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‘Nine months’ to solve box reliability problems Ian Matheson, from Impress Communications, reviews some recent news that might impact on Members’ business
container cranes at its Port of Liverpool’s Terminal 1, complementing the six cranes already in place, and enabling greater efficiency and faster turnaround times for the loading and discharging of taller container vessels. They will deliver a 30% uplift in quayside capacity. DP World’s two UK ports handled a record volume of containers in 2021 after major investments in capability and capacity. London Gateway saw throughput of 1,804,871 teu, a 15% increase on the previous annual record set last year, whilst at DP World Southampton, throughput in the 12-month period was 1,871,081 teu. The UK government has announced that two new freeports in Scotland will have net-zero emissions targets that prospective bidders will have to make a pledge to reach by 2045. The bidding process opens in spring 2022 and closes in summer 2022, with the target date for new sites to be operational set for spring 2023. OVERLAND The 50,000th China-Europe intermodal train embarked on its journey towards the west at the end of January, according to Xinhua News Agency. The milestone has been achieved just over a decade after the start of intermodal freight services on the route in 2011, a year when only 17 such intermodal trains were recorded on the New Silk Road. IN THE WAREHOUSE Demand for UK logistics and industrial warehouse space – fuelled by the continuing growth in online retail – has continued to soar, with 2021 full year data (for warehouses over 50,000 sq ft in size) showing a new record high in take-up. A total 70.1 million sq ft was let or sold for own occupation, according to Cushman & Wakefield, more than double the amount of space transacted during a ‘normal’ year pre-pandemic.
ON THE OCEAN It could still take eight or nine months to iron out the disruptions causing record-low reliability in container shipping, according to a report from Sea-Intelligence, which used disruptions to schedule reliability caused by 2015’s US West Coast labour dispute as a baseline for the projection. Tight capacity and soaring profitability for shipping lines led to a new high in the orderbook for containerships in 2021, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants. Orders last year almost equalled the previous five years combined, which means there is clearly a risk of overcapacity returning to the market in 2023 that could depress freight rates, said the analyst. The World Shipping Council (WSC) is for the first time sharing concrete regulatory and economic pathways that it believes the International Maritime Organization (IMO) must take up in order for the shipping industry to achieve zero carbon emissions. It has identified six regulatory and economic pathways forward, which WSC says are critical for IMO nations to address for a successful maritime energy transition. CMA CGM, which currently carries the equivalent of about 50,000 standard containers of plastic waste annually, will stop transporting such commodities on its ships from 1 June to help prevent it being exported to destinations where sorting, recycling or recovery cannot be assured. Drewry Shipping Consultants is reported to have said that a record 7.2 million teu was added to the
global container equipment fleet last year, taking it to 50.5 million teu, driven by demand from ocean carriers, logistics operators and BCOs trying to protect their supply chains. Equipment production is expected to fall to between 4.5 and 4.8 million teu in 2022. P&O Ferries has launched a free digital product to assist freight customers in dealing with Brexit complexities. It helps haulage companies to navigate the pre- journey process and to make check-in procedures at the ports as simple as possible for all their drivers, by identifying which documents are required for each movement based on the route and the cargo being shipped. IN THE AIR Bloomberg has reported that Gatwick Airport will reopen its second terminal in March as easing Covid-19 restrictions give airlines confidence to add flights amid a budding travel rebound, nearly two years after it was mothballed to cut costs.
Strong air cargo rates are set to continue but capacity and ground handling challenges will remain. That was the conclusion reached at the World Cargo Summit’s Air Cargo Market Update & Outlook, which focused on the market outlook for 2022 and beyond, hot spots for growth and the outlook for cargo charters. The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have completed new digital air cargo technical specifications guidance. This is aimed at helping to accelerate the transition towards safer and more resilient supply chains, and permitting the air transport sector to transition away from longstanding paper-based documents used to facilitate the movement of global air freight. ON THE QUAYSIDE Peel Ports Group has completed the commissioning of two additional Liebherr ship-to-shore (STS)
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March 2022
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