Liftech Consultants Inc in the US has developed a solution that allows the structural component that failed in the Bremerhaven crane collapse to be visually inspected. It should also improve its structural reliability.
The shortage of shipping containers has now reached a level where executives in the industry are talking about a ‘Black Swan’ event that will have a deep impact on global supply chains.
Polish sugar producer KSC (Krajowa Spółka Cukrowa SA) has awarded PKP Cargo Connect, part of Poland’s PKP Cargo rail group, a 10-year contract to transport containerised sugar from various inland facilities to the Port of Gdańsk for global exports.
According to Sennebogen, its 895 E-Series Hybrid crane, presented for the first time at BAUMA 2019 in Munich, is the world’s largest materials handler. The new design, with a self-weight of 420t and a reach of up to 40m, is now in operation with Danubia Speicherei in Ennshafen, Austria.
GCT Canada has taken delivery of two new ZPMC cranes at its Vanterm terminal in Vancouver. The cranes are part of a C$160M modernisation project at the terminal. One unit is a replacement for a crane that was written off in January 2019 when it was struck by a vessel.
Although India-based Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) and its Sri Lankan agent were reportedly given ‘in-principle approval’ by the Sri Lanka cabinet in early November to sign a deal with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) to develop/operate the East Container Terminal (ECT), at the time of writing, it was uncertain whether a final agreement would be concluded.
San Antonio Terminal Internacional (STI) has taken delivery of 11 Kalmar Ottawa T2 terminal trailers, built in the US. This brings STI’s terminal tractor fleet to 72 units. The newly delivered tractors have a GVW of 70t.
Global Ports Investments, Russia’s biggest container handler, is continuing to invest in its Russian Pacific operation, Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company (VSC). The plan is to increase capacity almost threefold from 650,000 TEU to 1.8M TEU a year.
Construction work has started on a new container terminal in the port of Augusta in eastern Sicily, which is run by the same port authority that operates the Port of Catania.
Seville Port Authority (APS) has given permission for the construction of a new, multipurpose terminal at Dársena del Cuarto, in the port’s southern expansion zone. The basic concession will comprise a 2-ha area, with a strong possibility that it can be expanded by 12.4-ha later on.
Brazil’s Land and Water Institute (IAT), which reports to the country’s Secretariat for Sustainable Development and Tourism, has authorised construction of the US$23M Klabin cellulose pulp and paper handling terminal at the Port of Paranaguá. Klabin is Brazil’s largest producer and exporter of packaging paper.
Russia’s Norilsk Nickel has invested some RUB4B (US$54.5M) in purchasing two new Liebherr LHM 420s for its operations in the Port of Dudinka, its Polar transport base.
Cavotec has won an order from Napier Port in New Zealand to design, supply and commission a multi-unit installation of its MoorMaster vacuum mooring system.
The Russian Government is considering converting Rosmorport, the federal agency responsible for seaport infrastructure development, into a limited liability company, in which the state would own all the shares through the Ministry of Transport.
The Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (APSCT) has allocated investment of more than €238M as part of its 2020-2024 Business Plan agreed with Puertos del Estado. Of this, €116M has been allocated to the continuing development of the Port of Granadilla.
China’s second largest container port expects its rail traffic will exceed 1M TEU in 2020. Last year, just over 800,000 TEU was transported to/from the port by rail.
Construction of a new port in Guatemala will commence in mid-2021 in the region of Izabal on the Caribbean side of the country. Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei said that the area is earmarked for economic development and foreign investment across a range of projects.
Sifax Group has opened a new container terminal at the Ijora Causeway Jetty in Lagos. The off-dock facility has been developed on an 11-acre site, which Sifax said has good road access. Equipped with reach stackers and FLTs, it currently has storage capacity for 2,000 TEU, including 200 reefer plugin points, with scope for more in the future.
The Board of Santander Port Authority has given the green light for the construction of a new container terminal. The request for the facility was submitted by Boluda Maritime Terminals, part of the Boluda Group, which runs domestic services linking the peninsula with the Canaries and the Balearics.
The Kazungula Bridge over the Zambezi River has been completed, providing a new transport link between Botswana and Zambia, and reducing transport times over a wide swath of southern Africa. In particular, it should shorten travel times to the Port of Walvis Bay in Namibia.
Voestalpine’s Steel Division in Linz, Austria, is now optimising its rail transport logistics between Hamburg and the plant in Linz using a similar two way-loaded train concept as first deployed on its Rotterdam-Linz supply chain three years ago (WorldCargo News, August 2017, p12).
The Government of Tanzania has announced that 39 new locomotives and 800 freight wagons will be acquired for the redeveloped Central Line linking the town of Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika and Dar es Salaam, via the nation’s capital Dodoma.
Steelmakers TATA Steel and POSCO have joined forces to develop and test cutting-edge steels and tube designs for Hyperloop projects aimed at the high-speed transport of passengers and cargo.
Houston Fleeting Services, an affiliate of Nashville (Tennessee)-based Ingram Barge Company, is to acquire the business assets of another Houston (Texas) operator, Cheryl K and San Jacinto River Fleet.
Ambrogio Intermodal has switched its Italy-Belgium traffic (Gallarate-Mechelen) from the French to the Rhine axis, due to new technical possibilities on the latter, which links Montzen-Aachen-Köln-Basel.
San Cataldo Container Terminal (SCCT), the Yilport concession in the Port of Táranto (AdSP del Mar Ionio), is now linked to central and northern Italy by rail, with the introduction of a new service by GTS Rail.
MSC, the world’s second largest liner shipping company, has spent over US$250M in the past three months or so on second-hand ships. Most of the tonnage is well-known to the Switzerland-based carrier as it has been on time charter with the line.
The decision by the Chinese authorities to inspect a larger number of reefer containers entering the country, for fear that cargoes of food and their packaging could be infected with the coronavirus, has led to massive congestion in several ports.
The rebound in container traffic volumes and a general rise in trading expectations for 2021 and 2022 have resulted in shipowners/liner companies resurrecting pre-COVID-19 ordering plans, or committing to new investment programmes.
Tokyo-based Fresh Carriers has put MV KOWHAI into service, the first of three new reefer vessels that will service the New Zealand kiwifruit industry for the next 20 to 25 years.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is due to come into effect on 1 January 2021. In addition to boosting intra-regional traffic volumes, the agreement will raise the region’s global trading role by stimulating economic growth and attracting more foreign inward investment to the continent.
The Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has called on African nations to work together on introducing measures and upgrading systems that will enable their maritime industries to deal effectively with any possible cyber security attack.
Hapag-Lloyd’s Container Steering department is working on a number of measures that it hopes will address the current crisis in the supply of containers.
Carrier Transicold has announced that its EverFRESH active controlled atmosphere (CA) system for refrigerated containers now offers a new carbon dioxide (CO2) injection option to better preserve low-respiring, high-value perishable cargoes.
Construction work has started on a new container terminal in the port of Augusta in eastern Sicily, which is run by the same port authority that operates the Port of Catania.
Regulations in China are set to tighten up, and the processes of manufacturing reefer containers could become very different and considerably more costly.
In a major market development, DB Cargo is to offer new services over Rotterdam and Antwerp. From December, new daily connections will link the ‘western ports’ with the most important economic hubs in Germany.
After a successful pilot, Termont terminal in Montreal plans to retrofit hybrid drive technology from Effenco to its fleet of over 60 terminal tractors.
The Port of Houston has awarded a contract on a sole-source provider basis to Konecranes to retrofit four Konecranes RTGs at its Barbours Cut terminal with its DynAC/DynAHoist Vector II drivers and controls. The value of the contract is up to US$2,079,000.
The Port of Houston Authority has awarded a contract to study the feasibility of developing a dedicated container-on-barge (COB) terminal to consultants WSP USA Inc.
A 340m-long rail track connecting the South African national network with Port Elizabeth’s container and car handling terminals is being rehabilitated.
Rail freight operator Lineas and logistics company Tabaknatie are setting up collection points for containers outside Antwerp to spread the number of trucks in the city during works on the Oosterweel Link (new highway and Scheldt tunnel).
