Port Expansion Essay (Case Study Sample)

PORT EXPANSION
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Introduction
The United States Marine transport system is definitely one of the largest and important national assets. It has assisted in ensuring that continued leadership with regard to the national trading and a channel for economic development in the country .It has helped the country with great distinction in time of peace and war even prior to the establishment of the republic. Older port like Baltimore and Philadelphia need to upgrade the technology and modified work practices with the available resources in order to speed up their port operations and increase the volume of cargo moving in and out of United States (Roso, 2009).
Discussion and analysis
Improving the work practices and technology will automatically increase the productivity of these old ports .However, currently there is no available set of framework that is evaluating port performance or the best practices that need to be put in place in order to improve the efficiency .In addition there are also no available research programs they will help in promoting technologies that are directed in improving the efficiency of these old ports.
Investment together with modernization of these ports is also needed in order to back up the ever increasing movement of various commodities on the American ports. In the case of the port at Baltimore most of the infrastructure and equipment is over fifty years and hence it does not have the capability of accommodating modern vessels and the increased size of commodities in and out of United States .The method of funding the development of these ports need to be improved due to the fact that funds for development has been depleted hence delaying important development projects. This will help in developing reliability and mitigating efficiency problems that can worsen in the coming years if not well checked upon.
Nowadays efficiency of the port is one of the major determinants of the international transport system .This framework was found to be more significant in various port features which include port infrastructure , partnership between different ports and finally private sector participation. Various research studies have indicated the interrelation between port efficiency and inter-port connectivity, with significant impact varying with the extent on port improvement and port efficiency.
For instance there are only 31 channels alone in Baltimore that constitute of the whole Baltimore port region ,with an approximate of 22 to 50ft.A recent research carried out on Baltimore port area indicated that 30% of all the vessel calls at United States are typically constrained because of inadequate depth of the channel. If this issue is ignored the United States waterways will not have the ability to the future growth and development of the ports together with trade (Doerflinger, 2001).
This can be achieved by funding dredging projects that will be focusing in increasing the depth of the port harbors. These projects are usually funded through the Ports and harbor maintenance tax which is a body formed to finance and oversees the upgrading process of the harbors .The tax is usually imposed on imports, foreign trading non-ferry passengers. The tax revenue collected by the body is then deposited in the harbor maintenance funds in order to finance developing of the harbors.
The significance of the old ports to the entire American economic progress has been great and very critical in many years since the founding of the country. Since the establishment of these ports access to United States through these ports has enhanced a more efficient conveyance of goods hence playing a big role in boosting the U.S international trade .Recently, expansion of the port has emerged as a significant strategy for both Philadelphia and Baltimore port areas for both the government and the various partners pushed by a number of objectives such as accommodation of the increasing number of large vessels and also ensuring goods reach their destinations and hence ensuring a smooth trade between United States and the rest of the world.
Aligned with the efforts of expanding the Baltimore and other old ports are a number of challenges at some of the ports which involve issues related to labor and space limitation that has severely crimped the movement of goods from the ports to other destination In US and other parts of the world.
Equipment
Good equipment used at the ports is one of the major requirements in effort to realize effective operations at the port. This comprises of a well maintained infrastructure such as sea walls, quays, road and railroads that connect the port area. In addition to the port infrastructure, it also comprises of port superstructure such as ship-to-shore and the other equipment at the terminal yard such as the rail mounted gantries.
The appropriate equipment required is fairly precise according to the cargo type .While most of the cargo in the recent years was loaded or being unloaded using general cargo cranes ,these equipment have become more specific .Containers are usually loaded or unloaded using container cranes ,liquid goods with pipelines and dry goods with elevators