MALTA\\\ >> 30


we will not make any


redundancies, we will need to redeploy them in other areas of the business.” In between dealing with all these


challenges, Azzopardi has found time to consider the implications for logistics of current trends and policies in Malta. It may simply be acceptance of the inevitable, but current government policy is actually to increase the island’s population from its current half million to around a million or so. If this comes about, it will mean a corresponding increase in the size of the logistics industry. The current Express Trailers


Malta-resident fleet, if lined up bumper to bumper, would already be 3km long and take up a total of 10,000sq m of parking space, says Azzopardi. But if this were to double, say, space would be needed to park all the extra vehicles – perhaps another 10,000sq m. Quite where this space would be found on a small island, given all the other pressures on land, isn’t entirely clear, but


Issue 4 2019 - Freight Business Journal


there is a solution, Azzopardi suggests: use the existing fleet more intensively by having more night-time deliveries. So far,


though, receivers of


goods have been reluctant to do this, because it means paying staff extra to work unsocial hours, but this could be addressed through tax


credits, effectively making


night deliveries cost-neutral, Azzopardi suggests. There may be objections to


night activity by residents, but this could be addressed by starting with deliveries in industrial areas and, possibly, through greater use of electric vehicles. Something else that the


government might contemplate, he adds, is setting up a central common-user logistics hub for the island’s main urban agglomeration, centred on Valletta; the former Marsa power station site could be ideal. All forwarders and logistics companies would deliver into the site with the final mile into the congested city streets by shared user vehicles – very possibly electric ones.


Thomas Smith offers the complete package


Forward-thinking


There has been a trend among container


lines for some


time now for them to offer complete logistics services such as freight forwarding, warehousing and other added- value activities alongside the basic quay to quay shipping function. Indeed many have acquired forwarders – Maersk with its Damco arm for instance, or CMA CGM’s recent purchase of Ceva Logistics. But in a sense, since Thomas


Smith has a fully established freight forwarding division, the company has anticipated these trends and is very well positioned to cater for these new requirement by shipping lines, says


Denis Galea,


shipping director at Thomas Smith, the agent on Malta for Maersk Line. He explains: “We can offer


a lot of synergies, to match our customers’ expectations including multi modal solutions where needed.” Galea explains. Thomas Smith is able to


assist its clients with all their cargo movements ranging from airfreight movements, storage facilities for merchandise, full


groupage services to Malta through the Indian Ocean and the Middle East shipping routes for imports originating from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and the UAE, consolidated through the hub in Singapore. Meanwhile demand for


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dedicated trucks across Europe is also increasing. The point to point service targets urgent shipments with tight deadlines- and can be quicker than airfreight in some cases. Thomas Smith first started to provide the service for its aerospace clients but an increasing number of other shippers have started to use it, says Galea.


load container services,


transhipment services across international waters and land, as well as international out of gauge loads, 3PL logistics, and project cargo. It also offers trailer services operating from European destinations. Thomas Smith’s services


have now also reached into new territories, by expanding its existing groupage route to the Far East and it now has a hub in Singapore. It can now offer clients


Mariner appointed United Feeder agent


Malta-based shipping agency, Mariner


Shipping has been


appointed as agent for the United Feeder Service agent in Malta. UFS is an independent


company within the DP World Group, serving Malta, Genoa, Naples, Piraeus, Damietta, Port Said East/West and Constanta in the Black Sea and expects to carry about 1m teu during 2019. It provides 30 rotations, calling at 65 ports in the Iberia,


Eurobridge’s traffic between the UK and Malta has been growing by leaps and bounds since signing a partnership deal with Ital Logistics, despite, or even because of Brexit says managing director David Abela. Ahead of the intended Brexit date, “people started importing and exporting in anticipation” leading to a surge in traffic. Since then, things have


quietened down a little but business is still going strong, he continues: “There is a good feeling between both companies, and


Ital has obtained some very good cargo.” There are however a few issues


to be aware of, warns Abela. Eurobridge has just moved its main operational base out of the inadequate and antiquated customs-bonded area at Halfar to a new purpose-built 40,000sq ſt site in the centre of the island. However, under current Maltese law, any cargo that arrives from a non-EU country, including that travelling under T1 documentation, must first be brought to the Halfar bond


before it can be distributed into Malta; the concept of a forwarder- operated bond does not really exist, says Abela. The facilities at Halfar are


cramped and oſten congested, but that is less of a problem for Eurobridge as long as T1 cargo consists of relatively small amounts from countries like Switzerland. However, the UK is the third biggest generator of cargo to Malta for Eurobridge and if this traffic had to be moved through Halfar it could cause serious problems.


It’s especially annoying for


Eurobridge which has invested heavily in its new 15,000sq ſt warehouse – huge by Maltese standards – with racking and state- of-the-art IT systems. Abela has held meetings with


Malta Customs to explore the possibility of having its own bond, even offering to pay for a customs officer to attend its premises, but so far to no avail. Customs’ concerns seems to be that non- EU cargo could be released into Malta without payment of duty,


but Abela points out the risks with T1 cargo are pretty minimal as documentation is already lodged with customs. As if this were not enough, the


situation is aggravated by a unique piece of Maltese legislation. While the rest of the EU road freight transport market has been largely thrown open to competition, on joining the EU Malta was granted a derogation that allowed a group of about 30 local hauliers, known as Burvnars, to maintain a monopoly on all


transport to and from


customs-bonded areas, including Halfar and the ports. “So not only


Mediterranean, Black Sea, Middle East and North Africa. Mariner Shipping is


primarily a ship agency, freight forwarding, warehousing, distribution, ship brokering, and customs clearance company and is the shipping arm of the old-established Maltese Hili Company. It also has container terminals in Riga, Latvia, and Venice and is a local partner of international forwarder, Agility.


am I being forced to unload goods in Halfar, but I can’t go there – or to the port – with my own trucks. I have to use a Burvnar.” The Burvnars have little


incentive to invest in new trucks, which possibly explains


some


of the antiquated vehicles still wheezing up and down the hills of Malta, and it rather makes a mockery of firms like Eurobridge that are trying to convey a modern, up-to-date image. It also reduces the competitiveness of Maltese traders in the face of the likes of Amazon, argues.


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