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Port Corpus Christi Ship Channel and Waterways Planning and Design using Simulation
Presented by: Vijay Agrawal, PE
• Industry Trends
• Case Study
• Data Needs
• Analysis Techniques
• Results
• Benefits of simulation modeling
VESSEL NETWORK MODEL
U.S. Waterway System in 2017
▪ 2.4 Billion Short Tons of U.S. Waterborne
Traffic
▪ 600 Billion Ton-miles of Cargo movement
▪ 230 Million Cubic Yards of Dredging
▪ $1.4 Billion Spent in channel New Work &
Maintenance (123 contracts)
▪ Approximately 100,000 Ship Calls per Year
▪ AAPA Survey: $130 Billion shortfall in federal
funding over the next five years in land- and
waterside infrastructure
MIGHTY SHIPS
Year of Build vs. TEU Capacity
TEU Capacity vs. Beam (Containers Wide)
TEU Capacity vs. Fully Loaded Draft (ft)
02,0004,0006,0008,000
10,00012,00014,00016,00018,00020,00022,00024,000
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025
343638404244464850525456
2,000 6,000 10,000 14,000 18,000 22,000
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
2,000 6,000 10,000 14,000 18,000 22,000
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
2,000 6,000 10,000 14,000 18,000 22,000
TEU Capacity vs. LOA+Beam (ft)
Source: 2018 Fairplay Data
Year of Build
Ship TEU Capacity
Ship TEU Capacity
Ship TEU Capacity
3
Tidal Impacts on Draft and Air Draft
4
Air Draft vs Tidal Variation, Lion’s Gate Bridge Example
5
Impact of Weather on Vessel Operating Rules
▪ Ports may occasionally close, or
operate with more restricted rules
▪ Two-way channels may become
one-way in fog or high wind
conditions
▪ More tugs may be required in some
conditions
▪ Weather probability will vary with
seasons
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Ships Need Pilots and Tugs to Move
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▪ Location for Pilot on/off?
▪ Number of tugs per vessel?
▪ Total port-wide pilot/tug capacity?
▪ Will lack of pilots or tugs affect port
capacity?
▪ Is work schedule 24/7?
▪ What total time required to move ships
to each neighborhood?
Vessel Passing rules
▪ What gap required between ships?
▪ Fixed gap or % of ship beam?
▪ What gap between ship and shore?
▪ Same for night vs day?
▪ Same in all weather?
▪ Dependent on ship cargo?
▪ Dependent on # tugs used?
▪ How closely can ships follow each
other when moving in the same
direction?
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Daylight vs Night Navigation
▪ In some harbors, some vessels can only
move during daylight
▪ Harbor capacity changes for summer vs
winter as daylight expands
▪ Larger ships tend to have more
restrictive rules
▪ Investment in navigation aids can
perhaps change rules
▪ Vessels with restricted rules want to
have terminals close to the open sea
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Port of Corpus Christi has more than 45 Individual Terminals / Docks
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Increasing Number of Ship Arrivals at Port of Corpus Christi
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▪ 5,425 pilot events
▪ 4,849 ship movements (some with more than one
pilot)
▪ 115% ratio of peak/mean week
▪ 54 ship moves per peak week
▪ 8 ship moves per mean day, peak week
Port-Wide Vessel Mix
Corpus Christi Ship Channel Snapshot of Activity in 2015
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Ship Size Mix by Destination
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A Busy Port with Vessels Coming in Every Day
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
10%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Frac
tion
of 2
015
Ship
Cal
ls
Month in 2015
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Frac
tion
of 2
015
Ship
Arr
ival
s
Day of Week
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23Fr
actio
n of
201
5 Sh
ip A
rriv
als
Time of Day (Hour)
Day of Week Arrival Pattern
Hourly Arrival Pattern
Monthly Arrival Pattern
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Weather (fog+wind) Closure By Month 2011-2015, Corpus Christi
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Port Users are Rapidly Shifting to Larger Vessels
47.9%
32.8%
38.0%
40.4%
11.0%
20.4%
3.1% 6.3%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2015 2018 Q1
SuexMax
AfraMax
Panamax
Sub Panamax
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Draft vs Cargo Capacity
-
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
VLCC SuezMax AfraMax
BBL c
arrie
d at
max
dra
ft
75
52
45
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Several Additional Tug Boats required for VLCC Docking
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Bigger Vessels Take Longer to Load/Unload
Dwell Time vs Cargo Transfer SizeDwell Time vs Ship Size
-
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 160,000 180,000 200,000
Days
of D
wel
l Tim
e at
Ber
th
Ship DWT
-
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
- 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000
Vess
el d
wel
l tim
e (d
ays)
Cargo Moved (ST or BB)
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Corpus Christi Ship Channel Vessel Beam Restrictions
▪ Cut A @ 500’ wide - 265’ of total beam
▪ Cut B @ 400’ wide - 215’ of total beam
▪ Citgo/ADM, 357’ of total beam for
berths+channel
▪ La Quinta Channel is one way only
regardless of size
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Operating Rules Vary by Vessel Class
▪ VLCC and LNGC vessels cannot meet/pass any other vessel types
regardless of channel width
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Variables to Adjust to Achieve Calibration
▪ Ship speed
▪ Mix of ship sizes
▪ Pilot/tug deadhead time
▪ Ship dwell time at berth
▪ Berth availability (tankage constraints)
▪ Port-wide shutdown time (fog etc.)
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AECOM Vessel Network Model (VNM)
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Optimize and Prioritize Dredging Requirements
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Optimize Piloting Rules
Sample Modeling Results
100%
125%
102%
81%
109%
138%
112%106%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
140%
160%
2018 @45'
2023 @45'
2023 @52'
2023 @52' SuezTravel at
night
2023 @52' LNGCTravel at
night
2028 @45'
2028 @52'
2028 @52' +
HarborIsland @
75'
Exist
ing
Term
inal
Del
ay v
s 201
8 Co
nditi
on
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Ship Channel and Waterways Planning and Design using Simulation
▪ Channel Capacity
▪ Phasing of Capital Dredging
▪ Phasing of Maintenance Dredging
▪ Congestion Mitigation Planning
▪ Lay berth or in-harbor anchorage options
▪ Convoy options
▪ Identify Landside capacity issues for key
terminals
▪ Detailed analysis of pilot and tug
resources
▪ Reverse lightering
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Thank you for your attention!
VESSEL NETWORK MODEL
