The development of a £300 million container terminal in Liverpool (UK) is driving a major technology investment by Peel Ports Group. Peel Ports is introducing the Navis N4 terminal operation system – acclaimed as the gold standard in global container management – at eight sites in the UK and Ireland. The upgrade is being driven by Liverpool2 – a new container hub for the UK and Ireland which will serve as the enabling platform from which the group will standardise and centralise its terminal operation systems, the Group said on Wednesday.
When open in 2015, Liverpool2’s eight Megamax ship-to-shore cranes and fleet of semi-automated CRMG yard cranes, allied with the Navis system, will make it one of the most efficient and modern terminals in Northern Europe, with the capacity to handle two 13,500 TEU vessels from Asia, Europe, the Middle East or the Americas simultaneously.
David Huck, Port Director at Peel Ports, said: “We operate in an increasingly competitive market and understand that in order to continue growing our business, we need to continue to invest in our customers. Full integration of the terminal operating technology is an essential part of this process”.
“We want to use Liverpool2 as an opportunity to drive further change across the business. The terminal will enable Peel Ports to clearly demonstrate best in class port and logistics solutions, and the Navis N4 system will help us to do that.”
The Navis system will first be installed at the Royal Seaforth Container Terminal at Port of Liverpool, close to where Liverpool2 is currently under construction. It will then be rolled out to other Peel terminals by 2016.
The N4 technology will replace the current SPARCS 3.7 and other in-house systems at each of the terminals, and dedicated internal and external teams will be put in place to manage the implementation process.
N4 is Navis’ latest generation terminal operating system and gives terminal operators a flexible and scalable platform which can be manage single or multiple terminals from one central location.
Bill Walsh, president and CEO at Navis, said: “We look forward to working with the Peel Ports team as they begin to roll out N4 across all operations.
“The Peel Ports customer experience will absolutely be optimised by using N4. We are confident that the TOS will provide a solution that will allow Peel Ports to continue to grow its business and improve the overall customer experience.”
Peel Ports handles 65 million tonnes of cargo and 26,000 vessel movements per year across the UK. In terms of container market the group currently handles 1.2 million TEU per annum and expects volumes to grow to 2.3million TEU over the next five years.
Liverpool2 is the key project in the Mersey Ports Master Plan, the 20-year vision for growth and future developments at the Port of Liverpool and on the Manchester Ship Canal – launched by Peel Ports last year. The Port of Liverpool is already Britain's third largest container terminal – and the largest serving the Transatlantic market. Liverpool2 will double its size and connect directly to a number of portcentric logistics hubs along the Manchester Ship Canal via barge. This will result in the development of the UK's first "green logistics hub" which will reduce costs, congestion and carbon footprint for businesses located in the North West of England, serving the north of the UK. This will allow global shippers to access the UK's major import centres via the most economic and lowest carbon route and provide Northern UK-based exporters with a more competitive route to market.
The construction programme comprises a new 854-metre quay wall, the in-filling of the newly created land-mass, the dredging of a new 16.5-metre deep berthing pocket adjacent to the quay wall, the installation of ship to shore quay cranes and modern cantilever rail mounted gantry cranes (CRMGs) and associated supporting infrastructure works. The main contractor is infrastructure group Lend Lease.
About Peel Ports
The Port of Liverpool is owned by Britain's second largest group of ports, Peel Ports. Peel Ports is strategically located to serve the whole of the United Kingdom: five major gateways handle a broad spectrum of international trade amounting to more than 65 million tonnes of cargo a year. At the centre of the country and at the centre of the Group are the Port of Liverpool and the Manchester Ship Canal, now one continuous water highway forming a single port facility of major strategic significance forged under the banner of Peel Ports. The Medway Ports sit on the doorstep of the nation's capital in the prime South East Region of England, with Clydeport serving Scotland's industrial heartland. Heysham in Lancashire provides a significant springboard for trade between Britain and Ireland, The Group also includes the operation of container terminals in Belfast and Dublin and its short-sea shipping operation.
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