14


Issue 5 2012


DB Schenker commits to London Gateway


DB Schenker has become the first rail operator to sign an agreement to provide services to and from the new London Gateway port, when it opens towards the end of next year. The German-owned rail operator, which already has a range of services at other UK maritime gateways, will initially operate a minimum of four return trips a day, although there is the potential to operate up to 30-35 services a day when the port and its associated logistics terminal is in full operation. DB Schenker Rail UK’s managing


director for logistics, Carsten Hinne said he was still in discussion with London Gateway’s owner, DP World, on where the services would go, but pointed out that his company already owned and operated terminals in the Midlands, North-west, Yorkshire and Scotland


and that this “would shape the product to some degree.” He added that with the London Gateway development to include a major logistics park, which was in turn likely to attract some of the world’s biggest logistics operators, it was possible that DBS would consider developing services to and from the Continent; London Gateway was likely to be the UK’s busiest rail freight terminal, said DBS. The existing single track line into


the site, originally built to serve the local refining industry, has been pulled up and parts of it obliterated, but work is about to start on building a five-mile double-track line into the port area. DP World London Gateway executive


chief officer, Simon


Moore said that the plan was for rail to handle around 35% of box


movements to and from the new port, “and we would have the capacity to do that.” As a large part of the new gateway’s traffic would be destined for London, only 25 miles away and thus unlikely to use trains, this implied that rail would have a much larger share of longer- distance movements to and from the Midlands, Northern England and Scotland. Finding capacity from the


Tilbury to London rail line to the north of London is an issue. However, improvement of the direct rail route from Felixstowe to the Midlands via Nuneaton would lessen that port’s dependence on the routes to the North of London to reach the Midlands, and free up more train paths for traffic to and from London Gateway.


Simon Moore added that


while DBS is the first operator to sign up to use London Gateway, it was an open access port and other rail firms would also be free to operate services. There was also the possibility of coastal feeder services to other UK ports; indeed, as ship operators introduced more ships of around 18,000teu over the next few months,


feeder services were


likely to become an increasingly important part of liner shipping operations as shipowners concentrated mother ship calls on fewer ports. Simon Moore said that at least


one shipping line customer had also signed up to use London Gateway but that its identity would remain confidential for the time being.


Shippers sign the pledge


Another shipper has pledged to use London Gateway port, due to open in late 2013. Cycle Link UK, a leading exporter of used paper for recycling, said the DP World port would save it thousands of road miles every year as the new deep-water container port is closer to their main collection points than other ports. Cycle Link UK is one of the


companies that exports over ten million tonnes of paper for recycling every year, which is then turned into items such as cardboard, shoe boxes and beer boxes, in this case at its own paper mills in China. Cycle Link’s paper mill in Zhapu, near Shanghai, manages 3 million tonnes of recycled paper every year and this is expected to grow to over 5 million by 2015. Shipping manager, Gary Waters,


said: “As a recycling company, our commitment to the environment


is embedded in our culture. When we visited London Gateway, we immediately recognised the potential to make our business more sustainable by reducing our road transport needs. We export around a thousand containers every week, so anything we can do to reduce road haulage and its environmental impact is a good thing.” Leading players in the UK meat


industry also visited London Gateway to gain an understanding of the facilities and services that the new port will offer. Representatives from the


International Meat Trade Association (IMTA) the Government’s Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (DEFRA) as well as many of the UK’s leading meat importers, exporters and clearing agents have also


viewed the DP World project. ITMA president, Doug Brydges,


commented: “The priority for our members is that the services on offer at their chosen port are of the highest standard possible. The hygiene and health considerations associated with the transportation of refrigerated cargoes, the speed of container clearance, together with the quality of the inspection facilities is of the utmost importance. We are delighted to work with London Gateway to create value for our members.” Mark Lyndon UK, one of the UK’s


largest exporters of used paper, has also joined the growing number of companies that have pledged to use the new London Gateway port when it opens towards the end of 2013. The Nottingham based paper


company, which exports to Asia, said it would route a significant proportion of its 72,000teu a year traffic through the new port. It said having a closer container port would cut about 380,000 lorry miles from its supply chain annually - the equivalent of driving 15 times around the globe.


Sheerness vows to press on


Port of Sheerness chief executive Mark Whitworth said he was “100% committed” to finding a replacement customer following the decision by Vestas not to locate a major wind turbine manufacturing facility there. He described the Peel Ports-owned facility in north Kent as “absolutely tailor-made” for major renewables


manufacturing. Whitworth said: “Everyone


involved is bitterly disappointed, but our aim of delivering a world- class renewables manufacturing operation at Sheerness is very much alive. There are very few locations which can compete with the offering at Sheerness for such significant manufacturing


operations. Sheerness’ assets included


its location close to key Round 3 offshore wind zones and Continental projects, marine facilities - a water depth of 12m with no beam, height or


lock


restrictions - availability of major parcels of land and, crucially, the recent approval by Swale Borough


Council’s planning committee. Whitworth added: “To a large degree, the detailed preparation has already been done on this site and we’re committed to identifying a replacement operator who can take advantage of the fact that the Port of Sheerness is now tailor- made to play a leading role in this vital industry.”


///NEWS


NEWS ROUNDUP AIRFREIGHT


Airfreight trucker Cranleigh Freight Services (CFS) has gained Regulated Agent Status with the Department for Transport - one of only a few British hauliers operating within Europe to have acquired this accreditation for the carriage of ‘SPX’ (previously ‘known shipper’) cargo. CFS operates a fleet of roller-bed vehicles - including 56 specialist roller-bed airfreight trailers - with trained drivers, all tracked by GPS. The accreditation was gained with the assistance of advisor Jayne Davey of CCSS.


Delta Air Lines has named Tony Charaf as chief cargo officer, replacing Neel Shah, who recently stepped down. Charaf, will maintain his current role as president – techops. Shah’s departure is one of a number of senior management changes in airfreight recently, including the departure of Etihad’s head of cargo handling, Chris Notter, for Qatar Airways. Meanwhile, Cargolux – 35% owned by Qatar Airways - has lost Frank Reimen as president and CEO following his appointment to a Government post. Cargolux has appointed chief financial officer, Richard Forson as interim president and CEO. And Lothar Moehle, the longest-serving member of Cargo 2000’s management team, is leaving his post of regional director, Europe, Middle East and Africa to return to DB Schenker.


Air charter company, Hunt & Palmer has launched a new Cargo Charters venture. It will operate from the group’s head office near London Gatwick and will provide sole use charter and shared freight aircraft capacity around the world.


BAA has decided not to appeal a Supreme Court ruling that it must dispose of its airports to reduce its share of the UK market and will sell London Stansted airport. The airport, as well as being the UK’s forth-busiest for passengers, is also the country’s second-busiest airfreight hub.


Gatwick Airport says that it may need to build a second runway after an agreement not to do so expires in 2019. Owners Global Infrastructure Partners unveiled a master plan on 19 July, which warned that the airport could soon reach its maximum capacity.


Frankfurt-Hahn airport is facing insolvency, Reuters reported on 22 August. Jochen Riebel, a former local secretary of state said Hahn would use up all its cash in six months if no further finance was forthcoming.


The Royal Mail’s GLS European parcel business has signed a deal with China’s ZJS Express to provide a business-to-business service. ZJS Express provides next-day and two-day parcel services throughout China. Parcelforce Worldwide will run UK deliveries for the joint venture, which will trade as GLS Euro Business Parcel.


Eight Airlines, including British Airways/IAG have reached a final settlement of a US lawsuit accusing them of fixing cargo fuel surcharges between 2000 and 2006. The carriers will pay a total of $207 million, of which British Airways will pay $89.5m. This was the third round of settlements in the case, which now total $485m. The EU has already fined 11 airlines, including BA, Air France-KLM and Cargolux, $1.1 billion in 2010 for their role in the affair.


DSV Air & Sea L has expanded its ‘daily’ air freight product to include Shanghai and Beijing as well as Hong Kong and South China to the UK. The DSV Everyday service offers Priority, Classic and Economy service levels with fixed transit times of between two and seven days.


The European Commission temporarily suspended its examination of UPS’s proposed acquisition of TNT Express for a week, from 7 to 14 August, saying that certain areas required more analysis. It also set a new deadline of 20 December. As a result, UPS extended its public offer for the Dutch-based company from 31 August to 9 November. However, the two companies said they still hoped to complete the deal by the fourth quarter of 2012.


Handler John Menzies is to close its cargo operations at Birmingham, East Midlands, Glasgow and Manchester airports as part of a restructuring of its business. It will retain its operations at London Heathrow, Aberdeen and Belfast as well as operations in 20 other countries. It blamed excess capacity and a downturn in airfreight volumes.


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