SpecTec launched the new version of AMOS Mail.

The Company says AMOS Mail 9.2 transforms the world of maritime communication, bringing the Customers cost effective, easy to-use and reliable connectivity onboard the vessels – and potentially saving you up to 80% of your satellite communications costs thanks to its high-optimized and solid compression algorithm.

Communication functionalities have been extended and now are available to the crew members to enjoy a better experience while working with the software they know from more than 20 years.

AMOS Mail improved its seamless integration with all of the SpecTec’s software applications (AMOS Business Suite and AMOS2 Enterprise Management Suite – for more info about the mentioned product, please visit www.spectec.net) sharing, along with them, the same database engines.

AMOS Mail, starting from version 9.1, runs on Sybase, Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server Database management systems and, the just introduced MySQL. AMOS Mail is compatible with all Microsoft Operating Systems, both 32 and 64 bits, Windows 8 included.

The AMOS Mail release includes:
  • Improvement of the User Interface look and usability
  • Full compatibility with all the latest Microsoft™ Operating Systems (x86 and x64)
  • Increase of the Interface’s Customization possibilities
  • A native interface to Microsoft Exchange Server™
  • Revamp of the client user interface and all the database management tools
  • A new HTML enabled editor for incoming and outgoing messages
  • Message Categories to assist and facilitate when invoicing Communication costs
  • Spotlights and Smart Folders to search and better organize all the messages
  • The AMOS Mail Service to let the software run in background and automatically after a server reboot and to let all the devices accessible no matter the computers they are connected to
  • Message Categories to assist and facilitate when invoicing Communication costs
  • This is just a hint of the application’s general revamp connected to the last release.

“AMOS Mail strikes back and ask the Customers to get ready for more exciting and innovative features which will be implemented in the upcoming future releases – says a confident  Alberto Rinaldo, AMOS Mail Product Manager – I’ve been working with AMOS Mail since 1998, at the beginning as a Support Consultant, in the last 4 years as Product Manager and, I must say, AMOS Mail is never been so alive and kicking as it is now. The efforts we are spending on the product to add new features and make the existing one better are remarkable. The AMOS Mail Team is working hard implementing features the Customers were asking from years but also engineering brand new applications the Customers will take advantage from in the future.


Right now we are working to add some extra protection while exchanging data with the office and to optimize the communication protocols when working on the latest broadband satellite equipment. The new features will be introduced on AMOS Mail 9.3.0 which is planned to be released before the end of the year”.

SpecTec Group

DENMARK's AP Moller-Maersk Group has posted its first quarter results, which its container shipping unit Maersk Line suffered US$599 million year-on-year loss despite a 18 per cent growth in volumes.

The carrier said the average freight rate fell nine per cent compared to the same period last year.

Overall, the group delivered a profit of $1.2 billion, drawn on revenues of $14.32 billion, down one per cent year on year. Compared to the same quarter of 2011, it experienced almost zero growth in the first quarter. Excluding divestment gains and one-off tax income from the settlement of an Algerian tax dispute, the group recorded zero profit in the first three months, against a profit of $1.1 billion in the same period of 2011.

Group CEO Nils Andersen said the company is "not satisfied" with its first quarter performance, adding "earnings in shipping were weak due to the continued loss-making rates in the container and tanker markets. However, our efforts to increase container rates are paying off and we will continue our initiatives to improve rates throughout the year.

"We will also maintain a high level of costs for oil exploration and development of discoveries for production. We are confident that these investments will enable us to stop the decline in our oil production and then return to growth towards our target of 400,000 barrels per day."

Looking ahead, Maersk expects the group's year-end 2012 earnings will be slightly lower than the $3.4 billion recorded in 2011. Cash flow used for capital expenditure is expected to remain the same as in 2011.

For container shipping, Maersk Line said it "expects a negative up to neutral result in 2012, based on the assumption that the rate restoration that has taken place since March 2012 will continue."

The carrier projects the global demand for seaborne containers will increase by four to six per cent in 2012, with lower increases on the Asia-Europe trades, but higher increases on the north-south trades.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

KOREA's Hanjin Shipping, the world's ninth largest carrier, has announced it will impose peak season surcharge by US$300 per TEU and $700 per FEU on all dry reefer and special shipments from Asia and the Middle East to North Europe and the Mediterranean from June 1.

The carrier said in a statement: "This peak season surcharge is inevitable for the company to sustain quality service in the midst of rising operating costs resulting from repositioning containers back to Asia to accommodate increased demand for outbound cargo."

Other major carriers, including OOCL, MSC and Zim, have announced similar of $300-$375 per TEU on the route in June.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

FIGURES from the Hong Kong Marine Department show the port handled 2.1 million TEU in April, a year-on-year decrease of 4.2 per cent over the 2.2 million TEU in April of last year.

Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority reported a 5.6 per cent increase in container movement in April, having handled 2.6 million TEU compared to 2.4 million TEU in April last year.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

THE European Union's Navfor squadron has "conducted an operation to destroy pirate equipment on the Somali coastline" but at no time were there "EU boots ashore" as the destruction of pirate boats was helicopter borne, reports the BBC.

"The focused, precise and proportionate action was conducted from the air and all forces returned safely to EU warships on completion. Whilst assessment is on-going, surveillance of the area during the action indicates that no Somalis were injured ashore as a result of EU action," said the EU Navfor statement.

EU forces were transported by helicopter to the pirate bases near the port of Haradhere and destroyed several boats.

The attack followed a March 23 decision by the Council of the European Union to allow the EU Naval Force launch attacks ashore.

EU Navfor said the operation was conducted in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1851 and has the "full support" of Somalia's transitional government.

Commanded by the Royal Navy's Rear Admiral Duncan Potts, also commander of Britain's Maritime Command, the operation was "an extension of the disruption actions carried out against pirate ships at sea, and Operation Atalanta remains committed to fighting piracy off the Horn of Africa and the humanitarian mission of protecting World Food Programme ships that bring vital aid to the Somali people."

Said Admiral Potts: "We believe this action by the EU Naval Force will further increase the pressure on, and disrupt pirates' efforts to get out to sea to attack merchant shipping and dhows.

"The local Somali people and fishermen - many of whom have suffered so much because of piracy in the region, can be reassured that our focus was on known pirate supplies and will remain so in the future," he said.

The BBC noted anti-piracy forces have been reluctant to attack mainland bases, fearing for the crews of captured ships and said that currently pirates are believed to be holding about 17 ships and 300 crewmen.

A Greek-owned suezmax tanker was hijacked last week to bring the current number of ships held by Somali-based pirates to nine with more than 250 seafarer hostages either on those vessels or incarcerated ashore.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

SEAINTEL Maritime Analysis said it was unable to comprehensively forecast market strength on the Asia-Europe trade with capacity volumes wildly changing week to week but can say that such conditions will provide a negative impact on supply/demand balance.

During the review period of the forthcoming 12 weeks, seven services are expected to see capacity change by 3,000 TEU from week to week, while 22 services will likely see changes of more than 1,000 TEU, both up and down, on a weekly basis. Just one service is projected to deploy the same capacity week in and week out, reported American Shipper.

The up and down nature is equivalent to rapid phase-in/phase-out of two super-post-Panamax strings and is wide ranging enough to impact supply/demand balance in any given week, said the maritime analyst in its weekly Sunday Spotlight report.

"This in turn means that if capacity becomes tight one week it cannot be taken as a sign of a stronger overall market - and conversely it is not possible to conclude that one week of poor vessel utilisation is an indication of an overall weakening of the market," the report added.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

MORE than 60 logistics companies in Chongqing will cooperate in building a 66.7-hectare logistics base in the Western Logistics Park of the city with a co-investment of about CNY100 million (US$15.8 million), reports Xinhua.

The new facility will provide services such as warehousing, inspection, driving training and vehicle parking. The Western Logistics Park's phase 1 project has been put into operation, coupled with over 500 companies settling in the park. The park's railway container transport hub will have a capacity of two million TEU, and can handle two million tonnes of express delivery cargo and three million tonnes of bulk cargo per year when the park is wholly completed in 2020. By then, the park's annual trade value will reach CNY100 billion and the park will need 3,000 to 4,000 trucks to transport cargo everyday.

In addition, the companies that set up the Western Logistics Chamber of Commerce will introduce a price guide for businesses to prevent disorderly competition.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

THE Hujia Expressway, China's first expressway, has cancelled all toll fees following the completion of the road's reconstruction, Xinhua reports, citing the Shanghai Municipal Roadway Administration Bureau.

At the beginning of 2012, the Shanghai government decided to make adjustments to the Hujia Expressway in order to revamp it as a "city expressway". The reconstruction project that aimed to widen the road began in February this year. Shortly following the completion of the project, all toll gates will be removed.

Construction for the 18.5-kilometre expressway linking Shanghai's downtown area to its suburban Jiading district first began in 1984 and opened to traffic in 1988.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

OMAN Container Line (OCL), the container shipping arm of Oman Shipping Company (OSC), is expanding the port rotation of its Gulf Express Service (GEX) by adding a call at Port Sultan Qaboos.

This fixed-day weekly service that was initially launched in February of this year connects Salalah and Jebel Ali using the 1,730-TEU Altonia.

From May 19, the GEX will call at Port Sultan Qaboos every Saturday. The service currently calls at Salalah every Thursday and Jebel Ali every Sunday.

The company said in a statement that the "natural extension" of this service is intended to create "for the first time a common user container feeder service between shipping lines offering international transshipment connections in Salalah and the Muscat market."

OCL is a regional feeder operator and fully-owned subsidiary of Oman Shipping Company, which is in turn owned by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman through the Ministry of Finance (80 per cent) and Oman Oil Company SAOC (20 per cent).

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

KANDLA Port Trust (KPT), one of the major ports on the northwest coast of India, has submitted bids for feasibility studies of a container terminal at its Tuna-Tekra port some 20 kilometres away from its main port at Kenda.

Twelve engineering firms have submitted bids for setting up a terminal at Tuna-Tekra including Tata group-owned Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd and Consulting Engineering Services (India) Private Limited (CES), report New Delhi's Business Standard.

The reconnaissance survey includes layout of the port, soil profile, existing facilities of the port which include a barge jetty for handling dry cargo and coastal shipping. It expects an engineer advisor to be named within four months from the bidding deadline in March.

In an interview with India's Business Standard, an official said the need for a new terminal is crucial with Kandla operating at full capacity and demand growing, two of its 12 berths handle 7.2 million TEU annually.

The projected cost of development of two container handling berths at Tuna-Tekra with an annual capacity of 14.11 million tonnes is set at INR10,600 million (US$196.5 million).

Back in February, KPT awarded a BOT (build, operate and transfer) project for a dry bulk terminal at Tekra to ports arm of Adani group in a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

MALAYSIAN carrier MISC Berhad's decision to quit the container business to focus on its bulk and energy operations late last year has seen a gradual withdrawal of its vessels from New Zealand's Port of Otago.

Since the port received the carrier's first vessel, its fleet size numbered 30 containerships, on a short-lived south east Asia service of just over a year ending 2001, it continued to visit through a joint south east Asia to New Zealand service with Maersk.

The Kuala Lumpur-based carrier has accumulated losses of US$789 million over three years due to capacity oversupply and a depressed freight rate environment, not including a further $400 million loss forecast from pull-outs from charters and disposable assets. It aims to pull out from trade alliances, charters and vessel agreements by June 30.

Of the four vessels which first berthed at Otago on its own service and one jointly shared with Maersk, phasing out began in January. These vessels of 1,234-TEU capacity, the Bunga Delima and sister ship Bunga Bidara raised $3.7 million to Indian shipbreakers in Alang.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

HONG KONG's Kerry Logistics,has opened an ISO tank depot in India and a foundry in China by its subsidiary Kerry-ITS to supply engineering parts for tank customers.

Its facility in Kandla, India occupies 11,300 square metres and offers versatile ISO tank cleaning and repair services for tank lessors, operators and end users. The new depot is located eight kilometres from Kandla Port in the state of Gujarat to take advantage of having direct ocean access to overseas markets.

At its new Indian depot, Kerry Logistics plans to introduce the latest Robogrind interior tank shell corrosion treatment technology used in its Singapore operations. The sophisticated sheltered cleaning station installed in the new depot is equipped with a high performance automatic cleaning system and has a capacity to clean up to 40 tanks a day.

"Our investments in advanced ISO tank maintenance facilities in India as well as the manufacture and supply of tank engineering parts in China are the result of sustained growth in demand in these dynamic regions. Both the depot and foundry are ideally located to serve their respective shipping communities," said managing director of Singapore's Kerry-ITS William Loh.

In China, Kerry Logistics' new foundry facility is located in Dongying city, Shangdong province to support its regional ISO tank business with uninterrupted OEM precision engineering, parts manufacturing, distribution and supplies.

The company's depots in Singapore and in Laem Chabang at Thailand are certified as "Approved Cleaning Station and Repair Depots" by the Asia Tank Container Organisation (ATCO). The depot in India has applied for the certification and the audit is due to be completed by the end of the year.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

GERMANISCHER LLOYD (GL), a leading ship classification society, is urging shipping companies to invest more in applying more new maritime-related information technologies to help shipowners and operators reduce operating costs and enhance competitiveness.

"There is a great deal of potential for the shipping sector to invest more into maritime software," said GL software vice president Torsten Buessow at a GL Exchange Forum held in Singapore. "The sector's investment level is just one fifth of that of the oil and gas industry."

New York's MarineLink reported that only 0.7 per cent of investments in new vessels are used to cover the cost of new software installations. Yet experts from Germanischer Lloyd believe equipping more ships with the latest maritime software applications could help offset rising fuel prices and operating costs, which in turn can improve the industry's profit margins.

"Looking at ship operating costs we see a steady, rising trend," Dr Buessow said. He estimates that the operating costs for 3,000- to 4,000-TEU vessels, Panamax dry bulk carriers and 15,000-20,000 dwt general cargo vessels will grow 13 per cent between 2010 and 2014.

The company said its hull integrity management tool, GL HullManager, improves management efficiency by creating a 3D model of the ship, which can be linked to visual inspections and thickness measurement. In the end, the software helps reduce a vessel's inspection and repair costs.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

CHICAGO's O'Hare International Airport is to build a US$200 million air cargo centre of which more than half will be paid by the developer and the remaining $62 million in airport revenues, said city mayor's office.

The 76,200-square-metre facility will create 10,000 jobs in the area of which initially 1,200 will be construction jobs and 1,200 permanent on-stage jobs.

The developer Aeroterm signed a 35-year agreement at investment of $130 million based on its belief in "pent up demand" of import and export. The centre is expected to provide $600 million in benefits. It aims to complete phase 1 by 2013 with full completion by 2020 to include runway expansion and overall modernisation.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said final approval for the city-owned 65 acres of land allocated for the facility is required by City Council, but he is confident the project will be given the go-ahead. "This was the time to actually take it off the shelf and freshen it up."

The cargo focus will not hamper its numerous passenger services due to night flights and will increase revenues for the airport by "landing and ramp fees on an almost 24-hours-a-day basis", said BB&T Capital Markets research analyst Kevin Sterling, reported The Associated Press.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

HONG KONG's Cathay Pacific has appointed Chitty Cheung as its new director of corporate affairs, taking over from Quince Chong over the summer as Ms Chong is leaving the airline to take up a position in another industry.

Ms Cheung has been the general manager, sales, Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong since August 2009. She joined the company as a management trainee in 1987 and has since served in a number of key management positions in Hong Kong covering commercial, planning and cargo aspects, as well as in Cathay's overseas offices in Penang, Los Angeles and London, where she was regional general manager Europe.

Chief executive John Slosar said: "Chitty brings a remarkable breadth and depth of experience to the senior leadership team at Cathay Pacific. Her extensive background in the industry both in Hong Kong and overseas and her network of contacts within the community will be a real asset as we pursue our exciting growth plans."

Ms Cheung graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a bachelor's in social sciences, She is also a member of the 2012 HKSAR Government Chief Executive Election Committee (Tourism Sector), member of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), chairman of Marketing and Business Development Committee of HKTB, director of Abacus Distribution Systems (HK) Ltd, director of Cathay Holidays Limited, and member of Executive Committee, Board of Airline Representatives (BAR), Hong Kong.

Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
 

The magazine SEA has been published since 1935
International business magazine JŪRA MOPE SEA has been published since 1999
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The magazine JŪRA has been published since 1935.
International business magazine JŪRA MOPE SEA has been
published since 1999.

ISSN 1392-7825

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