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Issue 4 2020 - Freight Business Journal


the port’s capacity to


around 2m containers a year.


Third runway finds favour


On 25 October, the government came down in


favour of a


third runway at Heathrow as its preferred route for airport expansion in south-east England. However, it was to be many months before a final decision and, indeed, the issue has still not been resolved at the time of writing. On 18 January 2017, leading


lights from the worlds of diplomacy, government and the rail industry descended on DB Cargo’s Barking terminal to witness the arrival of the first container freight train from China to the UK. The service originated in Yiwu, near Shanghai. DP World London Gateway


handled its first ever Asia/ Europe services in April 2017 with a call by the newly formed The Alliance consortium with what at the time were one of the largest ships in the world – 21,000teu. In mid-2017, FedEx confirmed it had become the latest


that


freight firm to be hit by the ‘Wannacry’ malware. Other victims of a slightly later variant of the virus were to include shipping line Maersk, APM Terminals and TNT Express. K Line, Mitsui OSK and NYK announced plans for a new Ocean Network Express grouping of the three main Japanese-owned lines.


container


///10TH ANNIVERSARY


in the sea’ between Northern Ireland


and mainland UK


could bring as many problems as it solved. Stena Line announced that


sea trials of its new Stena Estrid ferry had been a success. She is the first of a new generation of


five new ro pax vessels


destined for Irish Sea routes. Covid-19 strikes


And finally, in March 2020, came news of a new crisis to hit the freight industry. The outbreak of Coronavirus in China in January led to a lockdown of major cities, including Wuhan and a widespread travel ban – but not before reports began to


surface of people being


trust Segro and property developer Roxhill unveiled plans for a multimodal East Midlands Gateway. A paper published on 13


November 2017 by the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts threw doubt on whether HMRC’s planned replacement for the Chief customs computer – CDS – would be ready on time. The prediction proved to be correct, with HMRC announcing in early 2020 that Chief would indeed continue


to operate


until such time as CDS was ready.


Later in 2017, the CCS- UK airfreight community announced a plan for an advanced information system that would speed cargo through the Heathrow Airport complex, allowing advance information to be sent electronically via a web portal.


Peel Ports meanwhile said


that work had started on a second, £400m phase of its Liverpool2 scheme.


East Midlands hub unveiled


On 10 October, investment On 8 August 2018, BIFA


director general Robert Keen said that containers through the port of Felixstowe still faced significant delays after problems with a new terminal operating system. Shipping lines were cancelling calls and there were knock-on effects at other UK ports. Later in the year, Southampton reported very high levels of stacked containers as a result of the problems in Felixstowe. Late in 2018 freight


forwarders, including Davies Turner, reported an upsurge in warehousing enquiries from customers concerned about the effects of Brexit delays. More companies were seeking to stockpile goods in locations throughout the UK. CMA CGM was on the


acquisition trail again in 2019. In


mid-April, it announced


that it had completed a public tender offer tor Ceva Logistics, giving it a significant presence in the 3PL market for the first time.


Frustration with the


lack of information on the Government’s plans for Brexit


boiled over at BIFA in mid- 2019. The association warned that many forwarders and companies were still in the dark over what action they would need to take to keep consignments moving. P&O Ferries said it would


launch a service from Calais and Tilbury in September – the first short-sea ferry route from the French port not to serve Dover for many years. It said that using Tilbury would allow trucks to hit the M25 from 05.30am. Industry leaders reacted


warily to new Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan for a revised Brexit deal, announced in autumn 2019. Port operators said that the planned ‘border


infected in Italy, Spain, Iran and many other countries around the world. Despite a widespread


cancellation of international flights and suspension of shipping services, the authorities in Europe appeared powerless in their efforts to halt the virus. Queues of trucks began to build up on internal EU borders while drivers were tested for the virus – although some operators reported that they had been able to maintain fairly regular services. But at the time of writing, it is


far from business as usual in the freight industry – and it looks to be many months before any semblance of normality returns.


FBJ


In celebrating our 10th Anniversary FBJ would like


to thank all our


advertisers, readers, contributors and supporters who have helped get us this


far.


We couldn’t have done it without you. Now firmly established


as the UK and Europe’s leading multimodal newspaper,


we have managed to buck the


trend, proving that industry executives still like to read the printed matter! We are also delighted


that FBJ’s North American sister, FBJNA, is soon to celebrate its fifth Anniversary. Thanks and


congratulations to


our US colleagues. Look out for your


invites to the Grand Anniversary Party!


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