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
DURING the first quarter of this year, Chongqing posted a year-on-year increase of 29.5 per cent in its air cargo throughput to 67,900 tonnes, Xinhua reports.
Outbound cargo jumped 54.5 per cent up to 35,400 tonnes. Chongqing airport operated 361 international cargo flights in this period, surging 257 per cent. Imports and exports increased 158.4 per cent to 25,100 tonnes.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
2012-05-16
The National Tourism Zone "Avaza" in Turkmenistan, on coast of the Caspian Sea, will host the 3rd International Turkmenistan Gas Congress - TGC 2012, 23-24 May 2012. The organizers of the congress are National Gas Company of Turkmenistan TurkmenGas, Chamber of Commerce of Turkmenistan, and Summit Trade Events (London).
TGC 2012 will be attended by about 500 delegates from 150 companies and organizations from 32 countries worldwide. Among the participants of the Congress are senior management, specialists of the Turkmenistan Oil & Gas industry, foreign VIP guests, diplomats accredited in Turkmenistan, and representatives of local and foreign press. 36 foreign specialized publications will provide information support for the event.
Among the participants are 45 speakers and 50 dignitaries from foreign ministries and national companies. Among them are the representatives of the European Commission, U.S. Department of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Korea, Ministry of Economy and Knowledge of the Republic of Korea, the Russian Ministry of Energy, Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, and representatives from national oil companies from Azerbaijan, China, Iran, Russia, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The extensive program of the Congress will address the current issues of development of gas industry of Turkmenistan and the opportunities for investment in the sector.
Organising committee
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