PortsNews
AMSA Video: Welcome to Australia
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has released a new video Welcome to Australia which aims to educate international seafarers and shipping companies about their environmental responsibilities in Australian waters. Australia has a vast array of marine life including whales, penguins, dugongs and sea turtles, and it is the responsibility of everyone to ensure the continued preservation of this unique marine environment, says AMSA CEO Mick Kinley. AMSA coordinates a national pollution prevention and response strategy and works with government and...
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Auckland Fire Brigade Contains Smoldering Coal Cargo
Auckland's fire brigade spent six hours dealing with a smoldering cargo of coal on the bulk carrier MV Liangchow in New Zealand on Monday. Six crews attended Freyberg wharf to stop the spread of fire and then cool 2,000 tons of coal as it was unloaded ready for transport offsite. There were no injuries, and a Ports of Auckland spokeswoman told local media that the incident didn't stop work at the port. The 39,700dwt vessel is operated by Swire Shipping....
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Despite Trade War, Oil Traffic Rises at Corpus Christi
Despite fears of rising crude tanker rates and the escalating trade war with China, the busy petroleum port of Corpus Christi, Texas reports that it has set a new tonnage record for the first nine months of the year. Corpus Christi handled nearly 80 million tons of cargo in the first three quarters, up about five percent year-over-year. The growth was driven by an 11 percent increase in crude oil shipments and an 8 percent increase in other petroleum products. “This...
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Hurricane Michael Closes Mid-Atlantic Ports
On Thursday, the ports of Wilmington and Morehead City, North Carolina closed their marine operations due to the arrival of now-Tropical Storm Michael. Just last month, the ports' operations were heavily affected by Hurricane Florence and the flooding that followed, and they were closed (in full or in part) for eleven days. While the Captain of the Port ordered vessel operations to cease for the day at North Carolina's biggest ports, commercial truck gates remained open for business during their normal hours....
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New Report Analyses Port Planning Strategies
A round-table organized by the International Transport Forum examined options for the future development of Buenos Aires specifically and ports located in cities more generally, as Buenos Aires and its neighboring ports exemplify the issues faced by many city ports. A report produced as a result of the 2017 round-table has now been released. It notes that Argentina should strategically assess its long-term location options for container ports. Argentina currently has an opportunity to redesign its containerized freight transport system,...
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Maersk Invests in Artificial Intelligence Truck Flow System
A.P. Moller-Maersk's innovation venture Maersk Growth has invested in Loadsmart's artificial intelligence system to automate truckload booking flows in the U.S. The system enables shippers to book a truck manually or integrate a server-to-server booking system that requires no human intervention. The company claims that shippers have been able to reduce their spot exposure by 50 percent after integrating with Loadsmart, while reducing procurement execution time by up to 90 percent. Carriers keep their trucks full and reduce empty miles,...
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AAL Executes Australia's First Vacuum Pad Pipe Lift
Breakbulk operator AAL has used a multi-lift vacuum system to discharge a cargo of pipes - a first use of the technology in an Australian port. The cargo of 24,996 steel coated pipes (18 meters in length and weighing a total of 13,386 tons) was loaded in Baoshan China and discharged in Darwin from the multipurpose heavy lift vessel, the AAL Bangkok. The cargo was delivered for the Bao Australia pipeline, for which logistics provider Qube has been contracted for...
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DP World Starts Construction at Port of Berbera
Dubai-based port operator DP World has inaugurated its expansion of the port of Berbera, Somaliland, in a deal that could take cargo traffic away from neighboring Djibouti. “Our aim is to make this an important regional hub for the maritime industry in the Horn of Africa,” said DP World head Sultan bin Sulayem at a signing ceremony in Berbera Thursday. "We are delighted that construction work has begun and over the next few years we will see a transformation in...
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Remote-Controlled Fi-Fi Tug Makes Debut at Rotterdam
At Rotterdam's Innovation Expo 2018, Dutch tug operator Kotug demonstrated a new, remote-controlled firefighting tug for Dutch infrastructure minister Cora Van Nieuwenhuizen. An experienced Kotug captain based on shore took control of the tug via a remote, secure internet connection and video camera feeds, then extinguished a "fire" on a nearby jetty. The demonstration vessel, the half-size tugboat RT Borkum, is a joint project between Alphatron (camera systems), Kotug (project management), KPN and M2M Blue (4G internet connection), OnBoard (steering...
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BHP Deploys Drones to Speed Port Operations
Mining and energy giant BHP Billiton is trialing the use of drones to speed up its port operations. The firm intends to deploy small unmanned aerial vehicles to take draft readings and inspect holds on giant bulkers as they wait to load rather than dispatching human inspectors for the purpose. BHP VP of marketing freight, Rashpal Bhatti, is a prominent technological evangelist in shipping, and he believes that information collected by drones will one day feed into the BHP-supplied tablets that...
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