Website traffic statistics Pages viewed and unique visitors to WCN Online Month/ year Page views Unique visitors Jan '12 85,534 19,807 Dec '11 82,366 15,345 Nov '11 81,836 20,021 Oct '11 79,780 19,855 Sep '11 62,058 14,726 Aug '11 55,778 13,859 Jul '11 66,336 14,504 Jun '11 80,320 18,321 May '11 84,292 19,675 Apr '11 194,027 19,022 Mar '11 127,034 17,375 Feb '11 65,996 14,928 Jan '11 67,053 15,578 WorldCargo News the world's leading resource for international cargo professionals CLICK HERE for our FREE weekly eNewsletter Follow us on Twitter Search:  Home | Archive | Upcoming Events | Publications | Free Email Alert | Sitemap Advertise | Subscribe | Back Issues | Sample Issue | Contact | My Account Headline news... Big drop in diesel emissions at Port of Oakland An independent study by the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) shows a dramatic reduction in air pollution at the Port of Oakland. More APMT Rotterdam stoppages continue Work stoppages at APM Terminals' Rotterdam terminal have been continuing More Leading Europe-based OEMs report results Recent performance levels have been satisfactory, but the market remains challenging and continuing economic uncertainty makes forecasting difficult More First call for BNCT Busan New Container Terminal commenced commercial operations on January 28 when it handled Korea Marine Transport Co's 1000 TEU vessel AKARI More Jakarta toxic waste containers row Illegal shipments of toxic waste originating in the UK and Netherlands were recently intercepted and seized by officials at Tanjung Priok More New tank cleaning station opens in Russia Tank container operators Bertschi AG and Stolt Tank Containers have jointly opened a tank cleaning station at one of Bertschi's three Russian subsidiaries to tap the return load potential from the Nizhnij Novgorod chemical cluster. More IANA reports record year US rail intermodal container volume set a new record in 2011 with 12.4M moves, according to the Intermodal Association of North America More MacAndrews to call Gothenburg The British Isles-Continent short sea specialist is introducing a call between Gothenburg and Tilbury, with onward transport to Bilbao More Maersk sells DCLI Maersk Line's US arm, Maersk Inc, has entered into an agreement to sell its chassis leasing subsidiary, Direct ChassisLink Inc (DCLI), to private investment firm, Littlejohn & Co LLC. More MOL tests DPF system Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has started a testing a diesel particulate filter (DPF) system installed on the diesel engine used for power generation on one of its ships. The company claims this is the world's first application of a self-cleaning DPF on an ocean-going vessel. More Port Everglades intermodal hub The South Florida port is set to complete a US$72M intermodal rail facility by 2014 More People on the move Latest update on appointments in the global shipping, ports and allied sectors known to WorldCargo News More Bringing boxes back to Europe A new entrant in the container manufacturing sector was unveiled at the Intermodal Europe 2011 exhibition, which took place in Hamburg on 30 November-1 December. More New owner for Berlin terminal The intermodal terminal in the Berlin West Wustermark freight village (GVZ) has a new owner - BahnLogistik Terminal Wustermark GmbH (BLTW). More Wallmann adds to heavy lift capacity A Liebherr LHM 600 Litronic mobile harbour crane was recently delivered to Wallmann & Co's multi-purpose terminal on Reiherstieg in the Port of Hamburg. More Carrier debuts NaturaLINE Almost a year to the day after it announced that it had developed and begun testing a new reefer container machinery design that is the first to use natural refrigerant technology, Carrier Transicold gave i t s NaturaLINE unit its first public showing on 29 November at the Intermodal Europe 2011 exhibition in Hamburg. More Landmark TSR tank shipment Swiss tank and silo container operator Bertschi AG has despatched the first consignment of hazardous products in tank containers from Europe to China via the Trans Siberian Railway (TSR) landbridge. More Anchorage moves on box terminal The City and Port of Anchorage, Alaska, have moved to take control of the port's troubled expansion project by signing a Memorandum of Agreement with the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) to take over the construction and procurement processes. More GTS steps up its services Italian rail operator GTS Group, based in Bari, has recently invested Euro8.1M in new intermodal equipment and is leasing more locomotives to expand and enahance its Italian domestic and transalpine service offer. More New Slovenia-Poland block train service Independent rail operator and forwarder Baltic Rail AS, a wholly -owned subsidiary of US-based Rail World Inc, has launched a weekly container block train service between Slovenia and Southern Poland as the first stage in a north-south railway corridor being developed between Baltic and Adriatic markets. More Shanghai set for 31.5M TEU Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) expects the city's container terminals to handle 31.5M TEU this year, up from 29.05M TEU last year and furthe r c ement ing i t s pos i t ion a s the world's largest container port after it overtook Singapore in 2010. More Iberia-Germany rail boosts The freight arm of Portuguese Railways, CP Carga, is to launch a test service between Portugal and Germany, in cooperation with Renfe and DB, to test the viability of linking Volkswagen's Autoeuropa car plant in Palmela and various VW facilities in Germany. More For GE SeaCo read Seaco China's HNA Group Company Ltd (HNA) and HongKong based Bravia Capital have completed the US$1.05B acquisition of the world's fifth largest container leasing company, GE SeaCo (see WorldCargo News August 2011, p1). More Tibbett intermodal wagons delivered Romania's largest privately owned contract logistics specialist, Tibbett Logistics, part of the UK-based Keswick Enterprises Group, has taken delivery of 32 intermodal rail wagons from French wagon lessor Touax. More TCR Ravenna pushing ahead Despite uncertainties over both the timing and financing of the second dedicated container terminal project in the p o r t , Te r mi n a l Co n t a i n e r Rave n n a (TCR) is pushing ahead with investments to increase capacity and strengthen its service offer. More Exploding reefers under the spotlight Building on the response to a session at the Container Owners Association (COA)'s Members meeting in Hamburg on 28 November, the COA and the TT Club organised a forum this month to debate ways to resolve the issue of exploding reefer machinery following the introduction of counterfeit gas into the refrigerant supply chain this year. More Big plans at Jebel Ali DP World last month announced plans to invest US$850M to increase capacity at Jebel Ali by 5M TEU to 19M TEU/ year by 2014. The new Terminal 3 will have a 1860m of quay with 17.7m draught alongside and will have a capacity of 4M TEU. A further 1M TEU of capacity will created at Terminal 2 by extending the berth by 400m. More  Special Reports Container Terminal Planning - A Theoretical Approach A major study by Dr Itsuro Watanabe (Container System Technology). This comprehensive 245 page study is an in-depth analysis of capacity constraints, productivity, selectivity and flexibility of different container handling systems in terminals of different types and sizes: common-users or dedicated; hub centre (transshipment and/or relay) or import/export vocation; gateway or feeder port; intermodal rail or truck distribution inland; with or without CFS, etc. Click here for details...  Feature articles Uncertain times ahead for tank operators Most tank container operators are reporting 10% plus rises in volumes for 2011 but there has been an ominous softening in demand as the year comes to a close. More Time for remote control Remote-controlled quay cranes are technically possible, and are best suited to double trolley cranes at automated terminals. More Ramping up Capacity Capacity of Texas says it is gaining market share by offering a wider range of tractor and engine options to suit an increasingly diverse market. More Big lift trucks on the move India's TIL (Tractors India Ltd) has been selling Hyster big trucks ( 8t) for the past three years under a distribution agreement covering the whole of India, Nepal and Bhutan. More Shoreham shores up its assets England's Sussex coast port illustrates the efficiencies and flexibility of hydraulic mobile cranes and is the first and so far only port to have what is claimed as the biggest ever hydraulic mobile machine. More Setback for Ukraine reformers A s reported at the time on worldcargonews.com, in early December Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich vetoed the Seaports Bill endorsed by Parliament in November. His office stated that the Bill had "shortcomings and...conflicts with [existing] legislation." More Different paths to the future While geographical clusters of related industries are fairly common, it is unusual to find, within just 100 km of each other, two container handling equipment companies with a global presence, many parallel product lines and a wealth expertise despite the support of relatively low domestic demand. More Finnish ports face uncertain times The Finnish economy is relatively robust, but as it is export-led it is exposed to the Eurozone crisis and possible knock-on effects from the unrest in Russia, its two main markets. More LED lighting for cranes US-based Phoenix Products has launched a range of LED light fixtures designed for applications such as STS container cranes. More US chassis - someone else's headache In the United States, shipping companies have historically taken responsibility for supplying chassis for moving containers back and forth between marine terminals and cargo delivery or loading locations, either a railhead or shipper site. In contrast to most other parts of the world, where chassis are typically provided by motor carriers, terminals or shippers, in the US ocean carriers supply and cover the cost of chassis. More Electric atmosphere for terminal tractors Last year California-based heavy d u t y e l e c t r i c ve h i c l e d eve l o p e r Balqon Corporation announced that it had signed a European licence with terminal tractor and special vehicles manufacturer MOL Transport Solut ions Cy NV, ba s ed in Be lg ium (WorldCargo News, July 2010, p2). More Nansha's hub ambitions China's southern Nansha port is booming and with 20 of the world's top 500 companies having bases there and important infrastructure projects afoot, the port is expected to become a logistics hub in Asia, Xinhua news agency said. More ZPMC outlines future steps ZPMC is responding to requests for lower weight, energy-saving cranes, but this is not easy to balance against requirements for bigger cranes with higher productivity. More Making shipboard cranes safer As reported on line earlier this month, Lloyd's Register (LR) has published a new pocket guide to help ship owners and operators understand the importance of professional maintenance and survey preparation for marine lifting appliances. More Cargo focus at IUMI conference T he official investigation into the beaching of the MSC NAPOLI off the UK south coast in January 2007 reported many discrepancies concerning on-deck containers. More Reefer output hits new high Global reefer production is heading for another all-time high this year. Existing factories are struggling to cope, however, and reefer prices have been rising as well. More Flexitank market shows no sign of flagging Rather than reducing demand, the current economic conditions are boosting the flexitank market as more shippers wake up to the advantages of moving goods in bulk. More Dry freight box building ups and downs The dry freight container manufacturing industry has enjoyed more than a year of strong demand and high pricing, but production has fallen significantly since mid-year, causing prices, and profits, to nosedive. More Reshaping Europe's core transport axes Container ports in the north, south and east are vying to retain, or win, main gateway status. More Xiamen investing for the future China's Xiamen Port Authority (XPA) plans to invest Yuan14B (US$2.2B) over the next five years to upgrade infrastructure and expand handling capacity in order to attract more international companies to invest in the city's ports. More All contents © WCN Publishing, Northbank House, 5 Bridge Street, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 8BL, England.