Original news was published 26 October, 2017

National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) has taken delivery of Shaden, a very large crude carrier (VLCC), from South Korean Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HSHI) shipyard.

The 300,000 dwt ship is the fifth VLCC to join the Bahri fleet this year, following the deliveries of Amjad, Maharah, Aslaf and Rimthan.

Flying the flag of Saudi Arabia, Shaden features a length of 330 meters and a width of 60 meters.

Currently, the newbuilding has a market value of USD 81.39 million, according to data provided by VesselsValue.

The newly received vessel is one of the five VLCCs financed by Riyad Bank, Bahri said.

The commercial operation of Shaden is expected to begin in December 2017.

Bahri’s fleet currently comprises 88 vessels including 41 VLCCs, 36 chemical/product tankers, six multipurpose vessels and five dry bulk carriers. In addition, the company has five VLCCs on order.

The delivery of Shaden comes only days after Bahri released its financial results for the third quarter of this year which show that the company’s profit for the period dropped by 80.8 percent to SAR 60.5 million from SAR 315.3 million seen in the same quarter a year earlier.

*NEWS SOURCE

Original news was published 24 October, 2017

The Port of Antwerp closed the first three quarters of this year with a freight volume of 167.1 million tons, an increase of 3.3% compared to the same period a year earlier.

As informed, strong growth has been recorded in almost all sectors until the end of September.

“In the last quarter too we are managing to maintain the same high pace of expansion as in the previous nine months. In fact this trend is holding steady from past years,” Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO Port Authority, commented.

“Antwerp has been performing extremely well for quite a time now in a market that is otherwise characterised by volatility and fluctuations. If in such a situation you manage to not only maintain but also grow your market share, that gives you confidence in the future,” he added.

The container volume rose by 3.7% in tonnage to 91.9 million tons or by 3.2% in TEU to 7.8 million TEU during the first nine months. The port said it handled 4.6% more full containers, while the number of empties fell by 4.4%.

The port explained that the growth in containers is partly due to the sailing schedules of the new alliances which choose Antwerp as a port of call. For the other part, new liner services have been launched which have opted resolutely for Antwerp. The result has been a sharp growth in container freight – over the past nine months, the second quarter was the best ever for Antwerp with 2.66 million TEU, followed closely by the third quarter with 2.65 million TEU.

Additionally, RoRo freight is experiencing strong growth this year – so far it is up 10.7%, standing at 3.75 million tons. At the end of September, the volume stood at 7.82 million tons, an increase of 7.7%.

What is more, the volume of liquid bulk increased by 2.4% to 54.46 million tons at the end of the nine-month period. The rise of 11.4% in exports of liquid fuels stands in contract with the decline of 12.8% in imports during the same period, so that the total volume is practically the same at 30.81 million ton, according to the port.

On the other hand, the volume of dry bulk cargo handled during the first three quarters declined by 0.8% to 9.20 million tons.

*NEWS SOURCE

Original news was published 20 October, 2017

NORTH China port operator Qinghuangdao port saw overall throughput at its three terminals grow by 30 per cent in the first nine months of the year to 290.7 million tonnes, compared to the same period in 2016.

Container throughput over the reporting period was up 12 per cent year on year to 903,225 TEU, reported Seatrade Maritime News of Colchester, UK.

Out of the three ports the group operates, Qinghuangdao port performed the best, with cargo volume rising 42 per cent year on year to 177.3 million tonnes, followed by Huanghua port with volume up 15 per cent to 51.8 million TEU, while at Caofeidian port throughput increased by 12 per cent to 61.6 million tonnes.

Dry bulk volumes grew the most and among them coal volume grew the fastest, up 30 per cent and 43 per cent to 270.6 million tonnes and 176.9 million tonnes respectively, the port operator said in a stock market filing.

*NEWS SOURCE

With its unique location NTEX has established a new Airfreight office close to Stockholm airport. Close to 90 clients and suppliers turned up and mingled at our housewarming party 21st of September.

NTEX continues to invest and being aggressive in the Swedish market. One important step is our opening of the new airfreight office 10 minute drive from Stockholm airport. During the grand opening close to 90 people turned up to see our new locations.
– We are very proud to show our new office and its unique location to our clients and suppliers. It’s wonderful to see how many of them that turned up during the day. There was a big interest of new potential upcoming business, says Jerry Nilsson, Business Unit Manager Air & Sea.

The office is located in a historical building from the nineteenth century with a scenic location. We can see the planes takeoff and land from the office windows.
– The location is perfect for our kind of business, says Jerry and continues
– Except the obvious advantage to work close to where the real action is, the closeness to Stockholm airport makes it the perfect meeting location for our international contacts.
The office started beginning of July this year and we have contracted six very well experienced employees to the NTEX team. Our clients loved the new office and its scenic location.


You can click here to review the original news.

VISIT WEBSITE (CLICK HERE!) | VISIT OPCA PROFILE (CLICK HERE!)

Original news was published 19 October, 2017

Container volumes at the Dutch port of Rotterdam continued rising with an increase of 10.1 percent during the first nine months of 2017.

The port’s container throughput for the nine-month period was at a total of 10.2 million units (TEU), compared to 9.3 million TEU handled in the same period in 2016.

The port attributed the increase to a number of factors, including solid autonomous growth in Europe combined with Rotterdam’s favourable position within the new sailing schedules recently adopted by the major alliances, increased productivity and throughput volumes at the Maasvlakte 2 terminals and Rotterdam’s strengthened appeal as a transhipment port in connection with increased vessel sizes and relay/feeder options to/from other European ports.

For the first nine months, Rotterdam’s total throughput increased by 2 percent. In addition to containers, the key contributors to this overall growth were the agribulk and breakbulk segments, while liquid bulk like mineral oil products recorded a drop in the throughput.

A total of 351.5 million tonnes was handled in the period until the end of September, up from 344.6 million tonnes seen in the same period a year earlier.

“Thanks in part to the 10-percent increase in container throughput volumes, this has proven a fine quarter for our port statistics. Still, this growth is offset by lower throughput volumes in various other segments,” Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, said.

“For example, the volume of coal handled in our port has fallen in comparison with 2016 due to the closure of two coal-fired power plants in Rotterdam and the increased production of renewable energy. Likewise, the throughput of fuel oil in the third quarter was also lower than last year’s figures,” Castelein added.

During the nine months ended September 30, port of Rotterdam’s volume of liquid bulk decreased by 4.2 percent, to a total of 161.5 million tonnes. Even though higher production rates in the refining sector resulted in 3.5 percent more crude oil being handled in Rotterdam’s port area, the third quarter saw a further decrease in the mineral oil products segment as a whole. This was primarily caused by a drop in the import and export of fuel oil.

The throughput of dry bulk for the nine-month period rose by 1.4 percent to 61.1 million tonnes. The port saw a strong increase in the agribulk category of 14.7 percent compared to last year.

Rotterdam witnessed a further growth of 6.6 percent in roll on/roll off (ro/ro) volumes in the first nine months of 2017 compared to the previous year, to a total of 17.9 million tonnes. This growth was caused by increased cargo flows to the dominant market in this category, the United Kingdom, as well as increased traffic to new markets like Portugal, Iceland and the Scandinavian countries.

The port expects its total throughput in 2017 to be 1 to 2 percent higher than that recorded for 2016.

*NEWS SOURCE

Original news was published 17 October, 2017

The Panama Canal welcomed a record 403.8 million Panama Canal tons (PC/UMS) of cargo in fiscal year 2017, the largest amount of annual tonnage ever transited in its 103-year history.

As explained, the 22.2 percent increase from the previous year can be directly attributed to the added capacity provided by the Expanded Canal, thanks to the larger Neopanamax vessels.

According to figures, a total of 13,548 vessels traversed the waterway during FY17, representing a 3.3 percent increase compared to totals the year before.

“These record figures reflect not only the industry’s confidence in the Expanded Canal, but also illustrate the Panama Canal’s continued ability to transform the global economy and revitalize the maritime industry,” Jorge L. Quijano, Panama Canal Administrator, commented.

The Panama Canal currently serves 29 major liner services, including 15 Neopanamax liner services, primarily on the US East Coast to Asia trade route.

The container segment continued to serve as the leading market segment of tonnage through the Canal, accounting for 35.3 percent of the total cargo received. This equated to a total 143 million tons PC/UMS, of which 89.1 million tons transited the Expanded Canal. Tankers – which include liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers – represented the following market segment (105 million PC/UMS).

The next leading segments included bulk carriers (79 million PC/UMS) and vehicle carriers (47 million PC/UMS).

In FY17, the main routes using the Panama Canal were between Asia and the US East Coast (34 percent), the West Coast of South America and the US East Coast (13 percent), the West Coast of South America and Europe (7 percent), the West Coast of Central America and the US East Coast (7 percent) and intercoastal South America (5 percent).

The countries of China, Chile, Japan, Mexico and Colombia were some of the top users of the Panama Canal, while the United States continued to be the main user of the waterway representing the origin or destination for 68.3 percent of the total cargo transiting the Canal, according to the Panama Canal Authority.

The impact of the Expanded Panama Canal was also apparent in many ports along the US East Coast, which were able to welcome the larger Neopanamax ships from the canal and saw increased growth.

As the shipping industry continues to adapt to the Expanded Canal, the Panama Canal is working to bolster the capabilities of the waterway through various infrastructure projects aimed at providing greater connectivity and transshipment opportunities to the region.

Specifically, the Panama Canal maintains plans to concession a roll-on roll-off (RoRo) terminal to serve as a center for the redistribution of vehicles, machinery and heavy equipment and a 1,200-hectares logistics park to further strengthen the logistics services in the region, among other projects.

The 2017 fiscal year began on October 1, 2016, and ended on September 30, 2017.

*NEWS SOURCE

Original news was published 14 October, 2017

A special ro-ro ramp has been installed at the Port of Marseille Fos' facilities in Fos-sur-Mer

The new ramp is able to support convoys with a gross load of up to 880 tonnes, or 600 tonnes of load weight. It can be operated by means of docking or stranding, thanks to the installation of removable metal inserts.

The ramp, which measures 30m by 18m, has been designed as part of the ITER project and, as such, the Cadarache CEA will have priority use. However, other heavy haul cargoes can also make use of it when it s not needed by Cadarache CEA, helping Fos to diversify its customer base.

Project management was carried out by the Port of Marseille Fos teams in collaboration with the various funding bodies: CEA, Sosersid, CFT and Daher. The project required eight months of work and an investment of €2.7M.

In the next six years, the ramp will accommodate approximately 200 highly exceptional loads, among them the first toroidal field coil and the first vacuum vessel sector, both expected at the end of 2018. It has already been used to transfer rectifier-transformers shipped from China.

The convoys travel around 100 kms inland to the ITER site at Cadarache

ITER is a project involving 35 countries aimed at building the world's largest tokamak, a magnetic fusion device designed to assess the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy, based on the same principle that powers the earth's sun and other stars.

Cadarache is the largest technological research and development centres for energy in Europe including CEA research activities and ITER. It is one of the 10 research centres of the CEA (French Commission of Atomic and Alternative Energies).

The Port Authority of Bilbao has awarded the construction of what will be its number 8 ro-ro ramp to Astilleros Zamakona, at a cost of €2.74M, with an execution period of some six months.The ramp will have a load capacity of 250 tonnes and will provide on-request services.

*NEWS SOURCE

Original news was published 12 October, 2017

Contanda Terminals LLC, a provider of bulk liquid storage and logistics services in North America, has signed a multi-year commercial agreement with the Port of Houston Authority for 339 acres of deep-water access property located on the Houston Ship Channel.

Contanda’s automated terminal facility will be built in phases to provide access to onsite processing, multiple ship and barge docks.

The facility is centrally located for numerous pipeline connections providing support storage services for a variety of commodities including petrochemical, clean petroleum products, various blend stocks, ethanol, crude oil, and refinery intermediates and other bulk commodities, according to the company.

As informed, the land acquisition enables Contanda to continue to develop its key strategic business objective of doubling its terminal storage capability over the next five years and expanding into the bulk petrochemical and hydrocarbon markets.

This is expected to further strengthen the company’s presence along the US Gulf Coast where project investments have surged since 2014 and Contanda already operates three other bulk terminals.

“This agreement with the Port of Houston Authority solidifies our long-term commitment to grow with the Port of Houston and the Houston Ship Channel,” G.R. (“Jerry”) Cardillo, President and CEO of Contanda, commented.

“Liquid bulk storage facilities are in high demand along the Houston Ship Channel and this agreement enables Port Houston to support this vital industry sector,” Janiece Longoria, Port Chairman, said.

Houston-based Contanda currently operates three storage terminals in the Houston area and 13 other bulk terminals across North America.

*NEWS SOURCE

Original news was published 10 October, 2017

As the LNG industry is looking at a new era in LNG distribution, Gas Natural Fenosa and Connect LNG have made the first ever floating LNG ship-to-shore system a reality.

During the sea launch of the first full-scale Universal Transfer System (UTS) on October 7, the duo carried out a complete operation including transfer of LNG from Skangas’ LNG carrier Coral Energy to the onshore LNG terminal at Herøya, Norway.

As informed, the time from finalization of the detailed design to successful hook-up of the terminal took less than six months. The solution was installed at the Herøya terminal one day after arriving from the dockyard and was in full operation the day after.

According to the two companies, the design and fabrication of the UTS involved the highest safety standards, and the complete system has undergone an extensive classification process by DNV GL.

The system is said to be a game-changing floating solution for LNG transfer between ship and shore that replaces the need for harbor and jetty structures. The solution allows for rapid expansion of the value chain and transfer of LNG at locations where it was previously not possible due to environmental and economic constraints. The UTS is a plug & play solution which requires no modifications to the LNG carrier, the two parties noted.

The aim is to enable rapid expansion of the LNG value chain to allow end users to access cheaper and cleaner energy, Gas Natural Fenosa and Connect LNG stressed, adding that the UTS is the direct link that will enable meeting the rapidly escalating natural gas demand for power generation in emerging markets.

*NEWS SOURCE

Good News...

Proud to share with you the great cooperation of OPCA members Kog Transport Pvt Ltd, India and Khimji Ramdas Shipping L.L.C., Oman.

About Project:

KOG Transport Pvt Ltd with the help of OPCA partner Khimji Ramdas Shipping L.L.C, Oman handled a notable urgent shipment from Sohar, Oman to Nhava Sheva, India. The shipment consisted of cantilever platforms and machinery with dimensions of 11x3.5x4 m was collected from Sohar, Oman on 12/09, loaded in 6x40’ OT (OOG) + 2x40’ FR (OOG) + 1x20’ FR (OOG) and delivered at Nhava Sheva, India by 18/09. By thinking pro-actively and calling upon their extensive network of shipping lines and contacts and by working closely with the shipper, KOG Transport Pvt Ltd, India were able to transport the equipment efficiently and effectively, resulting in a smooth move and a very satisfied customer.

The movement was facilitated and planned by Sohar branch of Khimji Ramdas Shipping. Considering the out of gauge dimensions, the shipment had to be moved after transport and security permissions from the Port Security Department and Royal Oman Police. KOG India and Khimji Ramdas Shipping ensured that the shipment was handled and co-ordinated in the best possible manner, ensuring that the last minute hassles did not affect the overall transport schedule.

Congratulations our members for their excellent job.

Please see the project pictures as below;


KOG INDIA OPCA PROFILE (CLICK HERE!) | KHIMJI RAMDAS OPCA PROFILE (CLICK HERE!)