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Issue 4 2015 - Freight Business Journal container-weight chaos Experts warn of


One in ten containers could have wrongly declared weights, cargo handling expert Captain Richard Brough told a seminar at the Multimodal exhibition in Birmingham on 30 April. Captain Brough, who is


technical and


administration director of the International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (ICHCA), said that according to a recent survey, some countries are ignoring new rules on weighing cargo containers “and hoping the issue will go away - but it won’t.” Director of global and


European policy at the Freight Transport Association (FTA), Chris Welsh, described the change in legislation as “a huge challenge for all parties in the supply chain to understand and manage. Welsh, who is also secretary


general of the Global Shippers’ Forum, added: “We in the UK are ahead of the rest of the world. Shipper organisations in other countries see a lot of sense in the UK approach.”


A third member of the expert


panel, Keith Bradley, hazardous cargoes advisor at the Marine and Coastguard Agency, showed examples of container stacks collapsing and cited one case where an unnamed vessel recently lost more than 500 containers overboard. They can also derail freight trains or fall off trucks. Welsh said that the shipper


is responsible for declaring a container’s weight and that it “makes


life difficult” when


they are not truthful about the nature of the goods involved. There were also complications around groupage containers and consolidations, he added. The FTA suggests ports may


have to carry out verifications via weighing devices on reach stackers in cases where the shipper has failed to provide the data. Realistically this was too late in the process, however, and Welsh warned of potential disruption. “The technology exists but it’s difficult to change


the stow plan. Containers would have to go back to the stack, risking delays,” he said. Some member countries


of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which is implementing the new legislation, argued that every container must be weighed individually. The FTA and Bradley, as the UK’s principal advisor to the IMO, successfully fought for a more user-friendly approach that allows certain shippers to verify box weight by adding up weights of individual items in the container. Welsh


said shippers using


recognised existing audit-based systems such as ISO 9001 or 28000, or those with Authorised Economic Operator status, could also use existing data to fulfil the requirements of calculated method. The FTA is working to


introduce an accreditation scheme for member companies by September, nine months ahead of the new legislation entering into force.


ESC to launch global review of liner shipping


The European Shippers’ Council has launched a global review of the container liner shipping market amid what it says are growing concerns among manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers about the long term threats from container liner shipping alliances. Announcing the review at at


the global Liner Conference in Hamburg, ESC chairman Denis Choumert said that the ESC was becoming increasingly worried


that shippers would have less choice in shipping their products overseas. The ESC proposes to monitor


the three main trading lanes and would include spot rates, transit time, ports directly called and blank sailings among others. A worldwide survey would ideally be carried out by the newly formed Global Shippers’ Alliance, of which ESC is a member, he added. Choumert also stressed the


need for shippers to collaborate on a worldwide scale and to promote cooperation between the main regulatory agencies. He added: “Although the current imbalance between capacity and demand gives the impression that alliances do not have a negative impact on the market, this might change rapidly when rates and surcharges increase as weaker players will be out- competed in the race for ever bigger ships.”


Three cargo heists a day in Europe, says TAPA


Major cargo crimes in Europe are running at an average of three a day with an average loss of over €205,000, according to the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA). The association’s 2014 Incident


Information Service (IIS) Annual Report for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region recorded 1,102 incidents of cargo crime in the region and total losses for the year were almost €75 million. Worse, violence by organised criminal gangs continued to increase last year with by 102 violent hijackings of trucks, notably in France, Italy and South Africa. The top ten crimes in 2014


lost cargo owners over €32 million and during the year there were 15 €1 million-plus theſts from facilities and vehicles. Gangs targeted everything from scratchcards, cosmetics, consumer electronics, and clothing and footwear to tobacco products, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, car parts and tyres, and cash. The UK and Germany reported


the largest year-on-year increases. Germany had the highest number of freight crimes in 2014, up 42.5% over 2013 figures to 285 cargo theſts while, at 175 cargo crimes,


the UK saw the highest percentage growth among the top countries suffering incidents, a near doubling. But the Netherlands, the main location for reported cargo crimes in 2013, saw a 9.7% drop over 2013 although it still recorded 258 incidents overall. Theſts from vehicles continued


to account for the biggest proportion of freight theſts with over 500 crimes representing more than 45% of all incidents recorded in 2014, but there were also 193 theſts from facilities and 185 theſts of vehicles. Food and beverages were the most targeted products, closely followed


by


consumer electronics. TAPA’s analysis shows that


92.8% of the 1,102 cargo crimes in 2014 in the EMEA region took place in just ten countries; Germany, the Netherlands, UK, France, Italy, Russia, Spain, Austria, Sweden and South Africa. Chairman of TAPA EMEA,


Thorsten Neumann (pictured), said: “It is well-known that the majority of cargo crime still goes unreported and that is a situation industry has to change. In 2007, a European Parliament study on organised theſt of commercial vehicles and their loads put the annual cost to business as €8.2 billion and attacks on the supply chain by organised criminal gangs


have certainly increased since then.” He added that cargo criminals


“are becoming more daring and sophisticated in the way they target goods moving in the supply chain. These are not always products with a high individual unit cost. They might just as easily be a high volume of lower cost goods that can easily be traded on the black market.” Nonetheless, Neumann


said he was encouraged by the response from law enforcement agencies across the region, and by government ministries and the European Commission. He added: “We are working to


ensure the wider implementation of TAPA Security Standards to protect high value, theſt-attractive cargoes in facilities and during the road transport process, and pushing for investment in more secure truck parks on trunk routes across Europe.”


UKWA pressure pays off


The UK Warehousing Association says that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has reviewed the time taken to approve applicants to operate excise businesses and the conditions imposed on them, following a campaign. According to UKWA, HMRC


admitted that the approval process has oſten taken too long and conditions applied in some cases unjustly restricted business activity. Applications should now


be processed by HMRC within 45 working days


rather than


an indeterminate time and conditions will not be imposed upon approvals, unless fully justified. Approved persons may also ask HMRC to consider revocation of existing conditions. UKWA excise duty specialist


Alan Powell said: “There should now be certainty about approval time-scales and expectation of the correct exercise of HMRC’s powers of discretion with regard


to imposition of conditions and restrictions. HMRC has also showed it can listen if one pounds the door hard enough.” UKWA chief executive, Peter


Ward, added that there was a need to balance government initiatives to eliminate fraud and collect revenue against “draconian measures that make business increasingly difficult for our members, as well as other operators in the logistics sector and retailers.”


K Line to take train strain


K Line has signed a contract with Antec HTS Forwarding to transport new rail carriages for the Intercity Express Programme scheme being manufactured at Hitachi’s Kasado plant. They will be loaded onto vessels at the port of Tokuyama-


Kudamatsu and will be discharged at Teesport, the nearest port on the east coast of UK to Newton Aycliffe, where Hitachi is constructing a factory to fully assemble the carriages. K Line is currently building ten new ro ro vessels in Japan, some


of which will be deployed into the Japan – Europe trade and will serve the project from July onwards. The new vessels will offer


20% more car-carrying capacity of 20% as well as more space for high and heavy cargo.


///NEWS


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