T’Slips in Amsterdam

by Michael Jordan

Eight thousand TEU ships will soon be here. Larger ships move containers for less, but the ships cost more. The ship is producing only when it is moving cargo. The ship moves cargo at sea, not at the berth. Ship turn time is wasted time. The challenge is to economically reduce turn time.

Reducing turn time has been the challenge for years. The obvious solution was to increase crane productivity. We did this. But it only helped a little, since the quay could not keep up with the cranes. A more global view was needed. The cranes, quay, yard, and gate must be examined as a system. The productivity of the system determines the ship turn time. The cranes are only a part of the system.

A new system is being planned for the new C. The system is designed to produce 300 net sustained moves per hour on one 8000 TEU ship. The key to this productivity is placing a large ship in a slip and servicing the ship from both sides, port and starboard. The new terminal being developed by the Port Management of Amsterdam and Ceres Marine Terminals Inc. will provide berthing for three ships: two ships at a marginal wharf and one ship in a slip.

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