of a very special family gathering. The Dominion of Canada and the Dwight D Eisenhower are en route to join their A4 ‘sisters’ as part of an anniversary programme of events celebrating 75 years since the mighty blue machine became the fastest steam locomotive in the world.

It was on the third of July 1938 that the mighty blue Mallard was recorded as reaching the awe-inspiring speed of 126mph on the East Coast Main Line, breaking the existing German record of 124 mph set in 1936. With Hitler’s Third Reich then in the ascendancy it was a matter of national pride that a British locomotive should capture the world speed crown. Number 4468 Mallard – which had been recently built at LNER’s Doncaster Works and was the first of its class to be fitted with a double chimney – was chosen as the perfect vehicle for the endeavour.

The centrepiece of the anniversary celebrations in 2013 will be a never-seen-before line up of all six of the surviving A4 locomotives in the world at the National Rail Museum in York. 

Gary Hodgson, Managing Director of Peel Ports-Mersey, said that the Port of Liverpool is delighted to be part of what is a unique and historic event. He said: “When the National Rail Museum approached us and asked if we would be able to help facilitate this reunion we were only too pleased to be able to offer our port services and logistics expertise.

“Railways and ports have traditionally had a very close relationship, and they continue to do so. It is a real privilege for the Port of Liverpool to be able to welcome these extraordinary machines back to the UK. They are a wonderful reminder of our country’s great capacity for engineering excellence, and a heritage we should all be proud of”.

The Port of Liverpool has worked closely with shipping line ACL – Atlantic Container Line – to coordinate the arrival of the locomotives. ACL specialises in carrying project and oversized cargo.

Ian Higby, Managing Director of ACL said: “The locomotives have been loaded on to the ‘Atlantic Conveyer’ in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They have been securely stowed on Mafi trailers and will cross the Atlantic on our fixed day weekly service between Europe, the United States and Canada.

“When they berth in Liverpool our unique roll-on – roll-off ability for oversized and extraordinary cargo means that these beautiful machines will be able to come off the vessel on our specialist heavy duty trailers with their dignity intact.”

Steve Davies, the Director of the National Railway Museum said: “We wanted to do something really special to mark the 75th anniversary of Mallard breaking the world speed record and what could be more spectacular than an international family reunion? When these mighty machines were exported across the Atlantic in the Sixties, no one thought they would ever come back, now they are finally here.  The sheer scale of this transcontinental project to move these locomotives back to home soil was immense and it is testament to the vision and expertise of all those involved.”

The vessels are due to arrive at the Port of Liverpool on Wednesday 3rd October.

Khalifa Port, developed by Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) and operated by Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT), is the region’s only semi-automated terminal using SPARCS N4 and will handle container traffic transferred from Mina Zayed port by early 2013.

“We are thrilled that SPARCS N4 was instrumental in helping to give Khalifa Port the highest state of the art container terminal facilities in the Middle East and North Africa,” said Bill Walsh, president and CEO, Navis. “Through the use of semi-automated technology solutions, Khalifa Port will be able to facilitate some of the world’s largest mega container ships like it did with the 14,000 container MSC Bari on September 1, 2012, solidifying the region’s future as one of most advanced trade hubs in the world.”

Khalifa Port’s developers, ADPC, were already familiar with Navis’ terminal operating systems from its use and success at Abu Dhabi Terminal-operated Mina Zayed, and selected Navis SPARCS N4 due to its ability to provide a proven solution and overall market leadership.

Once selected, the SPARCS N4 implementation involved a rigorous migration and testing period. Navis’ professional services project team operated on-site throughout, and worked hand-in-hand with a complex business ecosystem of multiple partners, contractors, engineers and executives to make the engagement a success. With SPARCS N4, Khalifa Port’s terminal operators can use automation functions to reduce variability in port management and traffic, as well as control container flow. As a result, Khalifa Port will achieve higher turnaround speeds and accuracy for its customers.

“Due to the grand scale of the Khalifa Port project, we needed a TOS partner with proven experience in semi- and fully-automated terminals. For us, the right partner was Navis,” says Joost Achterkamp, project director, Abu Dhabi Ports Company. “To date, we have been extremely happy with the dedication of the professional services project team at Navis, who faced and overcame complex challenges to ensure our success.”

SPARCS N4 is Navis’ latest generation TOS, allowing customers the flexibility and scalability needed to run their operations at the lowest possible total cost of ownership–from a single terminal to multiple terminals spanning numerous geographic locations managed from one central location.

The commission’s purpose is to provide a cost-effective means of financing various capital projects for Florida’s ports by issuing bonds and transferring the proceeds to the individual ports.
 
“The same attributes and leadership that have contributed to Paul’s successes in the private and public sector will be invaluable in his service to the FPFC,” Doug Wheeler, president of the Florida Ports Council, administrator of the FPFC program said.

Jim Citrano, newly elected chairman of the JAXPORT Board of Directors, said, “This is just the sort of high profile, meaningful leadership role the board envisioned for JAXPORT’s CEO. Paul’s peers recognize that his energy and expertise will help set the right priorities for Florida ports in order to move this state forward.”