HONG KONG listed Cosco Pacific, the Cosco group's terminal operating, container making and leasing company, posted a year-on-year 7.6 per cent net profit increase to US$3.88 million in 2011 drawn on a 34.2 revenue increase to $599.15 million.

Profit from the terminal handling business increased 54 per cent to $184.89 million while container leasing brought in 20.9 per cent more profit year on year to $116.5 million, the company announced in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Profit from container manufacturing was up 30.4 per cent to $91.8 million in the same period.

In 2011, throughput at company terminals increased 15.1 per cent year on year reaching 50,695,897 TEU, the company said, adding that the group's acquisition of 10 per cent more equity interest in the Shenzhen Yantian Terminal the year before also increased profit growth.

"In addition, Piraeus Terminal in Greece and Guangzhou South China Oceangate Terminal, which returned to profitability in September 2010 and the first half of 2011 respectively, showed strong performance during the year, boosting the overall profit from the terminal business," said the company.

In container leasing, management and sale businesses, profits of US$116.5 million were recorded in 2011, a 20.9 per cent year-on-year increase. The container fleet stood at 1,777,792 TEU at the end of the year, an 8.9 per cent increase over 2010.

For its unit, China International Marine Containers (CIMC), after the rapid growth of sales in dry cargo containers and persistently high container prices in the first half of 2011, demand for containers slowed in the second half.

Cosco Pacific's profit attributable from CIMC was US$119.7 million, an increase of 30.4 per cent year on year.

"Revenue was primarily derived from the terminal business and container leasing, management and sale businesses. In 2011, total revenue from the terminal business rose 65.3 per cent, which was mainly attributable to the reclassification of Guangzhou South China Oceangate Terminal, resulting in an increase in total terminal revenue in 2011. Throughput of Guangzhou South China Oceangate Terminal was 3,914,348 TEU, recording revenues of $94,889,000 for the year. In addition, throughput of the Piraeus Terminal in Greece rose to 1,188,148 TEU (2010: 684,881 TEU) in 2011, contributing revenues of $101,420,000 (2010: US$83,303,000) to the group during the year," said the company statement.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

MITSUI OSK Lines (MOL) is expanding its network coverage on the Asia-South Africa trade lane by joining a service operated by two other carriers on the route, and by adding a new port of call to one of its own services.

The Japanese shipping line said it will participate in the existing Asia and South Africa Service (ASA) operated by "K" Line (Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha) and PIL (Pacific International Lines), starting from April 8.

The ASA service links central and south China, Taiwan, south east Asia and South Africa on a 56-day rotation.

MOL said in a statement that by joining the ASA it will be able to offer a weekly service. It will provide one of the eight ships, the MOL Delight, deployed on the service.

The port rotation for the ASA is Shanghai, Ningbo, Keelung, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Shekou, Singapore, Port Kelang, Durban, Cape Town, Port Kelang, Singapore, Hong Kong and back to Shanghai.

In a related development, MOL said it will expand the network coverage of its Mozambique Express service (MZX) by adding a fortnightly port of call in Nacala during May and June. Nacala is one of the largest ports in the north of Mozambique.

The revised port rotation for the MZX service is Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Port Louis, Durban, Maputo, Tamatave/Nacala (on an alternative weekly basis), returning to Tanjung Pelepas for a total rotation of 35 days.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

GENEVA-based Mediterranean Shipping Company has received the final in a series of five ships ordered in October 2007 from Korean's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) to be deployed on its Asia-Europe Silk Service (FAL 6) along with the MSC Aurora delivered a few weeks ago.

The 13,050-TEU MSC Vandya charter is backed by Hamburg-based shipowner Reederei Claus Peter Offen and is to replace 8,400- to 9,200-TEU ships on this service.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

STRIKE-BOUND Ports of Auckland (PoA) remains determined to lock out the 300 unionised dockers it thought it had fired, but faced with a court ruling that the men had not been legally terminated, the municipal port authority will now pay them until the scheduled April 6 lockout begins.

The Employment Court judge also ordered the PoA not to "encourage or entice" redundant dockers to seek employment with outside contractors, who have already hired more than 50 men to replace the "sacked" union workers.

PoA lawyers announced in the Employment Court that all dockers, who would have worked "guaranteed shifts" under the old contract, would be paid until the lockout of unionised workers begins.

PoA and Maritime Union of New Zealand return to court on Friday to determine the legality of the lockout.

Cracks have appeared in importers' supply chains with one major store announcing shortages. The Warehouse placed ads in local papers, apologising for running out of Lego Friends toys, but the shortage was attributed to "exceptional" sales of the item, and in most cases importers were meeting demand.

Yet the Importers Institute said more shortages would be inevitable if the disruption continued. The New Zealand Retailers Association said most of its members were unaffected by the strike, but distribution centres were running low.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

APM TERMINALS has announced it is bullish on high-growth East African markets and is planning investments in new terminal and inland services for the region, with its sights mainly set on Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

To emphasise that East Africa is a new direction for expansion of the company's global port, terminal and inland services, APM Terminals, a unit of Denmark's AP Moller group, held its annual Africa-Middle East Region's leadership meeting in Mombasa.

"There are great business and growth opportunities in East Africa and this is not new territory for APM Terminals," said Peder Sondergaard, CEO for the Africa-Middle East region, who noted that Logistics Container Centre Mombasa (LCCM), part of APM Terminals' inland services, has been in operation since 1997.

Mr Sondergaard and other senior officials including CEO Kim Fejfer recently visited Kenya and met with Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga and Trade Minister Amos Kimunya for talks, as well as meetings with local business and industry leaders in Mombasa and Nairobi Kenya's capital.

"We are very interested in participating in and contributing to the high-growth potential of the Ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, and are eager for the opportunity to expand our global port and terminal network into East Africa," said Mr Sondergaard.

The company operates nine ports in eight West African countries, and has operations in both Morocco's Tanger-Med port and Egypt's Suez Canal container terminal, as well as an extensive inland network across the continent. However, it does not have any port operations on the continent's east coast.

The terminal operator said talks are underway with the Tanzanian Ministry of Transport and the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to operate at the Port of Dar es Salaam, which handled 475,000 TEU in 2011.

"We believe it would only benefit the port and the country to introduce a leading global port operator at Dar es Salaam, which would introduce healthy competition to the benefit of all port users," said APM Terminals' Africa-Middle East regional vice president for business development, Hans-Ole Madsen.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

THE APM Terminals' 2011 Sustainability Report gave APM Terminals, a unit of Denmark's AP Moller group, top marks for continued improvement in sustainability throughout the company's global port, terminal and inland services network.

APM Terminals exceeded the corporate objective of a 15 per cent decrease in carbon emissions by 2011, using a 2009 baseline for port facilities by achieving a reduction of 16.5 per cent per TEU.

APM Terminals increased its carbon emissions 2.1 per cent between 2009 and 2011 but that was because of continued expansion of company operations and the CO2 output of new cargo handling equipment, said the APM Terminals Sustainability report.

APM Terminals has established a target of a 25 per cent reduction in carbon emissions per TEU by 2020 for all terminal operations, as measured against a 2010 baseline.

APM Terminals' 2011 Sustainability Report also said APM Terminals met the highest possible safety standards, reduction of the environmental impact of expanding global operations and positive contributions to the communities in which APM Terminals operate were major highlights in the APM Terminals Sustainability Report.

APM Terminals continued to be an industry leader in safety performance in 2011 in terms of reducing injuries, as the lost time injury frequency (LTIF) rate decreased by 21 per cent compared to the 2010 figure and is at its lowest level ever. LTIF is recognised globally as a key indicator for a company's safety performance. The APM Terminals goal for 2012 is a further 15 per cent reduction in the LTIF rate.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

DUBAI port operator DP World has announced it will repay a US$3 billion loan six months ahead of schedule.

DP World, a unit of heavily indebted Dubai World, said the repayments will be made between April 4 - 10, ahead of the October maturity of the loan.

The payment will reduce DP World's total debt to approximately $4.7 billion, citing a regulatory filing the company made to Nasdaq Dubai, reported Reuters, which added that this will leave its cash balance at $1.2 billion.

This follows an earlier announcement by DP World that it would cancel $2 billion of the existing revolving credit facility and replace it with a new $1 billion five-year revolving credit facility.

"While we have no immediate plans to access the new facility, it allows us to draw down and pre-pay cash as needed, providing timely and flexible access to cash as we continue to invest in our global portfolio to deliver profitable growth," said DP World CEO Mohammed Sharaf.

The $3 billion loan was arranged by Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland in 2007. The global ports operator handled a total of 54.7 million TEU in 2011, up from 49.6 million TEU in 2010.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

ERSTWHILE rivals, MSC, CMA CGM and CSAV, have entered into a deal to provide a joint service between northern Europe and east coast South America, taking advantage of A Hamburg Sud, Alianca, Hapag-Lloyd decision to reorganise their activities in the trade lane.

"This new co-operation will allow CMA CGM to develop existing synergies with its new partners, to enhance its port coverage and to increase its service quality meeting customer requirements," said CMA CGM statement.

CMA CGM will provide three of the seven panamax ships with CSAV contributing three and MSC, one. They will rotate on a weekly loop through Le Havre, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Lisbon, Santos, Paranagua, Navegantes, Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and back to Le Havre.

CMA CGM has separately negotiated slot purchase arrangements with MSC and Hamburg Sud for cargo movements to and from ports River Plate ports including Buenos Aires. London's Containerisation International reports that the deal with Hamburg Sud will cover Tilbury and Hamburg ports as well.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

SHENYANG'S Taoxian International Airport and Lufthansa Airlines jointly held a press conference announcing the new flights from Frankfurt to the capital of northeastern Liaoning province, Xinhua reports.

The thrice weekly flights to the city of 8.1 million takes 10 hours to cover the 8,000-kilometre distance using A340, offering three flights per week. Frankfurt-bound flights take off Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Shenyang at 0015 hrs, reaching Frankfurt at 0530 hrs local time. Passengers can transit to 170 cities across Europe via Frankfurt.

Deputy manager of Shenyang Taoxian International Airport Wang Tongtong said launch of the route means northeastern China passengers no longer have to transit via Shanghai, Beijing or Seoul to Europe.

Lufthansa also plans to inaugurate a cargo service from Shenyang to Frankfurt during the early half of this year.

Shenyang airport will also offer direct flights to the North America later this year, said the report.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

QANTAS Airways Ltd has launched a new service from Sydney to Santiago just as Australia and Chile put a free trade agreement in place.

Inaugural flight QF27 left Sydney Airport on March 26 at 11am and was scheduled to arrive in Santiago at 9:55am local time. Flying time to Santiago is 13 hours and 10 minutes.

The airline said in a statement that it is offering three return services a week on the Sydney-Santiago route on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays that are operated by a Boeing 747.

LAN Airlines is codesharing on the Qantas services while the Australian airline will continue to codeshare on LAN's daily services between Sydney and Santiago via Auckland. As fellow Oneworld members, the two carriers plan to continue to work together to promote flights between Australia, Chile and the broader South American region.

Group executive Qantas Airlines Commercial, Rob Gurney, said: "Flying to Santiago is part of Qantas' strategy to target global gateway cities. South America's fast-growing economies make it the perfect time to introduce this new, non-stop service to one of the region's major hubs.

"It is also pleasing to be expanding our long-standing relationship with Chile's national carrier, LAN. Together we will offer 10 services per week between Sydney and Santiago and access to LAN's extensive South American network."

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

A TOLL being levied by Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) to use the road leading to the cargo terminal at the Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) has been met with resistance from cargo operators, who have slammed the toll as being "arbitrary and extortionate."

The Express Industry Council of India (EICI), the Air Cargo Agents Association of India, the Indian Merchants' Chamber (shipping and aviation committee), the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture, the Western India Shippers Association, the Manufacturers Association on Information Technology, the Association of Multimodal Transport Operators of India and the Bombay Custom House Agents' Association (BCHAA) are protesting against the toll.

Cargo operators have been up in arms with MIAL since the toll was introduced on every trip made to the airport's cargo terminal on February 9, reports India's Daily News & Analysis (DNA).

"There was no intimation of any kind. After our protests and repeated correspondence with the MIAL, it put out a note a fortnight later saying the toll was mandatory for all vehicles," Vijay Kumar, EICI's chief operating officer, was quoted as saying. "Around 700-800 vehicles ply on this road daily. In fact, most make several sorties. From a toll of INR50 (US$0.97) to INR200, depending on the vehicle, the MIAL makes more than INR1 million every day. And, it is not even a sovereign or constitutional body empowered to collect such a toll."

Mr Kumar was cited as saying that he has written to Aviation Minister Ajit Singh and Union Aviation Secretary Nasim Zaidi to seek their support in overturning the toll.

In response MIAL authorities said: "There was a toll of INR70 in place till about a-year-and-a-half ago for vehicles which arrived at the cargo terminal. This discontinued toll has been reinstated and that too at a lower rate than before," said an official, who added, "The Indira Gandhi International Airport at Delhi and Devanahalli at Bengaluru charge INR70 for every four hours."

According to Mr Kumar other airports charge a toll only for vehicles that use the cargo terminal to park and not for using the road leading to the air freight terminal.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

EUROCAREX, an alliance of French, Belgian and Dutch airports, ran its first test train to London's St Pancras Station after an overnight trip from Lyon via Paris's Charles de Gaulle hub to circumvent the rising number of night flight bans, reports Bloomberg.

High-speed mail and parcel services may become possible if the Anglo-French safety office allows trains that travel at 190 miles per hour (305kph). London to Charles de Gaulle airport would take little more than two hours, Carex says with Amsterdam's Schiphol airport accessible within three and a half hours and Frankfurt in five and a half.

Said Air France cargo delegate to Carex Olivier Rilhac: "You can't be very optimistic about night flights. We want to be a client, but we can't lose customers, so we must find a way with EuroCarex to devise a more competitive model."

Said Eurotunnel's GB Railfreight cargo chief John Smith: "There's huge potential. As time rolls on with the green agenda, problems at airports and the capacity that these trains can offer, the economics are going to begin to swing in its favour."

Each train would carry 120 tonnes of parcels, equal to seven 737 freighters. Rail will be competitive in both the next-day delivery express market and in three-day deliveries where cost is the chief priority, says a Brussels-based Carex statement.

The test run, arranged with Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais (SNCF) and rail networks in Britain, seeks to establish value for end users. Potential customers include Air France-KLM, FedEx, UPS, Geodis and Worldwide Flight Services.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping NewsEuropean night flight bans drive air express to high speed Chunnel trains

EUROCAREX, an alliance of French, Belgian and Dutch airports, ran its first test train to London's St Pancras Station after an overnight trip from Lyon via Paris's Charles de Gaulle hub to circumvent the rising number of night flight bans, reports Bloomberg.

High-speed mail and parcel services may become possible if the Anglo-French safety office allows trains that travel at 190 miles per hour (305kph). London to Charles de Gaulle airport would take little more than two hours, Carex says with Amsterdam's Schiphol airport accessible within three and a half hours and Frankfurt in five and a half.

Said Air France cargo delegate to Carex Olivier Rilhac: "You can't be very optimistic about night flights. We want to be a client, but we can't lose customers, so we must find a way with EuroCarex to devise a more competitive model."

Said Eurotunnel's GB Railfreight cargo chief John Smith: "There's huge potential. As time rolls on with the green agenda, problems at airports and the capacity that these trains can offer, the economics are going to begin to swing in its favour."

Each train would carry 120 tonnes of parcels, equal to seven 737 freighters. Rail will be competitive in both the next-day delivery express market and in three-day deliveries where cost is the chief priority, says a Brussels-based Carex statement.

The test run, arranged with Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais (SNCF) and rail networks in Britain, seeks to establish value for end users. Potential customers include Air France-KLM, FedEx, UPS, Geodis and Worldwide Flight Services.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

The EU Commission has imposed fines against various logistics companies in antitrust proceedings pending since several years, amounting to € 53.7 million in the case of Kuehne + Nagel. The logistics companies were accused to have coordinated their activities in respect to establishing certain surcharges for airfreight forwarding services during a period prior to 2007. In proceedings in the United States relating to the same activities Kuehne + Nagel entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and agreed to a fine of $ 9.8 million.

"We will carefully consider the decision of the EU Commission and its rationale," said Karl Gernandt, Chairman of Kuehne + Nagel International AG. "However, already now we are of the opinion that the Commission has not correctly investigated the facts and the participation of Kuehne + Nagel and has drawn significantly incorrect factual and legal conclusions. In addition, Kuehne + Nagel’s comprehensive cooperation throughout the investigation was not adequately acknowledged. That is why we take into consideration to appeal against the decision before the European courts."

Source Kuehne + Nagel

BP (NYSE: BP) announced an agreement to lease thousands of acres in northeast Ohio for future oil and gas production in the Utica/Point Pleasant shale formation.

Utica/Point Pleasant is a relatively new and very promising shale basin that consists of a potentially significant liquids-rich gas source, and this deal adds an important American energy source to BP's onshore gas portfolio.

''BP is excited to expand our presence in Ohio in a way that will create jobs, bolster the local economy and provide additional sources of energy from an important emerging American resource,'' said Lamar McKay, chairman and president of BP America. ''Over the last five years BP has been America's largest energy investor with vast experience in developing natural gas resources. We intend to bring our expertise and the highest industry safety and environmental management practices to this project.''

BP signed an agreement to lease about 84,000 acres in Trumbull County, Ohio with the Associated Landowners of the Ohio Valley (ALOV), a group representing area mineral owners. Members of ALOV voted March 26 to approve the lease arrangement. Terms of the agreement, to be executed with each landowner, are confidential.

Through its heritage companies of Standard Oil of Ohio (SOHIO) and Amoco, BP's roots in Ohio date back to 1870. BP operates the BP-Husky refinery near Toledo which it owns in a joint venture with Husky, LLC, and is also a leading marketer of fuels in Ohio through independently-owned marketers under the BP brand. BP heritage companies have also been active in the upstream business throughout its history in the state of Ohio.

The Utica/Point Pleasant shale is at a depth of about 6,000 feet. This rock formation is of similar thickness to the Marcellus and has the potential to deliver higher liquids rates. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimates a recoverable Utica shale potential between 1.3 and 5.5 billion barrels of oil and between 3.8 and 15.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

''We are very encouraged by what we have seen of the Utica/Point Pleasant formation. Our focus in 2012 will be to better understand the geology and devise a plan to safely develop the resource,'' said Tim Harrington, regional president for BP's North America Gas (NA Gas) business. ''BP is committed to hiring and purchasing locally whenever possible and we anticipate having a positive impact on the region while providing a new source of energy for America.''

BP is the second largest oil and gas producer in the U.S. with a workforce of about 23,000 people, making BP the country’s second largest oil and gas employer.

Operating across a vast U.S. geography that stretches from onshore U.S. Gulf Coast through the Rocky Mountains, BP's North America Gas business has one of the best portfolios in the industry with a presence in seven of the leading U.S. onshore basins. In the lower 48 U.S. states alone, BP and its co-owners operate fields holding some 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to satisfy U.S. needs for more than two years.

Currently BP has active shale positions in the Woodford, Haynesville, Fayetteville and Eagle Ford. With a huge resource base and a deep expertise in unconventional gas, including shale, the NA Gas business provides production value and an ability to transfer technical knowledge to all parts of the globe.

Source BP

The Grimaldi Group becomes the first shipping company in Italy to be awarded the full Authorised Economic Operator (AEO-F) status. The prestigious award was granted by the Italian Customs Authorities in Naples in the areas of Customs Simplifications and Security and Safety, following a special audit made at the Group’s Head Office.

The award results from six months of preparation of the Group’s Safety, Quality and Security Department and certifies that the Grimaldi Group fulfills comprehensive security and safety guidelines laid down by the EU with regard to reliability, solvency, compliance with relevant legal provisions and fulfillment of specific security and safety standards.

Being certified means, among others, lower risk that the flow of goods into and out the EU will be stopped for examination, reduced number of data to be provided for the summary declarations and easier access to authorizations and permits.

The status of the Authorised Economic Operator applies to all economic operators and their business partners playing a role in the international supply chain, i.e. producers, exporters, forwarders, warehouse keepers, customs agents, carriers, importers who are involved in activities covered by the relevant customs legislation and are eligible in terms of reliability and security in the supply chain.

The AEO certification reinforces Grimaldi’s ongoing commitment to quality and reliability in its maritime and logistics services as well as preventive security and safety measures. AEO accreditation is a further sign of the quality of the Grimaldi Group’s processes in creating a secure supply chain based on maritime transport.

Source Grimaldi Group