The COVID-19 pandemic is creating significant challenges for ship operators and seafarers, but new research from the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has highlighted that, for users of its ISF Watchkeeper software, incidents of non-conformities continue to drop to increasingly lower levels over the past year.

Berlin, Riga 19 May 2020 – sennder, Europe’s leading digital freight forward company, today announced the opening of its Riga office. This step marks the strategic market entry into the Baltic as the first digital freight forward provider in the region, strengthening and expanding sennder’s footprint in the $120 billion small- to mid-size European trucking market.

The Dekker Group has announced its intention to expand in the port of Rotterdam. The group recently extended its long-term lease contracts on behalf of its subsidiary Maastank for its location at Welplaatkade in the Botlek area by 25 years. Dekker Group also signed contracts for the adjacent sites at this point. In due time, the firm, which has its headquarters in Ouderkerk a/d IJssel, plans to scale up its existing tank storage activities in the port of Rotterdam – to double their current volume.

Finnair adds frequencies and routes to its network, with long-haul routes beginning in July

From July, Finnair will gradually add frequencies and routes back to its network. Finnair will review its schedule on a monthly basis and will update it as travel restrictions are removed and demand starts to recover.

The Indian Navy's amphibs are continuing operations to repatriate stranded Indian nationals from abroad, including citizens remaining in the Maldives.

Every two years SMM brings together industry stakeholders from around the world. Because of the coronavirus crisis, the leading international maritime trade fair has been postponed until 2-5 February 2021. Not surprisingly, the effects of the pandemic were the main topic at the SMM Advance Press Conference. Leading experts assessed the current situation in the shipping industry and its consequences for the SMM agenda, which will focus on Green Shipping and Digitalisation.

14 May 2020, Budapest, Hungary – As part of the EU’s collective efforts to tackle the COVID-19 crisis, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is announcing the launch of the ‘EIT Crisis Response Initiative’. The EIT Governing Board has decided to mobilise EUR 60 million of additional funding to innovators powering high-impact solutions that tackle this unprecedented social and economic challenge. The financing will allow the launch of new innovation projects to address the immediate crisis as part of the ‘Pandemic Response Projects’, and will support highly innovative start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs crucial to the economy’s fast recovery to benefit from additional funding under the ‘Venture Support Instrument’.

LONDON, UK – Global market research company Euromonitor International predicts the luxury goods industry will be hit the hardest in 2020, across all FMCG markets, due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

While many of the Western consumer economies tentatively explore the easing of social restrictions, the global supply chain environment remains significantly disrupted and operators will continue to face many challenges.  International freight insurer, TT Club seeks to guide them with advice for turbulent times.

An international study led by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore has found that the global mean sea-level rise could exceed one meter by 2100 and five meters by 2300 if global targets on emissions are not achieved.

In response to the growing technical demands made on Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes driven by the growth in the size of container vessels, the Port Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA) has released a detailed information paper that provides practical guidance on the safe and efficient operation of STS cranes in the age of “mega” container ships.

Vilnius Airport will see the first post-pandemic passenger flight on May 13th. Germany’s national carrier Lufthansa will perform the first renewed flight between Frankfurt am Main and Vilnius. Lithuania’s largest airport is fully ready to resume passenger flights. The airport has implemented necessary health safety measures that are recommended by national health officials and international aviation organizations.

The City of Lappeenranta has reached the finals in the competition for the greenest city in Europe, or the 2021 European Green Leaf Award. Lappeenranta was among the finalists last year as well, but did not win. Now the city will be able to pursue the title once again in the finals to be held in Lisbon at the turn of September–October.

In recent weeks, it has become clear that the staging of Intermodal Asia 2020 would be no longer viable and after consultation with our joint venture partners, CCIA, we have decided to postpone the event until 16–18 March 2021.

Contagion or starvation, the dilemma facing informal workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Lockdown measures will worsen poverty and vulnerabilities among the world’s two billion informal economy workers, says the International Labour Organization.