THE effect of piracy globally, off Somalia and increasingly in the waters of Benin and Nigeria, is a serious problem for seafarers who are constantly under threat, according to latest forum held in Manila.
The continuing threat of piracy on commercial shipping is of deep concern not only to seafarers and their families dealing with trauma over long periods of loved ones held hostage and post-traumatic stress for those captured, said members of The Seafarers Committee of the Asian Shipowners Forum.
"The situation continues to be a serious crisis, one that deeply affects the mental health of seafarers and their families as well as the carriage of world trade, said Seafarers Committee chairman Li Shanmin. "We demand, that the threat to our seafarers and their families is not forgotten, and that all possible is done to alleviate the situation."
Members of the ASF Seafarers Committee included the ASF secretary general and delegates from the shipowner associations in China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and FASA, as represented by the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. During the meeting, the committee also discussed other issues of concern to Asian shipowners.
The Asian Shipowners' Forum is a voluntary organisation of the shipowner associations of Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea and the Federation of ASEAN Shipowners' Associations comprising shipping associations of ASEAN countries. It has been estimated that ASF owners and managers control and operate nearly 50 per cent of the world's cargo carrying fleet.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
SAUDI ARABIA's the Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) the big container terminal at Jeddah Islamic Port, has been officially opened by Saudi Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry.
The number of containers received by the Saudi ports rose from 5.3 million units in 2010 to 5.7 million in 2011. This reflected positively on their revenue as it rose from SAR2.97 (US$792 million) to SAR3.3 billion during the same period.
"Red Sea Gateway is first of its kind in Saudi ports," said Mr Al-Seraisry, adding that the terminal has a high degree of professionalism, thus increasing the port's capacity and creating more jobs.
The terminal is run by the Saudi Industrial Services group SISCO-Red Sea Gateway and is the first privately funded, build operate and transfer (BOT) port development agreement in Saudi Arabia.
Mr Al-Seraisry thanked King Abdullah for his support to the terminal project as well as for his judicious directives to strengthen the kingdom's transport sector.
Abdul Aziz Al-Tuwaijri, chairman of Saudi Ports Authority, highlighted the development achieved by Saudi ports during the past years, adding that their capacity rose from 373 million tons in 2010 to 413 million tons in 2011, reported the Saudi news agency Arab News.
Covering over 500,000 square metres, the Red Sea Gateway Terminal was built to set a benchmark advancing other port terminals around the region, exploiting approaches such as intelligent design and layout, cutting-edge technologies and value-added logistics and capabilities, said the report.
Jeddah is at a strategic location, which makes it an obvious choice for access into the regional markets. But before the arrival of RSGT, it lacked both the capacity and the capability to handle the operational demands of shipping lines, and of course the new mega vessels, said the report.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
SINGAPORE's Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Transport, Choi Shing Kwok, has urged the maritime industry to make changes to meet increasing demands for greater efficiency and safety, while minimising costs and environmental impact.
Speaking at the opening of the MARSIM conference and exhibition at the Singapore Polytechnic, the minister told the 300 participants that the industry was faced with an "increasingly complex environment".
The global nature of shipping, together with challenging market conditions, requires the industry to constantly innovate to meet increasing demands, he said.
"More specialised and sophisticated ships are being built and coming on stream. At the same time, shipping and port operations have also become more complex to accommodate the growth in vessel sizes," he said.
Mr Choi pointed out that there is also a greater demand for environmentally sustainable designs and practices to be used for ships and ports. These advancements have been made possible by the industry's strong technology base, including within the maritime simulation community. He said training and operational planning were two areas where maritime simulation has played a key role in advancing Singapore's maritime industry.
"Our seafarers operate in an increasingly challenging environment on board more sophisticated ships plying in busier waterways where the margins for error are getting smaller. Training needs have consequently become more specialised and demanding. Many aspiring seafarers have to cut their teeth on a wide range of vessel types before they are allowed to operate on board an ocean-going ship. This is where simulators can play a useful role by providing seafarers with realistic training in a risk-free environment and within shorter training times," he said.
Mr Choi also said that seasoned seafarers can also return to more advanced ship simulators to refresh and upgrade their skills. "As technology advances and regulations evolve, ship simulators can also be used by designers and crew to test new ship designs and operational procedures before they are brought to sea," he added.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
AKTIV Aspac, the newest member of the Aktiv Group, together with Multi-Purpose Insurans (MPI) have introduced the Integrated Logistics Liability Insurance Programme (ILLIP) to the Federation of Malaysian Freight Forwarders.
This new programme is designed to outline the requirements and complexities of the Malaysian transport and logistics market.
In addition to this launch, the Federation of Malaysian Freight Forwarders (FFMF), Aktiv Aspac and Multi-Purpose Insurans entered an agreement. The signing ceremony was held at Premier Hotel Klang in the township of Bandar Bukit Tinggi and attended by 120 guests that included freight agents, logistics operators and representatives of forwarding associations based in Malaysia.
This agreement endorses Aktiv Aspac as the provider of freight forwarders' liabilities to all members of FFMF. Aktiv Aspac's specialty in marine cargo and logistics liabilities make it professionally viable to tailor the insurance schemes to suit the needs of FFMF's members.
The deal paves the way for strong collaboration and cooperation among the three partners by way of sharing expertise, knowledge and resources for the overall benefit of FFMF members.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
MARSEILLE-based French shipping giant, CMA CGM, and Dubai-Hong Kong based Emirates Shipping have joined in a vessel sharing agreement on two weekly loops linking the Middle East and east Africa starting May 11.
Deploying 1,700 to 2,200-TEU ships to jointly operate two services linking the Middle East and east Africa, it will be marketed as the Swahili Express 2 and the Swahili Express 3 by CMA CGM and as the Gulf-Mombasa Express (GMX) and the Gulf Dar es Salaam Express (GDX) by Emirates.
The fixed-day weekly services will follow a fixed-day rotation of Jebel Ali, Khor Fakkan, Mombasa, Zanzibar and back to Jebel Ali.
Trade to and from India is expected to benefit from the joint services through relay options over Khor Fakkan.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
INDONESIA Port Corporation (IPC), the largest port operator in Indonesia, is planning to invest US$2.47 billion in the development of Kalibaru Port, an extension to the existing Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta, Indonesia, according to UK's Port Technology International.
Upon completion in 2023, Kalibaru Port, or New Priok, will more than triple the annual capacity of Tanjung Priok from five million TEU to 18 million TEU.
IPC confirmed earlier this month that it had received approval from Indonesia's Presidential Regulation to begin works on the ambitious project, the port operator said in a statement.
The first phase of the project will include the installation of $1.38 billion worth of container terminal infrastructure and related equipment, while $730 million will be made available to construct the port's new petroleum product terminal. In addition, a further $305 million will be used to build toll roads, a power station and industrial area, with the remaining $50 million earmarked for other services.
IPC also said that further funding in the development of New Priok could come from outside investors and in the form of loans from national and international lenders.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
FOLLOWING the launch of its Bow Tie loss prevention initiative in January 2012, the UK P&I Club is now embarking on the publication of a series of Risk Focus booklets which highlight specific areas of risk.
This month (April) sees the publication of "Risk Focus: Slips, Trips and Falls", which according to the insurance organisation, represents nearly one in three of the large personal injury claims submitted and have amounted to US$155 million in loss over the past 10 years.
"They are constant with very little variation in numbers of claims from year to year. They represent pain and suffering of people who have been injured or killed because they have slipped, tripped or fallen aboard ship," said UK Club risk prevention director Karl Lumbers.
"Because of the huge costs of these claims and because of the human suffering represented by each of them, we strongly believe that a concerted attack must be made on the incidence of slips, trip and falls," he said.
As the Bow Tie project has already proven, a proactive and precautionary approach can be very useful and in this case should enable the UK Club to reduce the incidence of slips, trips and falls, firstly by identifying hazards which have the potential to harm.
"Just walking around the ship with a sharp eye and an open mind can identify features which might hurt people. It is often not the obvious like working with machinery that causes accidents. Rather, just moving around the ship, going up and down companionways and ladders, carrying weights or neglecting to keep 'one hand for the ship and one for yourself' are frequently behind very nasty accidents," Mr Lumbers said.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
CHINA posted a 6.1 per cent air cargo decline in March year on year to 68,400 tonnes, according to the latest figures issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, reports Xinhua.
In the same month, passenger volume climbed 8.6 per cent to 25.03 million persons. International passenger numbers increased 12.8 per cent. Total turnover of the air industry increased 4.2 per cent to 4.95 billion tonnes per kilometre.
In the first quarter, affected by the world's weakening economy, China's air freight volume dropped 7.4 per cent to 1.2 million tonnes. Domestic cargo fell 1.6 per cent. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau cargo fell 13.9 per cent. International cargo plunged 19 per cent.
But passenger volume grew 10.2 per cent year on year to 74.22 million persons. The industry's total turnover rose 4.9 per cent to 14.05 billion tonnes per kilometre. Domestic passengers grew 10.3 per cent. Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan passengers increased 11.2 per cent. International passengers increased 8.5 per cent.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
TENNESSEE's Forward Air Corp, which provides surface transport for air cargo, has posted a 30 per cent year on year first quarter profit increase to US$10.3 million drawn on revenues of $137.1 million, up 14.1 per cent.
The company attributed its first quarter results to "strong demand for our airport-to-airport service offering which was complemented by revenue growth from both our logistics group as well as our Forward Air Complete pickup and delivery product", said Forward Air president and CEO Bruce Campbell, reported the Knoxville New Sentinel.
The company expects revenue to rise eight to 12 per cent in the second quarter with a corresponding rise in profit, said chief financial officer Rodney Bell.
Despite this success, Forward Air was downgraded by a Baird analyst Benjamin Hartford from Outperform to Neutral because he doubted the company's shares would rise soon.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
FINAL operations of the Eagle Air Express Mail operations at Indianapolis International Airport will wind-up a 20-year lease at the end of the year, making room for another tenant, or several companies, to be housed in the 32,000-square metre warehouse and office facility.
The push is for another cargo handler with a focus on pharmaceuticals made in Indianapolis to offset dwindling passenger volumes which got an artificial boost of 2.4 per cent because of last year's Super Bowl.
The airport's aim is to double volumes of Indiana-made products and cargo handled through the airport in 2013 to capture the majority of cargo trucked out of the state compared to its measly one per cent of 104,000 tons handled at the airport, said the Airport Authority's chief financial officer Marsha Stone, reported the Indianapolis Star.
"The other 99 per cent is trucked out, and some goes to other airports, so that means we have a lot of opportunity," she said, hoping to support a growing niche for air cargo shipping of in time-sensitive and temperature-controlled items, much like the Roche diabetes treatment supplies made here and flown non-stop to markets in Europe in the vacant lot left by US Postal Service.
The warehouse boasts 45 loading docks used mostly as a trucking centre by the postal service for the last decade with its air portion given to FedEx, fast becoming its largest shipper at the airport.
Its strategic location next to the north side of the airfield and next to the Indianapolis Maintenance Centre and its 42 acres of surrounding concrete aircraft ramps and aprons means it can park a fleet of 60 Boeing 747, cited the report.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
Out-of-the-box action destined to create major leap forward in safety
The Hague, Netherlands - APM Terminals takes an unusual organizational step to further improve its safety culture: The Hague-based global port and inland operator, often highlighted and awarded as safety leader in the industry, has decided to assign one of its most experienced and trusted executives as an internal Safety Activist.
This organizational step, previously unseen in the port business, is described by APM Terminals’ CEO Kim Fejfer as a strategic move to achieve a major leap forward in safety. “The sole purpose of this new and unique type of executive assignment is to drive the company’s safety culture forward to a new degree of excellence. And we have found the best person possible for this task,” says Kim Fejfer.
The new special Safety Activist assignment has been awarded to Martin Poulsen, for the past six years CEO of APM Terminals’ Europe region. Mr. Poulsen is a true veteran of the port business, having been with APM Terminals since the company was established as an individual entity in 2001. He is broadly respected for his business experience, leadership excellence and vast insight in all aspects of operations.
Martin Poulsen will focus on mobilizing the global APM Terminals organization to address the constant safety challenges in the port operations. The work in global ports is often complex, and danger constantly prevails when large-scale machinery mix with dock labor and external trucks. Working in heights, extremely heavy lifts and the danger of falling objects adds to the risk. The recently issued Sustainability Report 2011 from APM Terminals openly stated that despite progress in the overall safety performance, APM Terminals has yet to achieve a significant reduction in fatal accidents.
“Our ambition at this point is to eradicate fatalities and severe incidents. What we need is the mindset of an activist, fighting for a just cause. And Martin Poulsen is the person to fully mobilize the organization in the daily battle against dangers in the workplace,” says Kim Fejfer.
The new role as Safety Activist is not a traditional executive job, but a temporary strategic assignment of a complex nature - and therefore best suited for an experienced executive with license to investigate and improve. APM Terminals will still uphold a permanent safety organization, but part of Mr. Poulsen’s internal activist duties will be to work closely with - and potentially develop - the existing safety team. After the assignment is completed he is expected to return to a high-level business line role.
Martin Poulsen himself states that the task of progressing safety culture and performance is “probably the most important challenge at this point in time in the port industry.
For my entire career I have been privileged to be involved in some of the most important areas of our business – growing the business substantially through business development as well as significantly improving day-to-day operations. Right now, I am honored and happy to offer my experience and full attention to the most important thing you can strive for: That everybody returns home safe from work.”
Source APM Terminals
2012-04-25
Airline company "Air Astana" presents a new direct flight to Astana-Tashkent, BNews.kz said citing the press service of the company.
"Direct flights from Astana to Tashkent will be performed 2 times a week on a new comfortable aircraft Embraer 190 since May 12, 2012," the statement read.
Earlier, the airline company announced the launch of direct domestic flights from Astana to Aktau and Shymkent.
Central Asian News Service, en.ca-news.org
Sustainably caught sea bass in the spotlight: today, the sea bass fishermen of the Association for Professional Rod-and-Line Fishermen in the Netherlands (VBHL) celebrated the start of its fishing season by presenting the first MSC-labelled [1] sea bass catch to Rupert Howes, MSC chief executive, at the European Seafood Exhibition in Brussels. The small-scale and traditional fishery was certified in December 2011, after the fishing season closed. Sander Buijs, of independent certifier SGS, formally presented the MSC certificate to Imre Schep, representative of the VBHL.
Mr Schep said after receiving the certificate: “The VBHL is proud to have the MSC-ecolabel. It has put our sustainable fishery on the map and that gives a very good feeling; a sense of recognition. Thanks to the certificate, we can discuss the management of the sea bass fishery with other parties. In this way, we hope to safeguard the sea bass fishery, not only for the present generation of fishermen but also for future generations. That is the great strength of MSC certification.”
About the fishery
The sea bass fishery is very traditional: the fishermen fish with rods, line and artificial or natural bait. During day trips, they anchor and fish at ship wrecks and other obstacles with two or three persons on one vessel. Immediately after catching, the fish is put on ice separately, guaranteeing its high quality. The light fishing gear and the selective manner of fishing ensures that impacts on other sea life are kept to a minimum: by-catch of other species, for example, hardly occur.
Besides the traditional fishing method, the sea bass fishery distinguishes itself by its small-scale character. At the moment, 21 small fishing vessels with a maximum length of 10 metres are active within the Association. Together, they catch around 75 tonnes of sea bass per year. The sea bass is auctioned in IJmuiden on the day it is caught.
Sea bass fishermen a good example for small-scale fisheries
Accepting the first MSC certified catch, Rupert Howes said: “My congratulations to the Dutch sea bass fishery for their hard work in achieving MSC certification. This fishery is part of a growing group of small-scale and traditional fisheries in our programme that have successfully secured the long term future of their fisheries and demonstrated their sustainability by achieving MSC certification. I wish them every success in the market.”
Source MSC
2012-04-25
The 8,100 TEU APL Finland represents the maiden voyage of the six-member shipping company alliance’s weekly Far East/Europe service to Scandinavia’s busiest container port.
Gothenburg, Sweden ‐ The recently established G6 Alliance has added direct service Gothenburg, Sweden to its weekly Far East/Europe port rotation with the first vessel call of the APL Finland at APM Terminals Gothenburg, the busiest container facility in Scandinavia.
The G6 Alliance was created in December 2011 through the consolidation of the New World Alliance member lines APL, of Singapore; Hyundai Merchant Marine, of South Korea; and Mitsui O.S.K, of Japan, with Grand Alliance member lines NYK, of Japan; OOCL, of Hong Kong; and Hapag-Lloyd, of Germany. The new alliance operates a combined fleet of more than 90 containerships on nine strings serving more than 40 ports in Northern Europe, the Mediterranean and the Far East.
The G6 weekly call is the second direct service linking Gothenburg with Asia, and will provide links to the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Ningbo, as well as Singapore in Southeast Asia; Jeddah on the Red Sea; Tangier, Morocco in the Mediterranean and Bremerhaven and Rotterdam in North Europe.
“We are very proud to welcome the G6” said APM Terminals Gothenburg Managing Director Keld Pedersen, adding “we have added two new liner services this year with MacAndrews (with service to the British Isles) and now the G6, which further strengthen our commercial service as the largest container terminal in the Scandinavian area.”
Gothenburg’s container terminal handled 810,000 TEUs in 2011, and as of January 4th has been operating as APM Terminals Gothenburg. The 25-year concession agreement calls for the investment over $15 million over the next five years, including three new super-post Panamax cranes as the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network establishes Gothenburg’s deep-water facility as a major North European hub for the growing Scandinavian and Baltic markets.
APM Terminals
OLT Express plans to introduce 17 new international flights from Warsaw starting October this year. Tickets can already be purchased online.
OLT Express, which has only been operating since April, took the Polish market by storm. Currently, the airline offers 27 domestic services to 10 Polish cities. As from the beginning of the 2012/13 Winter Season, the carrier also plans to add new international flights to its network, with as many as 17 operated from Warsaw.
OLT Express will offer daily flights to London Gatwick, Cologne/Bonn, Brussels, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Amsterdam and Memmingen. Three times a week passengers travelling from Warsaw will be able to fly to Paris Orly, Milan, Frankfurt Hahn (on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday), Lyon (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday), Rome Fumicino (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and Gothenburg (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday).
Twice a week OLT Express will fly to Venice and Saarbrucken (on Monday and Friday), as well as Verona and Munster/Osnabruck (Wednesday and Sunday).
Scheduled international services from Warsaw will be operated using Airbus320 aircraft accommodating up to 180 passengers
Warsaw Chopin Airport
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