32 BC Shipping News April 2012

ports & terminals

Recently I attended the ECA ses-sion hosted by the Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia.

During the session, one could recognize that among the many questions, there was one that was outstanding: what will happen to the local marine indus-try after enforcement of the Emission Control Area?

Further to this, I have also followed some of Port Metro Vancouver’s pres-entations during the past year, once again the big question sounds like: “should the economy change, one way or another, what will be the outcome for the local ports?”

The source of these kinds of ques-tions is in fact the human mind’s tendency for constructing a business model and connecting all known exter-nal and internal sensors, components and stimulants to see the effect on the output, and based upon that output, make a decision for future moves.

Visualizing the dynamic models of a marine port had been part of my past job and designation as an instructor and member of a maritime training in-stitute, port and logistics faculty group.

I shall emphasize that all of these dynamic models already exist in the minds of CEOs and operational

mangers, but transferring the idea in an understandable and interesting way is another matter which I shall try to accomplish in this short article.

The modelling approach in decision-making and design aspects of marine ports has gained greater attention as managers face a problem area that is very dynamic in nature. Researchers have proposed different software pack-ages and approaches in simulating and modelling port operations for varying purposes.

Marine ports are the interfaces be-tween two modes of transport — land and water. Ports are industrial areas that are home to the interchanging of cargo, information and funds among different parties such as shippers, car-riers, insurance companies, customs, banks and stevedores.

Ports vary significantly in terms of size, type of operation, location, man-agement, type of equipment, layout and many other aspects. Port managers are aware of different factors affecting the

Visually modelling a portCaptain Hossein.J.Kamali

smooth and efficient operation of mar-ine terminals and utilize appropriate models in supporting their decisions.

As within any operation, representa-tion of the system plays a crucial role in management. Representation can vis-ually show how independent compon-ents work and interact. It is important to define the boundaries of the system and it’s behavior which involves inputs, processing and outputs.

Following illustrates a simple step by step modelling of a port in a linear format which is understandable for non-experts.

It should be noted that flow of cargo is not the only source of income for ports, they charge their customers for

Figure 1. — Gate valve representation of a simple port system.

As within any operation, representation

of the system plays a crucial role in

management.

April 2012 BC Shipping News 33

ports & terminals

a number of dues and services. No sys-tem is truly linear and no man-made model can suffice for decision-making but should be viewed as a tool for an-alysis and consideration. Visual rep-resentation is easier to interpret than straight text.

A simple way of representing a port system is to identify a “gate valve”, also known as a “sluice valve”, which operates by lifting a gate/wedge out of the path of the fluid, Figure 1. The fluid is the cargo; the inlet and outlet of the valve are the land and water transportation activ-ities. The reservoir behind the gate valve represents the storage yard and the gate is an internal element affecting the throughput of the port. When we com-bine the valve with a reservoir a simple cargo terminal is formed.

This type of schematic diagram is standard for the logistics of many busi-nesses, with raw material as input, inventory being kept in storage and product as output. In this simple model the gate is playing an important role, it restricts the flow of cargo and regulates the rate of throughput.

Figure 2. — Three major subsystems of marine ports.

Figure 3. — Subsystems interacting with throughput of the port.

However, a real port system is far more complex. Cargo movement can be in both directions (import & export) and there are many other elements which can restrict the rate of through-put, such as quay cranes, quay transfer

equipment, workers/unions, weather, drafts, market, local legislation and others. The flow is not restricted by any single valve but by a series of valves, which holistically determine the throughput.

Thus the above simple system can be used as a single building block which can be anywhere from fully closed, slightly open or fully open.

Marine Port SubsystemsMarine ports are composed of three

major subsystems as illustrated in Figure 2: Quay (Berth); Yard; and Gate and rail-head.

QuayQuay is where the physical transfer of

goods from ship to shore and vice versa takes place. Throughput governing ele-ments include: • Quay equipments such as cranes, con-

veyer belt and pipes which transfer goods from ship to shore and vice versa

• Berth’s length and depth which de-cides the number and size of ships that can be berthed simultaneously

• Security level which is a measure to enhance the security of ship and port facilities

• Berth’s traffic and labour staffing at any given time

34 BC Shipping News April 2012

ports & terminals Yard

Yard is where inventory is kept. It’s throughput is governed by: • Material handling equipment• Current capacity• Wharfage • Complexity of the documentation

process

Gate and rail-head Gate and rail-head are where the

goods are cleared in/out by the Cus-toms department and connection is established with land transportation by interchanging the goods with land vehicles.

The diagram in Figure 2. is similar to a pipeline where subsystems determine the capacity of the whole; the system throughput rate is determined by the least open gate valve.

There are more closely interrelated systems and players within the logistics chain of the marine industry that affect the throughput of the port, including multimodal transportation, rival ports, off-dock terminals, lighterage at an-chor and ocean carriers as shown in Figure 3.

The main core of the port itself is at-tached to land transportation from one side and approaching sea passage on the other side.

It should not be assumed that any gate valve in the above model works in-dependently. Although complete clos-ure of a single valve along the pipeline stops the entire throughput, their vari-ance is not independent but is continu-ously under the influence of the other components, passively and/or actively.

For example, a berth’s depth is pas-sively under influence of the approach-ing canal. It would be redundant to dredge a berth more than draft limita-tion of the approach passage. Elements such as labour force, ports equipment, type of vessels to service and berth traffic volumes and patterns, actively affect each other in a multilateral way. The same applies for international trade, regional trade, national legisla-tion, ocean carriers and rival ports.

Limitation of a port’s storage cap-acity encourages the use of off-dock terminals, which in turn is affected by the multimodal transport and custom regulations.

National legislation such as the Emission Control Area which urges the use of more expensive fuel by ocean car-riers can affect the pattern of their port rotation in favour of or against rival ports. Poor quay equipment would re-quire ships with mounted cranes. Depth

limitation encourages cargo work at an-chor (lighterage).

The diagram evolves to Figure 4. by showing interrelationships between building blocks as red arrows.

To avoid excessive visual complexity, only basic interrelationships have been shown.

We may conclude that ports are stra-tegically located in the supply chain as an interface in the flow of goods and act as a platform for the exchange of information. As a key link within the supply chain, ports have to co-operate with shipping agents, forwarders, off-dock terminals, ocean carriers, port authorities, shippers, rail/road/feed-er operators, truckers, governments and administrative services such as Customs.

Challenges facing ports are not only related to the periodic economic cycles and fluctuations but also to the chan-ges in the structure and organization of the industry. Ports must be adapt-able to these changes and become more involved in the integration of supply chains by changing their traditional fragmented approach into an integrat-ed system within which new roles and relationships with other players are defined.

A holistic dynamic model can help tackle the numerous issues ports face and can save considerable time and money in design and decisions which otherwise may lead to sunk costs.

Captain Hossein J. Kamali is an accomplished Master Mariner with exten-sive international training and work ex-perience in ocean-going vessels, shipping, logistics, port operations and container management. He has authored several books on these subjects. Captain Kamali can be reached at h.kamali@shaw.ca.Figure 4. — The interrelationships show the evolution of the supply chain.

Challenges facing ports are not only re-

lated to the periodic economic cycles...

but also to the changes in the structure

& organization of the industry.