BEST PRACTICES

BEST PRACTICES Port Authority of New South Wales shares insights into vessel arrival systems

The concept of just-in-time vessel arrival systems has been gaining traction throughout the international maritime community of late. In January this year, at the 75 th Session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee, the Global Industry Alliance to Support Low Carbon Shipping (GIA) released “Just In Time Arrival Guide — Barriers and Potential Solutions.” In February, Wärtsilä, Carnival Maritime, and Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center announced the successful implementation and testing of a new just-in-time sailing system — the Wärtsilä NaviPort — based on real-time ship-shore data exchange.

While the rest of the world catches up, the Port Authority of New South Wales, Australia, developed their Vessel Arrival System (VAS) over 10 years ago. Providing valuable insights, Bruce Cooper, Senior Manager Port Services, Port Authority of New South Wales, While the rest of the world catches up, the Port Authority of New South Wales, Australia, developed their Vessel Arrival System (VAS) over 10 years ago.

spoke to APP’s Jane McIvor about the process that started with the grounding of the Pasha Bulker in 2007 and ended up with the world’s first just-in-time vessel arrival system.

Background

The Port of New South Wales is located on the east coast of Australia and manages the navigation, security and operational safety needs of commercial shipping in Sydney Harbour, Port Botany, Newcastle Harbour, Port Kembla, Eden and Yamba. Newcastle Harbour is one of the largest coal export ports in the world with a record 164.9 million tonnes of throughput recorded in 2019.

In May 2007, the Panamanianregistered bulk carrier Pasha Bulker was anchored about 2.5 miles off the coast of Newcastle along with 57 other vessels. Her estimated wait time before loading coal was three weeks. Long story short, an unpredicted, severe storm settled in “the worst possible spot,” according to Cooper. While many of the ships put out to sea, the Pasha Bulker got caught in wind and heavy seas and grounded on Nobbys Beach. The hull was breached but, luckily, there was no pollution.

In its subsequent report, the Australian Transportation Safety Board noted, among other factors, that the queue of 57 ships off Newcastle at the time of the incident increased the risks of collision and grounding. In total, the ATSB offered 11 recommendations.

A large coal transport ship entering Newcastle Harbour - Newcastle is one of the largest coal export ports in the world providing thermal and coking coal to Asia and beyond.

Of note for this article was the recommendation that Newcastle Port, individually and as a member of the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Logistics Team, take action to address the issue of vessel wait times.

From concept to reality

“We worked with the coal industry to investigate a number of approaches and came up with the solution of a vessel arrival system,” said Cooper, noting that the industry, as the largest user of the Port, was in control of ordering ships through third parties and, while the Port was the regulating body, industry buy-in was important.

Once local terminals and the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Coordinator (the company tasked with controlling the logistics chain for the coal industry) were on board, a working group was established that included representatives from Australian coal shippers, local coal terminals, Japan power utilities and steel mills (the largest customer for Australia’s coal) and Japanese shipping companies, and South Korean and Taiwanese shipping industries.

“The whole process took about 18 months to reach an agreement on basic rules and operating parameters, transit plans, and methods of tracking,” Cooper said. “In early 2010, we did a trial which ran in conjunction with the normal system for a few months before we were comfortable that the parameters were working well. We officially implemented the system on June 1, 2010.”

When asked about lessons learned through the process, Cooper noted that key to the consultations was ensuring the right people were at the table. “It’s a matter of balancing between the right number of people and ensuring the right people are consulted. You don’t want the process overwhelmed with self interests.”

Cooper also noted that they wanted to make it as simple as possible for ship operators, so reporting wasn’t an over-burdensome task. “We ask the ships to send us a daily ETAs as well as their average speed and engine revolutions over the last 24 hours. Then we track by satellite, which automatically Where there once would have been upwards of 60 vessels waiting in the queue for as long as three weeks, there are now usually less than 20 with a maximum timeframe of 48 hours from arrival to loading.

interrogates their system and provides the data back. And we have the benefit of all the other participants in the system, allowing us to do all the number crunching.”

While the original system was done with an Excel spreadsheet, Newcastle has since built a proprietary program which uses satellite tracking from a Western Australia company. “Our system puts out a request to them and the response gets transferred back to our system which does all the calculations based on where the vessel is currently situated and the estimated time it will take to get here. Of course, we still have the human eye to ensure the calculations seem reasonable.”

Even though there are still some factors beyond the Port’s control — for example, weather, or an unforeseen delay at the terminal — Cooper noted that the system works very well. “Even with a bad forecast, though, we’ll know about it and when the vessel provides their daily report that includes average speed and engine revolutions, we’ll be able to recalculate to make allowances.”

Results

Newcastle’s Vessel Arrival System has had a significant impact on mitigating safety risks and reducing greenhouse gases for Australia’s east coast.

Prior to the VAS being implemented, Cooper noted that, while there hadn’t been an incident as threatening as the Pasha Bulker, there were always little issues — near misses — with so many ships anchored just beyond the Port’s jurisdiction. “The ATSB report on the Pasha Bulker had highlighted a lack of understanding of the Newcastle Vessel Traffic Information Centre’s advisory role versus the issuance of mandatory instructions. Now, we have a provision that allows us to penalize any vessel not following our guidance,” Cooper said, adding that while they haven’t penalized anyone yet, they have issued about a half-dozen warning letters.

Where there once would have been upwards of 60 vessels waiting in the queue for as long as three weeks, there are now usually less than 20 with a maximum timeframe of 48 hours from arrival to loading.

From a shipowner’s perspective, a just-in-time arrival system allows for slow steaming (or speed optimization profiles) and is resulting in reduced fuel costs and carbon emissions, key goals of the Global Industry Alliance to Support Low Carbon Shipping (GIA) which published the previously mentioned “Just In Time Arrival Guide — Barriers and Potential Solutions.”

Given the success of Newcastle’s VAS, it’s not surprising that, in July 2019, IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim visited the port for a first-hand look at the system. Recognizing the growing interest in just-in-time arrival systems, the IMO’s visit provided useful insights which were incorporated into the Guide. Ports considering their own VAS would be wise to look to Newcastle as an example of how to do it right.

More information can be found at:

Port Authority of New South Wales Vessel Arrival System Rules — Port of Newcastle: https://www.portauthoritynsw.com.au/ media/3723/vessel-arrival-system-rules. pdf

IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee release of the Just In Time Arrival Guide – Barriers and Solutions: https://sustainableworldports.org/ wp-content/uploads/MEPC-75- INF.22-Just-In-Time-Arrival-GuideBarriers-and-Solutions-Secretariat.pdf

The Association of Pacific Ports would like to thank Cooper and the Port Authority of New South Wales for the opportunity to learn about the best practices and benefits of just-in-time arrival systems.