APM Terminals Portsmouth Virginia, the largest privately owned terminal in North America. Image: APM Terminals

COPENHAGEN — The port-operating arm of Danish industrial conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S (MAERSK-B.KO), APM Terminals, said Thursday it has made an offer to the state of Virginia to operate the cargo traffic facilities at the U.S. Port of Virginia.

In return for the long-term concession, APM Terminals offers to transfer ownership of its facility in the Portsmouth Marine Terminal at the port to the Virginia administration, in a strategic partnership deal that the company estimates to have a total value to the state of between $3 billion and $4 billion.

The proposal includes operation of freight facilities at the Port of Virginia, which is comprised by four marine terminals and adjacent inland services, all centered around the ice-free, natural harbor of Hampton Roads.

“Our proposal provides for the lowest cost, long-term solution for future growth at this time of a stabilizing economy and the eventual expansion of global commerce,” said APM Terminals Americas Region President Eric Sisco.

Included in the value estimate are initial payments, fixed concession payments, revenue sharing, capital investments and tax benefits, transferring market risk from the Commonwealth to the private sector, APM Terminals said.

The offer has been submitted to Virginia’s Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships and will undergo a detailed review in the coming months, APM Terminals said.

-By Flemming Emil Hansen, Copenhagen Bureau

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Port of Poti, circa 2008 (prior to it's bombing by Russian aircraft)

COPENHAGEN (Dow Jones)–The port-operating arm of Danish industrial conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S (MAERSK-B.KO), APM Terminals, will invest over $100 million to ramp up capacity in the Georgian port of Poti over the next three years.

APM Terminals, which operates the port of Poti, will build new container and bulk cargo terminals and deepen the berths there with the aim of boosting the cargo-handling capacity by an estimated 50%, the company said Friday.

According to estimates from the International Monetary Fund, Georgia’s gross domestic product is expected to expand by 6% in 2012, following growth of 7% in 2011.

Along with the increasing importance of the sea lane that passes through the Black Sea and services Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the economic growth of Georgia presents both a challenge and an opportunity to port operators in the region.

APM Terminals is the world’s leading port and inland operator with 62 port facilities in 36 coutnries.

-By Flemming Emil Hansen, Copenhagen Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires

HYUNDAI TOGETHER at HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder, image (c) HHLA

Successful start: On her maiden voyage to Hamburg, the Hyundai Together was the first ship with a carrying capacity of 13,000 standard containers (TEU) to be handled at Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) Container Terminal Altenwerder. The container megaship, which was put into service in February, will operate on the G6 Alliance’s new Loop 4 between Asia and Europe.

At the weekend, a container ship with a carrying capacity of 13,000 standard containers (TEU) was handled at HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) for the first time. The Hyundai Together, owned by the South Korean shipping company Hyundai, will operate on Loop 4 between Asia and Europe.  This is a new service from the G6 Alliance, founded at the end of 2011. Five out of the six services between Asia and Northern Europe offered by this group of shipping companies call at Hamburg and will be handled at the CTA.

“Thanks to its high degree of automation and its efficient processes, the CTA is designed to handle large container ships,” said CTA Managing Director Oliver Dux. “We are especially pleased that by handling ships with a carrying capacity of 13,000 TEU, we can demonstrate our efficiency and high degree of productivity.”

The CTA, considered as the world’s most modern container terminal, celebrates its ten-year anniversary this year and has regularly seen ships with a capacity of more than 10,000 TEU calling.

The Hyundai Together came in on Saturday morning at around 3 a.m. and left the Port of Hamburg yesterday afternoon. When calling at port, around 60,000 tons of cargo were handled. On Saturday, harbour master Jörg Pollmann presented Captain Loukas Konstantinidis of the Hyundai Together with the admiralty plaque of the Port of Hamburg to mark the maiden call of the ship.

At 366.5 metres long and 48.2 metres wide, the Hyundai Together is only 30 meters shorter than the world’s largest containership, the Emma Maersk, and is the first of eight 13,000 TEU ships ordered by Hyundai to be delivered. The Hyundai Tenacity and Hyundai Smart, the next two 13,000 TEU ships awaiting delivery, will also call at the CTA while sailing Loop 4. Other ships operating on this loop belong to the shipping companies APL and OOCL, who together with Hyundai, Hapag-Lloyd, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Nippon Yusen Kaisha form the G6 Alliance.

In 2011, the Asian shipping region accounted for almost 60% of HHLA’s container handling. This underscores the region’s importance for HHLA. It is on these routes in particular that many of the Ultra Large Container Ships (ULCS) – container mega-ships with a carrying capacity of more than 10,000 TEU – are deployed. Last year, almost 300 ULCS called at the Port of Hamburg. At HHLA’s terminals, the largest container ships can be efficiently discharged and loaded.

The 8,100 TEU APL Finland represents the maiden voyage of the six-member shipping company alliance’s weekly Far East/Europe service to Scandinavia’s busiest container port. Image: APM Terminals

Gothenburg, Sweden ‐ The recently established G6 Alliance has added direct service Gothenburg, Sweden to its weekly Far East/Europe port rotation with the first vessel call of the APL Finland at APM Terminals Gothenburg, the busiest container facility in Scandinavia.

The G6 Alliance was created in December 2011 through the consolidation of the New World Alliance member lines APL, of Singapore; Hyundai Merchant Marine, of South Korea; and Mitsui O.S.K, of Japan, with Grand Alliance member lines NYK, of Japan; OOCL, of Hong Kong; and Hapag-Lloyd, of Germany. The new alliance operates a combined fleet of more than 90 containerships on nine strings serving more than 40 ports in Northern Europe, the Mediterranean and the Far East.

The G6 weekly call is the second direct service linking Gothenburg with Asia, and will provide links to the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Ningbo, as well as Singapore in Southeast Asia; Jeddah on the Red Sea; Tangier, Morocco in the Mediterranean and Bremerhaven and Rotterdam in North Europe.

“We are very proud to welcome the G6” said APM Terminals Gothenburg Managing Director Keld Pedersen, adding “we have added two new liner services this year with MacAndrews (with service to the British Isles) and now the G6, which further strengthen our commercial service as the largest container terminal in the Scandinavian area.”

Post-Panamax cranes at the Port of Savannah aboard the Dockwise M/V Tern

Gothenburg’s container terminal handled 810,000 TEUs in 2011, and as of January 4th has been operating as APM Terminals Gothenburg. The 25-year concession agreement calls for the investment over $115 million over the next five years, including three new super-post Panamax cranes as the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network establishes Gothenburg’s deep-water facility as a major North European hub for the growing Scandinavian and Baltic markets.

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Rendering: TGE, click for larger

- By Per Wiggo Richardsen, DNV

Recognising that LNG is one of the best solutions for complying with upcoming emission regulations for ships, DNV is currently conducting a feasibility study for the Flemish Government relating to the provision of LNG bunkering facilities in three Belgian ports.

The annual Process & Asset Risk Management Conference (PARC) focused on LNG opportunities in addition to debating the future of energy supply. The conference, which was hosted by DNV in Brussels last week, brought together EU regulators, industry experts and port representatives.

Antwerp, Zeebrugge and Ghent were added to the list of European ports making an investment in LNG bunkering facilities, which includes ports in the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Poland. “The Flemish port authorities are optimistic about the potential for safe and efficient LNG bunkering operations and DNV’s multidisciplinary analysis will help them move forward confidently,” says Mohamed Houari, DNV Head of Solutions for Central Europe, adding: “I’m now looking forward to seeing how we can proactively use this strategic project success and replicate it in other areas.”

In his address to the conference in Brussels, Pim Bonne of the Flemish Department of Mobility and Public Works’ Ports and Water Policy Division explained that the study carried out by DNV, which will be finalised in June, will help consider what needs to be done in terms of amendments to legislation relating to ports and the role of government funding in order to encourage the development of an LNG bunkering infrastructure.

Speaking at the conference, Yolanda García Mezquita from the European Commission’s DG Energy voiced the need to develop infrastructure and environmental and operational standards in order to secure the gas supply. In line with this, her colleague from DG Mobility and Transport, José Anselmo, stressed the need for better energy connections between member states. Anselmo presented the EU co-funding opportunities for LNG projects, mentioning in particular the European Investment Bank, Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and Connecting Europe Facility.

A functional and standardised bunkering infrastructure is a prerequisite for the widespread use of LNG in global shipping. DNV chairs the ISO working group tasked with the development of internationally agreed guidelines.

Bullish on high-growth East African markets as new terminal and Inland Services investments planned; Mombasa, Dar es Salaam are Targets

Mombasa, Kenya ‐ APM Terminals’ annual Africa-Middle East Region’s Leadership meeting was held in the Kenyan Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa to emphasize a new direction for expansion of the APM Terminals Global Port, Terminal and Inland Services Network: East Africa.

“There are great business and growth opportunities in East Africa and this is not new territory for APM Terminals” said Mr. Peder Sondergaard, CEO for the Africa-Middle East region, who noted that Logistics Container Centre Mombasa (LCCM), part of APM Terminals Inland Services, has been in operation since 1997.

He and other senior leaders including CEO Kim Fejfer recently visited Kenya and met with Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga and Minister of Trade Amos Kimunya for high level talks, and hosted meetings with local business and industry leaders in Mombasa and the Capitol of Nairobi.

APM Terminals, one of the largest port operators in Africa, currently operates nine ports in eight West African countries, as well as operations in both Morocco’s Tangier-Med port, and Egypt’s Suez Canal Container terminal and an extensive Inland Services network across the continent, but no port operations on the continent’s Indian Ocean coast.

Although the International Monetary Fund has projected a 5.5% economic growth rate for sub-Saharan Africa this year, and a 5.3% increase for 2013, obstacles to trade, particularly concerning cargo movements between neighboring countries, will prevent the full benefit of such economic progress from being felt across the African population.

The World Bank Report “De-Fragmenting Africa; Deepening Regional Trade Integration in Goods and Services” released in February, has estimated that “in sub-Saharan Africa it takes, on average, 38 days to import and 32 days to export goods across borders, whereas the number of days required is significantly lower in other regions” and that “the cost of trading across borders is the highest in the sub-Saharan Africa region, over twice as high compared to East Asia and OECD countries”.

Investment in modern cargo transportation infrastructure and services can help to alleviate these impediments, and foster higher rates of trade and economic development. APM Terminals’ Inland Services operations in East Africa span 12 countries currently including Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, as well as parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia.
Mombasa, the busiest port on the East African Coast, handled approximately 770,000 TEUs in 2011, up from 695,000 TEUs in 2010, and has enjoyed a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% during the preceding half decade. About half of this traffic is destined for neighboring land-locked countries such as Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda.

APM Terminals is in talks with the Tanzanian Ministry of Transport and the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to operate at the Port of Dar es Salaam, which handled 475,000 TEUs in 2011.

“We believe it would only benefit the port and the country to introduce a leading global port operator at Dar es Salaam, which would introduce healthy competition to the benefit of all port users” said APM Terminals’ Africa-Middle East Regional Vice President for Business Development, Hans-Ole Madsen.

Opportunities also exist beyond the Port of Dar es Salaam; Emmanuel Mallya, the Chairman of the Tanzania Shipping Association Chairman and a board member of the TPA told the Daily News of Tanzania “We need investors who will look at larger port expansion projects not necessarily at Dar es Salaam Port but also look elsewhere”, citing potential new port development project locations at Bagamoyo, Mbegani and Mwambani in the port city of Tanga, in the Tanga region of northern Tanzania, which borders Kenya.

“We are very interested in participating in and contributing to the high-growth potential of the Ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, and are eager for the opportunity to expand our Global Port and Terminal Network into East Africa” added Mr. Sondergaard.

The Acu Superport, image courtesy LLX Brasil

Rio de Janeiro (Dow Jones) – Global mining company Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN, AAUKY) and Brazilian port developer LLX Logistica Sat (LLXL3.BR) may open up their iron-ore export terminal at the port of Acu in southeast Brazil for use by other Brazilian ore miners, LLX said Friday.

Plans exist to double capacity of the iron-ore export terminal to 100 million metric tons a year, depending on demand, including from other ore exporters, according to LLX Chief Executive Otavio Lazcano.

The port’s terminals could be opened up for use by iron-ore miners in Brazil other than Anglo if plans to rebuild a stretch of railroad owned by Vale SA (VALE, VALE5.BR) proceed, an LLX spokeswoman said. This would facilitate port access for miners from the currently land-locked Serra Azul iron-ore mining area in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state.

“Two iron-ore loading berths, with 40 million to 50 million tons a year capacity, have already been built at Acu,” said Lazcano during a conference call with analysts Friday. “Plans exist to double this up to 100 million tons a year, depending on demand.”

Acu’s iron-ore terminal is owned by LLX Minas-Rio, a joint venture between logistics company LLX, with 51%, and Anglo, with 49%. The first two berths, which can accommodate capesize vessels, are due to start exporting iron ore in the second half 2013 from Anglo’s Minas-Rio iron-ore mine in Minas Gerais state. The mine will produce 26.5 million tons a year of the steelmaking raw material in a first phase, which will be transported to Acu port via a slurry pipe.

Anglo is studying the possibility of eventually expanding iron-ore production at Minas-Rio up to 80 million tons a year, the company stated late last year.

LLX’s focus, meanwhile, is on “setting up infrastructure to allow these [mining] companies access to the port,” the LLX spokeswoman said.

Iron-ore producers in the Serra Azul region currently seeking iron-ore export facilities include steelmakers ArcelorMittal (MT, MT.AE), Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA (USIM5.BR, USZNY), or Usiminas, and Ferrous Resources, a mining company owned by U.S., UK and Brazilian pension funds.

Studies on setting up a rail link between Acu and the MRS Logistica railroad, which runs through the Serra Azul region, have now been completed, showing the project to be viable, Lazcano said. This project would involve the rehabilitation of part of Vale’s Ferrovia Centro-Atlantica, or FCA, railroad between Campos and Ambai in Rio de Janeiro state.

Lazcano added that the development of the Acu port is “strictly on schedule” and that two piers will start operations in the second half of 2013, shipping oil, iron ore and other cargoes. A total of 2.426 billion Brazilian reais ($1.33 billion) has so far been invested in the port, which is planned eventually to be Latin America’s biggest.

LLX is controlled by Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista. Batista’s iron-ore mining venture, MMX Mineracao e Metalicos SA (MMXM3.BR), is currently building an iron-ore export port at Itaguai in Rio de Janeiro state, to ship iron ore produced both from its own mines and other producers in the Serra Azul region.

-By Diana Kinch, Dow Jones Newswires

STAR POLARIS on arrival at Mangalia for repairs. Image via Shipspotting

(Dow Jones) Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (SBLK) said one of its ships suffered hull damage entering a Turkish port, forcing the company to declare the vessel off-hire to potential charterers for at least a month.

The company said its Star Polaris vessel suffered bottom damage entering port at Eregli, Turkey. The shipping company, which transports iron ore, coal and grain, said it is investigating the incident and hinted it could blame the port for unsafe conditions.

The ship’s damage is the latest setback for Star Bulk, which returned to the red in its latest two quarters after a straight year of profits. The company had benefited from cost-cutting and modest revenue growth before posting losses caused by renewed macroeconomic headwinds that swept the shipping sector last year.

The company said Friday it has moved the Star Polaris to Daewoo Mangalia shipyard in Romania for permanent repairs, which Star Bulk expects to finish in about 30 days.

Shares were recently off 1.1% at 94 cents after hours. The stock had declined 63% over the past year through Friday’s close.

-By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires

Video training has long been an effective tool for companies to help share information with mariners. I say companies because video training programs, while effective, are often too costly for individual mariners to purchase on their own. Breaking this mold is a new video on mooring operations by the European Harbour Masters’ Committee (EHMC) which has been released via YouTube.

The EHMC believes the mooring process is the forgotten link in the chain of safe port operations. “This became evident during the making of the EHMC Video the Chain. Mooring activities are a concern because of the number of accidents, the diminishing nautical skills on board ships and at terminals and the apparent lack of knowledge of all the components that affect safe mooring.” said a representative for EHMC.

This was the incentive behind the newest EHMC video titled “missing link, improving the mooring process”. The video shows the entire mooring process, from the production of a mooring line up to the vessel coming alongside, from the basic rules for a mooring plan, to safe working loads, and maximum holding capacities.  Further, the video intends to raise awareness for the whole mooring process in order to avoid accidents and damage while simultaneously saving time, money and cutting down on emissions.

“There was no training video available that addresses all aspects of mooring and that is produced with the input of all parties concerned.” Says the EHMC.

During the making of the film many experts discussed the topics raised and to produce in the end one common view was quite challenging; many of the best practices learned in recent years are not being used by mariners and there is no single set of internationally accepted guidelines for the relation between the mooring components; mooring winch on vessel – mooring line on vessel – bollard/quick release hook on shore.

The weakest and the strongest link.

One problem in producing the video was determining which best practices to focus on. For example, the EHMC and their partners agreed that the weakest link in the chain of these 3 components should be the Maximum Holding Capacity of the brake of the mooring winch. The strongest link in the chain should be the bollard/quick release hook on shore. In the end the brake should render before the mooring line, if not even worse may happen; the mooring bollard breaks. Even if wind and/or current forces are small, the brake should be the weakest link to avoid that the shore bollard breaks loose of its’ foundation due to unloading or other unforeseen conditions.

Why is this video important?

The EHMC has also released a the following bullet points to help mariners understand the importance of these principles. They include:

• Mooring activities are still a concern for vessels due to the number of accidents.
• UK P&I, the world’s leading mutual marine insurer, states that ropes and wires cause the great majority of personal injuries. Most of these injuries occur during mooring operations. Mooring incidents also result in substantial claims for damage to ship and shore equipment.

• If the vessel damages quays or cranes due to the fact that it broke free of her moorings, the vessel has only limited liability. The port or terminal has to pay for all the damage which is not covered by insurance of the vessel. This can result in many millions of Euros.

• Quick mooring safes time which improves the terminal efficiency and the turn around time of the vessel.
• Quick mooring reduces emissions, not only due to fewer emissions of tugs and auxiliary engines, but also
due to the reduced speed to the next port.
• Quick mooring reduces the number of hours for pilots, tugs and linemen, making their organisations more
efficient.
• Mooring lines and winches is an area that has limited attention of class / flag state inspections

Port of Aarhus, Denmark, image courtesy APM Terminals

The Hague, Netherlands – APM Terminals, the Hague-based global port operator, yesterday reported record breaking annual results for 2011. A revenue growth of 10% year- on-year and an EBITDA of USD 1,059 mio. makes APM Terminals’ result
for 2011 “the strongest ever”, according to CEO Kim Fejfer.

Net operating profit after tax was USD 649 mio. Profits of USD 793 million. in 2010 were heavily influenced by extraordinary items incl. divestment gains. The profit in 2011 before gains and special items was USD 611 million, 24% higher than the previous year.

Even better: The return on invested capital – ROIC, often described by APM Terminals’ top exec as the most important single key figure for the port operator – reached 13.1%.

This is a significant leap in profitability from 2010 where the return percentage was 10.4% when corrected for divestment gains and special items. “This shows that APM Terminals is tracking well towards our long term goal of being the best and most profitable global port operator in the world. Profitability is our license to grow,” stated Mr. Fejfer in a comment on the annual results.

And growth is key for the independent port and inland services operator. Most industry analysts forecast a large need for additional port capacity over the next decade, and Mr. Fejfer is eager to secure the lion’s share of global growth
opportunities.

“If there were such a thing as a “market share” for expansion, we believe that APM Terminals would be the #1 global port operator in 2011 in that category. We committed more than 3 billion USD to infrastructure development and facility expansion in 2011 and expect to do something similar in 2012,” added Fejfer.

During 2011, APM Terminals secured 5 new locations as a result of the companys active portfolio development efforts: Poti in Georgia, Moin in Costa Rica, Callao in Peru, Gothenburg in Sweden and Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico. These complement the project pipeline of Santos, Brazil; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Wilhelmshaven, Germany and Vado, Italy. APM Terminals has recently also announced upcoming investments in Izmir, Turkey.

Santos, Brazil, image courtesy APM Terminals

The total amount of containers handled – weighted with ownership share – increased by 8% on a like-for-like basis and reached 33.5 million TEU.

“And yes – gaining market share is also a long-term ambition for us, but we are only interested in sustainable and profitable growth, not just growth for it’s own sake,” says Fejfer, who also hopes to offer customers a more stable service level during
2012:

“We are very humble about the fact that although financial performance went well some of our customers’ experience has been more mixed as operations in container terminals in North Africa and the Middle East were negatively influenced by unrest related to the Arab Spring during 2011.”

APM Terminals is part of the global shipping and energy conglomerate A.P. Moller Maersk, and the customer base consists of more than 60 shipping lines. Volumes from customers outside the ownership sphere increased by 11% year-on-year and
now constitute 46 % of volumes handled.

“2011 was also the year where we developed and implemented a new corporate visual identity to enhance the APM Terminals brand as a truly independent company.  We will continue to diversify our client portfolio in the upcoming years,” added Mr.
Fejfer.