Upgrading and maintenance pojects completed
The Port of Port of Spain ended the year 2015 a far more reliable and efficient operation. Its efforts to consolidate continue into the year ahead with a significant dredging project and plans to upgrade its human resources and customer services.
The port did not commission any new equipment or systems in 2015, but it completed very important upgrading and maintenance which resulted in improved reliability.
Systems upgrade
The hoist and trolley regulators of the Port’s two oldest ship-to-shore cranes were replaced. The project involved engineering design, hardware acquisition, and commissioning. This became necessary because of the degradation of the regulator circuit boards age. This situation significantly increased the risk of failure of all crane components including motor regulators, which could have rendered these key machines inoperable.
A contract was awarded to replace the regulator with digital drives. However, wiring and installation of the drives were done by the port’s crane maintenance department, under the direction of veteran port engineers Sheldon Smith, Darren Shareef and Shazad Ali. With this major upgrade completed, the Port of Port of Spain now has improved crane functions as the microprocessor-based digital drives will provide more effective monitoring and control of the crane motors. The replacement of the outdated electronic system with more robust technology and a new electronic, microprocessor-based system has significantly increased the safety and reliability of the operations. Improved crane safety systems and the new drive system will allow future safety upgrades.
There are other noteworthy benefits of the project. crane diagnostics will become easier since the drive system will issue alarms, warnings and trending information. Troubleshooting time will be reduced as data (voltages, current, speed, etc.) will be stored digitally and will also be available in real time. Remote system monitoring will now be available through wireless connectivity to the drive. Access to both real time and historic data will allow technicians to forecast and avert major problems.
Development
Other significant port maintenance or development projects at the port of Port of Spain during 2015 include:
- Construction of a new food court, to be completed in the first quarter 2016
- Replacement and installation of new crane rails, completed in April
- Surface repairs of the empty container yard, slated for completion in January 2016
- Paving of the storage yard at the ferry terminal, completed in October
- Surface repairs at the CARICOM wharves, completed in October
- Reconstruction of the barrel shop, in progress at year end and slated for completion in March 2016
- Reconstruction of the fast ferry guide jetty, completed in October; and
- Reconstruction of the conventional cargo guide jetty and loading ramp, completed in April
Plans for 2016 include: dredging of the basin at the Port of Spain ferry terminal and the approach channel; increased focus on customer service delivery and partnerships with all stakeholder groups; re-training and skills upgrade. []
