GCT USA’s Atkins sees Bayonne terminal as archetype in era of mega-containerships

As president of GCT USA, John Atkins puts three decades of maritime industry experience to work in overseeing a semi-automated New Jersey facility that sets a new standard for East Coast marine terminals in ability to safely and efficiently handle megaships. The recent “monumental undertaking” to transform the 98-acre GCT Bayonne terminal into a 180-acre ultra-modern facility is yielding productivity and predictability gains while impressing longshore labor and container lines alike, according to Atkins. In an exclusive interview with the American Journal of Transportation, Atkins shares his thoughts on the GCT Bayonne modernization, the continuing success of GCT New York on Staten Island and the significance of community involvement and time with family.

How is the newly expanded GCT facility in Bayonne, N.J., demonstrating leading-edge operational efficiencies and productivity since the project went live in June 2014? We are focused on continuous process and technical improvements at GCT Bayonne. Technical improvements are a focus for us. We want to ensure the best service delivery to our customers. Vessel productivity continues to steadily improve. Our vessel productivity has increased over 33% today from where we started with implementation of the new RMG [rail-mounted gantry] operation in June 2014, and we will continue to improve as we calibrate our operation. The expansion was completed on a fully operational terminal without disruption to the customers, converting it to the most advanced facility on the East Coast. It was a monumental undertaking. The project was completed on-time and on-budget. This was a particular accomplishment given that, during construction, we endured two of the harshest winters the Northeast has ever seen, as well as experienced two back-to-back hurricanes. GCT Bayonne is the first terminal to implement Navis N4 2.5 [terminal operating system] successfully. It’s the only facility in the world to implement an RMG terminal and RTG [rubber-tire gantry] terminal on the same overall footprint. We’re also proud of the fact that we constructed a high-speed gate complex. What has been the take of labor in regard to the enhanced terminal facility? Safety is a core priority at our company. The project introduced the new semiautomated equipment and processes that were designed to separate the workforce from high-risk areas, which greatly reduces the potential of accidents happening. The unique design of the project included a newly commissioned remote-operating crane for the ILA [International Longshoremen’s Association] RMG operators that separated our workforce out of harm’s way. When we went live in June 2014, we were pleased to see that our lost-time-incident frequency ratio – what we call LTIF – declined by more than 60 percent. We are setting the standards for safety as this makes our facility a much safer environment for our workforce to operate. By the time the project launched, we negotiated what is a groundbreaking deal with the ILA that we feel resulted in a win for both parties. In addition, we were able to open new job classifications for the union members. What the project did was improve the environment and surroundings for many of the labor partners to work in every day. How important do you see the Bayonne terminal’s location – without air and water draft restrictions – to its success? With the post-Panamax vessels transiting the Suez Canal ahead of the completion of the Panama Canal expansion, the completion of our project in 2014 enabled our customers and the new super-alliances to nearly double their vessel size. We saw the average-size vessel grow overnight from 5,500 to 9,600 TEUs [20-foot-equivalent container units of capacity]. At GCT Bayonne today, we serve the largest ships calling the Port [of New York & New Jersey], including the 9,600-TEU sister ships, the NYK Arcadia and NYK Adonis. The customers were glad to see the expansion come online to enable us to be able to work these big ships, particularly in light of the delays of the Panama Canal expansion and the raising of the roadbed of the Bayonne Bridge [beyond GCT Bayonne]. Not just for our little corner of the world, but overall, the modernized GCT Bayonne facility ensured that New York Harbor was neither bypassed nor lost any traffic to the competing gateways. This was good for the overall harbor and good for us. There is not a service that calls our facility that can transit under the Bayonne Bridge. Do you anticipate that marine terminals throughout North America will continue to become more automated, and, if so, how do you see that playing out? As these super-alliances continue to form and the ocean carriers are deploying the ultralarge containerships, it’s our philosophy to anticipate the customer rather than respond to them. As an industry, we need to be able to handle volume surges from these large vessels as calls rise dramatically. Not just automation but efficiency, density and, as important, predictability are the only ways to be able to successfully handle these calls by larger vessels. Not wanting to leave out GCT’s Staten Island facility, what’s the latest going on at GCT New York? Here at our facility in Staten Island, without any level of automation or modernization, our weekly gross productivity averages in the 30-plus moves per hour range. We just finished an MSC [Mediterranean Shipping Co.] ship with gross productivity of 35.8 moves an hour. That is best-in-class in the Port of New York. GCT New York enjoys the highest marine productivity in the harbor, the fastest truck turnaround time in the harbor, and has the only on-dock CES station [U.S. Customs and Border Protection centralized examination station], which is very beneficial to many of our customers. How has your own experience with ocean carriers CMA CGM and NYK Lines helped you in your role as a marine terminal operator? Like a lot of my staff, I have worked in the carrier side of our industry previously. This background helps to bring a carrier view to our overall operations, whether it’s the importance we place on vessel productivity at our two terminals or working with folks to mitigate their financial exposure when something goes wrong. We understand the issues that our customer faces. This enables us to work with our customers to find workable solutions to their concerns and problems. What significance do you place upon your involvement with such entities as Meals on Wheels, Metropolitan Marine Maintenance Contractors Association, New York Shipping Association, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and Maritime Association of the Port of New York? First, involvement in our industry associations is paramount to effecting change as our fast-paced industry evolves. To me, it’s more fulfilling to be a map writer than a map reader as it pertains to shaping the future of our business, and you can’t do that unless you’re involved at the policy-making level. Equally important is to have a program in place to give back to the communities in which we operate. Our company is fortunate enough to have a shareholder who also believes strongly in community service, whether it’s the local Meals on Wheels program we support or some of the local school programs. As a company, our employees and our workforce are fortunate enough to operate and be employed in a rewarding industry. We feel it’s important that we all recognize this privilege and respond by giving back to our communities through a variety of avenues. We have a lot of strong corporate participation and a great deal of individual participation in both our facilities. If you ever get a moment free from work and related obligations, how might we find you spending that time? That’s a trick question, [as] this industry never sleeps. Ships are always on the water and terminals are always working ships. With the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, you’re always connected and working. I utilize this characteristic while supporting my three children who are very active in all their endeavors. You can find me on the sidelines supporting all three teenage kids in their active sports programs and extracurricular school activities.