7% cargo rise in Amsterdam ports' tonnage

The H1 2019, maritime cargo throughput figure for the Amsterdam region shows a 7% year-on-year increase to 54.1 Mt

This growth was borne by a 12.3% rise to a record 45.4 Mt in the Port of Amsterdam itself. IJmuiden, the other major player in the Amsterdam North Sea Canal Region, saw its Tata Steel captive ore and coal volume drop 12% to 8.5 Mt. The minor ports of Beverwijk and Zaanstad jointly handled around 425,000 tonnes.

Amsterdam gained its new half-year record figure through both liquid bulk, up 10.6% to 25.9 Mt and dry bulk, up 13.8% to 17.8 Mt. The latter figure significantly came about because of a 23% increase of coal traffic, the port’s "black sheep" that the left wing-controlled municipality wants to see the back of.

The rise mainly came from export shipments to non-traditional markets such as India and the Med. The port authority does not see this business as structural and notes that the increase must be seen against a sharp decrease in the past few years.The dry bulk aggregate figure also had a 17% rise of grain transhipment to thank for. General cargo/breakbulk chalked a 20% decline.

Following the introduction of a tourist tax in January.2019, the number of ocean cruise ships visiting the city of Amsterdam decreased from 74 to 51 in the first half of 2019. IJmuiden and Rotterdam, together with the coach companies shuttling passengers to and from Amsterdam, were the beneficiaries of this policy. Similarly, the port - the fourth largest port in Western Europe in tonnage terms - recorded an H1 drop in the number of riverborne cruise ships from 1,272 to 1,189.

Source: WorldCargo News

Sif to expand offshore activities at the Maasvlakte

The Port of Rotterdam Authority has reached an agreement with Sif Holding NV regarding the lease of 20-ha of port site and a 200m stretch of deep sea quay at the Maasvlakte

Sif’s new lot is adjacent to its existing port site, where it assembles foundations for offshore wind turbines. Sif will use the site on behalf of clients active in the offshore wind power sector. The first project to be undertaken there will be handling and outloading a total of 94 monopiles destined for the Borssele 1 + 2 offshore wind farm, commissioned by Deme Offshore.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority (HbR) has made a strong commitment to the energy transition and aims to establish Rotterdam as Europe’s leading port in offshore wind and the offshore sector in general. Sif Group’s decision to establish and further expand its location in the port contributes to the ambition.

Together with its partners, the Port Authority will be working hard to promote offshore wind as the premier source of renewable energy. It will be focusing on a number of activities in this context: innovation, testing & demonstration, promotion and lobbying.

"Rotterdam’s extensive offer of repair and maintenance facilities, terminals and world-renowned maritime cluster, combined with the right physical infrastructure, make it an exceptionally attractive port for offshore wind," said HbR.

Source: WorldCargo News

LaseUCD from LASE

Starting with an application in Pusan New Port (PNC), LASE GmbH has introduced a new system for detecting unremoved container cones

LaseUCD (Unremoved Cone Detection) detects whether twistlocks are still connected to the corner casting while containers are being lifted from terminal chassis by RMGs or RTGs. It also detects whether the container doors are open

Following successful implementation of one system, PNC has ordered a further 69 LaseUCDs to enhance safety in this terminal, retrofitting all its ARMGs. The system is highly recommended for automated yards, where there are no longer "on the spot" crane drivers to observe the process.

More than 2B cones are removed annually worldwide; mistakes are inevitable.

It is hardly surprising, notes LASE, that twistlocks are sometimes lifted with the container, when it is considered that more than 2B cones are removed annually worldwide. The cone will automatically interlock with the container on which it is landed, so when it comes to be lifted it can take the lower container with it and can cause serious collisions and accidents.

The scan data are processed in the system’s application software, which generates a 3D point cloud of the container in the first step. If any obstacle underneath the container protrudes from the container, it is an indicator that one or more cones are still connected to it.

LaseUCD comprises two 2D laser scanners, which are mounted at the sill beam of a yard crane at a height of around 5M above the truck lane. Both 2D laser scanners build a horizontal scan plane in direction to the truck lane. When a container is hoisted from the truck chassis by the yard crane it passes the scan plane where the profile of the container is scanned

3D point cloud with detected cones and virtual cube

The scan data are processed in the system’s application software, which generates a 3D point cloud of the container in the first step. If any obstacle underneath the container protrudes from the container, it is an indicator that one or more cones are still connected to it.

The software sends an alarm signal to the PLC in order to stop the crane hoist move and to undertake a visual inspection of the detected container issue. Hoist moves with skew, tilt or trim angles of the container under the spreader do not have any influence on reliability, or the type or size of container or different cone designs.

Jason Hwang, Engineering Team Leader at PNC Terminal, said: "LaseUCD is a well-engineered system and we are looking forward to reducing the safety risk in our terminal.”

The order underscore the point, said LASE’s CEO Lars Ambrosy, that LaseUCD is easy retrofittable to existing equipment. He added: "Due to the previous success of our system for truck lifting prevention PNC asked us to develop such a system in order to prevent double container lifts and to have a safe operation.”

Source: WorldCargo News