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Issue 2 2015 - Freight Business Journal Groupage goes E operating on 800 separate


corridors, in about 40 European countries, he said. Frommeyer added: “One of


the beauties of it is that there is no risk to signing up as a partner as it is free.” Colo21 will make its money by adding a small levy of around €5-7 per shipment, although high volume users will pay a flat monthly fee. The system has already been


tested using Panalpina as a pilot customer handling up to 2,000 groupage consignments daily. However, the main target market is small and medium sized forwarders; strenuous efforts have been made in the design of the system to prevent shippers from dealing direct with hauliers. Forwarders and transport companies can choose who they work with – there is no obligation to use a company because it is on the system. Pricing is also up to the forwarder. Frommeyer said he hoped to


avoid some of the problems that have beset


freight exchanges.


“This is not a spot market,” he told FBJ. “A normal freight exchange is really just a blackboard - groupage needs more stability.” Moreover, Colo21’s quality


monitoring would be much more vigorous, he continued.


Shippers can gauge the quality of a forwarder’s network through an Opex (operational excellence) score. Colo21 checks each consignment in the system in real time to see whether the services promised are delivered, from the information provided by proofs of delivery. The Opex score is specified as a value on a scale of one to five. Frommeyer said this would be more independent than the quality checks operated by some of the large groupage networks, “who are really just measuring themselves.” Frommeyer envisages that


Colo21 will work with road groupage services only, though he did not rule out other services aimed at rail, deepsea shipping or airfreight at a later stage. There had been a lot interest in


the system in the UK, Frommeyer added, from traditional groupage operators – including some large, well-established ones – and some of the pallet networks. There is no reason why a pallet operator could not offer UK distribution or international services on the site, he added; the system has been set up to prevent unpalletised goods being offered to this type of operator. Frommeyer


concluded:


“We are giving forwarders the potential to differentiate


themselves to shippers; for shippers we are giving visibility of their European distribution chains; and for transport partners we are offering the chance to fill empty capacity.” Matthew Verrall, commercial


director of Midlands based groupage operator Twente Express was enthusiastic about the scheme. He told FBJ: “This provides a flexible shop window in which carriers can offer space at short notice and on an ad hoc basis. The potential gain for carriers to improve utilisation and for shippers to minimise delivery costs is clear; however there exists a significant gap between the owner of the goods and the company physically handling the delivery. There is a real value in the relationship between shippers and carriers, with the natural progression of this type of soſtware therefore being to match shipper requirement directly with carrier availability.” Phil Denton managing director


of Ital Logistics in Manchester was more cautious. “Many of the service agreements we have with our clients forbid the use of internet based freight exchange sites so for us this would probably not be viable. Saying that, we are open to look at most things.”


Europa updates its image with 3,500 year old princess


Europa Worldwide has a new emblem: the Phoenician princess Europa and from who the continent of Europe – and the logistics company – takes its name. Managing director, Andrew Baxter says the original branding – now over 40 years old - was no longer representative of how the business has evolved. Europa has also created individual operating divisions for its specialist services - Europa Road, Europa Warehouse, Europa Air & Sea and Europa Showfreight.


///NEWS Cargo alert system to stand alone


The Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS ) founded in 2011 by CMA-CGM, Evergreen, Hapag Lloyd, Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Company is to set itself up as an independent organisation. It said the new structure will


allow more resources and greater focus on discovering the root cause of cargo related incidents and preventing them in the future. There are now 12 participating


shipping lines accounting for 61% of container slot capacity. CINS helps capture information on the causes of cargo and container incidents, though excluding any shipper data. The information gives an early warning of worrying trends of cargoes with dangerous characteristics or unsafe practices in the supply chain.


“CINS represents a unique co-


operation between container lines to promote safety in the maritime supply chain” explains CINS chairman Uffe Ernst- Frederiksen, who is also head of cargo management at Maersk Line.


CINS has repeatedly identified


cargo leakage as a major area of concern and the problems have been getting worse in the last year. Many of the incidents concern not liquids but bulk solid cargoes, oſten where the lining or packaging has been inappropriate. Unpackaged cargoes, such as hides and waste, have also been problematic. “A common misconception


about the CINS initiative is that it is concerned with classified dangerous goods alone,” says Ernst-Frederiksen. “But this could


not be further from the truth.” Almost 75% of the incidents


recorded in the last two years were for generally ‘inert’ cargoes although the risks are even greater for flammable or corrosive material. This is a very real concern to the shipping lines, since one in five of the incidents involve cargoes classified in these ways. Poor packing, which includes


blocking and securing, was identified as a root cause in 50% of the incidents in 2014 – and combining this with mis- declaration and incorrect packing, increases the proportion to over 80%.


CINS is collaborating in


compiling good practice guidance for packers of certain problematic cargoes, such as steel coils.


Time for a shipping speed-up?


Ship operators should consider speeding up services again now that fuel prices have tumbled, says Danish analysts, SeaIntel. Many ship operators resorted to slow- or super-slow steaming at a time when fuel costs have hit all-time highs, but oil prices now have fallen more than most people had thought possible a year ago. At the same time it would reduce shippers’ inventory costs and make shipping more attractive compared with other modes of transport. Moreover, slower steaming means that more vessels are needed to cover the same route, and if vessel costs


outweigh bunker costs, it should make sense to speed services up. In some cases carriers would be able to hand vessels back to charterers. SeaIntel’s own analysis suggest


that carriers could save money if bunker prices drop to around $325 per tonne, though much depends on the individual trade and operator. At the time of writing (6 March) Rotterdam prices were about $311 a tonne – and only $286 in strike-hit Long Beach-Los Angeles – but between $340 and $355 in major Asian ports. Moreover, shipping lines would probably want to be certain that


lower fuel prices were here to stay before starting on the complex task of redrawing shipping schedules. And, as SeaIntel itself points


out, not all services currently slow- steam. The 2M alliance between Asia and Europe operates at around 17 knots, not far below the vessels’ design speed of around 19kt.


The shipping industry, already


struggling with overtonnaging as a new generation of super- panamax vessels takes to the seas, might also look askance at a large amount of space tonnage being suddenly injected into the market.


New ship to strengthen Brittany routes


Brittany Ferries is to charter a ferry from DFDS to boost capacity and frequency on its Portsmouth to Le Havre and Portsmouth to Bilbao routes. Currently named the Sirena Seaways – she will be renamed once she enters service with Brittany Ferries – the vessel has space for 84 trucks, as well as 160 cars. She is fitted with exhaust scrubbers to comply with the new emission control area, and will operate year-round.


Since March 2014, Brittany has provided a


weekday service on Portsmouth/Le Havre, twice a week on Portsmouth/Bilbao and a weekend service Portsmouth/Santander. With the new vessel Brittany will offer a nightly sailing to Le Havre seven days a week and a midweek service to Bilbao, bringing the total number of services from UK to Spain to seven per week.


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