THE number of incidents of piracy at sea has increased in the first quarter in West African waters off Nigeria and Benin to equal all attacks in the region combined last year, reports the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
Of the 102 incidents reported, 45 vessels were boarded, 32 attempted attacks and 14 vessels fired on by either Somali or Nigerian pirates, reports American Shipper. Eleven vessels were hijacked and 212 crew taken hostage with four killed in an area extending its range by 70 nautical miles from the coast suggesting the ploy of fishing vessels as motherships.
Although the number of incidents in Nigeria are fewer than off Somalia, and hostage time is measured in days, not months, violence levels are "dangerously high", said IMB Piracy Reporting Centre director Pottengal Mukundan.
Other areas of incidence include those in the Indonesian archipelago, which have more than tripled in the first quarter 2012 to 18 from five in the same period 2011.
But Somali piracy by volume remains the biggest problem even though down by half of 2011 levels at 43 attacks, in which nine vessels were hijacked and 144 crew taken hostage.
The overall reduction in Somali waters is credited to the efforts of international navies patrolling the area, which has disrupted pirate action groups, said the reporting centre.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
THE developers of a C$350 million (US$350.6 million) deepwater container terminal in the Nova Scotia's Strait of Canso say construction will start this year, reports the Cape Breton Post.
Richie Mann, vice-president of marketing for Melford International Terminal, said funding for the project has been secured. "We have a desire to get construction going as soon as possible. We will not do that until we have all of the elements in place, and that includes cargo commitment," he said.
Mr Mann said a freight customer base must be developed prior to terminal construction.
In July 2010, Maher Terminals announced it would be taking an unspecified stake in the terminal on the Canadian east coast, which will cover 315 acres and include an intermodal on-dock rail facility and a 1,500-acre logistics park on the mainland side of the strait.
Mr Mann said the terminal is expected to take up to 26 months to build, with operations to begin in 2014-15.
Melford developers must first build a public loop road around the terminal site that will connect Route 344 to each side of the terminal. Melford will take ownership of an existing section of road that will become redundant, while the deed to the new road will be given to Nova Scotia province.
The terminal is expected to employ up to 80 per shift not including customs and security guards, associated trucking and construction jobs, as well as jobs associated with the development of a proposed logistics park.
Mr Mann also expected the construction of the terminal would require an upgrade of the nearby railway facilities.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
THE Omani government has awarded a contract worth OMR55 million (US$143 million) to an unnamed party to build a general cargo terminal, along with a liquid jetty in Salalah Port, Oman News Agency reports.
Other projects in the 30-year master plan include the expansion of the container terminal to increase capacity to 40 million TEU. There are also plans to boost the port's handling capacity to 40 million tons of dry bulk commodities and five million tons of liquid products annually.
Transport Minister Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Futaisi pointed out that initial studies are currently underway for the number 7, 8 and 9 terminals in a bid to increase the capacity of the port from five million to more than seven million TEU.
Dr al-Futaisi also said that the project is important to bulk industries in the Free Zone in Salalah and for the import and export through the general cargo terminal in Salalah port.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
CARGOTEC has confirmed a contract worth EUR10 million (US$13.1 million) from a Chinese shipyard to deliver twenty 120-tonne MacGregor GLH cargo handling cranes for 10 general cargo vessels during 2012 and 2013.
The company said the order is booked in the first quarter of 2012. "MacGregor cranes offer efficient and reliable cargo handling solutions to our customers," said Svante Lundberg, sales manager for cargo cranes at Cargotec.
Cargotec's daughter brands, Hiab, Kalmar and MacGregor are recognised leaders in cargo and load handling solutions around the world. The company's sales totalled EUR3.1 billion in 2011 and it employs 11,000 people worldwide.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
UST-Luga Container Terminal (ULCT) in north-west Russia and part of the National Container Company (NCC group), which is being built in three phases and due to be completed in 2025, has started operating its rail infrastructure this month to handle containers to and from Luzhskaya railway station.
With the inception of the rail facility, ULCT has the capability to dispatch up to 30 per cent of container traffic by railroad. In addition, customers can benefit from the rail access and competitive rates available at the facility.
ULCT's railway infrastructure includes four rail tracks of 525 metres each (25 railcars) under 2 RMG.
NCC Logistics, the rail operator of NCC group, now offers shuttle train services between ULCT, Luzhskaya station, and Moscow; and between ULCT, Luzhskaya station, and Logistika-Terminal, St Petersburg.
The first phase of ULCT was completed last month and has an annual capacity of 440,000 TEU. It will have a maximum capacity of 2.85 million TEU when the entire project is completed in 2025. NCC and Eurogate, Europe's leading container terminal and logistics group, manage ULCT.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
SINGAPORE's Changi Airport handled 163,000 tonnes of cargo in March, a decrease of 1.8 per cent year on year, according to airport statistics.
Despite a slight dip in cargo movements to and from Europe and south Asia, cargo movements at Changi during the first three months of the year remained stable buoyed by an increase in movements to and from south west Pacific and south east Asia. About 443,900 tonnes of cargo passed through Changi during the period, an increase of 0.6 per cent.
Last month, Singapore's airport managed 4.28 million passenger movements, representing the highest number of passengers ever handled at Changi March. Passenger traffic for the month increased 15.3 per cent year on year, in tandem with the increase in aircraft movements, which grew 10.6 per cent to 27,000.
In the first three months of this year, Changi recorded 12.3 million passenger movements, an increase of 12.9 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2011. Traffic growth was underpinned by strong travel demand to and from Europe, Middle East, south Asia, north east Asia and south east Asia, regions that saw double-digit growth.
Changi Airport handled 79,500 aircraft movements from January to March this year, up 12.9 per cent year on year.
As of April 1, Changi Airport served 100 airlines operating 6,200 weekly flights connecting Singapore to 220 destinations in 60 countries.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
AUSTRALIA's Qantas Airways has inaugurated a new all-cargo service from Sydney to Chongqing, Shanghai-Pudong, Chicago, New York and back to Sydney.
This is Chongqing airport's first cargo service from Chongqing to US and Australia, its 14th scheduled international cargo service, according Xinhua.
The new service offers one flight per week on Saturday, using Boeing 747-400 freighter, arriving at Chongqing at 0015 hrs and leaving at 0220 hrs.
Launch of the service enables directing shipping of made-in-Chongqing laptops to the US and Australia. By the end of the year, Chongqing airport's international cargo throughput will top 100,000 tonnes.
Chongqing is operating 14 international cargo services to Luxembourg, Moscow, Amsterdam, Kolkata, Singapore, Frankfurt, New Delhi, Krasnoyarsk, Sydney, New York, Hong Kong and Taiwan. There are more than 30 cargo flight take-offs and landings at Chongqing airport.
In the future, a number carriers are still to launch cargo services at Chongqing, including Hong Kong Airlines' service via Hong Kong to south east Asia, Cargolux and Airbridge Cargo's services to Europe and Evergreen International Airlines' service to the US.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
TWO US Air Force fighters are taking part in the joint multi-disciplined Exercise Arctic Fencing Interagency (AFI) Arrow 12 near Alaska's Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
Participating agencies include the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defence Region (ANR), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport police and fire departments, as well as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Anchorage Police and Alaska State Troopers. Northern Air Cargo (NAC) provides the cargo flight in the exercise.
The scenario-based exercise will include the live escort of a cargo aircraft by two fighter aircraft deployed to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) into TSAIA. Additionally, emergency response apparatus and personnel will be on scene at the NAC ramp.
The exercise is designed to hone Ant's intercept and identification operations and handoff procedures of a "track of interest" to state and federal law enforcement/emergency response personnel and their ability to conduct response procedures to an on-board threat.
As part of the exercise, the cargo aircraft will be identified as a track of interest. ANR will then scramble the fighters. After the track of interest is escorted to a landing at TSAIA, the scenario shifts to the terminal at the NAC side of the airport ramp, where law enforcement/emergency response personnel will respond to the situation and conduct the necessary procedures to resolve the threat.
This is the second Exercise AFI-Arrow. The first, in May 2010, involved an Air Force KC-135 as the track of interest and FBI and the Federal Air Marshal Service - who responded to the on-board threat while the aircraft was airborne - conducting response operations at JBER.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
FEDEX, a global leader in air cargo, has condemned the application US Federal Aviation Administration rules to enforce rest for pilots flying cargo aircraft, reports Washington, DC's newspaper, The Hill.
"The proposed legislation attempts to implement a 'one size fits all' approach to fatigue mitigation; an approach that the administration's own analysis determined was not practical," the FedEx statement said.
"The FAA recognised that fact when it wisely introduced the Fatigue Risk Management System, allowing carriers and pilots to develop customised plans together to achieve the best possible alertness results," the company said.
FedEx claimed it was already "the industry leader in fatigue mitigation because we have worked with our pilots and recognised experts to mitigate fatigue for many years. We will continue to incorporate the best scientific findings in the area of fatigue into our scheduling systems," said the company.
But Minnesota Republican Congressman Chip Cravaack and New York Democratic Congressman Tim Bishop have introduced legislation to address a gap in new fatigue rules announced by the FAA last year in response to a Continental Airlines 2009 cargo plane crash in Buffalo, New York.
The FAA responded last year with new rules that require airlines to allow their pilots to get at least 10 hours off-duty between flight schedules, which would give them a chance for eight hours sleep before the next take off.
Disagreeing with FedEx, the congressmen said it was important to have one set of rules for the national aviation system.
Said Congressman Cravaack: "As a former cargo pilot, I understand the importance of a single standard of safety for pilots who share the same airspace and runways with passenger aircraft. I introduced the Safe Skies Act to apply the new, common sense standard for pilot rest to cargo pilots as well."
Federal accident inspectors blamed the 2009 crash on pilot fatigue, and the families of victims of the crash have lobbied ever since to tighten regulation of the aviation industry.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
SOUTH KOREA's air cargo volumes were down 1.9 per cent to 17,000 tons year on year in the first quarter, a decline attributed to sagging exports of information technology products.
The 2.9 per cent first quarter in international air cargo was also the result of Korean companies outsourcing the manufacture of mobile phones and televisions overseas, reported Yonhap News Agency. Domestic air cargo plummeted 9.6 per cent at 74,000 tons.
Demand for air cargo is likely to remain uncertain because of high fuel costs, currency violability and continuing economic uncertainty in the EU and China, said the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.
Cargo declines were down starkly against overseas passenger flights which set a new record up 12.3 per cent in the first three months to nearly 11.4 million passengers.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
The second meeting on the preparations for the International conference on The Prospects of Developing Transport and Transit Traffic in the Caspian Region and Central Asia to be held in Ashgabat on May 16, 2012 took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. The meeting was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Motor Transport of Turkmenistan jointly with the International Road Transport Union (IRU), reported the State News Agency of Turkmenistan (TDH).
The heads of the diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited in the country took part in the meeting.
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who underlined the importance of developing the transport communications with the aim to stir up the economic and trading relations in the regional and continental scale, and reaffirmed the invariable aspiration of neutral Turkmenistan to make a significant contribution to ensure the uninterrupted transport and transit traffic between the countries of the region speaking at the 66th session of the UN General Assembly, put forward an initiative of organizing the conference.
Within the framework of the National Programme on developing the national economy, a number of large-scale projects are implemented in Turkmenistan in order to optimize the traffic flow in Eurasia. Jointly with the countries of the region and the relevant structures of the UN and OSCE, Turkmenistan actively develops such prospective transport corridors as North-South and East-West that will become a bridge of cooperation and development of the trading and economic relations between the countries of the Eurasian continent.
In this regard the meeting participants underlined the urgency of the forthcoming conference in order to develop an optimal solution of the problems in the interest of peoples of the region and the whole world as well. It was also noted that the conference in Ashgabat would become the first practical step in implementation of the constructive initiatives of Turkmenistan in development of the UN Special Programme on developing the transit and transport potential between the Caspian and Black Seas, Middle Asia and Middle East.
The meeting participants exchanged their views on a number of aspects of the forthcoming forum discussing the conference agenda and a number of organizational issues.
Central Asian News Service, en.ca-news.org
2012-04-26
The quay wall of Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG), one of the first clients on Maasvlakte 2, is now protected against propeller wash when container giants moor. Very traditional Dutch fascine mats of willow branches were woven together for this purpose in March. These fascine mats protect the bed and quay walls of the port basin. The mats prevent the propeller wash from shifting sand adversely over the bed.
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
The Van Aalsburg company wove seven fascine mats for the first quay wall on Maasvlakte 2. Measuring from 200 to 300 metres long, the willow mats each cover an area of about 5,000 m2. This method of protecting the bed has a long proven track record. For more than 100 years, these kinds of mats have protected banks and beds against erosion by water.
The use of natural materials means this method is environment-friendly. It takes two days to produce a mat, while sinking it costs another half
a day. Tugboats bring the mats to their location along the quay. Weighed down by stones, the mats are then sunk to the bottom of the port basin. Winches ensure that the mats land on the right spot.
Source Port of Rotterdam Authority
2012-04-26
Uzbekistan Havo Yollari, a national airline of Uzbekistan, (Uzbekistan Airways) became laureate of award of non-commercial partnership “Flight Safety Foundation International” in nomination “For achievement in ensuring flight security”.
The Uzbek airline said it received award for targeted and effective work on ensuring flight security based on modern technologies and methods of organization, which helped it to avoid accidents for a long time.
Uzbekistan Havo Yollari said that the awarding ceremony will be held in Moscow, Russia, on 15 May 2012.
Flight Safety Foundation International was founded in 1999 by the airlines of Russia and the CIS states. The foundation’s main aim is to prevent accidents and improve security of flights in civil aviations.
Central Asian News Service, en.ca-news.org
The Finnair Plus program turns 20 years this year and to celebrate, Finnair is launching Lifetime tiers for its most loyal customers. Frequent customers who have reached Finnair Plus Lifetime Gold or Platinum tier membership can now enjoy Finnair Plus tier benefits that never expire.
When a customer reaches a Finnair Plus Lifetime tier, the tier locks in, leaving the benefits permanent. To reach the Finnair Plus Lifetime Gold tier, passengers need to accrue 3,000,000 Lifetime tier points, and for the Finnair Plus Lifetime Platinum, 5,000,000 Lifetime tier points. Every flight taken with Finnair or other oneworld airlines is counted toward the total amount of Lifetime tier points. All tier points accrued since joining Finnair Plus are counted toward Lifetime tier points. Customers can check the status of their tier and award points on the Finnair Plus website.
“To celebrate the 20 year anniversary of Finnair Plus, we wanted to bring new elements to the program,” says Mikko Tuomainen, Head of Loyalty Programs. “Adding the Lifetime Gold and Platinum tiers seemed like a good way to give thanks to our most loyal customers.”
More information on Finnair Plus 20th anniversary special benefits to frequent flyers can be found from www.finnair.fi/plus.
Source Finnair Plc
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) presented this morning the findings of a special report on the use of Structural and Cohesion Funds for transport infrastructure in seaports. The report covers the period 2000-2006 and looks at 27 projects in France, Spain, Italy and Greece. Together, these projects represent 85% of the total Structural and Cohesion budget that was spent on port infrastructure in that period.
The Court came to the conclusion that only 11 out of the 27 projects were effective in supporting transport policy objectives. In addition, some constructions had not been completed, some were not in use and others will need considerable further investment before they can be put into effective use. The Court also concluded that none of the audited regions and countries had a long-term port development plan in place and no needs assessment had been carried out. Furthermore, administrative procedures in the Member States concerned were found to be long and burdensome, sometimes leading to delays and additional expenditure. On the other hand, little consideration was given to the monitoring and supervision of project results. This resulted in some cases in empty ports and unused port infrastructure. The Court also blamed the Commission for not remedying project weaknesses and for not providing adequate guidance on sound financial management in spending.
“The report illustrates why it is necessary to bring at least part of the Cohesion Fund budget for transport under the control of the Connecting Europe Facility”, said ESPO Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven in a reaction, “This will help ensuring that priorities under the Trans-European Transport Networks are effectively met. We also believe the Commission should develop a transparent methodology to prove the EU value-added of funding, in terms of transport efficiency, sustainability and/or cohesion.”
Luc T’Joen, the leader of the team that carried out the performance audits, will present the findings of the report at the forthcoming ESPO Conference. The report itself is available in all EU languages from the website of the Court.
ESPO
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