Maritime

Heads of less than container load and finance and a maritime director are appointed.

Never-ending peak season may finally be peaking as shippers rush in goods; shipowners tallying up the cost of scrubbers.

The European Union has solidified its position to create a technology platform that will allow ocean carriers to report standard data to port authorities.

Joint control over the airline by Air France-KLM, Delta and the Virgin Group will not impede air cargo competition on the continent, the European Commission said.

The Schulte Group has acquired a majority stake in TecHullClean Ltd. (THC). Schulte said in a  press release that the acquisition will expand the range of its underwater ship inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) solutions.

Maersk says it will expand the technology behind its customs house brokerage business as well as developing its integrated logistics business.

Customs house brokerage is a “sticky” service, and that’s what makes it attractive.

Backed by CI Capital, the Chicago-based company already has made two acquisitions this year.

Leading dry bulk operator lists out upsets in iron ore and soybean trade as shipping rates slide on weak China demand.

From sales to science, a slew of appointments take place in the U.S. and U.K.

Friday 15 February will be the day that some ships departing British ports, for six-week journeys across the globe, will need to know whether Britain is subject to a no-deal Brexit or is continuing as a member of the European Union and therefore which what documents to carry with them.

Deal for intermodal brokerage and logistics firm comes amid strong growth in Pacific Northwest market.

Maersk makes a move for Vandergrift Inc. as it steps up its efforts to become a genuine door-to-door operator.

Container shipping line Maersk will move 16 containers on river Ganges (National Waterway-1) from Varanasi to Kolkata in India on February 12, marking the entry of commercial shipping players in India’s nascent inland water transport network.

Maersk said its purchase will increase its North American customs staff from 80 to 250.

European ocean carrier needed approval from continent’s governing anti-trust body before taking offer to public shareholders.

The New Jersey-based less-than-truckload carrier plans for an “orderly wind-down of its operations.”

But Hyundai Merchant Marine saw growing revenue and a smaller operating loss in the fourth quarter.

NS invokes precision scheduled railroading as its seeks to match peer performance and lower its operating ratio.

The offer is for 30 Swiss francs per share, which values the Swiss company at 1.67 billion francs.

The global 3PL’s current chief operating officer will succeed John Wiehoff, who will retain his role as chairman of the board.

After more than five years of negotiations, the pact includes an immediate 17.72 percent pay raise, the union says.

The container is 100 percent recyclable and is touted to need repairs less often than one with a wooden floor.

Shippabo has created its own version of a fixed-rate contract, which helps small and mid-sized shippers gain access to direct-to-carrier contracts, allowing them to cut their shipping costs and secure reliable capacity.

The two firms will create a multimodal logistics company with more than $1 billion in freight under management.

The commission concluded the acquisition would not raise competition concerns.

United Nations report says trade is flowing to countries not involved in the dispute; Asia-to-Europe boxship trade is oversupplied.

The company’s Latin American container handling grew 23 percent year-over-year.

The first-of-its-kind retrofitting will have the battery sufficiency to allow the Hagland Shipping AS vessel to sail in and out of harbor on electric power for about 30 minutes.

A noticeable change in the pattern of trade is underway at Australia’s second biggest box port, Sydney’s Port Botany. Botany handled more boxes in the last calendar year than in 2017  – but those boxes arrived and departed on fewer, although larger, container ships.

Overcapacity and low utilization rates have plagued the Asia to Europe trades for some years, and with a further 1.1 million TEU capacity set to be delivered between now and the end of 2020, the supply and demand ratio is expected to affect freight rates up to the end of 2022.

The Airforwarders Association has found that direct participation by smaller forwarders in the Air Cargo Advanced Screening program remains minimal.

The International Air Transportation Association expects a slightly higher figure — 3.7 percent growth — in 2019.

Hawaii’s only Public Utilities Commission-regulated inter-island water carrier anticipates filing for another rate case in 2019, company president says.

The Food and Drug Administration has started accepting applications to develop a system to identify and trace certain drugs as they’re distributed within the U.S.

Cost of all-water transit could rise as higher price, low-sulfur fuel comes into play; Maersk offers a peak in the fridge.

Pacific carrier appoints VP, manufacturer hires sales chief, Hong Kong-based company expands focus and port authority gets new head of communications.

NYK Bulk & Projects Carrier’s order is for 25 bulk carriers, and BW LPG will have 12 LPG carriers retrofitted.

Queensland’s Port of Brisbane handled just under 1.4 million twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU) shipping containers in the last calendar year. Just under 29 per cent of all boxes handled were empty, according to the port’s trade statistics.

Lots of ideas for federal funding of infrastructure at Capitol Hill hearing, but the “pay-for” question still looms.

Reefer technology is changing fast and the internet of things is helping to accelerate changes to the industry. Maersk has launched an upgrade to its reefer container management system that includes the virtual sailor, captain Peter.

CEO Jens Bjørn Andersen tells analysts consolidation makes sense in an “extremely fragmented” 3PL industry.

All three grew fourth-quarter revenue by at least 6 percent compared to 2017, but net income dipped.

The new assessment increased by more than 50 to at least 345 containers lost from the early January incident in the North Sea.

All-in rates on the way out as new surcharge formulas on the way in as ocean carriers work on ways to share cost burden with customers.

Industry veterans are promoted and board members are selected.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission has adjusted its civil penalty amounts to account for inflation, as required annually by the 2015 Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act.

LNG shipments to Puerto Rico caught in the middle of latest battle over the Jones Act maritime regulation.

Rail operator Aurizon has completed the sale of its Queensland Intermodal Business to privately owned Australian logistics company Linfox. The Queensland Intermodal Business delivers general cargo for more than 300 customers across the state and includes a wide variety of freight including groceries, white goods and general goods.  

Maritime 2050 is the United Kingdom’s flagship maritime policy that Transport Minister Chris Grayling hopes will launch Brtish industry into a leadership role in shipping. However, the policy is short on specifics and there is no development money.

Drewry says carriers will focus on making sure they can recover higher fuel costs.

The European Commission cites competition concerns for blocking the proposed deal on Wednesday.

Georgia lays out the welcome mat for the largest containership with new gear; Maersk CEO looks to land for next deals.

Captain Peter will be integrated into the remote container management platform during the first half of the year.

VesselsValue says China still has the most valuable container fleet despite also seeing the largest drop in worth.

The funding increases the Chicago-based startup’s total capital raised to $100.5 million and comes less than a year after it gained $35 million in backing.

Vessel discharge of the Ever Summit, which struck a crane on Jan. 28, is expected to be completed by Thursday morning.

The Port of Cork is developing a new state-of-the-art container terminal, which is expected to be open for business in 2020, 10 kilometers downstream, leaving the old Tivoli port area available for urban regeneration.

The port authority says the project proposed by Fraser Surrey Docks failed to show substantial progress on construction had been made by Nov. 30, one of 83 conditions.

Record-breaking year also showed strains in supply chains as busiest U.S. East Coast port.

The Class I railroad says it has seen an increase in efficiency and improvement in quality of customer service since implementing scheduled railroading.

The containership’s 16 sister vessels also are technically prepared for retrofitting.

Australia’s busiest box port, the Port of Melbourne, broke the three million mark in handling twenty-foot-equivalent unit (TEU) shipping containers in the last calendar year. It is likely the first time that any port anywhere in Australia has handled three million TEU in any twelve month period whether that’s on a running month, financial year, or calendar year basis.

An industrial dispute between the local longshoremen’s union, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), and stevedoring company, Hutchison Ports, is intensifying. A one day strike is now taking place.

It’s a growth story at Western Australia’s main container port, Fremantle Ports (Freo), with just under 10 percent growth of international shipping container traffic in the last calendar year. Stevedoring at the port is also up for tender.

Swiss foundation owning 46 percent of Panalpina does not support offer from Denmark’s DSV.

Shipping line’s executive vice president of trade says U.S. trucking and rising ship fuel expenses are other concerns.

The investments could facilitate new trade lanes despite looming economic uncertainty.

A Hapag-Lloyd ship that caught fire early in January is now moored off Freeport, Bahamas.

Uncertainty over whether refineries are doing enough to plan for marine fuel switch pushes up premium for low-sulfur product.

Volumes tapered off in the fourth quarter, growing 4.2 percent year-over-year.

Upheaval caused by the U.S.-China trade war has some freight interests uneasy about giving Trump more tariff power.

Five-year high in growth seen last year thanks to tariff front-loading and tight truck supply, but shippers likely to put brakes on growth this year.

It was only one trade and the comparisons to diesel prices are less than perfect. But there now is an actual transaction that reflects a value for now of what fuel might do under IMO2020.

New container service provides Florida greater and cheaper access to Asia’s exporters; start-up aims to reduce per-diem fees on containers.

Korea Development Bank is taking steps to merge Daewoo Shipbuilding and Hyundai Heavy Industries, but says Samsung may bid.

Containerships remain the top vessel, but the canal has seen an increase in LPG and LNG carriers since the expansion opened in June 2016.

Class 1 railroad warns of slowdown in shipments through major intermodal hubs as tracks crack under severe cold.

In partnership with Reliance Partners …When incurring demurrage and detention charges, shippers and carriers lose out on hundreds of dollars per diem. Optimizing drayage operations and dispatching cargo as quickly as possible could help in reducing the burden, especially during unanticipated port delays.

It’s Northern California versus Southern California traffic as port displays turn times; Brexiting remains bad for business, shipowners warn.

The joint venture of Japan’s three largest shipping companies said it benefited from the rush to get cargo into the U.S. ahead of threatened tariff increase.

A new CEO steps in and a president is tapped to deepen relationships in the energy sector.

New Zealand’s Ports of Auckland has been conditionally granted funds to buy hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as part of a wider project to build a hydrogen fuel production plant. That second project, in turn, is part of a bigger project to transform New Zealand into an electricity-powered economy.

Additional pipeline capacity from West Texas means filling bigger ships with crude oil; New Zealand steering away from carbon economy.

Railway officials discussed plans to grow intermodal cargo and develop the Nova Scotia port during this week’s earnings call.

Technology developments are aiding ports, but business models also need to evolve.

Port handled 9.5 million TEUs in 2018 and believes technology can help solve “persistent systemic problems.”

Three company veterans are promoted and a logistics specialist is named chairman of the board.

Class 1 railroads may have to shorten train lengths and reduce speeds to cope with cold, while drayage supply will also be tight.

Dam collapse could pinch amount of ore heading to water; container crane falls on ship in Canada; Australian port tries to go clean.

Shippers in the transpacific trade should consider moving more of their cargo under contract rates and look at joining a shippers association or buying group because of the trade war […]

No injuries were reported in the incident, which occurred early Monday morning, but both the crane and Evergreen ship sustained damage.

IPS Worldwide bankruptcy filing is another critical reminder that shippers need to better manage their accounts payable.

One of the world’s largest coal export ports, the Port of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, has announced it is committing to the EcoPorts global environmental and sustainability standards.

The roughly U.S. $250 million purchase of the Toronto-based business is expected to close in February.

Appointments announced by CMA CGM Group, Columbia Shipmanagement, Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Experts said that lashing failures were the most likely cause of the container stack failures when the MSC Zoe lost around 280 containers in a storm on 2 January this year. But MSC maintains that accident investigations are continuing.

Swiss freight forwarder says 2021 strategic plan should make Ceva worth more as independent company.

CEVA’s board says the offer is friendly but shareholders may do better if they hold onto their shares.