Maritime Transport System
6. Ports
The facilities in the maritime transport system are called ports and will be presented to you on the following page.
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Ports are the transportation chain interfaces in the maritime
transport system and are often multifunctional hubs, as they not only
realize the modal shift but often also provide cargo handling and
storage functions.
There are several logistics requirements on seaports which are shown in the figure "Logistics requirements on seaports".
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For the export of goods, seaports are handling the goods from the
trucks, trains and inland waterways which are arriving at different
times. They have a collecting and buffering function, as they store the
goods until the vessel is arriving. After the arrival of the vessel, the
terminals are loading those goods to the vessel as mass transportation
medium.
For the import of goods, the terminals are unloading
the vessel and store the goods, until the means of transport for the
last leg is picking up the goods from the seaport.
There are different port types, which can be differentiated depending on the responsible stakeholder for the port management, ownership management, ownership suprastructure and service provision. The four port types service port, tool port, landlord port and private port are described in the figure "Different kind of ports".
There are different port types, which can be differentiated depending on the responsible stakeholder for the port management, ownership management, ownership suprastructure and service provision. The four port types service port, tool port, landlord port and private port are described in the figure "Different kind of ports".
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In Northwestern Europe, the most common port type is the Landlord
Port. In a Landlord port, the Port Authority is responsible for the port
management and the Public (government) is the owner of the
infrastructure. This infrastructure is leased to private companies. The
suprastructure, e.g. cranes, is owned by private companies or the public
while the provision of services is carried out by private companies.
Container Terminal
Container Terminal
A container terminal is a terminal specialised in the loading and unloading of container vessels.
The following figure "Container terminal layout" shows an example of a container terminal layout and its different areas.
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Waterside handling area
On the
waterside handling area, ship-to-shore (STS) gantry cranes are running
on rails and are used for loading on and unloading off the container
vessels. Containers can be stored temporarily during unloading and
pre-sorted for loading under the STS.
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Container yard
The container yard is
the area of a container terminal, where the containers are stored before
the loading of the container vessel or before the pick up of the import
containers by truck, train or vessel.
At the container yard, different equipment is used.
Rail-Mounted-Gantry-Crane (RMG):
Rail-Mounted-Gantry-Crane (RMG):
A
RMG is a rail-mounted stacking crane, which is used in the storage area
of a container terminal. They are stacking and unstacking the
containers and can operate with a higher span width than RTGs.
Rubber-Tyred-Gantry-Crane (RTG):
A
RTG is a rubber-tyred stacking crane, which is stacking and unstacking
the containers at the container yard. The RTGs are more flexible than
the RMGs, as they are able to change the storage blocks.
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Horizontal transport
The transport
between the waterside and the container yard is called horizontal
transport. In case a RTG and a RMG can‘t load or unload a truck or train
directly, horizontal transport is necessary for transporting the
containers to the truck or train loading and unloading area.
For the horizontal transport, different equipment is used.
Straddle carrier:
Straddle carrier:
A
straddle carrier can be used for the horizontal transport, for stacking
the containers at the container yard and for the loading and unloading
of trucks and trains.
Reach stacker:
A reach stacker can be used for the loading and unloading of trucks and trains and can stack containers up to the third layer.
Automated guided vehicles (AGV):
AGVs
are automated vehicles to move containers between the ship and the
container yard. They can‘t handle the containers themselves, so
equipment for loading and unloading the AGV is needed.
Terminal tractor:
A
terminal tractor is used to transport the container between the
waterside and the container yard or to transport the container between
the container yard and the rail loading area. Terminal tractors can‘t
handle a container, so equipment for loading and unloading the terminal
tractor is needed.
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On a container terminal, there are usually also areas for a
- packing hall
- empty container depot
- maintenance hall
As you learned before, there are different kinds of vessels for different kinds of goods. Same as for the vessels, besides the already presented container terminals, there are also other kind of terminals in maritime transport.
Bulk Cargo Terminals
Bulk Cargo Terminals are used for loading and unloading break bulk like oil, gas or grain.
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General cargo terminals:
General cargo terminals are used for loading and unloading of general cargo.
Ro-Ro terminals:
Ro-Ro terminals are used for loading and unloading the rolling goods like cars or trucks.
Offshore terminals:
Offshore terminals are used for mass break bulk in huge amounts (raw materials).
The relation between ports and goods is called accession.
Accession
International
transport chains are always multimodal transport because the location
of consignor and consignee are usually not on logistic nodes, like ports
or air ports (exception for example: steel plants).
This logistic nodes are often gateways to large Hinterland regions.
Brinkmann, Birgitt (2005): Seehäfen. Planung und Entwurf. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer.
Flämig, H., Sjöstedt, L., Hertel, C. (2002): Multimodal Transport: An Integrated Element for Last-Mile-Solutions? Proceedings, part 1; International Congress on Freight Transport Automation and Multimodality: Organisational and Technological Innovations. Delft, 23 & 24 May 2002. (modification of Sjöstedt 1996)
Schönknecht, A. (2009): Maritime Containerlogistik. Leistungsvergleich von Containerschiffen in intermodalen Transportketten. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg (VDI-Buch).
Talley, W. (2009): Port economics. 1. publ. London: Routledge.