QATAR has introduced a "single window" facility for sea freight, speeding up clearance and facilitating proper tracking of consignments, which also helps stop fake products from reaching market, reports the Gulf Times.
Qatar Customs has now made it mandatory for all importers to obtain HS Code or Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, an international system for classifying traded products and link it to their Commercial Registration (CR) and import licence, said the report.
The system exists for sea freight, and will shortly apply to air freight. "No Qatar-based importer is allowed to bring in consignments without the HS code now. Also, importers will have to register with Qatar Customs for the single window facility," a source told Gulf Times.
Importers polled liked "single window" facility, saying it had made clearance faster. Since HS code is now compulsory for sea freight to Qatar, only authorised agents can clear consignments.
This means, only "genuine" products are allowed into the market. As the whole process is tracked, counterfeit products will be seized immediately, said the report.
Also, products that do not tag the place of their manufacturer or country of origin will be "rejected outright and sent back", said a clearing agent. "The whole process is transparent and efficient. I will not be able to clear my sea freight, if I don't have the HS Code entered into my CR, which is filed with Qatar Customs, I will only be allowed to import products that are shown in my CR. It is all online and nobody can play with it. Everything is accounted for."
The HS Code is an international system of names and numbers for classifying traded products created by the World Customs Organisation and used in determining tariffs on items shipped internationally.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
INTERNATIONAL Airlines Group (IAG), the merged British Airways-Iberia carrier, announced that cargo traffic in March fell by 2.9 per cent in March as an 11.2 per cent decline at the Spanish airline outweighed a 0.9 per cent drop with its bigger UK partner.
However, the group's cargo revenue rose by 3.5 per cent on a 2.2 per cent increase in capacity that pushed up the load factor by one point to 73.7 per cent.
BA's cargo traffic grew 0.5 per cent in the first quarter, while Iberia's slumped by 11.2 per cent, mainly due to a pilots' strike and the weak Spanish economy.
"Our Spanish operation continues to be impacted by the ongoing threat of industrial action ... and further deterioration of Spanish macroeconomic prospects in the short term," IAG said.
Iberia pilots have threatened to strike every Monday and Friday until July to protest the launch of a new cost carrier Iberia Express.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
VIRGIN Atlantic Cargo has appointed SkyXS as its first-ever general sales agent in Poland.
From Poland, the carrier has commenced daily trucking services to London to connect with its wide-body flights to the US, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Customers will now have access to Virgin Atlantic Cargo's network of 350 destinations around the world, a company statement said.
"Many of the manufacturers in Poland work with Virgin Atlantic Cargo in other regions so we have been closely monitoring the Poland market since we extended our GSA coverage to Hungary and Czech Republic in 2010," said Virgin Atlantic Cargo sales vice president Nick Jones.
Since being founded in 2002, the SkyXS Group has bolstered its presence with the acquisition of the Central and eastern European branches of the Danish group WECO in 2006, which were renamed under the ASN brand. At present, SkyXS and ASN operate in 13 countries, generating gross revenues in excess of EUR40 million (US$52.46 million).
Ger Daniels, managing director of SkyXS, said: "Adding Virgin Atlantic Cargo to our network in Poland is a perfect reinforcement of our airline portfolio in terms of carriers and their networks. It's a great honour for us to sign our first GSA contract with Virgin Atlantic Cargo. I believe the airline has made a good choice in deciding to extend its Central and Eastern European cargo network to serve Poland's growing economy."
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
SEATTLE's Alaska Airlines has joined Portland, Oregon's Banfield Pet Hospital to offer its passengers consultation for pet transport and discount on health certificates required for pets travelling as baggage or in bellyholds.
With 800 pet hospitals in 43 states, Banfield offers Alaska Airline customers a free office visit, travel consultation and a US$10 discount on compulsory health certificates.
Of the 83,000 pets transported through Alaska's system without the alternative choice of road or rail transport, the carrier is flexible allowing small animals in the cabin or as carry-on baggage if the kennel can fit under the seat at $100 each way, said Alaska spokeswoman Marianne Lindsey. Unaccompanied animals are treated as air cargo with rates varying due to distance and pet size.
It requires nut-and-bolt fasteners to hold kennel doors closed during flight in line with its codeshare carriers' American and Delta airlines. It also restricts pet travel if the weather is too hot or cold at destination or origin.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
2012-04-13
The excursion season in the Odessa port was open practically at the same time with tourist, at the end of the last month: On March 26 - calling of a motor ship of MELODY, on March 23 – bus sightseeing tours on OMTP territory for groups of frontier guards and the Moscow tourists. Now interest to excursion services of department of tourism of GP "OMTP" only grows: for the first decade of April from 7 planned 6 bus excursions «The Odessa port are carried out: yesterday, today, tomorrow» together with sightseeing tours on the 7th floor of marina «Seventh sky». And demands continue to arrive, though weather yet summer! On the 20th and May holidays there are a lot of wishing to go to the Vorontsovsky beacon, on the route developed in last year «A track of a mayachnik». The manager of service of tourism, development and external relations of GP "OMTP" Tatyana Yakovleva connects the reason of growing popularity of excursion port routes with new, attractive to tourist groups, conditions: a complex dinner after excursion at preferential prices at restaurant «the Grandee Europe» at marina and a port dining room of a mall "Wave". The joint idea of department of tourism and shopping mall "Volna" administration in literal sense suited to tourists to taste. First, in port it is tasty prepare, and secondly, in the city a complex dinner in cost of 15-20 UAH. you will not find. And nonresident groups, anyway, need to organize a food in Odessa. Therefore the season novelty – bus excursion plus a dinner – by all means will be pleasant to guests of the Southern Palmira.
Source Odessa Commercial Sea Port
The 9th car of the fourth high-speed electric train for interregional transportations of production of the HYUNDAI ROTEM company is unloaded from a vessel and established on rails at 0.20 on April 12. The deputy executive director of the stevedorinf company "Olimpex Kupe International" reported about it on operation Sergey Pastukh. Thereby the stevedore company finished unloading of all 18 cars of THOR COMMANDER delivered to a motor ship (a flag – Antigua and Barbuda). Having gained experience when processing the first vessel with the Korean electric trains (LE LI, a flag China, in the middle of March), dockers and specialists-ekspluatatsionniki of the stevedore company released THOR COMMANDER holds more operatively. It, despite difficulties of weather conditions. Since morning on April 12 the created electric train is at Odessa port station waiting for departure on Zastava-1 station. There it will be prepared for further movement to Kharkov.
Source Odessa Commercial Sea Port
Bendra AB „Vakarų laivų gamykla“ ir Norvegijos bendrovės „Fiskerstrand Verf AS“ kompanija „Fiskerstrand BLRT AS“ sudarė sutartį su Norvegijos keltų operatoriumi „Boreal Transport Nord AS“ dėl trijų naujų dvipusių automobilinių keltų statybos.
Trims skirtingoms šiaurės Norvegijos perkėloms skirti keltai bus pristatyti 2013 m. rudenį ir pradėti eksploatuoti nuo 2014 m. sausio 1 d. Su „Fiskerstrand BLRT AS“ pasirašyta statybos sutartis, taip pat numato galimybę pristatyti ketvirtą laivą iki 2014 m. sausio mėn. pabaigos.
Keltų paslaugas užsakė Nordlando apskrities savivaldybė, o „Boreal Transport Nord AS“ eksploatuos laivus ir teiks transportavimo paslaugas. Įskaitant naujuosius, „Boreal Transport Nord AS“ iš viso eksploatuoja šešis keltus keturiose Nordlando apskrities perkėlose.
„Tai yra mūsų pirma sutartis su „Boreal Transport Nord AS“ ir mes vertiname šią kompaniją, kaip naują užsakovą bei labai įdomų transporto operatorių Norvegijoje“, - teigia „Fiskerstrand BLRT AS“ vadovas Rolfas Fiskerstrandas.
„Keltų statybos sutartys buvo tarptautinio konkurso objektas, todėl galimybė jas pasirašyti su „Fiskerstrand BLRT AS“ įrodo mūsų konkurencingumą. Renkantis laivų statytoją mes remiamės bendru įvertinimu. Be to atsižvelgiame į kainą, pristatymo laiką, taip pat ne mažiau svarbi mums yra patirtis“, - teigia „Boreal Transport Nord AS“atstovas Kjetil Fiorsvoll.
Dėl naujai statomų laivų ženkliai padidės dabartinių perkėlų pajėgumai. Pasak „Boreal Transport Nord AS“ projektų vadovo Bjorn Arne Bjerke, kiekviename iš naujųjų laivų tilps 50 keleivinių automobilių ir iki 249 žmonių.
Keltuose bus sumontuoti išmetamuosius teršalus mažinantys dyzeliniai varikliai bei efektyvios korpuso formos, kurios leis ženkliai pagerinti poveikį aplinkai, atsižvelgiant į laivo tonažą. Du keltai turi uždarą mašinų skyriaus denį, skirtą eksploatacijai C klasės vandenų plotuose, tuo tarpu trečiasis yra atviro tipo, skirtas eksploatacijai vandenų plotuose, priskirtuose D klasei.
Šaltinis AB "Vakarų laivų gamykla"
Chopin Airport handled nearly 696,000 travellers in March 2012, a 4.8% increase year-on-year.
In terms of passengers handled, the third month of 2012 was the second best March in the airport’s history, falling slightly short of its all time high of 714,500 recorded in 2008.
The number of passenger aircraft movements fell to 9,600, a 1.9% fall on the same month last year.
Since the beginning of 2012, Chopin Airport has served 1.88m passengers, 5.5% more than in the first three months of 2011. Domestic and international traffic grew to 267,000 (+15.8%) and 1.62 million (+4%) respectively.
Source Warsaw Chopin Airport
HONG KONG's OOCL has announced it will add Shanghai and Los Angeles to its Pacific Atlantic Express (PAX) service's eastbound port calls and drop Shenzhen-Shekou and Hong Kong.
The transpacific westbound route is Halifax, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Manzanillo, Los Angeles, Oakland, Yokohama, Kobe, Kaohsiung, Shenzhen-Yantian, Shanghai-Yangshan and Nagoya. Westbound voyages from Halifax will start on April 9 on OOCL's London Express 70w13 loop, said the carrier.
Its transpacific eastbound route will call at Kaohsiung, Shenzhen-Yantian, Shanghai-Yangshan, Kobe, Nagoya, Tokyo, Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles, Manzanillo, Savannah, Norfolk, New York and Halifax. The eastbound voyage from Shenzhen-Yantian will commence on May 9 on its Seoul Express 01E19 loop.
Additionally, OOCL said Seattle will be dropped and replaced by Tacoma from July 1.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
CHINA Shipping Line has launched China-Thailand-Japan CTJ1 service from Shenzhen's Shekou Container Terminals (SCT).
The CTJ1 southbound loop calls at SCT every Sunday on the following port rotation: Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Busan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Shekou and Leam Chabang, a statement from the terminal operator said.
The CTJ1 northbound loop calls at SCT every Thursday on a port rotation of Leam Chabang, Guangzhou-Nansha, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Shekou, Xiamen, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya and Busan.
The first vessel to be deployed on the new service was the Najade, which departed from Shenzhen's Shekou Container Terminals (SCT) on April 2.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
CONTAINER shipping companies have proved to be remarkably resilient despite suffering industry-wide operating losses totalling more than US$6 billion last year.
According to a survey by Alphaliner, three small carriers, TCC, Yanghai Shipping and Johan Shipping with a combined market share of only 0.2 per cent filed for insolvency last year.
Although most major carriers appear to have successfully weathered the storm of 2011, a number continue to struggle under high indebtedness and committed capital spending obligations.
The survey showed that fresh capital injections may be required to keep some of the companies solvent. It's estimated that total short-term funding needs for container carriers could reach $20 billion in the current year based on the companies' estimated debt repayment and finance cost requirements.
Only four out of the 17 carriers surveyed reported healthy leverage ratios last year with net debt-to-EBITDA of below seven fold. Eight out of 17 major carriers reported negative EBITDA cash flow earnings with almost half being unable to service interest payments from cash flow and had to raise cash by selling shares, borrowing or selling assets.
Apart from the three Japanese carriers - MOL, NYK and "K" Line - all of the other majors have had outstanding capital expenditure on new ships that need to be paid in the next three years, which further strains balance sheets.
Among the most leveraged carriers, Zim faces the highest liquidity risk with debts of $2.5 billion against a shareholders' equity of $351 million as at the end of last year. It also has obligations of $1.7 billion on the outstanding balance on 13 ships due to be delivered in 2015.
Zim was forced to sell its stake in a Nigerian container terminal for $154 million last year to raise cash. The company's shareholders, Israel Corp and the Ofer Group, it had to contribute $150 million of subordinated loans in the last three months to bolster the firm's finances.
Despite this, Zim still faces a potential cash shortfall despite the fact that it has received waivers from its creditors from its debt covenants - it still has about $819 million of short-term debt due this year which needs to be financed.
Despite the weak liquidity position for some of the carriers, none of the main carriers are expected to sink into bankruptcy, the survey showed, adding that operating margins are improving rapidly due to the successful implementation of rate increases on the key Asia-Europe and transpacific trade lanes in the last two months.
Even in the event of a sustained slump, existing stakeholders are expected to step in to rescue the carriers. The shipping lines with high gearing ratios including Yang Ming, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Hanjin Shipping and Zim are all expected to receive stakeholder support given the importance of these firms to their respective local interests.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
TROUBLED Horizon Lines has reached a deal with Ship Finance International Limited (SFL) to return five ships it had chartered, but laid up in the Philippines.
Under the agreement, the shipping company and logistics operator will give a 10 per cent stake in the company to SFL plus a US$40 million bond to end the charter.
The five 2,824-TEU Hunter class ships were used by Horizon in its transpacific service that made a stop in Guam on the westbound leg, reported American Shipper. Originally Horizon had chartered the space on the ships for the eastbound leg to Maersk, but when that agreement expired in 2010, it started its own service from China to the United States. It was discontinued last year when freight rates plummeted and Guam volumes were lower than expected.
America's biggest shipping line, Horizon Line, of Charlotte, North Carolina, faced serious financial trouble in February 2011 after it was hit with a US Justice Department price fixing fine of $45 million - later cut to $15 million - as well as class action awards to shippers of more than $13 million. Near bankrupt, it was de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange.
Subsidiaries of SFL will release Horizon from its remaining charter obligations, totalling $220.8 million over seven years.
Horizon said its earnings and cash flows will be improved by the termination of $32 million in annual vessel charter obligations for the five ships leased from SFL, as well as the elimination of about $3 million in annual lay up costs for the idle vessels.
Horizon also announced it has completed transactions with 99 per cent of its noteholders, cutting the company's debt by $188.4 million.
"These transactions successfully close a chapter in the history of Horizon Lines that we have been working diligently to complete for these past many months," said Horizon acting CEO Stephen Fraser.
"Horizon Lines moves forward today from a stronger financial position that will enable us to better focus on customers in our core Jones Act trades and to invest in the future of our business."
In another development, Horizon said it will reduce the size of its board from 11 to seven, effective immediately. Jeffrey Brodsky is succeeding departing Alex Mandl as chairman. In addition to Mr Mandl, William Flynn, Bobby Griffin, and Carol Hallett will also depart. Mr Fraser will remain CEO on an interim basis until a new chief is named.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
ASIA-EUROPE westbound container traffic increased 15.6 per cent in February to 2.8 million TEU year on year while eastbound volume was up 8.8 per cent to 1.8 million TEU, according to the latest Container Trade Statistics (CTS).
CTS, which collates data from major carriers, said February numbers looked good because of the timing of Chinese New Year's factory shutdown in January last year. The holiday fell in February in 2012.
Transatlantic February volumes increased 10.6 per cent eastbound to 1.2 million TEU while westbound volume went up 21.7 per cent to 1.4 million TEU.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
THE Long Beach City Prosecutor's Office said that Pacific Coast Container (PCC) after pleading no contest will pay a US$460,000 for 47 counts transporting overweight loads through Long Beach.
"Overweight vehicles are unsafe for our roads," City Prosecutor Doug Haubert said. "They are dangerous because they create potholes for motorists and they can't brake in time when traffic slows."
The report said the City Prosecutor's Office filed the case in early January after earlier attempts were made to persuade Oakland-based PCC and its affiliate trucking companies to follow the rules for vehicles. It noted that fines for overweight commercial vehicles are based on excessive weight. PCC's loads were alleged to be, in most cases,10,000 pounds or more overweight.
"Some of these loads were dangerously overweight," said Deputy City Prosecutor Chad Salzman, who handled the case. He had described PCC in a statement in January as being "the most egregious violator we have seen".
The report noted that aside from being dangerous companies that frequently ignore the rules on overloading gain a competitive advantage over companies that operate within the law.
"Strict enforcement of the law will ensure a truly competitive environment," said Mr Haubert. "It is not fair to those who abide by the law to compete against those who ignore it. This penalty should send a strong message to other companies that they need to comply with the law, especially when public safety is at stake."
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
PORTS of Auckland in New Zealand has announced an unaudited net profit of NZ$18.6 million (US$15.2 million) for the six months ending December 31, 2011.
The result includes NZ$4.8 million in after tax gains that are not expected to reoccur. Removing those gains, the underlying profit for the first half of the port's financial year amounted to NZ$13.8 million, down from NZ$14 million profit recorded in the same period a year earlier.
Revenue rose by nine per cent year on year to NZ$96.6million, while operating costs excluding depreciation increased by NZ$5.7 million, or 11.5 per cent.
Total container volume during the period under review rose slightly by 0.2 per cent year on year to 454,234 TEU. Within this result, full import container volume grew by 1.7 per cent to 169,557 TEU, which a statement from port authorities said reflected a "relatively subdued economic environment".
First half transshipment volumes were down 6.3 per cent year on year. Bulk and breakbulk volumes stood at 1,897,094 tonnes, up only 0.9 per cent year on year.
The gains reflected in the first half results, which are not expected to reoccur include a change in shipping schedules which created a 20 per cent increase in empties for the period; revenue from salvage services provided during the grounding of the container ship Rena in the Bay of Plenty.
A record number of cruise ships for the Rugby World Cup; a 14 per cent increase in vehicle imports influenced by the Japan earthquake and the introduction of stricter emission standards on Japanese imports from January 1 2012; and prior period taxation adjustment due to timing.
Expectations for the second half of the financial year are described by port authorities as being "uncertain given the costs of industrial action and associated loss of business".
Said port CEO Tony Gibson: "It's been a challenging period for the business. Second half results will be impacted by decreased container volume associated with recent industrial action and loss of the Maersk and Fonterra services."
The port authority has been engaged in a long dispute with the Maritime Union over the port's proposal to introduce flexible docker shifts to prevent wages from escalating.
The row over wages has prompted rolling strikes and lock-outs. However, both parties have resumed negotiations after an Employment Court judge granted an injunction and the port's management abandoned a plan to hire external stevedoring contractors.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
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