Invasive pests transferred between countries in intermodal containers have potentially devastating consequences for agriculture and the natural environment.  Global Shippers Forum (GSF) is alerting shippers to the crucial role they play in tightening biosecurity in the container supply chain at the packing point

While there are various sources of potential pest contamination throughout the global freight supply chain, all involved need to take measures to minimise the potentially devastating consequences that unwanted invasive pests can deliver. The Global Shippers Forum (GSF) represents cargo owners which export and import all manner of commodities transported in seaborne containers and urges a greater awareness of the threat.

Hosted by the UK Government on 19^th and 20^th September a specialised group of trade bodies, shipping industry representatives and national plant protection and bio-security agencies will meet at the International Workshop on Reducing the Introduction of Pests Through the Sea Container Pathway*. GSF will be representing shippers to ensure that the scope and limits of their responsibilities are clearly defined.  James Hookham its Director will be speaking during the opening session.

“We will be reviewing one of the many ways that invasive and destructive pests can pass from one country to another – by ‘hitch-hiking’ a ride in, or on, any of the 240 million freight container shipments that are made by sea every year,” declares Hookham.  “I believe this will be a wake-up call to all parties involved in international container shipping and logistics. In particular, the beneficial cargo owner, whether importer or exporter, who potentially exerts the most influence and control over the packer of the container, need to be aware of their responsibilities in avoiding pest infestation at the point of loading. This assumes the packer provided with a clean container in the first place”

Inspections of containers arriving at borders carried out by national biosecurity agencies over the past few years suggest that the number of containers and cargoes infested by pests may be greater than feared. National environment and agricultural ministries have been working through the UN’s International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) to tackle this issue and the London workshop has been convened to consider options for regulating the cleanliness of sea containers and an International Standard for Phytosanitary Measure for the cleanliness of intermodal containers could be in prospect.

GSF has been monitoring and influencing these developments since 2018 when it was invited to join an IPPC Task Force set up to examine the threat to plant health posed by pest-contamination of sea containers.  The Task Force’s report at the end of 2021 set out a range of regulatory options for its parent body, the Commission for Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) to consider. Crucially, it also warned that implementation of new mandatory requirements could impose significant new costs and risks to the fluidity of the international movement of containers.  GSF has been clear in its opposition to any new rules applying indiscriminately to every container shipment, urging that controls and resources be targeted instead on high-risk trade corridors and specific pest threats.

Hookham warns, “Shippers should not wait to be confronted with new regulations before responding to this issue. Whether acting as a buyer or a seller of goods, importer or exporter, the standards of care with which they are packed into the containers should be core to their quality checks and specifications to suppliers or contractors. Keeping bugs out of boxes is a responsibility that shippers and packers could become more accountable for in the future.”

Global Shippers Forum (GSF)

(www.globalshippersforum.com) is the global business organisation speaking up for exporters and importers as cargo owners in international supply chains and trade procedures. Its members are national and regional shippers’ associations representing hundreds of manufacturing, wholesaling, and retailing businesses in over 20 countries across five continents. GSF works for safe, competitively efficient, and environmentally sustainable global trade and logistics.

Hamburg, 01 September 2022 – Port and logistics infrastructure specialist Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC) has put forward operational development design plans for the BILK intermodal terminal in Budapest.

The Budapesti Intermodális Logisztikai Központ (BILK) had a throughput of 230,000 TEU last year and is one of Hungary’s biggest intermodal logistics hubs. With cargo handling capacity almost reached and adjacent land for expansion unavailable, HPC’s task was to answer the question “What is possible?” to increase the terminal’s capacity and strengthen its position in the network. This includes storage size, shunting performance, equipment utilization, and possibly a shift in the mix of cargo unit types – containers, trailers, and swap bodies.

At Europe’s heart, Budapest offers a prime location as a central logistics hub connecting the transcontinental and maritime traffic flows to Western and Eastern Europe. BILK is one of the main hubs of Rail Cargo Group for intermodal traffic with regular connections to European ports such as Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Koper, Piräus, Rijeka, and rail terminals in Neuss, Wels, Wien, and Brno, among others. The terminal currently handles mainly maritime containers, for which it was initially designed, but the demand for handling trailers and other continental traffic is significantly increasing.

“In asking HPC to carry out this work, we wish to take further advantage of Budapest terminal’s unique location. We have realized the changing demands of our customers and are actively working on solutions together with our partners,” explains Attila Czöndör, CEO of BILK. “We manage maritime, continental and Eurasian traffic at the same time at the terminal and want to ensure that all of this traffic, with its different characteristics, can be handled flexibly, yet punctually and reliably.”

As a consequence, HPC’s detailed assessment involved considerations of a wide range of options, including a study of current terminal capacity (tracks, lift, yard, gate) and a sensitivity analysis of comprehensive planning parameters such as a reduction in unit dwell times and train turnarounds as well as changes in modal unit volume splits and traffic types. Also, the effects of faster gate procedures and a reduction of gate peaks through the use of technology solutions such as pre-announcement, optical character recognition (OCR) and self-check-in have been studied.

Particular emphasis has been placed on safety issues. Significant increases in annual volumes will put undoubted stress on current operational processes with a consequent negative effect on work safety due to limited space availability and crossing traffics if no major changes in operational procedures are considered.

Frank Busse, Associate Partner and Business Development Manager Europe at HPC comments, “We see a real need to optimally adapt terminals, BILK among them, to the changing requirements of the railway companies. Growing traffic from the Eurasian region and higher proportions of non-stackable cargo in the continental traffic are leading to new challenges to which the terminal layout and processes must adapt in order to offer competitive services in the long term.”

For more information on port consulting services, please visit the website: www.hamburgportconsulting.com

Contact

Steffi Karsten, HPC Marketing / PR, email: s.karsten@hpc-hamburg.de

About HPC

HPC Hamburg Port Consulting operates as a logistics consulting company, specialising in strategy and transformation services for the ports, terminals, and rail sectors. Since its establishment in 1976, the Hamburg-based consulting company has delivered more than 1,700 projects across 130 countries spanning six continents, along the entire port project development cycle. HPC employs about 100 domain experts with a background as terminal operators, software engineers, logistics managers, transport economists and mathematicians. As a subsidiary of the Hamburg Port and Logistics Corporation (HHLA), HPC has its roots in port handling of container, breakbulk and multipurpose, as well as hinterland operations. www.hamburgportconsulting.com

HPC Hamburg Port Consulting together with PT Melchers Melindo Indonesia has been contracted to deliver a valued judgement on investment in development of Indonesia’s deepest dry bulk terminal

Hamburg, 28 June 2022 – HPC and PT Melchers Melindo Indonesia, part of the international business development group Melchers, have signed a contract with the port operator PT Krakatau Bandar Samudera (PT KBS) to provide an independent study aimed at validating the potential of extending the capacity of Krakatau International Port to handle cargo in addition to dry bulk and break-bulk commodities.

Situated on the West coast of Java, the Krakatau International Port faces the Sunda Strait, one of Southeast Asia’s busiest marine trade routes, connecting the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean. The port serves a large industrial complex for steel production, which includes infrastructure for importing bulk iron ore and exporting steel products from three general cargo berths. Other cargoes handled include corn, soybean, sugar, soybean meal, gypsum coal, salt and general cargo.

PT KBS aims to maximize the potential for the port’s cargo handling ability and further develop its portfolio. The study will include market forecasts, a port operations development concept and financial analysis, which will inform the port’s plan to expand facilities for handling other cargo types. The intention is to further participate in, and benefit from the growing trade via the Sunda Strait.

The contracting by PT KBS of the business development partner PT Melchers Melindo Indonesia and global port specialist HPC for this pre-feasibility study follows a Memorandum of Understanding between the three parties in November 2021

“We aim to ensure that the development of our port infrastructures is in line with our target expectation,” says M. Akbar Djohan, President Director of Krakatau International Port.

“Joining forces with HPC ensures a combination of detailed knowledge about local and global requirements in order to deliver a comprehensive, sound basis for our client’s investment decision,” says Michael Gross, President Director of PT Melchers Melindo Indonesia.

“By concluding a substantiated view of the market opportunities and resources required, we will provide the client with a detailed understanding of the investment opportunity. This will allow for informed decision making and a detailed project risk assessment,” says Dennis
Kögeböhn, Partner at HPC and responsible for the APAC region.

For more information on port consulting services, please visit the website:
www.hamburgportconsulting.com

About HPC

HPC Hamburg Port Consulting operates as a logistics consulting company, specialising in strategy and transformation services for the ports, terminals, and rail sectors. Since its establishment in 1976, the Hamburg based consulting company has delivered more than 1,700 projects across 130 countries spanning six continents, along the entire port project development cycle. HPC employs about 100 domain experts with a background as terminal operators, software engineers, logistics managers, transport economists and mathematicians. As a subsidiary of the Hamburg Port and Logistics Corporation (HHLA), HPC has its roots in port handling of container, breakbulk and multipurpose, as well as hinterland operations. www.hamburgportconsulting.com

HPC Hamburg Port Consulting to evaluate new equipment and capacity requirements at the South Carolina Ports facility  to add capacity to the Southeast’s supply chain

Hamburg, 28 April 2022 – South Carolina Ports has commissioned Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC) to assess the capacity expansion of the Inland Port Greer, one of its intermodal rail terminals located in the Northern part of the state. The assessment was used to validate HPC’s original capacity and review options for expanding total capacity, ensuring the rail-served inland port can handle growing cargo volumes for customers.

SC Ports operates multiple cargo facilities in South Carolina, among them the seaport in Charleston and its inland port in Greer, which extends the Port of Charleston’s reach 212 miles inland via a rail link that enables the smooth movement of goods for customers.

Extending the range of the seaport’s economic influence has been a driving factor for the development and construction of SC Ports’ inland port in Greer. In light of the growing container volumes handled at Inland Port Greer, SC Portscommissioned HPC to develop a capacity improvement plan for the terminal with the aim of evaluating the potential for expansion as a timely response to future volume developments.

“As operators, we aim for flexibility in responding to the supply chain disruptions that are more and more becoming a new normal, while also considering our planned expansion efforts to meet our customers’ needs,” said Steve Kemp, Senior Director Intermodal, Chassis and Operations Projects at SC Ports. “We opted to have our yard and equipment capacity plans reviewed by independent specialists to be prepared for meeting future volume demand.”

After providing a development plan for the facility a few years ago, HPC has now prepared an update, taking into consideration the impacts of ongoing supply chain disruptions in North America and the need for more capacity to handle customers’ growing supply chain needs. Amongst others, the layout concept and equipment procurement plan for long-term expansion have been generally validated within the framework of a sensitivity analysis. HPC has analysed the influencing factors under different dwell time scenarios to map the supply chain resilience.  As a result, some adjustment measures have been suggested, making the facility capable of handling up to 300,000 rail units. 

“Our clients want answers to whether their planning is sufficient to cope with various future scenarios,” says Christoph Schoppmann, Project Director and responsible for intermodal planning at HPC. “With resilient planning, they can give their customers the unprecedented flexibility and control required by manufacturers with tight production lines, and retailers with high demands for efficiency and reliability of their supply chain.”

Thanks to the HPC-internal’s “Intermodal Planning Model”, all traffic and volume flows on the terminal can be mapped and assessed. “We consider all possible terminal resources such as tracks, lift equipment, yard, empty yard, gate, etc., individually and in combination with each other,” says Schoppmann. “As a result, the customer enjoys a better understanding of the options and can make well-informed decisions on making the facility fit for future growth.”

HPC has extensive intermodal and rail terminal planning expertise. The consulting firm for ports, terminals and hinterland connections has already implemented more than 130 intermodal projects worldwide of which 60 have been in North America.

For more information on consulting services for the intermodal sector, please visit the website: www.hamburgportconsulting.com

Contact

Steffi Karsten, HPC Marketing / PR, email: s.karsten@hpc-hamburg.de

About HPC

HPC Hamburg Port Consulting operates as a logistics consulting company, specialised in strategy and transformation services for the ports, terminals, and rail sectors. Since establishment in 1976, the Hamburg-based consulting company has delivered approximately 1,700 projects across 130 countries spanning six continents, along the full port project development cycle. HPC employs about 100 domain experts with a background as terminal operators, software engineers, logistics managers, transport economists and mathematicians. As a subsidiary of the Hamburg Port and Logistics Corporation (HHLA), HPC has its roots in port handling of container, break bulk and multipurpose, as well as hinterland operations. www.hamburgportconsulting.com

The EU-co-funded project creates new connections for freight and passenger transport and optimises hinterland connections in the southern Baltic Sea region

Hamburg, 2 November 2021 – The transnational project “South Baltic Transport Loops” (SBTL), supported by the European Union and initially developed by Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC) recently held its closing conference in Copenhagen. Aimed at assisting in the development of smaller and medium-sized ports in the region, a number of significant new sea connections have resulted.

The main focus of the partners in the project, the ports of Elblag, Karlshamn, Mukran and Roenne, and the Klaipeda Shipping Research Centre is developing and implementing new regular services and ship connections for container, bulk and general cargo transport, and ferry services. Attention is also being placed on improving the intermodal hinterland connections of the ports. Representatives of the project partners presented their results at the closing conference in Copenhagen on 28 September.

HPC developed the project in 2016, applied for funding and has been coordinating it since 2018. Dr Olaf Zeike, Senior Consultant at HPC and the project manager in charge, takes positive stock: “With the activities promoted by the SBTL project, the course has been set for sustainable development of the partner ports in the southern Baltic Sea region. Despite Corona-related delays, we can be proud of the team effort that has been achieved across the countries involved in the project.” The list of innovations and improvements is impressive.

A total of three new connections in cargo transport have been established so far: to build the “Baltic Sea Bridge” for container transport between Europe and China, a regular connection was set up to run several times a week between the port of Mukran (Saßnitz) on the island of Rügen and Baltysk. The latter belongs to the Russian Kaliningrad region and allows for a connection to the New Silk Road by rail from and to Xi’an, China.

The creation of a new connection between Mukran and Karlshamn in February 2021 also provided the southern Swedish port with access to the New Silk Road. “Large investments are being made to strengthen and expand the transport corridor between Sweden and Eastern Europe/CIS/China via Karlshamn,” says Ulf Sandevärn, Marketing Manager, Port of Karlshamn.

New ferry connections have been established between the southern Swedish ports of Ystad and Mukran, which will serve in responding to an expected increase in tourism with up to two departures daily in the summer, bearing particular relevance for passenger traffic and tourism.

Between Roenne on the island of Bornholm and Mukran, it was possible to switch to a year-round ferry service and increase the number of weekly departures. “The connection to Mukran has strengthened the central importance of the Port of Roenne as Bornholm’s supply port,” says Maja Felicia Bendtsen, Chief Business Officer – Bulk, Port of Roenne.

As regards the ferry service between Karlshamn and Klaipeda, Lithuania, in addition to an increase in frequency, port capacity has also been extended and prepared for the use of larger ferries.

“At the Port of Elblag, extensive preparatory work was carried out for the future development of the port upon completion of the new canal between the Baltic Sea and the Vistula Lagoon,” explains Arkadiusz Zglinski, Director of the Port of Elblag. 

“The southern Baltic Sea region is developing very quickly, and it is important that the forecast of passenger and cargo flows is as accurate as possible,” says Prof. Vytautas Paulauskas of the Klaipeda Shipping Research Centre, who has been analysing traffic flows in the region.

In terms of improving hinterland connections, bus lines to the ports of Karlshamn and Mukran have been optimised. The railway hinterland connection for container transport to and from the ports of Karlshamn and Mukran has also been improved.

“Mukran is the closest German port to Sweden, Bornholm, Finland, Russia and the Baltic States and serves as a gateway to Western Europe,” says Helmut Seilert, Senior Manager Business Development & Logistics, Fährhafen Sassnitz GmbH. “Thanks to the project, the improved hinterland connection for freight transport enables green transport by rail from the Baltic Sea to numerous destinations in Germany and to Rotterdam.”

The South Baltic Transport Loops project has been funded by the Interreg South Baltic programme, which utilises funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Interreg is one of the European Union’s (EU) main instruments for promoting cross-border cooperation through project funding. The programme aims to find common solutions in the areas of transport and sustainability, among others. For example, projects funded under the heading “Blue Growth” address the economic potential of the Baltic Sea for economic growth and employment along the coasts of the Baltic Sea.

“The SBTL project has vividly filled the Interreg programme priorities with life,” Olaf Zeike concludes. “Together, the project partners have worked towards sustainable, innovative solutions that are attractive for business and tourism in the region and promote cooperation.”   

For more information, visit www.southbaltictransportloops.EU

About HPC

Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC) operates as a logistics consulting company, specialising in strategy and transformation services for the ports, terminals, and rail sectors. Since its establishment in 1976, the Hamburg-based consulting company has delivered approximately 1,700 projects across 130 countries spanning six continents, along the entire port project development cycle. HPC employs about 100 domain experts with a background as terminal operators, software engineers, logistics managers, transport economists and mathematicians. As a subsidiary of the Hamburg Port and Logistics Corporation (HHLA), HPC has its roots in port handling of container, break bulk and multipurpose, as well as hinterland operations. www.hamburgportconsulting.com

Hamburg, 20 October 2021 – Dr Nils Kemme has been appointed Managing Director of HPC Hamburg Port Consulting. His appointment, effective from September, completes HPC’s dual leadership by seasoned experts promoted from its own ranks. Nils Kemme has been working at HPC for a decade in various management positions. Together with fellow Managing Director Suheil Mahayni, he will be driving the further development of consulting services and digital solutions for the global port and logistics industry. 

Nils Kemme has been closely associated with terminal operations since his university days. A business economist specialising in logistics, he conducted research on the optimisation of Automated Guided Vehicles AGV at Container Terminal Altenwerder, part of the HHLA Group, and wrote his doctorate on simulation-based planning and optimisation of container terminals.

As a terminal planner at HPC, he has developed numerous planning and optimisation projects aimed at operational efficiency and has established HPC’s own simulation department. With his team, he has successfully implemented more than 40 such simulation projects. Additionally, Nils Kemme has brought into focus significant features in the areas of sustainability and electrification of equipment. Having assumed the role of a partner in 2019, he has since taken responsibility for shaping the company. 

“With Nils Kemme, we have gained a renowned expert in the industry as well as a confident leader,” says Suheil Mahayni. “As an insider, he is also very familiar with the DNA of the companies within our group.  I am really looking forward to our cooperation.”

The joint MDs are united in their motivation: “Together we can demonstrate how we want to develop our organisation: customer-, team- and technology-oriented,” says Nils Kemme. “With climate change, the demands of energy transformation and new technologies, the global port and logistics industry is facing major challenges.  We must meet these with a strong team possessing a great deal of expertise, motivation and a good connection to the customer,” adds Suheil Mahayni.

Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC) operates as a logistics consulting company, specialised in strategy and transformation services for the ports, terminals, and rail sectors. Since establishment in 1976, the Hamburg-based consulting company has delivered approximately 1,700 projects across 130 countries spanning six continents, along the full port project development cycle. HPC employs about 100 domain experts with a background as terminal operators, software engineers, logistics managers, transport economists and mathematicians. As a subsidiary of the Hamburg Port and Logistics Corporation (HHLA), HPC has its roots in port handling of container, break bulk and multipurpose, as well as hinterland operations. www.hamburgportconsulting.com

Potential analysis and determination of digital maturity level of the European inland waterways within the TEN-T corridors to inform an EU-wide digitalisation strategy

Hamburg, 6 October 2021 – HPC Hamburg Port Consulting, the leading logistics consultancy for ports, maritime and inland terminals as well as intermodal rail transport, has been commissioned by the German Directorate-General for Waterways and Shipping (GDWS) to conduct a study on information services for ports and terminals. The analysis is being carried out as part of a European project aimed at developing a digitalisation strategy for freight transport on continental Europe’s inland waterways. 

As the central federal authority of the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, the GDWS is participating in the “Digitalisation of Inland Waterways” (DIWA) project, which is funded by the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme and involves four other national inland waterway authorities: the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Austria. The project aims to develop a common, integrated strategy for the digitalisation of the inland waterways of the TEN-T corridors, making the transport mode more competitive and sustainable in the long term.

“We at GDWS are pleased that, together with our European project partners, we will be able to help shape the future of European inland waterway transport and to contribute to this environmentally friendly mode yielding an even better performance,” say Thomas Wagner, Head of Department for Inland Transport Engineering and Tobias Aretz, National DIWA Coordinator (both GDWS).

As part of the business process developing a framework for the DIWA master plan, HPC has been commissioned to explore the information services for ports and terminals. The focus will be on building an inventory of the data inter-faces between inland navigation operators and European ports, as well as the IT system landscape.  The aim is to determine the existing level of digital maturity and future potential with regard to the digitalisation of the processes engaging ports and inland navigation.

” Against the background of the heavy utilisation of road and railway systems, the integration of inland navigation into the overall development of intermodal transport concepts is very welcome, ” says Hartmut Beyer, authorised signatory at HPC. He is convinced that “The digital transformation of the inland waterways network will significantly increase the attractiveness of the mode for customers. At HPC, we are very pleased to be able to input into the strategic development of this important trans-European project with our combined port and IT know-how.”

HPC has many years of experience in this sector and has advised national and international inland ports on operational issues, analyses and digitalisation projects. For example, HPC supports the Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center HVCC in optimisation and coordination of maneuvering when feeder vessels and larger ships meet in restricted parts of the Elbe or in port.

In addition, HPC has successfully implemented digitalisation and inland navigation projects for operators on the Rhine, in India and the USA.

HPC is an active member of the Inland Vessel Working Group of Hamburg Hafen Marketing. The working group aims to strengthen the role of inland navigation in the Port of Hamburg.

Further information on the DIWA project and the TEN-T corridors can be found at www.masterplandiwa.eu.

For more information on HPC’s consultancy services, please visit www.hamburgportconsulting.com.