Transport Unit News

The first storm to hit oil-producing regions of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico this year sent workers fleeing offshore oil platforms and cut some production.A weather disturbance in the central Gulf of Mexico was expected to become a tropical storm on Friday. It was moving north at about 14 miles per hour (22 kmh) and could bring up to 12-inches of rain to the central U.S. Gulf Coast by Saturday, the National Weather Service said.Equinor ASA on Friday said it had removed staff and shut production at its Titan platform, which is about 65 miles (105 km) off the coast of Louisiana.

Europe's logistics services provider Neele-Vat Logistics and the Port of Rotterdam Authority have signed a contract for the development of a distribution centre on the last vacant lot at the City Terminal site near Eemhaven (Heijplaat-Rotterdam).According to a press release, the logistics service provider will be using the new distribution centre for ‘cross-docking’: unloading cargo from an incoming transport unit and combining it with other cargo which is then loaded onto an outbound transport unit. The entire process takes place with next to no need for interim storage.“A number of major short sea shipping companies have told us that they see added value in a cross-dock facility.

The mantra at Crowley is “safety” and “people,” but it’s not simply words, rather embedded practice starting from the top. Robert Grune, SVP & GM, Crowley Petroleum Services talks to Maritime Reporter regarding this ubiquitous company’s historic success and promising future in the petroleum transport sector. Robert Grune leads one of Crowley’s six business units, responsible for U.S. flag Jones Act oil transportation business. The current fleet consists of 17 Articulated Tug Barges (ATBs) ranging in size from 150,000 to 330,000 barrels capacity, as well as four U.S. flag MR oil tankers.

The container shipping industry is faced with the challenge of ever-decreasing freight rates that can only be served viably with larger, more efficient vessels. This problem is worsened by the industry’s average financial performance which does not generate the returns to invest in this new capacity without considerable financial risk. There are only two alternatives: either an all-out battle for market share in the hope that several lines simply abandon a particular trade or even exit the market completely allowing the surviving lines to capture the volumes freed up by these departing lines, or collaboration with other lines to allow more efficient and rational capacity utilisation.

On 10 August 2009, the Port of Hamburg was the scene of a very special event. The Unikai team successfully managed the loading of an outsized consignment manufactured by the Pullach-based Linde Engineering Division. Destined for a petrochemical plant in Brazil, this project delivery consisted of a total of 3,600 cubic metres of system components, all of which were successfully transferred with the help of a mobile crane and securely stowed on board the M/V Grande Buenos Aires, a vessel belonging to the Grimaldi shipping company.

Itochu Corp. and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. have reached an agreement with Sonatrach, an Algerian state-owned oil and gas company, to build and operate ships to transport liquefied natural gas, wire reports said. The three and a marine transport unit of Sonatrach will set up a company to build two 75,500-cu. m. LNG carriers under a 35 billion yen investment project. Japan's Universal Shipbuilding Co. will build the two carriers in 2007 and 2009, the report said, adding the carriers will be lent to Sonatrach for LNG shipping to Greece, Italy, Spain and other countries on the Mediterranean coast. Demand for LNG is growing because of rising oil prices and the fight against global warming, the report said. Algeria is one of the world's largest LNG exporters.

The European Commission (EC) Competition Directorate released a recent speech given by Joos Stragier, Head of the Transport Unit, DG Competition, regarding review of the EU Competition Regulation for Maritime Transport. The speech indicates that the Competition Directorate will expect strong evidence to be provided by the liner companies serving the EU in order to justify renewing the current competition exemption provided to this industry. In a related Consultation Document, the Directorate discusses the current consortia block exemption and issues to be addressed in the renewal process. A Discussion Paper lays out in detail the background of the block exemption and legal issues related thereto.

Dutch shipping and road transport group Koninklijke Nedlloyd Groep NV plans to sell its Mammoet transport unit to Dutch Van Seumeren. Italian Decafin SpA will also sell its 33 percent interest in Mammoet Decalift International to Van Seumeren as part of the deal, Nedlloyd officials said. The company previously said it would buy Decafin's stake. Officials said a limited number of job cuts may occur as a result of its integration with Van Seumeren.

The transport unit of Danish oil and shipping group A.P. Moeller, Maersk Logistics, said on Thursday it planned to buy certain activities and assets of global logistics company Distribution Services Ltd (DSL). "The deal is not yet closed and the amount would be undisclosed," Maersk Logistics said. DSL, with headquarters in both the U.S. and Hong Kong, has 200 operating offices in 60 countries and 1,500 employees. Maersk Logistics would acquire the activities, assets and related operations of DSL's storage and warehouse operations, ocean transport intermediary activities and consolidation business, it said. The takeover would significantly…