Future global scenarios

As part of this year’s Breakbulk Europe 2024, The Port of Rotterdam Authority has created a White Paper focusing on four global scenarios for the years leading up to 2050 to see what insights they provide into the possible future of breakbulk at the port. The four scenarios are; Connected Deep Green, Regional Well-Being, Protective Markets and Wake-up Call.

Twan Romeijn, business manager, The Port of Rotterdam, said for example, will there be a global focus on climate action or will the energy transition stall? What investments are needed to attract new freight flows, business, and clean energy? Where should adjustments be made?

“In three of the four scenarios you see a growth in future breakbulk volumes. This is either due to the re-use of raw materials, the increasing demand for renewable energy, for instance in offshore wind farm developments, and the development of sustainable power plants. This all generates more breakbulk cargo to and from Rotterdam, such as project cargo (new factories) or additional steel for the recycling industry or the production of windmill components. Other project cargo you can think of are, for instance, transformers,” he said.

In terms of offshore; exhibitor Liebherr recently partnered with INEOS FPS to supply its Unity Platform with a RL 650 crane to fulfil all material handling for the offshore platform, from food and provisions to spare parts supply.

The Unity Platform is located in the North Sea in 122 metres of water and is operated remotely from an on-shore control centre. Teams regularly visit the platform to carry out periods of intensive maintenance work.

“During our productive dialogue, we were able to convince ourselves of the advantages of the RL series. The fact that the entire crane solution is designed and manufactured in-house speaks for the consistently high quality of Liebherr cranes and their impressive longevity. The Unity Platform is a strategic asset to the UK and reliability is important to our customers and our business,” said Jason Duncan, Project Lead, INEOS FPS.

With the acquisition of RL 650, INEOS FPS is using one of the most advanced cranes in the Liebherr product range in the offshore sector. The compact design with the capacity to lift 15 tons and an outreach of 30 metres meets the needs of the Unity Platform operations. Liebherr RL cranes excel in offshore conditions, offering stability, versatile load-handling capabilities. Their design and construction ensure reliable performance in exacting conditions, making it a valuable asset in harsh offshore environments including those in the North Sea.

“We are pleased that INEOS FPS’ positive experience of our product has led to the acquisition of the RL 650 as the replacement crane for Unity. The relationship between INEOS FPS and Liebherr is one based on trust and the decades-long collaboration between the two companies demonstrates the importance of building and maintaining long-term business relationships,” said Matti Basan, senior sales manager Offshore Cranes, Liebherr Maritime Cranes.

Offshore cranes, such as those in the RL series, are specially designed, built and maintained to operate in challenging marine environments.

MAERSK With climate change and sustainable goals forefront, A.P. Moller - Maersk´s (Maersk) greenhouse gas emissions targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as in line with the 1.5-degree pathway from the Paris Agreement.

While Maersk continues to aim for Net- Zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the entire business in 2040 with significant milestones for 2030, the validated targets include new specific and absolute targets to reduce emissions from Maersk’s own operations and across its supply chains.

“The Science Based Targets initiative represents the highest standard for corporate climate targets, and we are very proud to have obtained validation. We are committed to do our share to reach these targets, but we cannot do it alone. To succeed, we are dependent on and working with the ecosystem that we are part of, including customers, suppliers, industry peers and regulators. Importantly, there is a need for global regulations from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to close the price gap between fossil and green fuels to secure a level playing field,” said .Rabab Raafat Boulos, COO, A.P. Moller – Maersk.

Since 2019, the company has been committed to setting climate targets in line with science and guidance from SBTi, a widely recognized and adopted voluntary framework for corporate climate targets. When SBTi published the guidelines for the maritime transport sector in late 2022, Maersk subsequently submitted the nearand long-term targets to reach absolute reductions from a 2022 baseline.

“These new targets are a proof-point that even as a company in a hard–to-abate sector, it is possible to adopt ambitious science-based targets and get them validated. We know that delivering on them will be a very difficult task, however, setting ambitious targets, both near- and long-term, is critical to our energy transition efforts as they drive action to secure material impact in this decade,” added Morten Bo Christiansen, head, Energy Transition, A.P. Moller – Maersk.

Maersk and the wider maritime sector are working intensely to drive an effective implementation of the International Maritime Organization’s Greenhouse Gas Strategy. As green fuels come with a higher price than fossil fuels, a regulatory regime accelerating the energy transition of the sector and covering the majority of the cost gap for green fuels is paramount. In this context, Maersk, along with its industry peers in the World Shipping Council, will put forward a concrete green balance proposal at IMO MEPC81 addressing this.

Today, almost 60% of Maersk’s top 200 customers have committed to or set science-based targets, including their supply chains. A Green Balance Mechanism for shipping will support their efforts to decarbonise their logistics supply chains as well as help the shipping industry reach net-zero emissions.

CARGOSOFT Cargosoft has created a customized SCM/ TMS solutions for shippers, where industrial and commercial companies can digitally manage their international transport flows.

“Diversification of procurement markets and increasing supply chain disruptions have changed the demands on logistics and shipping managers. Digital solutions that allow booking and monitoring of transport orders with the various service providers, gain in importanc,” said Friedrich Schierenberg, MD, CargoSoft.

The days when shippers bundled their transport orders and handed them over to a single forwarding agent for processing are over. Shipping and logistics managers are increasingly becoming ‘managers of their service providers’ themselves, who always need direct access to the transport status for production or their own customers.

“The CargoSoft TMS software, has been developed as a customized and easy-to-install operational solution. Via SAP system connection, all relevant orders can be transferred directly to either the SCM or the TMS solution of CargoSoft, and status information can be returned,“ added Schierenberg.

Of particular interest to shippers are CargoSoft’s international connections to other players in the air freight, sea freight and customs sectors. These include standardized interfaces to ports, transport companies, freight forwarders and tracking service providers. This networking is constantly being expanded.

“By using WebCargo, the user can request current prices from the airlines directly through CargoSoft TMS, place bookings and integrate the data into the order,” said Schierenberg and he has learnt that SMEs are looking for software solutions that can be implemented quickly and costeffectively.

“This is the target group for our solution, which incorporates a great amount of logistics know-how and development expertise,“ he added.

It enables logistics and shipping managers to make their transport decisions on a solid basis from their own data sources without being dependent on third parties. In practice, this means that service providers and partners can be connected directly, which can then be selected depending on the relation, mode of transport and type of goods. Status information can be viewed in a pooled form, regardless of the linked data source from which it originates.

CIMOLAI Exhibitor Cimolai Technology has partnered with Marine Group Boat Works (MGBW) to custom-build a 820-ton Telescopic Mobile Boat Hoist for its shipyard in San Diego Bay (CA, USA).

The boat hoist can adjust its width by 5.5 m (18,5 feet) also at full load to fit the beam of the boats. It will optimize space on land and will be one of the largest, most innovative machines in the US market.

The contract is part of MGBW’s multimillion modernization project at its 15-acre ship-building and repair facility on San Diego Bay in Chula Vista. The mobile boat lift, with delivery in Fall 2024, will be the only sideways-crawling travelift on the West Coast and the largest in the United States.

The giant lift will be able to haul a superyacht out of the water and transport it forward, backward and sideways on wheels that can turn 90 degrees. Another feature is its variable-width, which will allow the crane to expand up to 18.5 feet or collapse for vessels with smaller beams. The machine will also include a Tier 4 lowemission power source.

The versatility provided by the lift will allow MGBW to make more efficient use of its one-million-square-foot facility by optimizing the space between vessels when blocked on shore.

This is the second major investment in expandable lift equipment MGBW has made in 2023. In April, the firm announced it had purchased a 75-ton Marine Travelift to increase capacity at its yacht repair and dry-dock facility in Los Cabos, Mexico.

MGBW was among the first shipyard facilities in Mexico to experiment with this new design and it allowed the company to overcome previous space constraints and meet increased demand for repairs in the region.

With standard boat lifts, the width is fixed, locking the operators into a larger footprint even when it’s not required for a specific craft. This wasted space results in lost dry-docking capacity for the shipyard, which in turn creates a backlog of boats waiting for an open slot, significant schedule disruptions (particularly in the busy off-season), and work being turned away.

When the 820-ton lift arrives at MGBW in San Diego, it will replace a 660-ton Marine Travelift that MGBW purchased in 2007, which was featured on The History Channel’s “Modern Marvels” series as the single largest lift of its kind at the time.

Plans for MGBW’s boatyard modernization project are currently in environmental review in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In addition to the new boat lift, the construction project will include the largest solar panel installation on the San Diego waterfront, which will provide 500 kilowatts of renewable energy to power yard equipment and supply shore-power to docked boats.

The project will also include the replacement and reconfiguration of all docks and dredging to restore deep-water access.

MGBW shares the Port of San Diego’s goal of being a zero-emissions boatyard and continues to lead the industry in sustainable boat repair and construction. In 2022, the company repowered its biggest and most important piece of equipment, the 665-ton Travelift, with Tier 4 engines, which exceed state and national diesel engine emissions standards.

The upgrade made MGBW’s boat lift the most environmentally friendly in the world. Additionally, MBGW runs a robust recycling program and approximately 85% of its fleet of vehicles, forklifts and manlifts are electric-powered.