SUTRANET- Motorways of the Sea Conference at Orkney Islands the 2 nd and 3 rd of February 2007 SUTRANET is part of the Interreg IIIB North Sea

Transcription

1 SUTRANET- Motorways of the Sea Conference at Orkney Islands Session three Ports, Logistics Centres and supply chains in relation to Motorways of the Sea The 2 nd and 3 rd of February

2 Motorways of the Sea conference Table of contents Motorways of the Sea conference...2 Introduction to the session... 3 Presentation of Mr. Alf Baird Napier University Scotland... 4 Presentation by Volker W. Tholi Cuxport Germany... 7 Presentation by Mr. Kent Bentzen FDT Denmark... 8 Presentation by Vytautas Paulauskas Discussion session Workshop at the Orkney Islands. Session III: Ports, Logistics Centres and supply chains in relation to Motorways of the Sea Session Chair: Bill Spence, Chairman, John Jolly Ltd Session report made by FDT Denmark 2

3 Introduction to the session Session chairman Bill Spence started the session by stating that the questioner should indicate that he/she would like the microphone. In this way it would be easier for all participants to hear the comments of the questioner. As Nigel Mills was indisposed Mr. Alf Baird took over his presentation. Figure 1.1: Board of speakers during session III at the Motorways of the Sea Conference at Orkney. On the far left it is Mr. Volker Tholi, then Mr. Kent Bentzen, Mr. Bill Spence and Mr. Vytautas Paulauskas The purpose of the session was to emphasize the connections between Motorways of the Sea and Transport and Logistics Centres. The connection can in short be described in this way: 3

4 The Motorways of the Sea are part of the trans-european transport network (TEN-T) and shall reduce road congestion and enhance the access to peripheral and island regions and States. In an innovative approach, the Motorways of the Sea concept aim at the integration of logistics and infrastructure planning. Motorways of the Sea should be an integral part of door-to-door logistics chains and should offer efficient, regular, reliable and frequent services that can compete with road only transport. The ports connected to the Motorways of the Sea should have efficient hinterland connections, rapid administrative procedures and a high level of service that is targeted to making short sea operations successful. The above written shows how the principle of Motorways of the Sea plays together with Transport and Logistics Centres. This principle is furthermore illustrated in figure 1.2 Figure 1.2: Illustration of the principle behind Motorways of the Sea. This idea of having a supply chain that involves both land and sea based facilities are the focus session III at the Motorways of the Sea Conference on Orkney the 2 nd and 3 rd of February Presentation of Mr. Alf Baird Napier University Scotland Mr. Alf Baird s presentation focused on Scapa Flow Container Terminal in the Context of EU TEN-T Motorways of the Sea Policy. With Scapa Flows strategic location in the north of Scotland, the development of a container terminal in Scapa Flow could in the best case scenario result in seaport facilities, which potentially could be the largest in Scotland. Mr. Alf Baird mentioned in this occasion the following topics about Orkney and the development possibilities here: Cargo throughput approaching 20 million ton/year 11 th largest UK port (by tonnage)/3 rd largest port in Scotland Major oil terminal, plus ship-to-ship transfers Extensive Pilotage, Towage and VTS services 14 ferry terminals (8 inter-island ferries plus 6 mainland ferries) 4

5 Fishing, diving, leisure, lifeboats, Coastguard etc. Number 1 cruise ship destination in Scotland (70 calls/year) LNG and container transshipment developments Orkney is potentially Scotland s largest seaport Figure 1.3: Participants from the Motorways of the Sea conference visiting the Scapa Flow The maritime environment on Orkney Islands along with the fact that there are very few ports, which are able to serve the deep-sea market, could be an advantage for the possibilities of developing a deep-sea seaport in Scapa Flow. The main function of such a port would be to offer transhipment between larger and smaller vessels. Transhipment can mean different things among others transshipment between larger vessels or feeder-to-feeder transhipment. Since very little transhipment moves through UK ports, Scapa Flow could be a possible port for handling the larger ships in a Nordic European context. An advantage for the development of Scapa Flow is that many of the facilities already exists. The Scapa Bay has protection for the naval winds, which was also one of the reasons why the navel base was located there in the beginning. The port authority is working ongoing for the moment and is expecting to have a TEN-T Application ready within the first half of this year. 5

6 Finally Mr. Alf Baird stated that Scapa Flow is not a substitute, it is a compliment in the transshipment market. Scapa Flow can therefore hopefully play a part role in evolving global liner service patterns that has major economic impacts on a small economics like Scotland. In all the presentation of Mr. Alf Baird can be summarized under the following topics Scapa Flow fits global port industry trends Environmentally sustainable development Significant reduction in tonne-kilometres Private and public sector interest Rapid implementation SFCT fits EU TEN-T Programme (MoS priority) New type of major UK and N. Europe port Significant cost savings for carriers Minimal effect on existing schedules (transits) SFCT represents a low cost and sustainable way to improve liner shipping competitiveness The direct connection between Transport and Logistics Centres and the above presentation should be seen in the light of that many harbours would like to develop into Transport and Logistics Centres and in this way gain some of the advantages of having all facilities for many different users gathered at one place, which is open for all interested companies. The port of Scapa Flow should mainly function as a transshipment port, therefore good and efficient hinterland facilities are required in order to obtain a well functioning storage harbour for the goods that cannot be transhipped right away. 6

7 Presentation by Volker W. Tholi Cuxport Germany Every container going into Hamburg and Bremen goes next to Cuxport. Cuxport is a port with lots of green areas, which could be utilised for freight purposes. The port is located in the end of A27 close to the Kieler Channel and the port of Bremen and Hamburg. DFDS has invested in the harbour in order to cater for additional cargo. This also means that DFDS has 5-6 weekly sailings to Immingham, which by the words of Cux Port means that the port has been successfully integrated in the MoS. Because of its good hinterland connections Cux Port is fine example of how ports can be connected to the facilities in the hinterland. On figure 1.3 is shown the hinterland area of Cuxport with the inland waterways and the inland railway lines. Cuxport is part of the Eurocoast Network Association (ENA). The future development idea for Cuxport and the ENA is to connect further to the Baltic Sea countries and in this way hopefully promote the sea based transport and the Motorways of the Sea. Cuxport is an example of a small port, which has managed to grow quite rapidly and in this way promote the sea-based transport. Figure 1.4: Hinterland of Cuxport in Germany 7

8 Presentation by Mr. Kent Bentzen FDT Denmark Mr. Kent Bentzen started his presentation with the following statement: The most efficient method to improve the Motorways of the Sea is to improve the hinterland facilities. As an elaboration to this Kent Bentzen explained that the definition of Motorways of the Sea is not port-toport but door-to-door. Therefore the hinterland facilities and the connection from the ports to these facilities are of high interest. The hinterland can be described as the land or district behind the borders of a coast or river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port. The area from which products are delivered to a port for shipping elsewhere is that port's hinterland. In the hinterland one of the most important facilities are the Transport and Logistics Centre. The definition of a Transport and Logistics Centre was given by Mr. Kent Bentzen and encompass the following: A Logistics Centre is a centre in a defined area within which all activities relating to transport, logistics and the distribution of goods - both for national and international transit, are carried out by various operators on a commercial basis. The operators can either be owners or tenants of buildings and facilities (warehouses, distribution centres, storage areas, offices, truck services, etc.), which have been built there. In order to comply with free competition rules, a Logistics Centre must be open to allow access to all companies involved in the activities set out above. A Logistics Centre must also be equipped with all the public facilities to carry out the mentioned operations. If possible, it should include public services for the staff and equipment of the users. In order to encourage intermodal transport for the handling of goods, a Logistics Centre should preferably be served by a multiplicity of transport modes (road, rail, deep sea, inland waterway, air). To ensure synergy and commercial cooperation, it is important that a Logistics Centre is managed in a single and neutral legal body (preferably by a Public-Private-Partnership). Finally, a Logistics Centre must comply with European standards and quality performance to provide the framework for commercial and sustainable transport solutions. The Transport and Logistics Centres play an important role in the supply chain. At figure 1.4 an example of a supply chain is shown. 8

9 Figure 1.5: Example of a supply chain. Reference (ISL, 2007) The outcome is that the corridor needs a good cooperation in order have a successful supply chain. The good cooperation between companies in the hinterland can encompass the following aspects and facilities: Transport and Logistics Centres Port developments into Transport and Logistics Centres Dry Ports Channels and Rivers Shuttle trains Railway facilities Longer and Heavier Vehicle Combinations ITS Intelligent Transport Systems After giving a short description of some of the possibilities within the above mentioned concepts/facilities the focus turned to the possibilities of utilising ITS in the transport chain. ITS means using systems and services, which has in common that they utilise IT and other communication technologies to control the traffic and to inform the users. 9

10 The overall focus of Mr. Kent Bentzen s presentation was, as already emphasised in the beginning of his presentation, that the most efficient method to improve the Motorways of the Sea is to improve the hinterland facilities. Figure 1.6: Picture taken at the trip on Saturday, showing the Ring of Brodgar. Presentation by Vytautas Paulauskas Motorways of the Sea must add something to its users in this case it should be an economic result. Therefore are countries in the Baltic Sea Region also trying to enhance this concept of Motorways of the Sea and in this way get a part of the benefits. An important element in the logistics centres network is that cargo must always be on the move. By minimising the number of stops. Mr. Vytautas Paulauskas explained that there are different important elements. The main tasks of the Motorways of the Sea was listed to be: Link transport corridors Optimize transportation costs Minimize transportation time Avoid bottlenecks on the inland transport systems Minimize cargo stops during transportation process Link transport means and logistic centers 10

11 The Motorways of the Sea concept seems to become a more and more important part of the European transport system and therefore also a more important element of the Logistics centers and supply chains network. Mr. Paulauskas continued by telling that the development of efficient Motorways of the Sea are dependent on the following facilities: A technical part o Ports, shipping lines (ships), terminals, axes to the terminals, logistics centers A Technological part o Effective cargo handling and transport means changing systems A organizational part o Co-operation between partners on transport directions (in regions) (network) A legal part o Unified regulations, documents, etc The technical part is more or less ready and the capacity of the ports today is okay, therefore it is a question of using the capacity well. In 1990 in east Baltic seaports only larger lines came to the largest cities. Now more or less all smaller cities have ro-ro routes in the Baltic Sea. Finally it was summarized that Motorways of the Sea: Influence on new cargo flows creation Influence on new Inter modal terminals and Logistic centers development Transportation optimization on basis more effective transport means use Creation of the new transport direction As a final comment was stated that: Any project must reach some economical results. 11

12 Discussion session Mr. Jørgen Kristiansen stated the first question to the Cuxport representative Mr. Volker Tholi: How do you see the possibilities of getting ro-ro to Norway? Volker Tholi answered the question. A new ro-ro will start from Norway with salmon. All these ferries will in summertime concentrate on tourism. Trondheim, Ålesund and CuxPort. One of CuxPorts targets is also to connect to France and Spain. Neil from the EU commission: Is Scapa Flow viable in it self and what local benefits might be expected? Is there a commercial interest in feeding in containers for Scottish ports? Alf Baird answered: UK policy tends to focus on the market. That is partly the reason why the project has to be financed by public funding. The Benefit Orkney has is that the facilities is more or less there. And luckily the negative impacts are small. Furthermore the Scapa Flow port development would create a significant number of jobs, also for the European peripheral markets. Scottish industry will be more compatible. Belgium and Netherlands have much goods compared to their population. It is a question of adding value. Kent Bentzen supplemented the answer: Ports are becoming logistics centre that is of tremendous value. It does not necessarily cost a lot of money to create seaport infrastructure. Gavin Roser: Has Kaliningrad actually developed the same Motorways of the Sea facilities as the member states? Vytautas Paulauskas answered: They cooperate very much. They are in an Interreg project. And they have some ro-ro connections. The biggest problem is the inland waterways systems. It is a very big problem especially when talking about tourism. Michael Mundy UK stated: It is interesting to know the increase in transhipment. As far as I know a lot of the hubs are struggling to achieve a financial liability. 12

13 Alf Baird answered: Issue in Mediterranean is competition. The situation is a bit different in northern Europe. Michael Mundy asked: Does the investor receive an acceptable return? Alf Baird answered: Port infrastructure tends not to be provided by the market. Private companies don't provide infrastructure, governments does. Kent Bentzen stated the last comment: The council has made an agreement on the 12 th of Dec They would like to have inputs for a best practice business. Commission website. There is a quality element, and the human factor. As an end of the seminar Mr. Bill Spence thanked the speakers as well as the listeners for a fine session. 13

14 For further information please contact Michael Laugesen Project Assistant FDT Denmark Rørdalsvej 201 P.O. Box 8410 DK-9220 Aalborg Denmark Tel Fax Homepage: 14