Thursday, March 29, 2012

Port Of Melbourne, Australia

The Port of Melbourne is Australia's second biggest city and the capital of the State of Victoria. Located at mouth of the Yarra River where it enters the northern end of Port Phillip Bay, the Port of Melbourne is about 33 nautical miles from the Port of Geelong across the Bay and about 727 kilometers southwest of Sydney. In 2006, over 3.5 million people lived in Greater Melbourne.

The Port of Melbourne is the busiest seaport in Australia, handling almost 40% of the country's container traffic, and home to much of the country's automotive industry. It is also an important manufacturing, financial, and business center. The Port of Melbourne is an increasingly-important center for technology, with more than 60 thousand people employed in the information and communications technology sector. With headquarters for two of the country's four major banks, the Port of Melbourne is an important financial hub for the Asia-Pacific region. The Port of Melbourne also has a busy tourism industry that hosted more domestic tourists than Sydney in 2008.

The Port of Melbourne Corporation is the port authority that recently took over the functions of the former Melbourne Port Corporation. The Port of Melbourne's port authority is responsible for managing the channel and shipping activities. The Corporation conducts hydrological surveys of the waters of the Port of Melbourne, plans and supervises contracts for dredging of the commercial properties and maintaining navigational shipping aids in the port, and creating the strategic plans for future commercial shipping in the Port of Melbourne.

The Port of Melbourne contains 34 commercial berths and two modern international container terminals. The Port of Melbourne's multi-purpose berths handle a wide range of cargoes that includes motor vehicles and timber. The specialized berths in the Port of Melbourne handle dry cargoes that include grain, cement, gypsum, sugar, and fly ash. The specialized liquid cargo berths handle cargoes that range from petrochemicals and crude oil to molasses.

Dedicated to container traffic, the Port of Melbourne's Swanson Dock berths can accommodate vessels to 290 meters long with maximum draft of 12.1 meters. The Swanson Dock East is 884 meters long, and the Swanson Dock West is 944 meters long.

The Appleton Docks in the Port of Melbourne are a total of 984 meters long with alongside depths of 11.4 and 12 meters. Handling general cargo, Appleton Docks B, C, and D can accommodate vessels to 250 meters long with maximum draft of 10.1 meters. Handling containers, the Port of Melbourne's Appleton Dock E can accommodate vessels to 126 meters long with maximum draft of 10.1 meters. Appleton Dock F, a common user berth for general cargo, can accommodate vessels to 228 meters long with maximum draft of 10.8 meters.

Also a common user berth handling general cargoes, the Port of Melbourne's Victoria Dock is 315 meters long, and its berth can accommodate vessels of 250 meters in length with maximum draft of 8.8 meters.
The South Wharf at the Port of Melbourne offers seven berths with total length of 914 meters and alongside depths from 9.4 to 11.6 meters. Handling bulk cement, Wharf 26 is 266 meters long and can accommodate vessels to 215 meters long with maximum draft of 10.4 meters. South Wharves 27, 28, and 29 are each 146 meters long and can accommodate vessels to 215 meters in length with maximum draft of 8.8 meters. South Wharves 28 and 29 are common user berths. Wharf 28 handles bulk cement, and Wharf 29 handles direct-to-road transport cargoes only. Wharves 30 and 31 are used only by tug boats. South Wharf 33 contains two cement terminals and a common user berth of 210 meters in length that can accommodate vessels to 185 meters long with maximum draft of 11 meters.

The berth at the Port of Melbourne's Yarraville 5 Dock specializes in bulk sugar and gypsum cargoes and is 148 meters long. It can accommodate vessels to 180 meters long with maximum draft of 8.8 meters. The Yarraville 6 Dock contains two berths of 205 and 220 meters in length. The 205-meter long berth handles bulk cargoes and can accommodate vessels to 180 meters long with maximum draft of 10.2 meters. The 220-meter long berth is a common user berth for bulk cargoes, and it can accommodate vessels up to 180 meters with maximum draft of 7.5 meters.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Port Of Le Havre, France

The Port of Le Havre lies on the right bank of the Seine estuary as it enters the English Channel about 106 nautical miles south-southeast of Southampton in Great Britain. The Port of Le Havre is also located some 216 kilometers west-northwest of Paris and 85 kilometers west of the Port of Rouen. In 2004, some 184 thousand people lived in the Port of Le Havre.

The Port of Le Havre is France's second port after Marseille. Much of the traffic passing through the Port of Le Havre is crude oil, but the Port of Le Havre is also important for its ship repairs and its ferry services to England and Ireland. The Port of Le Havre supports a large industrial zone that contains oil-refining, chemical, petrochemical, cement, automotive, and aeronautical industries. The Port of Le Havre contains growing service and administrative sectors and a growing tourist trade.

The Port Authority of Le Havre is a state agency responsible for managing the port. The Port of Le Havre is France's second busiest port and the fifth biggest port in Northern Europe. It is the largest container port in France and a major oil port, handling some 40% of France's crude oil cargoes. The Port of Le Havre is a multi-purpose commercial port with a wide range of terminals that can process all types of cargo. The Port of Le Havre also serves passengers traveling between the United Kingdom and France as well as passengers aboard international cruise vessels.

The port authority controls the movement of ships arriving and departing the Port of Le Havre as well as movements within the Port of Le Havre. It employs state-of-the-art facilities and technologies to assure the safety and efficiency of port operations and makes information available over the Internet for port customers' convenience. The Port of Le Havre authority also polices the harbor area, monitors dangerous goods, and organizes pollution control activities.

In 2006, the Port of Le Havre handled more than 74.4 million tons of cargo, including 54.3 million tons of imports, 19.5 million tons of exports, and 630 thousand tons of cabotage. The largest single cargo category was crude oil (over 34.2 million tons). The Port of Le Havre also handled some 22.6 million tons of general cargo, 21.1 million tons of which was containerized. The Port of Le Havre handled 11.4 million tons of refined products. Other major cargo groups included coal (2.9 million tons), liquid bulk (1.4 million tons), and solid bulk (1.3 million tons).

Imports passing through the Port of Le Havre in 2006 were dominated by 34.2 million tons of crude oil, 10.6 million tons of general cargo (including almost 10 million tons of containers), and 5.4 million tons of refined products. Other major import categories included coal (1.7 million tons), solid bulk (1.2 million tons), and liquid bulk (643 thousand tons). Port of Le Havre exports were dominated by general cargo (including 11.1 million tons of containers) and refined products (6.0 million tons). The Port of Le Havre also served some 265 thousand ferry passengers in 2006.

The Port of Le Havre covers an area that extends 27 kilometers from east to west and, at its widest, five kilometers from north to south. The Port of Le Havre covers more than ten thousand hectares and includes zones dedicated to sea traffic and to industry-related port activities. The Port of Le Havre includes more than two thousand hectares of environmentally-protected lands within the nature reserve of the Seine Estuary.
Access to the Port of Le Havre is provided by a diverse infrastructure. A shipping canal serves the industrial complex that can accommodate the largest trans-oceanic liners. A river channel connects the Port of Le Havre to the River Seine. The Port of Le Havre also has direct links to the nation's highway, railway, and inland waterway networks.

Port of Le Havre pilots must be on board of any ship over 70 meters long or carrying dangerous goods. Pilotage is not required for ships traveling the English Channel or North Sea; however, it is available and recommended.

Port Of Kobe, Japan

The Port of Kobe lies on the northwestern shores of Osaka Bay in west-central Honshu, the main island of Japan. Capital of Hyogo prefecture, the Port of Kobe is about 10 nautical miles west-northwest of the Port of Osaka and some 140 kilometers southwest of the Port of Nagoya. The combined cities of Kobe and Osaka are Japan's second largest urban area, and the Port of Kobe is Japan?s sixth largest city. In 2005, more than 1.5 million people lived in the Port of Kobe.

The Port of Kobe has been one of Japan's most important ports for many years. In addition to its role in maritime commerce, the Port of Kobe is home to major steel and shipbuilding industries. Other important industries in the Port of Kobe include the manufacture of small appliances, food products, and communications and transportation equipment. The city is linked with the rest of the nation by a complex network of rail lines, including those serving the famous Shinkansen bullet trains, and expressways. When it was opened in 1998, the Port of Kobe?s Akashi Kaikyo Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world.

The Kobe City Government is the Administrator of the Port of Kobe, and the Kobe Port Terminal Corporation (KPTC) builds, leases, and maintains the terminals where companies can rent dedicated terminals. The Kobe Port Administrator manages the port and harbor area facilities for common users. The Kobe Port Administrator established the Kobe Port Terminal Corporation in 1891. The KPTC constructs foreign trade and ferry terminals; leases, maintains, and improves the terminals; and builds, maintains, and controls facilities related to the foreign trade and ferry terminals.

In 2007, the Port of Kobe served 3849 vessels and over two million TEUs of containerized foreign trade cargoes.

The Port of Kobe is located in an enviable location on major international sea routes that connect more than 500 ports in 130 countries and regions around the world. The Port of Kobe also has many domestic routes throughout western Japan. The Port of Kobe is more than a commodity distribution center. It is a popular recreation area for residents and popular cruise ship destination. When the Kobe Airport opened in 2006, a ferry service between the Port of Kobe and Kansai International Airport began operating, making Kobe a hub for sea, air, and land transportation.

The Port of Kobe?s role in international ocean-borne trade is clear in the 83 routes and 346 calls per month that travel through the port. The Port of Kobe the westernmost of Japan?s big five ports, making it the first port for imports and the last port for exports on the intra-Asian sea routes. China is the port?s biggest trading partner, with 77 container routes connecting the two countries with more than 81 sailings per week. The?Port of Kobe is linked to Japan?s western regions by coastal feeder and ferry services to 26 ports with 66 sailings per week.

Port Of Santos, Brazil

The Port of Santos rests on the alluvial plain of Sao Vicente Island in the State of Sao Paulo in Brazil. It is known to be the busiest port in all of South America, and ranked 39th worldwide. Just a few feet above sea level, a tidal channel cuts the island off from the mainland, and concrete channels drain the swampy island to keep the Port of Santos dry. The city lies on both the island and the mainland. The city lies on the shores of a bay deep enough for the biggest ships and has docks totaling six kilometers in length that can serve 50 ships at once.

The Port of Santos was once considered uninhabitable, but drainage canals, paved streets, and proper sanitation have made it a beautiful place. The nearby resort of Guaruja is popular with Brazilians, and Sao Paulo is only 80 kilometers northwest of the Port of Santos. In 2006, over 418 thousand people lived in the city, and almost 1.5 million called the metropolitan area home.

The Companhia Docas do Estado de Sao Paulo is responsible for managing and maintaining the Port of Santos. In 2006, over 76 million tons of cargo passed through the Port of Santos, with over 5600 vessels carrying over 52 million tons of exports and 24 million tons of imports. These shipments included over 1.6 million TEUs of containerized cargo.

The major cargoes were exports of sugar (12.9 million tons) and soya grains (7.2 million tons), with smaller quantities of pellets, alcohol, fuel oil, and orange juice. Coffee exports in 2006 were over 926 thousand tons. Major imports through the Port of Santos included fertilizers (2.3 million tons), wheat (1.4 million tons), and liquefied petroleum gas (520 thousand tons).
The Port of Santos covers more than 7.7 million square meters and contains 9.4 thousand meters of public docks. In 2008, most vessels carried general cargo through the port, while liquid bulk and container vessels also visited the port.


Visitors to the City of Santos (Portuguese) will find many interesting and exciting adventures. The Laje de Santos Marine Park is one of the best scuba diving locations on the coast of Brazil, with depths from 18 to 40 meters that contain reefs, a marine lighthouse, the “cemetery of anchors,” and a sunken fishing boat that is now a nursery for marine life. The Port of Santos’ 19 draining canals are over 100 years old and vary from 50 to 3450 meters long.

The Port of Santos is famous for its beaches. Popular with surfers, the Jose Menino Beach will soon be home to the Pele Museum. Gonzaga Beach is a busy and popular tourist destination with many hotels and the Bandeiras Square. Boqueirao Beach offers all the amenities and hosts an arts and crafts fair on Saturday afternoons. Embare Beach is popular with the young set, and Aparecida Beach is a haven for children where senior citizens have a dance on Saturday afternoons.

The Tip of the Beach at the Port of Santos is a great place to watch the ships moving in and out of the port. On Saturdays, local artists display their work there. You can take the ferry to Guaruja from here or go to Laje de Santos, an ecological reserve, or the Barra Fortress.

The Barra Fortress is an important historic site in the Port of Santos. Located above a 300-meter long beach, sentry towers and the 800-square-meter barracks still stand. Famous for its “Spanish gate” where weapons were stored, the fortress is a favorite spot for tourists.

Port Of Marsaxlokk, Malta

Port of Marsaxlokk (Malta Freeport)  is located on the shores of the Marsaxlokk Bay on the southeastern tip of the island nation of Malta. Malta Freeport is the commercial port for the island and for the fishing village of Marsaxlokk, also one of the most beautiful and quaint seaside locations on the island.

About 10 kilometers south of Malta’s other major port, the Port of Valletta, Marsaxlokk is a major player on Mediterranean ocean-going commercial trade routes. Combining container handling with industrial storage, Malta Freeport is well-known for its no-nonsense business culture and lack of procedural roadblocks.


Home to over three thousand people, the village of Marsaxlokk was used by the ancient seafaring Phoenicians to anchor their ships, and it was the first landing point when the Turkish fleet began the 1565 Great Siege of Malta. The garrison at the 17th Century Fort San Lucjan thwarted a Turkish landing in 1614 (it is now home to the University of Malta’s marine science laboratory). In 1798, French troops disembarked at Marsaxlokk, and remains of the 18th Century fortifications can still be seen. In 1989, US President George Herbert Walker Bush met at Mikhail Gorbachev at Marsaxlokk Bay to discuss the end of the Cold War.

Malta Freeport was established in 1988, and it has grown tremendously since then. Today, it is a major transshipment center for the Mediterranean region.

In 1998, Malta Freeport undertook an organizational restructuring that was completed in 2001. The restructuring greatly improved the port’s operations. Today, Malta Freeport Corporation Ltd. is a landlord and the authority over the Freeport zone. Operating companies have taken over other port activities.
Malta Freeport Terminals Ltd. was created in 2001 as the only operator of the container terminals and warehouse facilities, making clear the distinction between port authority and port operator.

In 2004, the Malta government let a 30-year concession to CMA CGM, a leading worldwide container shipping company, to operate and develop Malta Freeport Terminals. In 2008, the concession was extended to 65 years, with the understanding that Malta Freeport Terminals will continue to be a common-user facility.

 

Malta Freeport Corporation Ltd. is the port authority for Malta Freeport, and Malta Freeport Terminals Ltd. is responsible for overseeing port operations. Internationally recognized for the quality of service for the high volume of containers it handles, Malta Freeport enjoys international recognition from global shipping lines and other ports. In 2004, Malta Freeport handled 1.5 million TEUs of containerized cargo.
In a clearly important strategic position in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, Malta Freeport has developed the solid infrastructure, outstanding facilities, and state-of-the-art technology to provide the highest standard of service to its customers.

Malta Freeport has several important projects underway to expand capacity and improve productivity so it can maintain its competitive edge in Mediterranean container traffic. The port has acquired five super post-Panamax quayside cranes that have capacity to handle up to 24 containers across the vessel. Infrastructure work on Terminal One includes fitting for rails to accommodate a rail span of 30 meters. Malta Freeport has also purchased a variety of heavy-load quayside equipment and heavy-lift trucks and tractors to expedite cargo handling in the port. At the same time, Malta Freeport is increasing its terminal capacity by developing an additional 100 thousand square meters of land to complement the new Main Gate facility.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Port Of Bruges-Zeebrugge, Belgium

The Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge lies on the North Sea about 16 kilometers south of Zeebrugge in northwest Belgium. The city is one of the most authentic pre-automobile cities in all of Europe. It is a charmingly compact yet cosmopolitan center with an important port for the transport of over 40 million tons of cargo a year. The past 15 years have seen the port blossom into a multi-faceted service center and an important point for distribution of goods throughout Europe. In 2007, almost 117 thousand people lived in the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.


In the 7th Century AD, the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge was a landing place on the Zwijn estuary. Described at the “Venice of the North” due to its network of canals, the first counts of Flanders built a castle there in the 9th Century to ward off Norman invaders.
The Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge had a monopoly on English wool by the 13th Century, and it was an important trade center for the Hanseatic League. In the 14th Century, it reached its historical commercial peak as the Zwijn began to silt up. The 15th Century brought decline to the trade center, but the counts of Flanders (dukes of Burgundy) maintained their powerful court there. The 16th Century brought the end of the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge’s importance to Medieval Europe.

Until the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge was opened in 1907, it was a drowsy medieval town. When the port opened, a new era of industry, trade, and tourism began. Occupied by the Germans during both World Wars, the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge was a target for the British and Allied forces.

The Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge economy is dependent on tourism, but a new industrial area is producing ships, electronics, yeast, and industrial glass to complement its traditional spinning, lace-making, and weaving.

Medieval reminders remain in the city, including the old Market Hall boasting a 47-bell carillon and the Town Hall. The Chapel of the Holy Blood is said to hold drops of Jesus’ blood won in the Holy Land in the 12th Century. Several Medieval churches still stand there, including the 1428 replica of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Church of Jerusalem. The Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge also contains many museums boasting fine collections of Flemish art and history. The Memling Museum is located in the 12th Century Hospital of St. John.
In the late 1800s, Belgium began to construct a new port on the coast of the North Sea to include three parts: an outer port (Zeebrugge), a canal between the outer port and Bruges, and an inner port in Bruges. Construction began in 1886 and ended in 1905. For the first years, traffic at the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge was slow, with as few as 200 ships calling at port due to the lack of connections to inland transportation.

The Palace Hotel was opened to serve wealthy cruise passengers, especially Germans, in 1914. Unfortunately, Germans did arrive. World War I German forces turned the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge into a base of operations for their submarine fleet, stationing a thousand men there. In 1917, when Britain tired of the damage German submarines caused, Vice-Admiral Keyes brought a force of 1800 on 168 ships to assault the port. They sunk three cruisers filled with cement at the mouth of the harbor, disabling the powerful submarine fleet.

After World War I, the port was in ruins. By 1920, however, it was open again to ships, and trade resumed. The Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge was the port of departure for Belgium’s fleet of Congo ships. By 1929, silting threatened the busy port, and the Belgian government began dredging operations. That year, the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge handled over one million tons of goods carried on more than a thousand ships.

The worldwide economic crisis of the 1930s brought a slow-down in development of the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge, complicated by strive between the City of Bruges and the Port Authority. Despite the hardships, the second half of the 1930s saw the appearance of a new molasses terminal, a fuel terminal, and a steel plant.


Port Of Savannah, USA

The Port of Savannah lies at the mouth of the Savannah River in southeastern Georgia on its Atlantic Ocean coast just south of the State's border with South Carolina. The Port of Savannah is an important industrial seaport and the seat of Chatham County. The city has a long and fascinating history. In 2000, the Port of Savannah was home to over 131 thousand people, and the metropolitan area had a population of some 293 thousand souls.

Savannah's port has long been vital to the city's economy, and it an important port for exporting goods manufacture in the southeastern United States. Savannah's economy depends on four major sectors: tourism, manufacturing, the military, and the Port of Savannah. Tourism is a major contributor, with more than six million visitors coming to the city each year who bring more than $2 billion to the city. The Port of Savannah is home to several major industries. International Paper is the city's biggest employer, and Gulfstream Aerospace makes the famous private jets in the Port of Savannah. JCB, the world's third biggest producer of construction equipment, is headquartered in the Port of Savannah.

The Georgia Ports Authority is responsible for regulating and managing the State's two major ports in Savannah and Brunswick. The port authority facilitates global trade by operating modern terminals and serving the needs of international business.

In 2007, the Port of Savannah handled almost 19.5 million tons of cargo, including 16.8 million tons of containerized cargo in 2.3 million TEUs. The Port of Savannah also handled over 1.1 million tons of bulk cargo and almost 1.5 million tons of breakbulk cargo. Two major terminals serve the Port of Savannah.
The Garden City Terminal is an ultra-modern dedicated container terminal and, covering 486 hectares, North America's biggest single-terminal container facility. The Ocean Terminal is a combined breakbulk, roll-on/roll-off facility that covers 81 hectares and handles forest products, equipment, steel, and heavy-lift and project cargoes.

The Georgia Ports Authority owns and operates the Garden City Terminal, the United States' fourth biggest container port. This Port of Savannah terminal offers immediate access to both rail and highway and has ample space for future development.

The channel leading to the Port of Savannah's Garden City Terminal is 152.4 meters wide and 12.8 meters deep at mean low tide, with plans to dredge to 14.6 meters in the future. Tidal range in the Garden City Terminal is about 2.3 meters. The King's Island Turning Basin covers 22 hectares, with dimensions of 457.2 meters by 487.7 meters. Vertical bridge clearance is 56.4 meters at high tide.

The Port of Savannah's Garden City Terminal contains nine container berths with a total length of 2955 meters and alongside depth of 12.8 meters. Berth 1 is 515 meters long, and berths 2 through 9 range from 219 to 366 meters. The terminal also contains 183 meters of liquid bulk berths.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Port Of Yingkou, China


The Port of Yingkou  is the second-largest port in northeast China and the tenth-largest nationwide. It includes two separate dockland areas, the Yingkou old port at the mouth of the Liao River, and the Bayuquan port located directly on Liaodong Bay on the Bohai Sea.
Yingkou Port is located in the middle of Liaodong Peninsula, taking the cities with advanced economy and science and technology of china in middle of Liaoning as its backing, with the economic hinterland of three provinces of Northeast and four leagues in east of Inner Mongolia, is the second largest port in Northeast of China.

Yingkou Port has jurisdiction over two ports: Yingkou old port and Bayuquan new port. The Yingkou old port was built up in 1861, has a history of nearly 140 years since it was opened in 1864, and was well known in abroad and domestic as " a fine oriental port for trade".
At present, there are 27 production berths (7 berths in Yingkou old port and 20 berths in Bayuquan new port), 16 berths of over ten thousand ton grade, including 6 berths of thirty to fifty thousand ton, 2 berths for container, and 1 universal berth. The designed capacity of the port is 13.82 million tons, and the designed capacity of container terminal is two hundred fifty thousand TEU.

Bayuquan Port was build up in 1982, and took into the line of ten million ton ports in the country only five years after its first stage project was put into production. The volume handled in 1995 was 11.35 million tons, the volume handled in 1996 was 14.71 million tons, the volume handled in 1997 was 15.83 million tons, the average increasing speed for the three years is 18%. The volume handled in 1998 was 17.10 million tons, the volume handled in 1999 is 19.03 million tons. The forecast handling volume in 2000 is 21 million tons.
In 1996,Yingkou Port cooperated with COSCO, established Yingkou COSCO international container terminal company, the container freight was developed very quickly. Forty thousand and five hundred TEU were handled in 1997, fifty thousand and three hundred TEU were handled in 1998, one hundred and one thousand TEU were handled in 1999, and estimated one hundred and fifty thousand TEU will be handled in 2000.

At present, Yingkou Port has been open up navigation with over 120 ports in 40 countries and regions, has container liner routes to Hong Kong, Japan and Korea and many domestic routes to Huangpu, Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Shanghai, Dandong, and Dalian.

Yingkou Port has two port areas in one city. Yingkou old port is located in the entrance of Hun, Tai and Liao River to sea, Bayuquan port is located in the Liaodong Bay of Bohai Sea. The water area of the port is 113.02 million square meters, the land area is 4.136 million square meters, the total length of berth is 4094 meter in extension. Bayuquan port has 8Km coastline, with deep water and small wave, no silt and no freeze, open up navigation in four seasons, is one of fine port with deep water in north of China.

Port Of Durban, South Africa

The Port of Durban is the third largest city in South Africa and its busiest port. Boasting a warm subtropical climate and beautiful beaches, it is also a major center for tourism in South Africa. Located on the Natal Bay of the Indian Ocean on South Africa's northeastern coast about 165 kilometers southwest of the Port of Richards Bay and almost 1300 kilometers east-northeast of South Africa's Port of Cape Town. In 2007, over 500 thousand people lived in the Port of Durban city, and more than 3.4 million lived in the metropolitan area.


The Port of Durban has a diverse economy with busy sectors in manufacturing, transportation, government, finance, and tourism. Export-related industries are attracted by the port, and tourists are attracted by the mild climate and cultural diversity they find in the Port of Durban. While government is the largest employer in the Port of Durban, manufacturing has been shrinking, leading to increases in the crime rate. The micro-business sector is healthy and growing, but the Port of Durban region has high rates of unemployment. Due to crime and pollution, the Port of Durban's central city has suffered economic decline. Many corporations have relocated to more suburban areas. Despite these setbacks, the Port of Durban is working to revitalize the central city with new leisure and residential developments as well as projects to enhance the waterfront. There is great hope that clean-up efforts in anticipation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup will help turn the local economy around. Still, the Port of Durban is the main economic force in KwaZulu-Natal province, providing over half of the provincial employment, income, and output.


The Transnet National Ports Authority develops port rules for South Africa's seaports under the National Ports Act No. 12 of 2005. The National Ports Act aimed at modernizing ports and making operations more efficient. Under the National Ports Act, the Transnet National Ports Authority is responsible for controlling and managing ports, including maintaining safety and security.


Transnet is a focused freight transport company that seeks to deliver integrated, efficient, safe, reliable, and affordable services that promote economic growth in South Africa. They do this by working to increase their market share, improve profitability and productivity, and provide sufficient capacity that anticipates their customers' needs.


The Port of Durban is one of the world's most important commercial ports. Development of the harbor began in 1855. In addition to being a major container port, the Port of Durban is an entry point for bulk raw materials, capital goods, and industrial equipment. Exports include minerals, sugar, grain, and coal. Oil is refined in the Port of Durban and piped to Johannesburg.


The Port of Durban handles more sea-going traffic than any port in southern Africa. In 2008, the Port of Durban handled a total of 41.4 million tons of cargo, including 30.5 million tons of imports (plus 322.5 thousand tons of cabotage) and 10.4 million tons of exports (plus 217.5 thousand tons of transshipments). The Port of Durban handled 7.3 million tons of bulk cargoes, including almost 27.5 million tons of imports, over 5.5 million tons of exports, and over two million tons of bulk cabotage. The Port of Durban handled a total of almost 3.6 million tons of breakbulk cargoes, including 3.4 million tons of imports, 3.2 million tons of exports, about 37 thousand tons of cabotage, and 195.3 thousand tons of transshipments.


During the 2008-2009 shipping season, the Port of Durban handled 2.56 million TEUs of containers with 34.6 million tons of cargo. Of these 948.2 thousand TEUs were imports, 994.6 thousand TEUs were exports, and 617.5 TEUs were transshipments (including 40.9 thousand TEUs of cabotage). During the season, the Port of Durban handled over 67% of all containers handled by South African ports. The Port of Durban Car Terminal, the country's biggest import/export facility for the motor industry, handled more than 372.5 thousand units, including 184.5 thousand imports, 182.1 thousand exports, and almost six thousand transshipments.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Port Of Yokohama, Japan

The Port of Yokohama is the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture on the eastern Pacific coast of Japan. Located on Tokyo Bay about 15 nautical miles southwest of the Port of Tokyo and nine nautical miles west-northwest of the Port of Kisarazu, the Port of Yokohama lies on a plain surrounded by hills and the sea. The Port of Yokohama was a small fishing community until the mid-19th Century when Japan decided to make nearby Kanagawa its major port for foreign trade and residence. In 2005, almost 3.6 million people lived in the Port of Yokohama.

In the late 20th Century, the modern Port of Yokohama was created with the merger of Yokohama and Kanagawa. Together with Kawasaki, the Port of Yokohama forms the hub of the Keihin Industrial Zone and home to ship-builders and manufacturers of chemicals, primary metals, machinery, automobiles, petroleum products, and metal goods. Other important industries include biotechnology and semi-conductors. Nissan Motor Company is planning to move its headquarters to the Port of Yokohamaby 2010. Handling raw material imports for the industrial zone and a variety of exports, the Port of Yokohama is one of the biggest ports in Japan. The city's business district is clustered around the Port of Yokohama.

The Port and Harbor Bureau of the City of Yokohama is the port authority. The City of Yokohama established the Yokohama Port Public Corporation (YPPC) in 2007 to develop and manage container terminals in the Port of Yokohama and to serve as a gateway for international container logistics.
Today, YPPC manages ten container terminals in the Port of Yokohama, two multi-purpose terminals, and eight conventional terminals. The YPPC strives to improve efficiency and convenience for the Port of Yokohama's customers. It also conducts environmental conservation fund activities and accepts soil produced from public works in the city.

The YPPC constructs, leases, and administers international trade terminals and related facilities. It also administers and operates the public container terminals in the Port of Yokohama, including administering the container wharf commissioned by the City of Yokohama. Environmental conservation fund activities include responsibility for conserving the Port of Yokohama marine environment and managing, maintaining, and cultivating aquatic life in the Port of Yokohama.

The Port of Yokohama covers an area of 7.3 thousand hectares and 2.8 thousand hectares of waterfront area. It includes a 975-hectare commercial zone, a 1.7 thousand hectare industrial zone, a 4.2 hectare marina zone, and a 95 hectare recreational zone.

In 2008, the Port of Yokohama served a total of 43.2 thousand ships carrying more than 141.7 million tons of cargo. Vessels in port included 11.3 thousand ocean-going ships, 5.5 thousand full container ships, and 31.9 thousand costal vessels. The Port of Yokohama handled 91.7 million tons of foreign cargo, including 46.9 million tons of exports and 44.8 million tons of imports. Domestic cargoes through the Port of Yokohama totaled 50.1 million tons, including 2.4 million tons of containerized cargo in 277.6 TEUs.

In 2008, the Port of Yokohama handled a total of 3.5 million TEUs and 52.5 million tons of containerized cargo, over 70% of which was handled by the YPPC. The Port of Yokohama handled a total of 50 million tons of foreign containerized cargo in 3.2 million TEUs. This included 25.9 million tons of exports in 1.7 million TEUs and 24.1 million tons of imports in 1.5 million TEUs.

Foreign cargoes through the Port of Yokohama included 46.9 million tons of exports and 44.8 million tons of imports. Metals and machinery was the biggest foreign export category (33.6 million tons). Single largest foreign cargo was 16.4 million tons of finished automobile exports, included in metals and machinery category.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Port Of Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates

In the United Arab Emirates’ eastern shores on the Gulf of Oman, the Port of Khor Fakkan overlooks the Emirate of Sharjah’s eastern seaboard. Providing connections with Asia and the Far East, it is one of the Emirate’s three ports. It is Sharjah’s only natural deep water harbor.


In the past, much of the Port of Khor Fakkan’s busy traffic resulted from smuggling gold and luxury cargo to Indian and Pakistan. Today, it has facilities for container cargo, a cement factory, pipe works, and oil refining facilities.


The Emirate’s Department of Seaports and Customs, reporting directly to the Sheikh of Sharjah, owns and manages the Port of Khor Fakkan. The Sharjah Port Authority is a subsidiary of the Department of Sea Ports and Customs responsible for maintaining cargo manifests, dangerous goods lists, stowage plans and heavy lifts, and when appropriate, detailed firearms lists.