ABU DHABI Terminals (ADT) at Mina Zayed port has posted a 47 per cent increase 2011 container volume year on year to 767,713 TEU, reports Dubai's Gulf News.
"In five years we have more than tripled volumes, from 250,000 TEU in 2006 to more than 767,000 TEU last year. Growth has been impressive, but the most exciting years are ahead as we work on the opening of the new container terminal at Khalifa Port," said ADT chief executive Martijn Van De Linde.
"When this opens in the fourth quarter of 2012 it will be the region's first semi-automated container terminal," he said.
ADT manages and operates the three leading ports in Abu Dhabi: Mina Zayed, the main gateway for cargo in Abu Dhabi; Mina Freeport that caters to smaller vessels, tugs and barges and Mina Musaffah in the industrial area.
Diversified services include a container terminal, container freight station, warehousing, cold store and a general cargo terminal.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
PREVENTING pirate ransom money from being invested is like refusing to pay ransoms, thus making seafarers less willing to put to sea along the world's busiest trade lane that needs them so badly, argues Rhys Clift, marine insurance partner with the London law firm, Hill Dickinson.
"Who would wish to go to sea if ransom for detainment at sea were to be prohibited, or if shipowners and operators were threatened with prosecution? Few, one imagines. And if they did, one can imagine the consequences," warned Mr Clift, who was short listed as Lloyd's List 2009 Lawyer of the Year. .
"It is a short step from tracking the illicit funds to prohibiting the payment of ransoms. Realistically there is no real, safe alternative to the payment of ransom and indeed such payments have been made for decades. Is maritime piracy to be the exception? And if so why?" he said.
An estimated 2,700 seafarers have been held by pirates off Somalia or in the Indian Ocean, 70 per cent of whom vowed not to go back to sea. "One would think that the percentage of those willing to go back to sea will decline as the average duration of detention lengthens and the risk of physical abuse increases," Mr Clift said in an article posted on his firm's website.
"This is the major hidden cost of piracy, and many in the industry are utterly baffled that the appalling plight of seafarers on the one hand is relatively invisible in the press in contrast say to the plight of the Chilean miners trapped underground, which featured daily at the top of news bulletins until their release," he said.
"Contrast their experience with the seafarers. They were not held in terror for months, in fear for their lives, their families were not to suffer the psychological ordeal of wondering if their father, their husband or brother would be killed or injured on whim," Mr Clift said.
International naval patrols of the Internationally Recognised Transit Corridor and the increasing deployment of "best management practices" have reduced the success of pirate attacks, he said.
"This much seems to be borne out by information on takings since last August. There also appears to be an emerging consensus that certain vessels should engage armed guards. No vessel with armed guards has been taken, it is said - a fairly compelling statistic," he said.
"Some vessels will still be taken. Navies simply cannot police the entire area. What then of vessels that are taken, and most particularly their officers and crew? How should they be recovered? Special forces have demonstrated courage and willingness to engage, but the catalogue of casualties is there to see," he said.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
AFTER 15 years of study, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has released final documents supporting the Savannah Harbour Expansion Project (SHEP).
"The study released today clearly shows that deepening the Savannah port will produce powerful economic benefits to the nation and to Georgia," said Georgia Governor Nathan Deal in a statement issued by port authorities.
Dredging of the river has been fraught with controversy with environmentalists and partisan interests backing the rival Port of Charleston, South Carolina, working jointly and severally to thwart the plan.
At first South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley opposed it, backing her state environmental regulator's opposition, but objections dissolved after a lunch with Georgia Governor Deal. Angry South Carolina state legislators, either fearful for the fate of the fish or the diminished prospects of the Port of Charleston, passed a bill to stop the dredging, but Governor Haley vetoed it.
Environmentalists say they oppose the scheme because the 38-mile line of dredging would deplete the river's dissolved oxygen needed by shortnose sturgeon as well as devastating hundreds of acres of swamp. But many opponents of the dredging want it done in Charleston to make their own port more competitive.
In the studies released by the Army Corps, the Savannah project is estimated to cost US$652 million and will provide $174 million in annual net benefits to the United States. For every dollar spent on infrastructure improvement, US$5.5 will be returned in benefits to the nation, the Corps' studies showed.
The Corps announced that the SHEP will increase the depth of the Savannah River by an additional five feet to 47 at low water. "We all know how critical this extra depth is to the ability of our nation to move cargo efficiently," said Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) executive director Curtis Foltz.
"The depth, along with an average seven-foot tide, strikes the right balance between the needs of our industry and the environment of the Savannah River. Nearly 40 per cent of the project cost is dedicated to environmental mitigation, preservation of cultural resources or the improvements to river access for the public."
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
THE Canadian National Railway has announced a steel-wheel interchange with CSX at Chicago which will give container imports moving over CN's network from Vancouver and Prince Rupert efficient access to Ohio Valley markets.
"Our new interchange service will give CN's customers efficient and cost-effective access to CSX's new Northwest Ohio Terminal and to the important markets of Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Louisville," said CN vice president Jean-Jacques Ruest.
Before this, CN and CSX exchanged container traffic in Chicago by truck, instead of directly at railyard facilities.
"Together, our interchange agreements with CSX and Norfolk Southern [NS] for container traffic moving over the Chicago gateway to northeast US markets underscore CN's commitment to improving the efficiency of supply chains," Mr Ruest said.
CN spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Alabama as well as Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Green Bay, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Memphis and Jackson, Mississippi.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
MUMBAI's Jawaharlal Nehru (JN) Port, made up of three units, one run by the state-owned port, another by DP World and the third by an APM Terminals and the Container Corp of India, ended a collective fiscal year with the best performance in five years.
Collectively, the facility is India's biggest container port and in the last fiscal year handled 1.17 per cent more containers to 4.32 million TEU year on year, reported India's Live Mint-Wall Street Journal.
The state-run unit handled 1.03 million TEU, up 17.3 per cent while at DP World's Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal, volume fell 8.8 per cent to 1.4 million TEU. At the APM T-Concor operation Gateway Terminals India run by the APMT-Concor, volume upticked 1.5 per cent to 1.89 million TEU year on year.
To boost productivity, the port management replaced three older cranes in June-July 2011 with new ones out of the eight in operation. This facility will replace four more of its older cranes that have been in operation for 20 years.
"We have placed orders for four more new cranes," said JN port operations chief SN Maharana. "These four new cranes will be installed in November-December this year and will further boost the capacity of our terminal."
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
STATE-RUN Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) plans to spend US$4.3 billion to accommodate rising South African container volumes expected over the next seven years, reports London's Port Technology International.
TPT's parent, Transnet Group, will spend $39.1 million in port and rail capital projects. Investments are part of the Transnet Market Demand Strategy (MDS) recently announced by South African President Jacob Zuma in his State of the Nation Address.
Seventy-one per cent of the TPT funding in the seven-year investment pipeline will be go on expansion projects, creating capacity to meet projected demand, said the report.
The remaining 29 per cent will go towards capital sustaining projects aimed at achieving operating norms and upholding service delivery, including the replacement of old gear and refurbishing existing equipment.
"These investments in South Africa's commercial port operations will continue to provide a springboard for growth," said TPT chief executive Karl Socikwa.
"We will implement specific initiatives to grow volumes and use capacity as it comes on stream, while improving operational efficiencies and growing personnel, thus ensuring the success of the Market Demand Strategy," Mr Socikwa said.
The main projects included the expansion of the Durban Container Terminal Pier 1, which will increase the capacity of the terminal from 700,000 TEU to 820,000 TEU by next year and eventually 1.2 million TEU by 2016-17.
In addition the North Quay at Durban Container Terminal Pier 2 will be extended to increase capacity from 2.1 million TEU in 2011-12 to 2.5 million TEU by 2013-14 and 3.3 million TEU by 2017-18.
Container capacity is also being created in other terminals such as the Durban ro-ro and Maydon Wharf Terminal through the acquisition of new equipment, including mobile cranes, and various infrastructure upgrades. Capacity of the Ngqura Container Terminal will also be increased to two million TEU by 2018-19.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
CANADA's west coast province of British Columbia needs C$25 billion (US$25.01 billion) invested on transport infrastructure to meet increased demand on provincial ports expected by 2020, reports The Canadian Press.
BC Premier Christy Clarke said that C$24 billion will come from the private sector, with the province contributing C$1 billion, some C$300 million of which had already gone to the Prince Rupert Road Rail Utility Corridor with the remaining C$700 million going to increase capacity on provincial highways over the next five years, she said.
The $24 billion Ms Clark hopes the private sector will spend includes C$18 billion in pipeline and plant investment to support the development of the liquefied natural gas sector, C$2.8 billion by the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways to improve capacity on their main lines, C$3.8 billion to increase container terminal capacity at provincial ports, between C$300 million and C$1.1 billion to expand coal terminal capacity in Vancouver and Prince Rupert, up to C$60 million to expand metal and mineral terminal capacity in northwestern BC and Vancouver and up to C$700 million to develop potash terminal capacity.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
BOSTON based American Feeder Lines has received a C$500,000 (US$500,279) loan guarantee from the Canadian east coast province of Nova Scotia to help it move containers between Halifax to New England ports of Portland, Maine and Boston, Massachusetts.
"Strong transportation links are the key for exporting our products to international markets, and for economic growth," said Nova Scotia Economic and Rural Development and Tourism Minister Percy Paris.
"This investment will create good jobs and help to make Nova Scotia businesses more competitive," he said.
The province said the investment will support up to 40 local jobs and will strengthen the Port of Halifax's position as a gateway for some 240,000 containers destined for New England, which now move by truck or rail through other ports, reported Canada's Truck News.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
HONG KONG's Cathay Pacific Airways and its unit Dragonair carried 144,140 tonnes of cargo and mail in March, down 10.7 per cent year on year, said the company statement.
March cargo and mail load factor declined 2.7 percentage points to 68.3 per cent. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, shrank 2.9 per cent, while cargo and mail tonne kilometres flown dropped 6.7 per cent. For the first quarter, tonnage has declined 10.5 per cent while capacity is down by 2.1 per cent.
Cathay Pacific general manager cargo sales and marketing James Woodrow said: "March was the strongest month of the year so far for our cargo business. This was thanks to large shipments of hi-tech consumer products from China to key markets around the world combined with capacity reductions by both Cathay Pacific and our competitors. However, the general market for air freight remains soft, particularly into Europe. There is poor visibility looking forward and little sign of any sustained pick-up in demand. We expect business to be weaker in April and we will continue to reduce capacity as necessary."
But both airlines carried more than 2.3 million passengers in March, up 10.6 per cent year on year, while the passenger load factor rose 2.5 percentage points to 79.4 per cent. Capacity for the month, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), raised 8.2 per cent. For the first quarter of this year, passenger numbers have grown 9.0 per cent compared to a capacity increase of 8.6 per cent.
Cathay Pacific general manager revenue management James Tong said: "Passenger volumes were generally robust in March, though year-on-year comparisons are distorted somewhat by the negative impact of last year's earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The big issue at the moment is the accelerating yield decline in both the Economy and premium cabins, resulting from a combination of the continuing economic uncertainty and competitive pressure."
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
CHINA Southern Airlines has opened a regular flights connecting Guiyang, the capital of southwestern Guizhou province, to Bangkok, reports Xinhua.
The route with daily round-trip flight is serviced by the Boeing 737-800. Flight number CZ3081 takes off from Guiyang at 0950hrs every day, stops in Guangzhou and lands in Bangkok at 1430hrs local time. The return flight CZ3082 departs from Bangkok at 1530 hrs local time and arrives in Guiyang at 1030 hrs after stopping in Guangzhou.
Previous flights between the cities were irregular charter flights arranged by travel agencies, and often took off at midnight.
The airline is also planning to open international flights from Guiyang to South Korea and Japan, and to launch two services from Guiyang to Qingdao and Changchun in June.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
HONG KONG's major ground handler, Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl), has completed the final phase of its HK$240 million (US$31 million) COSAC-Plus Cargo Management System, marking the end of a three-year implementation process.
The last 26 of the 91 airline customers handled by Hactl transferred to the new system on April 9 following the completion of three previous phases.
The system launched in 1976 at Hong Kong's former international airport, Kai Tak. Thirty-six years later COSAC-Plus is multilingual and comes with a full web interface, online help and personalisation capability. It handles images for the first time, and has comprehensive cargo tracking features.
"COSAC-Plus takes the previous system's excellent features and total reliability to a new level," said Jardine Airport Services cargo chief Victor Lai. "It is easier to use and its many new features, such as storing photos enables us to provide a better service and work more efficiently."
COSAC-Plus will always be a work in progress, with ever-changing regulations and customer needs, the system must continue to evolve as it has done since Hactl was launched in 1976, said Hactl general manager Cindy Ng.
"When you handle three million tonnes of cargo a year for over 90 airlines and 1,000 freight forwarders, failure is not an option," said Ms Ng. "We are particularly grateful to our 140-strong development workforce from HACTL Solutions Limited for their hard work throughout the project."
Hactl, the world's largest single independent cargo handling facility, has more than doubled tonnage in the 13 years since it moved to SuperTerminal 1, with an all-time record throughput of 2.9 million tonnes in 2010.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
FEDEX Express will enhance its capacity on its northern Europe network with the addition of four Boeing 757 freighters on its next-business day service to eight major European airports.
"The introduction of these aircraft offers customers more time to prepare packages and get them to their destinations in the fastest time possible," said FedEx UK managing director Will Martin.
Extra capacity, allowing heavier freight shipments of 68 - 1,000 kilogrammes, will enable door-to-door service between the US east coast for the first time and Sweden, Finland and Norway, reported London's International Freighting Weekly. This will allows FedEx to cut two slower feeder services and retire aging aircraft, including an Airbus A300.
The introduction of the new aircraft also allows FedEx Express to axe two slower feeder services operated by smaller regional aircraft, as well as an A300, as part of the ongoing process of modernising its fleet, said Mr Martin.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
AIRBRIDGECARGO Airlines (ABC), Russia's biggest cargo carrier, has been listed in the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) register after successfully completing an audit.
The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) is an internationally accepted evaluation system designed to assess the management and control systems. Standard IOSA contains requirements for the organisation of an airline's operating process, which allows each company to reach and sustain essential levels of safety and quality. The audit itself consisted of three stages: preparation, audit and rectifying of deficiencies.
The scope of work necessary to comply with the IOSA standard required the involvement of all departments in the company because most areas of the operating process had to be checked, including the management system, quality monitoring and control, flight performance, operating control, flight preparation, maintenance and ground handling, cargo transport and safety, a company statement said.
"This certificate is a further demonstration to our customers of AirBridgeCargo's growth, safety standards and quality level," said ABC president Tatyana Arslanova.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
Riga. Latvian airline airBaltic carried 217,670 passengers in March 2012, representing 7% decrease comparing with the same month in 2011, when airBaltic transported 233,033 passengers.
During the three months of 2012, airBaltic transported a total of 589,112 passengers, or 2% less than during the same period in 2011, when the total number of passengers was 599,078.
In March, airBaltic operated 3,746 flights, or 14% less than in March 2011 when airBaltic operated 4,334 flights.
The airline’s load factor, which represents the number of passengers as a proportion of the number of available seats, in March 2012 was at a level of 74% - or 3 percentage points more than in March 2011. The airline achieved a 6 percentage point improvement of load factor to 70% for the first quarter of 2012, compared to the first quarter in 2011.
The 15-minute flight punctuality indicator for airBaltic was at a level of 95.3% in March 2012. This means that 95 of every 100 airBaltic flights in March departed at the planned time or with a delay of no more than 15 minutes.
Source A/S Air Baltic Corporation
CA-NEWS (KZ) - Annual Kazakh-American consultations within the Kazakh-American Strategic Partnership Commission (SPC) were held in Washington on April 9-11, the press service of the Kazakh Embassy in the United States said.
Kazakh delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Umarov, the U.S. delegation - by United States Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake.
The forum was attended by representatives of Kazakh and U.S. companies under the "Road Show", organized by the National Agency for Export and Investment "Kaznex Invest" and Ministry of Industry and Trade of Kazakhstan. The American side had representatives of the largest companies in the fields of engineering, chemical and defense industries, aerospace, pharmaceuticals and informational technology.
The main purpose of the "Road Show" was the presentation of investment opportunities in non-primary sector of Kazakhstan and to promote industrial and innovative development by establishing direct contacts between business communities of both countries.
Kairat Umarov and Robert Blake encouraged businesses of both countries to actively cooperate and work together to promote economic and innovative potential of Kazakhstan.
After Washington, the Kazakh business delegation held "Road Show" in New York, as well as business meetings in Chicago and California.
Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Human Rights, Democracy and Labor Michael Posner noted positive developments in Kazakhstan in recent years. For example, Kazakh Government implements the Kazakh National Action Plan for Human Rights for 2009 to 2012 with the participation of civil society. Also, the country held the OSCE Chairmanship and conducted the Astana Summit in December 2010. Official Washington has expressed the desire to continue joint cooperation with Kazakhstan in the field of democracy.
Umarov also held separate meetings with seniors of White House, Ministers of Energy and Defense and the Office of U.S. Trade Representative, Kazinform agency reported.
central asian news service
http://en.ca-news.org/news:468131/
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