WHEN a port keeps breaking its own records and raises the bar for its next performances, there's only one sure outcome: smashing results.
Westport's commitment to offering the best in quality and fastest in time has seen it looking for ways to improve itself.
Container productivity has been phenomenal. The numbers tell their story. From unloading to moving to channelling, Westport discharges containers at super speed. A record 30 moves per hour (mph) was achieved last year, exceeding the industry's average of 25 mph.
This fast turnaround time in container handling is mirrored in cargo discharge as well. From discharging at a rate of 3,000 metric tonnes (MT) a day, Westport now discharges dry bulk cargoes at 15,000 MT a day. This rise has surpassed the industry's daily requirement of 5,000 MT.
Its conventional terminal's overall rate of discharge has also been without equal. Break bulk productivity is 200 tonnes per gang hour, dry bulk at 500 tonnes per crane hour and liquid bulk at 3,000 tonnes per hour (bunker).
Those figures are above the industrial norm of 100 tonnes, 100 tonnes and 400 tonnes per hour, respectively.
These fast turnaround times have precipitated a similar rise in cargo throughput at Westport. From 4.9 million MT in 1996, Westport in 2004 increased its handling of cargoes to 8.4 million MT. It projects to reach 9.05 million MT this year.
Vessel productivity, or container handling from ship to shore, has experienced double growth. From a former best of 204 mph performed on the Regina Maersk on August 1998, Westport now performs a world-record 368 mph. Westport dominance in delivery time and total throughput is not without reason. It is made possible by new technology, modern , equipment and highly skilled staff.
For instance, hi-tech equipment, including 20 Super Post Panamax quay cranes help make short work of container unloading from ship to shore. State-of-the-art facilities, like the Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC), which can carry , more than 100,000 tonnes of liquid cargo at a faster discharge and load rate, explain the growth in liquid bulk productivity.
Extensive training and development schemes produce a skilled and productive workforce. Thus, productivity is more than just figures and numbers at Westport. It is the result of efficiency, technology and teamwork, topped with the desire to handle more, deliver faster and achieve greater every time.
As Westport moves into its next decade of operations, it is still holding true to all the qualities that make it a Flexiport, a Fastport, and most of all, a first-class port.
The NST, 28.3.2005 |
