The award is part of the multi-year due diligence and permitting process for the new Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) container facility in St. Bernard Parish. The up to $4m programme management contract has a term of up to three years.

Progress on the container terminal project to date includes land acquisition in December 2020, initiation of the permitting process in June 2021, an award to AECOM for preliminary design and permitting support in July 2021, and ongoing engagement with industry and community stakeholders.

Related: Port of New Orleans issues RFP for terminal programme management

Next steps will include consideration and evaluation of a potential terminal operator and financial partners.

The project would occupy approximately 142 hectares with a 10.7metre- wharf within more than 405 hectares of developable green-field property.

Related: ONE Modern calls marks Port of New Orleans third direct-Asia service

The site, located within the federal government’s $14bn flood protection system, features naturally deep-draught riverfront acreage, a 15.24-metres Mississippi River Channel, documented ability to navigate ships with a capacity up to 23,000 teu, ability to grow Port NOLA’s container-on-barge service, access to six Class I railroads through New Orleans Public Belt Railroad and access to the interstate highway system.

“We are working to deliver a state-of-the-art container terminal that meets the evolving needs of the shipping industry and serves as an economic catalyst for the state and region,” said Brandy D. Christian, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans and President of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad.

“A project of this magnitude requires experienced programme management for successful coordination of studies and design needed for a quality project. HDR Engineering’s qualifications include broad expertise, a team that has worked together on similar large container port projects, and the deep resources of a global firm with local connections,” added Christian.

HDR Engineering, will serve as the technical lead for services that include, in part: terminal operation and related transportation development, risk management, procurement support, budget and schedule management, permitting and stakeholder coordination, and environmental compliance. With more than 220 offices around the world, including Baton Rouge, Metairie, and Lafayette in Louisiana, the firm brings appropriate resources to the project.

The company has incorporated IMO TIER III standard, which reduces by more than 75% the emission levels of nitrogen oxides, in the company’s four tugboats that are being built at the Group’s shipyard in Guarujá at a cost of $290,000.

The first tugboat built with this standard should start operating in February of next year and the second one in August. The project is developed by Damen Shipyards, a Wilson Sons’ partner for more than 25 years, and the vessels will have 80 tonnes of bollard pull (TBP), 25 metres long and 13 metres wide, with Escort Tug class notation.

Related: Wilson Sons joins the Carbon Disclosure Project

With this technology, the new tugboats will comply with the requirements of the North American and European markets, determined by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as emission control areas.

“Wilson Sons is being a pioneer in Brazil in meeting the requirements of Tier III standard, since it is not a requirement for the national territory, anticipating an eventual regulation in the country,” explained Rodrigo Bastos, director of operations of the Towage unit.

Related: Wilson Sons performs largest transhipment operation at Rio Grande container terminal

In these projects, Wilson Sons will also use another pioneer technology in the market, the “twin fin”, a set of fins that increases the drag capacity during manoeuvres, and improves the performance of the tug. With this, for the same traction, less power is demanded and, consequently, there is a reduction in fuel consumption and emissions.

The number of ships at anchor in San Pedro Bay waiting to berth at the ports of LA and LB has surpassed its previous February high of 40, with some 41 vessels now queued, according to project44. A further 33 containerships are berthed at the two ports for handling.

The latest surge in vessels waiting at the southern Californian ports is attributed to shippers acting early to try and beat congestion later into the peak season.

Related: Over 30 containerships queued at Los Angeles/Long Beach ports

“Industry experts attribute the latest surge to proactive shippers, who are bolstering their inventories in preparation for the holiday season. However, processing the influx of containers across west coast ports is running up against capacity issues facing North American rail and road carriers, as inland congestions tacks on additional delays,” project44 said.

In some good news it said that the average weekly dwell times at LA and LB have dropped by nearly three days last week suggesting a strong rally to handle the influx of cargo.

Related: Ningbo Meishan terminal reopens following Covid lockdown

However, the efforts of the ports to clear containers quicker may not be enough. ‘While port infrastructure and personnel are performing admirably under the circumstances, the capacity/volume mismatch between maritime ports and overland transport could get worse in the weeks and months ahead, setting the stage for another breaking point in supply chains,” the analyst warned.

As congestion continues to rise in the US West Coast ports combined with incidents such as the two-week closure of the Meishan Island International Container Terminal (MSICT) at Ningbo-Zhoushan port due to a Covid case, container freight rates have continued to rise from already record levels.

Drewry reported that it’s composite World Container Index increased by 2.1% or $204 over the last week to reach $9,817.72 per feu container, 351% higher than the same week in 2020, and the 19^th consecutive week of increases.

For the Shanghai to Los Angeles trade there was a 4% increase last week, or $393, to $11,362 per feu. Freight rates on Shanghai to Rotterdam gained $89 to reach $13,787 per feu.

BW LPG is now mid-way through retro-fitting 15 vessels in its fleet to run on LPG with eight on the water, one in sea trials, and one currently at the yard. The company said in its second quarter results presentation that it is investing $130m in the retrofit programme and recently secured $45m in transition financing to fund six LPG dual-fuel engines.

In the second quarter the BW LPG retrofitted four vessels to run on LPG.

Related: BW LPG-fuelled VLGC set for maiden transpacific voyage

The company’s first LPG-fuelled retrofit – BW Gemini – made its first voyage on the transpacific using LPG fuel last November.

Anders Onarheim, CEO of BW LPG told a results call: “It’s been nearly a year since we’ve begun this program with BW Gemini, the world’s first very large gas carrier to be powered by pioneering LPG dual-fuel propulsion technology. We are now more than half way through this programme and which is our keystone project for decarbonisation.

“Once all 15 VLGCs are retrofitted, we will have saved 1 million tons of CO2 emissions,” he added, in a transcript of the call by Seeking Alpha.

During the period, total throughput of the Greater China region increased by 10.1% year to year to 48.47m teu and accounted for 77.3% of the group’s total throughput.

Total throughput of the overseas region was 14.24m teu, increased by 4.7% and accounted for 22.7% of the group’s total throughput.

Related: Cosco Shipping Ports completes acquisition of 20% stake in RSGT

As the global economy has started to show signs of recovery, imports and exports of China recorded strong performance for the first half of 2021, and trade and economic activities are expected to further improve, driving shipping industry’s prosperity into an upward cycle, commented Cosco Shipping Ports.

The company will continue to optimize the global terminal network, provide support for the container fleet of the parent company in the global routes network, promote the introduction of new routes, and strive for more routes to call at the company’s terminals so as to achieve the increase of the container volume.

Related: Cosco Shipping Ports acquires container terminal assets from Tianjin port

In addition, to actively develop 5G ports, the company will be undergoing big data preparation to satisfy necessary conditions for the digital transformation of the company and will keep on proceeding and improving terminal automation.

Cosco Shipping Ports recorded a profit of $175.6m in H1, increased by 7.5% year on year, among which the profit from the terminals segment amounted to $216.86m, an increase of 59.9%.