The ongoing infrastructure investment for the Port of Oakland may be paying big dividends soon if super-sized container vessels continue to make more inbound calls. Well over a dozen megaships have called here in the past 30 days.
By Patrick Burnson
Published: June, 2015
The ongoing infrastructure investment for the Port of Oakland may be paying big dividends soon if super-sized container vessels continue to make more inbound calls. Well over a dozen megaships have called here in the past 30 days.
“We have prepared for these ships and they’re here to stay,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll. “It’s gratifying to see our planning and advance work pay off.”
The working definition of megavessel is a ship capable of carrying 10,000 or more 20-foot containers. Two Oakland arrivals last month, the MSC Regulus and the CMA CGM Margrit, hold up to 13,000 containers each.
International shipping lines have migrated to the 1,200-foot-long behemoths for economies of scale and improved fuel efficiency. Another upside for the community is that they also produce fewer emissions per container carried.
The first big ship to call Oakland, the MSC Fabiola, berthed in March 2012 and carries up to 12,500 20-foot containers. In 2013, the MSC Beatrice became the largest vessel to call Oakland. It holds 14,000 20-foot containers and is nearly a quarter-mile long. Its containers placed end-to-end would stretch more than 52 miles.
The Port of Oakland prepared for megavessels by dredging approaches and berths to 50-foot depths over the last decade. It raised crane heights to reach over the mountains of containers stacked above vessel decks. And it continues to refine marine terminal operations to improve landside cargo-handling speed.
Port spokespeople said that vessels holding between 6,500 and 8,500 20-foot containers remain “the norm” in Oakland. But they added that the number of big ships calling here is growing, and that the big ship migration will test Oakland’s marine terminals’ ability to load and unload vessels.
According to recent port data, big ships spend 40 to 45 hours in Oakland discharging or loading cargo. Smaller ships usually depart in 35 to 39 hours.
The port said that upcoming improvements designed to accelerate landside operations could help shorten berth time for larger ships. The steps include weekend gates and after-hours off-dock locations for cargo.
The Port of San Francisco, meanwhile, may also profit from this new trend if it attracts more business for its storied ship repair legacy.
Earlier this spring, the San Francisco Port Commission executed a new 20-year lease agreement with BAE Systems for maritime ship repair that will sustain San Francisco’s 150-year tradition of shipbuilding and repair.
The agreement includes a provision that could extend shipyard operations through 2045. BAE Systems San Francisco Ship Repair currently leases the port’s Pier 70 shipyard and two floating drydocks under a 30-year lease set to expire in December 2017.
The shipyard has made a successful transition over the past 20 years, since the Bay Area military base closures in the early 1990s, to being highly competitive in commercial ship repair. As a result, BAE Systems and the port crafted a new lease agreement that will sustain industrial ship repair into the future.
“Today we proudly continue one of San Francisco’s oldest maritime traditions, a tradition that has been creating and maintaining quality maritime jobs for more than a century,” announced Port of San Francisco Executive Director Monique Moyer. “BAE Systems and the port have collaborated to expand West Coast dry-docking capabilities, servicing post-Panamax ships, providing emission-free electrical power to the ships, and deepening the shipyard’s channel entrance to accommodate large ships. This agreement fortifies our alliance to sustain this industry for decades to come.”
BAE Systems employs an average of 250 skilled craft workers year-round, representing 10 local trade unions, plus additional jobs during peak periods, where employment levels can rise to over 1,000 people. San Francisco’s most marketable features in the ship repair business are its two floating drydocks and its central-coast location, which makes it ideal for both northbound and southbound migratory commercial fleets.
The shipyard is located at Pier 70, near the intersection of 20th and Illinois at the foot of Potrero Hill. Ships have been built and repaired in and around this area for over 150 years.
Today ship repair remains of vital economic interest to the port and to San Francisco, as this industry generates hundreds of family-wage jobs and helps attract maritime commerce through increased cargo vessel activities. So while the era of containerization spelled the end for San Francisco as a world-class ocean cargo gateway, it remains a leader in the ship repair industry niche.
Patrick Burnson is the past president and current board member of the Pacific Transportation Association, based in San Francisco. www.pacifictrans.org
