Incorporating propane can help ports support economic growth while safeguarding our environment.

The loading and unloading of container ships at marine terminals requires a variety of cargo handling equipment, historically powered by diesel and gasoline. As the country seeks to reduce emissions and fight climate change, stevedores need reliable, efficient equipment to help them handle growing cargo volumes, as well as an energy source that doesn’t sacrifice environmental impact in the process.

While battery-powered EV equipment is answer for some applications, there are significant challenges to be overcome and it is important to consider other “Near Zero” emissions options with ultra-low NOx, including propane equipment.

Propane offers ultra-low NOx “Near-Zero” emissions for port applications
Recently passed legislation outlining funding availability for ports infrastructure will help ports across the country make the switch to “Near Zero” emissions technologies and enable our ports to be better stewards of the environment today and into the future.

While many port authorities are making the jump to electrification thinking this equipment is the best solution for reducing emissions, they are likely unaware that propane is cleaner, with a reduced carbon footprint than electricity when lifecycle emissions and nominal electricity production emissions are taken into consideration. Using propane produces 43% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than using an equivalent amount of electricity generated from the U.S. grid, according to data from the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC).

Switching to cleaner energy directly impacts the millions of people living near ports. Families can be exposed to air pollution output from diesel engines at ports and be at risk of developing asthma, heart disease, and other serious health problems. Equipment, vehicles, and marine vessels that burn diesel fuel are the primary source of combustion-related emissions at port facilities, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Existing propane applications in ports include forklifts and small and medium-duty vehicles that are meeting today’s emissions regulations and sustainability goals.

Near-zero emission propane port tractors produce fewer emissions and cost approximately $200,000 less than electric models, meaning ports can afford to replace more of their diesel-powered fleet and achieve carbon reduction goals faster. Propane powered cargo handling equipment in development includes reach stackers, empty container handlers, and rubber-tired gantry cranes.

Plus, propane can support employees needing to operate equipment both indoors and out, whereas gasoline and diesel equipment aren’t fit for indoor use. Propane forklifts, for example, can safely operate in properly ventilated indoor spaces, thanks to the equipment’s low-emissions profile. Well-maintained propane forklifts meet or exceed nationwide indoor air quality standards, whereas gasoline and diesel can produce higher amounts of carbon monoxide and other harmful emissions.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
A new $1.2 trillion law to improve America’s infrastructure creates an unprecedented opportunity for more fleets to take advantage of low emission energy sources, like propane. Propane is recognized in the Act as a clean alternative energy source and its inclusion is a major win for both ports and near-port communities, allowing more ports and dockworkers the opportunity to replace the use of diesel and gasoline on-site.

With funding available as of January 2022, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides over $9 billion in funding for refueling infrastructure and clean vehicles and equipment—including $5 billion earmarked for ports. Propane-powered vehicles and refueling infrastructure are eligible for the following funding opportunities under the new law:

• $2.5 billion in grants for emissions reduction at port facilities
• $2.5 billion in grants for charging and refueling infrastructure

Ports interested in taking advantage of this funding can make the switch to propane knowing that it’s a go-to energy solution for their operation. Propane reliably powers on- and off-road vehicles including forklifts, light- and medium-duty vehicles, port and terminal tractors, shuttles, and small marine vessels.

Source: www.marinelink.com

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The 2022 edition of the Leading Maritime Cities (LMC) report launched Thursday provides fresh insights into which global hubs offer the best infrastructure, technology, finance, and world-class talent, to help the maritime community connect and prosper.

There have been many dramatic developments since the last edition of the LMC report was published in 2019. For one, we are still living with the pandemic. Two years of fluctuating restrictions have caused severe trade and travel upsets. Extreme weather events have made us all more acutely aware of the climate crisis, another major driver of change. Shipowners, charterers, cargo owners and lenders are gearing up for a decarbonized future, with rapid adoption of zero-carbon fuels expected over the next decade. Ongoing digitalization, including ports and the supply chain, will drive efficiency in support of this transition.

“Maritime cities and clusters are generating unique strategies to cope with these global transformations. They will play a leading role in the green shift, with new business models that drive the transition,” said DNV Maritime CEO Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen.

The LMC report is compiled in cooperation between classification society DNV and Menon Economics. As before, it benchmarks each maritime city based on five key pillars – shipping, maritime finance and law, maritime technology, ports and logistics and attractiveness and competitiveness.

Singapore’s strong performance across the board sees it retain its number one spot overall. “Singapore holds the top slot for attractiveness and Competitiveness while also scooping the Maritime Technology title, thanks to the city-state’s unrelenting focus on digital transformation. Singapore gives way to Athens and Shanghai in Shipping and Ports & Logistics respectively, and losing some ground in Maritime Finance & Law,” notes Dr. Shahrin Osman, Regional Head of Maritime Advisory at DNV and the report’s co-author.

Two European cities feature in the top three as well. “Rotterdam’s second place demonstrates that it’s a maritime city on the rise. Although only 10th in Shipping, the Dutch hub scores well overall and particularly in Ports & Logistics and Attractiveness & Competitiveness. London is also among the top contenders, from fifth to third place overall, however it has lost out its previous top slot in Maritime Finance & Law to New York,” says Dr. Shahrin Osman.

Fourth and fifthth place overall go to Asian counterparts Shanghai followed by all-rounder Tokyo.

“The 2022 analysis uses some new and more comprehensive objective and subjective indicators, as well as data sources, for each pillar. This facilitates more refined benchmarking of the relative performance of each city,” explains Menon partner Dr. Erik W Jakobsen, who is the co-author of the report

Subjective indicators reveal the perceptions and assessments of 280 invited business executives – mostly shipowners and managers – from around the world. Looking five years ahead, they predict that Singapore will remain number 1, with Shanghai coming in second. London, Oslo and Rotterdam are seen as leading the field in Europe, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi competing hard in the Middle East, India and Africa region. Dubai is predicted to grab sixth place overall by 2027.

The experts see Singapore, Oslo, Shanghai and Copenhagen as best prepared for digital transformation, while Oslo tops the list for sustainable technologies and solutions for the oceans, followed by Singapore and Copenhagen.

Source: www.marinelink.com

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“Dockworkers are unloading ships as fast as they can, but the challenge is to move the containers out of the ports to make room for the next ship,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “We need better empty return procedures and more chassis, truck drivers, rail capacity and warehouse workers to keep the system moving. Retailers have enough inventory on hand to make sure shoppers won’t go home empty-handed this holiday season. But there are still items sitting on the docks or waiting on ships that need to make it to store shelves and online sellers’ warehouses. Retailers want to make sure customers have product choices.”cargo industry,

More than 70 ships were reported waiting to dock at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach last week, and the wait at Los Angeles has averaged two weeks over the past month. Those delays, in turn, can push back the vessels’ arrival at other ports on their schedules. Some carriers have announced plans to divert to other locations, but congestion is building nationwide.

“The once-vaunted supply chain continues to come under pressure from all sides,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said, citing issues ranging from port congestion in the United States to electrical shortages impacting production in China. “It does not look like the congestion will improve any time soon, with most commentators suggesting problems will continue well into 2022 – and that is assuming COVID-19 does not spike again.”

Congestion and disruptions that began in 2020 have continued through the current “peak season” for shipping when retailers normally stock up for the holidays, but many retailers anticipated the challenge and began bringing in holiday goods months ahead of schedule to be sure sufficient inventory would be available. NRF has forecast that holiday sales will grow between 8.5% and 10.5% over 2020.

U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.14 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in September, the latest month for which final numbers are available. That was down 5.9% from August but up 1.4% year over year.

Ports have not reported October numbers yet, but Global Port Tracker projected the month at 2.19 million TEU, down 1.2% from October 2020. The year-over-year decline would be the first since July 2020, after which unusually high import volumes began to arrive when stores closed by the pandemic reopened and retailers worked to meet pent-up consumer demand and to stock up for the holidays.

Even with the year-over-year decline, October would be among the five busiest months on record since NRF began tracking imports in 2002. Busy cargo is expected to continue through the end of the year, with November forecast at 2.17 million TEU, up 3.3% year-over-year, and December at 2.18 million TEU, up 3.5%.

January 2022 is forecast at 2.21 million TEU, up 7.6% from January 2021; February at 2 million TEU, up 7% year-over-year, and March at 2.17 million, down 4.1% year-over-year.

The first half of 2021 totaled 12.8 million TEU, up 35.6% from the same period last year. For the full year, 2021 is on track to total 26 million TEU, up 17.9% over 2020 and a new annual record topping last year’s 22 million TEU. Cargo imports during 2020 were up 1.9% over 2019 despite the pandemic.

Source: www.marinelink.com

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Ships regularly have difficulty in keeping securely alongside quay, a problem known as ‘surging’, which refers to back and forth movements by the ship along the terminal berth. Such movements are generally encountered when other vessels pass nearby.

The operator conducted a study in 2019 involving installation of centimetric GPS units on around forty ships. The objective: to measure and qualify such effects with a view to considering potential technical solutions.

Building on the results obtained, the port decided to equip the port with the ShoreTension solution developed by KRVE, boatmen operating in the port of Rotterdam. This consists of special mooring ropes in Dyneema (an ultraresistant polyethylene fibre) attached to hydraulic rams. This standalone system is additional to the ship’s conventional mooring.

The ShoreTension system is positioned on the quay between two bollards and can be used in different configurations:

–          on the bow and stern lines or the breast lines to counter ship movements away from the quayside in the presence of offshore winds;

–          on the spring lines to counter surging.

Using solar power, the system records the data remotely, most notably enabling terminal operators and ships’ masters to monitor the applied tension in real time. The port actors concerned automatically receive a text message immediately the system registers an abnormal level of tension on a mooring line. The system also offers greater flexibility since it can be positioned on any quay, irrespective of level.

The total cost of the investment for Haropa Port (acquisition and installation) was €770,000.

Source: www.maritimejournal.com

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The company will link Skelleftehamn in Sweden with Finland and Zeebrugge and Antwerp in Belgium, by including the Port of Skellefteå in its route network. The service will involve weekly traffic to the Port of Skellefteå beginning October 2021.

“In our discussions with industry, we identified a need for reliable, regular weekly traffic to link the Port of Skellefteå to the continent. So it’s especially gratifying now that we can offer both feeder and RoRo services to the region,” said Jonas Wåhlin, general manager at Wallenius Sol.

Feeder service

Thanks to the new Zeebrugge-Antwerp-Kokkola-Skelleftehamn-Kemi-Oulu route, the Port of Skellefteå will now get its first feeder service in 15 years, combined with ro-ro traffic.

“There will be a natural inflow of containers that can be reloaded and used by industry in and around Skellefteå. Now that we’re linking the Swedish Norrland coast with Finland, we’re also opening up for haulage and empty container positioning between the countries,” said Wåhlin.

In the initial stage, the chartered vessels Fiona Sea and Jutlandia Sea will be plying the route. At the end of the year, they will be replaced by Wallenius Sol’s newly built vessels, which will be the world’s biggest ice-rated, multi-fuel ro-ro vessels, and just over 50m longer than the ships the Port of Skellefteå is used to accommodating.

However, according to Port of Skellefteå manager, Lars Widelund, the port is well prepared and has recently adapted the fairway in order to accommodate larger vessels. The port will also be able to accommodate traffic during the darkest part of the day.

Source: www.maritimejournal.com

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IOTICS is creating a digital twin of Portsmouth International Port as part of an ambitious £1.5m project to demonstrate an achievable modular green hydrogen generation system within the Port.

The Shipping, Hydrogen & Port Ecosystems UK (SHAPE UK) project is part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

Portsmouth International Port is committed to becoming the first carbon neutral UK port by 2030, and the first zero-emission port by 2050. “As a port operating in the heart of a major city, and that is owned by the people of Portsmouth, we have an obligation to do everything we can to minimise our impact as we continue to grow in the coming years.” said Jerry Clarke, Senior Project Manager at Portsmouth International Port.

IOTICS and its partners will create a digital twin of the port, interoperating with existing and emerging data from the port infrastructure and its activities as well as gathering data from the working hydrogen electrolyser. The IOTICS-enabled semantically defined digital twins, interoperating with data sources uncovered by KnowNow and deployed by Barter4Things will be an amalgamation to virtualise both dockside and offshore activities. Connected Places Catapult and Portsmouth University will leverage data from the digital twins within the port ecosystem to enhance and optimise operations with decision-support tools.

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Both organisations sealed their long-term commitment to deploy modern smart port tools for port operations and digitalisation – including implementing just-in-time (JIT) solutions, machine learning and AI as well as other innovative solutions.

This partnership positions Tanger Med and Wärtsilä as champions of the smart marine ecosystem, whereby data exchange will improve operational efficiency, port safety, and environmental sustainability in shipping, including reducing carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.

The new PMIS aims at addressing the needs of the leading maritime liners and alliances calling at Tanger Med Port Complex, to optimise their vessel calls and to use standardised master and event data.

Tanger Med is strongly committed to the International Taskforce PCO (Port Call Optimisation), which is bringing together several international ports including Port of Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg and Los Angeles to harmonise and optimise procedures for the management of maritime calls.

The joint initiative includes the delivery and installation of a Wärtsilä Navi-Harbour VTS System comprising PortLink Port Management Information System, IALA Advanced Coastal Surveillance Radars, VHF Radio Sub-System, Automatic Identification System, Operator Workstation, Network Systems, Ancillary Equipment and a five-year service and support contract.

Currently, Tanger Med is fully engaged in port digitalisation through different initiatives and projects. It has armed itself with the most advanced technology through developing its own Port Community System, which offers a range of services including port call optimisation, vessel traffic services, slot reservation and call priorities management, pilot dispatch solution and traceability.

This project takes the upgrades a further notch up with not only the new Wärtsilä Navi-Harbour VTS System, but through the installation of Wärtsilä Navi-Port, which enables just-in-time (JIT) arrival. JIT reduces the need for vessels to wait at anchorage, bringing down congestion and the risk of collisions, also lessening GHG and carbon emissions. Plus, the new PMIS digitalises the entire port-call process, reducing chances of human error and increasing efficiencies.

“Tanger Med is taking another step by teaming up with Wärtsilä to develop its new PMIS. This partnership aims to support the port’s current efforts to become a leading smart port equipped with the latest technologies to improve operational efficiency, and further enhance organisation of ships’ calls and nautical services, which will be essential as port traffic increases,” said Ridouan Boulaich IT Director, Tanger Med.

“Tanger Med is fully committed to optimised vessel calls through digitisation. This collaboration will also reinforce Tanger Med Port’s position as a leading port in this respect. We are on course to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the port and surrounding areas, which are critical priorities for the International Maritime Organization, IALA, and the broader maritime community,” said Khalid Samir Harbormaster, Tanger Med.

Bruce Mills, Business Development STC, Wärtsilä Voyage, explained: “It is a ground-breaking project from a technology perspective. Tanger Med Port has planned for a full and comprehensive smart port upgrade that includes not only an extensive range of our existing Ship Traffic Control products but also new solutions that will enter the market later in 2021, such as Wärtsilä Navi-Port and AIM (Advanced Intelligent Manoeuvring),

“PortLink is an integral player in this project. As a leading manufacturer of state-of-the-art Port Management Information Systems (PMIS), their solution is a modular application designed to facilitate the planning and management of port operations. It allows users and stakeholders in the port community to exchange information in a timely manner, eliminate redundant data entry and automate workflows. In Portlink, we have the perfect partner to help bring these ambitions to fruition.”

“Improving operational efficiency, better port-call organisation and reducing congestion and emissions will be critical as port traffic increases. So, there’s a clear widening of the port authority’s traditional focus from safety to optimisation and greener operations. Digital solutions are the most cost-effective way forward,” said Alex Van Knotsenborg, Director Global Sales, Wärtsilä Voyage.

Wärtsilä Voyage will handle all the services linked to the project, including design, delivery, testing, operations and technical training. The installation will be completed within 12 months, after which the organisations will continue to collaborate under MoU to drive further smart port development.

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The acquisition will enable the Brazilian port and maritime logistics operator, with the digital twin technology developed by Docktech and through the data collected by its fleet of 80 tugs, to understand silting behaviour in port areas, predicting how certain factors affect navigation conditions and security.

“The worldwide port infrastructure still does not offer instruments capable of accurately determining the real depth of the access channels to the ports and the berths,” said Márcio Castro, Executive Director of Wilson Sons’ tugboats business unit. “With the Docktech solution, it is possible to make this measurement more precisely and, thus, avoid underutilising the cargo capacity of the ships, in addition to the waste of dredging resources.”

The technology is already running in the ports of Santos and Rio Grande, while the plan is to implement the solution in the coming weeks in the ports of Rio de Janeiro, Açu and Vitória before expanding it to all the locations where Wilson Sons operates.

Under the system, the tugs will collect and process bathymetric data (depth measurement) of the ports where they are operating and, using the Docktech algorithm, monitor the depth of the berths and waterways access in real time.

Last year, the company also acquired a stake in AIDrivers, which specialises in the development of autonomous mobility systems for heavy port equipment.

Eduardo Valença, commercial manager of Wilson Sons’ tugboats division, said: “This milestone is another step for the company to become a reference in providing solutions for the optimisation of local maritime and port infrastructure. And other startups remain on our radar.”

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