Ports, Terminals and Coastal Engineering
Ports portal: port governance and tariffs, terminal design and equipment, berth productivity, dredging and channels, quays, pilotage, towage and reception.
This portal covers the shore side of shipping: port governance and tariffs, terminal design and cargo-handling equipment, berth productivity, dredging and navigational channels, breakwaters and quay structures, pilotage and towage, and port reception facilities.
The reference bodies are PIANC for waterborne infrastructure design, IAPH for port authorities and UNCTAD for port performance data. Reception-facility obligations come from MARPOL, and port-state inspection from the regional port-state control regimes.
Port-state control as a regulatory regime belongs to Regulation, Conventions and Class; port security under the ISPS Code belongs to Maritime Security, Defence and Risk.
Start here
- Ports and Terminals: How the System Works
What a port, terminal, and berth are; the port-call sequence; how ports are measured in TEU, draft, and crane reach; the landlord model.
- Berthing Energy and Fender Selection
The PIANC berthing energy formula and its four coefficients, design berthing velocity by ship size, fender types compared, and the hull pressure limit.
- Bollard Pull and Tug Operations: Trials, Types, Escort
Bollard pull explained: the certified trial and its conditions, thrust per kilowatt by tug type, escort steering force, girting, and port towage practice.
- Pilotage Operations: SOLAS V, IMO Rules, BRM
Marine pilotage operations: SOLAS V/23 transfer rules, IMO A.960(23) pilot training, master-pilot exchange, BRM, PEC, liability, and port-state oversight.
- Port Dues and Disbursements: What a Call Costs
Port dues and disbursements explained: the disbursement account, the ship agent, and every line item from tonnage dues to the agency fee.
- Container, Dry-Bulk, and Liquid Terminals
How container, dry-bulk, and liquid-bulk marine terminals differ in equipment, berth design, and capacity, plus the terminal profiles indexed here.
All articles in this portal
7 articles, plus 39 in preparation.
- Berthing Energy and Fender Selection
- Bollard Pull and Tug Operations: Trials, Types, Escort
- Container, Dry-Bulk, and Liquid Terminals
- Pilotage Operations: SOLAS V, IMO Rules, BRM
- Port Dues and Disbursements: What a Call Costs
- Ports and Terminals: How the System Works
- World Port Profiles: How to Read a Port Card