Port construction round-up

ClaireInstonedeliversthismonth’sport constructioneditorial…

From dredging to capital improvement plans, our final port construction article of 2021 gives readers an overview of recent activity relating to port expansion and growth, not just in terms of construction of major new terminals but investments across the supply chain.

Port expansion

* Dublin Port has announced the launch of a €400m (approx. £336m) expansion.The 3FM Project will deliver 20% of the port capacity required by 2040 as well as a new bridge across the Liffey.Works will kick off in 2026 with completion cited between 2030 and 2035. The project, which is currently at the pre-planning stage, includes a number of elements such as a new private road to link the north and south port areas (taking HGVs off the public road via a new bridge across the River Liffey), construction of the largest container terminal in the country with an annual capacity of 612,000TEUs,redevelopment of the existing blue container terminal to create a new Ro-Ro freight terminal in its place, and creation of a 325m-diameter ship turning circle. Dublin Port will have invested around €1.6 billion over a 30-year period from 2010 to 2040.

* With the aim of supporting the UK’ s supply chain, manufacturing, and renewable energy sectors,Associated British Ports (ABP) plans to develop over 1,000 acres of land. A total of 14 sites at ports including Cardiff, Immingham,Newport,PortTalbot,Southampton, and Hull will be developed for a range of business uses.The company has committed to spending more than £5 million over the next year and a half in order to make the sites ready for development, from obtaining the relevant planning consents to carrying out essential land preparation.

“Our ports - with their superb connectivity both domestic and internationally, together with established infrastructure - already play a key role in the UK manufacturing, supply chain and energy sectors, ” said Henrik L. Pedersen, Chief Executive Officer for ABP. “This initiative will enable a growing number of businesses to leverage our land, property partnering expertise and power capacity. We believe this can make a significant contribution to the country ’ s economic vibrancy and supply chain efficiency. ”

Funding and budgets

* The Port of Seattle Commission has passed its 2022 Budget and 2022-2026 Capital Improvement Plan. “Our budget and capital improvement plan reflect a rising recovery from increased activity, ” said Steve Metruck, Port of Seattle Executive Director. “More than 80% of the port’ s funds come from operating revenue and fees,which began to improve midway through last year. Despite some continued uncertainty, we are in a better position to begin investing in our own capacity after two years of steep cuts and to look more expansively at opportunities we can support in the region. ” The port marked major capital milestones in 2021,in particular with the Northwest Seaport Alliance ’ s planned completion of Terminal 5. In 2022, the port will begin preparing for its next period of record growth for capital projects. The total capital budget for 2022 is USD559.5 million and the five-year Capital Improvement Programme increases to USD4.4 billion. Projects includeTerminal 46 North Pier structure replacement,Terminal 91 Berths 6 & 8 redevelopment, Pier 66 shore power, and Terminal 91 uplands development.

GES NorthEast render.

New facilities

* Plaquemines Port - the 13th largest tonnage port in the US - and APM Terminals have announced an operating agreement following a six-month terminal review process setting the stage for a new state-of-the-art deep-water port and supply chain network. A recently released Letter of Intent states APM Terminals will become the operator of the newly planned container and intermodal rail facility. Plaquemines Port and their partners will manage the financial activities associated with the infrastructure development,investment, and ownership of the port. Located on the Mississippi River just 50 nautical miles from the Gulf of Mexico, the gateway port will enable exporters and importers to utilise the multimodal routing options of rail, truck, inland marine and air. Phase One is expected to last two years and will deliver the capability to accommodate 22,000-TEU class vessels.

* Maersk Saudi Arabia is in line to set up the first integrated logistics park at Jeddah Islamic Port.At 205,000sqm, the greenfield facility will offer customers an extensive infrastructure for warehousing and distribution, cold storage, e-commerce and serve as a hub for trans-shipments,petrochemical consolidation, air freight and less than container load cargo. The initiative involves a commitment of USD136 million over a period of 25 years. Maersk will also be investing heavily in renewable energy to power the new facility and eventually achieve carbon-neutrality. “The strategic partnership between the port authority and Maersk is an important step to achieve our ambition for Jeddah Islamic Port to become among the top ten ports in the world by 2030, with the volume of container handling reaching 18 million TEUs, ” stated Omar bin Talal Hariri, President, Saudi Ports.

* The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has stated that the Lekki Deep Sea Port is due to become operational in the third quarter of 2023.When completed, the facility is cited to be the most modern port in West Africa.The Governor has called upon

investors to take advantage of the economic incentives attached to the Lekki axis of the state saying: “Multi-billion dollar investments, both foreign and local, are springing up within the zone and axis.The Lekki axis is on the verge of being home to Africa ’ s biggest oil refinery and it is expected to be operational soon. ”

* AD Ports Group (ADP) and the Egyptian Group for Multipurpose Terminals (the commercial arm of the Egyptian Ministry of Transportation) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a multipurpose terminal in Safaga Port. Under the agreement, ADP will look into investment opportunities and conduct feasibility and local market studies related to developing and operating the facility, with both parties benefitting from the exchange of expertise and best practices. The MoU aims to support the growth of the Middle East’ s industrial and logistics sectors, as well as assist in opening new markets for Egyptian exports via direct maritime routes across the Arabian Gulf, East Asia, and Africa regions. It will also facilitate commercial activities operating within the GoldenTriangle and Upper Egypt and will elevate the country ’ s ability to compete with other nations that manufacture similar industrial products. The strategic location of Safaga Port on the Red Sea holds great potential to create a significant role within the global supply chain.

* Global Energy Storage (GES) has announced its first major investment at Europoort in the Port of Rotterdam. Launched in May of this year, GES is buying an interest in part of the assets of the Stargate Terminal from Gunvor Group and will develop more than 20 hectares.The site includes significant waterfront with deep water access, brownfield development opportunities and potential greenfield development sites.The company ’ s plans include the development of a new multi-purpose seagoing jetty, as well as developing myriad other infrastructure. The deal has been formally approved by the Port of Rotterdam Authority.

Dredging news

* Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has been awarded a USD92.5 million dredging contract for the Houston ship channel expansion dubbed “Project 11” .This is the first phase of the extensive billion-dollar widening and deepening initiative. Dredging is set to start in the first quarter of 2022 with completion due by the end of the year.The works will involve dredging 11½-miles of the channel and widening a major portion of the Galveston Bay reach from 530 to 700 feet. The project will enable the port to accommodate bigger vessels which will be crucial going forward based on the fact that although the amount of ships that traversed the waterway from 2013 to 2019 only grew 1%, the size of the vessels grew a staggering 27%. Back in August, Port Houston signed an agreement with the US Army Corps of Engineers for the project with a faster timeline than is typical for such major work so that it could be finished by 2025.

* The newest and largest dredger of the Suez Canal Authority, the HusseinTantawy, has joined the project to expand and deepen the southern area of the Suez Canal from 132km to 162km. So far, nearly five million cubic meters of water saturated sand has been removed since the beginning of work in mid-May.The HusseinTantawy will be joined by dredger Mohab Mameesh after she completes work assigned to her in one of the major national projects in East Port Said Port.

* Klaipeda Seaport is set to benefit from an additional 10 million euros of EU funds for dredging works for both its external and internal navigation channel. Once the project is implemented, the depth of the external channel will be increased to 16m (currently 15.5m), while the internal navigation channel will be made 15.5m. “In the context of the current geopolitical challenges, it is extremely important to increase the competitiveness of Klaipeda Seaport and continue its expansion, ” says Minister ofTransport and Communications Marius Skuodis.The project is estimated to cost around 46.8 million euros.The channel dredging works should be complete in the spring of 2023.

Intermodal and rail

* The Port of Barcelona and the city councils of Barcelona and El Prat have released a progress report on the Urban Master Plan (UMP) for the new Intermodal Logistics Terminal.The document will guide the upcoming rail expansion in the southern area of the Port of Barcelona which boasts a ferroutage terminal, a reception and shipment terminal and a loading and unloading terminal, all located in the former bed of the Llobregat River, as well as the Nou Llobregat Terminal, a reception and shipment terminal parallel to the current course of the river.The Port of Barcelona is investing in rail due to its efficiency and competitiveness. In the last 10 years, the port' s intermodal strategy has meant 2.8 million fewer truck journeys. In 2020, rail traffic in the port area kept 175,000 trucks off the road, meaning 42,700 fewer tonnes of CO2 were released and 14 million fewer litres of fuel burned.The infrastructure envisioned in the UMP, together with existing infrastructure nearby, will form a very powerful, 68 ha six-terminal rail node to serve the Port of Barcelona and the surrounding area. The new intermodal hub is expected to make it possible to move around 400,000 containers and 46,000 semi-trailers from road to rail every year.

* The Port ofVirginia is investing in an expansion of its double-stack, on-dock rail operation.When complete the additional capacity will allow the port to handle 1.1 million containers a year via rail - doubling the size of the Central RailYard at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT).TheVirginia Port Authority Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the project’ s USD61.5 million construction bid with the work to be carried out by Allan MyersVirginia, the same company that handled the optimisation projects at NIT andVirginia International Gateway. The work begins in February 2022 and will be complete in late 2023. Moreover, the board approved the go-ahead on a USD18 million contract with Konecranes for up to three cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes and their support systems.The completion of the rail expansion project is timed to support opening of the port’ s deeper and wider commercial ship channel.

Opting out

* India ’ s Adani Ports has announced it will divest from the Ahlone container port project stating it will complete withdrawal by June of next year despite having already made a USD90 million payment.The Indian port management company is making the move in response to sanctions imposed on junta-controlled companies by the US and UK governments, taking the decision following a review of the situation by its risk management committee.The project to build a container port in Yangon Ahlone Township was a joint-venture with military-owned Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC). According to reports, the contract to build the port under a Build, Operate, and Transfer agreement was signed back in May 2019, since which a total of around USD151 million has been invested.