Ships are getting bigger and ports have challenges because the size of those ships is stretching the capabilities of the ports: They are wider, longer, higher above the water, and have a much deeper draft.
A lock is a device for raising and lowering ships between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber whose water level can be varied. Locks are used to make a river more easily navigable, or to allow a canal to take a reasonably direct line across country that is not level.
Why is water depth important for a port?
What happens if the water depth of a port is not adequate? How does it affect international shipping and international trade?
What can be done to ensure port has adequate depth of water?
What is bridge clearance?
Why is bridge clearance important for a port?
What happens if the bridge clearance of a port is not adequate? How does it affect international shipping and international trade?
What can be done to ensure port has adequate bridge clearance?
Port terminals have found out that the width of larger ships can also be a challenge for their cranes. Traditional Panamax ships can be loaded with up to thirteen containers in the width of a ship. Some of the post-Panamax ships can be loaded with as many as eighteen containers side-by-side. This presents a problem for ports in which the cranes cannot reach the far side of the ship.
Early on, ports managed their lack of crane capacity by loading ships from one side, turning the ships around, and then loading the remainder of the containers. The problem was one of balance, as the ships seriously list if they are heavier on one side. Today's ports have made considerable investments in new large-capacity cranes that can load these large ships.
An alternative is for ports to increase the reach of the cranes. This modification is also accompanied by a need to increase the height of the cranes, as the vessels are higher. These modifications can be quite costly for a port and new cranes capable of serving these ships can cost $50 million.
Another alternative, is to create an indented berth to allow the ship to be loaded from both sides. An advantage of this configuration is that it allows the ship to be loaded with up to twelve cranes rather than the maximum of six in a traditional port. This alternative speeds up the loading of the ship considerably and shortens the time that a ship spends in port and therefore increasing its profitability.
Seaport are managed differently, particularly its work rules, which are often dictated by strong unions. Some ports only operate eight hours a day instead of the much more efficient twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week of most Asian Pacific Rim ports.
Work rules can also be complex and hamper the efficiency of ports to the point where they are less and less competitive: When there are attempts at modifying these rules, strikes are common: Some Japanese and European ports are plagued with recurring work stoppages. The industrial relations and unions in various countries will affect this.
Watch How US Ports Operate here.
Watch other cargo operations in Jurong Port here.
The amount of warehouse storage space that exists in the port is necessary for cargo to be placed in storage areas that are protected from the elements (specifically rain and sun). If these storage areas are not available or are overcrowded, then it's likely that cargo will be left exposed, leading to possible damages.
Even though the container can be an additional protective layer for the cargo, it is still susceptible to weather damage for example in flooding. Extra care will have to be provided for refrigerated cargo.
Another issue in ports are their connections to the remainder of the country's transport infrastructure, such as rail and road access. Congestion in the access roads to port terminals can delay cargo movement.
Every piece of cargo that is shipped through the port has to travel through the city, which creates a serious strain on road and railroad infrastructures to the port and engenders serious traffic jams and the resentment of the local population. Ports are actively looking at overcoming these bottlenecks.
Another issue in ocean transportation is the strained capacity of ports, as many ports are operating at capacity or very near their capacity. Because ports tend to be physically located between an ocean and a city, there are limits in the ways that they can expand as their traffic increases.
Many ports add capacity by gaining on the sea with landfills or by purchasing real estate that is then transformed into port terminals, both of which tend to be quite costly.