This article was published in July/August 2010 issue of World Port Development. To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

Last year was probably the worst year for container throughput at numerous ports around the globe (see our Top 100 Container Port Supplement 2010) and Australia has not escaped the drop in container volumes due to the financial climate. But container traffic is not the only commodity the country relies on, large volumes of dry bulk (including coal and iron ore) are equally important – our Top 20 Bulk Performers 2009 show that there are 6 Australian bulk ports/terminals in the top 12 alone.

This article was published in May 2010 issue of World Port Development. To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

Hammering on

World Port Development looks at a project in the Port of Felixstowe where piling hammers have been hard at work driving foundations for the redevelopment of the South Terminal facilities. On the south-east Suffolk coast three BSP piling hammers have been hard at work driving foundation piles for a project to redevelop the existing South Terminal facilities at the Port of Felixstowe, UK. This first phase of the redevelopment calls for the construction of a 730m long quay together with a 35 hectare handling and storage area offering a storage capacity of 21,000 containers.

This article was published in the January/February 2010 issue of World Port Development.

To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

Circular Stacker Reclaimers still have their disciples

At the best of times, circular stacker-reclaimers are not a high volume sales item with possibly as few as 30 total sales worldwide in any given year. At the worst of times sales can be slow or almost nonexistent as Ray Dykes reports…

Throw in a lingering worldwide recession through late 2008 and all of 2009 with companies squeezing the most out of every dollar and forcing bulk handling equipment to perform miracles well beyond manufacturer suggested design life and you have a barometer of just how this market sector has been. For some major manufacturers, sales in 2009 were few and far between and it wasn’t because of the merits of circular or radial style stacker-reclaimers made by companies around the world such as Sandvik, Metso Minerals, BRUKS Rockwood, Schade in the Aumund Group, Taim Weser, and the FAM Group.

This article was published in the January/February 2010 issue of World Port Development.

 To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

Striving to be the best

In today’s ‘green aware’ times it seems that manufacturers of straddle carriers are making the best container handling equipment to minimise risk to the environment. WPD looks at recent developments.

Call it  ‘going green’ or  ‘environment awareness’ – whichever way you look at it the straddle carrier industry is caught up in a very competitive race – to make the best environmentally-friendly container handling equipment. Happily for the manufacturers what’s ‘good’ for the environment can also be good for their customers as new technology and fuel saving often result in significant cost savings. 

This article was published in the January/February 2010 issue of World Port Development.

To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

Total Automation of Container Terminals

As global container traffic becomes more and more extensive, it seems that use of CCR technology will expand in the years to come. Amnon Katchalski, VP Marketing and Sales, Hi-Tech Solutions (HTS) explains…

This article was published in the January/February 2010 issue of World Port Development.

To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

DREAMING OF BEAMS: HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYING ROUND-UP

Tim Newbound provides an overview of the ever-evolving hydrographic surveying market.

Exercising precision is central to avoiding errors in any walk of life, and a vital discipline when making decisions that could otherwise prove hugely costly to rectify, or even disastrous. This is why hydrographic surveying is such an important cog in the maritime industry, providing as it does data for myriad navigational, safety, security, environmental and research purposes. Its advancement provides the peace of mind that developers and port operators cherish. 

This article was published in the January/February 2010 issue of World Port Development.

To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

Beam and boom

According to crane manufacturers there are still a lot of [technological] developments in the pipeline for the design of a new generation of container cranes. World Port Development discovers what is in store.

A couple of years ago, with the arrival of a new generation of container vessels on the horizon the aim of crane manufacturers was to build the biggest and best crane in the world. Nowadays, the vessels have arrived and the focus has shifted from design to improvements to the crane itself with the aim to achieve higher productivity.

This article was published in the January/February 2010 issue of World Port Development.

To receive a pdf of the article in its original format including charts and pictures please send an email to archive@worldportdevelopment.com

Wish we were wrong say Bucket wheel CSU manufacturers

They saw it coming and they weren’t wrong. Major manufacturers of bucket-type continuous shipunloaders predicted over a year ago they would face a difficult 2009 and they reluctantly admit now that they were right.  Ray Dykes explains…

Sales of this type of continuous shipunloader were few and far between last year leaving some makers working on previous order completions while the more diversified concentrated on other bulk handling equipment that was still selling.