SHIP PLANNER

A ship planner designs a ship’s loading and unloading plans so that cargo can be handled without endangering the stability of the vessel. A ship planner must make the best use of the ship’s storage space so that the ship’s operating costs are financially viable.

What does a ship planner do?

Are you a person with excellent organisational and problem-solving skills?

Are you someone who can multi-task in a constantly changing environment while working within tight deadlines?

A ship planner is responsible for planning and coordinating the loading and unloading of each container ship that comes into port. To provide a cost-effective and operationally efficient loading and unloading plan for each ship, the ship planner must not waste any space on board?

To organise the loading and unloading of containers, the ship planner must:

• create an unloading and loading plan that will not cause the ship to become unstable
• communicate the plan to the ship’s officer who must approve it for safety before unloading and loading begins
• make any amendments to the plan as required by the ship’s officer
• communicate the plan to the terminal yard manager who organises the handling and storage of containers coming into the terminal and the staff and machinery needed to handle the containers being loaded onto the ship.

To create a plan the ship planner uses the SPECIAL computer system. This system uses the container’s unique serial number to:

• track information on each container
• identify the position of the container in the terminal
• identify the position of the container in the ship

The SPECIAL system helps to identify which containers need to be moved and the order in which they will be moved. It also provides a 3D image of each ship, and while the plan is being created, helps the planner to consider:

• the weight of each container being handled
• which port each container will be unloaded at
• if the container is refrigerated, and needs to be plugged in during the voyage
• if the container’s contents are hazardous, as these could be potentially explosive if placed next to a refrigerated container
• advising Customs of the ship’s arrival and reporting the cargo on board
• the order in which the containers will be unloaded and unloaded.

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JICT Container Expansion Continues

Hutchison Port Holdings is continuing to expand its Jakarta operation to meet the demands of customers such as APL, Maersk and CMA/CGM.
HPH operates Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT), located at the port of Tanjung Priok, Indonesia's largest port which currently accounts for 70% of the country's imports. A spokesman says yard space at JICT is being extended, access to the terminal improved and new equipment purchased to "meet the demands of the market for the next few years".

"JICT received two new quay cranes in December 2008," he says. "Six new RTGCs and two more quay cranes are scheduled to arrive later this year. Civil works to expand the container stacking yard by 4.5 hectares are also in progress.

"With the addition of four new quay cranes to JICT's north berth, we are well positioned to service the mega vessels being deployed on international and regional routes."

The expansion of JICT will include the construction of a new In-Gate, truck parking and roads linking JICT to a new public toll road now under construction. JICT is also upgrading its Terminal Management Operating System and installed a new VMT system to speed up container handling and tracking in the yard.

HPH operates the terminal under a joint venture agreement inked in 1999 with state-owned Pelindo II, which is also the port authority at Tanjung Priok.

HPH was unable to supply figures for throughput at JICT in 2008. The spokesman says that together JICT and Koja Container Terminal handled some 2.5m teu at Tunjung Priok in 2007 and JICT has been benefitting from "moderate" growth.

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