DP World Southampton’s quay crane rates hit a new high at the weekend. On Sunday, October 30, 535 boxes were handled by one crane in a 12-hour shift on the vessel OOCL Southampton, Cargonews Asia reports. Through a concerted team effort on changes to working agreements, systems and equipment deployment, the South Coast container terminal has seen quay crane rates rise almost 25 percent this year. Average quay crane rates across all vessels is now significantly improved over historic productivity numbers and places Southampton in a leading position in the UK.

US Port of Tacoma yesterday marked the completion of a US$32 million wharf expansion project regarding its Blair Waterway terminal, according to ADPnews. The project, started in December 2009, added 600 ft to the terminal's existing 2,000-ft berth to support two super post-panamax container cranes the facility added last January. Via the expansion, the Blair Waterway is now able to handle two container ships simultaneously and to accommodate the industry's largest container vessels, the terminal's operator Hyundai Merchant Marine said. The Tacoma container port handles various types of cargo including bulk, break-bulk and project/heavy-lift, automobiles and trucks.

Construction set to begin on container terminal at Cadiz Spain’s Cadiz Bay Port Authority has signed a €92 million (US$128m) contract with a consortium, comprising Spanish conglomerate Acciona and infrastructure and environmental services company FCC, to build its new container terminal, ifw-net reports. It is understood that at least 50% of the funding for the project has been come from the EU’s European Fund for Regional Development. Once operational, the port will be able to handle containers in a separate area from where cruise ships are berthed. Because of its geographical position between the Europe-Africa and US-Mediterranean trade lanes, Cadiz is styling itself as the gateway to Southern Europe. Port authority president Rafael Barra said the project would “enhance container traffic and contribute to the environmental recovery of the bay”. He added: “With this project, we complete the port development plan launched in 2000 to focus on the specialisation of the docks and the reorganisation of traffic.”

Hutchison Port Holdings has signed an agreement with Ajman Port Authority for the development and operation of Ajman Port in the United Arab Emirates. A company will soon be established to operate the container terminal in Ajman Port - the 52nd port in the HPH network of ports - for a concession period of 10 years, the company said, reported Datamonitor. John Meredith, group managing director of HPH, said, "The Middle East is an important market for HPH. We are pleased to be part of the Government of Ajman's ambitious plan to put the Ajman Emirate in an advanced economic position in the Arabian Gulf Area and make it a focal investment centre for local and foreign capitals and investors. It is our plan to modernise the port and improve its competitiveness to support the development of the Ajman Emirate." No details were given of the investment in the port.

The grain vessel MV Champion Bay left Churchill, Man., Oct. 31 toting 26,000 tonnes of Prairie spring wheat bound for West Africa. It may go down in history as the last grain shipment ever from Manitoba's northern port, the Phoenix Star reports. By the time spring comes and shipping opens again from Canada's only Arctic seaport, the federal government's bill to eliminate the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on Prairie grain sales should be law. That, says CWB chairman Allen Oberg, likely means no more grain will go through the port. Shipping grain through Churchill makes sense for the CWB because it is the cheapest route with the least number of requirements to load and unload the grain. It isn't the cheapest, however, for private grain companies who own equipment and shipping facilities on the West Coast, Thunder Bay, Ont., and in Eastern Canada. When the CWB loses its monopoly, the Crown corporation's backers believe it will become the new little guy in the market competing with major multinational grain companies, who won't pay to ship grain through Churchill when they can ship it using their own facilities elsewhere. More at www.thestarphoeni...

Cape Town - Four Sri Lankan sailors have survived three days of rough seas without food or water thanks to a life raft that South African maritime authorities forced them to buy in Cape Town. The Cape Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that South African authorities had detained the 57.5-foot fishing trawler, the Deshan Lanka, and made the crew buy safety equipment. The ship was en route to Sierra Leone from Sri Lanka when it caught fire and sank on Sunday. The sailors launched the life raft the authorities had made them buy in East London. They had drifted at sea for three days without food or water when the National Sea Rescue Institute rescued the men 20km off-shore of Still Bay (Stilbaai) near Mossel Bay at about 14:00 on Tuesday. The NSRI told the Cape Times that the Deshan Lanka had been detained by the SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) in East London last month as it had no marine VHF Radio, life jackets, red distress flares or life raft.

Emergency crews battled a blaze at a Port of Brownsville ship recycling center Tuesday afternoon that left three people injured, officials said. A fire broke out on a ship around 3:45 p.m. at the recycling center on Boxcar Road, Deputy Fire Chief David Hinojosa said. Port of Brownsville spokesman Manuel Ortiz said the area where the ship caught fire is used as a salvage yard for boats. Workers had been dismantling the ship to recycle the parts when flames broke out, Hinojosa said. Three workers sustained burns; two were taken to a local hospital. He said the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. More at www.brownsvillehe...

Galateia, a ship which was stranded in Paradip from October 17, sailed from the port here on October 29 after finishing its discharge operation for 12 days. The ship had brought coking coal of two importers but after berthing at CQ2, it had to face the non-cooperation of the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) officials, which did not have control over the intra-port transporter appointed by it. The transporter, whose job was to carry the coal discharged from the ship to the importer’s stack yard, did not provide the dumpers, informing the stevedores Swastik Stevedores and PPT that the dumpers were on strike, though the dumpers were working in all other ships. Due to non-clearance of the cargo from the ship’s berth to the importer’s stack yard, the ship could not discharge the cargo on jetty. The PPT officials also did not take any action on the intra-port transporter. More to read at www.dailypioneer....

State-owned Israel Natural Gas Lines said on Monday it signed a deal with Italian marine contractor Micoperi to build an off-shore liquefied natural gas terminal costing about 500 million shekels ($140 million), Reuters reports. The company said in a statement that the terminal, to be built some 10 kilometres out from the Mediterranean coastal city of Hadera, will have the capacity to receive about 2.5 billion cubic meters of LNG each year. Construction is due to begin in the second half of 2012 and be completed by the end of the year, the statement said. Though natural gas production in Israel is set to soar in coming decades after the discovery of huge off-shore deposits, the country faces a short-term gas shortage between the time production goes online and its current reserves run dry. Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau said on Monday Israel could face a shortage as early as the third quarter of 2012, and that the terminal is a quick solution. "The terminal is of the utmost strategic importance for the country's ability to ensure a continuous energy supply to its power stations and to safeguard its energy security," he said.

Brunsbüttel Ports GmbH and Gasnor AS (LNG market leader in Norway) agreed on bunkering vessels with LNG in the Elbehafen at Brunsbüttel, Germany. With this important step they are leading the way in offering LNG fuel at Brunsbüttel and the Northern German area, at the crossing of the river Elbe and the Kiel-Canal. In the context of generally increasing demands in environmentally conscious acting, also in shipping, eco-friendly fuel is a forward-looking issue. The fuel LNG (liquid natural gas) is an environmentally-friendly alternative for do far used ship fuels and already in use in many Countries, such as Norway, for quite some years. Subject to approval by the authorities, Brunsbüttel Ports GmbH has contractually provided Gasnor with near-pier areas for erecting LNG tanks. To begin with, as of November 2011, bunkering of vessels will be possible via LNG tank truck. According to the development of quantities the erection of a fuel-depot is planned which is expected to grow continuously. This interim solution as well as the planned erection of the LNG fuel depot provides a safe, reliable and cost-effective way for fueling sea vessels and barges with the environmentally friendly fuel LNG.