News

Tanger Med was ranked as the first container port in Africa and the 45th in the world in a survey by World Top Container Ports. With a capacity of 3 million containers, the Moroccan port has handled 3,312,409 containers in 2017 that is 11% over its capacity.

Beginning at 0001 hours on Tuesday, August 14, 2018, until 2359 hours on Thursday, August 23, 2018 (10 days), the West lane of Gatun Locks will be out of service for scheduled dry chamber maintenance. As a result, and in accordance with the rules governing the Transit Reservation System (OP’s Notice to Shipping No. N-7-2018), Condition 2 for the Panamax locks will be in effect from Tuesday, August 14, 2018 through Thursday August 23, 2018. Source: GAC

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Large grain transport ships using Argentine’s port hub of Rosario have had to reduce their cargo by between 3,200 and 4,300 tonnes because of an unusually low water level in the Parana River, the Rosario grains exchange said on Tuesday. The Parana River is used to transport approximately 80 percent of Argentina’s agricultural and agroindustrial exports to international markets, but a drought at its origin in southern Brazil has seen its level drop by up to half a metre. Argentina is the world’s biggest exporter of soyflour and soybean oil, the third largest exporter of corn and also a major global wheat producer. The exchange said the reduced cargoes impacted freight rates and forced ships to top-up their cargo in areas where merchandise was scarce or more expensive.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has won an order to provide Kalmar Fleet Solution of mobile equipment to Australian Container Freight Services (ACFS) operations in Adelaide, Fremantle and Melbourne. This order, comprising a total of 3 units of DCG100 Empty Container Handlers and 2 units of DRG450- Reachstackers, has been booked into Cargotec 2018 Q2 order intake. ACFS is the largest privately owned Container Logistics operator in Australia. With extensive knowledge and experience across the warehousing, transport and freight logistic sectors. ACFS facilities are strategically located close to port locations nationally, as they are fully committed to provide a “full port to customer door” container freight logistic service throughout the nation.

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.

With the help of a federal grant secured by the Port of Los Angeles, APM Terminals (APMT) Pier 400 has replaced 16 yards tractors with the cleanest cargo handling equipment available. The container terminal operator also donated 12 of the outgoing yard tractors to auto mechanic training programs in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Municipal authorities in the Belgian city of Antwerp were forced yesterday to evacuate all people and ships within an 1.8 km radius of a severe fire that kicked off on Saturday at a warehouse at the port. Water and road tracks near the port was restricted while residents in neighbouring districts were urged to keep their windows shut. A noxious fire started on Saturday in a consignment of 5,000 tons of nickel oxide with most of the cargo now destroyed. While fire crews say they have now got the fire under control it is likely to burn for the next few days. Operations at the port, however, have got back to normal.

Trafigura has applied to build a deep water port in Texas, United States, that would be able to load supertankers, the company said, supplying badly needed oil export infrastructure to the country. The company said it had applied for a permit on July 9 via its subsidiary Texas Gulf Terminals. A spokeswoman added the infrastructure would include a new onshore terminal that will be fed via a pipeline and close to Corpus Christi. The SPM will have a capacity of around 500,000 barrels per day, the spokeswoman said.

Mombasa port, which has been in operation since the 18th century, has grown over time and contributes more than 40 per cent of Kenya’s annual revenues. Being one of the largest ports in Africa, the port serves Kenya and landlocked countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the DRC. Sea ports are gateways for 80 per cent of trade cargo. Currently, Kenya, Tanzania and Djibouti are competing to be the region’s transportation and trade hubs. Djibouti poses less of a threat because of Mombasa’s larger hinterland and operational efficiencies, not to mention the possible diversion of Ethiopian traffic to Eritrea. These nations continue to pump in huge investments to further develop and modernise the available supporting infrastructure. Mombasa port is the largest in East Africa, with capacity to handle up to 500,000 TEUs. However, the port’s volumes exceed the throughput capacity by a factor of more than two

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.”

(Reuters) – U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Cheniere Energy Inc said on Friday it had signed a 25-year deal to supply Taiwan’s CPC Corp, which CPC valued at roughly $25 billion. Cheniere said it will sell 2 million tonnes of LNG per year on a delivered basis to the state-owned oil and gas company, starting in 2021. It said the purchase price will be pegged to the Henry Hub monthly average, plus a fee. The United States has become a major LNG exporter in the last two years, mostly due to the ramp up of Cheniere’s Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana. The Houston-based company is also building the Corpus Christi terminal in Texas. The CPC deal, which is through Cheniere’s marketing arm, is not tied to a particular project or liquefaction train.

On the river Rhine, Germany’s most important waterway, ships are only able to carry half or even less cargo as usual, the section responsible for shipping and waterways of the ministry of transport (GDWS) told the German press agency (dpa) on Friday. Due to high temperatures and low water levels, the production facilities of chemical giant BASF cannot be cooled sufficiently and the production had to be lowered, the company announced on Friday. In order to comply with the requirements of the German authorities, BASF had to gradually reduce production in their Ludwigshafen plant. During drought, the re-introduction of industrial cooling water into the Rhine is legally limited “If the warm, high-pressure weather continues and no significant rain falls, water levels will continue to fall,” said GDWS spokeswoman Claudia Thoma. “If necessary, shipping traffic may come to a partial standstill.” Around 80 percent of all goods transported by inland navigation vessels are transported on the Rhine. Source: Xinhua

Leveraging the cabotage relaxation, the Cochin Port Trust intends to promote ICTT Vallarpadam as an international storage hub for empty containers. “We are in touch with shipping lines and terminal operators for repositioning their empties to all major ports and has also enhanced the free time of empty storage in the port from 3 to 10 days,” AV Ramana, Port Chairman, said. The availability of sufficient space in Kochi is an added advantage and this could attract empties from ports such as JNPT which lacks enough space for storage. Repositioning of empties is now carried out at Colombo and Jebel Ali Port in the UAE. Besides getting additional revenue, the new business model will ensure Kochi a surge in empty containers that registered a steady rise in the last few years, posting a 29 per cent growth in 2017-18, he told BusinessLine.

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.