Don

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Dont Forget to Invest in the VesselsTwo
Linked Vessel-Focused Projects on the Columbia
River.
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Q What do ports naturally tend to focus on?

• A Hard infrastructure like terminals, rail
  facilities, channels.
• Its always there. (It stays put.)
• We own it. We control it.
• We are responsible for it.
• We directly profit from it.
• A Commercial Governmental relationships.
• They are crucial to us on a daily basis.
• They involve a (more or less) stable set of
  players.
• We directly or indirectly profit from them.

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Q What do ports naturally tend to forget?

• A The vessels themselves.
• Individual vessels come and go. (Mostly they are
  gone.)
• They usually belong to somebody else.
• They are not in our control.
• We may not see the same vessel twice.
• They seem to be remarkably self-sufficient.
• Arguably, we dont necessarily profit from the
  operation of the vessel itself.

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An investment area we may tend to overlook

• Vessel-Focused Infrastructure
• Specific projects and investments that seek to
  increase the safety and efficiency of the vessels
  themselves as they move to and from our berths
  and terminals.
• Why pursue these sorts of projects? Because a
  comparatively small investment in vessel-focused
  infrastructure can yield a large return in
  freight mobility efficiency.

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Two Columbia River Examples

• Columbia River Bar Pilots Dynamic Under Keel
  Clearance (DUKC) Study.
• Description Precisely measure the amount of
  water under the keels of various vessels as they
  transit the Columbia River Bar in various
  conditions. Analyze for risk. We know we have a
  great safety record. But why?
• Status Complete.
• Cost 400K from a State of Oregon Connect
  Oregon 3 grant to Columbia River Bar Pilots,
  plus 100K in matching funds from the Bar
  Pilots tech/research fund.

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Two Columbia River Examples

• 2. Columbia River Pilots Vessel Squat Study.
• Description Measure and analyze precisely how
  much squat is experienced by actual vessels as
  they transit the 105 mile, 43 deep, Columbia
  River deep draft channel.
• Status Connect Oregon 5 grant funds applied for
  by Columbia River Pilots. Anticipated grant
  award in August 2014. Anticipated completion late
  2016.
• Cost 900K from State CO5 funds. 250K in
  matching funds from various OR WA ports and
  terminals.
• Squat is the utterly inelegant technical term
  for the downward settling a vessel experiences as
  more power is applied. It increases the effective
  draft of the vessel.

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What did (and will) we learn?

• On the Columbia River Bar, we were able to
  precisely measure our current safety margins and
  adjust our practices accordingly. In some cases
  procedures became more restrictive, and in others
  less so. But in all cases we now have a precise
  set of measurements upon which to base future
  practices. We are safer because we are smarter.
  
• On the Columbia River we intend to precisely
  measure vessel squat under our current practices,
  and adjust accordingly. We will also be able to
  help the Corps precisely prioritize dredging
  based on vessel motion in specific stretches of
  the river.

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Whats next?

• Link the data and create a tool.
• The final phase of the Columbia River vessel
  squat study will marry the data sets from the
  Columbia River and Bar studies to provide a 1
  year demonstration of a comprehensive Columbia
  River system-wide vessel transit tool. It will
  take into account vessel type, vessel speed,
  tidal phase, river level, actual surveyed water
  depths, and wave state on the Columbia River Bar.
  It will allow vessels to maximize draft (and
  revenue) without breaching precisely measured and
  validated safety margins along the entire
  Columbia River channel.

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Transit Overview
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Whats it worth to us?

• The Columbia River is an export-heavy system. One
  of our major trade sectors is agricultural bulks.
  Very roughly, here is value of the cargo that
  remains on the dock every time we are required to
  restrict just one Panamax vessels draft by just
  one foot
• 300K if carrying wheat.
• 500K if carrying corn.
• 1.1M if carrying soy.
• Contrast that with the 1.65M total cost of these
  two studies.

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Why These Particular Projects?

• Excellent bang-to-buck ratio Allows us know what
  is/is not working well now, adjust accordingly --
  and to better anticipate the needs of newer,
  larger, and beamier ships we expect to see.
• Good proactive risk management strategy In this
  case, for about 1.65M we will be able to
  understand precisely why we have a good safety
  record, identify places where our margins might
  be less than we would like, and take informed
  action in response.
• 1.65M buys very little dredging but it may
  well buy us more usable draft through fewer draft
  restrictions. We know what our vessels are
  doing, when we need to restrict their draft --
  and when we dont.

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Other Vessel-Focused Infrastructure ?

• These Columbia River projects are built around
  the particular needs and challenges we face.
  They are meant only as examples. Other port
  systems may have other needs.
• Regardless, a close look at the infrastructure
  gaps that face the vessels themselves as they
  move into and out of any port system may disclose
  some excellent opportunities for relatively small
  -- but high return infrastructure investment
  opportunities.

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One more Vessel-Focused project we did
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Questions?

• Eric Burnette
• Sr. Waterways Planner
• Port of Portland
• 503 . 415 . 6791
• Eric.Burnette_at_Portofportland.com