PortsNews

Survey: Most British Ports Have Not Prepared for Brexit

By MarEx 2019-01-23 17:49:35

With just 65 days to go until Britain exits the European Union, the UK government has not finalized a transition plan - and, according to a new survey, neither have the majority of the UK's ports. The executive search firm Odgers Berndtson recently conducted a poll of 100 top decision-makers at almost all UK ports. Out of these industry leaders, only 16 percent responded that they have made "significant or practical" preparations for Brexit. 80 percent said that their ports have...

CMA CGM Marco Polo Makes Record Visit to Vietnam

By MarEx 2019-01-22 20:41:55

Vietnam welcomed the 390-meter (1,280-foot), 16,020 TEU CMA CGM Marco Polo at the Cai Mep International Terminal (CMIT) for the first time earlier this month. CMIT sees 2019 as another year of double digit growth in container volume. It is a deep sea container terminal and market leader for global ocean carriers serving the South Vietnamese economy. The terminal can handle container vessels up to 194,000dwt and has a 14-meter (46-foot) channel and a minimum depth of 16.5 meters (54...

Report launch with Kitack Lim (IMO Secretary-General), Nusrat Ghani MP (UK Shipping Minister), Captain Esteban Pacha (AoS Vice Chair of Trustees) and Martin Foley (AoS National Director).

Report: Closer Collaboration Needed on Seafarer Welfare

By MarEx 2019-01-21 18:12:57

Stakeholders in the shipping industry need to work more closely with Stella Maris-Apostleship of the Sea to ensure seafarers get the right help when they need it the most, according to a report launched by the charity Life at Sea Report: Working together in times of crisis. The report looks at how ship visiting and pastoral care for seafarers continue to remain vital. It illustrates cases of seafarer abandonment, non-payment of wages, stress and mental health problems, bullying and harassment,...

FSRU Commences Operation at Kaliningrad

By MarEx 2019-01-17 18:43:39

Russia's President Vladimir Putin inaugurated a LNG import terminal in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea earlier this week. The facility is an offshore gas receiving terminal hosting the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Marshal Vasilevskiy. The new facilities will enable up to 3.7 billion cubic meters of gas to be delivered by sea annually, enough to meet the current and future needs of the Kaliningrad region, says Gazprom. The 174,000 cubic meter Marshal Vasilevskiy is the only FSRU...

South Korea Interested in Opportunities with North Korean Ports

By MarEx 2019-01-17 18:13:54

South Korea's Ocean Minister has announced his intention to seek out business opportunities at North Korean ports in preparation for when sanctions against Pyongyang are lifted. News Agency Yonhap reports the Minister, Kim Young-choon, saying that it is economical to build joint industrial complexes near North Korean port cities such as Nampo, Haeju and Wonsan. He is optimistic about planned talks between North Korea and the U.S. planned for March or April this year. The U.N. Security Council adopted a...

Chemical Company Announces Mega-Investment in Antwerp

By MarEx 2019-01-17 17:33:00

INEOS, one of the largest chemical concerns in the world, has chosen the Port of Antwerp as the location for a mega-investment of three billion euros ($3.4 billion). The capital outlay is the largest in the European chemical industry in the past two decades. Earlier this year INEOS announced that it planned a large-scale investment for further expansion of its chemical production facilities. Various European locations were considered, but ultimately the British chemical group opted for Antwerp. INEOS plans to...

St. Lawrence Seaway Posts its Best Year in a Decade

By MarEx 2019-01-17 17:14:00

The St. Lawrence Seaway, the marine highway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, has posted its best year for cargo shipments since 2007, according to the Great Lakes Seaway Partnership. With total cargo shipments of 41 million tonnes during the 2018 navigation season, traffic rose seven percent year-over-year. Total vessel transits were up nearly six percent. “Total tonnage on the St. Lawrence Seaway exceeded the 5-, 10-, and 15-year averages, making 2018 an exceptionally strong shipping season, the...

Port of Kiel: Passenger Traffic Grows, Cargo Slows

By MarEx 2019-01-17 15:57:00

Germany's Port of Kiel continues to pursue its growth course in passenger traffic posting a 4.2 percent increase with 2.2 million travelers. However, the port’s cargo sector faced a decrease of 3.5 percent to 7.15 tons of cargo in 2018. Dr. Dirk Claus, the Managing Director of the Port of Kiel, said: “After two years of very strong growth, the result in the freight sector of the port of Kiel is somewhat weaker this time. However, in economic terms, this...

2M Makes Permanent Service Shift from Felixstowe to Liverpool

By MarEx 2019-01-17 12:53:30

Maersk and MSC have decided to make the temporary shift of their TA4 service from Felixstowe to Liverpool into a permanent schedule change, the Port of Liverpool confirmed this week. The 2M Alliance partners first moved the call last July due to the software-driven disruption at Felixstowe. "The change we made on this service has worked for us and our customers so it makes business sense to continue it," said Dan Everitt, managing director for MSC UK. When Hutchison Ports...

LA and Long Beach Post Record Annual Volumes

By MarEx 2019-01-17 12:18:07

The twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach both posted their highest container volumes ever in 2018, with growth driven by importers' concerns over a looming trade war. The Port of LA handled 9.5 million TEU in 2018, setting a new record for the third year in a row. The increase can be attributed in part to international politics: about half the port's trade is with China, and due to the Trump administration's threat to increase tariffs on Chinese goods, many importers accelerated...