Shipping Search - Archive

A Run Down of Global Supply Chain Related Appointments and Departures

UK – Gray & Adams has announced the death of its founder, Jim Gray Snr, who died peacefully in his sleep on February 10, aged 86. Jim Gray formed Gray’s Motor Body Works in 1957 after leaving national service, as a car and body repair facility in Fraserburgh, near Aberdeen. In 1960, Jim Gray was joined by Jim Adams and the company became Gray & Adams. Together they steadily grew the business turning it into the industry giant it is today.

Some of the Lesser Supply Chain Related Headlines of the Past Seven Days

UK – The Pallet Network (TPN) says the scheme whereby its members can deliver their expired pallets to a hub for recycling with their use in carbon-neutral energy generation, has saved 300 tonnes of wood from landfill in its first six months.

French Container Line Continues Environmental Efforts

FRANCE – US – CHINA – The CMA CGM group, which already runs 12 LNG-powered containerships, is to dedicate six new 15,000 TEU vessels to its Pearl River Express (PRX) line, which sails from China to the Port of Los Angeles.

International Maritime Security Construct Protects Against State Sponsored Terrorism

MIDDLE EAST – The success of the combined international naval forces in controlling the criminal elements which, not so long ago, were the scourge of the region's waters, has largely removed them from the headlines of the shipping press which they once dominated. Piracy has been greatly reduced, and while terrorist incidents remain, these too are at a lower level than hitherto.

Lobby Claims East Coast Weather Makes for Ideal Site

UK – One of the major disadvantages of Britain's east coast ports has always been the weather. The storms which sweep in from across the North Sea often hold up operations while the more sheltered facilities in places such as the River Thames can work on uninterrupted.

Incident Resulted in Closure of Scottish - Belgian RoRo Freight Service

UK – BELGIUM – LITHUANIA – This week saw the publishing of the report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) into the fire aboard the RoRo Cargo ferry Finlandia Seaways. The report does not make good reading for the owners and operators of the ship DFDS Seaways.

Charity Launches Two New e-Learning Modules

WORLDWIDE – By now everyone in the maritime industry must be aware that the constantly present mental stresses of working at sea, loneliness, absence from home and loved ones etc. have been amplified by the current pandemic.

Shipments from Spain Result in Horrific Deaths for Livestock

SPAIN – TURKEY – LIBYA – EUROPE – UK – This week a comprehensive report in the Guardian shone a light on the continuing disgrace of live animal exports and the appalling way creatures are being treated. Coincidentally today (25 February) sees the closure of the UK goverment's latest consultation on improvements to animal welfare in transport.

Criminals Brought to Book Yet Again

GUAM – US – While the hunt goes on for the vessel which spilled thousands of litres of oil, polluting almost 200 kilometres of Israeli coastline this week, over in the US the authorities have again successfully prosecuted some who deliberately allowed oily bilge water to be dumped into the waters of the Western Pacific US island territory in Micronesia.

Seafarers Tricked Into Service with No Way Out

FIJI – Goundar Shipping, which runs a fleet of passenger and cargo ferries from its headquarters in Suva, stands accused by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) of serious offences regarding the recruiting and employment of staff.

Swedish Sites Chosen as Test Bed for Practical Application of Battery Powered HGVs

SWEDEN – EUROPE – As we recently pointed out, the search for a way to use electricity to power long range HGVs is akin to the search for the Holy Grail as far as truck manufacturers and road haulage operators are concerned.

Ammonia Joint Venture Gains Two New Partners

WORLDWIDE – Mention ammonia to the average person and the picture conjured up in their head would likely range from cleaning glass to villains disabling their prey by spraying them in the face with, what is let's face it, pretty nasty stuff.

Actions Cause Delays in the Supply Chain

EUROPE – Germany is coming under immense pressure from other member states over its policies toward foreign HGV drivers in relation to control of the Covid 19 virus. In the past few days several leading organisations with road transport interests have complained directly to the German government.

Asian Deep Sea Container Problems Give Traffic a Boost

UK – TURKEY – When Britain departed from the EU one of the first actions of the Department for International Trade was to sign a Free Trade Agreement with Turkey. Hitherto this was subject to the EU-Turkey Customs Union, alongside agreements on agriculture and coal and steel.

From Container Haulier to Fully Fledged Distribution Group

UK – Logistics, by its very nature encompassing a wide variety of links in the supply chain, can be a complex business to run. While companies tend toward specialisation, some take the step to extend their portfolios to accommodate clients when they perceive an opportunity to do so. Many test the water and fail but one firm which has managed to enhance its services has just celebrated a decade of success in doing just that.

What You May Have Missed but Want to Know

CYPRUS – WORLDWIDE – This week Cypriot Shipping Deputy Minister, Vassilios Demetriades wrote to both the EU Transport and Health Commissioners and the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Secretary-General outlining proposals to better ensure the safe vaccination of all crew against the Covid virus.

Letter to PM Outlines the Problems for UK Hauliers

UK – EUROPE – As the dust settles on the Brexit agreement the areas in which individual sectors are affected have turned out to be good news for some, and extremely bad news for others. The EU has shown in the past few days that it is not the single voice which it claims, with different countries reacting differently to their new relationship with the UK.

Technology Takes on the Problem

UK – We have all experienced it. The knock on the door, the sizeable parcel left on the step as the driver waves from the gate and leaves. We carry it off before opening it carefully lest we damage the goods inside. So where are they? A bundle of brown paper or inflatable plastic bags fill the box. We pull them out to reveal - a tiny package inside, perhaps a pen or torch, certainly something which could have been packaged much more suitably

High Powered Panel to Elaborate on What is Needed from 3PLs in Light of Covid

UK – Video meetings and webinars have rapidly become the new normal as the problems of networking during the pandemic persists. Some however are better prepared for the difficulties of setting up a suitable online environment than others and, in this, the United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA) has form.

UK Central to Fast Growing Sector

SWEDEN – UK – FRANCE – US – WORLDWIDE – Almost the Holy Grail for the global road haulage industry of today is the fully electric commercial heavy goods vehicle. The search for such a truck continues with the puzzle of sufficient power and minimal battery weight set against available range and time between, and taken for, charging periods.

Better Environmental Equipment to Protect Sensitive Area

CANADA – To most people salt means only one thing, its use as a culinary essential, however to the icy provinces of the far north its use is paramount in keeping the roadways safe during the winter season across Eastern Canada.

Covid Has Made a Bad Situation Much Worse

GERMANY – UK – WORLDWIDE – This week sees the release of a new app to encourage seafarers to open up about their feelings and thoughts to mitigate the risk of depression and suicide. The Covid situation has highlighted the anxiety suffered by many crew, amplifying concerns after the UK P&I Club revealed in 2017 that suicide was the top cause of seafarers' deaths, accounting for 15% of all fatalities at sea.

Fuel Efficiency, Safety and Driver Comfort Major Factors

LITHUANIA – EUROPE – The expansion of the European Union over the past decade or so has led to a radical change in road haulage in the region. One of the countries which has benefited most from extra transport carriage throughout the EU is Lithuania and evidence of this was confirmed this week by the latest big order for HGVs.

Feeder Vessel to Launch Seven Years Ahead of Schedule

DENMARK – WORLDWIDE – While many have said that a target of carbon neutrality by 2030 for shipping at large is an impossibility, that is not the view so it seems for the largest container line in the world as AP Moller Maersk announces its first such vessel will launch in 2023, seven years ahead of schedule.

(and it won't cost you a penny - honest)

UK – There is an air of trepidation with regard to Chancellor Rishi Sunak's forthcoming Budget announcement on 3 March 2021. After one of the hardest, and for the Treasury most expensive, twelve months on record, there is sure to be an effort to recover some of those missing billions lost to Covid and Brexit.

Caution Needed to Avoid Unseen Safety Dangers for the Supply Chain

NORWAY – WORLDWIDE – A new white paper from classification society DNV GL has been released warning that the rush to digitalise and decarbonise shipping may present unforeseen safety issues.

Nine Sites Change Hands

GERMANY – Rhenus Air & Ocean is to take over the freight forwarding business of the logistics company, BLG International Forwarding GmbH & Co KG. BLG says it has made a strategic decision to focus on its domestic and international business in its Contract, Automobile and Container divisions in the future.

Air Freight Carriers Form an Essential Supply Chain

WORLDWIDE – AFRICA – Until the outbreak of Covid-19 very little was publicly known about the global efforts to eradicate disease. Now, as the work rate quickens, we learn about organisations such as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) which, alongside such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and others is leading the fight against the pandemic.

Nominations Now Open

SINGAPORE – UK – WORLDWIDE – In what has without doubt been the most challenging of years for the seafaring community, comes the call for those involved to propose individuals and organisations that have made significant contributions to improving the welfare of seafarers.

London Docks Aiming for a Modern Look

UK – It seems the River Thames is getting back towards past glories when it comes to the water borne carriage of freight. This week more news that tonnages are increasing, and the potential for future trade is growing.

Personnel Movements Around the Globe

GERMANY – Hamburg Süd has announced that long-serving executive Poul Hestbaek will take over the role of Chief Executive Officer from Dr Arnt Vespermann who after more than 20 years with Hamburg Süd has decided to leave the company. The change will take place by end of the first quarter 2021. Hestbaek has been with the company since 2004 and is currently the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Hamburg Süd.

A Five Minute Read to Take You Around the Globe

UK – The UK P&I Club has released its latest 'Inside Ship' video, this one exploring the dangers of engine room fires and, specifically focusing on shielding of hot surfaces in the engine room. Engine room fires account for something like 50% of such incidents aboard merchant ships and the results generally leave the vessel dead in the water.

Whilst Digitisation Can Help Many Businesses are Resistant to Change

UK – A detailed survey carried out by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) into the effects of Brexit with regard to the difficulties encountered by businesses under the new regime would seem to indicate specific areas of trade being badly hit, whilst some companies have adjusted easily to the new rules.

Double Standards for Lifeline Workers

UK – WORLDWIDE – Nautilus, the union which represents 20,000 maritime professionals including ship masters (captains), officers and officer trainees, has urged the government to rethink its policy to refuse key worker seafarers the right not to refrain from hotel quarantine during the pandemic.

672 Billion Euro Recovery and Resilience Fund Starts a Scramble

EUROPE – Businesses have learnt that speed is of the essence when governments decide to hand out loans and grants to support them through the current pandemic. Now, with the European Parliament endorsing the agreement on the Proposal for a Regulation establishing a Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) this week, the transport and logistics lobby is one of the first in the queue.

150 Year Anniversary for Danish Tanker Group

DENMARK – WORLDWIDE – No business can survive for a century and a half unless it evolves as time passes and today the dry cargo and product tanker group NORDEN celebrates its 150th birthday, a long way from the small Danish steamship owner that started life all those years ago.

Council Will Oversee Standards and Inform Employers and Trainers

UK – If one had to predict the growth industry for the next lustrum it might well have to be cyber security. This week we had Safer Internet Day 2021, primarily aimed at youngsters but with relevance to all.

Cash Still Available to Help Employers Train for the Future

UK – As National Apprenticeship Week comes to an end the British International Freight Association (BIFA) has repeated its call for freight forwarding and logistics companies to consider recruiting apprentices.

It Seems Money Still Makes the World Go Round

UAE – ISRAEL – The detractors of ex-President Donald Trump might wish to re-evaluate at least part of his legacy in the light of the burgeoning trade between such as Dubai and the State of Israel.

Freight Forwarders Warned to Take Suitable Precautions

WORLDWIDE – For well over a decade we have written of the dangers of the carriage of lithium batteries, particularly as air cargo. Now comes a useful reminder to freight forwarders and the like of the steps necessary to ensure the safe transport of something which now permeates much of the technology we rely on.

Poseidon Principles and Sea Cargo Charter Both Aspire to Hit IMO Emissions Targets

WORLDWIDE – Everyone along the maritime supply chain has the reduction of emissions in their sights and the tanker segment now has two aligned schemes which aim to evidence the work being undertaken to achieve this goal.

Supply Chain Workers May Finally be Recognised for Their Contribution

UK – Can it possibly be as we enter National Apprenticeship Week, which runs to 14 February, that the world of work has finally woken up to the value both of logistics as an industry as well as the myriad branches of it which maintain the supply chain?

No Serious Injuries as Merchant Ship 'Doesn't Notice' Collision

JAPAN – Reports have come in from the Japanese Coast Guard that one of the country's military submarines has been damaged in a collision with a merchant vessel.

UK Group Looks to Outfit New Design of Vessel

UK – WORLDWIDE – Over the years we have outlined numerous plans to harness the power of the wind to assist in the reduction of emissions from the international merchant fleet. From Flettner rotors and non-rotating aerofoils to skysails these stories have been steadily increasing as the pressures of climate change grow.

Stakeholders Can Deduce What Needs to be Done to Each Ship

UK – WORLDWIDE – RightShip, which claims to be the world's largest maritime risk management and environmental assessment organisation, has announced that its new Safety Score and Platform went live on February 8.

A Few Pieces of Logistics News

UK – Over 30 unemployed young people are set to join the Port of London Authority (PLA) in Gravesend and Forth Ports, including at Tilbury, for paid six-month traineeships this spring, as part of the Government's £2.4 billion Kickstart work programme. Opportunities available, ranging from administration through to operations, will give 16 to 24-year olds a chance to gain important experience in a real working environment.

East Anglian Region Follows Thames

UK – Having already seen plans to create a Freeport in the Thames region, this week details of the scheme to do the same based in the East Anglian region were revealed.

Two Battery Powered Craft as Port Aims for 70 percent Emissions Cut

SWEDEN – DENMARK – A ferry company, which first made the move to battery power for manoeuvring and powering the bow thrusters when one of its ships is in port, has announced plans for two RoPax vessels to be operational by the end of the decade.

No Checks at Border Means Cracks Have Started to Appear

UK – EUROPE – We have heard from a variety of logistics and supply chain professionals lately of the controversy over how the Northern Ireland Protocol is, or is not, functioning.

Multi-Million Pound Scheme Under Way

UK – Most Londoners are familiar with the Greenwich Barrier, the line of gateways in the River Thames which can be close to prevent flooding further upstream. These of course can have a detrimental effect in the lower reaches and, with the voices deriding climate change growing weaker by the day, there is a lesser known set of gates that guard the Purfleet, Grays and Tilbury areas against the rising tides.

Cod will Hopefully Avoid the Pitfalls of Salmon Cultivation

NORWAY – The business of fish farming is a controversial subject. While the method offers hope for the future in terms of species sustainability, there has been heavy criticism of methods used, with disease and pollution topping the list of complaints.

Consignment Mirrored Previous Shipment

SOUTH KOREA – LIBYA – CEVA Logistics has successfully completed a full RoRo charter for almost 4,000 cars between South Korea and Libya, working in close cooperation with its parent company, the CMA CGM Group. The two companies chartered a specialist car-carrying RoRo vessel as part of a cross-selling initiative.

Direct Access to PAYE Staff via App

UK – One of the biggest problems afflicting the road haulage sector in the past couple of years has been the drastic shortage of suitably qualified drivers. With the average age of the country's HGV drivers well over 45, and many in their sixties, the paucity of youngsters entering the profession has been a concern.

South African Variant Causes Dispute Over Regulations

UK – A row has broken out between the RMT union and Transport for London (TfL) over the status of staff living within the recently announced high risk areas in which all people are requested to stay at home and be subject to one of the 80,000 or so home tests for Covid-19 which the government are rolling out.

Six Multi-Purpose Vessels to Carry Break Bulk and Containers

SINGAPORE – EUROPE – MIDDLE EAST – INDIA – ASIA – Heavy lift and out of gauge specialist shipping company AAL Shipping (AAL) is marking the one-year anniversary of its Europe - Middle East / India - Asia Monthly Liner Service with a long-term commitment to employing six 'mega size' (30,000+ DWT) heavy lift multipurpose vessels on the operation.

117 Year Old Steam Tug Ready to Pull Her Weight Again

UK – In a marriage of old and new technology water lubricated propeller shaft bearings were drafted in to replace faulty ones in one of the world's oldest tugboats, the 117-year-old, steam-driven Daniel Adamson.

'Don't Forget You Owe Us Ministers'

UK – With a budget unlike any other due on Wednesday 3 March the vested interests from the world of logistics have fired the first warning shots across the Chancellor's bows whilst simultaneously asking government to resolve what is a difficult Northern Irish situation with regard to trade with the EU.

Strategically Located Facility Opened

VIETNAM – CEVA Logistics says it has expanded its reach in South East Asia with the opening of a new warehouse located in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province in Vietnam. Strategically located to the north east of Ho Chi Minh City, this new facility has a range of convenient connections to the Eastern Economic Zone as well as the city.

Authoritative Criticism of the Future of Rail Scheme

UK – One of the foremost critics of the government policy of proceeding with HS2 has once again asked some searching questions as to why the project is to go ahead without any amendments.

Facemasks are Here to Stay

UK – With little doubt that the now ubiquitous facemasks are here for the long term, one UK company has opted to roll out its touch screen card payment vending machines for its 'Made in Britain' product.