30 June 2006 issue

Headlines

Learning to do a lot more with a lot less

Ports around the world are facing the same problem – how do you push more containers and general cargo through a limited amount of space ? The constraints vary – a few ports like Dubai are relatively unfettered in terms of land. Others like Southampton have had their physical expansion plans curtailed and must essentially come up with creative ways to handle more cargo across the same land footprint. Increasingly, port operators are turning to computers and automated handling technology to achieve this. At the same time, any port that takes itself, and wants to be taken, seriously as an international hub has had to prepare itself for the latest generation of containerships. In most cases, they have kept pace so far, at least in terms of developing channels and berths. The challenge now, though, will be to ensure that the landside connections – road, rail and inland waterway – are able to cope as more and more 8000 teu monsters take to the water.

Source : IFW, 19 June 2006

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Abolition of regulation 4056/86 on shipping conferences

The EUROPEAN LINER AFFAIRS ASSOCIATION (ELAA) in charge of shipowners interests concerning the abolition of regulation 4056/86 on shipping conferences, has just published a series of proposals addressed to the European commission. As of January 1 2006, the ELAA president is Jacques Saadé, president of the board of directors of CMA CGM. The day following his election a transition period was put in place pending the replacement of conferences .

Source : Antenne 26 June 2006

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DP World in new joint venture at Tianjin

DP World is developing a E396m container terminal in Tianjin, China, in a joint venture with Tianjin Port Group Co. The two companies already jointly operate the Orient terminal at the port. A letter of intent to develop the new terminal was signed in Dubai last week during a visit from Chinese officials. The facility will have an annual capacity of 2.2m teu and is due to open in 2011. DP World the world’s third largest ports operator, has also started construction on the Saigon Premier Container Terminal in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. P&O ports acquired by DP World earlier this year is partnering Vietnamese state-owned Tan Thuan Industrial Promotion co in the $230m (E182m) project.

Source : IFW, 19 June 2006

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NYK feeder

NYK has launched a dedicated fixed-day feeder service linking Damietta, Egypt to the Black Sea. It will call at Damietta, Istanbul (Marport), Constanza, Odessa, Izmir, Damietta with Varna and Illyichevsk served via Constanza transhipment. The service would offer good connections to central China (Shanghai and Ningbo) and Hong Kong, the line said, as well as excellent opportunities for intra-Mediterranean business.

Source : IFW 19 June 2006

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Modernising European rail

5 years ago the European commission emphasized the necessity to stop the decline of rail as opposed to road. Today preference goes to “optimising the potential of every type of transport to attain the objectives of clean and efficient systems". The commission is pleased that " a stop in the decline of cargo transport by rail has occurred since 2001. It notes however that road has taken a large part of transport in the EU with 44% of freight and roughly 85% of travellers. Hence Brussels prefers to focus on developing railway traffic where it’s competitive :over long distances or saturated corridors like Alpine crossings especially the Lyon-Turin link or the Brenner tunnel between Austria and Italy. It wants to make European rail more efficient by progressively imposing as of 2009 a harmonized speed control system for trains to replace 20 existing systems.

Source : Antenne, 26 June 2006

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Inquiry on possible tariff agreements in air transport

The American Department of Justice (DoJ) indicated they were investigating the possibility of an agreement on air transport tariffs, concerning passenger fares and freight forwarding rates.

Source : Antenne, 26 June 2006

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