Page 8 - Sphere No.7 (Oct 2002)

SPHERE
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H U T C H I S O N U P D A T E S
Newsbites
Thamesport Factory Development
In a move that will significantly reduce the
number of lorries on Britain’s roads, Ipswich-
based Medite Shipping has contracted GB
Railfreight (GBRf) to increase container
train links to the Port of Felixstowe.The
services from Port of Felixstowe to Selby and
Doncaster in NorthYorkshire, and from
Felixstowe to Hams Hall near Birmingham,
will use dedicated resources.
Services will increase to five days a week for
both the routes, up from three times and
twice a week respectively. Rail volumes
represent 20% of the port’s available UK
domestic throughput.The service is fully
supported by a track access grant from the
Strategic Rail Authority and will save
more than 25,000 long-haul lorry trips a
year, per train.
Meanwhile, Port of
Felixstowe welcomed
its namesake, the
280m long, 5,400
TEU vessel COSCO
Felixstowe, on its
inaugural voyage
in May.
Thamesport has signed a 15-year contract
with Winpac (UK) for the development of a
purpose-built 30,000-sq-ft factory at the port.
With the aim of expandingWinpac’s
paperboard operation, the raw product will be
transferred directly from the vessel into
quayside warehouses, then delivered to the
factory for processing,
labelling and packaging, and on to waiting
trucks for delivery – all to customers’ exact
specifications.The factory will be operational
by February 2003 and is expected to handle
50,000 tonnes a year initially, rising to over
70,000 tonnes within two years.
Felixstowe onTrack for Growth
Balboa Expands
Panama Ports in July started construction
work on Phase III of the Balboa Container
Terminal development project. The
company is investing US$200 million to
expand its container handling facilities at the
Port of Balboa, located on the Pacific side
of Panama. On completion, the terminal will
provide 840m of quay with 12.9m of draft.
The project includes a 15.4-ha fully
equipped container yard for an annual total
handling capacity of one million TEUs.
YICT Boosts Productivity
Yantian International Container
Terminals (YICT) has taken delivery
of 17 new “one-over-five high” Rubber-
tyred Gantry Cranes (RTGCs) from
Zhenhua Port Machinery, bringing to
70 the number of cranes in operation.The
equipment will increase the container
yard’s productivity, accelerating container
turnover and improving service to
truckers.
A Cruiser Calls
Harwich International Port in July saw the
inaugural call of Royal Caribbean Inter-
national’s new cruise ship Brilliance of the
Seas, the first of six planned calls in 2002.
At 292m, the vessel can carry 2,501
passengers and 864 crew and is the
largest ship to have berthed at
Harwich.
In a further development, Stena
Line in September launched a new
service from Harwich to Rotterdam.
Harwich International Port has signed a
15-year contract with Derby Cement to
import cement to the UK.The July
agreement will see the construction of a
purpose-built 4,800-sq-m cement terminal
able to store more than 20,000 tonnes of
bulk-bagged cement and with equipment
enabling the dispatch of bulk tanker loads
or 1.5 tonne bulk-bags.
Meanwhile, a new four-lane freight
entrance has opened at the Port, giving
direct access to the recently opened second
phase of the Parkeston bypass.The Port
worked in partnership with Essex County
Council to build the new bypass at a cost
of £1 million (approximately US$1.55
million).The freight entrance is equipped
with an automated weighbridge.
Contract Cemented
Marking its first move into the Mainland
China publishing business, the TOM
Group has teamed up with state-owned
SDX Joint Publishing (Sanlian), acquiring
a 49% stake for 40 million yuan (about
US$4.8 million). Sanlian publishes four
national magazines, including Sanlian Life
Weekly. TOM has also signed a letter of
intent to set up a Sino-foreign JV with
Popular Computer Week Publishing
House and China Science Media. The
JV will operate the distribution and
advertising business of Popular Computer
Week, Popular Computer Week CD-ROMs,
Popular Computer Week Bound Volume and
other IT-related reference books.This JV
will be a model for similar partnerships in
China’s recently re-formed media market.
TOM holds 49% interest in the JV, which
has a term of at least 20 years.
HIT Enhances Service
Hongkong
International
Terminals (HIT) has
implemented a new
phase of its Customer Plus
system, a B2B interface
used for exchanging
terminal/container
information with
shipping lines.The
web-based system
offers streamlined
access to information
about more than 30
registered shipping lines.
HIT meanwhile has won the “Best
Container Terminal Operator” in this year’s
Lloyd’s List Maritime Asia Awards.
TOM Moves in to Mainland
E - C O M M E R C E
P O R T S