Container ship size and the implications on port call workload

Abstract

As the TEU capacity of container ships has risen, there has been an increase in the workload experienced by container terminals during a ship call. This study quantifies the changes in berth and quay workload resulting from increased ship size and the impact on ship-to-shore service levels of North European terminals. First trends in TEUs per ship metre length since 1975 are presented, then, accounting for changes in the TEU Ratio, this is converted into ship-to-shore moves to calculate a Berth Workload Index. Given the bay configurations of each ship, a Quay Crane Workload Index is then developed to determine the extent to which terminals have met these changes by deploying additional quay cranes or by improving quay crane performance. The study concludes by examining the impact of Maersk's Triple E Class container ship on the workload of a berth and quay crane.

Effects of the Expanded Panama Canal on Vessel Size and Seaborne Transport

“…vessels with larger dimensions would be relegated to the Asia-Europe route that crosses the Suez Canal [28]. Once the maximum beam permitted in the Canal's locks has been reached, the trend in their growth will follow a process similar to the one studied by Martin et al [21]: the length/beam (L/B) ratio on the vessel will be increased.…”

The Impact of Mega-Ships

“…There are limits to increasing crane density. Since 1975, the workload required by terminals to service container ships has risen by 709%, the average workload performed by each crane has increased 382%, but the number of quay cranes deployed to work a ship has increased by only 87% (Martin et al 2015). Whilst terminal operators have been able to deploy additional cranes they have at the same time had to increase the utilization and performance of individual quay cranes by nearly fourfold.…”

“…To achieve this terminals have either increased the proportion of time each quay crane is working whilst a ship is in the port, or have increased the number of moves each crane performs per hour. The ship-to-shore workload has become increasingly concentrated as the length-beam ratio has reduced (Martin et al 2015).…”

“…The average number of quay cranes deployed was less than half the maximum that the ship design allowed, according to studies by Maggs (1978) and Cullinane and Khanna (1999). For ships capable of accommodating 12 quay cranes a maximum of eight cranes would typically be used with an average of 5.5 cranes per ship working time, according to Martin et al 2015. Sometimes, these high crane deployment numbers are reached, but this is exceptional to such a point that shipping lines and terminal operators make press releases about it, e.g.…”

Effect of Inaugurating the Third Set of Locks in the Panama Canal on Vessel Size, Manoeuvring and Lockage Time

“…Moreover, the waterways were illuminated and signalling was improved (Montero Llacer, 2005; Pagano et al, 2016). Nevertheless, the locks' dimensions had limited the size of the vessels that passed through them (Martin et al, 2015), to the point that a specific Panamax category was established for bulk carriers, tankers and container ships. This last category accounted for nearly 50% of the PC's transits before it was expanded (Pagano et al, 2016).…”