Original news was published on 25 May,2014

APM Terminals Poti has completed a comprehensive engineering study to prepare the port master plan for the future needs of Georgia and the hinterland countries, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The study was triggered by the rapid increase of container throughput which will exceed port capacity by 2017. In 2013, total container throughput in Georgia was 405,000 TEU of which Poti handled 82%. The present capacity of Poti seaport is 600,000 TEU.
 
“Larger vessels are entering the trades, reshaping markets and challenging port infrastructure.  We believe the ability to attract larger vessels to our port through a deeper water depth and easier entrance channel will lower transportation costs for importers and exporters while improving the flexibility of Georgia and Central Asia supply chains. As the operator of Georgia’s largest and most important port, we want to ensure our future infrastructure plans reflect the best engineering and economic scenarios for the market”, commented Steen Davidsen, Managing Director, APM Terminals Poti.
 
Georgia’s geographic location connects several high growth economic regions, offering shippers a competitive location advantage as a transit hub strategically located between Europe and Central Asia.  Of importance, Georgia is the shortest transit link for the transportation of raw materials, goods, gas and oil from Azerbaijan and Central Asia to the West. And, serves as a north-south transportation crossroads between Russia and Turkey, and via Armenia, to Iran. Average growth figures the last five years are 15-20% per year, far higher than GDP rates, reflecting Georgia and hinterland markets increasing containerization trend.
 
“Poti has an ideal port location and we look forward to working with the Georgian government to ensure the country’s flagship port is constantly improving the economy and attracting future investment. As a global port operator, we have the expertise to execute port upgrades quickly to launch a new era of Georgian port infrastructure suited to the future generation of ships,” added Mr. Davidsen.  
 
In phase 1, which can be completed by 2017, the new port will comprise two deepwater berths able to handle vessels in excess of 9,000 TEU with modern ship to shore cranes and a capacity of 1 million TEU.

*NEWS SOURCE

   Originally news was published on 25 May, 2014

The Palmali Group of Companies will build vessels at its own Armada shipyard in Izmir, Turkey, the group announced on May 22. The shipyard has already started the construction of two main parts of tankers of Volga-Don Max Class with carrying capacity of 7,100 tons.

The launching of one of the tankers is planned for February 2015.

The tankers are similar in size to Volga-Don Canal and Volga-Baltic Waterway. The overall length, width, and board height of the RST22M project vessels are 139.95, 16.6, and six meters, respectively.

The vessels belong to the Volga-Don Max Class.

The design of the vessels meets the special requirements of Russian and international oil companies. They are built in line with the additional ecological restrictions of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping ECO Project (ECO-S) class.

The Palmali Group of Companies is specialized in transporting goods in the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian seas. Palmali works as a general carrier for oil companies, including Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR and Russian Lukoil. It has also long-term contracts for oil transportation with other oil companies.

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   Originally news was published on 22 May, 2014

THE Vietnamese government has implemented a law that dictates the total weight for TEUs and FEUs cannot exceed 20 tons including the weight of the container.

This law is applicable on road transport movements to and from a port in Vietnam, reports the British International Freight Association (BIFA) newsletter.

Advice being received is that enforcement will be rigorous. Mobile weighbridges have been deployed on highways across Vietnam and to date 800 trucks have been fined for being overweight.

Local truckers are now informing their customers of this new legislation, due to strict enforcement by the Vietnamese local authorities, which has led to successful prosecutions of drivers in breach of the law.

This has caused congestion around ports as overweight containers are being re-stuffed. The party stuffing the container is responsible to ensure the weight complies with the legislation, said the BIFA newsletter.

*NEWS SOURCE

   Originally news was published on 22 May, 2014

CHINA Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) is joining the Russia Finland feeder service (RFS) jointly operated by Cosco and Yang Ming, thereby, replacing Hanjin Shipping as a ship operating partner.

The move enables CSCL to offer a feeder service in the Baltic for the first time, instead of relying on slots, reports Alphaliner.

The RFS offers a cycle of three weeks combining two successive rotations that are operated by three ships on a port rotation of: Hamburg (HHLA and Eurogate), St Petersburg (Petrolesport and FCT), Kotka, Hamburg, St Petersburg, Kotka and back to Hamburg.

CSCL will provide the chartered 1,216-TEU Lantau Arrow to the service, replacing the 1,050-TEU Evolution that Hanjin is to redeliver.

*NEWS SOURCE

266-ton cargo rolled onto barge for transport to terminal

Wijngaard Natie Logistics – Atlantic arranged for the transport of a 266-ton transformer during the week of the Breakbulk Europe 2014 in Antwerp.

This transformer was the heaviest one ever built in the town of Mechelen, Belgium, Cargo Equipment Experts CEE said in a statement on behalf of its member.The cargo was placed on a 22-axle SMTP and rolled onto a barge for the river voyage to the Wijngaard Natie Stevedoring Terminal in Antwerp where it was discharged. The transformer is used as a backup unit for power supply.

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   Originally news was published on 22 May, 2014

AM Agrigen has selected a site in St. Charles Parish, La., to build a US$1.2 billion fertilizer plant.In Louisiana, AM Agrigen Industries can tap the highest density of interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines in the U.S., along with low, stable prices on an abundant supply of natural gas undefined the key raw material for producing nitrogen-based fertilizer, the Louisiana governor’s office said in a statement.

Feasibility studies on the project are underway, and the company expects to make a final investment decision in the first quarter of 2015. Houston-based AM Agrigen has secured options to purchase 650 acres near Killona in St. Charles Parish and  has begun the process of filing for environmental permits.

Construction would begin in mid-2015 and take about 30 months to complete.

The AM Agrigen project is the latest in a series of major foreign direct investment projects to select Louisiana.

“From Sasol in Southwest Louisiana to Benteler Steel/Tube in Northwest Louisiana and Dyno Nobel in Southeast Louisiana, global investors are infusing tremendous amounts of capital into our state’s manufacturing sector,” Governor Bobby Jindal said.

To secure the project, Louisiana offered the company a performance-based US$5.6 million grant to offset infrastructure costs of the project. The company also is expected to utilize the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.

*NEWS SOURCE

    Originally news was published on May 21, 2014

Combined cargo ton miles (CTM) for American Airlines and US Airways achieved double-digit growth at 12.9 per cent for the merged airlines' freight operations.
 
Comparing April 2013 with the same month this year, CTM grew from 174 million to 197 million. The year-to-date, the first four months, of last year and 2014 showed a similar CTM growth rate, with 12.2 per cent being achieved. So far in 2014, American Airlines Group reached 757 million, while last year's first four months struck 675 million. In the new airline's view the year-over-year figures are a more appropriate comparison with the merged entities. The merger was approved in December last year. The merged airline's plans for cargo involve co-locating the previous two carriers' facilities. The two co-located to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in February.

*NEWS SOURCE

   Original news was published on May 21, 2014

Cargo leaves just 10 centimeters clearance on An-124

Ruslan International has handled the transport of a massive deck loader for the Boeing 747 Dreamlifter.

The special cargo loader, used for loading and unloading 787 parts from the 747 Dreamlifter, weighed 109 tons. At 33 meters long, 6 meters wide and more than 3 meters high, the loader was one of the largest and heaviest pieces ever carried on an An-124. Clearance was tight at only 10 centimeters, Ruslan said in a statement.

The wheeled loader was winched onto the An-124 at Riverside Air Force Base in Riverside County, Calif., and flown 3,500 kilometers to Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina.

The Boeing Dreamlifter is a modified 747-400 passenger aircraft, and is the primary means of transporting major Boeing 787 Dreamliner assemblies from suppliers around the world to the 787 final assembly plant in Everett, Wash.

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    Original News was published on May 19, 2014

Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, has added Mexico City and Atlanta to its flight schedule, further expanding its freighter network to more than 50 destinations around the world.

The once-a-week service to Mexico City starts in Dubai with a stop en route to Frankfurt, while on the way back the flight makes a scheduled stop in Houston and Copenhagen before heading back to Dubai, reported ENP Newswire.

The freighter service to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport from Dubai, which is also a weekly service, has a scheduled stop in Frankfurt and on the return leg stops at Copenhagen. This multi-stop service provides customers with the additional benefit to move cargo between these cities.

On both routes Emirates SkyCargo uses its Boeing 777 freighter aircraft, which is capable of carrying 103 tonnes of cargo, and with its main deck being the widest of any freighter aircraft, it's able to uplift outsized cargo and carry larger consignments.

"The recent introduction of freighter services to Mexico City and Atlanta is part of Emirates SkyCargo's continued expansion of our route network to offer customers new trade and business opportunities across the world. Both cities are major cargo destinations, with Mexico City being one of the largest manufacturing hubs in Latin America, while Atlanta ranks tenth among North American airports in terms of cargo volume," said Nabil Sultan, Emirates divisional senior vice-president, cargo.

"Our freighters give us the flexibility to create new trade lanes and opportunities for our customers. This, coupled with the bellyhold cargo capacity of our passenger fleet and growing worldwide network, gives Emirates SkyCargo huge capacity and global reach across six continents,'' he added.

Imports into Mexico City include general cargo, pharmaceuticals, textiles, apparel, machinery and electronic parts, with its exports being mainly general cargo, pharmaceuticals, automotive and ship parts.

Goods moving into Atlanta are mainly general cargo, textiles, apparel, footwear and leather goods, while its exports across the Emirates network include general cargo, construction equipment, machinery, electrical and electronic equipment and products.

Emirates SkyCargo has a fleet of 12 freighters, 10 Boeing 777Fs and two Boeing 747-400 ERFs, which from May 1 started operating from its new cargo terminal at Dubai World Central's Al Maktoum International Airport.

*NEWS SOURCE

  Original News was published on May 20, 2014

TSMAD Technical Sub Working Group Meeting hosted by SevenCs in Hamburg, Germany. Earlier this year, SevenCs, the expert for maritime software applications, hosted the IHO / TSMAD technical sub working group at their office in Hamburg, Germany.

Two key aspects that were discussed during the meeting have seen successful further development with fruitful results for a new portrayal concept and the GML (Geographic Marking Language) interoperability. S-100 is based on ISO Standards, and GML encapsulation is one of these standards.

 The upcoming new standard for digital hydrographic information, including navigational charts, is under the umbrella of the IHO and various working groups are actively preparing the official plenary voting during the next meeting at the International Hydrographic Conference in Monaco (6-10 October 2014). The IHO relies very much on the positive groundwork of the S-100 standard working groups who continuously participate in the standard development of S-100 and all related products. The groups include representatives from public organizations as well as delegates from the maritime industry.

SevenCs is recognized as one of the pioneers of digital charting and has always been a valued and active member of the various IHO working groups for ENC standard definition. The company history is closely linked to the history of the development of S-57 and the first standard format versions have been created by the founders of SevenCs during their engagement with the Hamburg University (Seefahrtsschule ISSUS) together with the German BSH.S-100 is a universal data model and the basis for hydrographic information, including all digital navigational products such as ENCs. Last but not least, the format is a fundamental precondition for the consequent implementation of e-navigation.

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