A panel of 10 maritime industry judges evaluated the nominees based on who made the greatest strides in business development and customer satisfaction over the past year in an increasingly competitive ports sector. The panel selected APM Terminals based on its ability to expand its Global Terminal Network and customer portfolio during a period of tough market conditions. The award was sponsored The TT Club of London and presented by Charles Fenton, President at the event who cited the company’s Global Terminal Network and ability to expand in tough market conditions.
“This award is a tribute to our people in the terminal whose operational excellence earned the support of our clients,” commented Richard Mitchell, Chief Commercial Officer of APM Terminals who received the award on behalf of the company.
The company’s nomination was based on APM Terminals ability to expand its Global Terminal Network, add more customers during a time of economic turbulence, while also taking a lead in proactive environmentally-friendly terminal operations, industry innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility. The portfolio is geographically well-balanced, serving more than 60 shipping lines through its Global Terminal Network in 34 countries, on five continents.
With three quarters of a billion dollars invested in 2008 alone, there are numerous terminal projects underway including the recently opened Bahrain Gateway at Khalifa bin Salman Port. APM Terminals has been a leader in efforts to increase service and develop new modern container facilities at historically underserved emerging economies in Africa, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia.
To eliminate accidents and fatalities, a comprehensive Safety Culture program has been introduced throughout the terminal network which has already shown positive results through measurably reduced Lost Time Injury Frequency. In North America, APM Terminals swept the Pacific Maritime Association’s Annual Safety Awards for the second consecutive year with impressive safety achievement recorded at the Los Angeles, Oakland and Tacoma facilities. Investment in innovation is ongoing, with the prototype of a revolutionary Series Hydraulic Hybrid Yard Hostler recently introduced at the 2009 SAE World Congress in Detroit, Michigan. APM Terminals joined efforts with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and several other industry partners to integrate advanced hybrid powertrain technology into a port‐service vehicle. The EPA anticipates that each high efficiency yard truck could save over 1,000 gallons of fuel per year, improve stop-and-go fuel efficiency by 50 to 60%, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30%. The yard truck underwent testing at APM Terminals Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, this summer.
Corporate Social Responsibility is part of the very core of APM Terminals’ company philosophy and daily business practice throughput the world. Earlier this year employees from the Maasvlakte 2 project in Rotterdam collected and shipped 1,200 pieces of classroom furniture to be donated to a school in Luanda, Angola, as part of APM Terminals Citizenship Program ‘Health and Education in Africa’. Previously, personnel at the company headquarters in The Hague sent seven tons of donated school furniture and books, toys and clothing to Douala International Terminal (DIT) for distribution to schools and orphanages to enhance the learning environment for needy children in Douala, Cameroon. Other initiatives have included flood victim relief for Itajai, Brazil and the distribution of safety-yellow windbreakers to school students in Tangier, Morocco.
