By Angela Macdonald-Smith
Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Australia’s Newcastle port, the world’s biggest coal-export harbor, will test a new satellite- tracking system that coordinates the arrival of ships to help cut waiting times, reduce costs and improve safety.
The trial, to start early next year, should help avoid accidents such as last year’s grounding of the Pasha Bulker coal carrier, New South Wales Ports Minister Joe Tripodi said today in an e-mailed statement. It will involve slowing down ships and should prevent vessels racing to Newcastle to get as far as possible up the queue for loading, he said.
The 225-meter (738-foot) long Pasha Bulker ran ashore in June storms last year at Nobbys Beach, south of Newcastle harbor, prompting an airlift to rescue 21 crew members. During the trial, ships will be tracked by satellite for 14 days prior to their arrival. That data will be used to recommend an arrival time based on loading dates advised by the coal terminal operator.
“It is hoped this new system will allow coal ships to better time their arrival at the port to avoid spending time at anchor off the coast,” Tripodi said in the statement. “With a typical vessel able to reduce its fuel consumption by 40 percent through a 20 percent reduction in speed, this makes sense from both an economic and environmental view.”
Forty ships were waiting outside Newcastle port to load coal as of 7 a.m. local time yesterday, Newcastle Port Corp. says on its Web site. Ships waited an average of 12.58 days last week to load, it said.
Rio Tinto Group, Xstrata Plc and BHP Billiton Ltd. are among mining companies that ship coal through Newcastle. The vessel arrival system isn’t intended as an alternative to developing a long-term plan to manage coal exports through Newcastle, Tripodi said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net
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