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VIZHINJAM MOTHERPORT ACTION SAMITHI (VMAC)

From, Elias John, President, Vizhinjam Mother Port Action Samithi (VMAC), Trivandrum. To, Shri Anil Razdan, IAS (retd.), Chairman, Environmental Appraisal Committee, Ministry of Environment and Forests, C-1/34, Pandara Park, New Delhi-110 003 Sub: EIA Clearance for Vizhinjam International Sea Port Project Reg: Respected Sir, Vizhinjam Mother Port ACtion Samithi (VMAC) is a registered [TVM/TC/1073/2013] Non-Governmental Organization, based at Trivandrum, Kerala who has been actively supporting the Vizhinjam project and has played a significant role in educating the people of Kerala for the need of the project for the nation. VMAC is formed by a group of people of people from Trivandrum who includes the working middle class, fishermen, students, bureaucrats and a wide diversity of common man representing the larger section of community in Kerala. We are writing this letter to MOEF to expose the malicious intent by a vested group of people who are trying to scuttle the project. It has come to the understanding to VMAC that a representation was put forward by Mr. Cyriac Kodath and Mr. John Jacob Puthur on behalf of the tourism industry and local fishing community. Being involved with project over last 10 years on grass root levels, VMAC would like to bring light to MOEF that the intents of these people are false in nature and has been trying to spread negative emotions within the local community with vested interests. Mr. Cyriac Kodath, is a director of Coconut Bay Resorts, a resort which is lying in the project area and that would be affected due to the project. To note is that this resort, along with 8 other resorts has been found out to be illegally constructed violating the CRZ norms. The details are attached as an Appendix. Thus the only intent of the concerned person is to save his resort and is not represented by the hotel or resort community at large. It is to be noted that no resort outside the immediate project area has filed a complaint or raised a protest. The project would only increase the income levels of all other resorts in the vicinity with the virtue of having the cruise terminal and increased tourism potential. Mr. John Jacob Puthur, claims that the port project would bring significant negative impacts to the locality with environmental failures due to the action of siltation, wind, corrosion and reclamation. VMAC would like to bring to the attention of MOEF these false claims as presented in the appendix raised by Mr. th Puthur during a seminar held in Trivandrum on 11 July, 2013. VMAC had then strongly and publically exposed the false claims and the protagonist has been only propagating fear and without any scientific base or sincere concerns. His book Untold Story of the Coast also had been blatantly opposing any port projects and is trying to spread false impressions of any coastal infrastructure projects. Ports have always existed as the key node for trade and global economy is highly dependent of efficiently operating ports. It

can be seen that the intentions of Mr. Puthur is not to improve the environmental sustainability of the coast or the nation as a whole, rather only to support a vested interested group at large. VMAC meanwhile had been actively involved in educating the people of the region regarding the immense benefits of the project. We would like to present below the activities which we had done in the past to let know the MOEF that these issues were discussed within all folks of community in Kerala and the project now has immense support from the public. VMAC in its initial stages worked under the banner of Janapaksham. The organization was formed on 2nd October 2004, with presentations of the project held at City School, PMG Trivandrum. Janapaksham members realized that this project will be implemented only with a mass movement, for which we planned st Janapaksham Birth Right Declaration programme on October 31 , 2004. Since then, Janapaksham and VMAC had been very actively conducting seminars and workshops propagating the good news about the project and have presented ourselves in all forums possible for the speedy implementation of the project. Listed below are the few activities conducted by VMAC. Workshops / Seminars in Educational Institutes o Class for 150 staff members in Cotton Hill Girls Higher Secondary School. o Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram. Nearly 500 students. o Class for nearly 6000 students in Cotton Hill GHSS, Trivandrum o Institute of Management in Kerala (IMK),Trivandrum o College of Engineering, Trivandrum o University College of Engineering, Kariyavattom o M.G. College, Trivandrum o Govt. Arts College, Trivandrum o Govt. Model Higher Secondary School, Trivandrum o Govt. Women's College, Vazhuthacad o St. Xavier's College, Thumba NSS team o City Higher Secondary School, PMG o St. Mary's Higher Secondary School, Vizhinjam o All Saints College, Trivandrum o Pettah Girls High School, Trivandrum Project area o Discussion meeting at Mukkola The people gathered there declared full hearted support for all activities for the implementation of Vizhinjam Project. o Adimalathura Beach organized by Fr. Lucian Thomas, Parish Priest, Adimalathura, the area which had witnessed widespread protest against the port construction due misapprehensions created by lack of proper communication to the natives about the project details. Hundreds of fishermen, ladies, youths gathered there were very confused about the Project. Main area of concern was the evacuation of poor people residing near Project Area, because Pattayam was not issued to many of the families who have no political influence. Janapaksham declared that it will always be with the people in Project area and decided to take up the pattayam issue. Accordingly pattayam applications are being collected. Most families fear that they will be displaced to Pannimala, a remote area if the project comes up. o Parish Council, Vizhinjam Church: The parish priest Fr. Ignesious and council members have assured support for the project. They have requested Janapaksham to take up the drinking water issue.

Siraj Nagar, Thekkumbhakom Muslim Jam'aat organized by Thekkumbhakom Jam aat. Hundreds of people gathered in the sandy yard near the wharf. Representatives of nearly13 organizations connected with Vizhinjam fishing harbor attended the meeting. Chappath, Vizhinjam: - the entrance of proposed Vizhinjam Port. Organised by Chappath Area Convenor.

Others o Raised 400m long banner equal to the length of Emma Maersk, the then largest container ship o Formation of a 2000 number of boat chain in sea o Road shows of India Max Ship model o Public meetings involving Chief Minister, Port Minister, Opposition leader and other road shows involving film stars. o Organisation of bike rallies for supporting Vizhinjam Project. o KCYM - Animation centre, TVM for representatives of nearly 100 KCYM units (Kerala Catholic Youth Movement) o Teacher's GUILD - Nearly 400 teachers working in attended the meeting. o Industrial Estate, Monvila Seminar for the ideal industrialists gathered at Monvila. o ARENA Multimedia, Karimpanal Arcade, Statue for Multimedia students. o Rural Development Society, Thenniyoorkonam o FRAT, Trivandrum - General body meeting of nearly 400 residential associations.

Letter writing and e-mail campaigns o VMMCS has also organized a letter writing campaign in the schools and Colleges of Thiruvananthapuram City. Nearly 25000 post cards were posted to the Honourable President of India, Prime Minister, Chief Minister of Kerala and Opposition Leader of Kerala.

Dossier of Activities by VMAC urging the authorities for speedy implementation of Vizhinjam Project is attached as reference. VMAC do hereby request to MOEF that the complaints raised by the resort owners or the NGOs opposing the projects comes with no basis in truth, knowledge or any sincere concern for the environment. The Vizhinjam port project has been the dream of an entire State for over five decades and I certainly hope that you will help it for its speedy implementation whereby thousands of Crores of rupees could be saved in sake of transhipment happening at foreign ports. It is our sincere and urgent request that MOEF may grant all required appraisals and clearances for commencement of the project at the earliest. We are ready and willing to support in any way to make this project a reality. Looking forward to your early action,

Sincerely, Elias John.

Appendix List

1. Violation of CRZ Norms by Resorts 2. Response to Seminar by John Jacob Puthur 3. Dossier of Activities by VMAC urging the authorities for speedy implementation of Vizhinjam Project

Appendix 1 Violation of CRZ Norms by Resorts

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Figure 4-75: Kovalam and the Project Site with the Final Project Layout 4.10.10.5 Details of Resorts

There are 31 resorts situated along the coast in the Project stretch, as per information received from the Kerala Hotel & Restaurant Association (KHRA), Thiruvanathapuram. These resorts offer Ayurvedic treatments and mainly attract foreign tourists from Austria, Germany, Switzerland and other parts of globe. The details of the resorts in and around the project stretch are given in Figure 4-76. An attempt was made to gather site-specific tourism information during the social survey. The proforma was circulated to all 31 resorts, but details were received only from 9; these are presented in Table 4-77.

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Figure 4-76: Map Showing the Resorts in and around the Project Site

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Table 4-77: Details of 31 Resorts received from KHRA Association No. of No. of Rooms Staff Nellikunnu Beach Thapovan Heritage Home 31 75 Medicos Ayur Bay 18 16 Kadaltheeram 6 4 Sea Park 25 18 Padme Beach Resort 10 6 Vayalkara Beach Resort 14 16 Merlin Villa 2 2 Lotus Beach 2 3 Park House 20 12 Gods Light 1 1 Mulloor Beach Nandikulam Beach House 4 4 Coconut Bay Beach Resort 27 125 Pulinkudy Beach Surya Samudra 30 90 Bethsaida 90 165 Karikathi Beach House 4 4 Paradise Garden Resort 8 6 Azhimala Beach Agastya Beach Resort 32 60 Nikkis Nest 47 85 Sea and Sand Beach Resort 9 6 Azhimala Beach Resort 20 25 Sun Tara Beach Resort 13 19 Chowara Beach Shin Shiva Ayurveda Ashramam 23 60 Dr Franklins Panchakarma Institute 42 125 Visaya House 4 7 Somatheeram Health Resort 66 255 Somatheeram Beach Resort 80 400 Manaltheeram Beach Resort 60 300 Travancore Heritage 90 235 Ideal Resort 22 35 Gods Own Country Resort 20 20 Sandal Resort 12 10 Total Staff in Beach Resorts 832 2189 Name of Hotel
(Source: KHRA)

Date of Commencement 2000 2004 2005 1998 2010 2008 2009 2008 2008 2011 2010 1997 1982 1994 1997 2004 2002 1996 2009 2009 2009 1998 2009 1989 1985 1985 2001 1996 2007 2010

Details of 12 resorts registered with Kottukal Gram Panchayat are presented in Table 4-78. Except Agastya Beach Resort, Shin Shiva Ayurveda and Somatheeram Beach Resort, in the remaining resorts, the number of officially registered rooms is lesser than the number of rooms given by the KHRA. The number of employees in these nine resorts/institutes ranged from 80 280 people and the area of the resorts/institute varied from 0.61 3.24 Ha (1.5 8.0 Acres). The October to April months represent the tourist season. Most of the tourists (88 to 99%) are foreigners. Revenue from Tourist Inflow: The primary information, which was provided by the individual resorts, shows that except Coconut bay, Somatheeram Beach Resort and Manaltheeram Beach Resort, all other resorts are showing an improvement in their income over the period from 2009 to 2012. Figure 4-77 provides comparative results of the annual earnings of the nine resorts from year 2009 to 2012.

Table 4-78: List of Resorts as received from Pulinkudy Ward of Kottukal Gram Panchayat S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Name of Resort Bethsaida resort Surya Samudra Nikkis Nest Agastya Beach resort Shin Shiva ayurveda asramam Dr Franklins Panchakarma institute Somatheeram Health Resort Somatheeram Beach Resort Manaltheeram Beach Resort Travancore Heritage Ideal Resort Gods Own Country Resort Number of approved buildings/Rooms 21 29 24 32 27 16 17 145 20 29 10 12 Number of Staffs Employment tax not being remitted 97 Employment tax not being remitted 20 38 38 77 25 21 92 Employment tax not being remitted

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Figure 4-77: Year Wise Annual Income of the Resorts

Tourist Inflow: Arrival of foreign as well as domestic tourists to the resorts is shown in Figure 4-78. The data shows that main tourist season in the resorts starts from October and continues till April. During this period, the number of tourist stay in these resorts was reported high compared to the non-tourist season i.e. May to September. In almost all the resorts, the number of foreign tourist stay was high, which also support the amount of revenue generated by them.

Figure 4-78: Resort wise detail of Tourist Arrival from year 2008-2012 Coastal Regulation Zone and Resort/Hotels in the Project Stretch: The coastal region of the Indian sub-continent is governed by the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification January 6, 2011. These CRZ notifications classify different regions of the coast according to its eco-sensitive nature and location with respect High Tide Line (HTL) and Low Tide Line (LTL). As per Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification 1991, a Kerala Coastal Management Plan (CZMP) was prepared by the GoK in 1995. In which, the Coastal Regulation Zones were demarcated on Coastal Zone Management Planning (CZMP) map, in that the proposed project site is located in Map No. 2 and 3 (Source: CESS, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala). Based on this CZMP and primary field investigation, a CRZ map and report was prepared by CESS, Thiruvananthapuram for this proposed Project in 2004. In this report, it is noted that the sea side of the proposed development does not have

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any eco-sensitive area like corals, mangroves etc., which comes under CRZ I (i) as per CRZ Notification, 1991. The resorts in the project stretch were overlaid on the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) map prepared by Centre for Earth Sciences Studies (CESS) in 2013 with respect to CRZ Notification 1991 (Figure 4-79). It can be inferred from the map, that many resorts namely Gods Light, Park House, Sea Park, Lotus Beach, Medicus Ayurbay Beach Resort, Thapovan Heritage, Coconut Bay Beach Resort, Karikkathi Beach House, Surya Samudra Resort, Bethsaida and Agastya Beach Resort are located within 200 m from HTL line, which is a No Development Zone as per the CRZ notification 1991. The location of Nikkis Nest, Dr. Franklins Institute, Azhimala Beach Resort, Somatheeram Ayurvedic Hospital, Somatheeram Ayurvedic Beach Resort, Someatheeram Research Institute & Ayurveda Hospital, Travancore Heritage, Sun Tara Beach Resort, Ideal Resort and Gods Own Country could not be correlated with HTL, as HTL line was demarcated only up to the Southern Breakwater.

Figure 4-79: Resorts in the CRZ Project Stretch 4.10.11 Other Economic Activities

Local Small Scale Industries: Two local cottage industries were identified in the study area, namely coconut-based businesses and mollusc shell- based businesses. Coconut based Industry: The study area has abundant coconut plantations. Coconut based cottage industries involving coconut oil extraction, rope, and coir pith-making are present in the study area. The data on the number and production capacity of these units was not available from any official source. Molluscs Shell based Industry: Since molluscs shells are available abundantly, shell based cottage industries are present in the study area. Lime and artefacts are the main products manufactured from mollusc shells. The lime produced in this way is used as raw material for white-washing of walls by
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Appendix 2 Response to Seminar by John Jacob Puthur

Response to Seminar on Vizhinjam Prospects and Challenges by Theeradesa Samyuktha Samithi 12th July 2013 Completeness of the Study The presenter has raised the allegation that the report prepared for the EIA study is incomplete in such a manner that erosion studies, area development issues, structural design of the port and sourcing of construction materials etc has not been addressed properly. Response The stage of the project which we are currently in has to be noted particularly by the readers. The finished process of public hearing on 29th June, 2013 is for the Environmental Impact Assessment of the port which is a mandatory clearance process required by MOEF. The document was supplemented by various studies such as Detailed Project Report, Assessment of Long Term Shoreline Changes in and around Proposed Port, Mathematical Modeling Report for Waves etc. These reports clearly states more than required information asked for by the MOEF guidelines. MOEF asks for a 5km impact area study for the port, meanwhile a 10km radius was included for all the studies. It has to be noted that the hearing was for EIA and not for Area Development Study. A separate study is being conducted by CEPT Ahmedabad based on the mitigation measures asked for in the EIA report and this report shall be concretely stating how the area has to be developed. For this purpose of EIA study all required information asked for by MOEF has been submitted. A detailed study of long term shoreline changes has been published separately by VISL and is available in the website. Regarding concerns on Erosion, it has been proven that Accretion takes place at South of the Port and due to the presence of Stable Rocky Patches at North portion no significant erosion would take place. The complainant also has asked to study the impact of this port till Perumathura and South till Colachel/Kanyakumari. To note is that this stretch asked for is more than 80km stretch and a port like Vizhinjam in between shall be bringing negligible impact in such a long distances. It also has to note that the stretch between Vizhinjam till Shangumugham is protected using seawall and erosion issues are not expected in this region. (Details are provided in the attached Appendix Shoreline mapping of Trivandrum District) Again, to note is that structural design of the port has not been completed and is not required at this stage of the project. The structural design responsibility rests with the EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) Contractor and he has to detail the master plan suitable enough of his construction. He can use his methodology for design based on his experience and availability of materials and his machinery. This includes all rock supply and concrete, piles etc. The rock supply shall be completely his responsibility and he can source it from any required distance as he may require. The quarries identified in the report is only indicative such that rock is available nearby and transport method suggested for such rock supply is using barges and not trucks as against raised in the seminar. VISL has also promised during the public hearing that any missing details as raised by any of the complainants shall be addressed properly before issuing the final document to MOEF.

Siltation The seminar had called for a relook into the siltation pattern inside the port. The presenter has mentioned that there would be a large runoff from the land towards the sea and thus the dredged channel would be silted in the tune of 3 Million Cubic metres after every monsoon. The presenter also mentioned that the source of silt being mountains and land area as far as the Western Ghats. Response It has to be agreed that in generic the origin of sediments is from land and not from sea. However, this pattern changes from area to area and cannot be compared with any other region. A large number of ports in India are riverine ports or located at the mouth of the river, which itself is cause of siltation. To note is that this chosen location has no rivers nearby, nor does the land behind is sandy or silty enough to pour in the silt to the basin. As the public in Trivandrum knows clearly, the region of Kovalam and Vizhinjam is founded with rocky patches and these rocks itself would be a natural barrier against the silt flow. This is also a reason why Poovar was not chosen against this location at Vizhinjam. Also as shown by the presenter a figure on silting issues, the shown diagram is to be mentioned as factually wrong. The presenter had missed out a key component of the port its Quay Wall or the Berthing Structure where the ships berth against the wharf. This structure itself is a barrier against the silt to be formed inside the basin. Hence it can be concluded that the issue of siltation from land side is very minimal. (Explained in diagram below).

Diagram as Shown by the Presenter

In Reality

Siltation due to littoral drift could be prevented by the 500m long South Side revetments. The accretion is expected to form in the area less than 50m (26m as modeled) and the remaining area shall thus prevent any such siltation in the port. The siltation volume at the existing port was recorded as 3,800 m3 per year. Once the new port is built this volume will be reduced to such low extends as 200 m3 per year. The presenter has mentioned that 3 Million m3 will be silted inside the port. It is requested that such in-factual and misleading figures may not be thrown out into the public.

Tranquility Effect due to Wind The presenter had mentioned that the West Coast and in particular South Kerala region is prone to very heavy winds and thus the port would be operationally dysfunctional during the monsoon seasons (May to August). The winds will affect movement of the vessels into the port, container handling operations and stacking as mentioned by the presenter.

Response Quoted from EIA Report and Data from LTR: During summer, the wind was blowing predominantly from the NE direction. It reached a maximum speed of about 3.6 5.7 m/s. The average wind speed for this season was 0.56 m/s. In summer, almost 61.75% of the wind was calm less than 2 m/s. The Monsoon season has two predominant wind directions, SW and NEnorth-east, which depicts the two different seasons of monsoon (south-west monsoon and north-east monsoon). The average wind speed of this season was recorded at 0.51 m/s and 60.36% of the total wind in that region was calm. Higher wind speeds were recorded in the range of 2.1 3.6 m/s. In the winter season, the wind was blowing from NE direction predominately. The wind speed was in the range of 3.6 5.7 m/s. The average wind speed was recorded at 0.58 m/s.. The maximum wind speed near the location is in the order of less than 6 m/s (~ 12 knots) and is not frequent. Even this figure is in a Beaufort scale of 4 and is considered as Moderate Breeze. For container handling operations to come to a halt a Beaufort Scale of 8 (17 m/s) or more is required. The design parameters for buildings in any windy region and container handling equipment are in the order of 43.5 m/s as per Indian Standard Codes. It is typical to design the quay cranes and yard cranes to withstand winds more than 35 m/s. Even for stacking of empty containers the international guideline is to stack lower when the wind exceeds 10 m/s. More details provided in the attached technical paper. Vizhinjam area experiences much less wind conditions than prescribed above and thus the point raised against wind issues stands invalid. It has to note that these vessels with 18,000 TEU is constantly travelling against wind and waves in the rough seas before reaching any port. It is designed to withstand those heavy metocean conditions. There are ports all over the world including Taiwan, Hong Kong and California which has heavy Typhoons and Cyclones compared to ZERO cyclone event at Vizhinjam. All those places have ports built 10 times bigger than the proposed port at Vizhinjam. Thus the above argument stands invalid.

Corrosion The presenter also states that there will be corrosion issues due to the salinity nature at coastal region. The containers and equipment will get corroded. Response Corrosion for structural elements are discussed in the Engineering domain and numerous solutions are in place today to rectify those. Few of them being listed as Surface protection using corrosion protective paintings, biofilm coatings etc. Cathodic Protection using Sacrificial Anodes is also a very common methodology (These elements sacrifices itself protecting the adjoined steel structure using chemical reactions), Impressed current protection etc. All the above mentioned technologies are very common in Maritime Structures domain and helps in protecting the system against any corrosion. The typical lifetime of these container cranes are 25 to 30 years and the crane manufacturers ensures that proper corrosion protection systems are in place for such systems. The example of ships sailing in the sea for more than 99% of its life is the perfect example for corrosion protection. These vessels are steel bodied and is prevented against corrosion. Containers are also having its significant part of lifetime spent in open seas and coastal regions. It can be said that corrosion has been identified by Engineers ages ago and the current systems in place to prevent those is good enough for ports to sustain.

(Anodes places on Steel Structural Elements to prevent Corrosion)

Reclamation and its effect on Environment The Seminar also raised many concerns regarding any adverse effects of reclamation in the sea and no such project has taken place in Kerala undertaking any reclamation. Response Reclamation is a very common process all over the world and in many parts of India. Till date many ports in India are formed as riverine ports due to the non-requisite needs for deep draft. For reaching a draft in the order of 14-18m the most suitable method followed all over the world is reclamation. For Vizhinjam the final stage reclamation asked for is only in the order of 80 Hectares. The reclamation volumes for Maasvlakte Project in Rotterdam with much adverse conditions than Vizhinjam is in the order of 2,000 Hectares and 700 Hectares of this was completed in April 2013. Several such examples are available in the world for reclamation.

Artist Impression and Actual Reclamation at Rotterdam

The process of reclamation will also be contained within the breakwater and using reclamation bunds. The Breakwater would be constructed prior to any land filling in the sea thus preventing any suspension of solids. The dredging process involved could also be contained properly using the modern day technology available using silt curtains which traps any sediments during the dredging process. The dispersion while any dumping process could also be contained using this process.

Shore Line Mapping of Trivandrum

Wind Influence on Container Handling

CONTAINER HANDLING

Wind influence on container handling, equipment and stacking


W. van den Bos, Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Section Transport Technology and Logistics, Delft University, The Netherlands
Over the course of hundreds of hours per year, ports experience the influence of wind on nautical and terminal operations. This influence is increased by the global trend of ever increasing vessel sizes and the movement of ports to deeper water near or even beyond the coastline. The influence of wind and possible solutions to this problem are discussed in this article.

Introduction

Wind is an uncontrollable source of disturbances, reducing efficiency of port operations and sometimes even causing downtime. Because of the increase in scale, the movement further towards sea and also stricter regulations, the impact of wind continues to increase.

Figure 1. The effect of wind increases due to larger wind surfaces of cranes and because of the extra wind speed at higher altitudes.

TABLE 1: BEAUFORT SCALE (MEAN WIND SPEED IS 10 MIN AVERAGE AT 10 M)

Scale of Beaufort 6 7 8 9 10

Mean Wind speed [m/sec] 10,8 13,8 13,9 17,1 17,2 20,7 20,8 24,4 24,5 28,4

Description Strong breeze Near gale Gale Strong gale Storm Large waves begin to form; white foam crests, probably spray. Sea heaps up and white foam blown in streaks along the direction of the wind. Moderately high waves, crests begin to break into spindrift. High waves. Dense foam along the direction of the wind. Crests of waves begin to roll over. Spray may affect visibility. Very high waves with long overhanging crests. The surface of the sea takes a white appearance. The tumbling of the sea becomes heavy and shock like. Visibility affected. Exceptionally high waves. The sea is completely covered with long white patches of foam lying in the direction of the wind. Visibility affected. The air is filled with foam and spray. Sea completely white with driving spray. Visibility very seriously affected.

11

28,5 32,6

Violent storm

12

32,7 more

Hurricane

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TABLE 2. RELATION BETWEEN AVERAGE WIND SPEED OVER VARIOUS PERIODS AND MEAN SPEED (SOURCE EN 13001)

Gust factor Period V(t)/Vmean [s] [.] 1 1.6 3 1.5 5 1.5 10 1.4 30 1.3 60 (1 min) 1.2 120 (2 min) 1.1 600 (10 min) 1

Figure 2. Wind map of Europe (EN 13001).

Figure 3. Wind pressure based on gust winds (EN 13001).

Wind characteristics
Wind can be characterised by speed and direction. Unfortunately in the working environment of ports there is confusion about Beaufort scale (Table 1) and wind speed. The wind speed of the Beaufort scale is the average wind speed taken over the ten minutes preceding the time of observation at 10 m (J. Weringa en P.J. Rijkoort Windklimaat van Nederland, KNMI) or mean wind. Sometimes however, a wind regime at Beaufort 6 is wrongly interpreted as gusts of wind with speeds varying between 10.8 and 13.8 m/s. By definition of the European standard for Crane design (European standard EN13001 Cranes general design) the gust wind is the average three-second wind. Table 2 shows the relation between the maximum wind speed and the measure time interval. The table shows that wind speed increases with decreasing interval time. The maximum gust wind at Beaufort 6 is therefore not 13.8 but 13.8*1.5=20.7 m/s!

Increase of wind velocity


To handle vessels with deep draught the international trend is to construct new ports closer to the sea, while older docks near city centres become less important or are even closed. The difference in wind speed between the coast and the open sea is indicated by the Royal Meteorological Institute of the Netherlands (KNMI) as: under equal circumstances ... it is concluded that potential wind on sea is 12% stronger than on open terrain on shore only because of the difference in roughness. However, most experiments reveal a difference of 20% or more mainly because the shore terrain is not open but rugged. This is also confirmed by our own research where we found that 30 km off-shore the mean wind speed is up to two m/s higher than on shore, while for wind gusts, the difference can be even four m/s. If we assume that moving five km towards sea (from Maasvlakte I to Maasvlakte II) increases mean wind speed with one m/s, the amount of hours with troubling winds and loss of productivity on a container terminal due to wind will double.

Figure 4a) Wind load of crane in operation, b) Unfavorable wind directions.

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Figure 5b. Dynamic container displacement due to wind load for both configurations.

augmented because of the extra wind speed at higher altitudes. Besides the affects on vessels and cranes, high investments in quay strength are also needed, in order to support the high corner pressures of a 110 m high stowed crane, which is exposed to storm winds (Figure 1).

Strict regulations
Over the years society has become str icter in ter ms of accepted pollution and hazard level. An example of this increased attention is the str icter inter pretation of wind pressure due to wind gusts in the new European crane design standard EN13001. Wind pressure on cranes is now explicitly dependent on wind gusts, while previously in National Standards (Din 15019 teil 1 Krane, Standsicherheit; NEN 2018 Hijskranen) only the wind categories light, normal, and heavy were defined. Further more, ter rain roughness factors account for higher coastal winds, while wind loads no longer depend on countries, but rather on a wind map where Europe is divided into wind regions (A to F) based on measured data (Figure 2).

Figure 5a. Computer simulation model for machine trolley vs rope trolley configuration.

Increase of wind pressure


The increase in world sea trade causes an increase in port equipment and vessel size. For example, the 9500 TEU container vessel commissioned in 2005 is almost ten times the capacity of the first generation container vessels of 1962. This also affects the size of the cranes. The effect of wind increases due to larger wind surfaces of cranes and vessels, but the effect is also

Figure 6. Trailer stability depending on gust wind velocity and trailer speed while turning.

Figure 7. Straddle carrier stability.

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Figure 8. Risk of empty container sliding or tilting.

Effects of wind
Port procedures

In general, international standards and port or terminal authorities both assume that ports are operational up to 6-8 Beaufort. At terminals in the port of Rotterdam, operations are suspended at Beaufort 8 or when gust wind speed exceeds 25 m/s. From figure 3, it can be deduced that a gust wind speed of 25 m/s signifies a mean wind speed of 25/1.5= 17 m/s, which means that port operations in practice stop at the end of Beaufort 7.
Vessel mooring

For ship-shore loading and unloading, the movements of the vessel due to wind load need to be limited. We researched the dynamic response of a moored Ultra Large Container Vessel (ULCV) which carries 12.500 TEU on a typical wind spectrum at Beaufort scales 6 and 7. We found out that the maximum movements of the cell guides are acceptable for positioning containers in the cell guides, but the maximum calculated force of 150 kN in the mooring lines requires special lines and wharf bollards. For wind at Beaufort 8 or higher, storm bollards for these vessel types are highly recommended.
Crane operation

unlashed container load, the MTS-trailer is used to calculate the maximum wind for safe (container) transport on the terminal. Side wind reduces total trailer stability and can cause tilt of the (empty) container. The container/trailer combination stability while turning is sufficient during low gust winds, but at high speed and with gust winds above 22 m/s, an empty container can tilt from the trailer frame. It is therefore recommended to drive at lower speeds during high winds (Figure 6). Another vulnerable container transportation vehicle to wind is the straddle carrier. Because of the high position of the container during transport, these vehicles have limited maximum speed. The stability of a straddle carrier loaded with a 45 ft empty container, as well as a straddle carrier with a maximum loaded (30 tonnes) 45ft container, decreases during higher gust winds. As with MTStrailers it is recommended to lower driving speed during high gust winds (Figure 7).
Empty container stacking

Beside vessel movement, wind also causes problems with crane operations. Wind causes undesirable movements (mainly sway and skew) of the container in the crane (Figure 4a and b). The crane driver can correct disturbances in sway, but an effective way to control skew does not yet exist. Heavy sway is generated by head on winds, but the crane driver can correct these movements. Skew is mainly generated by diagonal winds. If diagonal winds can be avoided, production loss due to uncontrollable skew can be reduced. The vulnerability of the container in the crane to both skew and sway depend on the type of trolley. Because a (semi) rope trolley has a V-shape cable configuration the stiffness of the configuration in sway direction is higher than with machine trolley with vertical inner ropes. A computer simulation of the movements of the container exposed to wind for both trolley types show a 40% decrease in sway for the (semi) rope trolley (Figure 5a and b).
Terminal equipment

For storage, empty containers at the terminal area are stacked up to 10 high. The risk of a single container sliding, or the tilting of a whole row of containers, is calculated with wind pressure according to the Dutch TGB standard (Nen 6720). Depending on the stacking height, the risk of the total row tilting increases. In respect to a container sliding, a friction coefficient of 0.1 is taken (the lowest steel-steel contact friction). The sliding and tilting risk is calculated for several different container types, but for safety reasons, the wind speed at which the first container type starts to slide or tilt is plotted. The calculations clearly show that tilting and sliding can occur at low wind speeds near or around 10 m/s (Figure 8). Lashing down stacked empty containers and reshuffling empty containers in normal stack to lower positions is therefore necessary at Beaufort 5 or even at lower wind regimes!

Reduction of wind influence


Reduction of wind

Because of the relative high frame height (1.1 m) and the


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The wind regime on a wind sensible terminal location can be lowered by raising the climatological roughness. The terminal should be planned in the shadow of other industrial installations or buildings, and quay and cranes should be properly oriented to reduce the influence of the dominant wind direction. As an alternative, one can also use a lashed empty container stack as a roughness increasing obstacle.
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CONTAINER HANDLING

Figure 9. Carrier Crane concept, TU Delft.

Wind on vessels

To avoid the breakage of mooring lines or wharf bollards at Beaufort 8 or higher, severe storms bollards must be installed on the wharf.
Container ship-to-shore cranes

Conclusion
Wind causes production loss, and heavy winds even cause downtime at the terminal. Port expansions move in the direction of the sea, and in this perspective, more wind and additional wind problems for terminals can be expected. Therefore, wind influences should receive proper attention as a design aspect for new terminals and port expansion programmes. Wind speed can be reduced by using obstacles which increase the climatological roughness of the area. If no installation or natural barrier is available, an empty container stack can be used as an obstacle. The effects of wind can also be reduced by proper orientation of the quay to the dominant wind direction, and use of a rope trolley combined with the rectangular hoisting procedure for ship-to-shore movements. Use of new crane types, such as the Carrier Crane, can improve production as well as reduce vulnerability to wind. Empty containers are sensitive to wind, and lashing of container stacks and reshuffling of empty containers in normal stacks is necessary even at Beaufort 5. During stormy conditions, it is advised to lock containers to the transporting vehicle frame and to avoid the use of straddle carriers.

The effect of severe wind on ship-to-shore operations can be limited by using a rope trolley instead of a machine trolley. Another way of reducing wind influence on the load and unloading process is to change the crane cycle under stormy conditions. With rectangular hoisting, combined horizontal and vertical movements are avoided, which reduce sway and skew significantly, but the loading and unloading process becomes slower. Another possibility is a new crane concept, the Carrier Crane, where a container is hoisted from the ship by a trolley, transported over the main crane beam with a carrier and again, on land, unloaded with a trolley. This division of the crane cycle significantly increases crane performance because the cycle time of each process is a lot shorter than that of an original total load or unload cycle (Figure 9).
Terminal equipment

If terminal operations have to continue at Beaufort 8, terminal movements have to be performed by equipment other than straddle carriers. In order to use MTS-trailers or similar transportation equipment at stormy conditions, containers need to be fixed on the frame.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE COMPANY
Wouter van den Bos graduated in 1998 from Delft University in Mechanical Engineering (MSc). He is employed at the section Transport Technology and Logistic at the same university. He has carried out various research programmes with a focus on transport, cranes and load influences on mechanical designs. The field of Transport Engineering and Logistics at Delft University encompasses the controlled handling and transportation of unit loads and bulk materials. The research and teaching involve the use of basic

ENQUIRIES
principles and applied engineering to design industrial systems and equipment for the handling and transport of unit loads and bulk materials. In addition to the equipment itself, aspects such as energy consumption, the exchange of information and automation are given due consideration. The functions to be fulfilled by the equipment are defined on the basis of an inventory of requirements. The research activities are carried out in close cooperation with the Netherlands Research School for Transport, Infrastructure and Logistics, (TRAIL), and with industrial partners, especially those located in the Rotterdam area of the Netherlands. Wouter van den Bos Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering Section Transport Technology and Logistics Mekelweg 2 2628 CD Delft The Netherlands E-mail: w.vandenbos@wbmt.tudelft.nl

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Appendix 3 Dossier of Activities by VMAC urging the authorities for speedy implementation of Vizhinjam Project

July 13, 2013

May 18, 2008

23 Aug 2013

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