Point Lisas and MIT tie for top honors in Ludlow Stewart Container Port Competition 2024

The Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA) has announced the winners of the Ludlow Stewart Container Port Competition 2024, with Point Lisas and Manzanillo International Terminal (MIT) making history by tying for first place. St. Vincent was named the runner-up, and Haina International Terminals secured third place.

This year’s competition focused on net positive changes in key performance indices, such as berth waiting times, container productivity, safety, and security. The competition serves to encourage ports to strive for continuous improvement across various operational metrics. The winners were announced at the CSA’s 54th Annual General Meeting, Conference and Exhibition in St Maarten on Tuesday, October 8.

Though not among the winners, Hamilton, Bermuda, received special recognition for its outstanding performance. The port maintained a high level of efficiency with no strikes or accidents over the last two years, zero time lost waiting for a berth, a consistent productivity rate of 36 container moves per hour, and an impressive truck turn-time of just 14 minutes. Despite these achievements, Hamilton did not rank higher because its already high performance left little room for further improvement.

Top Performers by Category

Time Awaiting Berth (from pilot station to alongside):

Point Lisas: 18% improvement

MIT: 17% improvement

Freeport: 13% improvement

Productivity (container moves per hour):

Point Lisas: 19% improvement

Rio Haina: 13% improvement

MIT: 5% improvement

Truck Turn-Time Within the Terminal:

Point Lisas: 31% improvement

Cartagena: 11% improvement

Freeport: 10% improvement

Industrial Relations (time lost due to strikes):

No time lost due to strikes across all participating ports in the last two years

Safety (number of accidents):

Hamilton, Bermuda: Zero accidents in two years

Paramaribo: One accident each year

Kingston Wharves: 65% reduction in accidents

Haina International Terminals: 44% reduction

MIT: 43% reduction

Security (increase in expenditure):

Point Lisas: 200% increase

Paramaribo: 51% increase

Kingston Wharves: 43% increase

Training (change in expenditure):

MIT: 800% increase

Guadeloupe: 73% increase

Point Lisas: 70% increase

St. Vincent and Kingston Wharves also earned full marks for training

Environmental Expenditure (change from 2022 to 2023):

St. Vincent: 112% increase

Guadeloupe: 4% increase

Other ports saw a decline in environmental spending

Gender Participation (improvement in female workforce representation):

SPRC Cartagena: 9% improvement

Freeport: 7% improvement

Digitalization (use of IT):

Point Lisas: 9% improvement

Haina: 4% improvement

The competition highlighted the remarkable progress Caribbean ports are making in efficiency, safety, and innovation. Point Lisas and MIT’s tie for first place reflects the high level of performance both ports have achieved, while St. Vincent’s strong showing earned it runner-up status. Haina International Terminals, which finished in third, also demonstrated impressive improvements across multiple categories.

The CSA congratulates all participants and looks forward to continuing the push for excellence in the region’s ports through initiatives like the Ludlow Stewart Container Port Competition.