MALTA\\\


feeder services to Tunisia and Libya. Maersk and CMA CGM are also


major users of the X-Press Feeders services to the Adriatic and Italian West Coast. “So,


laid-up vessels, has increasingly come into use for car carrying ships transhipping vehicles to Libya and Algeria for Hoegh, Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Hyundai-Glovis. To cope with the increased


through these additional


volumes and also with additional business from CMA CGM we have managed not only to recover lost volume but actually increase it,” Montebello recounts. In 2013, though in mid-April it is


early days yet, he is forecasting a further increase of around 5% to 2.7m teu. CMA CGM is by far the lion’s


share of the total traffic, points out the line’s general manager in Malta, Derek Ali. It moved 2.1m teu through the Freeport in 2012, itself an 18% increase over 1.78m teu in 2011. The Freeport, meanwhile, is


continuing to develop and diversify, Montebello continues. The West Quay, hitherto used mainly for


volume of wheeled traffic – all of it transshipment rather than local – the Freeport is extending the West Quay from 160 to 280 metres and will also add a ro ro ramp. (The current vessels are self-sustaining with their own ramps.) But the quay will also be used by container ships and two container cranes are to be moved there. Time will tell whether the


Freeport will ever make inroads into the local ro ro market. At the moment, the main services from Italy and the rest of Europe call at Valletta’s Grand Harbour, a port that is currently favoured by the local importing community who find its location more convenient than the Freeport on the other side of the island – though in reality only


a few miles’ drive from the Maltese capital. The Freeport’s car shipments


to North Africa are currently running at roughly one vessel- load per week, with around 30,000 cars moved last year, although volumes do fluctuate much more than in the container trades. Libya and Algeria are the main destinations – ports there are congested and inadequate and transshipment via a hub port is oſten the most attractive option. As well as cars, the vessels also move trucks and other wheeled equipment, all dedicated to the reconstruction of the two war- torn countries. Another major project will be


the deepening off all the Freeport’s mainline berths from 15.5 metres to 17 metres, a scheme now nearing completion. And the existing North Quay


is being extended by a further 33 metres to ensure that it can


Rebuilding has sparked a boom in wheeled cargo to Libya and Algeria


continue to be used by the world’s largest containerships as vessels become even bigger. Two more quay cranes are


being purchased and, significantly, these will have an outreach of 25 containers whereas the new 18,000 giant container ships due to come into service are ‘only’ 23 containers wide. As Montebello says, “you buy a container crane to last 20 years and who knows what developments in containership design will happen in that time? It’s probably only a question of time before ships go beyond 18,000teu to, maybe 21,000teu.” The current works will expand


the Freeport’s total capacity to around 3.2m teu a year although development plans envisage, ultimately, a 4.2m teu port. As it is, the Freeport regularly


breaks handling records and is one of the best performers in Europe on the CMA CGM network, topped only by Khor Fakkan in the UAE. Various measures have been taken to boost productivity still further such as staggered meal breaks. For the present, CMA CGM’s


Marco Polo is the world’s largest containership at 16,000teu and it has already called at Malta’s Freeport


twice, without


Issue 4 2013


clearly Yildrim is looking to expand its presence in port operations well beyond its home country. The presence of a major new cash-rich investor is good


19


news for the Freeport which, since its privatisation in 2004, has seen investment of €190m in cranes, the yard fleet and, of course, physical expansion.


Ro ro solution to Libyan port congestion


CMA CGM has meanwhile developed an


interesting


new solution to the problem of congested North African container ports – dedicated ro ro services that carry only containers. Its lo lo vessels had been experiencing delays at anchorage in Libya of up to two weeks, explains general manager Derek Ali, but ro ro vessels tend to be operated more quickly. They can carry around 1,000teu on mafi or skeletal trailers that can be rapidly unloaded in port and, with their


three days faster


turnaround, can keep to schedule far better than the lo lo ships, says Ali. The ships all carry their own handling gear including reachstackers, toploaders and forkliſts. Such has been their success


any


problems. Turkey’s Yildrim Group has


taken a stake in CMA CGM and has also taken a 50% share of Malta Freeport Terminals. On a day to day basis, that will not mean much change to the operation of the port, although


on the Malta-Libya route that CMA CGM is considering using the concept on other services. It is also possible that the Libyan service could in future carry other cargo like out-of-gauge items or project shipments. Ro ro ships have been used


successfully in the past on other ‘difficult’ trades such as


the OTAL service from North Europe


to West Africa, an


operation subsequently taken over by Delmas and, ultimately, CMA CGM. CMA CGM has also


reorganised its other lo lo container services from Malta to North Africa and now operates 12 dedicated routes on fixed windows, one for each port – a pattern that minimises the potential


for delay and


disruption. Moreover, the departure of the feeder ships has been tied in more closely with the mainline vessels’ schedules which not only improves schedule reliability but improves total voyage time, says Derek Ali. All services to North Africa are operated by self-geared ships, he adds. North Africa looms large in


CMA CGM’s activity in Malta, accounting for no less than 70% of volumes there. Ports in the region are small and underdeveloped; only Morocco has built harbours of significant size. Transshipment via a hub port such as Malta looks likely to be the mode of operation for the foreseeable future.


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