PORTS & DOCKS
NEWS GLEANED FROM THE WORLD WIDE WEB

Fincantieri Cantieri Navali SpA Marghera Shipyard

If the Italian words above are a bit of a mystery to you, join the club, they were to me, they are the name of the company building the new Cunarder Queen Victoria. When looking up the story below I also found out that the new "Arcadia" was originally going to be the Queen Victoria.  Following are some photos & details of this shipyard's latest ships - they have built over 7000 ships! And I never heard of them!!  I must have been wearing English spectacles.

Above the 'new' "Arcadia" - laid down as the 'Queen Victoria'

CUNARD'S NEW QUEEN VICTORIA

Cunard's 'Queen Victoria' Debuts December 11, 2007

Dec 12, 2006

VALENCIA, CA - December 11, 2006 - Cunard's newest ocean liner, 'Queen Victoria' will debut exactly one year from today sailing roundtrip from Southampton throughout Northern Europe on her sold-out maiden Christmas Markets voyage, followed by the ship's second sailing - also sold-out - the Maiden Canary Islands Festive Celebration sailing to Southern Europe.

'Queen Victoria' will mark a major milestone on January 15, 2007 when she is floated out for the first time at the Fincantieri Cantieri Navali SpA Marghera Shipyard near Venice, Italy, who has been building the ship in the dry dock since May. This is the first ship built for Cunard Line by the renowned Italian shipyard, one of the most technically advanced shipbuilders in the world who have built more than 7,000 vessels.

Above the 'Golden Pricess'

During the float out, the dock valves will be opened for the ship to meet the sea for the first time and special ceremonies will take place to commemorate the initial introduction of the new Cunard Queen to the water.

 This significant occasion marks the beginning of the final construction stages for the $522 million sister ship to the line's flagship Queen Mary 2 and grande dame of the seas QE2.

The 'Destiny 1' the first 100,000 tons plus liner ever - built by Fincantieri Cantieri Navali

"We are excited by the growing anticipation of Queen Victoria's debut. She will become part of the legacy and tradition of the great Cunard Queens," said Carol Marlow, president and managing director of Cunard Line. "We look forward to bringing our guests the newest version of the legendary Cunard voyage experience."

On January 6, 2008, the ship will continue to make history when she embarks on her first World Cruise, the 106-day Pathway to the Explorers voyage. The momentous occasion will take on even more fanfare when Queen Victoria sails into New York for the first time on January 13, meeting Queen Mary 2 and QE2, marking the first time three Cunard Queens will be in port together in the company's 167-year history.

Queen Victoria's post-World Cruise itineraries will be announced during 2007.

Queen Victoria will be a quintessential Cunard liner that includes not only hallmark features associated with the luxury brand, but also exciting innovations including private viewing boxes in the Royal Court Theater, alfresco dining for Grill guests, a floating

museum display of Cunard memorabilia (Cunardia), and a two-story library with nearly 6,000 books.

Expanded details on all of the design features, staterooms, Cunardia and the vessel's amenities and services will be announced throughout 2007, beginning in January.

*****

GIANT CHINESE CRANES

Not the Flying Type

The derrick, called Hua Tian Long,

was developed by the Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co Ltd (ZPMC), a leading manufacturer of cranes and large steel structures.

It was designed with a lift power of 4,000 tons and delivered to the Guangzhou Salvage Bureau earlier this week.

It marks a milestone in China's capability to design and manufacture colossal marine equipment on its own. And the barge itself provides badly needed devices to help explore the marine oil frontier and assist salvage initiatives.

Guan Tongxian, ZPMC's chief executive officer, told China Daily Shanghai & Delta that his company will design next year a revolving floating crane with 7,000 tons of lift.

On Tuesday, the 165-metre-long, 48-metre-wide barge slowly lifted a 4,000-ton load and revolved steadily as representatives from the ZPMC, the salvage bureau and municipal government, as well as college professors, looked on.

According to the company, traditional vessels with fixed floating cranes could not venture out to sea, as they might be damaged in potentially severe weather. But Hua Tian Long, with a revolving crane that can be laid down in case of huge gusts and waves, could be dispatched to conduct multiple tasks such as salvage and oil exploration.

"It's totally designed and manufactured by Chinese intellectuals on their own, and it filled in the gap in this regard," Guan said.

The derrick will be used to recover a sunken vessel from the Song Dynasty (960-1127) in the South China Sea, before it possibly being employed to help explore marine oil fields.

Modern devices are needed as companies are venturing further out to sea, drilling deeper than ever in their quest for energy as oil consumption grows and access to most oil-rich regions becomes increasingly restricted.

A multi-functional firm, ZPMC provides products including quayside container cranes, rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs), bulk-material ship loaders and un-loaders, bucket-wheel stackers and re-claimers, portal cranes, floating cranes, engineering vessels and large steel bridge structures.

So far, as per its order book, ZPMC has an outstanding supply record of 1,000 quayside container cranes, 1,500 RTGs and numerous non-standard large port machineries.

According to a survey by the British World Cargo News magazine,ZPMC had the largest order book for large container cranes during the past seven years.

ZPMC designed and manufactured the world's first set of quayside container cranes that can handle twin 40-inch containers with dual hoists. The double trolley quayside container cranes designed by ZPMC are also taking leading positions in the world.

ZPMC has been listed at the Shanghai Stock Exchange for A and B shares, and the company's net assets have reached US$450 million.

*****

SIGNS OF NEW LIFE FOR THE

MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL 

I did a ‘cruise’ down the canal on a Mersey Ferry in September this year, for an ex Manchester Liner man it was both interesting and sad. The Port of Manchester is now long gone, the couple of square miles of docks are now a big shopping centre and yuppie land, very nice to look at, but in reality just another distribution centre for Chinese goods.

 The canal lower down still has a maritime life, especially for Chemicals with small specialist tankers supplying the Petro/Chemical industries around Patricroft & Irlam.

Nov 22 2006

From the Daily post

PEEL Ports has revealed plans to establish closer operational links between the Port of Liverpool and Manchester Ship Canal.

The first stage in the plan will see Peel's Greenock to Southampton shipping service call at Liverpool docks instead of Irlam Container Terminal, where it currently stops.

Containers bound for destinations along the canal will now be unloaded on the Liverpool side of the River Mersey before being switched to smaller vessels for the final leg of their journey.

The service will be run by Peel subsidiary BG Freight Line, and it is hoped it will be the first of many services using Liverpool as a hub for transhipment down the canal.

Peel has owned the Manchester Ship Canal since 1986. It bought the Port of Liverpool last year when it paid £771m for Mersey Docks and Harbour Company.

The 36-mile canal is lined with quays serving the North West's traditional industries.

A Peel spokesman said: "This is a development of traffic that is already happening. We already ship grain this way. Its loaded onto barges from Liverpool before going up the canal to Manchester.

"Its more economical this way and we hope to win more such business from outside the group.

"This will maximise things for shippers and allow them to move containers by water rather than road.

"It should involve less road congestion and is a more environmentally friendly way of moving freight."

BG currently operates services from the Irish Sea to Rotterdam and Antwerp.

It also has an east coast service between Rotterdam and Grangemouth in Scotland. It will begin a service between Greenock and Rotterdam in the first quarter of next year.

The shipping line has acquired five new vessels to allow the expansion of its services to take place. Peel bought BG Freight at the time of the Mersey Docks deal.

Frank Robotham, Peel Ports Marketing Director, said: "The movement of cargo between the Port of Liverpool and the Ship Canal is already established. The plan to extend the Port's platform as a hub into containerised traffic will present North West shippers with a real waterborne alternative to moving boxes by road, with the consequent financial and environmental advantages. It's a logical step in developing the two - the Port and the Canal - as one superport facility for the region."

*****

PROBLEMS IN PANAMA

Panama plans to double canal's capacity

By Robert Wright, Transport Correspondent –The Financial Times Published: April 25 2006

Panama was last night set to announce a $5.25bn plan to double capacity of the 92-year-old shipping canal that cuts across the country, allowing ships of more than twice the present maximum size to use the vital waterway.   

The long-awaited announcement, which has been delayed by controversy over the country's public finances, was expected to be made at a public meeting addressed by President Martín Torrijos, Ricaurte Vás-quez, economy minister and chairman of the Panama Canal Authority, and Alberto Alemán Zubieta, its chief executive.

The plans, drawn up by the canal authority, will now be passed to the president and will then be voted on by the Panamanian legislature before a public referendum that will be required for final approval.

Mr Alemán Zubieta told the Financial Times the announcement would make it an important day for Panama and the world maritime industry.

The 82km-long canal, which links the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, needs to expand because its locks, which were large enough to accommodate every ship afloat in 1914 when the canal opened, are now too small for many of the world's largest container ships.

Almost all the canal's capacity is used after a boom in demand for services linking Asia with the US east and Gulf coasts.

In recent weeks, scores of ships have been queuing at either end of the canal, waiting for a passage because so few slots are available.

Mr Alemán Zubieta said the plan that had been decided on would involve construction of a third lane of locks alongside the two parallel lanes of existing locks at Miraflores, Pedro Miguel and Gatun on the canal.

Each new lock would measure 1,400 feet by 180 feet with a draft of 50 feet - a size that would accommodate container ships carrying up to about 12,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), against a current maximum for the canal of about 5,000 TEUs.

The largest container ships now afloat carry about 10,000 TEUs.

"This will create a lot of opportunities for the maritime industry and will create a lot of opportunities to change the mode that trade is moved in the future," Mr Alemán Zubieta said.

The planned expansion would cost $5.25bn (€4.3bn, £2.9bn), the administrator said and, if work started next year, it could be completed by about 2014.

Mr Alemán Zubieta said the expansion would be paid for through canal tolls, although at the peak of the work a bridging loan would be required because not all the money could be raised from users before the expansion.

He said he expected Panamanian citizens to back expansion, which has been controversial, because the canal was Panama's most important resource.

Tolls for container ships using the canal have increased sharply over the past year, while a $500m social fund for Panamanian citizens, backed by canal revenues, has been set up as the authorities have sought to increase support for expansion.

 Editorial from the PANAMA BULLETIN

Posted: 2006 Apr 24 - 10:45

On the canal question – he who blinks is the loser 

The old stories that no water or land bridge will ever be built to compete with the Panama Canal are children’s stories for those that do not observe the reality of today’s world. 

The threats of various Central American countries to wager on building links between both oceans and seize the booty transported by commercial ships, is a fact that will occur at any moment.

Time has run out and if we do not proceed rapidly, the Panama Canal will only be useful for sporting events in enormous pools to entertain the Panamanians.

The closest competitor to the canal on the panorama is Mexico. 

A new and gigantic container transport corridor will be built and have a direct connection between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The specialized maritime magazine, “Fairplay”, warns of the threat of this mega port project.

Gold is in abundance to execute the work and there are many investors showing interest in participation. 

This corridor has been proposed to handle greater amounts of trans shipments more than those handled by the Panamanian ports.

Mexico expects to detour a good percentage of the traffic of the Panama Canal to this new route. Is this not a cause for worry?   

The first studies of this Mexican mega project, contemplates well calculated details, especially those that refer to ships originating from Asia that would be able to discharge and load containers in the port Salina Cruz and continue to other ports on the west coast of South America.  

 The project would link to the Gulf of Mexico with a highway 500 kilometres long and a railway line. 

The Mexican entrepreneur, Carlos Slim, considered the third richest man in the world, would contribute the seed capital and invite other large investors to participate.  Spanish businesses and stevedoring companies have expressed their interest in participating in the possible tenders for the transport corridor. 

This same interest cannot be seen in the announced project of a third set of locks on the Panama Canal. The reasons are confusing, but strategically it can be observed what the intentions are.

The cards are already are already on the table and the rival of the Panama Canal will not be willing to ask Approval and even less to justify to the Panamanian government what is proposed.  Another threat more than adds to the critical decision in a referendum on the urgent construction of a third set of locks.

THOUSANDS OF CONTAINERS GO TO OTHER PORTS

From the Panama Bulletin

By Juan Rafael Cortes Dean - Posted: 2006 Apr 24 - 10:47

More than 400,000 containers have been sent on Panamax ships (a ship that will fit in the locks)  to other destinations because of the congestion at the Panama Canal.    

The existing problems of land cargo transport in the United States have caused an endless number of Panamax ships to fill Panama Bay waiting to transit the Panama Canal. 

Of the 112 ships waiting, the backlog was reduced to 89 last week on both sides of the waterway.

However, the cruise and container ships cannot wait more than 24 hours to transit. 

The Panama Chamber of Shipping advised the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) of the concern of their clients over the delays, because the

waiting has made a time loss record and some shipping companies have opted for simply seeking other routes or using multi-modal systems. 

another editorial from the same newspaper

Posted: 2006 Apr 03 - 13:48

• Spin the Canal roulette wheel - who wins and who loses?

The bets are not very safe. There are still a series of doubts on the advantages of building a third set of locks that will permit the Panama Canal to maintain it supremacy on the American continent. 

The number of ships that transit the waterway gives it a noticeable place in the maritime industry.  

The shipping lines accept our route because it guarantees that their ships will arrive at their destinies on time and according their planning. 

The benefit of the Canal is recognized as a strategic step for a great part of the commerce that moves to the United States from Asia. Local exports also have an advantage over the rest of the region because we have more transport options. 

Some weeks ago the capacity of the Canal was put to the test when a large number of ships could not transit in the normal time established. 

The main reason for this was because of the demand by Panamax ships originating from New Orleans and Houston with cargo that had been delayed by hurricanes “Rita” and “Katrina”,

The real value of our geographical position is the maritime transportation that connects global and regional markets.  In all the commercial spheres of the world the Canal is seen as a magnet that stimulates the development of ports to the enlargement of banking and financial services of greater reputation.

To complement the menu of the Canal, the former US first lady, Hillary Clinton, has appeared on the scene announcing that the Chinese control the Canal. Such irresponsible affirmations can cause serious consequences.

No one needs to be very wise to analyze that any political movement that takes place inside and outside of Panama, has its pages sealed and that at any specific moment the luck of the Canal can be decided. 

The modernization of the Canal needs to go ahead with extreme caution and the politicians take their hands out of matters that concern the future of this monument to humanity. 

 It is the hour of the great decision.  It is the hour of the Canal truth. Time has run out and to do nothing will result in very sad consequences for those of us who inhabit this country and also for the rest of the world. 

*******

UK: GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES A CUT IN LIGHT DUES  

(I often wondered how and who paid for lighthouses, now I know) ed.

 Shipping Minister Stephen Ladyman announced today that light dues paid by merchant ships for aids to navigation in UK waters will be reduced from 39p to 35p per tonne in 20065/07.

 The tonnage cap will remain the same at 35,000 tonnes making the maximum charge for light dues £12,250 per voyage. The need to record the departure dates of vessels for collection purposes will be removed and so will the exemption from payment of light dues for vessels calling at a port in ballast. This will simplify the collection process.

 Light dues are a system of charges levied on commercial shipping calling at all UK and Republic of Ireland Ports. In the UK, the provision and maintenance of aids to navigation - such as lighthouses, buoys and beacons - falls to the three General Lighthouse Authorities (Trinity House Lighthouse Service, the Northern Lighthouse Board and the Commissioners of Irish Lights). Their costs are funded from the collection of these charges.

 "The Government remains committed to the present system of recovering costs but is determined to minimise the cost burden on the shipping industry. The rate per tonne has fallen repeatedly since its 1993 peak of 43p. The reduction I am announcing today means a further fall of 10.2%.

This is a remarkable achievement during a period of major capital investment by the General Lighthouse Authorities and against a background of general inflation. I pay full credit to the Authorities for their commitment to an efficient and cost effective service providing aids to navigation.

 The strong performance of the underlying General Lighthouse Fund in the past year makes a cut on this scale possible. The cut returns to light dues payers the benefit of growth in the Fund, for as long as this proves possible."

 "This is excellent news for all merchant ships. I welcome the assurance of the Lights Advisory Committee, who represent the shipping industry, ports and cargo interests, that they are prepared to support a rise in light dues rates should this become necessary at some future date."

Notes to Editors

 1. Under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, the three General Lighthouse Authorities in the British Isles, Trinity House Lighthouse Service, the Northern Lighthouse Board and the Commissioners of Irish Lights, manage the lights, buoys and beacons around the coasts of their respective areas. The Authorities' costs are met from the light dues levied on shipping using ports in the British Isles which are paid into the General Lighthouse Fund. In any year, a vessel is not required to pay light dues for more than seven voyages in total. The structure and level of light dues are determined by the Secretary of State for Transport under the Act. In the Republic of Ireland these matters are the responsibility of the Irish Minister of Marine and Natural Resources.

 2. Regulations will be laid to amend the Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Regulations 1997 to make the following amendments:

 (a) rate per tonne for ships subject to payments per voyage - from 39p to 35p

(b) the maximum charge for light dues will now be £12 ,250 per voyage

 (c) remove the requirement to record the departure date of vessels

 (d) remove the exemption given to vessels navigating in ballast and not engaged in revenue earning activity. 

(There has been some talk in the shipping world over the past year of doing away with lighthouses, or rather doing away with having to pay for them.

the argument being that ships don't need them anumore in these days of electronic navigation.) ed. 

HYUNDAI HEAVY INDUSTRIES

THE WORLD'S BIGGEST SHIPBUILDING COMPANY

The worlds largest shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries, said Thursday that it won a $530-million contract to build four 9,700-TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) container ships from Germany's C.P. Offen.

Each ship is 350 meters long and 43 meters wide and can cruise at a speed of 25.3 knots loaded with about 9,700 20-foot containers, the company said.

Korean shipbuilders have won orders for some 70 container ships larger than 8,000 TEUs since 2003, accounting for 40 percent of the world's market, Hyundai said.

Due to the current stable backlog, the company has lowered its target for new orders in 2005 by 35 percent from 2004 to $5.5 billion. Instead, it is focusing on winning orders for high value-added ships, such as large-sized containerships and liquefied natural gas carriers, to improve profitability, the company said.

In January, it won orders from China¡¯s Cosco Asia for four of the largest container ships in the world, with each having a capacity of more than 10,000 TEUs.The equivalent of 10,000 TEUs are 10,000 20-foot cargo containers.

NEWS FROM LIVERPOOL

Painless takeover brings docks era to an end Sep 22 2005

 Peel Holdings now owns the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company.

FROM THE DAILY POST & LIVERPOOL ECHO

City Editor Larry Neild reports.

A NEW era dawned today in the history of the Port of Liverpool, once the world's greatest seaport.

The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company disappeared as a publicly-listed company at midnight, with ownership switching to Peel Holdings.

Peel, owners of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the Manchester Ship Canal and the Trafford Centre, assumed ownership of the MDHC, and with it a vast estate of docklands and real estate spanning some 2,000 acres.

The Mersey Docks group employs 1,800 people, 800 of them on the Mersey. Staff will report for work as usual today in what is a seamless takeover by the millionaire Whittaker family of Manchester.

Even the famous name MDHC will live on, at least for the foreseeable future, but the company has withdrawn from the London Stock Exchange. Peel, privately-owned, is not listed in the City.

Among those 800 employees in Liverpool are just a handful of dockers, or port operatives as they are now called. There are now just 400 dockers working along the river, mostly for private supply companies such as Drake International.

At its peak, Liverpool docks employed 25,000 dockers and was buzzing with activity along miles of berths and quays. There were times in the 1960s when 100 ships were tied up, bringing cargo from every corner of the world.

Liverpool docks were synonymous with industrial strife, and a seemingly endless catalogue of stoppages gave the city its image as a strike-torn area.

Until 1948, dockers were forced to wait in pens to see if they would be picked for a day's work.

The setting up of the National Docks Labour Scheme by the Labour government gave thousands of dockers the stability and certainty of earnings they had been denied for generations.

In the 1970s, the MDHB was hit by a financial crisis, coming as close to complete closure as it had in any time since its formation. The board was still struggling with working methods devised decades earlier and had not adapted to the technical changes in the maritime industry.

Staring bankruptcy in the face, the board promoted an Act of Parliament which led to the setting up of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company in 1971. That move, coupled with the building of the £50m development at Seaforth, gave the new company a fighting chance of survival.

The troubles, though, continued and the unrest and strikes led to the leaving of Liverpool by many of the big shipping lines. They headed for new ports with less militant workforces.

In the early 1980s, the MDHC had seen the amount of cargo it handled fall to less than 10m tonnes. It prompted the company to embark on its biggest-ever rationalisation programme.

Thousands of dockers took voluntary redundancy and new working practices were introduced. The MDHC was even able to secure the first ever two-year pay deal with its dockers.

Towards the end of the 1980s, the National Dock Labour scheme was scrapped, leading to a national dock strike.

That ended and there was relative peace at the port until the last big dispute that started in 1995, involving dockers employed by the stevedore company Torside.

Peel Holdings today take control of a port busier than at any time in its long history. The final annual report of the

MDHC shows that turnover in the past year was £326m, with pre-tax profits exceeding £55m. The company handled almost 40m tonnes of cargo, including 32m in the Port of Liverpool.

General cargo amounted to just 374,000 tonnes, with container and bulk cargo accounting for the lion's share.

larryneild@dailypost.co.uk

Nearly 800 years ago, a handful of ships sailed from a small creek which was transformed into one of the world's great seaport

LIVERPOOL has been a port since the time of King John, who in 1207 granted a charter to establish a township.

Main activities were shipments of cattle hides, salt and tar from Wales and Ireland from a small creek that today lies beneath the Pier Head.

In a three-month period of 1586, seventeen ships sailed from Liverpool to Ireland. Included in the cargo manifest were 1,400 tennis balls, 14 racquets, textiles (from Manchester), knives and scythes.

The great plague of London in 1665 prompted many London shippers to switch to Liverpool.

Pirates in the English Channel also gave Liverpool a boost from owners of ships heading to the Americas.

Liverpool Town Council was the original port authority. In 1709, it promoted an Act of Parliament to build the first enclosed dock on the site of the original "pool", now the site of Chavasse Park and Canning Place.

The council acted as trustee of the dock estate until 1858.

As the port expanded and its management became more complex, its affairs were delegated to a committee. Between 1845 and 1847, permanent sub-committees were set up to cope with the main aspects of port business such as finance, harbour administration and building works.

From about 1850 onwards, Liverpool Corporation came under increa