Upon arrival, an official ceremony took place on board the ZIM ANTWERP with the participation of Port Authority of NY & NJ, Maher terminals and ZIM USA representatives headed by President George Goldman, to mark the historic passage. ZIM Antwerp’s captain received a plaque commemorating the event. ZIM ANTWERP arrived in New York after calling ports in China, crossing the new Panama Canal and calling the US ports of Savannah, Charleston and Norfolk. It will head next to Halifax before returning to Asia. The ZIM ANTWERP sails the ZIM Container Service Pacific (ZCP), one of ZIM’s flagship lines, recently upgraded as part of the company’s renewed network. It is part of ZIM’s global strategy to operate as an independent company, focusing on trade routes where it has competitive advantages. George Goldman, President of ZIM USA: “ZIM is a significant player in this trade and one of the leading carriers serving the Asia-East Coast trade, which is expected to continue to grow following the expansion of the Panama Canal. The trade is also served by another major ZIM service, the ZIM Seven Star Express (Z7S) along with additional complementary lines.” Maher terminals President & CEO, Mr. Gary Cross, said: “Zim Integrated Shipping Services has been a loyal container customer of Maher Terminals dating back to the opening of our first terminal in the early seventies. Now, nearly fifty years later, we are privileged to share in this momentous occasion of the 10062 teu Zim Antwerp calling in the Port of NY/NJ at our facility under the newly raised roadway of the Bayonne Bridge. This event adds to the list of important milestones we share together in our long relationship. We applaud Zim for their continued success and look forward to handling many more of their mega-vessels at Maher Terminals for many more years to come.”
MacGregor and ESL Shipping jointly develop and test the safety and efficiency benefits of an autonomous discharging feature on bulk handling cranes
It is designed to offer safety and efficiency advances. The cranes will be fitted on board ESL Shipping’s two new liquefied natural gas-powered handysize bulk carriers.
“Autonomous crane operation improves efficiency and safety,” says Leif Byström, Senior Vice President, Cargo Handling at MacGregor. “Discharging operations can be monitored and controlled from the bridge and therefore eliminate the need for personnel in hazardous operational areas.”
“Our new environmental friendly LNG fuelled ships will be operated in very demanding trade with high number of voyages, port calls and crane operation hours annually. Autonomous operation will further increase our competitiveness and offer our clients unforeseen efficiency and safety,” says Mikki Koskinen, Managing Director at ESL Shipping Oy.
“We are very excited about collaborating with ESL on this development project,” continues Mr Byström. “By combining the expertise of a forward-thinking shipowner and operator with our expertise in intelligent cargo handling, we can reduce unnecessary waste in the value chain and therefore develop safer and more efficient solutions for unloading bulk cargoes.”
The vessels are planned to enter service during the second quarter of 2018, when automation testing will commence.
DP World London Gateway secures MSC service
The West Africa Service provides a fast link for shippers between the UK & Northern Europe and Senegal, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, with transit times of under 22 days to ports-of-call in those countries, including Dakar, Abidjan, Lagos, Tema.
DP World London Gateway Port now has 15 weekly services calling into the terminal, with direct, deep-sea access available to and from more of the world’s locations than any other UK container port.
James Leeson, Head of Port Commercial, DP World London Gateway, said: “We’re delighted that MSC has chosen DP World London Gateway as the port-of-choice for the West Africa Service’s UK call, opening up a new trade-route out of our state-of-the-art logistics facility.
“Shippers using this MSC service to export to West Africa can be assured of the very best in port service, with access to our Where’s My Container application, class-leading resilience and reliability and use of the very best port technology, all of which ensure we’re well placed to offer greater speed, visibility and improved supply chain certainty.”
Michael Collins, UK Commercial Director, MSC, said: “This move follows the reconfiguration of our West African services and we have decided, as we aim to continue to deliver the highest level of service to our customers, that our UK call to West Africa will now load from DP World London Gateway.
“This will enable us to offer market-leading, direct transits and enhance our nationwide coverage whilst improving our London and South-East services.”
Konecranes goes to TOC Europe with a big "A"
The first “A” was the Konecranes Noell straddle carrier (A-STRAD) and automated Sprinter Carrier
(A-SPRINTER) systems. The first deal for this new technology was made with the Port of Auckland, New Zealand. Twenty-seven new Konecranes Noell A-STRADS will be delivered to Auckland, and twenty-one of their existing Konecranes Noell straddle carriers will be upgraded to A-STRAD level. The deal includes the TEAMS equipment control and fleet management system, the Navimatic® navigation system, and process automation featuring interchange and fence control systems.
The second “A” concerns Konecranes Gottwald AGVs and new lithium-ion battery technology that gives many benefits including greater efficiency at lower deadweights, and faster charging. The third “A” was the announcement of cooperation with Terberg, a respected provider of terminal tractors and other special vehicles. Konecranes will provide Automated Terminal Tractors (A-TT) systems, with Terberg supplying the tractors and Konecranes supplying the automation technology and turn-key, integrated system delivery.
With A-TT Konecranes completes the puzzle of automated horizontal transport, by supplying AGVs, A-SPRINTERS (A-STRADs) and A-TTs.