Port Economics, A comprehensive analysis of the

port industry
Management and Policy

CONTENTS ‣ III.
Terminal Footprint, PORT TERMINALS ‣
Chapter 3.4 –
Selected Container Container Terminal
Design and
Ports Equipment ‣
Terminal Footprint,
Selected Container
Ports

Terminal Footprint Selected Container Ports

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Theo Notteboom,
The optimal shape of a container terminal is a
Athanasios Pallis
rectangle that allows sufficient berthing space and
and Jean-Paul
a corresponding yard footprint. However, due to
Rodrigue (2022) Port
physical and site constraints, such an ideal
Economics,
footprint is rarely found, particularly in older Management and
terminals. The outcome is a variety of container Policy, New York:
terminal footprints that are relatively rectangular if Routledge, 690

the site allows, but each terminal has faced pages / 218

specific constraints in its development. The illustrations. ISBN

9780367331559.
following footprint development strategies are
noted:

Reconversion. A container terminal can be

doi.org/10.4324/978
created by reconverting existing port
0429318184
facilities that have been abandoned or are
seen as less profitable. This tends to be a Follow @pemp2021

common and low-cost option for existing ports,

but the challenge is an effective reconversion.
For instance, the Port Elizabeth complex (New CONTENTS
York) is among the oldest container terminal
facilities and began operation in the 1960s. The I. PORTS &
terminals were built over reconverted break- MARITIME SHIPPING
bulk and warehousing facilities that were II.
gradually torn down as container traffic grew. CONTEMPORARY
For this complex, the port did not expand its PORTS
total footprint but reconverted towards III. PORT

containerization by removing marginalized port TERMINALS

activities. In the 1990s, an on-dock rail facility IV. PORT

was added between the APM and Maher GOVERNANCE

V. PORT
terminals, which reduced the yard footprint but
COMPETITION
allowed better hinterland access. The case of
VI. PORT
Montreal underlines unique reconversion
PERFORMANCE
challenges as the container terminal facilities
VII. PORT
were forced to expand laterally due to the
POLICIES &
limited availability of adjacent real estate. This
DEVELOPMENT
led to terminal footprints that were narrow and
VIII. PORT
elongated. MARKETS
Adaptation. A new terminal footprint can be IX. CASE STUDIES
adapted to mitigate the physical, technical,
or real estate limitations of a site, leading to
unique footprints. In the late 1980s and 1990s,
two major container terminals were added to
the port of Antwerp at a downstream location
of the Scheldt River (Europa Terminal and
Noordzee Terminal). These facilities were
constrained by the available real estate
footprint and the inability to expand into the
Scheldt River through land reclamation. In the
early 2000s, the port of Shanghai was
expanding rapidly with new facilities
downstream along the Yangtze River. For the
Mingdong complex, shallow depths along the
river banks and siltation made dredging costs
prohibitive. To the container yard facilities were
added a series of jetties and piers separating
the berth areas to the yards, allowing use of the
complex as a container port. The drawbacks of
this adaptive footprint are longer pier-to-yard
movements.
Land reclamation. The construction of new
terminal facilities through the creation of an
entirely new footprint, which allows for
mitigating technical limitations such as depth
and the lack of real estate. These facilities tend
to be rectangular and closer to optimal design
but require substantial engineering and capital
investments. They are common on mega port
development projects where a suitable and
available land footprint does not exist. In the
 late 1990s and early 2000s, Singapore and
Busan engaged in massive land reclamation
projects to expand their transshipment facilities
in new areas. The Pasir Panjang (Singapore) and
Newport (Busan) terminals were designed to
mainly serve the function of transshipment,
implying that they are more rectangularly
shaped, which allows for more berth space as
containers tend to spend less time in the yard.

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Copyright © 2020-24, Dr. Theo Notteboom, Dr. Athanasios Pallis and Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue.