EGYPTIAN Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri has ordered the formation of a commission chaired by Osama Saleh, president of the General Authority for Investment (GAFI) to look into the conditions of the Kuwaiti company contracted to build the Damietta container terminal.

Planning and International Cooperation Minister Fayza Abul-Naga said the project aims to establish an international container terminal designed to have an annual capacity of four million TEU.

Ms Abul-Naga said Egypt lost investments worth nearly US$10 billion since last year's revolution because of market turmoil, according to an Egypt State Information Service communique..

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

VIETNAM's shipping firms are expected to face difficulties in the year due to global economic uncertainties and the oversupply of vessel tonnage.

A report by VietNamNet Bridge highlighted that shipping fees for importing and exporting goods are likely to increase significantly with some of the rate hikes for transporting goods to Europe and Africa due to commence this month.

Several shipping lines have indicated that rats would be doubled from the current rate to US$700 per TEU. The new fees for imports from some ports in Europe have been implemented since mid-February with rises of between $200 and $300 per TEU, according to the report.

But Vietnam Ship Owners' Association chairman Do Xuan Quynh said this year's shipping fees for transporting sea freight via domestic and international routes would not see big changes.

Mr Quynh said he was surprised by the news regarding a fee hike, adding that the downwards trend is still dominating the container shipping market. As global trade has been decreasing, the issue of idling containerships is becoming more serious, especially when it involves larger vessels.

It is estimated that the number of idle containerships waiting for deployment has reached 700, including many ships in the 3,000-TEU class.

Mr Quynh added that if shipping fees are raised, only foreign shipowners would stand to benefit, and not the Vietnamese shipping companies.

A report from the Vietnam Maritime Bureau showed that out of the 1,633 ships carrying the Vietnamese flag, 1,013 ships, totalling three million deadweight tons, serve domestic routes. Most are bulk carriers with tonnage of less than 5,000 tons. There are 38 containerships, but only two of can handle more than 1,000 TEU.

"We have excessive tonnage for the small ships, while we lack specialised and big tonnage ships," said Nguyen Ngoc Hue, former head of the Maritime Bureau.

Zhaoyin port area is formerly Zhangzhou port. The port merged with Xiamen in 2006.

Since the merger, the port area's throughput has been rising rapidly. It lifted six million tonnes in 2005 and 13 million tons in 2008. Last year, its throughput topped 19 million tons.

The port area started building the two new berth in May 2010. The whole project has now come to the final phase.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

THE shipping community is invited to join major cargo owners and retail brands, including Diageo and Li & Fung, and some of the biggest names in logistics, transport and ports this March to discuss the outlook for Asia container trade at the TOC Container Supply Chain: Asia 2012 conference and exhibition.

Held at the at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre from March 13-15 under the theme "Intra-Asia: the road ahead," the three-day event provides a valuable chance to take stock of immediate and longer term prospects at a time of continued uncertainty in world markets.

Senior figures from leading companies including Accenture, Agility, CMA CGM, Cosco Pacific, DP World, Hapag-Lloyd, Modern Terminals, Panalpina, UASC and others will share views with cargo owners on evolving supply chain and trade dynamics and the impact for logistics and transport.

For more information, visit http://www.tocevents-asia.com/press .

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

THE Port of Barcelona has removed a railway bottleneck that has long prevented it from winning Asian cargo bound for south western Europe - a solution that seemed so obvious from a look at the map.

The problem was the difference between the Spanish and French railway gauges which was solved last year by the laying of a new euro-gauge track to the French border linking to Lyons in central France and east coast Bordeaux.

"It was crazy seeing 85 per cent of Asian cargo for Europe go right past our port from Suez to cruise an extra five days to get to northern Europe only to have it moved south again by train or truck," said the port's delegate to China, Juan Dedeu, during a visit to the Shipping Gazette to announce the opening of Barcelona's Hutchison terminal today (March 6).

Mr Dedeu, also president of China Consultants, said a ship calling to Barcelona, 150 kilometres south of the French border on the Mediterranean, would save five days transit to circle the Iberian Peninsula and western France with 25 per cent of the cargo having to be railed or trucked south again.

Differing rail gauges necessitated costly intermodal transfers at the border, the expense of which killed any hopes of a high volume trade, much less dreams of becoming a major Asian gateway to Europe, he said.

Another factor is that European road and rail networks focus on northern capitals, making them better served by Channel and North Sea ports. Le Havre combined with rivals Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Bremerhaven form a mega magnet for high volume cargo, to which one can add the English ports across the channel.

Mr Dedeu said these disadvantages reduced infrastructure development and kept southern European ports tied to their immediate hinterlands. The French port of Marseilles and the Italian port of Genoa suffers in much the same way.

Mr Dedeu said Hong Kong's Hutchison Port Holdings was instrumental in creating the rail link north by insisting something be done before it committed more to Barcelona. Less than a year ago, a third euro standard line was laid alongside the Spanish gauge to the border.

Hutchison's Barcelona TERCAT terminal, established in 1990, covers 47 hectares, has a 1.08-kilometre quay length with 14 metres depth alongside. The new terminal at Muelle Prat that opens today, adds another kilometre of quay, 60 hectares of yard space and has 16 metres alongside.

While Barcelona suffered a poor fourth quarter, volumes increased a record 13 per cent to 1.4 million TEU from January to August. At full buildout Barcelona will create a capacity of 12.8 million TEU.

"The cranes are there from China, though not put up. We have 30 people from Shanghai putting them up now. If business goes well, we will move more quickly, if it is slower then we will not build as fast," Mr Dedeu said.

The European Union has been helpful in addressing the concerns of a joint-lobby formed by otherwise rival ports of Genoa, Marseilles and Barcelona to put in additional north-south infrastrucuture and foster southern European logistics development.

"We are together on this issue," said Mr Dedeu, "but after that we compete. We are good friends, but we are also competitors."

To his mind, Genoa's location is not advantageous to fully exploit and expected diversion of Suez shipping from the UK-north continent port range and Marseilles is too strike-prone to be reliable.

"We sat down with our unions and said, we have a chance to become a major European port, but we cannot have strikes. They agreed," he said.

While it seems obvious looking at the map that southern ports should be the major intake points for cargo going through Suez, many shippers feel that the sophistication of northern European logistics trumps less sophisticated road and rail systems of the south.

"We are not after all the cargo - not even 50:50," said Mr Dedeu. "We are looking at 25 per cent rather than the 15 per cent we get today."

He also pointed to EU regulations that will tax carbon emissions from ships in the second half, saying that five days extra steaming will be more costly for shippers than discharging cargo in southern European ports like Barcelona.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

APM Terminals Inland Services (APMTS) and Kerala state-owned MIV Logistics have signed an agreement for a container freight station in Kochi at Vallarpadam covering 18 acres with an annual capacity of 100,000 TEU in 2013.

APMTS managing director Subhasis Ghosh signed the memorandum of understanding at Hotel Le Meridien in Kochi on the part of the Maersk-owned subsidiary and T Balakrishnan, managing director of INKEL and chairman MIV, in the presence of Cochin Port Trust officials.

Said Mr. Ghosh: "After the success of our fourth CFS in India in Chennai, which won the CFS of the Year award, we are delighted to be in Kochi to facilitate the growth of export import trade here."

Vallarpadam port in Kochi is said to be emerging as a gateway port for India's foreign trade. "Non availability of sufficient high quality inland container logistics infrastructure is seen as one of the deterrents to growth of exim trade in Kerala," said the APMTS statement.

Said Joseph Sandiav, APMTS container freight station chief: "Coming to Kochi, we are getting world-class container freight stations, providing customer services that will ensure easy access to efficient container logistics and compliance with international norms of safety, security and health at one go."

APMTS South Asia runs seven container freight stations with a total bonded yard area of 3.3 million square feet, empty depots in more than 10 locations, with dry and reefer repair workshops and a trucking fleet to manage shunts and primary transport. The company also caters to Pakistan and Sri Lanka shippers and has a dedicated team of over 280 staff.

Hague-based APM Terminals operates 63 maritime and 150 inland container handling facilities in 46 countries.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

NEW YORK's Global Institute of Logistics, in a tie-up with Chennai's Hauer Associates, is planning to introduce certification system for container terminals in India, in which performance would be audited and classified, reports India's Economic Times.

Global Institute CEO Kieran Ring said the move to certify terminals is part of the plan to improve logistics. Called the Container Terminal Quality System (CTQS), the method assesses container terminals across 80 indicators from crane productivity to staff training, granting full certification after auditing.

Said Hauer Associates chief executive SN Srikanth: "The mechanism will help Indian ports sell themselves. It won't be too long when we will have excess capacity."

The Port of Hamburg has been certified under the system, devised by the Global Institute of Logistics "combined with terminal operators such as PSA and Shenzhen-Yantian as also industry bodies such as IAPH and Global Shippers Forum", said the report.

According to a World Shipping Council list, in 2010, six of the top 10 busiest terminals in the world were in China, with Shanghai heading the list. India had one, Mumbai's Nhava Sheva, in 26th place.

"But when it comes to efficiency, comparisons are tougher," said the report, noting that the Ministry of Shipping said Indian ports lag behind Singapore in key terminal parameters with crane productivity of 20 moves per hour against Singapore's 30 while turnarounds are 1.77 days for India and 0.50 days for Singapore.

K Ravichandran, co-head of corporate ratings at Icra (formerly Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency, today associated with Moody's), said: "A standard format would definitely help. This will help business process re-engineering of ports in relation to the benchmark."

Michael Pinto, former government shipping secretary, pointed out how TEU isn't an adequate measure. "For example, a port might be more efficient, but gets lower TEUs because of its location. The terminals should be measured based on the number of containers handled per house, turnaround times, efficiency of crane handling and so on."

A senior unidentified Singapore-based logistics company official said: "Terminals account for 95 per cent of the cost of a logistics operation, and inefficiencies in terminals have an indirect impact on our profitability. As a director I should be focusing more on business development. But due to inefficiencies in major ports, most of my time is spent on terminals."

But Mumbai's JNPT operations chief SN Maharana disagreed. "We already have been given specific parameters on which we have to function and we monitor all the performance."

Agreeing, rival Mundra port director Rajiv Sinha said: "Every port in the country has various quality certifications. In terms of productivity, parameters tend to change frequently. So we are not sure whether this would help."

J Krishnan, chairman of Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (MCCI) logistics committee, said: "We wonder whether freight station operators would be open to audits. As competition increases such an rating will help in better marketing of products."

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

DANAOS Corporation, one of the largest containership charter owners, has added the 8,530-TEU CMA CGM Melisande built at Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industry, to its fleet of 61 containerships aggregating 312,779 TEU.

The CMA CGM Melisande is 335 metres long, 42.8 metres wide and has a speed of 25.80 knots. The vessel will commence its 12-year time charter at a fixed charter rate. The annualised EBITDA run-rate contribution of the vessel is expected to be US$12.7 million.

"The delivery of CMA CGM Melisande marks the successful completion of a project for building five 8,530-TEU post-panamax vessels at Jiangnan Changxing shipyard that are the largest containerships ever built in China," said Danaos vice president and COO Iraklis Prokopakis.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

SWISS based Kuehne + Nagel has opened a new office in Chiang Mai to meet the strong demand for integrated logistics services in Thailand for hi-tech and perishable products.

Located on the northern part of Thailand, Chiang Mai is the country's second city with a high concentration of consumer electronics manufacturing companies. Furthermore, the location is home to the country's leading flower exporters. A company statement said that many of its customers are operating here, due to the city's geographical advantages and the establishment of the Chiang Mai Free Trade Zone.

"The opening is an important step in the development of Kuehne + Nagel in Thailand. With the network stretching to Chiang Mai, we are able to further enhance our service levels for our customers through closer local contacts," said Thailand managing director Pascal Martin.

In Thailand, the logistics giant operates offices in Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Phuket and Chiang Mai, employing 400 staff.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

IAG CARGO, which emerged from the merger of British Airways and Iberian merger, intends to continue mergers and acquisitions but also expand into the temperature sensitive cargo shipment products after a solid 2011, which saw revenues rise 8.6 per cent.

Managing director Steve Gunning told Rosewell, Georgia's Air Cargo World that the company's express product, Prioritise, grew 20 per cent last year and he now feels more premium products will enable the company to counter expected yield declines in 2012.

"The demand characteristics of premium products are much more resilient than general freight," Mr Gunning said. "And so we see them as a real way forward - not just with our express product, but also with temperature-sensitive products and things like high-valuable goods as well."

In the M&A field, IAG expects to buy low-cost carrier bmi from Lufthansa. "In terms of IAG Cargo, bmi is moving freight on short- or narrow-bodied aircraft, which will be a welcome expansion," he said.

While it remains a work in progress, as IAG won't receive approval of this transaction until later this month, he saw bmi acquisition as an easy fit into the IAG brand.

Mr Gunning also saw a possible partnership with troubled Japan Airlines (JAL), which has sought anti-trust immunity to ally with IAG on British Airways flights between Europe and Japan.

"JAL is an important partner for us," said Mr Gunning. "Clearly there have been challenges in Japan over the last 12 months, but it's always been an economic powerhouse and I think it will continue to be one."

But he did not appear interested in taking on India's troubled Kingfisher Airlines, despite much speculation to the contrary.

" I don't think there's any appetite for taking a stake. Although they're part of oneworld alliance, we don't have a great deal to do with Kingfisher. They have mounting funding issues."

On the other hand, export markets such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh are said to be holding firm in terms of air freight volumes to Europe, but this is mainly in the low-end garment business that represents a lower yield for carriers.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

KOREAN Air plans to commence non-stop flights on June 21 from Seoul-Incheon to Nairobi in Kenya, which would make it the first airline to operate direct service from northeast Asia to Nairobi, the carrier said.

Its new service to Nairobi will be operated with A330-200 aircraft. Flight KE959 will depart from Seoul Incheon every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 22:15 hrs and will arrive in Nairobi at 05:30 the next day. Return flight, KE960, will depart from Nairobi at 10:30 every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and will arrive in Seoul Incheon at 04:50 the next day.

"With only 13 hours of flying time, it will offer passengers the ultimate convenience in travelling between the two cities," said managing vice president for Europe, Middle East & Africa, Jaeho

The has been serving major destinations in Africa through codesharing with Kenya Airways, one of the SkyTeam alliance members.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says that her department's priority this year will be to continue to encourage a US economic recovery through the efficient, yet secure, movement of people and goods across its national borders.

A pledge that is expected to have direct bearing on security measures for the air freight industry, which is proving an on going controversy.

A report by Air Cargo World cited Ms Napolitano as saying in her annual department address that a risk-based approach should be the guiding principal of proposed trusted-shipper programmes and future cargo regulations.

According to Ms Napolitano, international partnerships and air cargo information sharing are becoming as important as the actual physical screening of air cargo itself.

The best hope for the industry, the report claims, is the voluntary Air Cargo Advanced Screening programme, which is now in its pilot phase and accepts advanced electronic bills of lading data from forwarders and carriers in order to identify in advance of entry high-risk cargo. The ACAS pilot establishes lines of communication with forwarders and carriers in order to provide shipment data about air cargo destined for the US.

The ACAS pilot programme has three phases. The first phase reviewed shipment information from express carriers. The next phase concentrates on scanning data from passenger airlines and forwarders, and the third phase focuses on data submitted by all-cargo airlines, it said.

It added that despite the ACAS programme having no existing mandate through regulation, legislation has been proposed by Congress to require the advanced screening of shipment data before departure. There is also talk of a proposed rule that may be introduced by the end of the year.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

THE general rate increases slated for March 1 appear to have been a success as Asia-Europe spot rates soared 71 per cent to US$1,412 per TEU, up $586 from the week before, according to the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI).

The latest rate hike follows an increase of $115 per TEU the week before last, bringing the increase to $701 in just two weeks, up 98.5 per cent from the rate quoted on February 17.

Rates from Asia to the Mediterranean saw a similar leap of 63 per cent to $1,416 per TEU.

Despite the sharp increases on the Europe and Mediterranean trades, rates to the US east and west coasts continued to creep down last week.

Asia-US east coast fell dipped by 0.2 per cent to $2,916 per FEU, while Asia-US west coast rates slipped 0.8 per cent to $1,759 per FEU.

Across all trades covered by the index the SCFI rose 19.1 per cent to 1163.96 points.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

MARSEILLES shipping giant, CMA CGM, has raised Asia-Europe westbound rates for shipments from all Asian ports to all European destinations and North Africa by US$408 per TEU and $806 per FEU effective April 1.

The breakdown of the total increase includes the existing interim fuel surcharge of $550 per TEU will be increased by $30 per TEU. The Aden Gulf surcharge of $54 per TEU will be reinstated, the Suez Canal surcharge will be increased to $14 per TEU, the container security fee of $10 per container will be reinstated and an emergency revenue increase of $300 per TEU will be added on top of all quotations.

Meanwhile, CMA CGM also said it will increase eastbound north Europe-Asia rates by $100 per TEU from March 19, applying to dry and low value commodity cargo.

The world's two largest carriers Maersk and MSC has announced the similar April rate increases earlier, and it is believed that most carriers will follow this second round of general rate increases (GRI) after the successful action of GRI in March.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

IN the second MSC ship accident since the MSC Rena ran aground off New Zealand in October, the MSC-operated 4,437-TEU Carole has run aground on a reef off Jakarta, where it remains after unsuccessful attempts to refloat it.

Slot buyer APL issued a statement to customers: "Maersk Line has advised that all crew members are safe and no oil spillage has been observed. The extent of damage to the vessel and/or cargo has not yet been ascertained."

Confusion arose as the MSC ship was deployed on a Maersk Line service under a vessel sharing agreement, reported Lloyd's List, adding that Maersk has since said its responsibility extended to container stowage, not navigation.

APL notice to customers said: "Your cargo is on board the vessel. Unfortunately, this incident is likely to delay delivery. We will keep you informed once we receive further updates."

The February 27 grounding follows several MSC containership accidents in recent years, starting with the loss of the 4,688-TEU MSC Napoli in the English Channel in 2007, followed by the collision of the 2,314-TEU MSC Chitra with a 33,113-ton bulk carrier in 2010 on the Hoogly River channel into Calcutta, and last October's loss of the MSC 3,037-TEU Rena off New Zealand's North Island.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News

HONG KONG's Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has announced it will increase the rates on its southeast Asia-Australia services by US$200 per TEU with effect from April 1.

The increase is applicable to shipments from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Indian subcontinent and Middle East to Australia, according to a company statement.

Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
 

The magazine SEA has been published since 1935
International business magazine JŪRA MOPE SEA has been published since 1999
The first magazine in Eurasia in the four languages: English, Chinese, Russian and Lithuanian


Address:

International business magazine JŪRA MOPE SEA
Minijos str. 93, LT-93234 Klaipeda, Lithuania
Phone/Fax: +370 46 365753
E-mail: news@jura.lt
www.jura.lt

 


Publisher:

Ltd. Juru informacijos centras


The magazine JŪRA has been published since 1935.
International business magazine JŪRA MOPE SEA has been
published since 1999.

ISSN 1392-7825

2017 © www.jura.lt