Determination of coal-discharging port dimensions from a shipping point of view

In this paper, the authors examine, in the contest of the enormous expansion of the world coal trade following the Oil Crisis of 1973, the optimal size of coal-discharging terminals. The calculations were based on three shipping-related considerations" the structure of current (and future) coal-carrying vessels; the present size of the world's major coal-loading terminals and their plans for expansion; and the costs of transportation for the various vessel sizes, and constraints in sea-routes. Port-related elements, such as the cost of actual construction etc., were not included in the study. They conclude that the maximum size of a coal carrier is limited by the ability of ports to accommodate it, and that few ports can economically accomodate vessels larger than 150000 dwt. On the other side, vessels of larger than 150000 dwt operate under a number of constraints, meaning in the final analysis, that ports should aim to cater for vessels of around 1500000 dwt and so plan accordingly.