Harbour Master
Harbour Masters
Worldwide there are approximately 3,000 merchant ports and the work of the Harbour Master can vary widely from country to country and from port to port even within the same country.

With ABB’s shore connection technology, three Corsica Linea ferries will cut emissions and noise pollution when berthed in the Port of Marseille, France.
Instead of running diesel-fuelled auxiliary engines the ferries Paglia Orba, Jean Nicoli and Pascal Paoli will use electricity for power at the berth. Each of the three vessels is being modified to feature ABB’s power compensation device Dynacomp, which allows electricity available from the local grid in Marseille to be stepped down to 11KV in order to take care of ship power needs while in port.
Jean Nicoli is illustrated here with the kind assistance of Corsica Linea / ABB ©.
In the words of Ludovic Amouroux, Project Manager, Corsica Linea: ‘ABB shore connection technology enables the type of emissions-free ship power that regulators, ports and local residents increasingly demand. With ABB’s proven technology, Paglia Orba, Jean Nicoli and Pascal Paoli will be emissions-free when berthed in Marseille. We estimate we will use between 7MWh and 11 MWh of zero-emission power per call, depending on the vessel.’
Jyri Jusslin, Head of Service, ABB Marine & Ports added: ‘Decision-makers in the ferry sector like Corsica Linea continue to lead on zero-emission shore power, proving that existing vessels can significantly reduce environmental impact with technology that is available to shipowners today. We are delighted to offer our turnkey shore connection solution to meet Corsica Linea’s shoreside power needs.’
This project covers the supply and shipboard installation of electrical, mechanical and automation systems to enable shore power connection. On the shore side, ABB will deliver a custom-designed cable management system on the quay at Marseille, it is understood.
These three Corsica Linea ferries carrying vehicles and passengers connect Marseille and Corsica, for 48 weeks of the year.
Installation of ABB’s shore connection technology in one of the ferries, Paglia Orba, is currently underway, while the two remaining vessels will be connected to shore power in 2020.
Worldwide, ferries transport 2.1 billion passengers and 250 million vehicles every year, according to trade association Interferry. With increasing passenger volumes, the ferry industry is under pressure to meet the IMO target of reducing annual emissions by 30% by 2025.
After France presented an impact assessment to IMO in late 2018, momentum is building to designate the Mediterranean Sea as an Emissions Control Area where stricter controls are in place to minimize emissions from ships.
It has been reported that the Port of Marseille’s efforts to reduce emissions include participation within the EU-funded CLIMEPORT greenhouse gas initiative, while Grand Port Maritime de Marseille (GPPM) has also built the infrastructure at two berths to facilitate shore side power connections.
About ABB
ABB with a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years has four customer-focused, global leading businesses: Electrification, Industrial Automation, Motion, and Robotics & Discrete Automation. It is understood that ABB’s Power Grids business will be divested to Hitachi in 2020. ABB with about 147,000 employees operates in more than 100 countries.
North Sea Port has indicated that 54% of goods transported to the hinterland are moved by inland waterway shipping. This is the outcome of a study conducted by the port among companies throughout the port area and published on 28 November.
As a multimodal port, North Sea Port will increasingly be focusing on sustainable transport in the future, it is reported.
North Sea Port conducted research into the various transport options used by companies to move goods to the hinterland. This revealed that 54% of goods are transported by means of inland waterway shipping. 30% is loaded into lorries, whilst 9% is transported by rail. Transhipping cargo from one vessel to another accounts for 7%.
Results of this study were explained during North Sea Port’s multimodal event. At an Intermodal Marketplace, shippers and logistics intermediaries were able to find out about the rapidly expanding range of services provided by terminals and shipping companies in the port. These parties offer regular services from North Sea Port with destinations such as Antwerp, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Scandinavia, Spain, Italy, Great Britain, China, West Africa and South America by sea (deep-sea and short-sea), rail and inland waterway shipping.
DFDS is now using the new ro-ro ship Hollandia Seaways on the route between North Sea Port Ghent and Gothenburg in Sweden.
On 5 December, DFDS’s largest ship was officially named at the Mercatordok Multimodal Terminal in Ghent, North Sea Port.
The purpose of North Sea Port is to manage, operate and develop the 60 kilometres long cross-border port area from the Dutch port of Vlissingen to Ghent in Flanders. Within this framework, it intends to strengthen the position of the port and industrial complex in the area, both in a national and in an international perspective. North Sea Port employs 250 staff.
Hollandia Seaways can carry 450 trailers, representing a cargo capacity of 6,700 line metres. It has a length overall of 237.4 metres. With an extra floor for trailers, this new ship will immediately catch the eye when in the lock in Terneuzen or on the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal. The vessel is not only larger than the three DFDS ships which currently sail between Ghent and Gothenburg six times a week, it will be by far the largest ship in the entire DFDS fleet. This larger vessel will take the place of one of the three existing ships on the route. As a result, capacity will increase by some 600 trailers per week.