DP World has continued to perform strongly in Australia, demonstrating the resilience of its businesses and dedication of its workforce during the pandemic, while innovation and further integration beyond ports and terminals will take its supply chain offerings to the next level, the company said.

DP World Australia performed strongly throughout the pandemic with consistent operational performance and productivity, marked by minimal delays to shipping schedules. Waterside performance increased in 2021 compared to 2020, particularly in Sydney, where volumes increased 14% year-on-year, while crane productivity increased by 10%, it said.

All DP World’s terminals in Australia lifted crane productivity, enabling the company to meet the unprecedented demands of higher volumes on our customers vessels and to assist with additional callers.

These results demonstrate not only the company’s resilience, but also the dedication of its workforce which has been critical to achieving this success and business continuity, it said.

Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, is currently on a tour of the company’s facilities across the country. His tour includes the Sydney Terminal and Port Logistics Park, Brisbane Terminal, Melbourne Terminal and Melbourne Logistics Park and Fremantle Terminal.

Speaking to management and staff at Brisbane Terminal, Bin Sulayem underlined the importance of end-to-end logistics solutions for customers who need greater supply chain resilience, from factory floor to the retail door.

“Innovation drives us, the integration of our four business pillars will make a strategic difference and set us apart from the competition. Diversifying beyond just Ports and Terminals with our expanding Logistics business is vital for growth”, Bin Sulayem said. He added that Australia is well placed to take advantage of this diversification strategy.

Andrew Adam, CEO of DP World Australia, said: “It was a pleasure welcoming the Chairman on his Australian tour of our facilities across the country. We are extremely proud of our team’s achievements in Australia and commitment to building on this momentum further, to continue to deliver value to our customers. As we move towards an end-to-end Logistics provider, we look forward to expanding our service offerings, particularly in our Logistics business, to ensure we are continuously delivering consistent and reliable end-to-end service performance for our customers and the Australian supply chain”.

The chairman toured the AU$250 million (AED637 million) Brisbane Terminal, the only semi-automated facility in Australia, where he observed its automated stacking cranes (ASC), landside operations and discussed further growth for the business in Queensland. The terminal has the capacity to handle 720,000 TEUs per year and with the introduction of 3 new services calling in 2022, the terminal is set to achieve throughput of 650,000 TEU this year.

Brisbane Terminal currently has 16 ASCs, and DP World plans to increase the number to 20 by 2025. The terminal has achieved quay line productivity increases of 13% since introducing ASCs to the terminal, and an 18.6% growth in container throughput from 2019 to 2021. Growth is forecast at 4.5% per year over the next 5 years.

DP World Sydney also continues to meet the industry’s demands as a manual terminal and successfully handled its one millionth TEU in early November 2021. This significant milestone occurred across 345 vessels, at an average exchange of 1,793 units.

DP World is also working to enhance its offerings across its terminals. Five new Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes have just commenced service at the Sydney Terminal with another five on the way in 2023. A new lease has also been agreed for Fremantle Terminal which has enabled additional forklifts and a new quay crane to be ordered.

This goes beyond just ports and terminals. Among the diversification projects are the expansion of the successful Sydney Port Logistics Park, which is adjacent to the terminal, and commencement of a transport service in Sydney. Ongoing investment in infrastructure as part of DP World’s renewal programme to continue to service the Australia supply chain efficiently includes the opening of Melbourne Logistics Park in 2021 and further business offerings to enhance its service to our customers beyond the terminal gate, said the company.
Source: Trade Arabia

Marine Software Pioneer, Greensea Systems Inc. has recently been awarded a contract for a 2-year Phase II Option Period by the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research to continue the technology development for an Autonomous Hull Cleaning Vehicle. This is a continuation of the work that Greensea has been conducting through a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program since 2018.

“The objective of this STTR is to develop a highly autonomous robotic system for proactively cleaning ship hulls, that can be operated easily and cost effectively with minimal supervision. The Navy is investigating this technology as a means to keep ships clear of biofouling in an environmentally sustainable way, ensuring fleet readiness and ultimately reducing hull related maintenance costs.” said Karl Lander, Armach Robotics’ Director of Regulatory Compliance and Outreach.

He went on to say, “The focus of the earlier Phase I and II efforts were to design, characterize, develop and test a navigation system that can provide the required accurate on-hull navigation. The focus of the newly awarded option period is to continue to refine the navigation and autonomy technology, demonstrate the capabilities through proactive cleaning of a vessel of significance to the US Navy, and deliver a complete data package for the cleaning system.”

A final requirement of any STTR program is to demonstrate the commercial viability of the technology, in addition to demonstrating its value to the US Navy. To achieve this, Greensea has developed a novel, hull-relative positioning system for use in a hull crawling robot designed and built by Armach Robotics. Using a combination of inertial and feature based sonar navigation, the Armach hull cleaning robot will be capable of determining and continually updating its position on the ship’s hull with extreme accuracy, allowing Greensea’s autonomy capabilities to free the operator from driving the robot.

To achieve the goals of Phase II, Greensea has partnered with the University of Maryland Centre for Environmental Science’s Maritime Environmental Resource Center (MERC) and Armach Robotics. MERC brings significant expertise in biofouling control methods and will provide critical support in independent, scientific assessments of the robots’ navigation, autonomy and cleaning technologies efficiency and efficacy. With Armach Robotics, a sister company of Greensea, providing the robots and robot operators to conduct field operations throughout the period of performance, Greensea will continue to focus on the navigation and autonomy refinement.

Source: https://cyprusshippingnews.com/2022/08/01/greensea-systems-partners-with-sister-company-armach-robotics-and-marylands-maritime-environmental-resource-center-leading-to-contract-award-from-us-navys-office-of-naval-research/