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Issue 2 2014 Freight Business Journal


NEWS ROUNDUP SHIPPING


CMA CGM has launched a new feeder service from Jebel Ali to Mogadishu in Somalia. It will also connect at Khor Fakkan with CMA CGM long haul services and the service also calls at Salalah . The Noura Express will operate every 21 days with a 1,850teu ship. Simatech has also introduced a service between Jebel Ali Port and Mogadishu about 12 months ago.


CMA CGM has added new calls at Samsun (Turkey), Novorossiysk (Russia) and Constanta (Romania) on its FEMEX service between North Europe and the Mediterranean. Import transit time into Thessaloniki will also be improved by five days, as this will be the first port of call of the southbound rotation beyond Malta. The service calls in Southampton and other North European ports, before heading for the Med.


CMA CGM is offering feeder service from Durban to two new ports in Mozambique - Quelimane and Pemba. The Rhino express will also provide a faster and reliable connection from Europe and other places, as well as offer cabotage service within Mozambique itself. It also serves Maputo, Beira and Nacala.


German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd says it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding talks with Chilean-owned CSAV about combining their container liner shipping activities. A binding contract could follow aſter due diligence takes place. Hapag Lloyd tried last year to sign a deal with fellow German line Hamburg Sud but failed to reach agreement.


Brittany Ferrieswill from 25 March start a new weekend service between Portsmouth and Santander in northern Spain and five return crossings between Portsmouth and Le Havre, one of which will be freight-only. It brings a new weekday service between Portsmouth and Le Havre as well as reintroducing significant freight capacity to Santander.


Dover’s new Port Users Group (PUG) has elected James Ryeland, managing director of terminal operator George Hammond as its first chairman and Robert Hardy, general manager of MOTIS Freight Services Agency as vice-chairman. The PUG represents ferry operators, cruise lines, the cargo terminal operator, sister ports, tenants, other local port users, cleaning and security contractors, freight agents, emergency services, trade associations and relevant government agencies.


The European Commission is inviting comments on a proposal to continue the consortia block exemption regulation that exempts liner shipping consortia from EU antitrust rules. The current regulation is due to expire in April 2015. Comments are invited by 31 March 2014.


The Unite trade union has signed a voluntary union recognition agreement with Peel Ports in Liverpool. It entitles engineering workers based at the Seaforth container terminal in Liverpool to be represented on both an individual and a collective basis on issues such as pay and terms and conditions.


The Port of Tilbury in Essex says it will triple the number of trainees it takes on, from 20 in 2013 to at least 60 in 2014. Launched last year, Traineeships give unemployed young people work preparation training and work experience.


Associated British Ports has produced what it describes as a compromise proposal that would allow both its own s Immingham Western Deepwater Jetty (IWDJ) and Able UK’s Marine Energy Park (AMEP) to go ahead in the Humber Estuary. However, Able said that ABP’s suggestion that the length of the AMEP quay be reduce would undermine the entire project.


Pall-Ex looks for eastern partners


Pallet network Pall-Ex has started its search for a principal national partner for Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The group is searching for a logistics provider to run a hub and spoke operation that will cover both countries, and take advantage of connections with the


Pall-Ex’s other networks. Pall-Ex has already launched networks in Poland, Romania, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. The group has recently announced that it is also searching for a partner in Bulgaria, where it intends to start operations at a similar time.


///NEWS Court throws out Russian TIR charges


Russia’s Arbitration Court threw out allegations against the Russian TIR Guaranteeing Association (ASMAP)


as


“inconsistent with reality and defamatory” in a decision reached in mid-February. The Arbitration Court’s decision was repeated, a few days later on 24 February, by the Supreme Arbitration Court which once again judged the FCS RF’s decisions from 14 October 2013 were invalid. The


International Road


Transport Union (IRU) said that the Arbitration Court had rejected all


four specific


allegations by the the Federal Customs Service of Russia (FCS RF) that had been used to justify TIR restrictions on Russian territory, in particular alleged TIR debts run up by ASMAP. The court also said it would


seek to recover costs from the Customs administration. IRU secretary general,


Umberto de Pretto, commented: “It


is not a surprise that the


Moscow Arbitration Court fully and unequivocally recognised as false and defamatory all the allegations from the FCS RF - which were used since July 2013 as the main publicly announced motivation to justify the current illegal restrictions on the TIR Convention in Russia.” He stressed: “This ruling proves


that the FCS justifications for their illegal attack on the TIR system were not only defamatory, but completely fabricated and artificial. We thus expect the prompt restoration of ASMAP’s business reputation through the requested retractions by Customs’ chairman, as well as the full restoration of the TIR System in Russia.” On 3 March, the IRU publicly


released key documents which it said disproved the FCS RF allegations. They showed that some of the 4,000 cases date as far back as 1993 and nearly half of them had not been reported to the IRU until November 2013. Moreover, only four recent cases


Seascapes


Marine promoter Seavision and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science


and


Technology ran a photo competition between September and December 2013. Chloe Morling took the top prize in the 11-14 category with ‘Steered by Technology’. In the 15 to 18 category, Craig


Shewry won with ‘Plotting The Fix’ and, in the category for those


working in the sector, Andrew Sassoli-Walker produced this spectacular night shot, entitled ‘High Speed Productivity 24/7. The judges were looking for


an image that had distinct visual impact, whilst emphasising the inter-dependence of these well- established British professions but, with over 350 entries received, the judges, faced a tough job in deciding the winning entries.


are still pending a decision. A few days earlier, the IRU


wrote to no less a person than Russian president Vladimir Putin warning that TIR guarantee coverage on Russian Federation territory could be withdrawn if the country’s Customs Service (FCSRF) continued its illegal actions in breach of international law.


IRU president, Janusz Lacny,


wrote: “in the absence of clear confirmation from Customs reinstating the full functioning of the TIR System on the territory of the Russian Federation in the nearest future, the IRU Presidential Executive will have no other choice than to recommend to the IRU General Assembly to confirm that the TIR guarantee coverage in the Russian Federation, as well as for Russian TIR Carnet Holders, will be withdrawn.” Russian customs has since


July 2013 been progressively restricting the operation of the TIR system by withdrawing


the facility from an increasing number of customs offices. This, says the IRU, has massively increased costs to international road transport operators in Russia. Umberto de Pretto, added:


“This is an absurd situation that has been going on for too long, harming our industry and moreover the cost of trade with Russia, which is by far today the biggest beneficiary of the TIR system. We cannot continue to operate in a situation where one government agency can act with total impunity to all Russian and international laws. We are now compelled to address President Putin, trusting that he can personally intervene to find a definitive solution to this crisis in the interest of all stakeholders of the TIR System as soon as possible. If not, we will regrettably be leſt with no other option than to withdraw coverage of the TIR System in Russia. This would be a lose-lose scenario.”


DFDS and STEF in swap deal


DFDS Logistics has acquired temperature-controlled specialist STEF Transport’s activities in Scotland and Newlyn in Cornwall while at the same time DFDS Logistics has sold its activities in Boulogne to the French company, which will in the future handle its distribution in France. STEF’s UK activities will be merged into DFDS Logistics with employees in Bellshill, Aberdeen and Newlyn joining DFDS Logistics. STEF’s logistics activities in


Scotland include an owned temperature controlled storage facility in Bellshill and rented facilities in Aberdeen and Newlyn with total revenue of around DKK 90m (£9.9m) and 32 employees. DFDS’s distribution and handling


activities in Boulogne include a rented facility and six employees. It said that integrating the STEF business would provide customers with a greater variety of services


and a much stronger network of services both within the UK and into continental Europe. The two companies’ facilities in lowland Scotland are very similar and combining the operations will create more efficient operations and new opportunities for developing our services to meet future market requirements, it added. DFDS Logistics will maintain a


small office in Boulogne. Executive vice president and


head of DFDS Logistics, Eddie Green,


said: “The relationship


with our customers will continue unchanged, but I am very pleased that we have been able to consolidate our services into a much stronger network. This will help us develop and provide the services that are crucial for our customers’ opportunities in the future, in a more demanding market.”


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