Cavotec Moormaster for Turku

Cavotec’s automated mooring technology will be installed at the ferry terminal in Turku, Finland next year.

"MoorMaster is the only proven and widely used automated mooring technology available in the world today and we’re delighted to have been selected for this key project,” says Patrick Mares, President Cavotec Ports & Maritime.

“Our customer has chosen MoorMaster as the best technology to improve their operational efficiency while also improving safety and sustainability.”

Cavotec will design, supply, commission and service a multi-unit MoorMaster automated mooring system at the Viking Line berth at the Port of Turku, southwest Finland.

The multi-unit Moormaster system for the Port of Turku will will moor Viking Line’s 218m ro-pax vessel, GRACE. Viking’s newbuild ro-pax GLORY is scheduled to make its maiden voyage in 2021 and will also use the system

A similar MoorMaster system (photo above) was installed at the Port of Helsinki in 2016 and has performed some 5,000 moorings to date.

Twenty years after the first system entered service, more than 280 MoorMaster systems have performed some 500,000 moorings at ferry, bulk and container handling ports, as well as lock and ship-to-ship applications worldwide.

Last month Cavotec reported a deal with an undisclosed port operator worth €10.3M to equip two container berths with the system. This is due to be operational in early 2020.

Source: WorldCargo News

Novotrans expands in Ust-Luga

Novotrans, one of Russia’s leading rail operators, has acquired a 100% stake in Global Service, the operator of the ferry terminal in the port of Ust-Luga

In May this year Global Service won the tender of Russia’s federal seaport enterprise Rosmorport to operate the terminal, which occupies an area of 30-ha.

Along with taking over the terminal, Novotrans now also becomes the operator of the Ust-Luga-Baltiysk (Kaliningrad) ferry service.

The service is strategically important, as it provides for cargo transport between the Russian mainland and the exclave without crossing the borders of Belarus and Lithuania.

The line is currently operated by two rail and truck ferries, AMBAL and BALTIYSK, but these are obsolete. In June 2018, Nevsky ,Shipyard near Saint Petersburg was awarded a US$80M tender for the construction of a new and bigger rail and truck ferry with LNG dual-fuel capability. This is scheduled to be launched in August this year. An order for a second, identical ferry is thought to be imminent.

Novotrans’ Director General Konstantin Goncharov stated that shipping between the two ports will continue to grow and the company is developing the Ust-Luga terminal’s technical capabilities. Already new ro-ro tractors and heavy FLTs have been acquired.

The Global Service acquisition is part of Novotrans’ broader strategy to diversify its activities. Earlier this month it signed an agreement with Saint Petersburg’s regional administration, stating its readiness to invest around US$740M in the "Lugaport" project in Ust-Luga. This is part of Russia’s adopted programme for transport infrastructure development to 2030.

Last October Novotrans consolidated a 76.55% shareholding in Transport and Logistic Complex (TLK), the principal owner of the Ust-Luga-based multipurpose cargo-handling terminal Yug-2. However, its property rights for the terminal have since been challenged by other local players, specifically Saint Petersburg-based billionaire Ilya Traberg, a co-owner of Primorsk Multipurpose Reloading Complex Ltd (PUPK), which plans to build a deep water dry cargo port at Primorsk, presently Russia’s key Baltic oil harbour.

Source: WorldCargo News

Le Havre systemises help for ports in developing countries

The Port of Le Havre (HAROPA-Le Havre) is teaming up with the French Development Agency (AFD) to help ports in developing countries

The new partnership is aimed at tapping into HAROPA-Le Havre’s experience, know-how and expertise as France’s biggest container handler that is also a major oil port, ro-ro traffic facilitator and cruise port.

The new partnership will build on recent cooperation between the port, AFD and the Indonesian Directorate General of Sea Transportation. This project, financed by AFD, is aimed at strengthening the abilities of Indonesian port authorities in order to improve the efficiency of the management in Indonesian ports.

This partnership, financed by the AFD, gathers Le Havre’s expertise through six training sessions delivered in Le Havre and Jakarta. The aim of it is to strengthen the knowledge and skills of Indonesian managers in the management and operation of their respective ports. It brings together representatives of some 30 Indonesian port authorities from the main ports in the huge archipelago.

The programme started in 2018 and will end in late 2019. Three intensive training and exchange sessions are being organised in Jakarta and three in Le Havre in order to "immerse the participants as close as possible to the leading port for the external trade of France."

The current training and exchange meeting started today (24th June) in Le Havre and will finish on Friday, 28th June. The next one will run from October 28th to November 9th in Surabaya.

Topics include port and maritime economy, role and competence of a port in the logistics chain, information systems, performance indicators and environmental sustainability, including modal shift of inland moves.

Source: WorldCargo News