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Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center (HVCC) and tug shipping company Kotug Smit Towage will in future work closely together at the Port of Hamburg in order to coordinate preliminary planning for ship calls and departures, and the associated tug services. This step will further optimise the efficiency and quality of ship handling in the Port of Hamburg. Kotug Smit Towage is the first port service provider that will have access to the Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center’s time-related and geographically extensive planning system. Gerald Hirt, Managing Director of HVCC, comments, “Our cooperation with Kotug Smit marks an important milestone in the continued development of HVCC’s partner portfolio. We believe the comprehensive network and data exchange within the port industry offers enormous potential for increased efficiency in the Port of Hamburg.”

ABP’s Port of Hull continues to boom as it welcomes yet another new container service. The latest service will connect Hull with Antwerp, Belgium’s largest port. Global logistics company, Samskip, has opened up the twice-weekly route which will officially arrive at the Port of Hull for the first time on 14 October, with a vessel holding over 500 twenty-foot containers. Over the year, around 15,000 extra containers are expected to be handled at the Hull Container Terminal.

apan’s bunker market is bracing itself for another storm, Typhoon Kong-rey, shortly after Typhoon Trami made landfall last Sunday. Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to move into the Sea of Japan on Saturday, bringing strong winds and heavy rains. The Japan Meteorological Agency at 0245 GMT Friday reported that Typhoon Kong-rey was moving north at 20 kph with a maximum sustained wind speed of 35 meters/second and maximum wind gusts of 50 m/s. Bunker deliveries are likely to be halted on Saturday in west Japan and on Sunday in Tokyo Bay, market sources said. Barge congestion and loading delays will be worsened, as ports in Japan are still coping with the delays from Typhoon Trami. Japan has seen a spate of typhoons in recent months, including Jebi in early September and Shanshan and Jongdari in August, each causing bunkering delays at ports and barge congestion. Source: Platts

Yilport in Portugal has described the so-called national ports strike organised by the Sindicato dos Estivadores e da Actividade Logística trade union as, in reality, just a local strike. It has only impacted Yilport Liscont, Yilport Sotagus and Yilport Setúbal (Sadoport). To date, Yilport said, each shift has been hit by limited available resources and it has been impossible to find workers to undertake extra work, with capacity and productivity at terminals seriously compromised. Because of a lack of workers, box traffic is down by around 40%. Yilport said this is “a huge loss of volume” and forces customers to switch business to other terminals. Long-term sustainability is at risk, said the company. According to the director of domestic shipping operator PSL Navegação, Francisco Marinho Leite, a call that might last two days at a Lisbon terminal is now taking an average of six days or more because of the strikes. In spite of the strikes, Yilport said that it will continue to work with Lisbon Port Authority in developing the port, although without sufficient traffic volume it is difficult to justify investing in the future of ports. Source: Port Strategy

The marine fuel and lubricant trading firm Glander International Bunkering has opened its seventh office globally and third service point in Europe in Valencia, Spain, to service clients in the Mediterranean and Spanish-speaking regions.

The initial schedule offers a twice weekly short sea container service, with its first departure from Antwerp on the 12th October. The service will be operated by a 508TEU capacity vessel, sailing from ATO's multimodal terminal on Tuesday and Saturday and ABP Port of Hull on Thursday and Monday, the company said in its press release. This new connection is in addition to Samskip's existing shortsea services connecting Rotterdam with Tilbury, Hull and Grangemouth (eight per week) and the recent three times weekly Amsterdam-Hull service. This new Antwerp to Hull routing offers shippers a distinct local alternative.

Los Angeles soon will be home to one of the world's biggest cruise ships. Norwegian Cruise Line's 5-month-old Norwegian Bliss on Friday will begin sailing out of the city after an initial summer based in Seattle. The 4,004-passenger vessel will operate a series of seven- and eight-night voyages from Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera through early November. The trips will feature stops at such ports as Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. Bliss then will operate a single, two-week voyage from Los Angeles through the Panama Canal to Miami that will include stops in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Colombia. At 168,028 tons, Bliss is Norwegian's largest ship ever, and it ranks among the 10 largest cruise vessels of all time. It'll be the largest cruise ship ever based in Los Angeles.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has awarded $3 million to the Port of Hueneme to fund their ship to shore zero emission energy project. This project was a part of a joint application with the Port of Los Angeles for the statewide Zero- and Near Zero- Emission Freight Facilities (ZANZEFF) Grant solicitation funded through the state’s Cap and Trade dollars. Cap and Trade is a statewide initiative that puts billions of dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities. The Port will provide a $200,000 match to the grant funding for a total project cost of $3.2 million.

Dwell times at Vancouver rail facilities are approaching last winter’s levels, when port congestion was the worst in years, but terminal operators say the factors driving the current delays are not a harbinger.

The capacity of the Visakhapatnam port capacity has now risen to 120 million tonnes with 27 berths and several projects are in progress in the port to further enhance the capacity and improve the services to customers, according to Chairman M.T Krishnababu. The port was established in 1933 by the British, with hardly two lakh tonnes capacity. He was reviewing the progress of the port here on Thursday at a media conference on the occasion of the formation day to be celebrated soon. He said the port had handled 63.5 million tonnes of cargo last year (2017-18) and for the current financial year the target had been set at 67 million tonnes. “We are sure we will achieve, and even surpass, the target,” he added.

(Reuters) – Repairs to a dock at Venezuela’s main oil export port will take at least another month to complete following a tanker collision more than a month ago, further restraining the OPEC member nation’s crude exports, according to sources and shipping data. A minor incident in late August forced state-run oil company PDVSA to shut the Jose port’s South dock, one of three used to ship heavy and upgraded oil to customers including Russia’s Rosneft and U.S.-based Chevron Corp, and to receive diluents needed for the exports. Jose port typically handles about 70 percent of Venezuela’s total crude exports, which in September declined 14 percent compared with the previous month to 1.105 million barrels per day (bpd), according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Oil exports are the financial backbone of Venezuela’s economy, which is struggling to overcome hyperinflation, a long-standing recession and scarcity of basic goods.

An agreement on cruise service between Sochi and Istanbul is to be signed in the beginning of 2019, Sochi Administration cites Anatoly Pakhomov, the city mayor, as saying following the meeting with the Turkish delegation which was dedicated to discussion of cruise prospects. Anatoly Pakhomov commented: “We have established two working groups. The first one – tour operators of Sochi and Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria. Tour operators of Georgia will most likely join the group. The second working group to consist of heads of seaports, first of all, Istanbul and Sochi. Of course, other cities of Turkey and Bulgaria will join them. The agreement will be signed but it needs specifications”. Representatives of Sochi will visit Istanbul in the beginning of the next year to sign the agreement on international cruise links, says Anatoly Pakhomov.

BC Ferries reported yesterday on the second phase of public engagement recently completed to help shape future plans for Swartz Bay terminal. Phase 3 of the engagement program, revealing the proposed concept and gathering feedback, will begin in the coming months. More than 500 people participated in Phase 2 of the engagement, which included pop-up events at the terminal, an online engagement, and stakeholder and employee workshops. BC Ferries presented draft concepts for the future of the terminal based on the key themes raised in Phase 1. Participants were asked about several ‘Big Moves’, or potential options for the terminal, including an expanded foot passenger building and waiting area, improved vehicle passenger amenities, improved pick-up and drop-off areas, and options for the waterfront area at the terminal.

The Port of St. Helens adopted a new name “Port of Columbia County” on July. At its Sept. 12 meeting, the commissioners adopted a new logo reflecting the name change. Last April, the Port of St. Helens set out to rebrand itself to reflect its mission and operations across all of Columbia County. In July, the commissioners of the port district formally adopted a new name, “Port of Columbia County.” The name, currently “Port of St. Helens,” is not indicative of the port operations that stretch from Clatskanie and Port Westward to Scappoose along the Columbia River. At its Sept. 12 meeting, the commissioners adopted a new logo reflecting the name change. It is the next step in a process that will culminate with a total rebranding of the port by year’s end.

The cruise ship “Viking Sky” sailed into the Kiel Fiord on her maiden visit to Kiel early on Tuesday morning escorted by a water fountain display from a local tug. The ship’s arrival also marks the ninth and final occasion this season on which a cruise ship has visited the port for the first time. Nicole Claus, Cruise Shipping Director of the PORT OF KIEL said “The high number of maiden calls underscores the fact that Kiel, in addition to its function as a base port for cruise shipping, is also being utilised more and more as a jumping-off point for day trips ashore. International cruise ship travellers are increasingly discovering Schleswig-Holstein as a holiday destination in its own right.” This year Kiel has already been visited by the cruise shipping companies Cunard, Fred Olsen, HAL, Ponant, Pullmantur, P&O and Saga as part of ongoing cruises. Available to the more than 900 mainly English-speaking passengers of “Viking Sky” are trips ranging from city tours in Kiel itself and also in the Hanse city of Lübeck to panorama journeys through the scenic region known as Holstein Switzerland and excursions to the seaside spa resort of Laboe.

It is not a question of whether but when autonomous navigation will be introduced. In order to prepare the Port of Rotterdam Authority for the arrival of autonomous navigation, the Port of Rotterdam Authority has converted a patrol vessel into a floating lab that collects data, including about the vessel’s operation and power. By making these data available to the business community and education, further research can be conducted into the introduction of autonomous navigation and the Port of Rotterdam can make further preparations for this. The first partnership for data exchange from the floating lab has now been signed with Captain AI. They are adding artificial intelligence to the data, which enables computers to be trained as artificial captains to navigate independently through the port.

The Liberian government, through the National Port Authority (NPA), has disclosed the establishment of a tracking system at all seaports of entrances in Liberia to trace goods entering and leaving the country. The Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) or the global system of information on cargo for the protection of ships and port facilities, is a solution of verification and monitoring of international maritime transport in order to prevent any attack and locate the responsibility of each maritime operator in the case of shipping hazardous and dangerous product. According to the NPA, the CTN helps to strengthen the image of ports and countries that have signed, respected and implemented the required plan of the ISPS Code. The aim of the CTN is to contribute to the substantial reduction of risk for maritime security of ships and port facilities by providing accurate and reliable assessments of ships, their owners and managers. In Africa, the process is under way in many countries including Liberia.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Mundra LNG terminal that has been developed in keeping with his emphasis on clean energy. He said that the inauguration of the LNG terminal is the highlight of today's programme. I am fortunate to have inaugurated three LNG terminals, he added. Apart from the Mundra LNG terminal he inaugurated Anjar-Mundra Pipeline Project and the Palanpur-Pali-Barmer pipeline project, at Anjar.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez recently inaugurated the new Pier 6 facility of Puerto Cortes operated by Operadora Portuaria Centroamericana S.A. de C.V. (OPC), a subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), expected to further strengthen the country’s position as Central America’s premiere logistics hub, ICTSI said in its press release. The US$145 million greenfield development, which represents the first phase of OPC’s expansion work in Puertos Cortes, adds another 350 meters of quay to the existing 800 meters and depth of 14 meters.

A consortium of Dredging International and Van Oord received a contract for the modernisation of the Świnoujście – Szczecin fairway in Poland. Under the deal, the parties will undertake deepening and widening of the fairway along a section of approximately 62 km from -10.5 to -12.5 m. The investment by the Maritime Office in Szczecin will improve access to the Szczecin seaport and increase the port capacity to handle a growing volume of cargo. The works further include enforcements of slopes and quay walls along the channel, relocation of cables and navigational aids. Works will start end of 2018 and are expected to be completed in 42 months. The contract has a value of approximately EUR 313 million and is co-financed by the European Union.