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Issue 5 2014 - Freight Business Journal Tilbury booms
The first two panamax ship to shore cranes went into operation at London Container Terminal in Tilbury in mid-June when they boomed down onto the Samskip container vessel, the Henrike Schepers. The Spanish-built Paceco
cranes are designed and purpose built to handle feeder vessels. With a clearance of 17.0 metres between the legs, this enables efficient handling of 45ſt containers. They can also handle heavy laden containers - 40 tonnes under a single liſt spreader, 57 tonnes under the headblock and 45 tonnes under a twin-liſt spreader.
Efficiency-boosting features
include electronic controls with fault finding diagnostics, anti- collision systems and overload and weighing systems. Chief operating officer of
Forth Ports (owners of London Container Terminal), Perry Glading, said the new cranes were “already delivering an excellent service for our customers in the short sea and Mediterranean markets. With this investment we continue to secure Tilbury’s position as a key shipping and distribution location with unrivalled access to London and the South East of England.”
A rail freight line to Scotland? We did not sign up for this, says DfT
The UK Government is challenging an EU regulation that it says requires it to spend money developing a rail freight corridor to Scotland. The Department for Transport has asked the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) to annul an amendment in the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which obliges London to invest in railway lines north of London, saying that it did not agree to them and that they are not supported by market or socio-economic benefit analysis and should be subject to UK Government approval. In a letter to the Rail
for Transport senior policy advisor Deborah Phelan, said: “The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Regulation which was adopted in December
included an
Annex to Regulation 913/2010 concerning a European rail network for
competitive
freight. The effect in the UK of that amendment was not only to incorporate the UK into the former Corridor 2 (renamed North Sea Mediterranean) but also to require that Corridor to be extended to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Southampton and Felixstowe by November 2018. “The UK has now submitted
Freight Forum, Department a legal challenge
to...the
extensions in the UK past London, and is seeking their annulment.” The letter stressed though
that DfT is not seeking to annul the whole of the CEF regulation or the funding provisions for the Trans-European Networks, which it supports, adding: “It does not seek the UK’s removal from the RFC North Sea Mediterranean, but for this to end at London as we were already negotiating with our partners in the RFC and the Commission. We remain committed to the extension of the Corridor to London and to participating fully in the governance of the Corridor.”
///NEWS TNT runs London rail trial
TNT Express operated a trial freight
train from Rugby to
London Euston station on the night of 4/5 June. Run in conjunction with Colas Rail, Network Rail and Transport for London, the specially- commissioned train of parcels vans carried retail supplies for Staples and Bristan. The goods were sorted on the platform side – Euston used to be a major mail and parcels hub for the railways before the traffic ceased around 20 years ago – and were delivered to hundreds of stores and suppliers
throughout the capital by a fleet of waiting electric and zero- emission delivery vehicles. While the trial train
originated from Rugby, TNT Express’ long-term plan would be to consider developing high- speed,
long-distance services
from locations including its largest sorting hub at Kingsbury (Warwickshire), which already has direct rail access. The trial is being sponsored
by mode shift specialists Intermodality, which has been involved with the European Commission and other
stakeholders in a series of projects to encourage greater use of rail and more sustainable city logistics options in moving freight. Director of operations, TNT
Express UK & Ireland, Simon Harper, said: “We are very keen to understand whether, by potentially supplementing our core road network with selected rail services where feasible, we may be able to better support our customers and their businesses with an even faster and more reliable service.”
Rail firms mind the gap
VTG Rail UK has signed hire agreements for its Ecofret container wagons with Freightliner and GB Railfreight. Freightliner has ordered 21
sets of twin-platform Ecofret wagons to add to its existing fleet of 43 twins, whilst GBRf has placed orders for 17 triple- platform sets which will join an existing triple wagon which has been running extended trials.
Delivery will begin in late
summer 2014 and continue through until early 2015. VTG’s managing director,
Rob Brook, said: “The wagons are designed to maximise the number of 40ft containers, now predominant in the deep sea shipping market, that can be carried in a given train length. By using the centre platform of the Ecofret triple platform to carry either one 40ft or two
20ft containers, or by mixing twin platform Ecofrets with existing 60ft wagons, the wasteful 20ft gaps common on traditional intermodal
are virtually eliminated.” As well as increasing the
number of containers carried on a train of a given length by up to 32%, getting rid of large gaps between boxes reduces turbulence and improves fuel consumption.
Lines set up sulphur group
A group of shipowners have set up the Trident Alliance, who
share an interest in
robust enforcement of maritime sulphur regulation to ensure that they do not distort competition. Following an exploratory meeting in Copenhagen on 28 May, hosted by Maersk Maritime Technology and Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics the current membership list is: American Roll-on Roll-off
Carrier, EUKOR Car Carriers, Höegh Autoliners, J. Lauritzen, Maersk, Rickmers-Linie, Stena, Torvald Klaveness, UECC, Unifeeder and Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics.
They will work towards a Several
other companies are in the process of joining. Member company CEOs
have signed a statement of commitment to support robust and transparent
enforcement
of sulphur regulations and to comply with the regulations.
shipping industry with effective enforcement of sulphur regulations to ensure their intended effect is reached and eliminate the risk of distortion to the competitive landscape. The initiative received encouragement and support from the EU’s Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, along with the Danish Minister for the Environment, Kirsten Brosbol.
Damco opens in Myanmar
Damco, the forwarding arm of the AP Moller Group says it has become the first company to open an international standard warehouse and Container Freight Station facility in Myanmar. The brand-new 4,000sq m facility is C-TPAT-compliant and lies within 15 kilometres of Yangon ports and major industrial locations. It is suitable for import/export activities for fast moving consumer goods,
consumer electronics, apparels, components, machinery and project cargo. Managing director of the
Thailand, Malaysia & Myanmar cluster, Kiattichai Pitpreecha said: “Damco is the first global logistics company in Myanmar. Aſter acquiring an operating license in 2013 and opening a new office in Yangon, we have strengthened our position in Myanmar by being the first international logistics
company in the country to start offering own-operated CFS/ warehousing services.” Since international sanctions
were liſted in 2012, Myanmar has the potential to become a major sourcing country and consumer market he added. its strategic location between three drivers of global economic growth – China, India and Southeast Asia – makes it one of the most unique emerging markets in Asia.
trains
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