News

Intensification of fighting around Hodeidah in Yemen is choking the port which the aid operation and the commercial markets depend on, a UN relief chief has stated. Mark Lowcock, UN emergency relief coordinator, last week told the Security Council that all parties involved in the civil war need to avoid further military activity around the Port of Hodeidah to protect its operations and the main supply of food and fuel coming into Yemen. “It is far from clear that the recent intensification of fighting is producing any winners,” Mr Lowcock said. “It is, though, abundantly clear, all too abundantly clear, who the losers are: millions of Yemenis civilians, most of them women and children, whose lives are right on the line.” Since 2014, the port has been in the hands of Houthi rebels who have been battling government forces aided by a Saudi-led coalition, which has been deploying war planes since fighting escalated in 2015.

MPLX LP (NYSE :MPLX ) today announced it has purchased an eastern U.S. Gulf Coast export terminal with 4 million barrels of third-party leased storage capacity and a 120,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) dock from Pin Oak Holdings, LLC, for approximately $450 million. The transaction will be financed with a combination of cash from operations and debt. This facility has the capability to significantly expand its storage capacity to 10 million barrels and is permitted for construction of a second 120,000 bpd dock. This growth potential is significant, as multiple pipelines and rail lines cross the property, and the terminal is positioned as an aggregation point for liquids growth in the region for both ocean-going vessels and inland barges. As the facility expands, this investment is expected to generate a mid-teens percent return.

The dispute regarding the fairway adjustment on the Lower and Outer Elbe is one of the most comprehensive court cases against an infrastructure project that has ever been brought before the Federal Administrative Court. And considering the complex European environment regulations, in many areas this involved virgin legal territory. Today it is clear that the third supplementary planning decision will also be legally challenged by the associations. However, the claimant environment associations have not applied for a court injunction. This means that despite the legal action, planning permission stands. The work that has already begun, and the tendering already commenced, will continue as planned. The deepening and widening work will go ahead on schedule in March. Senator Frank Horch says: “Even though the dispute is now going to continue, I am convinced that we have long since found a good balance between economic and ecological interests. I am, moreover, also convinced that the remaining concerns expressed by the Court have been very carefully handled and eliminated. The Port of Hamburg is and will remain a central economic motor, which here alone in North Germany provides more than 150,000 jobs. As an important global port, it serves as a hub for international goods transport for Germany and Europe. We are now able to enhance this position.”

Vinalines is seeking approval from the government for building two container terminals at Lach Huyen Port in northern Hai Phong City. Nguyen Canh Tinh, director of the state-run Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), said its subsidiary, Haiphong Port JSC, would build terminals No.3 and No.4 at the port. He said the Haiphong Port JSC used to work mainly at Hoang Dieu terminal, which has now been taken over for the construction of an urban area, and so new terminals are needed in its place. The two proposed terminals would have a total length of 750 meters and the capacity to handle vessels of up to 100,000 DWT (8,000 TEU), and cost around VND7 trillion ($299 million), he said.

Pakistani officials confirmed Thursday that Saudi Arabia will make heavy investments in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a central pillar of China's international Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of infrastructure projects. “Saudi Arabia is the first country that we have invited to become a third partner in CPEC," said Pakistani minister of information Fawad Chaudhry at a press conference in Islamabad. "Saudi Arabia is expected to bring massive direct investments to the project." Pakistani media pegged the value of the Saudi assistance package at $8 billion, and suggested that the scope of work would include a major petroleum complex at the port of Gwadar. A high-level diplomatic delegation from Riyadh will visit Pakistan in early October to discuss details.

Polskie LNG says the cryogenic liquid container (ISO-container) was loaded with LNG on Thursday, September 20. The LNG terminal provides the service of loading road tankers with LNG. So far, over 3000 road tankers have been loaded at the facility and the popularity of this service is constantly growing. It has been the first ISO container loading operation in the history of the Świnoujście plant:

Odfjell Terminals entered into an agreement with Koole Terminals B.V. of the Netherlands (Koole) to sell its 100% ownership of Odfjell Terminals Rotterdam (OTR).The sale will generate USD 100 million of cash proceeds to Odfjell.

A cybersecurity attack at the Port of San Diego has disrupted IT systems and resulted in limited functionality. In a statement on 26 September, CEO Randa Coniglio said the port first received reports of the disruption on Tuesday 25 September and is now working to minimise disruption. He stated there may be “temporary impacts on service to the public”, particularly “in the areas of park permits, public records requests, and business services” but did not provide details of any impact on scheduling and cargo. Mr Coniglio said: "The Port of San Diego has experienced a serious cybersecurity incident that has disrupted the agency's information technology systems.” http://www.portstrategy.com/news101/world/americas/cyber-attack-leaves-san-diego-systems-down

A ground-breaking ceremony for the new Hamina LNG terminal that is to be engineered, procured and constructed by Wärtsilä was held on September 25. The ceremony was attended by Finland’s Minister of Finance Mr Petteri Orpo, as well as local officials and executives from Hamina LNG Oy and Wärtsilä. The 30,000 m3 capacity terminal will provide storage of liquefied natural gas (LNG). It will also have re-gasification capability for sending the gas to the existing distribution network serving both regional and national markets. In addition, the terminal will have a truck-loading area for LNG, as well as the possibility to supply bunkering barges and small-scale carriers. The tank foundation for the terminal has already been cast, and the facility is scheduled to become fully operational in 2020.

Container freight stations (CFS) servicing Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) faced mob attacks in two separate incidents recently after they laid off staff due to a dip in business with the introduction of direct port delivery in early 2017. Buses carrying CFS employees of APM Terminals Inland Services were the target of attack by ‘some retrenched contract workers’ on August 3 and September 10. APM Terminals, which runs two CFSs near India’s busiest container gateway, is a unit of Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk Group A/S that also runs Maersk Line, the world’s biggest container shipping company.

China’s Sinopec Corp completed adding a third tank to store liquefied natural gas at its receiving terminal in Tianjin, marking the completion of construction of the first phase of the import facility, the state oil and gas group said on Tuesday. * The terminal, in the northern port city Tianjin, near Beijing, began operations last February. It has an annual receiving capacity of 3 million tonnes and an annual supply capacity of 4 billion cubic metres (bcm) * The terminal has so far this year received 22 shipments of LNG that totalled 1.46 million tonnes in volume. It has delivered 1.46 bcm of the fuel by pipeline and 339,000 tonnes by gas trailers, the company said * Sinopec operates two other terminals, one in Beihai in the southwest Guangxi region and one in Qingdao in the eastern province of Shandong * The Chinese government has asked gas suppliers and distributors to boost storage capacity to cope with winter demand spikes Source: Reuters

Australia’s new Antarctic icebreaker, RSV Nuyina, was floated in wet dock on Saturday at Damen Shipyards in Romania. It took two days to pump enough water from the nearby river into the docks, raising the water level six meters (20 feet) and floating the 10,751 ton ship about 30 centimeters above the dock floor. The ship is 25.6 meters (84 feet) wide and the dry dock is 35 meters (115 feet) wide. There’s about 10 meters (33 feet) of water in the wet dock, which will be enough to support the 16,000 ton weight of the ship when she’s completed.

The greatest project in the history of the Freeport of Riga — the Krievu Island Terminal — is entering into its final phase with the additional infrastructure works and construction of the required utilities, cargo areas, rail approach roads, a windbreak fence to meet environmental protection requirements, administrative buildings, and installation of coal handling technologies. The course of work creates confidence that all construction works on Krievu Island will be completed within the planned deadlines, the Freeport of Riga says in its press release.

Even before it has been officially opened, berth no. 4 at the Cuxport Terminal in Cuxhaven is already at work on its first offshore project. The new heavy-lift berth with a total capacity of 8.5 hectares of space is supporting Van Oord with the storage and transhipment of monopiles and transition pieces for Northland Power’s Deutsche Bucht windfarm, currently under construction in the North Sea. “By using the ship’s own cranes, it’s possible to complete the project without any shore crane. The fact that this new berth is being used for this project so soon after its completion shows how essential it is,” said Roland Schneider, head of business development at Cuxport.

Operations at the Port of Barcelona have remained unaffected by a cyber attack last week. Following the cyber attack on Thursday 20 September, the port warned on Twitter that delivery and reception of goods may be delayed but on 22 September stated it hadn’t altered its seaside and land operations and that its Information Systems Department had only found issues with internal functionality, which it was working to recover. A spokesperson told Port Strategy the port it was unable to comment on what action the port had taken to prevent any further attacks but confirmed “ports operations haven’t been affected and the Port of Barcelona has been operating as usual.” The port said on Twitter that it had already initiated the appropriate legal actions in relation to this serious attack, but did not comment further on what specific action it had taken. On 18 September, the port’s digital knowledge hub PierNext published a paper looking at whether ports are prepared to deal with threats from hackers. Source: Port Strategy

Vigo based shipyard Hijos de J. Barreras have secured an order for 2 coastal passenger ships by Havila Kystruten. The vessels are to be employed on the traditional Norwegian Hurtigruten service. http://cruisedeck.de/hijos-de-j-barreras-buchen-order-von-havila-kystruten-ein/

The U.K. government aims to address one of the big challenges of Brexit by creating a so-called inland port where imported goods can be checked without causing logjams at the coast, two people with knowledge of the plan said. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is in talks to rent a warehouse at Magna Park in Milton Keynes, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) from the coast and 50 miles northwest of London, the people said, asking not to be identified because the negotiations are private. Goods from the European Union could pass through customs there after the U.K.’s departure from the bloc. HMRC is talking to the owner of the property, Gazeley, about the lease, which is yet to be signed, the people said. A spokesman for the European warehouse developer owned by Singapore’s GLP Pte declined to comment, while an HMRC official said inland customs checks are part of its “business-as-usual” activity. The government’s plans for the Milton Keynes site come as demand for warehouse space booms in Britain, thanks to e-commerce, which now accounts for a fifth of retail spending excluding groceries. Manufacturers including Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc warn they may be forced to hold more stock if Brexit impacts their supply chains, a trend that would stoke demand for warehousing further.

Corsica Ferries is further expanding its network in the Western Mediterranean. As of 21 April 2019, the Bastia-headquartered ferry company will add a seasonal service from Toulon and Nice to Trapani which will be operated up to three times per week.

Officials at the Murmansk Commercial Seaport are taking another shot at reducing the smog of soot that wafts into the city every time port workers load a ship full of coal bound for export to other countries. The “black attack,” as locals call the coal dust, has been a headache in Russia’s Arctic capital for as long as anyone can remember. In the winter it taints snow banks and ice, creating gray rivers of filth with every thaw. For the rest of the year, the coal paints a black crust on city windows and fouls the air. Local politicians have meanwhile petitioned Moscow to forbid the transfer of coal via Murmansk unless it is enclosed in something, instead of housing it in enormous heaps out in the open, but that has largely come to nothing, The problem has gotten so bad in recent years that Vladimir Putin himself last year said alleviating the coal dust in the air around Murmansk was one of his main priorities in a speech he gave in nearby Kaliningrad. https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/murmansk-port-experiments-with-screens-to-control-coal-dust

A general strike in French Polynesia has seen cargo stuck in the Port of Papeete following action by port workers. Port workers haven’t allowed any goods to leave the area unless they are perishable goods or pharmaceuticals, but the airport has been unaffected with only a sole worker on strike, according to reports, said Radio New Zealand. Five unions called for the strike to force the government to abandon its pension reform project, according to Radio New Zealand. The reform is due for debate on 21 September. A union leader reportedly said the strike would continue until the government engages in talks about both pension reform and the social security system. The reform was put on hold in April after protesters forced their way into assembly proceedings during a general strike.