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Port Waratah Coal Services’ two terminals at Newcastle port in eastern Australia had nine ships waiting offshore Sunday, compared with three a week ago, the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Coordinator said in its weekly report, Monday. The queue was expected to comprise six ships at the end of the month, HVCCC said. A total of 1.76 million mt of coal was shipped out of the PWCS terminals in the week ended Sunday, down 662,700 mt from a week earlier. Month-to-date exports totaled 1.23 million mt, according to the report. Coal producers had forecast August arrivals at the terminals at 9.7 million mt, and for September at 10.7 million mt, said the report. Meanwhile, coal throughput on Newcastle port’s railway last week was 2 million mt, HVCCC said. Around 241,300 mt of coal was shipped through the NCIG terminal at Newcastle last week, S&P Global Platts data showed.

Port of Amsterdam said the maximum Environmental Ship Index (ESI) discount is doubled for ships with ESI certificates and liquefied natural gas (LNG). For some years Port of Amsterdam has been giving discounts on port dues to vessels listed in the ESI that have attained an ESI score of 20 points or higher. "As of 1 August, we will be increasing this incentive by adding another discount: Port of Amsterdam will be doubling the maximum ESI discount for vessels that are in the possession of an ESI certificate and use LNG for their main engine or auxiliary engine," said a press release.

India’s harbors have become clogged up with coal as imports to power an expanding economy outpace railroad capacity to transfer the fuel to consumers. Stockpiles rose by 15 percent in seven weeks to 19.2 million metric tons, according to data from 18 ports compiled by CoalMint in a July 30 report. Inventory at Vishakhapatnam Port Trust in the eastern state of Andhra Pradesh is near the limit because a rail-car shortage is slowing distribution, Deputy Chairman P.L. Haranadh said in a phone interview. The stockpile of 1.2 million metric tons is “pretty much all we can hold,” Haranadh said. His port gets about 10 of the wagon clusters known as rakes each day to send coal to consumers, against a requirement of 16. A rake comprises about 60 open-top wagons with total capacity of some 4,000 tons.

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Initally, few outside of the Hunter seemed too concerned about the secret lease conditions making it all but impossible for Newcastle to have a container terminal, with the general belief being the idea wouldn’t work anyway, so why worry about a piece of obscure paperwork? Now, however, for a variety of reasons, that line of thinking is being challenged, and the consortium that operates the Port of Newcastle has seen enough in many months of investigations to believe that a container terminal can and will work in Newcastle. To help achieve its aims, it’s hired a former shipping industry manager and government policy expert, Craig Carmody, as the port’s new chief executive, with an explicit brief to try to bring a Newcastle container terminal to fruition. Nobody under-estimates the size of the task. Botany’s operator will want to hold on to its monopoly status for as long as possible. The Port of Newcastle is hoping the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will say that the Botany protection is anti-competitive, but as the ACCC waved the privatisations through in the first place, that is by no means a certainty. At the same time, Newcastle has to convince a global shipping industry that there’s enough business to warrant a stop-over when Botany is virtually next door, a little over 80 nautical miles away. Source: The Herald

SINGAPORE's APL, now a unit of French shipping giant CMA CGM, has unveiled the new Japan Russia Express (JRX) service, the only weekly Japan-Russia ocean freight service to be available in the marketplace A jointly operated service with TG FESCO, the JRX service will be characterised by its unparalleled transit times. Russian-destined cargoes from Yokohama to Vostonchny and Vladivostock will be delivered in as soon as seven and nine days respectively. Shipments from Kobe to the two same Russian ports will arrive in just four and six days respectively, APL said in a statement. From Vostonchny and Vladivostock, cargoes onboard the JRX service may be easily moved via the Trans-Siberian Railway to Central Russia and into the European Union. Meanwhile, shippers from Japan and Russia may also plug into APL's extensive service network for global market access via Busan where the JRX service will make a port stop. APL's JRX will commence sailing from Yokohama on August 24 with the following rotation: Vostochny, Vladivostok, Yokohama, Shimizu, Nagoya, Kobe, Busan and Vostochny. Source : Schednet

Eagle LNG Partners (Eagle LNG) announced the official grand opening of its Maxville LNG Facility. The plant which has been operating since early 2018 has a production capacity of 200,000 liquefied natural gas (LNG) gallons-per-day with a 1 million-gallon storage tank. Maxville is built to supply Eagle LNG’s Marine Fuel Depot – Talleyrand located on the Port of Jacksonville’s (JAXPORT) Talleyrand Marine Terminal. Eagle LNG will fuel Crowley Maritimes’ two new LNG-powered Commitment Class ships for U.S. mainland to Puerto Rico trade from its Talleyrand marine fuel depot in addition to serving growing domestic and Caribbean needs for clean-burning, economical LNG. The Maxville plant currently loads LNG in ISO containers shipped to Puerto Rico for the pharmaceutical industry.

CMA CGM Group has announced the launch of LYDIA feeder, linking Rouen to Le Havre on a weekly basis. Starting the 2nd of august, LYDIA feeder is dedicated exclusively to cargo from Rouen to West Africa cargo under B/L CMA CGM. LYDIA feeder will call at Le Havre port (1 day transit time) with connections on direct services to West Africa: EURAF 1 and EURAF 5

An Iranian local official broke the news that the first Indian freight ship carrying grains containers destined for Afghanistan berthed at Iranian SE port of Chabahar. “The first container ship of India destined for Afghanistan from Indian port of Kandla, berthed at Iranian southeastern port of Chabahar,” said Hossein Shahdadi, an Iranian local official in Sistan and Balouchestan Province. According to the official, the containers onboard the vessel will be unloaded at Iranian port to be later transported to Afghanistan through trucks. Chabahar, which lies on the Gulf of Oman, provides India with an easier land-sea route to Afghanistan. The Indian government has committed $500 million to the development of Chabahar, and has offered to build a sprawling artery of roads and railways which is estimated to cost $15 billion. Last year, India sent two cargos of wheat to Chabahar to be shipped off to Afghanistan, in a move to show the route’s viability and broaden the cargo flow before the port is fully operational. Source: MNA

The official signing of the contract between Stena Line and Halmstad (HallandsHamnar) was made on Friday 13 July, making the move from Varberg to Halmstad a firm deal.

A new rule requiring tankers carrying LPG through the Turkish straits to be accompanied by has been delayed to September 1, according to sources, citing an announcement by the Turkish VTS Traffic Control Center on Friday. The rule had been due to come into force Wednesday. All LPG tankers passing the Dardanelles and Bosporus will be obliged to use an escort tug, according to the announcement. The new rule is expected to affect costs rather than timings, significantly increasing transit fees. The Istanbul port authority was unavailable to comment. Bunkering operations in the are not expected to be affected by the new rule. Source: Platts

Four reachstackers and three empty container handlers (ECH) for container handling operations have arrived at the Sapangar Bay Container Port (SBCP), Tawau Port and Sandakan Port. Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd (SPSB) said in a stab tement yesterday that these equipment, used for transporting and stacking of containers, are essential in yard side operations so as to enhance the operational efficiency at these ports. Two reachstackers and two ECH are each assigned to SBCP. Tawau Port will receive one unit each whilst Sandakan Port will receive one reachstacker to complement the existing equipment at their respective ports. As part of its 30-year master plan to strengthen port performance via improved yard side operations, SPSB conducts periodic reviews of the performance of its cargo handling equipment and procures new equipment that are due for replacement.

Planned new activities are expected to add 9,000 direct jobs as well as 9,000 indirect jobs, besides increasing the economic activity of the drydock to about $500 million. - Duqm: The planned additional drydock activities at Duqm are expected to give the Sultanate’s economy a boost, according to a senior official. Eng. Said bin Hamoud al-Ma’awali, CEO of Oman Drydock Company, said: “We are planning to increase the number of drydock activities in Duqm, one of the best drydocks in the region”. Eng. Al Ma’awali said in an interview published on Sunday in Duqm Economic magazine by the Special Economic Zone Authority in Duqm (SEZAD) for July 2018, “The plan of the company until 2040 includes increasing the number of activities from about 3 to 11, including the construction and repair of offshore platforms for oil production and the manufacture of steel structures used in the oil fields, repairing warships and manufacturing specialised vessels, such as large sea fishing vessels, towing boats, maintenance and repair of large yachts and converting vessels from one use to another and many other activities”.

ArcelorMittal Gent, the Flemish investment company “Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen” (“PMV”), Euroports and North Sea Port are collaborating on the first ever roofed loading bay and warehouse in Ghent: the “All Weather Terminal” (AWT). An investment worth more than 50 million euros. The new terminal is being built next to the existing mixed cargo bay of ArcelorMittal Gent and will be used in the first place to store and ship finished steel coils. Twenty percent of the storage capacity can also be used for the handling of other materials such as paper or other mixed cargo. The new “All Weather Terminal” will be owned by AWT GENT NV, a company founded by PMV and EPICo (www.epicofund.eu). AWT GENT NV, who are responsible for the design, construction, financing, maintenance and exploitation of the Terminal. Thanks to “AWT”, AWT GENT NV will be able to provide services to ArcelorMittal Gent and other customers. AWT GENT NV entrusts Euroports with the role of maritime logistics, namely the distribution of flows from, to and in the AWT.

Two more routes will be added to New York City's popular new ferry service, connecting millions of New Yorkers to new neighborhoods, growing job centers, housing and more. The new Soundview and Lower East Side routes will be launched later this month, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and NYC Ferry operated by Hornblower. The Soundview Route will launch on August 15, running from the Soundview section of the Bronx (Clason Point Park), to E.90th Street on the Upper East Side, to East 34th Street, ending its run at Wall Street/Pier 11. The trip will take approximately 54 minutes from start to finish. The Lower East Side Route slated to launch August 29 will run from Wall Street/Pier 11, to Corlears Hook, to Stuyvesant Cove, East 34th Street, and end at Long Island City, Queens — a 32-minute trip from start to finish.

The port of Taranto and the container terminal have their eyes set on Turkey’s Yilport Holding AS. On Tuesday, the Port System Authority of the Ionian Sea, whose president is Sergio Prete, acknowledging the “preliminary positive evaluation by the Permanent Internal Commission, in consideration of the importance of the proposer and the scope of the concession request with respect to the requests received”, and agreed that the Turkish Yilport Holding’s offer would “from various points of view, be the opportunity most in the public interest, ensuring the widest and most profitable use of the multisector wharf, the revival of employment, increase in port traffic and logistics, as well as the enhancement of the role of the port of Taranto and the Italian port system on the Mediterranean scene”. Taranto’s Port Authority ended its examination of the four partial applications submitted in recent months. The companies involved were South Marine Gate, Southgate Europe Terminal Consorzio, Taras Terminal and ATI Interterminal and Ecologica. A competitive dialogue procedure was opened with these companies on 11 May with a view to improving the bids submitted. With the examination of these companies now closed, the examination of Yilport Holding AS, which had submitted an application on 3 July, will begin. Source: The MediTelegraph

Dubai’s government said on Thursday the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) has ruled DP World’s port container terminal contract in Djibouti was valid and binding. The government of Djibouti seized the Doraleh Container Terminal from DP World in February over a dispute dating back to at least 2012. Dubai government-controlled DP World has called the seizure illegal. “The LCIA Tribunal has ruled that Doraleh Container Terminal’s Concession Agreement ‘remains valid and binding’,” Dubai’s government media office said in a statement, which did not state when the ruling was made. “DP World will now reflect on the ruling and review its options.”

On 24th July, Damen Shipyards Group signed a contract with Cyprus-based VTS Vasiliko Terminal Services, the supplier of marine services to the Port of Vasiliko and the VTTV Oil Terminal Jetty, for a Damen ASD Tug 2310. The new ASD Tug 2310, which is to be named Ayia Marina, is a standardised vessel from the Damen portfolio, but has been enhanced with some specific custom requirements from Vasiliko Terminal Services.

Scotland’s port of Lerwick welcomed its largest-ever cruise ship, MSC Cruises’ MSC Meraviglia, on 31 July 2018. At 316 metres long and 171,598gt, MSC Meraviglia is larger than the previous record-holder, which was Celebrity Cruises’ 122,210gt Celebrity Silhouette. She arrived with 5,092 passengers – the most yet on a single ship at Lerwick – and more than 1,500 crew. The passengers will be transferred ashore by tenders.

Because of the ongoing period of drought, and on the advice of the National Water Coordination Committee, the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management has switched to the so called KWA scenario (‘Klimaatbestendige Wateraanvoer’). One of the decisions made is that it is necessary to adjust the lock passage regime in IJmuiden to reduce saltwater intrusion from the North Sea Canal into the Amsterdam Rhine Canal. Therefore Port of Amsterdam will start the optimisation of the passage process, from Thursday 26 July 2018 at 06.00 pm. This means that we will strive to carry out each lock passage with as full a lock as possible and restrict the filling of empty locks where possible. To optimise the lock passages, we will apply a maximum waiting time for both the Middensluis and the Noordersluis locks of 1.5 hours as a result of the measure. By taking this measure, we will make a positive contribution to the fragile balance between fresh and salt water in the Amsterdam Rhine Canal.