Everything else is scheduling. These three are the reasons a berth window is actually lost.
01
Wind on the boxes
Above 20 m/s across the stack, gantries stop. A fully-laden 24,000 TEU vessel presents about the same sail area as a small hill.
02
Draught and tide
Sixteen and a half metres at the berth, but the approach channel decides. Deep-laden arrivals take the tide, and the tide does not negotiate.
03
Documentation
More calls are delayed by a customs hold than by weather. The paperwork is a berth-critical system and we staff it like one.
Equipment on the terminal
Owned, maintained in the workshop at the rail head, and listed here because operators ask.
EquipmentCountCapacityReach
Ship-to-shore gantry1465 t under spreader24 rows
Rail-mounted gantry3640 t9 wide, 1 over 5
Mobile harbour crane4124 t51 m
Terminal tractor9260 t drawbarn/a
Reach stacker1145 t4 high
Empty handler69 t8 high
Operator questions
How is berthing priority decided?
A vessel inside its window keeps its berth. A vessel outside it takes the next free one, regardless of line, size or how long it has been waiting.
Do you handle reefers?
Yes, 1,840 plugs, monitored at fifteen-minute intervals with an alarm to the tower. Set-point deviations are logged and sent with the discharge report.
What about dangerous goods?
IMDG classes 2 to 9 except class 1 and class 7. Segregation is planned before arrival and we will decline a stow we cannot segregate.
Can we run a barge instead of rail?
Two positions, 110 m each, 06.00 to 22.00. Slower and cheaper, and in a rail strike it is the only thing that moves.