Source : http://www.seaportspr.com/ : Mega-Vessels Invade
Source : http://www.seaportspr.com/
Mega-Vessels Invade
Monday, March 21, 2005
By: Bill Mongelluzzo - Contributing Editor
Twenty miles of trucks and six stacktrains. That's what Ed DeNike will be looking at each time an 8,000-TEU container ship disgorges a full load at SSA Marine's Long Beach terminal. These big ships, replacing vessels about half their size in the trans-Pacific trade, are arriving at West Coast ports for the first time this year.
The larger ships are staying in port twice as long as the ships they're replacing, making twice the demand on rail and truck capacity. When possible, SSA puts six gantry cranes to work on the ships around the clock. Even then, it takes three days. With a rough 50-50 split between rail and truck moves, each ship fills about a half-dozen stacktrains and 2,000 truck chassis, which with their tractors are enough to stretch about 20 miles.
The stress on ports, terminals and inland infrastructure will only get greater. China Ocean Shipping Co. last month ordered four 10,000-TEU vessels for delivery in 2008 and 2009. Other lines have ordered a total of 34 ships with a capacity of 9,000 to 9,500 TEUs.
In all, global shipping lines have firm orders for more than 150 vessels with capacities of at least 8,000 TEUs.
While these vessels are too large to transit the Panama Canal and cannot call at East Coast ports via that route, East Coast ports nevertheless anticipate they will be welcoming a steady stream of post-Panamax vessels by 2007. Shipping lines could launch five or six all-water services to the East Coast via the Suez Canal over the next two years.
East Coast ports must therefore deepen their channels to as much as 50 feet as well as expand capacity of their terminals if they plan to cash in on the boom.
Shipping executives are concerned U.S. ports can't accommodate the vessels. Ron Widdows, chief executive of APL, says ports on both coasts are struggling to handle current volumes, let alone projected growth.
"Difficulties will exist for quite some time on the U.S. West Coast," Widdows said. And he noted ports in the Northeast are heavily congested and may have trouble with proposed all-water services from Asia.
The first 8,000-TEU vessels entered the trans-Pacific trade in 2004. Four strings of the big ships are calling in Long Beach. BRS Alphaliner reports as many as 15 strings of 8,000-TEU class ships will sail in the trans-Pacific by 2008.
The new ships produce concentrated demand for terminal space, labor and intermodal rail and truck capacity.
The first trickle of 8,000-TEU ships arrived at West Coast ports last year and were a minor contributor to the port congestion during the peak season.
Terminal operators say they need 100 to 140 acres devoted to a single vessel of that size. Many ports do not yet have terminals that big.
Longshore labor also is stretched to handle the ships. Working a vessel for two or three shifts each day requires dozens of crane drivers and heavy equipment operators. Waterfront employers and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union hired 5,000 additional part-time workers and promoted 1,750 existing casual workers.
Mega-Vessels Invade
Monday, March 21, 2005
By: Bill Mongelluzzo - Contributing Editor
Twenty miles of trucks and six stacktrains. That's what Ed DeNike will be looking at each time an 8,000-TEU container ship disgorges a full load at SSA Marine's Long Beach terminal. These big ships, replacing vessels about half their size in the trans-Pacific trade, are arriving at West Coast ports for the first time this year.
The larger ships are staying in port twice as long as the ships they're replacing, making twice the demand on rail and truck capacity. When possible, SSA puts six gantry cranes to work on the ships around the clock. Even then, it takes three days. With a rough 50-50 split between rail and truck moves, each ship fills about a half-dozen stacktrains and 2,000 truck chassis, which with their tractors are enough to stretch about 20 miles.
The stress on ports, terminals and inland infrastructure will only get greater. China Ocean Shipping Co. last month ordered four 10,000-TEU vessels for delivery in 2008 and 2009. Other lines have ordered a total of 34 ships with a capacity of 9,000 to 9,500 TEUs.
In all, global shipping lines have firm orders for more than 150 vessels with capacities of at least 8,000 TEUs.
While these vessels are too large to transit the Panama Canal and cannot call at East Coast ports via that route, East Coast ports nevertheless anticipate they will be welcoming a steady stream of post-Panamax vessels by 2007. Shipping lines could launch five or six all-water services to the East Coast via the Suez Canal over the next two years.
East Coast ports must therefore deepen their channels to as much as 50 feet as well as expand capacity of their terminals if they plan to cash in on the boom.
Shipping executives are concerned U.S. ports can't accommodate the vessels. Ron Widdows, chief executive of APL, says ports on both coasts are struggling to handle current volumes, let alone projected growth.
"Difficulties will exist for quite some time on the U.S. West Coast," Widdows said. And he noted ports in the Northeast are heavily congested and may have trouble with proposed all-water services from Asia.
The first 8,000-TEU vessels entered the trans-Pacific trade in 2004. Four strings of the big ships are calling in Long Beach. BRS Alphaliner reports as many as 15 strings of 8,000-TEU class ships will sail in the trans-Pacific by 2008.
The new ships produce concentrated demand for terminal space, labor and intermodal rail and truck capacity.
The first trickle of 8,000-TEU ships arrived at West Coast ports last year and were a minor contributor to the port congestion during the peak season.
Terminal operators say they need 100 to 140 acres devoted to a single vessel of that size. Many ports do not yet have terminals that big.
Longshore labor also is stretched to handle the ships. Working a vessel for two or three shifts each day requires dozens of crane drivers and heavy equipment operators. Waterfront employers and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union hired 5,000 additional part-time workers and promoted 1,750 existing casual workers.