Megaports and Load Centers of the Future with the Port of Houston as the Baseline Port
Arthur P. James, John M. Howard, Jr., John P. Basilotto and Heather Harbottle, Texas A&M University, September 1997, 216 pp. (467404-1)
Improvements in the containership technology will require modern port terminal facilities. The number of ships calling on U.S. ports is likely to decrease, but larger and more automated containerships will increase the amount of cargo handled per ship. The result will be greater cargo tonnages handled by seaports and the need for faster vessel turnaround. High capacity, expensive cargo handling equipment will be increasingly used and port terminal operations will become even more automated, particularly in container handling, where robotics equipment may well be introduced within the next decade. Present shipping trends seem to indicate that a small number of east, west, and gulf coast seaports will dominate the U.S. container business, thus gaining “megaport” status. The remaining U.S. ports in order to remain viable, will turn toward serving more specific market niches. These niches include handling the present containership fleet, feeding to and from the megaports, and non-traditional development activities such as bulk and breakbulk services. This study delineates and describes the external environment, facilities, and operational characteristics of a “megaport/load center port” capable of meeting market requirements by the year 2010. The port of Houston is evaluated within this research as an example of a prototypical, next generation seaport.
Keywords: Automation, Container, Dredge, Intermodal, Load Center Port, Megaport, Multimodal, Panamax, Shipping Seaport, TEU
ENTIRE REPORT (Adobe Acrobat File – 2.7 MB)