34


Issue 3 2012


Parnis England gets going in Germany


three-week embargo on bookings to Malta in mid-April. Stephen Parnis England questions the wisdom of having such a vital link operated as a by-product of the Europe/Asia trade; problems on the latter have now led to a squeeze on the short-sea service from Europe to the Med. “Now we have an out- of-stock situation in factories here. Moreover, there are no reefer containers available and half the traffic to Malta is perishable.” With all the problems in


There is a growing sense of unease among Malta’s transport and freight community, says Stephen Parnis England. The managing director of Valletta-based trucking and forwarder Parnis England points out that, since the end of the GNV service, Malta is now dependent on a sole ferry operator to mainland Europe in the shape of Grimaldi Line. True, the end of the GNV service did not take


significant capacity out of the market – one out of a total of four sailings a week – and rates have not moved significantly, “but it is risky for an island to be dependent on one service provider – though I’ve nothing against


Grimaldi


themselves,” he stresses. Of perhaps more immediate


concern is the situation with sea container service from North Europe, where CMA CGM placed a


shipping, Parnis England like other road trailer operators had found itself very busy, though clearly road is not suited to heavy and/or low-value cargo. But Parnis England itself


has had a very good year in its trucking activities; a new agency agreement with Andreas Schmidt has increased its German business by 400%. Moreover, the German business


is very balanced, with a good mix of products moving in both directions. Outbound from Malta there are industrial parts, engineering products, IT and some pharmaceuticals, for example, along with aircraſt parts. Business to the UK is doing


well, and has continued as before for Parnis England despite the takeover of its agent, RH Freight, by Kuehne & Nagel. Parnis England is also offering ISO tank service in partnership with Hoyer, again for imports and exports (most of the exports are by-products from the pharmaceutical manufacturers.) In fact, waste generally has


become a major export from Malta. Like other EU countries, the Government is very keen on recycling and properly sorted and packaged waste paper, plastic and metal can be sold to the Chinese very profitably.


///MALTA


Attrans offers much more than Malta


Attrans, like other Maltese-based transport companies, is taking a keen interest in the Libyan market, but it and its associate companies have long had an interest in the country - it deals in as well as transports earth- moving equipment, excavators and the like. “It’s still very difficult there,” says managing director Philip Attard,


“but we’re there


every single day and have management stationed there permanently.” Shipping services to Libya are reasonably reliable again, he says. Attrans has also built up a strong


presence in Tunisia and Morocco, and not necessarily just on routes between those countries and


Malta – it is also heavily involved in trade between, say the Iberian peninsula and North Africa, for instance. The company has opened its own subsidiaries in Holland and Italy and in fact is really a pan-European operator, not merely a Malta specialist, says Mr Attard. Having a number of different trade flows helps balance what would otherwise be a bit of a one-way market into the island. “We made our decision some years ago not to put all our eggs into one Maltese basket,” he explains. Attrans has also opened what


Philip Attard describes as a “liaison office” in Osaka, Japan to handle some new business.


Freeport keeps investing despite difficult market


In November 2011, CMA CGM transferred half its shares in Malta Freeport Terminals to the Yildirim Group of Turkey which, in 2010 had acquired a 20% stake in CMA CGM. Among the group’s diverse industrial interests is Yilport, the most technologically advanced container terminal in Turkey. Malta Freeport Terminals has


not been able to start extension of its West Quay Terminal One - the permit for this development was only concluded by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) in December 2011. But it has has carried out


dredging works of the North Quay of Terminal Two. The access and berthing alongside Terminal Two North Quay were dredged and upgraded to 17 metres, allowing the Freeport to berth vessels alongside Terminal Two North Quay with a 16m draught. Now, the port’s inner fairway, vessel manoeuvring area covering the approaches of Terminal Two South Quay and Terminal One North Quay are in the process if being dredged to 17m, allowing an access and maximum berthing draught of 16m and enhancing the Freeport’s ability to handle larger container vessels. The largest vessel that Malta Freeport


handled to date was 13,830teu. Malta Freeport Terminals


has invested over €175 million since it was privatised in October 2004 including nine super post- Panamax quayside cranes which are amongst the most advanced presently on the market with capacities of up to 80 tonnes and an outreach of 65.5 metres. The container terminals have


23 quayside cranes, 19 of them super post-Panamax. The company also purchased


50 new Konecranes RTGs and indeed all the RTGs at the Container Terminals are new. Malta Freeport has also


developed 171,900 square metres of yard space which created an additional 3,537 ground slots. The port is also taking a


number of initiatives and organising various training programmes for its personnel and a productivity incentive scheme has been put in place for both direct employees and port workers. Under a new labour agreement, staggered meal breaks have been introduced to allow non-stop operations. Since privatisation, productivity has


ranked high on the Port’s agenda. Maersk has shifted its


central Mediterranean hub port from Gioia Tauro to Malta Freeport and, besides CMA CGM, other lines using Malta as a transhipment hub include Hapag-Lloyd and OOCL. Feeder services include those of CMA CGM, Express Container Lines,


Medex Container Services Ltd., MTL Container Lines, Medazov Line and Evergreen and there are connections with 110 ports worldwide over 60 of which are in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. However, Iran’s HDS Lines


(formerly IRISL) is no longer operating at the Freeport


due to sanctions and this has hampered growth, with 2.36m teu handled in 2011, compared with 2.37m teu in 2011. The Arab Spring also affected


the Freeport’s operations as a number of services calling at North African ports and in particular Libya were affected for several months during 2011.


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