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Protesters continued on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018 to block the entrance to Iraq’s Umm Qasr commodities port near Basra, port employees and local officials said. Demonstrations spread to the port on Wednesday night, raising the stakes in some of the worst unrest in southern Iraqi cities in months. Umm Qasr receives Iraqi imports of grain, vegetable oils and sugar shipments. So far it is not clear if the unrest will have a serious impact on the port’s operations. Source: Reuters

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The Port of Kiel said goodbye to the Italian cruise shipping company Costa Crociere cruise vessel Costa Pacifica for this year’s season on Sept 2, 2018. To mark the over 40 years of partnership between the shipping company, the city and the port, Hans-Werner Tovar, City President, Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director Port of Kiel, Captain Paolo Viscafè and Dr Jörg Rudolph, General Manager Costa Germany, unveiled a bronze plate on Kiel’s Walk of Cruise Ships at the Ostseekai Terminal. City President Tovar: “With this plate on the Walk of Cruise Ships, we commemorate the particular importance of Costa Crociere for Kiel as a cruise location. For more than 40 years the ships of Costa have been calling at our port. Hence, the Italian shipping company has contributed significantly to Kiel’s development into one of the most important cruise ports in Northern Europe.” The first ship to visit the Capital City of Schleswig-Holstein was the Frederico C in June 1976. The passenger turnaround at the Bollhörnkai Terminal amounted to 1,724 guests back then. Today’s call of Costa Pacifica saw more than 3,300 travelers debark in the morning while the equal number of guests is booked for the following cruise around Western Europe which is going to start in the evening. "More than 40 years ago, Costa was one of the first international shipping companies who acknowledged and utilized the potential of Kiel, the Baltic port. We feel at home here. For decades, we have had a reliable and flexible partner by our side: the Port of Kiel. Our crew, our guests and we – Europe’s largest cruise company - appreciate Kiel as an attractive location with a sound and modern infrastructure”, Jörg Rudolph explained. Jörg added: “Next year already, Costa will expand its presence in Kiel and thereby foster this successful partnership.” This year, the Costa Pacifica set off from Kiel’s Ostseekai Terminal to five cruises to the metropolises on the Baltic Sea. In 2019, the range will be expanded by five cruises to northern waters alternating with the Baltic cruise itinerary. This makes ten journeys to start in Kiel. Costa’s season opening 2019 will be on 7th June when the ship is expected back in Kiel after a transit journey from the Mediterranean. After the inaugural call of Frederico C, seven more Costa ships have been guests in the Port of Kiel: Columbus C, Costa Marina, Costa Victoria, Costa Classica, Costa Magica, Costa Pacifica and Costa Favolosa. To date, more than 700,000 Costa guests started or finished their cruise on the Fjord. Since 2011, Kiel has been the homeport for the Costa Pacifica (290 m, 114,500 GT) during the summer season. “Costa has been with us since our beginnings as a cruise port. At the end of the 1970s, cruise ships were a rarity in our port. Today, there are more than 160 calls per season”, says Port Chief Dirk Claus. In order to further strengthen our market position and to keep offering first-class service to the shipping companies and passengers also in the future, the Port of Kiel is currently starting to build a second terminal building at Ostseekai, which will be taken into operation with the beginning of the season 2019.”

As part of its commitment to maximizing the efficiency, flexibility and reliability of its service to all customers, the Panama Canal announced changes to the Transit Reservation (booking) System for Neopanamax vessels, effective October 1, 2018. The modifications are a step in a positive direction for the Neopanamax Locks and take into consideration the lifting of certain navigation rules for liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels and ongoing customer feedback, as well as routine analysis of the utilization and fair market value of the Expanded Canal. “We are fully committed to understanding and meeting the ever-changing needs of the global shipping community,” said Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano. “These changes, guided by input from our customers, strategic planning and years of experience, are an essential next step in ensuring the continued availability of the Expanded Canal for all.”

Since the initial agreement to build the port at Kribi was signed in 2009, 10 Chinese firms, including CHEC and its holding company, China Communications Construction Co., have obtained concessions to mine bauxite, iron ore and other minerals. Other Chinese companies are constructing office towers in the capital, Yaounde, and stadiums for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament. The Kribi project also highlights CHEC’s rapid expansion on the continent, where it’s won dozens of contracts and is expanding ports from Guinea in West Africa to Tanzania in the east. In Cameroon, CHEC has the country’s largest projects: the first and second stages of the Kribi complex will cost $1.3 billion, while it’s also building a $453 million highway linked to the port, holds a contract to dredge the port of Douala and has signed an accord for a railway to the Mbalam iron-ore deposit. After a slow start, the port shipped almost 3,000 logs of timber from the Central African Republic by June and handled about 80 vessels by mid-July.

The wait time for ships to pick up coal has stretched to three weeks. The main function of DBCT is to receive, process and store millions of tonnes of metallurgical and thermal coal extracted from mines in the central Bowen Basin. This coal is then loaded onto ships to be exported around the world. DBCT is only one portion of the entire coal supply chain. The other main components are the coal mines, the rail networks and the other coal export terminals. Damage to the Goonyella rail line caused significant delays and stockpiling after Cyclone Debbie. The coal is extracted from a combination of open cut and underground mines by the mining companies and then processed to a point where it can be stockpiled in preparation for loading onto incoming coal trains. When the train reaches the terminal, it passes through one of three inloading rail receival stations where the coal is dumped out of the open bottom of the train and onto conveyors that then transfer the coal to the DBCT stockyard. The stockyard holds different types of coal in stockpiles that can then be reclaimed and transferred via kilometres of conveyors to shiploaders 3.8 kilometres offshore. The shiploaders load the coal onto vessels that ship the coal to ports all over the world. Source: MiningMonthly

The Port of Tallinn says reconstruction works in Tallinn Old City Harbour's Terminal D have began. Passenger Terminal D serves Tallink ferries. As a result, passenger boarding and disembarkation routes within the terminal building will change. Please pay close attention to the signage in the terminal and allow extra time for passing through the terminal and for boarding the ships. Port of Tallinn will reconstruct and expand the passenger terminal giving it complete a makeover. The renewed terminal will have comfy and spacious waiting areas, lots of room for cafeterias and shops. New features include a playing area for children and a private lounge. The construction works will be completed by Summer 2020. The reconstruction of the Terminal D is part of a bigger plan to make the Sea Gate of Estonia and Tallinn more attractive and user-friendly. Source: en.portnews.ru

Kalmar, part of Cargotec has signed a contract for supplying two Kalmar Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes, including related spare parts, to Curaçao Port Services B.V. The Panamax size cranes will be used for modernising the customer’s container handling operations at the Willemstad Container Terminal in Curaçao.

Tema LNG Terminal Company Ltd. on Sunday, September 2, 2018, signed an agreement with China Harbour Engineering Company, for the construction of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Terminal to be sited in Tema. Tema LNG Terminal Company Ltd. is an entity controlled by Helios Investment Partners, the world’s largest Africa-focused private equity fund.

Workers of Croatia’s largest shipyards halt their strike after receiving delayed wages for July, Croatian television N1 reported. The workers of two shipyards, “Uljanik” in Pula and “3. Maj” in Rijeka, both affiliated to the same Uljanik Group, went on strike on Aug. 22 over unpaid wages and bad management in the company. For almost ten days workers were staging a protest in coastal city Pula with many citizens joining them. On Aug. 27, hundreds of workers came to the capital Zagreb where they protested in front of the government building. On Thursday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that the government had found a model to help workers and pay them salaries for July and August. One of the union leaders Djino Sverko told reporters on Friday that the workers will be back at their workplaces on Monday.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has been awarded a contract to heighten four ZPMC ship-to-shore (STS) cranes operated by Generale de Manutention Portuaire (GMP), a joint venture between DP World and Terminal Link (CMA-CGM), located in the port of Le Havre.

Due to continued strong growth in loaded containerized cargo, Port Houston has surged higher in the rankings of the top container ports in the United States. Port Houston, which has been expanding rapidly in recent years, has climbed to become the fifth largest container port in the U.S., according to JOC Piers data covering the second quarter of 2018. Port Houston handled 1,057,964 twenty-foot-equivalent-units (TEUs) during that period and catapulted up from the sixth spot. Port Houston is outpacing trade for the U.S. as a whole this year, led by strong imports, the data also shows. For example, during the first six months of 2018, Port Houston imports from the Trans-Pacific region jumped by 24 percent, a significant hike compared to overall U.S. Trans-Pacific imports, which increased by 5 percent.

The Port of Long Beach is continuing to outperform 2023 clean air goals, with a drop in diesel particulates by 88%, sulfur oxides by 97% and nitrogen oxides by 56% since 2005, according to the port's annual “emissions inventory” for 2017. Meanwhile, cargo volumes have jumped to record levels. The report found the Port has maintained lower levels of emissions even though container traffic rose 11% in 2017. The Port’s efficiency in moving containers measured by tons of emissions per TEU has improved by 23% since 2005, according to Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority is developing five permanent berths for barges on the Maas side of the Eiland van Brienenoord, the company said in its press release. The location has been an anchorage for barges for many years, but the new berths will improve safety on the river, according Ronald Paul, COO from the Port of Rotterdam Authority: ‘Barges are so large and heavy that they can break free when they are anchored. That happened sometimes with the tide changes. We don’t want that. The berthing facilities were realised in close consultation with various barge operators.’ There is space for five barges per berthing location. The central berths are for barges from 76.5 to 90 metres, the outer two for barges from 90 to 110 metres. There is at least 110 metres space between the berthing locations. The operations will be carried out by De Klerk from Werkendam. The five berths for barges will be completed by the end of September.

A $144m set of investment plans for port infrastructure has been unveiled for ports in Tasmania to futureproof the Australian state for the next 15 years. The TasPorts’ Port Master Plans focus on three major projects and several smaller investments. The three principal targets are the expansion of container berths at Burnie, the reconfiguration and expansion of Devonport east and the development of a new Antarctic logistics facility in Hobart. Other projects include investment at Bell Bay to enable forestry and mining exports from multiple berths and increased capacity for fuel storage; an international container terminal at Burnie plus increased terminal capacity; extended berthing facilities for passenger ships, cargo and freight at Devonport; and a reorganised cruise precinct at Macquarie Wharf in Hobart. Tasmanian Ports Corporation (TasPorts) chair Stephen Bradford said the plans and associated major projects would help the company meet customer demand and attract new business. Development work will start later this year. Source: Port Strategy

Carnival Cruise Line, the world’s largest cruise operator, has reached an agreement in principle with the Canaveral Port Authority on a new state-of-the-art terminal able to accommodate its new 180,000-ton ship, the largest ever constructed for the line, set to debut in 2020. The terms of the agreement are expected to be included on the agenda of the Canaveral Port Authority Board of Commissioners’ meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. If approved, the agreement will clear the way for Carnival Cruise Line’s plans to homeport the as-yet-unnamed 5,286-lower berth ship at Port Canaveral, further bolstering the line’s position as the port’s number one cruise operator. The vessel will offer an array of groundbreaking, never-before-seen features and attractions while also being the first North American-based cruise ship to be powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), part of Carnival Corporation’s “green cruising” design platform.

Greek assets body TAIPED plans to launch the third privatisation phase of 10 ports across Greece in autumn, with priority on four in Northern Greece, three in Attica as well as ports in Patra, Volos and Heraklio. The third phase follows the sale of the Thessaloniki Port Authority to South Europe Gateway Thessaloniki Limited (SEGT) for €231,926m earlier this year, reported GTP Headlines. Next in line for immediate development are the ports of Alexandroupolis, Kavala, Igoumenitsa, Corfu and Volos. So far, the ports of Alexandroupolis and Corfu have attracted the most interest, said GTP. Unlike the previous two ports – those of Thessaloniki and Piraeus – the government will not proceed with the full sale but will instead enter PPP contracts to “encourage the advent of investors who have specific knowhow and experience, while at the same time ensuring the public’s best interests.” According to Naftemporiki, said GTP, cruise travel activity is the point of interest for Corfu and Heraklio, freight services for Alexandroupolis, connecting ports in the Black Sea for Kavala, and serving the Adriatic for the port of Igoumenitsa. The ports of Lavrio, Rafina and Elefsina, according to Naftemporiki, have been put on the back burner for now as there has been limited investor interest. Source: Port Strategy

The Chennai Port saw berthing of a very large crude carrier (VLCC) on Friday, the first time for an Indian port in an enclosed harbour. The vessel, MT New Diamond, with 1,60,079 gross registered tonnage (the ship’s internal volume), arrived from the Basra oil terminal in Iraq, carrying 1,33,719 tonnes of light crude oil on Thursday night. The vessel berthed in the oil docks of the Chennai Port on Friday. Port officials said the vessel had been chartered by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) for Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL), which will refine the crude into products and supply them to the oil company. CPCL has its refinery at Manali, from which petro products are supplied to the three State-run oil companies. Officials said it would be a challenge to handle such a huge vessel. High-powered tugs and pilots would be used to safely navigate and berth the vessel. At present, the Chennai Port handles Suezmax oil tankers (mid-sized cargo vessels), with a capacity of 1,50,000 dead weight tonnage (DWT).

At APM Terminals’ inland services facilities in San Antonio and Santiago, Chile, safety supervisors previously monitored activities on the ground. Now the latest technology is enabling their work to be done more effectively and safely. APM Terminals is amongst the first to use drones for security and to drive operational efficiency. The drones are clearly visible in the air above the facilities, moving about their various tasks. “Our safety supervisors are the ones tasked with keeping the people and activities at our facilities safe, but by doing their jobs next to container stacks, trucks and other machinery, they were exposed to the highest risks,” said Hector Espinoza, director for Latin America at APM Terminals’ subsidiary Container Operators S.A..

The Port of Barrow has celebrated the latest addition to its fleet of survey vessels, the Christine H, by hosting a naming ceremony in memory of a former, valued colleague. ABP’s new vessel takes her name from ABP Barrow colleague, Christine Holmes, who sadly passed away in July 2017. The team at the Port of Barrow felt it would be a fitting tribute to Christine to name the vessel after her and continue her long association with the port.