Technological Trends in Port Management: Manmade Deepwater Offshore Island Ports

The interconnectivity of the world’s major ports is broad scale. Many public and private sector capital investment has subsidized plans, design, and building of global logistics infrastructure of these hubs over recent years. As international commerce continues to boom with high demand commodities and consumer responsiveness, design technology of new ports is shape-shifting to meet the demand. Transportation industry experts, financial investor houses such as JP Morgan, and major firms such as US Contractor Bechtel, are moving forward – exploiting reclamation technology in the development of man made island ports with at least 3 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) annual container capacity and handling vessel capacity of up to 400,000 dwt (dead weight tonnage). Abu Dhabi Khalifa Port Container Terminal The official launch of The Abu Dhabi Khalifa port on December 12, 2012 at 1200 hours, marking the 5 year end of Bechtel’s land reclamation project, was successful; inaugurated by its namesake, President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan along with royalty, diplomats, and other business leaders. Khalifa port, operated by ADT (Abu Dhabi Terminals), showcases the latest technology with a 16 meter draft and a 4.0 kilometer quay wall, and services the largest container vessels currently afloat – rivaling the port of Singapore. All container traffic of Abu Dhabi’s Mina Zayed port was routed, 3 months ahead of schedule, to the Khalifa terminal. The port’s Phase One container capacity is 2.5 million TEUs. ADPC (Abu Dhabi Ports Company) projected an 800,000 capacity for the Khalifa port this year. The port is located more than 4 kilometers offshore to protect the area’s Ras Ghanada coral reef, which is close to the onshore port areas. Khalifa port is currently in 5 phase development and expected to reach 15 million TEU annual container capacity and 35 million tons of general cargo by 2030. Western Visionaries’ Deepwater Offshore Port Dreams in West Africa The vast resource of iron ore in West Africa has bold thinkers JP Morgan bank and Bechtel is looking to duplicate the innovative success of Khalifa port with a master design plan of a deepwater man-made island port off the coast of West Africa. Some 6 billion tonnes of high-grade iron ore deposits from the Mount Nimba region, stretching from the Ivory Coast of Liberia, is the driving factor of Bechtel’s man-made island port proposal to mining companies. Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) quoted Magnus Ericcson of Raw Materials Group, earlier this year: “West Africa is the emerging hotspots for iron ore mining. Greenfield mining projects in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Congo and other countries are well on track to create a new global iron ore center.”