26

FEB

2018

Boskalis consortium wins €897m deal to develop Tuas Terminal phase II

A three-company consortium that includes Royal Boskalis Westminster (Boskalis) has secured a contract worth roughly S$1.46bn (€897m) to carry out a port development project, Tuas Terminal Phase II, in Singapore.

The contract has been granted in the form of a letter of award by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). The agreement is slated to be finalised over the coming weeks.

Penta Ocean Construction Company and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company are also involved in the consortium.

Boskalis currently holds a 30% share in the consortium and a corresponding contract value of around €300m.

The Tuas Terminal Phase II, also known as Tuas Terminal Finger Pier 3, forms part of the wider Tuas Port project.

It is expected to involve the design and construction of 387 hectares of land reclamation works bordered by 30m-high caisson walls, which are set to be 9.1km-long.

The Tuas Terminal is planned to be Singapore’s next-generation container terminal facility and is slated to be developed in four phases over 30 years.

Boskalis will perform various dredging and civil engineering activities under the latest arrangement, including the deepening of the port basin and access channel, as well as the dredging of a sandkey and managing the supply of sand to create new land for the terminal.

The dredging and land reclamation works will involve the deployment of a medium-sized trailing suction hopper dredger, in addition to grab and backhoe dredgers and long-distance bulk carriers.

The works are scheduled to begin over the next few weeks and are expected to be completed by 2027.

23

FEB

2018

Djibouti ends DP World’s concession at Dorelah port

The Government of Djibouti has terminated its contract with Dubai Ports World (DP World) for the operation of Doraleh Container Terminal.

The terminal is situated at the Port of Doraleh in Djibouti.

It was originally designed and built by a unit of DP World, which is backed by the Government of Dubai.

The DP World unit has been operating the terminal since 2006 under a 50-year concession agreement that was awarded by the Djibouti Government, reported Associated Press.

The Government of Dubai has accused the Djibouti Government of illegally seizing control of Doraleh Container Terminal after the abrupt cancellation of the concession arrangement.

In a statement, the Government of Dubai said: “The illegal seizure of the terminal is the culmination of the government’s campaign to force the DP World to renegotiate the terms of the concession.

“Those terms were found to be ‘fair and reasonable’ by a London Court of International Arbitration tribunal led by Lord Leonard Hoffman and Sir Richard Aikens, both highly respected former English jurists.

“DP World has commenced arbitration proceedings before the London Court of International Arbitration to protect their rights, or to secure damages and compensation for their breach or expropriation.”

DP World and the Government of Djibouti have been engaged in a dispute over the control of Doraleh Container Terminal since 2014.

The dispute initially emerged in 2014 when Djibouti claimed that DP World had bribed the head of the country’s port and free zone authority, Abdourahman Boreh, to secure a commission to operate the terminal, reported alarabiya.net.

22

FEB

2018

European Commission fines four maritime car carriers €395m

The European Commission (EC) has imposed a fine of €395m on four maritime car carriers for taking part in cartels that violate the European Union’s (EU) antitrust rules.

The carriers include Japanese entities Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) and K Line Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), as well as Norwegian/Swedish carrier WWL-EUKOR and Chilean shipping company CSAV.

Japanese carrier Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) was also found to be involved in the controversy; however the EC offered full immunity to the company in exchange for revealing the existence of the cartel.

EC has also exempted MOL from paying a fine of €203m.

EC competition policy commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: “The Commission has sanctioned several companies for colluding in the maritime transport of cars and the supply of car parts.

“The three separate decisions taken today show that we will not tolerate anti-competitive behaviour affecting European consumers and industries.

“By raising component prices or transport costs for cars, the cartels ultimately hurt European consumers and adversely impacted the competitiveness of the European automotive sector, which employs around 12 million people in the EU.”

The EC’s investigation, which was conducted from October 2006 to September 2012, concluded that the five carriers formed a cartel to transport new cars, trucks and other large vehicles such as combine harvesters and tractors along various deep-sea routes between Europe and other continents.

It also revealed that the carriers’ sales managers met at each other’s respective offices, as well as in bars, restaurants and other social gatherings in order to operate the cartel.

The officials were also in touch over the phone on a regular basis, often discussing prices, allocating customers and sharing commercially sensitive information regarding charges and surcharges added to prices to compensate for currency or oil prices fluctuations, in addition to other price elements.

The cartel ran for around six years was found to affect both European car importers and final customers as imported vehicles were sold within the European Economic Area (EEA).

European vehicle manufacturers were also affected as a result of their vehicles being exported outside the EEA.

21

FEB

2018

Hurtigruten launches new hybrid-powered expedition ship

Hurtigruten has launched its new hybrid-powered expedition ship, MS Roald Amundsen, at the Kleven Yard in Ulsteinvik, Norway.

MS Roald Amundsen is 140m-long and 23.6m-wide, and will be fitted with large battery packs in order to reduce its emissions.

The 20t ship will be able to carry a total of 530 guests and 151 crew members.

The PC-6 ice class ship will feature a 5.3m draft and will contain 265 cabins. It has been designed to sail at a speed of 15 knots and will operate under the Norwegian flag.

Hurtigruten is also currently constructing another similar vessel at the Kleven Yard, known as MS Fridtjof Nansen.

MS Roald Amundsen is scheduled to debut this year, with MS Fridtjof Nansen set to follow in 2019.

Hurtigruten CEO Daniel Skjeldam said: “With the great explorers deeply rooted in our history and heritage, Hurtigruten aims to be one step ahead when exploring the world.

“Our new ships will be moving boundaries for the technology, for the industry and for our guests.”

Both MS Fridtjof Nansen and MS Roald Amundsen will feature two-level indoor/outdoor observation decks, which will wrap around the top of the ships’ raked bow.

The ships will also be equipped with several technologies and high-tech systems, including touchscreens, science equipment and an immersive ‘edutainment’ area, as well as lecture spaces, a small library and speciality areas for workshops in photography, biology and other subjects.

The cabins and public areas will be created using Scandinavian materials such as granite, oak, birch and wool.

All cabins will be outward-facing, with half featuring private balconies. The vessels’ aft suites will include private outdoor hot tubs offering spectacular views.

In addition, the ships will feature custom-built expedition equipment, various dining options and a variety of other features.

20

FEB

2018

EIB and ING to provide €300m to finance green shipping

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an agreement with Dutch financial institution ING to provide €300m in funding to support green investments in the European shipping sector.

ING and EIB will each provide €150m to the financing facility as part of the deal, which will be made available to clients with significant European interests.

The facility can be used to fund projects that feature an environmentally friendly element such as the construction of new vessels, or the retrofitting of existing vessels to improve their fuel efficiency and environmental performance.

Interested parties will be encouraged to send their project proposals to ING, where they will be subject to the company’s financial and non-financial risk acceptance criteria.

EIB is expected to invest €300m in the facility on a gradual basis over the next three years, while ING’s shipping team will be responsible for leading and managing the initiative.

The agreement forms part of the Green Shipping Guarantee Programme, which is supported by the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility Debt Instrument and the European Fund for Strategic investments.

EIB president Werner Hoyer said: “I think it’s no secret that the shipping sector is a major contributor to CO₂ emissions.

“Climate action is one of the EIB’s top priorities, and this type of financing should be seen as an incentive for shipowners to consider doing things differently.

“The facility was set up after numerous discussions with Dutch counterparts from the public and private sector, and aims to help the shipping sector transition to a greener future.”

ING intends to leverage the latest agreement to achieve parts of its wider sustainability strategy, which aims to facilitate and finance a societal shift to sustainability in the environmental, economic and social fields.

20

FEB

2018

BPA warns of post-Brexit port health border disruption

The British Ports Association (BPA) has warned of the possibility of major disruptions across ports in the UK and the European Union (EU) if new cross-border environmental health standards are not put in place before Brexit.

The warning follows the publication of a Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s report titled ‘Brexit: Trade in Food’, which revealed that changes in UK-EU trade arrangements could lead to serious trouble for food supply chains.

BPA chief executive Richard Ballantyne said: “Perhaps one of the biggest Brexit challenges ports could face is accommodating new environmental health standards inspections at the border.

“As the report highlights, delays resulting from inspections at border would lead to increased costs, creating congestion and particular issues for perishable goods.

“Any Brexit trade deal must include an agreement to overcome the need for such inspections.”

According to the existing rules, animal and plant products imported by the UK and EU from a third country are required to undergo documentary, identity or physical inspections.

The port health checks are conducted at specially designated and designed Border Inspection Posts by qualified veterinary officers from local authorities.

Due to UK’s membership with the EU, food and agricultural products have been excluded from port health controls until now.

However, once the UK exits the EU, it is claimed that the existing rules will not be sufficient to ensure these checks are carried out.

Expensive Border Inspection Posts will subsequently have to be installed at a range of UK-based ports, said BPA.

Ballantyne added: “Post-Brexit, new port health border requirements could be a serious problem for a variety of ports, particularly at Roll-on Roll-off (RoRo) ferry ports.

“Under present EU rules, plant and animal products could be subject to a hugely disruptive inspection regime at the border.

“To require lorries to stop and undergo time-consuming inspections at ports would lead to significant disruption at the border and create congestion around ports.”

BPA also noted that it had previously held various meetings with the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which will be responsible for framing policy regarding port health inspections in the UK post-Brexit.

The organisation has expressed concern that traffic leaving the UK could still face such issues at EU ports.

19

FEB

2018

PSA opens $1.23bn container terminal at JNPT, India

Singapore-based PSA International has officially opened the Rs79.15bn ($1.23bn) Fourth Container Terminal (FCT) at Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in the city of Mumbai, India.

The terminal has been developed on a design, build, fund, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis by PSA’s subsidiary Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals (BMCTPL) as part of a concession agreement that was originally signed in May 2014.

BMCTPL is set to operate the terminal for a period of 30 years under the arrangement.

The construction of the terminal’s first phase was completed with an investment of Rs47.19bn ($731m).

It will be capable of handling 2.4 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo annually.

The second and final phase of the terminal is expected to add another 2.4 million TEUs of annual cargo capacity, bringing the total to 4.8 million TEUs.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi initially laid the foundation stone for the project in October 2015.

India Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highway and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari said: “As committed by [the honourable] Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the first phase of the terminal is ready in a record time.

“Logistics play a key role in the development of the economy, and the government is committed to provide world-class logistics and infrastructure facilities so that trade flourishes.”

The new terminal will be able to handle the biggest container ships from a 1km-long quay, as well as cranes that can reach 22 rows wide or greater.

It will be connected to the dedicated rail freight corridor and will have the capacity to receive roughly 350 containers per rake.

Furthermore, the site will be capable of storing 1,600 refrigerated containers to facilitate the handling of agricultural and horticulture produce.

The second phase of the project will feature a 1km-long quay, approach trestles and 110 hectares of land reclamation, in addition to other back-up facilities.

The construction of phase two is scheduled to be completed by December 2022.

16

FEB

2018

NYK and partners test new onboard INTERNET oF THINGS platform

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) has carried out a trial run of a next-generation, on-board Internet of Things (IoT) platform in collaboration with the Monohakobi Technology Institute (MTI), Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) and NTT Data.

The proof-of-concept experiment was conducted aboard a domestic coastal vessel, Hidaka, which is owned and operated by NYK Group’s Kinkai Yusen Kaisha unit.

The test involved the use of a ship information management system (SIMS) that was previously developed by NYK Group’s NYK and MTI arms as part of a joint collaboration.

SIMS is designed to collect, monitor and share detailed data between the ship and shore in order to promote safe operations.

It primarily provides information regarding the operational condition and performance of oceangoing vessels.

In addition, the latest experiment is based on a collaboration that initially began in September last year between the four companies.

The initiative aims to use NTT’s edge computing technology to develop a next-generation on-board IoT platform by adding SIMS to create a new system, which is intended to enable the remote distribution and management of on-board applications from land offices.

Furthermore, the collaboration has also leveraged NTT Data’s ANYSENSE IoT platform and related capabilities to develop infrastructure using IoT solutions.

The newly developed platform is compliant with the on-board IoT international standardisation of the Japan Ship Machinery and Equipment Association.

The data provided by the platform can be used both on-board and from the IoT open platform ShipDC, which is a ship data centre established by Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (Class NK).

NYK and its partners are expected to conduct a proof-of-concept experiment of the IoT platform on an oceangoing vessel operated by NYK Group as part of the project’s next phase.