Auto Manufacturers News

As infrastructure expands to handle new business, the Port of Savannah moved more than 350,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units in December. Nine of the Georgia Ports Authority's 10 busiest months were in 2018. The Port of Savannah moved 4.35 million twenty-foot equivalent container units in Calendar Year 2018, its highest annual volume ever, and a 7.5 percent increase over 2017, according to a report from Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch to the GPA Board Tuesday.

Demand for electric mobility is sweeping across the globe, and it’s rapidly gaining traction in the marine industry. The electric mobility revolution is largely being driven by the land transportation sector. Industry statistics predict that electric vehicle sales will surpass combustion engine vehicles within the next 20 years. Many countries in Europe and Asia have already adopted aggressive deadlines to phase out sales of combustion-powered vehicles, and some cities such as London are planning to banish them from their roads entirely.

Marine electronics manufacturer Navico, parent company to the Lowrance, Simrad and B&G brands, announced it has finalized an agreement to acquire marine monitoring and control systems provider Naviop. Providing the integration framework to capture data from all boating systems, Naviop creates a digital ecosystem on boats outfitted with Simrad, Lowrance and B&G marine electronics, with the multifunction display serving as the hub for complete system control and information. “For years, auto manufacturers have provided consumers with a complete integration solution at their fingertips, and we, as a marine industry have fallen behind the curve to provide the same level of convenience and control,” said Leif Ottosson, Navico CEO.

APM Terminals Pipavav welcomed the Hoegh Tracer, one of the world’s largest pure car and truck Carrier (PCTC), and the largest to ever call an Indian port. At 14 decks high, the Hoegh Tracer has a capacity of 8,500 vehicles, and loaded 1,700 cars at Pipavav for export delivery on the Hoegh Middle East, India and Africa (MIAF) Service. APM Terminals Pipavav, in partnership with NYK Auto Logistics (India), opened a dedicated common user integrated RoRo terminal in August of 2015, with a capacity of 250,000 vehicles annually. The port is equipped to accommodate 4,500 to 5,000 cars and a Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) facility. There is also a mobilization yard for 150 cars, with a capacity to accommodate approximately 500 cars on the Quay.

At the annual State of the Port address hosted by the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce Wednesday, Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch announced a 100-acre expansion of the Colonel's Island auto terminal, and welcomed Logistec's announcement of the completion of 221,000 square feet of wood pellet storage at GPA's East River Terminal. "The additional 100 acres will allow GPA to grow along with our existing customers, and to attract additional carmakers to the nation's second busiest auto port," Lynch said. Twenty of the 100 acres are paved and in use by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, while International Auto Processing has leased another 49 acres it will occupy by May 2017.

In 2013 alone, Rolls-Royce invested £1.1 billion on research and development while at the same time supporting a global network of 31 University Technology Centers, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research. Today, Rolls-Royce predicts that Ship Intelligence will be the next major transition for the shipping industry as ships become ever more complex. As that happens, managing high levels of data in order to operate on-board systems will be a big part of that reality. At first, says Roll-Royce, this will better manage propulsion and navigation systems. Later, it could potentially lead to autonomous vessels.

BMW Group celebrated the official opening of its newest Vehicle Distribution Center at the Port of Baltimore yesterday. The facility will serve 96 dealers within the Central and Eastern regions of BMW’s dealer network. Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America, and Craig Westbrook, Vice President – Aftersales, BMW of North America, were in attendance and spoke at the opening. “BMW Group year-to-date sales in the U.S. set a new benchmark, topping 246,000 vehicles in the first eight months of this year, and we are full of confidence that we will follow our success through the remaining months of 2014,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America. With this new facility, BMW enhances its position at the largest car processing port on the East Coast.

Organizers of Jacksonville Port Authority's (JAXPORT) biennial 'Logistics & Intermodal Conference' have released the list of panel topics for discussion at the upcoming 2015 conference. The overall theme for 2015 is "Challenges Facing Shippers in South Atlantic Ports,” and the conference will feature five panel discussions sharing insights, solutions and successes. Panelists will be announced soon and will include senior executives from major ocean carriers, railroads, shippers and service providers. JAXPORT’s conference is designed for senior level executives in logistics and transportation, offering a unique opportunity to network with industry leaders and hear speakers from around the country discussing topics of interest to decision makers.

Australia should discuss building its next-generation fleet of submarines overseas, the Department of Defence said on Monday, a shift that could open the door to a partnership deal with Japan that carries political risk at home and abroad. Australia is looking for partners to help it build about a dozen diesel-electric submarines to replace its aging Collins Class fleet and help to extend its maritime surveillance deep into the Indian Ocean. The proposed A$40 billion fleet of submarines is at the core of the nation's maritime defence strategy over the next two decades. Successive governments have pledged to build the vessels in Australia, creating much-needed manufacturing jobs.

MES Power-Electronics Industry Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding (MES) has developed a compact induction heater for heating before forging that can be shipped via container transport. Designed for use in the automobile industry, since the launch of sales the company has received numerous orders and already has delivered several units. In the past, conventional induction heaters mainly were delivered to domestic production lines but with the growing rate of overseas production lines in the automobile industry, there was a growing trend of induction heaters being transported overseas. Our mid-tier induction heaters (300 – 600kw) are too large to fit in a container and shipment required transport on a bulk carrier.

Earlier this week, Commissioner William P. Doyle met with Japanese public and private sector officials to discuss U.S. natural gas, exports, and the Panama Canal. Japan is the world's largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The country has relied on imported natural gas for decades as part of its energy portfolio. However, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, disabled the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Subsequently Japan has increased its level of reliance on LNG imports. The U.S. may become an important LNG supply source for Japan in the coming years.

Port and Community officials join rail partners Genesee & Wyoming (G&W) and Union Pacific (UP) to celebrate two milestones. The Port of Hueneme was honored recently by the Railway Industrial Clearance Association (RICA) as 2012’s Most Improved Port. Founded in 1969, the Railway Industrial Clearance Association is dedicated to serving the heavy and dimensional transportation industry, cargos with large dimensions, excess weight or center of gravity or other unusual issues. With over 400 members the association seeks opportunities to solve transportation challenges that lead to improved cooperation between shippers, receivers and railroads to implement common solutions to intermodal problems.

Matson Navigation Company, Inc. (Matson) has begun the first conversion of one of its C-9 containerships, MV Mokihana, to a combination roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) and container vessel to further strengthen its Hawaii service capabilities. With the conversion, the vessel will have ro-ro and container capacity comparable to two vessels in Matson's service today, the dedicated ro-ro vessel Great Land and the containership S.S. Lihue. The new garage will have the capacity to carry 1,350 vehicles. The plan is part of a multi-phase program that began in 2003 and is designed to provide Matson's auto customers with the two service features they prefer: frequency of service and ro-ro capacity.

Kronos Air Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Kronos Advanced Technologies, Inc., and the United States Navy executed a Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract to develop and demonstrate an advanced distributive air management system based on the patented Kronos(TM) technology. The 24-month contract is worth $585,000 with an option for an additional $144,000 in funding. This Phase II contract is an extension of the Phase I and Phase I Option work that began last year and represents further validation of the Kronos(TM) technology by the U.S. Department of Defense. The work and funding on Phase II will begin immediately.