BIFAlink


News Desk


www.bifa.org Madeleine Matheson, from Impress Communications, reviews some recent news that might impact on Members’ business


to an updated survey by the World Shipping Council.


CLECAT has joined the initiative started last year by Drewry and the European Shippers’ Council (ESC) to define fair principles and a clear indexing mechanism for Bunker Adjustment Factors (BAFs) in container shipping. The three organisations aim to promote the voluntary use of the indexing mechanism for fuel charges, whilst helping to improve transparency and fairness in how fuel costs are calculated.


Treasury suspends road user levy for 12 months


OVERLAND HM Treasury suspended the HGV Road User Levy from 1 August 2020 for 12 months to help hauliers recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The levy applies to UK-registered keepers of HGVs, and drivers and HGV owners/operators from outside the country accessing the UK road network.


More than 3.5 million road haulage operators worldwide are facing unprecedented financial losses this year as a result of transport restrictions and the overall economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new research conducted by the International Road Union (IRU). It also states that transport companies globally expect an average 18% decline in turnover in 2020.


It has been reported that the UK Department for Transport (DfT) is determined to reduce the impact of the increased e-commerce consumption, which has resulted in more delivery vans on the roads. It is said to be planning a charge on


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all online shopping, similar to the plastic bag fee.


IN THE AIR A slight improvement in the air cargo market was seen in May, according to data released by IATA, although capacity remains unable to meet demand as a result of the loss of belly cargo operations on passenger aircraft.


Wet lease specialist Hi Fly has become the first airline to modify an A380 aircraft into a makeshift freighter by removing seats from its passenger cabin. It offers a total volume of 165 cu m in the passenger cabin and 133 cu m in the belly, with a total payload of 60 tonnes.


ON THE OCEAN Maritime consultancy Sea- Intelligence reported in late June that, based on its remodelling, shipping lines could potentially achieve a profit for the year in excess of $9 billion “if the carriers maintain the current rate levels” and “do not resort to their old habits of grabbing market share and spurring the start of a rate war”. Only a few


weeks previously Sea-Intelligence had predicted a worst-case annual loss for the container shipping industry of $23 billion.


European shortsea ro-ro specialist CLdN has introduced a new call at the port of Liverpool, opening the first pure ro-ro service in the triangular trade between Santander in Spain, Liverpool and Dublin on a weekly basis. It brings the total number of calls from Iberia to Liverpool to eight.


BG Freight Line has added an extra weekly service to its service between Liverpool and Dublin and will now operate a thrice-weekly service.


A recent inspection initiative by the US National Cargo Bureau (NCB) has highlighted an “alarming” level of misdeclared and non-compliant dangerous cargo in container shipments, with more than half of containers non-compliant and more than 6% of containers carrying dangerous cargo misdeclared.


The number of containers lost at sea continues to decline, according


ON THE QUAYSIDE According to the International Association of Ports and Harbours’ latest Covid-19 Port Barometer report, published in July, major container ports in Europe and North America are having to contend with a higher number of moves per ship than ever before as a result of the wave of blank sailings.


Peel Ports was ranked in first place for the lowest rate of significant injuries, as measured by lost time incidents, by Port Skills and Safety in its annual benchmarking results for 2019. Injuries have been reduced by 90% at Peel Ports’ facilities over the past two years.


IN THE WAREHOUSE According to broker CBRE Group, demand for UK warehousing reached a record high in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic fuelled the online shopping boom. Warehouse owners leased out 12.8 million sq ft in the three months through to June, an increase of 64% compared to the second quarter of 2019.


The Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) has entered into a strategic partnership with the supply chain services and solutions division at BSI to support the digital transformation of its supply chain Security Standards audit processes and to increase its members’ access to new levels of risk management intelligence and incident data.


August 2020


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