Rotterdam "ready for 30,000 TEU container ships"

The Port of Rotterdam welcomes the idea of shipowners planning to dwarf the 23,800 TEU intake of the new record holder, MSC GÜLSÜN

The giant ship has been calling north European ports as part of her maiden voyage for the 2M Alliance - MSC’s Silk service/Maersk’s AE10 service. The 400m by 62m behemoth is the world’s first ever ship to stow containers 24 rows wide. It has taken pole position from the two year old 21,413 TEU OOCL HONG KONG. The 232,618gt and 197,500dwt MSC GÜLSÜN had the Dutch port as its last call in Europe, after Algeciras, Bremerhaven, Gdansk and Bremerhaven again. After leaving Rotterdam, Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia will be its next call.

MSC GÜLSÜN making her maiden call in Rotterdam. (Photo: HbR)

Rotterdam’s stance is the polar opposite of the one taken by Gunther Bonz of Eurogate CTH Hamburg, the President of the Hamburg Port Employers’ Associtation (UVHH) and of FEPORT. Warning that he has seen designs for a 30,000 TEU ship, he called on the EU to link block exemptions to limits on ship sizes. Enough is enough, said Bonz.

But Rotterdam is having none of it, as it made clear on the occasion of MSC GÜLSÜN’s first call in the port, at APM Terminals Maasvlakte II on Tuesday, 3rd September.

Many years ago Dutch academics with close ties to the port made the point that malaccamax containerships would be of great benefit to Rotterdam and Singapore, as the only ports that could handle them!! Plus ça change.

Giant containerships explained for the man-in-the-street. (ibid)

Today, the port authority (HbR) is convinced that it could accommodate 30,000 TEU ships with no adjustments of any kind required to channel depth and width, water depth alongside the quays and quay wall structures.

"Our competitors cannot match our 20m draught by a long shot, so it would enhance our competitiveness," stated HbR, as MSC GÜLSÜN made her maiden call in the port.

The Port of Rotterdam apparently buys into the carriers' rationale for bigger ships. (ibid)

"So yes, the ongoing economy of scale is good for us," said Hans Nagtegaal, HbR’s Manager, Containers. "Apart from the two novel container terminals at Maasvlakte II, APMT 2 and RWG, the Maasvlakte I terminals ECT Delta Peninsula and ECT Euromax are equally able to accommodate these even larger ships. And everybody’s quaysides are strong enough to accommodate even larger ship-to-shore cranes," he noted, irrespective of how many rows across 30,000 TEU ships might stow.

Source: WorldCargo News

Brexit modal shift from ferry to shortsea

The port of Antwerp expects Brexit to entail a modal shift from ferry to shortsea container shipping

For the past 2-3 years, WorldCargo News has been reporting new and expanded shortsea services, lo-lo and ro-ro, aimed at offering shippers an alternative to the dominant Dover Straits (accompanied ferry and tunnel) supply chain model, which is most exposed of all surface transport options to post-Brexit borders.

Antwerp sees new opportunities for unaccompanied shipping services, and Brexit featured in the visit to Belgium by the new British ambassador to Belgium, H E Martin Shearman, who had already been hosted by the port of Zeebrugge, another established UK short sea port, the week before. The photo above shows Shearman (left) with the Port of Antwerp’s CEO, Jacques Vandermeiren.

Vandermeiren told the ambassador that Antwerp is gearing up for further expansion of shortsea links with the UK, "...thus offering at least part of the solution for the consequences of Brexit."

The UK is already Antwerp’s second largest trading partner with almost 17 Mt tonnes of freight in 2018. Europe’s second largest port currently accommodates six marine container liner services with the UK. This includes mixed shortsea/feeder services to GB ports and one service to Belfast.

Thanks to the taskforce of ‘Brexperts’ - which includes Belgian Customs, the Belgian Food Safety Agency and major port community and business representatives - Antwerp claims to be Brexit-ready. Advocating shortsea as a solution over ferry transport, Antwerp’s representative in the UK and Ireland, Justin Atkin, is cited in the press release about Ambassador Shearman’s visit. He stated that shortsea offers greater reliability to the logistics chain and helps reduce CO2 emissions.

The new ambassador also learned that Belgian customs are getting ready. "We have already hired an additional 386 full-time employees in order to deal with Brexit," explained Kristian Vanderwaeren, Director General of Belgian Customs & Excise. But he cautioned: "With 930,000 more import declarations and 4.5M more export declarations, the challenge facing us is enormous."

The Port of Antwerp has published a white paper aimed at "jolting companies" into taking a hard look at their logistics chain. It contains practical information on ways of using shortsea "to reduce future uncertainties or delays or even avoid them altogether."

Source: WorldCargo News

FMC allows Puerto Rico terminal joint venture

The US Federal Maritime Commission will allow two terminals in San Juan to merge, despite strong opposition to the move in Puerto Rico.

The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has voted to allow the marine terminal operating companies Luis Ayala Colon (LAC) and Puerto Rico Terminals (PRT) to form a new 50/50 joint venture company called Puerto Nuevo Terminals (PNT). “LAC and PRT will withdraw from that business leaving PNT and the Crowley container terminal as the only two container terminal operators in San Juan, Puerto Rico,” the FMC noted.

The move has been strongly opposed by shippers and cargo owners in Puerto Rico, who appealed to both the FMC and commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives to stop the joint venture. PRT is affiliated with TOTE Maritime, which took over the Puerto Rico services of Sea Star Line. If the joint venture goes ahead, Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives said, “these companies would have almost total control of the cargo business in the Puerto Nuevo terminal of the Port of San Juan, creating what could be considered a monopoly.”

The House of Representatives recalled a previous case where “several shipping companies, including Sea Star Line, LLC, today Tote Maritime, pleaded guilty to violations of the "Sherman Antitrust Act" for conspiring to eliminate competition and increase the price of freight transport between The United States and the Island. Another of the companies that accepted guilt at that time was Crowley Liner Services, Inc. Both being part of the movement that sought to create a monopoly on maritime transportation costs to Puerto Rico, which authorized this collaborative agreement which could create extraordinary control at the port terminals on the San Juan pier, could result in the People of Puerto Rico.”

The FMC was not convinced, however: “The Commission appreciates that the Puerto Rico market is served by a limited number of domestic and international ocean carriers transporting a relatively low volume of trade as compared to large mainland port areas. The Commission also appreciates the current overcapacity in terminal services, and the desire through the agreement to rationalize services and obtain efficiencies. Concurrently, the Commission takes due notice that many parties across the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico filed comments that expressed serious concerns about the potential impact on competition as well as on transportation costs and options under this agreement. However, the Commission also acknowledges the parties’ negotiated concession to maintain current 2019 rate levels through 2020, with the limited exceptions being changes in labor rates, insurance surcharges attributable to natural disasters, or an energy cost adjustment factor based on the actual cost of fuel and/or electricity,” it said in its decision.

Noting that there was strong opposition the FMC said it will “adopt a more vigorous oversight plan than its traditional monitoring program.” This will require “extensive disclosure of business and marketplace information.”

The decision and the extent to which it actually has jurisdiction in the issue divided the FMC. Chairman Khouri stated, “The Commission did not reach consensus on the threshold question of whether the agreement comes within Shipping Act jurisdiction. Next, a majority could not determine that we have enough information and evidence at this time to go to Federal Court to seek an injunction to prevent this agreement from going into effect. We understand what the parties are trying to achieve, but serious concerns remain about the implementation of the agreement. The Commission will take necessary measures to ensure that the agreement is not implemented in a manner that violates the Shipping Act.”

Source: WorldCargo News