Digging Deeper

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has given the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) an additional $46 million in funding for the Jacksonville Harbor deep draft navigation project. Originally authorized by the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, the deepening by 47-foot improvement project, will enable mega-sized container vessels to enter the port.

Currently, the largest ships arriving at Jacksonville's port must travel lightly loaded, allowing enough of a shallow draft to navigate the current 40-foot channel depth. As a result, cargo volumes that could move through Jacksonville are being diverted to other ports with the capacity to handle deeper draft ships. The recent allocation comes in addition to the $50 million in federal funding directed to JAXPORT for the project over the past two fiscal years.

"JAXPORT recently became the largest port by container volume in the state of Florida. As a driver of regional economic activity and a strategically important national security infrastructure asset, we must continue to build upon this tremendous growth by enhancing the international competitiveness of JAXPORT," Congressman John Rutherford, representing Florida's 4th District, said.

In September, USACE awarded $210 million for the second stage of the project, awarding the contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company. The first stage of the project, which is already underway, involves approximately 3 miles from the entrance way inland. While the second base funding covers roughly 2.5 river miles of deepening, with the remainder of the funds provided in August 2019 to cover the additional 2.5 river miles.

Construction is expected to start in late December and the estimated construction time will be approximately five years.

JAXPORT's public seaport terminals achieved record growth in container volumes, recording double-digit growth during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2018. The port moved nearly 1.3 million containers, a 23 percent increase over 2017. The port authority said that Asian container trade continues to show significant growth, achieving 12 percent growth in the past year, with nearly 429,000 Asian containers moved. It was another record year with regard to the growth in general cargo volumes as nearly 10.5 million tons of cargo moved through JAXPORT last year, up 12 percent over 2017.

Technology in Port Operation

"We are already seeing extremely fast take up in technology use in other industries and our industry cannot be too far behind. Much of these will be driven by lower technological cost and exponential growth in technological developments whether it be battery technology, autonomous vessel technology, nanotechnology or Artificial Intelligence (AI)."

This statement came as part of an address during the opening ceremonies of the 44th ASEAN Ports Association meeting on November 27th in Singapore by Niam Chang Meng, Chairman of Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

"Technology is disrupting and transforming the way the port industry operates - we will see more port operations being automated and in the longer term, autonomous surface vessels; changes in the global operating environment with new regulatory requirements will also play a key role in determining our effectiveness. We must address these and other challenges if we want to be relevant and compete with the rest of the world," Meng continued.

He also spoke to the way technology has reached a crucial turning point in that it has become a more powerful and integrative tool, particularly in the way that the expanded vessel sizes require faster handling and restructuring has increased competition between ports. To that last point he stated that the proper way to move forward is by embracing technology and using it with cooperation among ports.

Shipping in the Data Age

The sheer volume of data and connectivity offers a great deal of opportunity for the shipping industry and logistics companies. Many, however, are not taking full advantage of the technologies.

From efficiency and productivity to overall cost reductions, the technologies have vast potential, but it can also seem overwhelming on how to utilize it to the best benefit.

"Shipping companies are still buying charts and publications in the way they did before digital navigation. In other words, vessels are carrying large numbers of both paper and electronic navigational charts (ENC) and digital publications on board just in case they may need them. Buying just-in-case in this way involves wasting lots of money on large numbers of digital charts and publications that vessels never actually use," stated Hayley van Leeuwen, Head of Product, Global Navigation Solutions.

Despite charts and publications being easily accessed via permit keys that can be emailed to ships within 10 minutes and the widespread availability of pay as you sail (PAYS) services that provide always-on access to charts, many are leaving these saving of time and money on the table. If software is installed on board to help navigate more efficiently, it usually is not being fully exploited. And navigational product purchasing is still more often than not habitual, based on what has always been bought rather than what is actually needed. As is often the case with new technology, many of the benefits of technology are still theoretical and have not yet filtered down into operational level. With the increased advances, there is no doubt that things are going to get more integrated, more transparent and more efficient across all aspects of ship operations.