The chief executive of Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) has written to the Victorian government requesting its intervention with Port of Melbourne over the delay in approval for berthing 8,000 teu vessels at its new Webb Dock facility.
Australian ports are under increased pressure from container shipping lines to upgrade their container terminals to accommodate bigger box ships, deployed to reduce costs.
Cascading on north-south trades is accelerating as vessels on east-west tradelanes are replaced by ultra-large tonnage.
VICT, owned by Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI), signed a 20-year design, build and operating lease with Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) in May 2014 for the outer city facility.
Phase 1 of the A$400m project is stemmed to be operational by the end of December and will have a quay length of 330 metres, served by three neo-panamax ship-to-shore cranes and able to handle vessels with a capacity of more than 8,000 teu.
But the CEO of VICT, Anders Dommestrup, said he had been obliged to write to Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas, asking for his support, as he says “the circumstances” in which VICT won the tender “have changed significantly”.
“When we requested support to build berths for larger ships, PoMC said a review of the conditions for larger vessels to berth at Webb Dock (pictured) would take two years, with no guarantee of certainty,” said Mr Dommestrup.
“We think there is a strong case for allowing larger vessels to berth at Webb Dock after a four-to-six-week review and simulation of the conditions and requirements,” he argued; and added that with “minor modifications” VICT could handle two 8,000 teu vessels simultaneously.
According to Mr Dommestrup, the port has also rejected VICT’s other proposals to improve productivity and efficiency, claiming PoMC had told it to comply with its obligations to build the terminal. In effect, he said, “stay out of sight and out of mind”.
Claiming that “sensible operational planning and progress at the port” had been “paralysed for over 18 months”, Mr Dommestrup said in his letter, “in the absence of any positive dialogue with us on any fundamental matter that might lead to improvement at the port, we are left with few options”.
“Our proposals are consistent with the maintenance of the port of Melbourne as the country’s premier port, with the economic interests of the users of the ports, with VICT’s interests, and with the interests of all Victorians,” said the CEO.
Ocean carriers have accelerated their upsizing strategy for ships calling into Australian ports from 6,000 teu to 8,000 teu plus, bringing enormous challenges – not least to Melbourne’s status as the nation’s biggest container port.
Indeed, hub rival Sydney’s ‘big-ship-ready’ expansion at Port Botany is expected to see Melbourne’s 2.6m teu top ranking challenged this year.
Other than Webb Dock, Melbourne’s two inner container terminals cannot accommodate 8,000 teu ships due to the 50-metre air draught restrictions posed by the West Gate Bridge.