6


NEWS


Supermarket Sainsbury’s early return to the River Thames is in the balance, its transport expert told the Freight by Water workshop in London on 11 June. Kevin Greenaway, national planning manager for freight transport said that while a trial scheme to move containers from Sainsbury’s Charlton distribution depot in south-east London to one of its west London stores had been successful, the supermarket would have to decide next year whether to


expand the operation or cancel it. However, Mr Greenaway said that he still harboured the ambition to deliver by water to all central London stores. The trial operation started


by Sainsbury’s in February 2007 entailed the delivery of 20-foot containerloads of ambient product via the Victoria Deepwater terminal, close to its Charlton DC, to a wharf at Wandsworth, in partnership with barge and terminal operator Cory Environmental and with


a short road haul at either end of the route. Difficulties encountered included the need to use 20ft boxes rather and splitting skeletal trailers, rather than 40ft containers which would not have fitted on the barges available. The other major issue were tides, which restricted delivery windows, and also ruled out night operations. Mr Greenaway said that the operation had been a success, with minimal damage rates and rapid delivery times, but had


Ash Cloud has a silver lining, says TIACA


Some good may yet come from the volcanic ash cloud that virtually shut down aviation in north-west Europe for a week, says The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA). The European Commission says it plans to fast track the Single European Sky package as part of new proposals for managing risk from future volcanic activity. Chair of TIACA’s Industry Affairs


Committee, Michael Steen, said: “The incident exacerbated a European problem that has existed for many years, namely that airspace is controlled by 27 separate entities who don’t always collaborate.” A single European sky with a single regulator would help remove bottlenecks from the air transport system in response to such a crisis in the future and would mean a much faster, coordinated response that would ease disruption and losses to business. TIACA is also pressing for the


modernization of current air traffic management systems, many of which are based on procedures developed in the 1950s. Many of the ground rules in force today are no longer valid as new technologies could allow more planes


GT Nexus


FBJ would like to point out that GT Nexus does not now, and never has marketed itself as a multi-modal forwarder, as erroneously stated on page 26 of issue 1 of FBJ. (Information is the name of the game in the freight industry of today.) GT Nexus is a provider of logistics management technology via a Web-based data management platform. It serves forwarders, among others, but it is by no stretch of the imagination a forwarder itself.


been hampered by a lack of infrastructure. There was also the cost of obtaining specialist equipment and handling facilities. Ironically,


the Victoria


Deepwater facility used for the operation used to be a container terminal, handling regular Bell Line vessels before the operator went out of business some years ago. It now handles aggregates. Transport for London’s freight


project manager, Joe Dack, agreed that it was “a marvellous


berth” and he agreed that it was a pity that the container operation had been allowed to lapse. “It does seem to be a classic British situation – we do forget the lessons of the past.” He added that there were also other vacant wharves on the western section of the Thames that could be revitalised as container operations. The Port of London Authority’s


head of planning, James Trimmer told the conference that efforts were continuing to


Essex’s Woodland is cleared for US security


MIchael Steen


to use the same amount of airspace. It should, for example, be possible to decrease the space between aircraft in all weathers – without compromising safety in any way – which would help reduce congestion and squeeze more planes through existing airports – a particularly valid argument now that airport expansion in Europe has become such a controversial issue. It could also help cut pollution from aircraft by reducing ‘stacking’ and by shortening approaches to runways.


The US arm of Essex-based Woodland Group’s has achieved C-TPAT security certification by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Woodland International Transport Co, based at at Lake Success, on Long Island just outside New York, said it hoped to benefit from reduced door-to-door transit times as a result of fewer cargo examinations. Woodland International Transport president Danny Callaghan, said that many of the larger US importers and an increasing number of major forwarding companies and major steamship lines had now been C-TPAT certified but smaller operators were only just beginning to adopt the new security standard. “Now though the smaller to medium sized players are getting involved. A lot of our customers had been asking us if we


were C-TPAT certified, which obviously encouraged us in that direction.” He added however that certification


was quite a long and complex process, even with the help of an outside consultant. “Quite a lot of information was needed at the application stage, and the process ranges from preparing security manuals, and making staff aware of them, background checks for staff through to security passes and verifying the loading of container overseas.” Despite the complexities of the process,


Mr Callaghan said that he believed the Government would encourage more forwarders to get into C-TPAT. “We too are also encouraging our own suppliers like trucking companies or warehouse operators to become part of the process as well.”


Peel buys in Ellesmere Port


Peel Ports, owner of the Port of Liverpool and Manchester Ship Canal, has bought the former Bridgewater Paper Company site in Ellesmere Port from administrators Ernst & Young for an undisclosed sum. The 75-acre site includes a berth on the Manchester Ship Canal with direct links via


Peel’s barge service to the Port of Liverpool and to Ship Canal terminals, direct rail links and an M53 motorway junction is within 800 years of the front gate. Andy Martin, head of estates at Peel Ports Mersey, described the location as “logistically second to none” and suitable for a wide range of port-related uses including manufacturing, processing, energy generation or distribution. Peel Ports is now talking to potential tenants and users on how to develop the site further.


ProLogis abandons Parkside


ProLogis has dropped its plans for a strategic rail freight interchange at Parkside, St Helens. Following a meeting with the local council on 2 July, the specialist logistics property developer said it had been unable to redesign the scheme, particularly given the need for substantial investment in rail and road infrastructure.


ISSUE 2 2010 Barges are in the balance for Sainsbury


safeguard around 50 wharves on the Thames for commercial use. “We’ve been working with operators to secure these sites and also to use the planning powers we have to reactivate some of them, such as Peruvian Wharf, and we are looking to reactivate others.” The conference was later


told that one possible restraint on development of river traffic were the very high tolls charged by the Environment Agency for the use of up-river terminals.


Thames Gateway


– no date yet Dredging for DPWorld’s Thames Gateway containerport


is


continuing, a senior official told a Freight by Water conference, but the opening date will depend on “commercial demand”. DPWorld London Gateway general manager Charles Meaby said: “We are going ahead with construction now and the container berths will be delivered, in line with market demand.” A more certain development is


the nearby port of Tilbury’s delivery of two super-post-panamax cranes in August, part of a development programme that will also see enhanced rail access by early 2011 and a 20% increase in usable space by relocating some existing buildings. “We aim to be a 1m teu a year


port by 2012 or 2013,” business development manager James Leeson told the conference.


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