Forwarding News

The Greater Houston Port Bureau Board of Directors announced Vincent DiCosimo, vice president of government affairs at Targa Resources, will assume the position of the chairman of the board on January 1, 2024. DiCosimo has served as first vice chairman on the Port Bureau’s board for the last three years.Bernt Netland, the outgoing chairman of the Port Bureau Board said, “Vincent has been a part of the Port Bureau’s board for many years and has been active in his role as vice chair. He is an experienced and respected leader in the port region.

Nokian Tyres has made a commitment to the not-for-profit Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG) covering, 2023–2026, to cooperate on BSAG's Ship Waste Action initiative.The goal of the initiative is to establish an operating model in which wastewater from cargo ships is discharged on shore in the harbor and the utilization of nutrients is enabled by circular economy solutions."The discharge of wastewater from cargo ships into the sea is still legal, and many shippers may not even know that wastewater from their transports is likely to end up in the Baltic Sea.

Global Transport Solutions (GTS), a logistics service provider specialized in supply chain solutions for the maritime industry (through the brand Marinetrans), has acquired Ship Spares Logistics (SSL) (formerly part of Burando Maritime Services), a marine logistics specialist providing barge deliveries, warehouse consolidation and freight forwarding services. The combination of the two companies will elevate service offerings in marine spare parts logistics, creating a synergy that leverages the combined strengths…

Stolt-Nielsen said that, after 23 years as Chief Executive Officer, Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen will step down from his role as CEO on September 1, 2023, and will assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Stolt-Nielsen Limited. He will be succeeded as CEO by Udo Lange.Lange, who will join Stolt-Nielsen as Chief Executive Officer on September 1, 2023, has more than 20 years of experience in the international trade industry, with expertise in freight forwarding, express and parcel logistics and airline catering.

Nine companies across the maritime value chain have issued a joint statement expressing their commitment to developing and implementing robust book and claim chain of custody systems to accelerate the early phases of shipping’s decarbonisation. The signatories of the joint statement – Aspen Shipping Decarbonization Initiative, DHL Global Forwarding, Hapag Lloyd, Kuehne + Nagel, Norden, Oldendorff Carriers, ONE, Torvald Klaveness, and Yara Clean Ammonia –belong to the Getting to Zero coalition…

Elisabeth Cosmatos, Managing Director of Cosmatos Group, has been elected President of The Heavy Lift Group (THLG), an international association for specialised heavy transport companies.The appointment was made as part of the executive committee election during the 68th THLG Conference on June 5.Taking over from FOX Brasil’s Murilo Caldana, Cosmatos becomes THLG’s first female president. She is joined on the executive committee by Rhenus Projects’ Colin d’Abreo, Alessio Bianchi of DCS Liburnus…

Average container prices have declined to more than half from the last year in August as China picks up containerized trade volumes more recently, according to an analysis published by Container xChange, a technology marketplace and operating platform for container logistic companies. The analysis is a part of the monthly container logistics report published by Container xChange titled ‘Where Are All The Containers’.The decline in average container prices and leasing rates offer…

Liberty Green Logistics LLC, (Lake Success, NY) formed an offshore wind supply chain consortium to provide "Factory to Farm" logistical support and integrated supply chain services to the U.S. offshore wind industry. The consortium is on a non-exclusive basis and available as a one stop shop for developers, OEM’s, and EPC contractors, providing services ranging across ports & terminals, vessels, and supply chain logistics. Since the inception in May 2021 Liberty Green has enrolled 17 consortium members…

Xeneta, a leader in ocean and air freight rate benchmarking, market analytics platform and container shipping index, announced the appointment of two new sales executives. Scott Irvine joins Xeneta as VP of Freight Forwarding and Laura Finbow will serve as Director of Sales Enablement. Scott Irvine has worked in the logistics industry for over two decades holding senior leadership roles across both shippers and freight forwarders. Most recently Scott was the VP of Air & Ocean for Zencargo, a leading digital freight forwarder.

The Biden administration recently issued a sweeping Executive Order [1] aimed at protecting and enhancing competition, and the transportation sector—including air, ocean, and rail—is among the industries specifically identified and likely to see heightened antitrust scrutiny under the new directives. This executive action was soon followed by the long-awaited announcement of Biden’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (Division), Jonathan Kanter, who…

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council, meeting from November 8-12, established an International Day for Women in Maritime, to be observed on May 18 every year.Once adopted by the IMO Assembly in December 2021, the observance will celebrate women in the industry, promote the recruitment, retention and sustained employment of women in the maritime sector, raise the profile of women in maritime, strengthen IMO's commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 5 (gender equality) and support work to address the current gender imbalance in maritime.IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said…

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. on Wednesday announced the creation of a new subsidiary, Ship4wd, a digital freight forwarding platform offering an online self-service end to end shipping solution.Launching October 18, 2021, Ship4wd is intended to be a one-stop-shop international shipping service targeting U.S. and Canadian small and medium-sized businesses importing and exporting from China, Vietnam and Israel, ZIM said. The Ship4wd platform consists of both sea and air shipping services up to the final destination…

Oman's state-owned Asyad is considering buying ports and terminals abroad and could divest assets outside its core logistics business, such as a college and project management operation, its chief executive said on Thursday.The plans by the company, which is owned by the Oman Investment Authority, align with the small oil producing Gulf state's broader strategy to reduce reliance on crude revenues and expand its non-oil industries.Chief Executive Abdulrahman Salim Al Hatmi told…

If suppliers in China fail to pick up freight containers to fill an order for MediaShop, Marcel Schneider gets an alert via a digital freight system, allowing the retailer to reach out and fix the problem swiftly.Before July 2020, Austria-based MediaShop’s deputy supply chain director says he would discover problems in his supply chain only when containers failed to arrive in Hamburg as scheduled.“It was like being in a tunnel where you had only a limited view of what was going on…

Lawhill provides secondary-school students in Grades 10 to 12 with a specialized education and knowledge that prepares them for entry into maritime and related industries. For more than two decades, the industry-funded program has greatly improved the post-school employment prospects of thousands of young South Africans, especially those from financially-disadvantaged backgrounds.A special event was held at Lawhill to commemorate the 25 year milestone and the retirement of long-standing maritime educators, Brian Ingpen and Captain Godfrey Schlemmer.

Maersk will cut jobs in a major shake-up that will affect a third of the shipping giant's staff as it seeks to integrate its seaborne container and in-land logistics businesses, it said on Tuesday.Maersk, which handles about one in five containers shipped worldwide, has been under pressure from investors to speed its transformation from an unwieldy conglomerate but has proved resilient in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.Cost cuts and its reinstatement of more upbeat guidance last month have helped to double its share price since March and the shares were trading 0.9% up at 9,652 crowns by 08

The Connecticut Port Authority (CPA) approved the appointment of John Henshaw as its new executive director, effective September 8, 2020.Henshaw comes to the CPA after serving as the executive director of the Maine Port Authority for over 10 years and after serving as commissioner for the Board of Harbor Commissioners for the Port of Portland.He was selected for the position following an extensive search by the CPA board for a candidate with a specific set of skills and experience.

The global coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on society and on business. Working from home has become the new normal and many industries have quickly adjusted. But in an industry as traditional as shipping, this is causing a major shake-up, not least in the uptake of technology.According to satcom specialist IEC Telecom, the demand for digital technology has risen tenfold as maritime businesses embrace new ways of working during the coronavirus pandemic.Another recent study from members of Maritime Singapore highlights that when companies digitalize their processes…

DHL Global Forwarding, the ocean freight specialist of Deutsche Post DHL Group, is introducing the fastest rail freight connection between China and Germany in response to growing demand for rail freight services between Europe and Asia.The new rail service, operating between Xi’an in China and Hamburg and Neuss in Germany, has been set up in cooperation with Xi’an International Inland Port Investment & Development Group Co. Ltd. and is cutting transit time from 17 days to between 10 and 12 days.“We’ve seen a substantial increase in rail freight volumes along the ‘New Silk Road’ from China to Europe and vice versa,” states Thomas Kowitzki…

Global logistics software group, WiseTech Global has announced the acquisition of Ready Korea, a customs, bonded warehouse and trade compliance solutions provider in South Korea.Headquartered in Seoul, Ready Korea offers a cross-border compliance solution, which facilitates the lodgement of electronic transactions to the Korean Customs Service, including customs brokerage and refunds and Free Trade Agreement verification, along with bonded warehouse management.Ready Korea also provides a trade administration solution to facilitate the generation and submission of electronic import/export documentation. Customers of Ready Korea include FedEx…

The shipping industry is finally embracing technology that is changing how companies operate. Despite lagging behind other industries, the shipping industry is currently experiencing an exciting period of digital transformation, with cloud technology and mobile apps welcomed by leading global shipping companies, changing ship management forever.Companies are increasingly using mobile apps to manage all aspects of their business – to automate tasks, manage their processes, resourcing and to improve the wellbeing of seafarers…

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) CEO Frank Olsen opens up on the challenges of COVID-19, the benefits of a global network, and a fundamental shift in the established ships agency marketplace. Change, he says, is coming.“I haven’t spent this much time in Norway, without international travel, since I was at school,” laughs ISS CEO Frank Olsen over a call on Microsoft Teams.With a career that’s taken in seven years at sea, mostly on RoRos with Wallenius Wilhelmsen, living in Costa Rica (where he briefly captained a dive vessel)…

Bourbon Marine & Logistics announced on Monday that it has been awarded an integrated logistics contract from Total to support the supermajor's deep offshore exploration campaign in South Namibia in 2020. The project scope covers provision of logistics base, freight forwarding, custom clearance, material storage & warehousing, handling and lifting, marine port visits support along with tank cleanings and logistics operations planning and conduct (material and personnel).Bourbon…