Transport Operator News

Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros Gondán has tapped ABB to supply all-electric power solutions for ten fast 40-meter urban passenger ferries transporting up to 540 passengers each across Lisbon’s Tagus river.The contract comes a week after Astilleros Gondan said it would start building a series of 10 fully electric passenger ferries for the Portuguese river passenger transport operator Transtejo.The ten new ferries will replace the existing fleet serving this route when they enter service between 2022 and 2024.In addition to energy storage…

Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros GONDAN said it is gearing up to start building a series of 10 fully electric passenger ferries  for the Portuguese river passenger transport operator Transtejo – Transportes Tejo, S.A.The 40-meter-long ferries are designed based on a catamaran-type hull form specifically optimized to make the most of the almost 2MWh of electrical energy stored in its batteries, with silent operation and no CO2 emissions. With a capacity of around 540 passengers,…

The  global ocean transport operator AAL Shipping has launched a new Europe-Middle East/India-Asia Monthly Liner Service to serve the market’s multipurpose vessels (MPPs) and project heavy lift cargo transport requirements.The new service, which connects main ports between Europe, Middle East/India and Asia, harnesses AAL’s second generation 31,000-dwt mega-size A-Class fleet, renowned for its 40,000-cu m cargo intake capacity 700-tonne lift ability.The new liner service will follow a fixed route, with port call flexibility. Base ports will include Antwerp, Porto Marghera, Jebel Ali, Dammam, Mumbai, Singapore, Shanghai, Tianjin and Masan.

FESCO Transportation Group, the largest intermodal transport operator in Russia,  has performed relocation of four Liebherr rubber tyred gantry (RTG) cranes from Petrolesport (part of Global Ports Group) in St. Petersburg to Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company (part of Global Ports Group) in Vrangel (Primorsky Krai)."To ensure minimum transit time, the transportation of RTG cranes was carried out along the Northern Sea Route. The sea passage took 28 days, while transit time on the route through the Suez Canal would take about 52 days," said a press release.Transportation was made by vessel Nordic Svalbard, equipped with heavy-lift cranes.

FESCO Transportation Group, the largest intermodal transport operator in Russia, announced that a new container ship of ice class  ESCO Moneron has recently joined the fleet.The national flag of the Russian Federation was raised on the ship on 21 November 2019.Container ship with a capacity of 822 TEU will be operated on FESCO Magadan cabotage service (FML), that already includes FESCO Magadan sister ship, purchased last year, and FESCO Posyet universal bulk carrier.FESCO Moneron container ship is planned to be put on the line in the end of 2019 or in the beginning of 2020 at the latest.Arc4 ice class of the vessel complies with the standards needed for work in the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk in winter. The ship is fitted with modern equipment and has a high degree of automation.

FESCO Transportation Group, the largest intermodal transport operator in Russia, and Polish rail operator PCC Intermodal S.A. agreed on developing services of expedited cargo delivery from Japan, South Korea and China to European countries and vice versa through the Far East and Trans-Siberian Railway.The agreement of intent was signed during the Eastern Economic Forum.Using their experience and expertise, the companies are going to work on increasing the volumes of transit cargo shipped with Trans-Siberian Landbridge service launched this summer, and to attract new customers (European in the first place) to the service.In order to promote the service…

Czech freight transport operator Advanced World Transport (AWT),  a member of PKP CARGO Group, which is a leading logistics operator in Europe, on 1st July 2019 took over three new multisystem Vectron A17 locomotives from Siemens Mobility in Velim.AWT is complementing fleet of eight multi-system locomotives, which will be used for shipments across Europe and help to implement the PKP CARGO Group development strategy.The AWT Group currently runs a total of seven multisystem locomotives, which are used mainly for international transport, three Siemens ES64U4, three Siemens ES64F4 and from the beginning of last year two Bombardier Traxx…

FESCO Transportation Group, the largest intermodal transport operator in Russia, announced that the ice-class container vessel “FESCO Magadan”, with full capacity of 822 TEU, joined its fleet."The flag of the Russian Federation was solemnly raised on the ship on July 2, the day of the formation of the city of Vladivostok," said a press note from the public transportation and logistics company.The container ship will be operated on FESCO cabotage service “FESCO Magadan Line”. The launch of this container carrier on “FESCO Magadan Line” is scheduled for August, 2019.The ice rate meets the standards required for operation in the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk during winter-time.

The largest intermodal transport operator in Russia FESCO Transportation Group started seasonal transportation to Anadyr and Egvekinot, the ports of the Chukotka Autonomous Region, under the Northern Supply Haul.General cargo ship “FESCO Pioner” set sail for Anadyr on June 13, 2019. FESCO vessel will deliver to Anadyr about 4 500 tons of containerized and general cargo.The approximate date of arrival of this general cargo ship to Chukotka is June, 22. Delivery of the goods on linear service "FESCO Anadyr Direct Line" (FADL) is to last until the end of October.FADL service provides transportation all kinds of cargoes, such as dry and general cargoes…

The global ocean transport operator AAL Shipping has successfully delivered a cargo of four rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTGs) to the Port of Felixstowe, as part of a development project that will see the UK’s busiest container port add an additional 18,000 teu of container storage capacity to meet growing demand.The ZPMC Chinese-made RTGs were loaded in Shanghai and shipped to Felixstowe aboard the 31,000 dwt mega-size mpv the A-Class AAL Kobe, for the CPIA forwarding and shipping agency. Each of the units measured 32 m x 14 m x 30 m and weighed just under 200 t.The new remote controlled RTGs will serve Berths 8 and 9 at the Port and…

Contship Italia Group has been pulling all the stops to increase its intermodal offering during the past months.Italy’s leading service provider for integrated global supply chains said that its Rail Hub Milano (RHM) and its gateway ports La Spezia and Ravenna serve as backbone of the Group’s growing intermodal network.La Spezia is geographically located within a range of 320 km from the key economic regions in Italy, accounting for over 47% of the total Italian GDP. RHM is located in Melzo, just outside the city of Milan at the heart of consumer and industrial regions. Ravenna is the natural gateway for East Med flows exchanged via the Adriatic Sea, the Italian container terminal operator said.This year has seen numerous service additions from RHM to various locations across Europe.

Public transport networks around the world are becoming more and more sustainable. This is due to stricter emissions regulations as well as increasing public demand for cleaner and greener modes of transport. This growing attention to sustainability is also being seen in the ferry sector, which plays a vital public transport role in many countries. In the Netherlands, the issue of sustainable ferry transport is of particular relevance because: The Dutch inland ferry sector comprises more than 300 ferry services.

C-Job Naval Architects said it has delivered the concept design of a series of five sustainable car and passenger ferries to the City of Amsterdam. The vessels will operate 100 percent on electricity, thus providing an emission-free urban transport solution. The fully electric ferries are designed to recharge their batteries during the unloading and loading of passengers and vehicles. In order to maintain efficiency of service and a quick turnaround, this charging process will take place during a timeframe of a maximum of four minutes.

Shipbuilder Vard Holdings Limited said it has been awarded a contract to build a new car- and passenger ferry due for delivery to Norwegian public transport operator Boreal in the third quarter of 2019. The vessel will ply the Norwegian fjords powered by a fully electrical battery solution for continuous electric operations. Vard said the vessel’s hull will be constructed at one of its Romanian yards, Vard Braila, and final delivery will take place from Vard Brevik in Norway.

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line) has announced that its CO2 reduction targets have been approved as "scientifically consistent" with the  2 degree centigrade  temperature  goal set by the COP 21 Paris Agreement. As a result, K Line says it has obtained certification from Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi), and has set its interim target to reduce CO2 emissions by 10 percent for 2019. In March 2015, we introduced our long-term environmental vision,"K" Line Environmental Vision 2050 "Securing Blue Seas for Tomorrow" and set an environmental target to reduce CO2 emissions from our operating ships by half before 2050 as one of our counter-measures against global warming.

Leading global ocean transport operator, serving the breakbulk, heavy lift and project cargo industry AAL is set to strengthen its growing presence in the China region, with the appointment of specialist project and steel cargo freight forwarder Central Oceans, as Commercial Agent for Hong Kong and South China. Wolfgang Harms, Deputy Managing Director of AAL commented, "Central Oceans took the decision a decade ago to specialise in this very tough sector and has been at the forefront in terms of service quality and reliability ever since. The timing of the announcement is significant, with Beijing making clear in its recent 13th five-year plan that it will provide greater economic support to Macau and Hong Kong and help the latter further develop as a global financial…

A new shipping company has established itself in Vancouver as the Vancouver International Maritime Centre (VIMC) completes its Asia tour, launching in Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong. Greystoke Marine Management Ltd. is the latest company to choose Vancouver for its base of operations. The company focuses on assisting global shipping investors and international owners with optimally managing their portfolio of assets. Greystoke’s founders Robert Hedley, Mads Meldgaard and Roy Spires are all former shipping executives with one of the world's largest energy transportation providers, Teekay Corp. “Greystoke is a great supporter of the Vancouver International Maritime Centre initiative and Vancouver was an obvious location to start our new company,” said Co-CEO Robert Hedley.

Continuing support from key markets across Asia helped Contship Italia Group, the leading container terminal and intermodal transport operator in Italy, to report a steady set of results for 2015. Contship Italia Group terminals handled a total of 6.3 million TEUs last year on the back of increased volumes at La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT), its main gateway for Asian cargo. LSCT, with four weekly calls from China, the Far East, and South East Asia, continues the positive trend that has seen Asia trade via La Spezia increase by 3.5% on the previous year (up 19% over the past five years). In 2015, 197 of 938 total calls at LSCT were associated with Asia services offered by the 2M, O3 and CKYHE alliances handling vessels in the 10,000-14,000 TEU capacity range.

The EU funded EcoHubs R&D project (Environmentally COherent measures and interventions to debottleneck HUBS of the multimodal network favored by seamless flow of goods) has delivered a number of ICT tools which can increase capacity at ports and terminals, and can lead to reductions in carbon footprint. Designed to support “Resource Efficient Europe”, the flagship initiative of the Europe 2020 Strategy, EcoHubs has, for the last 30 months, researched and developed the tools required for sustainable freight transport and logistics networks as part of a smart…

International freight insurer TT Club convened a special seminar at the recent conference on transport and logistics, Trans Russia in Moscow. Lead by TT Club’s General Manager, EMEA, Kevin King and Kirill Berezov from the insurer’s long-established Russian network partner Panditrans, the seminar outlined both the changing nature of the transport operator’s liability in Russia and the idiosyncratic nature of insurance conventions applicable in the region. TT Club believes that there is an urgent need for international freight forwarders…

Global ocean transport operator AAL today announced plans to increase the size of its fleet to over 500,000 dwt in 2015. Comprising owned and chartered vessels, the move will add needed capacity to the multi-purpose sector’s youngest and most advanced fleet, in support of growing global demand, the company said. The company also announced it had doubled revenues in the past two years, increased its market share in core regions and grown from an Austral-Asian carrier to a global operator with the expansion of its fleet, trade routes, services and operational infrastructure.

New shipping services are being announced as the second berth at DP World London Gateway opens for business. Britain’s newest port doubled its capacity as the second berth began operations in May. Five new shipping routes to North America, South America East Coast and West Coast, the Middle East and Europe are starting. New rail, road and container services are also announced. The G6, one of the world’s largest shipping alliances, will start a new service at DP World London Gateway on Friday, May 16.

Multimodal transport operator Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL) has awarded an exclusive three-year contract to serve its vessels and port calls across Australia to GAC Australia, part of the global shipping, logistics and marine service provider GAC Group. The contract was signed by Mark Austin, Managing Director of Mitsui O.S.K Lines Australia (MOL), and Phil Coolican, Managing Director, GAC Australia, following a rigorous tender process. MOL, a marine transportation companies, operating a global fleet of more than 900 vessels with an overall capacity of around 66 million deadweight tons (DWT).