LLeadship level 3

Ports and Shipping – Student Guide

Level 3

Version 1.0 (February 2013)

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Table of Contents

1.0 Ports and Shipping ....................................................................... 2

2.0 Introduction .................................................................................. 4

3.0 The Importance of Different Types of Port. ................................... 5

Activity 1 ....................................................................................................... 8

Activity 1 ....................................................................................................... 9

5.0 The Impact of Globalisation on the Shipping Sector ................... 11

6.0 How Increased Competition has influenced Shipping. ................ 12

7.0 The Impact of Containerisation on Ports and Shipping ............... 15

Activity 2 ..................................................................................................... 17

Activity 2 ..................................................................................................... 24

12.0 Unit Summary ............................................................................ 31

13.0 Glossary of Terms ...................................................................... 32

14.0 Suggested Reading.................................................................... 33

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1.0 Ports and Shipping LEARNING OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT CRITERIA The learner will: The learner can: 1. Understand importance

of different types of ports

1.1. Explain how ports serve as a connection between maritime and inland modes of transport

1.2. Explain how some large seaports serve as a centre for connection and transhipment

1.3. Explain how some large seaports serve as a centre for connection and transhipment

2. Understand the role of shipping on an international scale.

2.1. Explain how globalisation has impacted on the development of the shipping sector

2.2. Describe how increased competition has influenced development in the shipping sector

2.3. Analyse the impact that containerisation has had on ship and port selection

3. Understand the main aspects of port

development 3.1. Explain the role government has on

port development 3.2. Explain three external factors that

could influence port development

4. Understand the importance of port infrastructure and equipment requirements

4.1. Explain five infrastructural requirements within a port

4.2. Explain the importance of the five infrastructural requirements identified

4.3. Explain five equipment requirements within a port

4.4. Explain the importance of the five equipment requirements identified

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LEARNING OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT CRITERIA The learner will: The learner can: 5. Understand the challenges of port

operations

5.1 Explain the challenges associated with marine operations (conservancy, dredging, navigation aids, avoidance of congestion)

5.2 Explain the importance of statutory bodies (customs, immigration, port health and marine safety)

5.3 Explain the challenges associated with the statutory bodies identified

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2.0 Introduction 2.1 This unit is designed to give you an overall understanding of ports and

shipping. The unit contains five sections. Each section contains sufficient information and learning opportunities to give you a level of understanding of how ports and shipping have developed are closely interlinked.

2.2 The introductory section of the unit identifies the importance of different ports and how they act as an interface.

2.3 The following section covers the growth of international shipping and the development and impact of containerisation.

2.4 The unit continues with a study of the aspects of port development and the associated requirements.

2.5 The unit concludes with the modern day challenges of ports and shipping.

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3.0 The Importance of Different Types of Port. 3.1 Maritime transport is the movement of goods (also known as cargo0 by sea

and other waterways. Ports and shipping operations is an essential element of facilitating maritime trade.

3.2 In 2007, 80% of goods were carried by sea and statistics show the annual growth of maritime transport at about 3%.

3.3 Although that statistics show that the costs of international maritime transport tend to be on average two to three times as high as custom duties of importing countries, it is still the most economical way of transporting goods compared to other transport modes.

3.4 With these statistics in mind, it is worth taking a closer look at the different types of port in operation.

3.5 A seaport is generally defined as a harbour or town that is able to receive boats and ships to unload or unload cargo. Other types of ports include inland ports, dry ports, warm water ports, and cruise home ports. Seaports can be further divided into cargo and cruise ports. Harbours can be natural or manmade shelters for ships and boats. A good example of a natural harbour which is 12 miles long is San Diego Bay in the USA and the world’s largest manmade harbour is Rotterdam in the Netherlands and then it was overtaken by Shanghai. A warm water port is one that is not subject to plummeting temperatures and the water does not freeze over allowing use all year round and an example of a warm water port is Valdez in Mexico.

3.6 A fishing port generally serves as a commercial centre for the harbouring of fishing vessels and the landing of catches. An example of a fishing port is Portrush in Northern Ireland.

3.7 An inland port is one that is located on a river or a lake and can have river or canal access to the sea. The City of Gloucester is the furthest inland port in the UK, based on the River Severn.

3.8 A dry port is an inland terminal, typically used for cargo storage and transport exchange. It is generally located near a seaport with additional road, rail and air links nearby.

3.9 Cruise home ports are embarkation and disembarkation points for cruise ships where they also take on supplies for voyages. Southampton and Harwich are examples of two cruise ports in the UK.

3.10 Cargo ports are ports that handle a variety of goods such as petrochemicals, dry goods, minerals, cars and grains. These ports need deep water channels

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to enable the large commercial cargo vessels to gain entry. The UK’s largest cargo port is Felixstowe.

4.0 Different Functions of Ports 4.1 The functions of ports are:

• Transport (circulation) function • Commercial function • Industrial function • Distributional function

Transport (circulation) function of ports –

The most important port function is transport (circulation) function. Without this function, business would cease to exist. In order to ensure that ports are effective in this function, ports need to ensure that they have:

• Proper facilities (port infrastructure and superstructure) • Good transport links with hinterland • Extended sea transport links

Commercial function of ports -

Commercial function depends on transport (circulation) function of ports. For efficient commercial work, ports must follow:

• Good continental and sea links • String focus of goods on the port area • Proper warehousing facilities

The commercial function includes purchase and sale activities.

Industrial function of ports -

European ports and in other parts of the world have been developing industrial areas that provide perfect conditions for increasing business activity. Because of that, products are more competitive on global markets. Examples of such areas are Antwerp and Rotterdam.

The economical advantages of having strategic industrial zones in ports are of strategic industrial zones in ports are:

• Increasing trade and employment • The country’s active involvement in international trade • Expanding the competitive abilities of port industry

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Distributional function of ports

The previous functions were cause for development of distribution and consideration should be given to the concept of distribution. Active cooperation of transport (circulation), commercial and industrial functions had stimulated the beginning of distributional function of ports and its proper organisation. The distributional role of ports is a vital element of a supply chain. It is noticeable that some bigger shippers are also operators on separate container terminals that have also become consolidation points (logistic-distributional centres).

The two types of distributional centres inside the ports, which are:

• Distributional centres, where shipments are sent to some smaller centres, from where it is easier to distribute the goods to the final customer

• Distributional centres, from where goods are shipped directly to the final customer

Successful development of distributional function in ports is highly dependent on all other mentioned functions and efficient infrastructural links.. The main advantage is the ability to prepare goods for direct delivery, with all belonging administrative work at one place (in port area).

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Activity 1

1. Identify the following types of port on the map supplied:

• Fishing port • An inland port • A dry port • A cruise home port • A cargo port

Source: Google images

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Activity 1

2. Explain the following:

• How ports serve as a connection between inland modes of transport and

maritime transport • How the seaport selected, serves as a centre for connection and

transhipment • How the seaport selected is multifunctional when goods are not in transit

Notes: _______________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

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Student Notes

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5.0 The Impact of Globalisation on the Shipping Sector

5.1 The term “globalisation” describes the increased mobility of goods,

services, labour, technology and capital throughout the world.

5.2 The increased impact of globalisation on both shipping and economic world trade has produced a more competitive market, lower freight prices and shipping businesses having to seriously review their business plans. Larger vessels were required to cope with bulkier loads and longer journeys.

5.3 Statistics show that almost 90% of all global trade is transported via the sea

and the maritime industry is linked to global trading patterns. Global production has grown by approximately 6-7 times since 1950, global merchandise trade has grown by over 100 times and global manufacturing trade by 200 times with a correlating growth in the international maritime transport industry.

5.4 China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation in 2001 had a significant impact on the global economy. Low cost locations were rapidly moving eastwards. This opened the floodgate for shipping opportunities with the delivery of raw materials and basic produce. Developments in China, including increasing demands for materials and energy to supply both domestic industries and export industries is reflected in the strong performance levels of the shipping industry. Chemical, tanker and bulk container trading witnessed significant growth.

5.5 Transport is one of the four cornerstones of globalisation, alongside information technology, standardisation and regulation. Technological advancement, the development of containerisation and vessels enables the efficient transfer of goods and information across the world. Often two or more countries are involved in shipping e.g. a Greek vessel owner may subcontract to a Norwegian sea farer who in turn hires a Philippine crew for a cargo delivery in Argentina.

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6.0 How Increased Competition has influenced Shipping.

6.1 Marketing in overseas freight is applied in the same way as other organisations market their products and services. The customers have different needs therefore the transport mode they choose will differ. There is the scheduled transportation or ad hoc service. Operators will opt to use regular services, such as flights or sailings, but there are operators that choose and prefer to use ad hoc services, especially where the freight volumes are not large, occasional or a low priority.

6.2 If the market was to be divided into smaller areas, then we could call these areas segments, market segments is a subgroup of people or an organisation that share one or more of the characteristics that cause them to have a similar product need, customers will also have different needs and this will determine the type of transport that they will require. As an example the rail road market will include the movement of goods by rail, such as containers, livestock, hazardous waste or raw materials, these items may also be moved locally or internationally.

6.3 Another market segment may be road freight transport, they will move by road perishable goods, general haulage, live stock and dangerous goods, and as like the rail they will also deliver goods locally and internationally.

6.4 There are many businesses which collect freight and deliver it to the customer with local domestic or international flights however weight and size becomes an issue when moving large items by air. Aircraft were first put to use carrying mail as cargo but eventually manufacturers started designing planes just for freight.

6.5 Sea transport is similarly broken down into containers (ISO) dry bulk powders, bulk liquids, engineering equipment, hazardous waste, or non-hazardous etc. The load that is to be carried will make an impact on the type of vessel that is to be used, time restraints will also need to be considered. Another important factor to consider is the delivery location and unloading of

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the goods, access for the vessel or vehicle once it arrives at its delivery point. These restraining factors have led to a position where we often see a high proportion of certain goods being carried only by one mode of transport.

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6.6 When sending goods there are important decision factors that will need to be addressed such as deciding your mode of transport, the priority, when would you need the goods to arrive at its destination, the distance, this will dictate when you need to send your goods and on what type of transport, air or road, your cargo, will it be frozen foodstuff, hazardous material or perishable goods, these are just some of the factors that you.

6.7 We must also remember the demand for products as this will have an impact on the mode we use, a daily delivery of milk or dairy products for example, will need to be at a shop for a daily set time as it is unlikely that if these items are late them they will not be able to be used at a later date, unlike a delivery of cloths or electrical goods that may have a non time sensitive period and are likely to be sold at a later date and time. Therefore the different segments that are within the different markets will have a different cargo demand and it is our job to maximise the full potential on what is offered at the best price for the best delivery time and delivery date. Different cargo will need to have different transport modes, in order that the transport can be moved.

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7.0 The Impact of Containerisation on Ports and Shipping 7.1 The use of the intermodal shipping container for the transportation of goods

by ship, truck, train and on the odd occasion plane has had a lasting impact on the social environment and the global economy. In its simplest form the container is a steel box which comes in a variety of sizes.

7.2 In the 1960’s, the intermodal shipping container increased in popularity because US companies like Mcleans profited from cost efficiency savings. The other reason why containerisation was becoming increasingly popular was that standardisation of container sizes opened the floodgates for more aggressive investment in ships and container handling equipment across the shipping sector.

7.3 In the first few years of using shipping containers, containers were used that suited that organisation’s requirements however standardisation of sizes, the types of goods being transported, the limits on the length and the weight of goods being carried impacted on port labour, ports and cities, other technology and business practices and far reaching consequences for the global economy.

7.4 Using more and larger containers in ports meant that the efficiencies in loading and loading goods were increased. Larger containers needed fewer port workers, therefore redundancies occurred.

7.5 In addition to a reduced workforce, increased loads and container sizes resulted in shipping companies needed to train port workers with the technical skills to operate heavy machinery. The design of ships was revisited by companies, to enable new vessels to cope with the increased container size. Previous insecurities about the shipping sector were now being overcome, with shipping companies being able to calculate the speed of loading and unloading containers.

7.6 Lower costs in labour, faster loading and unloading and increased ship size saw increased port development as a direct consequence. Let’s consider that larger ships need deeper waters and larger containers require more space. Containers are self contained storage therefore the need for portside warehouses were diminished. There was a distinct shift of port operations from near city centres to less developed locations.

7.7 The greatest impact of the container is the effect it has had on the global economy. It is estimated that in the early 2000’s, over three hundred million

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20 foot containers were moved by sea each year and over a quarter of those shipments were coming from China. Slack (p.25) states that:

“Globalisation and container shipping enjoy a reciprocal relationship. There is little doubt that the expansion of international commerce and the expansion of global manufacturing systems would have been possible without the efficiencies and economies that containerisation has brought. Container shipping is a facilitator of globalisation.”

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Activity 2

In groups of three or four, produce a presentation which includes the following aspects:

• How globalisation has impacted on the ports and shipping sector , • How increased development has influenced the development of the

shipping sector, • An analysis of how containerisation has impacted on the shipping

sector.

Be prepared to present your findings back to the rest of the group.

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Student Notes

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8.0 The Role of Government on Port Development and External Factors influencing Port Development.

8.1 Even though there have been a lot of private concerns within port developments, to a certain degree the majority of maritime trade is handled in ports where financial investment, pricing and other matters is greatly influenced by public organisations.

8.2 The nature of the transport business, in particular shipping, dictates that Government intervention is inevitable. The Government is constantly involved in policies and initiatives relating to port safety and security, port authorities, and port pricing.

8.3 Most European ports operate on a competitive market and subsequently any pricing and financing decisions impact on other ports immediately. The aim of the European Commission is to create fair and transparent competition between countries and to generate a more cohesive approach.

8.4 Although it is the intention to unify the trading countries within Europe, the fundamental aims of the European Commission may not necessarily be in alignment with national interests. The highly competitive nature of port pricing and conflicting interests within different countries has led the European Commission to attempt to create more efficient port competition.

8.5 It is worth noting that Governments and port authorities have become less influential in recent years to the growth in privatisation.

8.6 Ports are often managed by port authorities (also known as administrative bodies) who have a tendency to maintain an independent position between state and the shipping market. They endeavour to maintain collaborative working relationships with central and local government and private companies operating within the port area. It is estimated that 90% of the shipping trade handled in the European Union is handled in ports where financing and other major managerial decisions are greatly influenced by local and national government. Recent attention to the importance of health and safety, the role of Governments in port activity will remain paramount.

8.7 In attempt to create port unity in terms of financing, the European Commission discovered disparities between financing ports and the pricing of port infrastructure. The European Commission now gives priority to the development of a framework to provide a level playing field for the port sector as opposed to dealing with the differences between financial flows.

8.8 In the competing shipping and port market place, government involvement may have serious consequences for competitive ports and has the potential to hinder efficient operation of the market. National and local governments are most often involved in the following aspects of port development:

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• Health and safety

• Environmental concerns

• Economic issues, particularly employment

8.9 The national government is very often responsible for investments in port infrastructure, especially when it comes to maritime access. The Dutch government for example was recently involved in the financing of the Betuwe freight railway from Rotterdam to Germany. Financial support was required in this case because it may have had a detrimental impact on inter port competition.

8.10 Distribution of government funds for port subsidies is extremely complex, as is the whole area of infrastructure pricing. In the situation of the European Commission, consideration should be given to national [policies and whether conflict arises between the two.

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9.0 Infrastructural and Equipment Requirements of a Port

Source: http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans

Configuration of a Maritime Container Terminal

9.1 The above figure illustrates a common layout for a large container terminal. As you can see, the terminal covers quite a large area, mainly because of storage requirements, even if this storage is short term (3 to 5 days). The main components of a container terminal are:

• Docking area. Represents a berth where a containership can dock. Specifications include the length and width of the container. A standard post-panamax containership requires about 325 meters of docking space as well as a draft of about 45 feet (13 meters). Some terminals have separate facilities for handling barges (such as Antwerp and Rotterdam.

• Container crane (Portainer). Represents the interface between the containership and the dock. Cranes have technical specifications in terms of number of movements per hour, and maximum weight . A modern container

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crane can have a 18-20 wide coverage, implying that it can service a containership having a width of 18 to 20 containers. A gantry crane can perform about two movements (loading or unloading) per minute. The larger the number of cranes assigned to the transhipment process the faster it can take place.

• Loading / unloading area. Directly adjacent to the piers and under the gantry cranes, it is the zone of interaction between the cranes and the storage areas where containers are either brought in to be lifted on the containership or unloaded to be immediately picked up and brought to storage areas. This is mainly done with straddlers or holsters. In the case of straddlers, the containers are left on the ground while with holsters the containers are loaded from or unloaded to a chassis. The usage of straddlers is more common as it enables to move a container directly from dockside to the stack (or vice versa).

• Container storage. Represents a temporary buffer zone where containers are left while the assigned containership is available to be loaded or while picked up for inland distribution. The larger the containerships handled by a port, the larger the required container storage area. Container storage can be arranged by shipbound (export) and landbound (import) stacks of containers. For shared terminal facilities, stacks can even be sub-divided according to shippers. Stacks are commonly up to 3 containers in height which enables straddlers to operate on top of them. Commonly, a terminal has also a storage area where reefers (refrigerated containers) can be plugged. About 5% of a terminal's stacking area is commonly devoted to the storage of reefers. Specific storage areas are also attributed to empties, which can be stacked up to 7 or 8 containers in height due to less stringent weight limitations. Empty container stacks are therefore easily recognisable from loaded container stacks because of different stacking configurations; empty stacks are higher and denser. For terminals facing capacity pressures, the tendency has been to have empty container depots outside terminal facilities. For a higher stacking density, up to 5 full containers, overhead gantry cranes are used, but this is linked with additional repositioning and rechanneling. Stacking areas tend to be linear since straddlers or overhead gantry cranes are circulating over a row of containers.

• Gate. It is the terminal's entry and exit point able to handle in many cases up to 25 trucks at once for a large terminal facility. The gate is where the truck driver presents proper documentation (bill of lading) for pick up or delivery. Most of the inspection is done remotely with cameras and intercom systems where an operator can remotely see for instance the container identification number and verify if it corresponds to the bill of lading. Modern management systems no longer require paperwork since all the documentation is kept in an electronic format interchangebale through secure connections. The priority is to verify the identity of the truck driver, the truck, the container and the chassis. For a delivery, the truck is assigned to a specific slot at the truck loading or unloading area where the chassis holding the container will be left to be picked up by a holster or a straddler. For a pickup, the truck will be assigned to a slot in a waiting area while the container is been picked up from a storage area, put on a chassis (if the truck does not bring its own chassis) and brought to the proper slot. The truck will then head out of the terminal, be inspected to insure that the right container has been picked up and head

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inland. If well managed (such as using an appointment system), the container will already be available for pick up (on a chassis in the truck loading / unloading area). In the past considerable delays have occurred with loading and unloading and port operations managers have been making concerted efforts to reduce this throughput.

• Chassis storage. Area where empty chassis are stored while waiting to be allocated to a truck or a holster. In inland freight distribution, there are on average three chassis available per container. While in the past freight haulers such as maritime shipping companies maintained their own chassis fleets, the tendency has been the setting of chassis pools, enabling better asset utilisation levels.

• Administration. The management facility of the terminal, often having a control tower to ensure a level of visibility of the whole terminal area. This is where many complex logistical functions are performed such as the assignment of delivered containers to a storage space location as well as the location and the loading or unloading sequence of containers by straddlers and holsters. Additionally, the complex task of designing the loading and unloading sequence of a containership is performed.

• On-dock rail terminal. Many large container terminals have an adjacent rail terminal to which they are directly connected to. This enable the composition of large containerized unit trains to reach long distance inland markets through inland ports. An important advantage of on-dock rail facilities compared with near-dock rail facilities is that the container does not require to clear the gate of the marine terminal.

• Repair / maintenance. Area where the regular maintenance of the terminal's heavy equipment is performed.

Areas nearby container terminals tend to have a high concentration of activities linked to freight distribution such as distribution centres, empty container storage depots, trucking companies and large retailers.

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Activity 2

The information provided in the previous section has skimmed the surface of infrastructural and equipment requirements in a port. Wider reading is required see the suggested list for further advice. In five teams, select one infrastructural requirement and one equipment requirement. Once both requirements are selected, provide an explanation of the importance of each. Be prepared to feed back your fellow students.

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Student Notes

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10.0 The Challenges associated with Marine Operations.

10.1 In an era of economic globalisation ports are evolving rapidly from being traditional land/sea interfaces to providers of complete logistics networks. This means that ports have had to face many challenges due to unpredictable environmental changes and trends in the shipping, port and logistics industries.

10.2 Most ports in the world have paid (or should pay) attention to these challenges and emerging issues, such as:

• Globalisation of manufacturing and outsourcing

• Global trends of logistics network restructuring and reposition of regional and/or local distribution centre

• Rapid growth in volume of world seaborne freight, especially container

• Emerging hub and spoke system in global shipping service

• Increase of transhipment cargo and competition among ports and terminal operators

• Introduction of the super mega size containership

• Increasing competition towards hub ports

• Emerging global terminal operators and their growing market share

• One stop shopping concept and intermodal transport linking strategically between ocean, railway, road and inland waterway

• Increasing role of ports in global supply chain management and logistics network structures

• Increase of productivity and efficiency in ports

• High cost and constraints for developing port facilities.

• To cope with these challenges and emerging issues ports across the world have been trying to develop their physical infrastructures, especially container terminals and related facilities, and to expand their port hinterland through introducing free trade zones with a hope of developing hub ports and international logistics centres.

10.3 The aforementioned challenges are all indicative of the trends in the ports and shipping sector however other challenges such as conservation, dredging,

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navigation aids and congestion present themselves to the ports and shipping sector.

10.4 Conservation in Shipping - whales, dolphins and porpoises rely on sound to navigate and to communicate over large distances. Human activities such as shipping can create high levels of noise which may affect the marine mammals’ ability to communicate with each other and use sonar to find their way around the ocean. Groups of marine researchers and the International Fund for Animal Welfare undertake studies to investigate the noise levels produced by ships. The researchers used hydrophones to measure how much noise was coming from passing ships. These hydrophones are microphones that are designed to work underwater. This allows the scientists to hear what the marine mammals in the area are hearing. Then conservationists can suggest ways to decrease the noise being made by ships and so reduce the harm caused in parts of the sea which are particularly important to marine mammals.

10.5 Dredging - is an excavation activity or operation usually carried out at least partly underwater, in shallow seas or fresh water areas with the purpose of gathering up dregs and depositing them at a different location. This technique is often used to keep waterways navigable. Uses for dredging are as follows:

• Capital: dredging carried out to create a new harbour, or waterway, or to deepen existing facilities in order to allow larger ships access.

• Preparatory: work and excavation for future bridges, piers or docks/wharves, often connected with foundation work.

• Maintenance: dredging to deepen or maintain navigable waterways or channels which are threatened to become silted with the passage of time, due to sedimented sand and mud, possibly making them too shallow for navigation.

• Contaminant remediation: to reclaim areas affected by chemical spills, storm water surges (with urban runoff), and other soil contaminations. Disposal becomes a proportionally large factor in these operations.

• Removing trash and debris: often done in combination with maintenance dredging, this process removes non-natural matter from the bottoms of rivers and canals and harbors.

• Flood prevention: this can help to increase channel depth and therefore increase a channel's capacity for carrying water.

Without the many and almost non-stop dredging operations world wide, much of the world's commerce would be impaired, often within a few months, since much of world's goods travel by ship, and need to access harbours or seas via channels.

10.6 The activity of dredging can create the following principal impacts to the environment:

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• Release of toxic chemicals • The metabolism of aquatic species can be affected, therefore impacting on

spawning • Possible contamination of dredge spoils sites

The nature of dredging operations and possible environmental impacts cause the industry to be closely regulated. Port organisations often need to undertake the process of dredging however they must adhere to the regulations and expect adverse responses from environmental pressure groups (adapted from www.wikipedia.org)

Source: www.dredging.com

10.7 Navigation Aids – navigation aids are extremely important to the marine

world as you can imagine sailing in masses of blue ocean, or even navigating smaller water ways could prove to be extremely hazardous. When it comes to endangering human lives, there is no room for compromise with navigational aids. A navigation aid is quite simply a structure which is specifically designed to help the ship or sailing vessel make its journey safely. The aid will serve as a guide an importantly forewarn the ship of any potential danger.

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The oldest form of marine navigation mainly relied on aids like the constellations which were always constant and helped the sailors to find out the general direction by reading the position of sun and stars Lighthouses were next that helped ships greatly. These structures, which showed the nearest land to a ship so that the crew could estimate the distance from land and plan their anchoring etc. proved quite helpful to the sailors in the earlier days of shipping. The lighthouses, as the name suggests, flash light constantly especially during night which can be easily noticed by ships in distance. The most important function of a navigation aid is to enhance the safety of a ship.

Source: www.marineinsight.com

However, with changing times, the need of marine navigation changed as well. While earlier the sole purpose of a ship was to successfully complete a journey without being lost, hence the aids used then were more focused towards helping with just that. But today, it is also about speed, efficiency, economic output, carrying capacity and lots of other things. As such, the aids to navigation or ATON, as they are also called, were upgraded accordingly to meet these needs.

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ATON help the sailors today with the special navigational needs they have which can include maintaining an unobstructed sailing to doing so at a desired speed. A navaid, today, can include structures like lighthouses, beacons, and buoys. These structures when combined with special patterns like color codes, lighting patterns or positioning can indicate special meanings which can be understood by other ships easily. This helps in easy relaying of important messages like a ship being in danger or locating a particular ship or warning another ship with a message like ‘I am stuck in the water, go slow’ or ‘trying to start the propellers, keep caution’. These things can avoid major accidents. International regulations strive to set standards for a navaid like buoys (color, lighting, positioning) which can be understood all over the world to prevent any confusion and save lots of lives.

So while it may look like navigational aids help a ship in finding the general direction, their main purpose is to aid navigation so that every ship can complete every voyage safely. (Adapted from: www.marineinsight.com)

10.8 Avoidance of Congestion - The term port congestion is fairly self-explanatory. Anyone who drives in an urban area is familiar with traffic congestion. Port congestion is the equivalent of this regarding large ships and the loading and offloading of cargo. Port congestion is the term used for situations where ships have to queue up and wait for a spot so they can load or offload. Ports only have a limited amount of dockage, and only so many cargo or container cranes. Vehicles that have been moved by ship can only be driven off so fast, and it takes time to do this. Ships usually have to "wait in line" to get to the cranes or the pier because there is a high demand on the limited resources of a port. The high traffic volume causes port congestion.

Source: wikianswers.com

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11.0 Customs and Immigration in Shipping 11.1 Within the UK, the UK Border Agency has been specifically created to

enforce immigration, customs regulations and border control. Robust processes are in place in terms of making stringent checks regarding who and what is entering the country.

11.2 The UK Border Agency also has the responsibility for considering the applications for permission to enter or stay in the UK, citizen ship and asylum.

11.3 Ports and shipping authorities have to ensure that they fulfil the legal requirements in order to prevent system abuse. In the first instance, the bureaucracy may appear onerous but failure to comply with the requirements could result in disaster.

12.0 Unit Summary 12.1 At the outset, the unit examined the importance of different types of port.

12.2 A study of ports and shipping on an international scale was then introduced.

12.3 Aspects of port development (including infrastructural requirements and equipment requirements) were then covered.

12.4 The current challenges that port and shipping operators face were explored.

12.5 It is worth noting that due to the specialist nature of the unit that additional research and reading is recommended.

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13.0 Glossary of Terms Aid Help of a practical nature Buoy An anchored float serving as a navigation mark Commercial Concerned with or engaged in business Congestion A gathering, accumulation, heap or pile Containerisation To package cargo in large containers for shipping Distributional The movement of goods or services via a specific channel

Dredging Clean out the bed of (a harbuor, river, or other area of water)

by scooping out mud, weeds, and rubbish

Globalisation The worldwide movement toward economic, financial, trade, and communications integration.

Industrial The development of an industry on an extensive scale

Interface A surface forming a common boundary between adjacent regions, bodies, substances, or phases

Intermodal Movement of containerised (unitised) cargo over air, land, or sea through the use of different transport modes (aircraft, truck, rail, boats)

Multifunctional Being able to perform one or many functions Navigation To plan, record and track the course of an aircraft or a ship

33 Ports and Shipping Level 3

14.0 Suggested Reading Meersman, H. et al (2009) Future Challenges for Ports and Shipping

Notteboom, T. (2011) Current Issues in Shipping, Ports and Logistics, University Press, Antwerp, Brussels.

Websites:

www.dttas.ie

www.euraopa.eu/legislationure

www.gfptt.org/entities/topicprofile

www.marineinsight.com

www.transportation-logistics.net

34 Ports and Shipping Level 3

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