HONG KONG International Airport (HKIA) has posted an 18.6 per cent increase in February air cargo volume to 287,000 tonnes year on year, the airport authority announced.
"We must note that the gain is partly on account of the low base for comparison, as Chinese New Year fell in February in 2011, while this year it was in January," said HKIA chief executive Stanley Hui.
Looking at the two months together, HKIA has served a total of nine million passengers and handled 55,600 aircraft movements, registering increases of 7.5 per cent and 7.4 per cent respectively. Aggregate cargo volume declined 2.3 per cent, to 562,000 tonnes, when compared with the same two-month period last year.
HKIA's leading position as an air cargo centre has again been recognised recently. HKIA clinched Air Cargo World Magazine's "Air Cargo Award of Excellence" and achieved the highest overall rating in the category of "Airports Asia - 1,000,000 or more tonnes".
Voted by the magazine's readers, the awards recognise the performance, value, facilities and regulatory operations of airports in handling air cargo. HKIA has won the "Air Cargo Award of Excellence" seven times and secured the highest overall rating three times over the years.
The combined decline in cargo throughput for the first two months was mainly attributable to a seven per cent year-on-year drop in exports. Imports decreased two per cent while transshipments registered growth of two per cent compared to the same period last year.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
UPS has agreed to pay US$6.77 billion in cash to acquire TNT Express about one month after TNT Express shareholders rejected UPS' earlier offer of $6.4 billion.
The offer would create a per-share price of slightly less than $12.50. But the deal is subject to approval from European anti-trust regulators, reported Rosewell, Georgia's Air Cargo World.
"The combination of UPS and TNT Express will create a global leader in the logistics industry, with annual revenues of more than EUR45 billion [US$60 billion] and will deliver significant benefits for the shareowners, customers, employees and other stakeholders of both companies," said UPS.
The deal has been approved by the supervisory and executive boards of TNT Express and PostNL, with the latter agreeing to tender its 29.8 per cent stake to UPS.
The deal is expected to help UPS gain a bigger share of business outside the US as 36 per cent of total group revenues will be generated outside the US, up from UPS' current 26 per cent.
UPS said it will finance its offer with $3 billion in cash from its balance sheet and the remainder will come from new debt arrangements.
UPS expects its acquisition to boost profits in the first year and realise annual pretax cost savings of between $525 million and $725 million by the end of the fourth year after the deal is closed.
The combined company will control about 17.3 per cent of the European express market, placing it just behind Germany's DHL Express.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
THE latest operating results posted by China Southern Airlines show that the carrier moved 84,600 tonnes of cargo in February, up 41.2 per cent year on year, while its passenger throughput increased seven per cent to 6.39 million, Xinhua reports.
Domestic services recorded a cargo volume of 61,500 tonnes, increasing 43.4 per cent. Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan freight grew 31.8 per cent to 970 tonnes. International freight climbed 35.7 per cent to 22,100 tonnes.
On the passenger side, domestic lanes filled 5.76 million seats, up 6.6 per cent. Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan passengers dropped 2.6 per cent to 130,500. International services recorded 501,200 passengers, up 15.8 per cent. Seat utilisation fell 1.8 percentage points to 78.5 per cent.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
CARGO 2000 says it has fulfilled its promise to give the air cargo industry open access to its standard processes as part of it continuous initiative to improve quality management across the supply chain, reports Australia's Aircargo Asia Pacific journal.
Cargo 2000, part of the e-freight programme of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), marked the launch of the new initiative when its chairman, Mattijs ten Brink, handed over the modernised version of its Master Operating Plan (MOP) to IATA cargo chief Des Vertannes at the association's World Cargo Symposium in Kuala Lumpur.
Non-members of Cargo 2000 can now download the electronic version of the new MOP from the Cargo 2000 website and begin to map their own quality processes to the industry standard being adopted by the group's members, said the report. The MOP has been made available free of charge and is supported by information and quality reports.
"At the end of last year we made a commitment to give open access to the updated version of our MOP when it became available in the first quarter of 2012 and we have delivered as promised. The Master Operating Plan is the engine that sits behind the programme bring new levels of quality and efficiencies to the air cargo supply chain. The new MOP replaces the version first created in 1997 and it reflects the significant changes that have taken place in our industry since then," the chairman said.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
AIR China has posted its operating results in February. In this month, the carrier carried 76,400 tonnes of cargo, 18.3 per cent more than in the same month last year, and 4.2 per cent more than in January.
Its passenger volume increased 1.5 per cent year on year but fell 8.4 per cent month on month to 3.72 million seats sold.
On the cargo sector, capacity grew four per cent year on year. Turnover climbed 11.5 per cent. Load factor increased 3.4 percentage points to 50.5 per cent.
On the passenger sector, capacity grew four per cent. Turnover increased 2.3 per cent. Domestic service capacity increased 8.2 per cent, volume grew 3.4 per cent. International lanes capacity went 0.8 per cent up, turnover increased 1.1 per cent. Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan lanes capacity dropped 0.5 per cent, with actual volume dropping 4.5 per cent. Seat utilisation fell 2.1 percentage points to 77.3 per cent.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
2012-03-20
Europe’s sixth biggest airline airberlin, along with its subsidiary airberlinNIKI, are welcomed into the oneworld global airline alliance today, March 20. Finnair and airberlin have cooperated on a code-share basis since 2010. The cooperation has opened up new destinations in German-speaking Europe and the Mediterranean for Finnair customers, and airberlin’s membership of the alliance will expand the network even further.
“Together with airberlin, Finnair will be able to serve its corporate and individual customers even better than before in the German-speaking central European home market as well as across Finnair’s extensive Asian network,” says Paavo Virkkunen, responsible for Finnair’s oneworld relations. “airberlin’s membership and commercial cooperation will deepen with the addition of codeshares and our mutual customers will gain better access to the international oneworld network.”
Following airberlin’s membership, the alliance network will extend to about 800 destinations in 150 countries. airberlin’s loyal customers will be able to earn points for flights taken on other alliance airlines, and vice versa.
Source Finnair Plc
PHILADELPHIA, Pa., USA, March 20, 2012 – BDP International, a leading global logistics and transportation provider, now offers a market-competitive solution for U.S. to Europe airfreight. Called BDP AirStar, the new gateway program expedites shipments from Chicago, New York and Houston to Amsterdam for immediate transit to all major destinations in Europe. BDP has entered into a multi-carrier partnership with KLM, Air France and Delta, providing a strong, flexible schedule and highly competitive rates.
“BDP AirStar delivers the fastest transit times at the best price with the right carrier to the right destination,” explained Gary Phelps, director of air freight services for BDP Americas. “Our clients are already realizing the benefits of regular, reliable schedules and lower costs, resulting from our increased buying power and the improved rates and transit times.”
The new air service allows BDP to designate a specific flight, such as KLM 612, departing Chicago at 4:30 p.m. and arriving in Amsterdam 07:30 a.m. the following morning. BDP collects the unit load device (ULD) and takes the freight to its airport facilities, combines it with other cargo from Asia, and delivers it to final destinations via its Amsterdam-based road feeder service. Under the terms of the agreement, BDP can move freight to other carriers when it reaches its allotted capacity with KLM.
A particular shipper benefit of the new program, according to BDP’s Phelps, is its weekend schedule of two cuts, the first an early Saturday morning flight arriving in Amsterdam Sunday and points beyond Monday; the second a Sunday flight arriving in Amsterdam Monday and points beyond Tuesday.
In addition, cargoes originating in Boston, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Harrisburg, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. can be transported and combined with Chicago, Houston or New York ULDs, depending upon shippers’ trucking arrangements.
Coordinating the activities of these two gateways, BDP can divert cargoes destined for one gateway to the other, if one is at capacity or a shipper has just a single pallet. Using its web-based BDPSmart Vū tool, the company also can provide end-to-end supply chain visibility, tracking and tracing, and purchase order management.
BDP launched its initial enhanced air freight gateway program in 2011 on its Europe-Asia routes, offering three flights a week from Hong Kong (including Shenzen, Guangzhou and Xiamen), Shanghai and Taipei to major European hubs, including Frankfurt, Paris, Prague, Brussels, London, Hamburg, Munich, Vienna and Duesseldorf via Amsterdam. The addition of the U.S. gateways, according to Ulli Wrieden, BDP’s Frankfurt-based director of transportation for EMEA, will allow BDP to provide expanded and even more cost-efficient trucking options from Amsterdam.
Source BDP International
Kongsberg Evotec, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime, has received an order for a second Bulk Hose Securing Unit, BHSU, for the LNG vessel ‘Viking Queen’ from Eidesvik Offshore ASA.
Kongsberg Evotec developed the technology through Statoil’s LOOP technology development programme in cooperation with Innovation Norway and Eidesvik. The prototype was installed and tested aboard the Viking Queen in December 2010.
The prototype has completed an extended test program and the feedback has continued to be very positive. The companies involved reported that the BHSU system has supported human resource management improvements and achieved high operational safety levels.
Currently, crew on board vessels stand on a cargo rail to manually receive and secure bulk hoses used for the transfer of bulk cargo from ship-to-platform or vice versa. Kongsberg Evotec's BHSU system makes the operation much safer as the procedure is now coordinated and maintained from the wheelhouse and crew no longer need to enter the hazardous area. This increases safety for both crew and vessel during critical bulk transfer operations.
Kongsberg Evotec AS was acquired by Kongsberg Maritime in October 2011 and is an established supplier of marine handling systems. In addition to the BHSU and other handling systems, Kongsberg Evotec also designs cranes, complete with handling systems including winches, power units, bulk handling and control systems.
Source Kongsberg Maritime
One of Israel's largest bus operators, DAN Society for Public Transport, has presented the first of 172 futuristically designed buses in Haifa that will form the backbone of the state-of-the-art Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems in the major cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv. MAN Truck & Bus is supplying three-axle low-floor articulated buses for this system, powered by 360-hp common-rail diesel engines that comply with the currently strictest EEV (enhanced environmentally-friendly vehicle) emission standard. The futuristic bodies of the buses, which are equipped with powerful air-conditioning systems suitable for hot climates, are manufactured locally in Israel by the Ha'argaz company.
What is special about the bus chassis supplied by MAN is that they combine low floors throughout with a vehicle length of 18.75 metres. This construction, together with the body's four double doors, makes for especially time-saving boarding and alighting, a vital feature of an efficient BRT system.
With MAN common-rail diesel engines, transportation company DAN will be focusing on clean exhaust engines. The EEV standard sets considerably lower limits for particulate emission than the Euro 5 standard currently applicable in Europe.
MAN is the market leader for city buses in Israel. The basis of over thirty years of cooperation between DAN and MAN is the reliability of the buses. Today almost every single one of DAN's fleet of 1,200 buses is built on an MAN chassis.
Bus Rapid Transit systems enable the modernization of a city's transportation infrastructure without the need for extensive construction work on building underground lines. In principle, BRT systems can be compared with inner-city rail systems such as trams and metros, but they can be constructed more quickly and more cost-effectively, besides having far more flexibility. They are relatively easy to integrate into existing urban structures and are not reliant on an exclusive infrastructure end-to-end.
The foundation of any BRT system is formed by modern city buses with high passenger capacities. MAN's broad range of bus chassis and complete buses are an excellent basis for this. MAN is also in a position to offer individual vehicle solutions with the reliability of a high-volume manufacturer.
Other characteristics of a BRT system are separate lanes and platform stops where tickets are sold and access is automatically controlled - i.e. before the bus is boarded, in order to optimize the passenger flow. Passenger information and automatic display of upcoming departure also enable the transportation of passengers to run more smoothly.
Source MAN SE
Finnair’s summer traffic schedule, coming into effect on March 25, includes flights to some familiar summer destinations, more frequencies to various other destinations and an exciting new seasonal destination, Dubrovnik. In May Finnair also starts year-round flights to a completely new Asian destination, Chongqing in China.
Finnair flights to Dubrovnik on Croatia’s southern coast are launching on April 2 and will continue until the end of the summer timetable period on October 27. The new direct flight to Chongqing opens on May 9 and operates four times per week through the year. Finnair is the first airline to operate non-stop flights between Europe and Chongqing.
Popular destinations back in the schedule for the summer are:
Krakow, whose old town is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, from April 9 to October 25
Venice, perennial favourite and holiday destination, March 29 to October 25
Ljubljana, the jewel of Slovenia, April 9 to October 25
Bergen, the charming city on Norway’s west coast, from May 20 to September 28
Toronto, Canada’s biggest city and gateway to the fabulous Niagara Falls, May 24 to September 10
Chicago, launched last summer as a code share with American Airlines, June 15 to October 27.
Extra frequencies will be added to the following flights:
Flights to Tokyo are increased to 10 per week as of May 31
Flights to Vilnius are increased to 18 per week from 25 June to 12 August
Flights to Barcelona are increased to 9 per week from June 28 to August 10
Flights to Budapest and Prague are operated twice daily over the summer.
Source Finnair Plc
2012-03-20
Euronav (one of the world's leading independent tanker companies engaged in the ocean transportation of crude oil and petroleum products), announcing the company's final results for 2011.
Source IMPRESS COMMUNICATIONS LTD
A new maritime industry conference, scheduled for October 2012 in Stamford, Conn., will provide a forum for discussion of fleet optimization and efficient ship operations, according to its organizers.
The SHIPPINGInsight Fleet Optimization Conference is being co-produced by Soccoli Associates LLC, a maritime consultancy, and Rhodes Communications, Inc., an international communications firm specializing in the maritime industry. Maritime Reporter and Maritime Professional are the exclusive media sponsors for the event.
“In the current economic client, it is imperative that ship owners find effective tools and techniques to operate their vessels more efficiently,” said Frank Soccoli, president of Soccoli Associates LLC and SHIPPINGInsight conference co-director. “This conference will bring together stakeholders from across the industry to explore best practices to achieve gains in ship efficiency, including hull design, fuel and bunkering, ship routing, asset management and IT solutions.”
“The Fleet Optimization Conference is the first in a new series of conferences that will be marketed under the SHIPPINGInsight brand, addressing the pressing issues faced by ship and fleet operators in the 21st Century,” said conference co-director Jim Rhodes, president of Rhodes Communications, Inc. “We will hold future conferences covering other timely themes such as risk management, maritime safety and crew training in other maritime centers around the world in the future.”
The SHIPPINGInsight conference will bring together representatives from ship and fleet operators, as well as naval architects, marine engineers, shipyards, classification societies, IT specialists, system integrators and regulatory bodies. The organizers are assembling a roster of senior executives from across the shipping industry spectrum as speakers and panelists.
The specific dates and venue will be announced within the next two weeks, said the organizers. In the interim, for conference details visit: www.shippinginsight.com.
Source
Soccoli Associates LLC
Rhodes Communications, Inc.
Syracuse, N.Y., March 19, 2012 – Reflecting the shipping industry’s continued trend in the adoption of energy efficient equipment that reduces lifecycle costs, Carrier Transicold reported that its PrimeLINE® container refrigeration unit has surpassed previous records, selling nearly the same number of units in 2011 as in the prior three years combined. Carrier Transicold helps improve global transport and shipping temperature control with a complete line of equipment for refrigerated trucks, trailers and containers, and is a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).
“For four successive years, the PrimeLINE unit has outsold all competitive models, and 2011 – a record year for the industry – accelerated this trend,” said David Appel, president, Carrier Transicold. Appel credited the PrimeLINE unit’s success with its industry-leading efficiency, which responds to the market’s need for more sustainable solutions. Carrier’s ThinLINE® unit, the historic market leader, also surpassed previous-year sales in 2011.
“When Carrier introduced the PrimeLINE unit in 2007, we set a new benchmark for efficiency,” Appel said. “The timing was right for shipping lines of all sizes, as the new reality of uncertain and ever-climbing fuel costs took an increasingly large toll on their bottom lines. With fuel prices again approaching record levels, the need for energy efficiency is as essential as ever.”
Over the years, Carrier has received significant orders from Maersk Line, Evergreen Line, Hamburg Süd, Chiquita, Dole, Crowley Maritime, Arkas Shipping and Transport and many others in the shipping, leasing and exporter sectors.
The PrimeLINE unit’s exceptional efficiency – thanks in part to its efficient digital scroll compressor – significantly reduces on-board power generation requirements, helping shipping lines save fuel used in the generation of electricity. This, in turn, helps hold down operating costs and reduce emissions related to power generation. The PrimeLINE unit reduces carbon emissions 28 percent compared to previous units.
As fuel is the leading component of ownership cost over the life of a unit, energy efficiency helps to keep the total cost of ownership low.
In addition to its exceptional efficiency, the PrimeLINE unit also offers best-in-class pulldown among all container refrigeration units, as well as best deep-frozen capability among those that use R-134a, the non-ozone depleting refrigerant with the lowest global warming potential of all contemporary container refrigerants. No other container refrigeration unit provides dehumidification capability lower than the PrimeLINE unit, and none can achieve 50 percent relative humidity as efficiently.
For even greater energy efficiency, the PrimeLINE unit can be equipped with the optional QUEST power-saving mode. For more information on the PrimeLINE system design, visit www.container.carrier.com.
Source Carrier Transicold
DUBAI-based Emirates Shipping Line has announced it will impose a general rate increase (GRI) for services from Indian subcontinent and Middle East to East Africa by US$200 per TEU with effect from April 1.
The carrier is registered in Dubai Maritime City, UAE and headquartered in both Dubai and Hong Kong.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
TAIWANESE shipping giant Evergreen's Asia-Med UAM service has been delayed from April to May with western Mediterranean ports being replaced by Adriatic ports, reports London's Containerisation International.
Western Mediterranean ports will be served via a slot exchange on the CKYH's MD1, MD2 and MD3 services with Cosco, "K" Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin taking slots on the UAM service in return.
The new UAM service will deploy eight 5,364 to 5,652-TEU ships and will rotate through Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Colombo, Ashdod, Alexandria, Taranto, Koper, Rijeka, Trieste, Taranto, Colombo, Tanjung Pelepas, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Yantian, Shanghai, Ningbo and back to Busan.
The old UAM calls at Shanghai, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Shekou, Shenzhen-Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Colombo, Ashdod, Alexandria, Taranto, Genoa, Barcelona, Valencia, Taranto, Jeddah, Colombo, Tanjung Pelepas, Kaohsiung and back to Shanghai.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
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