ZURICH-based Swissport, the global groundhandler, will acquire Flightcare Spain and Flightcare Belgium from FCC Versia pending regulatory approval, thus expanding to become a full-service provider at Brussels Airport and expanding into Spain.
The acquisitions of the Flightcare businesses in Spain and Belgium, which combined handled over 24 million passengers and 287,000 tonnes of cargo in 2011, and employing around 3,000 staff, are "great additions to Swissport's network", said a company statement.
"Spain is a very attractive market, where Swissport has been providing ground handling services since 2000, and the addition of Flightcare's operations in Barcelona, Malaga, Fuerteventura, Valencia, Alicante, Jerez and Almeria will broaden Swissport's ground handling network," said the statement.
Said Swissport CEO Per Utnegaard: "Both these markets offer great potential to Swissport. These are essentially bolt-on acquisitions in two existing core markets for Swissport that perfectly complement Swissport's existing activities in Spain and Belgium and will enable us to grow the business most effectively. We look forward to working with staff, airport operators, and our customers to ensure a seamless transfer of the businesses, and to continue expanding our product portfolio in Spain and Belgium by applying Swissport's highly recognised standards and processes."
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
SWISS global logistics provider Panalpina is the first warehousing company to operate a cold chain unit at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport under a Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certificate issued by the Dutch Ministry of Health, the company has announced.
GDP ensures that medicinal products are distributed to pharmacists and others without alteration of their properties. Medicinal products need to be stored apart from other goods and under the conditions specified by the manufacturer in order to avoid deterioration, said a company statement.
Panalpina continues to obtain GDP (Good Distribution Practice) certifications at various locations around the world.
Pharmaceutical companies face increasing challenges with official and country-specific rules for storing and transporting temperature-sensitive products, said the Panalpina statement.
The company is operating the only facility for cross-docking and interim storage with airside access at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport with an official GDP certification.
"This is a strong signal to our customers that they can rely on our services. As a GDP certified provider we adhere to the highest quality standards and make it very easy for all of our customers to prove that they have mitigated their risk," said Panalpina global healthcare chief Thomas Berger.
Panalpina's facility at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has temperature-controlled cells for two to eight and 15 to 25 degrees Celsius. It also offers re-icing services, as well as packaging services for pharmaceutical customers.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
DURING the first three months, northern China's Shijiazhuang airport posted a robust year-on-year growth of 21.8 per cent in its cargo throughput to 7,710.5 tonnes, Xinhua reports.
Civil Aviation Administration of China's statistics shows that during the first quarter, China's air cargo throughput fell 7.4 per cent to 1.2 million tonnes. In contrast, Shijiazhuang is thriving with capacity shortage. The airport's outbound domestic cargo increased 10.84 per cent to 2,692 tonnes.
The report said, the airport's satisfactory performance is a result of its efforts in promoting its services in local express and logistics companies and in cooperating with airports in other cities on transshipments. For example, transshipping shipments bound for Guangzhou and Shenzhen via Ningbo and Xiamen airport, those bound for Lhasa via Chengdu. This is said to have been an effective solution to the airport's lack of direct services.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
2012-05-11
Multiple transceivers enable wide range of fixed and mobile applications
Simrad, a division of Kongsberg Maritime AS and the world’s leading manufacturer of hydro acoustic products for commercial fishing vessels and scientific research has expanded its market leading scientific echo sounder portfolio with the introduction of the new multi-transceiver Simrad EK15. With the ability to connect up to 15 fixed or mobile transceivers by cable or over a wireless network, the new Simrad EK15 is suitable for a wide range of applications from fish stock assessment and fish protection to river surveys, environmental monitoring and offshore oil & gas operations.
The Simrad EK15 is based on a small and ruggedised single beam transceiver and a dedicated transducer. The operational frequency is 200 kHz, which ensures very high resolution and accuracy, with easy built in, in situ calibration. By using multiple transceivers in parallel with either simultaneous or sequential pinging it is possible to monitor large areas with only a single echo sounder system.
The system can be put to use in a wide variety of environments: lakes, fjords, harbours, shallow marine, rivers, and in aquaculture fish cages for continuous monitoring of fish behaviour, vertical distribution of fish, fish escape, food waste and environment. For more than two years, Simrad EK15 prototypes have been put to test by Norwegian industrial aquaculture companies for monitoring purposes. The results have been very successful. The Simrad EK15 has also been tested and proven suitable for a number of other critical applications:
Hydropower dams – Fish protection at hydropower dams is critical and an array of EK15 transceivers can create an acoustic fence to monitor fish approaching water inlets.
River surveys – Multiple Simrad EK15 transducers can be used to monitor fish migration and due to the compact size of the system, transport for applications in remote areas is easy.
Traditional lake surveys – The wide opening angle of the EK15 transducer offers a large sampling volume, which enables increased coverage in shallow water environments.
Habitat mapping – The Simrad EK15 can monitor the distribution of vegetation and determine the height of marine growth. In combination with sampling, a vegetation biomass index can be established.
Subsea platforms – The Simrad EK15 due to its small size and low power consumption is well suited for installation into gliders, AUVs, ROVs and ocean observatories.
The system can be connected to a standard commercial computer/laptop and supports the Windows® 7 operating system. Multiple transceivers are connected via a commercial Ethernet switch with just a single Ethernet cable per transceiver required because each transceiver is provided with a dedicated power supply for AC operation, alternatively 12 V battery supply. The Simrad EK15 can also be set up for wireless communication between the computer and the transceivers, which is a good solution for both portable and fixed installation systems as the amount of cabling is greatly reduced. The EK15 uses the standard Simrad RAW data storage format supported by 3rd party software analysis tools.
The Simrad EK15 is available now from Simrad dealers worldwide. For further information on this and other Simrad scientific and catch focused echo sounders, visit www.simrad.com
Source Saltwater
APM Terminals suggests multifaceted approach to optimizing operations at the Port Finance International Black Sea Conference; Poti as a Case Study.
Istanbul, Turkey‐ APM Terminals’ European Director of Port Investments and Projects Michiel Ybema proposed a systematic approach to analyzing and enhancing container port productivity on the Sea of Marmara at the 4th Annual Port Financial International Black Sea Conference held in Istanbul recently. The Sea of Marmara lies between the Aegean and Black Seas astride an increasingly important sea lane serving Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
“Handling mixed cargoes, the balance of transshipment and gateway cargoes, and equipment intensity are the primary drivers of differences in productivity” observed Mr. Ybema.
The number of Shore-to-Ship and Mobile Harbor Cranes installed per meter of quay and the average number actually used to work a vessel are the key factors determining equipment intensity. Layout, equipment and operations at the four largest Marmara facilities of Marport, Kumport, Yilport and Evyap were compared respectively with roughly corresponding terminal situations at APM Terminals Global Terminal Network facilities at the Vridi Container Terminal at the Port of Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Aqaba Container Terminal, Jordan; Khalifa bin Salman Port, Bahrain and Terminal 4 at the Port of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Other significant factors that affect productivity levels at individual Marmara facilities are lengthy average container dwell times due to cargo clearance and payment processes, and the lack of adequate transportation infrastructure, both in terms of physical assets and rail and highway accessibility.
“We believe there would be great benefit from electronic cargo clearance in advance of arrival rather than after the vessel has been fully discharged, for example” said Mr. Ybema.
APM Terminals Poti, on the Republic of Georgia’s Black Sea coast, was cited as a case in point, where the layout of the port is being restructured, and the berths are being deepened. These improvements, along with the addition of new terminal equipment will boost the capacity of the present day port by an estimated 50%.
“A lot of terminals we see have grown organically over the years and have structural inefficiencies ‘designed in’” explained Mr. Ybema, noting “This is typically because they mix different cargoes over single berths or simply because they were designed for different cargoes or vessel sizes.
A presentation by Ms Maka Khvedelidze of Georgia's Tax and Customs Administration showed that the Republic of Georgia has made impressive progress on simplifying and speeding up the cargo clearance process. The IMF has projected Georgia’s GDP to expand by 6% in 2012, following a 7% growth in 2011.
APM Terminals will invest over $100 million USD between 2012 and 2014 at APM Terminals Poti, including the construction of new container and bulk cargo terminals. APM Terminals Poti handled 178,000 TEUs in 2011.
In February, APM Terminals announced the signing of a preliminary agreement for the development and operation of Petkim Port, located in Aliağa, near the City of Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean Coast.
Source APM Terminals
2012-05-11
Largest improvement within the Dax 30
MAN has secured third place within the Dax 30 in the reputation study conducted this year by the Reputation Institute. MAN scored consistently well in 2012 in all the areas examined, moving up eleven places and yielding a total of 77.60 points. Generally speaking, only five companies improved this year. On average, scores fell by 2.5 points to 68 points.
The reputation study "Dax30 Companies in German RepTrak" has been carried out by the New York-based Reputation Institute for the past 15 years and measures the reputation of German and international companies. Over 2,300 companies were judged by 117,000 people worldwide, with 2,500 consumers in Germany being surveyed about the Dax 30 companies. The representatively selected participants were asked to judge the respective companies on areas such as products, innovation, workplace, and performance. 80 points out of a possible 100 were required for the reputation to be classed as "excellent".
The Reputation Institute was founded in 1997 and operates in over 30 countries. In Germany, it is headquartered in Berlin. The Institute advises leading companies worldwide on systematic reputation management. Parts of the study are available to download from the Reputation Institute (www.reputationinstitute.com).
Source MAN SE
HONG KONG's Cathay Pacific Airways has warned that it expects "disappointing" first half results due to weak demand and high fuel prices.
"Looking ahead, economic uncertainties have continued into the first half of this year - while these uncertainties continue, we expect pressure on economy class yields and our cargo business in particular to remain weak," the airline said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
"Fuel prices have risen further. As a result, 2012 is looking even more challenging than 2011 and we are therefore cautious about prospects for this year."
It expected capacity growth to fall to two per cent from the original seven per cent, as frequencies of some long-haul routes to North America and Europe are reduced to cut fuel cost.
And it expected the growth in the cargo business to drop from seven to four per cent. "The cargo business, despite a temporary improvement in March, has shown no sign of a sustained recovery," it said in the statement.
Said Cathay CEO John Slosar: "This is not just a Cathay Pacific problem, it is clearly an industry-wide issue, and continued high fuel prices in particular are hitting airlines hard across the globe. We have no option but to take concerted action to adapt to this volatile operating environment."
In addition to reducing capacity to cut costs, the airline has announced some other cost-cutting measures, including the earlier retirement of older aircraft, deployment of more fuel-efficient planes, a freeze of ground staff hiring and a restart of the voluntary unpaid leave for cabin crew.
But orders for 93 fuel-efficient aircraft would proceed as planned. Worth a total of HK$190 billion (US$24.5 billion), the delivery of the first batch is expected to start from 2019.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
RUSSIA's Volga-Dnepr Airlines new freighter, with a reduced four-man crew, IL-76TD-90VD, has delivered 20 tonnes of coiled tubing from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea for oil production in Prestwick outside Glasgow.
The flight carried a coiled tubing which is a continuous length of steel or composite tubing used for well drilling and intervention operations. Its flexibility makes it a cost and time-effective solution by reducing cost of repair and maintenance.
Airnautic France, a charter broker and Volga-Dnepr's subsidiary AirBridgeCargo Airlines, operated the flight which loaded the equipment by forklifts and cranes.
Airnautic said using the new freighter was a first for the company and it was "proud to charter it into Europe."
Using the Kupol-III-76M-VD flight navigation system, the IL-76TD-90VD is equipped with PS-90A-76 engines and modern avionics.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
KARACHI, Pakistan-based Air Indus Pvt Ltd is interested in gaining three of Russia's civil aviation flagship the Sukhoi Superjet 100, reported the Gulf Times.
The Aeroflot jet is the product of a joint venture of Russian aviation giant Sukhoi, Europe's Superjet International and several dozen other companies with a price tag of around US$35 million each.
The recent full compliance of the twin-fuelled 100-seat jet has boosted its safety requirements, said Sukhoi Aviation spokesman Igor Syrtsov at a road show at Karachi Airport.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
TERRORISTS are developing bombs with detonation systems which cannot be detected by airport X-ray screening, seen in the latest foiling of the early stages of Yemen-based al Qaeda group plot to destroy a US-bound or other Western country using an updated underwear bomb, said aviation expert Andrew Thomas.
The assistant professor at the University of Akron claims that the device shows a refined approach to building bombs that can pass through airport security systems. This means that a focus on uncovering plots rather than stopping devices coming through will be essential, Mr Thomas said.
"The good news is that the intelligence network seemed to do a better job in terms of being able to thwart the individual who had the bomb on them which means that our intelligence agencies the airport security folks are spending more time looking for bad people then simply trying to stop bad things from getting through."
The device never presented a direct threat to public safety, said a statement from the FBI which is examining the device in the US after leaving the Yemen.
Using commercial aircraft for terrorist activity is not going to stop being a target. "So as long as theirs been commercial airliners flying in the skies there's been people looking to blow them up."
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
ONE hundred pilots of the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) has intensified its grievances in a strike of Air India by calling in sick because of management sidetracking at the negotiating table.
The work stoppage expected to more than double to 250 workers was considered "illegal" by the country's civil aviation minister Ajit Singh for its lack of a notice period leading to disruption of four international passenger flights to Hong Kong, Toronto and Chicago and New Jersey.
In a report from CNN-INB news, Mr Singh said: "This is not appropriate. Every section has grievances, they should have some patience". Particularly in light of the government's approval of a bailout package for the country's carriers, including Air India.
But IPG president Jitendra Awhad said the action is a matter of principle when management backtracks on what had been agreed over the delayed training of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in preference to colleagues from Air India rather than the former Indian Airlines.
"No time is good for agitation. But at times things come to such a pass when agitation is the last resort to get the pending issues resolved," said spokesman for IPG, following court ruling of a the delay of training for both equal number of pilots of each airline.
The issue of Dreamliner training is to be carried forward by the Indian Airline's representative of the ICPA with the IPG happy for equal representation but wishing to see further solutions to its pilots progression prospects.
The airline has sacked 10 of the striking pilots and has sent doctors to the remaining pilots homes who called in sick.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
2012-05-11
On May 9, at the port of Odessa took place the ceremony of paying honor to the heroism of the veterans who defended their homeland in the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45. Early morning on the festive cleared-up square in front of the port administration building lined up the rows of cadets of maritime schools. Brass band from Fontanka boarding school met the guests with front-line topic songs. At the foot of the monument to the port workers who died during the Second World War was burning a bright orange flame of "eternal fire". At 9:00 the Head of port’s press service Elena Giryaeva opened the rally. Congratulations to the veterans expressed the General Manager of the enterprise chief SE "OMTP" Yuriy Vaskov, the Honorary President of the port, the Hero of Ukraine Nikolay Pavlyuk, the chairman of the Trade Union Committee Vladimir Zaikov, the Chairman of the Council of Veterans, the veteran of the Second World War, Nikolai Debelyy, the chairman of the Youth Organization of the port Ivan Brovkin. - Veterans of the port of Odessa have a special status in the city, exactly because the port the first got the attack of the fascists and the port workers have played a key role in the defense of Odessa - said in the speech Yuriy Vaskov. - Adressing to you, dear veterans, I want to assure you that we have no greater value than your heroism during the Great Patriotic War ... The rally ended with a moment of silence in memory of fallen in the battle against fascism, and that was the ceremony of laying flowers to the memorial of "eternal flame"; the veterans were photographed with the management of the port and the cadets of marine schools. On May 9 the ceremony of laying flowers to the monument to workers of port ship yard and. As always this day the passenger terminal and approaches to it were decorated with festive banners with the images of the Great Patriotic war medals; in a large hall of the terminal sounded festive music. At13:58 the air above the harbor was filled with whistles of the ships standing at the berths. That is how the port of Odessa celebrated the 67th anniversary of the Great Victory.
Source the port of Odesa press-service
The Full Bay Scallop Association (FBSA) in Canada has entered an Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) fishery into independent, third-party assessment to the Marine Stewardship Council’s standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. If successful, products would be eligible to display the blue MSC ecolabel. The FBSA fleet is comprised of approximately 55 operating vessels ranging in size from 45 to 65 feet.
About the Fishery
The fishery takes place in Canadian waters in the North West Atlantic primarily in the Bay of Fundy and Area 29, a nearby fishing zone adjacent to Nova Scotia. Scallop beds in these areas have been commercially fished since the mid-1800s. Total Allowable Catch (TAC) in this area in 2010-11 was 1,265 tonnes, of which the FBSA client share is 69.5 percent. In 2009, the FBSA fleet landed 831 mt for an approximate value of $12 million. The gear type used is Digby fishing dredge, which is a steel cage towed along the seafloor.
The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) manages the fishery and establishes annual catch limits, fishing areas and management measures, including limited entry licensing, shell size and scallop meat counts based on weight, individual transferable quotas, dockside and vessel monitoring. Every vessel in the FBSA uses a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) while fishing. In addition, there is 100% dockside observer weigh-out of the harvest and submission of documents for data entry.
The season is open all year with a concentration from early June and to early October. Fishing in Area 29 includes at-sea observer coverage developed in collaboration with the local lobster industry to monitor any lobster bycatch. In the Bay of Fundy, vessels can retain landed monkfish, but all winter skates must be returned to the water with the least amount of harm. In Area 29, all bycatch must be returned causing the least amount of harm.
The assessment will be conducted by Food Certification International, an accredited certifier for MSC assessments. Stakeholders wishing to participate in the assessment process may contact the certification body, specifically Joanna Kabut, Fisheries Administrator at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
What the fishery says
Dick Stewart, Manager of the Full Bay Scallop Association, says “the full bay fleet is the longest standing scallop fishery in the area producing well-known Digby scallops for restaurants and retailers across North America. We look forward to the time we can claim MSC certification for our products.”
What the MSC says
Kerry Coughlin, Director of the MSC Americas Region says “we welcome the Full Bay Scallop Association into assessment and note the arrival of independent certifier Food Certification International as an active company in our region.”
About the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an international non-profit organization set up to help transform the seafood market to a sustainable basis. The MSC runs the only certification and ecolabeling program for wild-capture fisheries consistent with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization Guidelines for the Eco-labeling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries. These guidelines are based upon the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing and require that credible fishery certification and ecolabeling schemes include:
· Objective, third-party fishery assessment utilizing scientific evidence;
· Transparent processes with built-in stakeholder consultation and objection procedures;
· Standards based on the sustainability of target species, ecosystems and management practices.
The MSC has offices in London, Seattle, Tokyo, Sydney, The Hague, Glasgow, Berlin, Cape Town, Paris, Madrid and Stockholm.
In total, over 270 fisheries are engaged in the MSC program with 156 certified and 121 under full assessment. Another 40 to 50 fisheries are in confidential pre-assessment. Together, fisheries already certified or in full assessment record annual catches of close to nine million metric tonnes of seafood. This represents over 10 percent of the annual global harvest of wild capture fisheries. Certified fisheries currently land over six million metric tonnes of seafood annually – close to seven percent of the total harvest from wild capture fisheries. Worldwide, more than 14,000 seafood products, which can be traced back to the certified sustainable fisheries, bear the blue MSC ecolabel.
For more information on the work of the MSC, please visit www.msc.org.
Source MSC
The IRU has published a manual for bus and coach operators, providing them with useful information before the 1 March 2013 deadline, regarding their obligations to passengers and aiming to promote increased service quality within the sector.
Brussels – The IRU has developed a manual that provides information to bus and coach transport managers about their new obligations towards passengers under the EU Regulation on Passenger Rights that enters into force on 1 March 2013, and includes provisions on assistance, reimbursement, rerouting, compensation, assistance to disabled persons and passenger information, among others.
Commenting on the new EU Regulation, IRU Vice President and President of the IRU Passenger Transport Council, Yves Mannaerts, stated, “It is vital that bus and coach operators fully understand the new EU Regulation and are prepared for the consequent major changes to passengers’ rights before the March 2013 implementation date. The new regulation will have significant implications for our industry.”
The IRU manual, chaptered in three sections for regular services over 250km, under 250km and for occasional services, focuses on passenger rights during the handling of accidents, delays and cancellations, the rights of disabled passengers, and how passengers are provided with information.
Mr Mannaerts continued: “These new regulations provide a solid framework for ensuring that we continue to provide high quality services to all categories of passengers before, during and after their journey. I urge all operators to take note of the new rules and be well-prepared for their implementation.”
Source IRU Communications
THE Westbound Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement (WTSA) has recommended a new round of rate increases with effect from July 1 for frozen and chilled beef, pork and poultry, as well as animal hides, as a guideline for its member carriers in renewing the upcoming contract for those cargo.
For those cargo shipped from the US west coast, the rate increase will be US$300 per FEU, and for intermodal and the US east coast all-water shipments, the increase will be $400 per FEU. Rates for hides will be increased by $100 per container. Proportionate increases will be applied to other box sizes, according to the WTSA statement.
WTSA executive administrator Brian Conrad said shipment of the so-called "protein cargo and hides" generally move under 12-month contracts running from July 1 to June 30. Therefore, "they have not been covered under previously announced general rate increases for 2012."
Mr Conrad said demand is strong in Asia for US exports of frozen and chilled meat. Also, supply in different trade lanes remains limited for refrigerated equipment in circulation, particularly temperature-controlled container for carrying chilled commodities.
WTSA members include APL, Cosco, Evergreen, Hanjin, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), "K" Line, NYK, OOCL and Yang Ming.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
The magazine SEA has been published since 1935
International business magazine JŪRA MOPE SEA has been published since 1999
The first magazine in Eurasia in the four languages: English, Chinese, Russian and Lithuanian
|
|