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The world is changing and you have to start updating yourself. The LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) terminal is a reception facility for the unloading of cargo from LNG tankers. These purpose-built ports are used especially for the export and import of LNG. Various unloading, regasification, cistern, dosing facilities, etc. They are requiring new terminals with sufficient space for storage and processing

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The world's largest ports are using technological advances to prepare for a vast ecosystem and a digitally enhanced global supply chain.

A case in point is the drone in Rotterdam that speeds up processes along a waterway, dropping a package of spare parts onto a moving barge. This is known as the latest development in the global phenomenon known as smart ports.

Rotterdam is one of the world's leading ports in embracing the digital transformation that these maritime hubs are transforming.

Although just one aspect of the smart port, drones are already being deployed to detect pollution levels on ships approaching shore and inspect the contents of container stacks instead of sending workers to cranes and, as in Rotterdam, to save time delivering packages instead of the crew having to go ashore.

Shanghai, the world's largest container port, is following suit, attracting the best researchers from around the world with its own version of Silicon Valley. Similarly, Rotterdam has invited start-ups focused on the maritime sector to establish themselves there. One current project is a power center that uses artificial intelligence to predict consumption and production patterns.

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Construction of large ships is limited by port infrastructure

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Construction of large ships is limited by port infrastructure

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The largest container ships in the world are 400 meters long and around 60 meters wide. It is, more or less, the current upper limit for these ships and there are a number of reasons that prevent their growth. Even container ships much larger than today are unlikely to be seen, the BBC reports.

There are around 5,500 container ships in the world and together they are capable of transporting 25 million TEUs. George Griffiths, editor of global container markets at S&P Global Platts, explains that the global order book for new ships will increase that total collective capacity by a whopping 25% in just a few years. "We are seeing many more ultra-large container ships being built," he says, adding that "the proportion of new ships moving over 14,000 TEUs is staggering."

In the last decade alone, the average capacity of a container ship has increased from less than 3,000 TEUs to around 4,500 TEUs. And there are currently more than 50 ships with a capacity of 21,000 TEUs or more. Virtually all of them were built in the last five years.

However, these vessels push the limits of even the world's largest ports, Griffiths says. To load and unload containers, cranes must completely cross the ships, and the ships must also turn and pass through the Suez and Panama canals, which have size restrictions.

It is also crucial that they avoid running aground. In some ports, the largest ships are so submerged in the water that they hit the bottom and slide through the sediment instead of floating, says Stavros Karamperidis, director of the Shipping Research Group at the University of Plymouth in the UK. United. Such a maneuver must be handled with extreme care.

To accommodate ships larger than the largest in existence today would require a major overhaul of the port infrastructure, which would be incredibly expensive. Karamperidis adds that the larger vessels are also restricted in terms of the routes they navigate because they are so vulnerable to inclement weather.

"That's why large ships move closer to the coast, so they don't face big waves. It's a question of stability," says Karamperidis. He adds that most US ports are not large enough to accommodate this type of container ship. In fact, only a handful of ships with capacities approaching 20,000 TEUs have called at US ports.

Another problem occurs when sailing directly into a wave sequence, ships can experience a phenomenon called parametric roll. When waves pass along a very wide container ship, its bow and stern can clear the water as long as the wave peak is at the ship's midpoint. This leaves the upper part of the bow and stern without the support of the water. Variation in this support, as the waves pass, can cause the ship to rock unnaturally from side to side.

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As we have already highlighted in other articles, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has become one of the main alternative and environmentally friendly fuels.

The energy needs of the different countries and the IMO 2020 provision of an environmental nature; combined with the product's ability to reduce its volume by 600 times, making it easier to transport, have generated its exponential growth.

Today, the world fleet is adapting its engines and the shipyards in its stands, building LNG-powered ships and state-of-the-art methane tankers seeking to reduce their evaporation rate as much as possible.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than ten countries import LNG through ships and six through iso containers, finding only two exporters to date, to which our country will soon join again.

In total, there are already twenty-one import terminals and two liquefaction terminals.

Although LNG is not a new product in the industry, it has become one of the most important alternative fuels.

The industry has proven to be one of the safest in terms of accidents. Let us remember that, from the first voyage made by the ship “Methane Pioneer” in 1959 to the present day, the accident rates have been very low.

The safety standard of this industry is so high, that even in a hypothetical case of explosion and consequent damage to persons or materials, whether to other ships, port facilities or third parties, among others, the international civil reparation or compensation agreements have very reliable legal structures and compensation amounts with the highest standards, guaranteeing prompt and safe reparation for potential victims.

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LNG is easily accessible and an abundant energy source. Its calorific value is 15% to 20% higher than conventional fuels making LNG an economically viable combustible fuel.

Stringent environmental IMO regulations coupled with LNG’s significant advantages in terms of availability, technological maturity, affordability, and environmental efficiency will boost LNG use as marine fuel over the coming years.