Port Of Algeciras News

Spanish police seized eight tonnes of cocaine from Suriname hidden in a container disguised as a power generator in the southern port of Algeciras, tax authorities said on Monday.The haul of cocaine, one of the largest ever intercepted in Spain, was inside a metal structure designed to escape detection from scanners.But customs agents detected a large quantity of stacked goods that practically filled the container, so they forced it open.The drug smugglers had planned a route designed to make the discovery of the cargo's true contents as difficult as possible.

Spanish police have made a record cocaine seizure, finding 9.5 tonnes of the drug hidden among boxes of bananas in a shipping container from Ecuador in the southern port of Algeciras.The stash was the largest ever found in a single container in Spain, the police said in a statement."This operation was an unprecedented blow to one of the world's most important criminal organizations in cocaine distribution, targeting major criminal networks in Europe," it said.The boxes were marked…

Spanish oil company Cepsa signed on Wednesday two agreements aimed at shipping green hydrogen between Spain and the Netherlands, a day after renewable energy giant Iberdrola took a similar step.The two Spanish companies are vying to become green hydrogen leaders, with planned investments worth billions of euros. The recent agreements will help them sell part of their expected production of green hydrogen and derivatives to industrial customers eager to decarbonize in Europe's economic powerhouse…

An oil tanker runs aground off eastern China, leaking fuel into the water. Another is caught in a collision near Cuba. A third is seized in Spain for drifting out of control.These vessels were part of a "shadow" fleet of tankers carrying oil last year from countries hit by Western sanctions, according to a Reuters analysis of ship tracking and accident data and interviews with more than a dozen industry specialists.Hundreds of extra ships have joined this opaque parallel trade…

Elcome International, provider of maritime systems integration, technical support and shipboard service, announced the opening of another office in Europe. Based in the Spanish port city of Algeciras, the facility will offer sales and technical support for the company’s growing portfolio of ship navigation, communication, satellite connectivity and coastal surveillance systems. Shipboard services will include annual radio surveys and annual testing of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS)…

A containership disabled by an engine room fire off the coast of Portugal is being towed to the Port of Algeciras in Spain for repairs.The Danish-flagged Maersk Elba was initially towed to anchorage off Sagres after the fire left the box ship without power and adrift on Saturday while en route from Sri Lanka to Felixstowe, U.K. via the Suez Canal.The crew was able to fight back the blaze and extinguish the fire without any reported injuries or pollution. The Maersk Elba crew had been working to restore the ship's propulsion and repair other systems affected by the fire…

The European Commission will co-finance the construction of the first vessel to be fully dedicated to liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering at the Port of Algeciras, Spain.The grant agreement was signed with Enagás and the Port Authority of Algeciras Bay on Tuesday.Enagás said the project is "boosted" by the Enagás start-up that specializes in small-scale LNG supply infrastructure, Scale Gas, and the Port Authority of Algeciras Bay (APBA).The initiative, coordinated by Enagás…

Tugs from Boluda Towage Spain, the towing division of Boluda Corporación Marítima, have recently towed the largest container ship in the world in and out of the port of Algeciras.Built this year, the MSC MINA a has 23,756 TEU capacity and is powered by 228,741 GT. The ship called at the port of Cadiz during its maiden voyage from the Chinese port of Xingang to northern Europe, a service operated jointly with Maersk.The containership with the greatest container-holding capacity in the world was towed upon arrival at the Bay of Algeciras on 4 September by the tugboats VB JUANGONZALEZ, VB TITAN, VB TRON and VB ANDALUCIA, all belonging to the Boluda Towage Spain fleet in Algeciras.After unloading the containers with the help of six cranes…

German-based cargo container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd AG is launching a new liner service offering a direct connection between Turkey and the US East Coast.The Turkey North America East Coast (TNE) service will operate every nine days between the Turkish seaport of Marmara (Izmit, Istanbul and Gemlik) and the US ports of New York, Norfolk and Savannah, said a press release from the world's fifth largest container carrier in terms of vessel capacity.In addition, the service will also offer an excellent connection between Turkey and the US East Coast and the Egyptian port of Alexandria.The port of Algeciras in southern Spain will serve as the transshipment hub for cargo.

The Port of Algeciras Authority (APBA) Chairman, Manuel Moron, and the Ningbo Zhoushan Port Group Chairman, Mao Jianhong, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that is set to formalize co-operation between both of the logistics powerhouses and increase commercial flow between Southern Europe and Asia. According to the port and harbour of Algeciras, the MoU was rubber-stamped during the official state visit to Spain of the Chinese President,  Xi Jinping, who - together with the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez - was present at the event."The relationship between the two ports is very close. During the year, several meetings have taken place…

In 2017, the Terminal Marítima de Zaragoza (tmZ) increased its handled volume by 20 percent, to around 350,000 TEUs by rail and truck. Over the past five years, the terminal has seen volumes increase by more than 250%. Miguel Duro, Managing Director of the company, points to   the depot’s, “flexible service offering”. Following the addition of a railway siding in 2007 a private company was established  ̶  tmZ Depot Services  ̶  to operate the  terminal under a 35-year concession. APM Terminals Spain is a co-founder and holds a 45% stake in the company. The depot is a multimodal inland terminal exclusively focused on the maritime container trade.

The CMA CGM group, a world leader in container shipping, announces the reshuffling of two services in addition to the MERCOSUL buyout project and pursues its development strategy in South America, with SAFRAN and SIRIUS. These two services between South America and Europe are: SAFRAN for Northern Europe and SIRIUS for the Mediterranean. SAFRAN will be starting in Rotterdam on September 27, 2017. With this service, the CMA CGM Group offers the fastest service on the trade to its customers. Calling at the port of Pecem also allows the CMA CGM Group to offer a new option to those already existing in northern Brazil during the fruit season. SIRIUS will be starting in Malta on October 6, 2017.

Some of Spain's biggest port terminals came to a standstill on Monday as shipping companies redirected cargos to avoid a dockers' strike. After months of talks between unions, companies and the Spanish government over a reform of port hiring practices, dockers held the first of several planned strikes to protest against possible job losses. Some container shipping firms such as Maersk re-routed boats destined for the southern port of Algeciras to get around the strike, during which dockers will stop working every other hour on Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week.

An Iranian oil tanker has called at a European port for the first time since the lifting of sanctions last January, IRNA news agency reported quoting Sirous Kianersi,  managing director of the National Iranian Tankers Company (NITC). Sirous said that the first NITC tanker leased to a major Spanish oil company docked at the Port of Algeciras just recently. More NITC tankers are heading to other European ports, he said, adding two vessels are currently en route to the Netherlands. Meanwhile, the Financial Tribune Daily said that The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) is launching a new service that will connect Iran to the French port of Le Havre.

Algeciras Bay Port Authority in southern Spain has put up a tender for its third container terminal, and China's Cosco Shipping Ports is already being mentioned as a fore runner candidate, says a report by Caixin. According to port authority, Algeciras is Spain's biggest container port and oil importing dock, and handled 2.3 million 20-foot containers in the first half the year – a 13 percent year on year increase. Cosco Shipping Ports  Ltd., the port operating arm of state-owned China COSCO Shipping Corp., is the world's fourth-largest container operator by capacity. Its recent overseas shopping spree includes buying two-thirds of Piraeus…

In order to improve the reliability of its service, CMA CGM has decided to review the port coverage of FAL 1. As from m/v CMA CGM JULES VERNE voy. 115 FLE, FAL 1 service will no longer call the port of Zeebrugge. Last vessel calling Zeebrugge will be m/v CMA CGM VASCO DE GAMA voy. 113FLE on August 29th, 2016. As from m/v CMA CGM ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT voy. 109 FLE, FAL 1 service will no longer call the port of Dalian. Last vessel calling Dalian will be m/v CMA CGM MAGELLAN voy. 107FLE (ETA Dalian on September 16th, 2016).

CMA CGM announced changes to come on its shipping services connecting North Europe with Asia. New rotation on FAL 1: Starting in Hamburg on May 26, 2016 with m/v CMA CGM VASCO DE GAMA voy. Southampton - Dunkerque - Hamburg - Rotterdam - Zeebrugge - Le Havre - Malta - Khor Fakkan - Jebel Ali - Shanghai - Tianjin Xingang - Dalian - Busan - Qingdao - Shanghai - Ningbo - Yantian - Port Kelang - Algeciras - Southampton. New rotation on FAL 23: Starting in Hamburg on May 25, 2016 with m/v SALAHUDDIN voy. Antwerp - Hamburg - Felixstowe - Rotterdam - Le Havre - Port Kelang - Chiwan - Hong Kong - Shanghai - Ningbo - Yantian - Vung Tau - Port Kelang - Le Havre - Rotterdam - Antwerp. New FAL 7 service: Starting in Rotterdam on June 8, 2016 with m/v APL SENTOSA voy.

Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited in its latest ship2shore Magazine takes a look at methods of weighing containers. Half a century after containerization first emerged to transform the world of shipping, a landmark new regulation is on the horizon. From 1 July 2016, an amendment to the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) Convention will require every packed export container to have its weight verified before it is loaded on to a ship. The new regulation puts this responsibility firmly on the shipper – but how many shippers are actually ready for container weighing? The Freight Transport Association recently warned that shippers could fall foul of the new legislation after 1 July 2016 if they don’t put measures in place to verify the gross mass of their containers.

CMA CGM has announced that a new direct EB call at Shanghai, the first container port in the world, is to be introduced on the rotation of its FAL 1 service ex-North Europe. Starting in Southampton on January 11th, 2016 with m/v CMA CGM KERGUELEN voy. CMA CGM will of course continue providing its clients the most complete offer on the market, especially on the Asia-Europe trade thanks to the complementarity of its FAL services.

Maersk Line Jordan rolled out its new ME5 service, which directly connects Aqaba to South India and the Western Mediterranean. The ME5 service aims to improve maritime transport in the Kingdom, with direct calls to Aqaba from key global logistical hubs and faster transit times under the strictest reliability standards, says a press release from the company. This will solidify Aqaba's presence on the global logistical map by securing more reliable and efficient maritime transport services, which will have a lasting positive impact on Jordan's national supply chain and will help underscore Aqaba's position as a viable trade and investment hotspot.

The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) has appointed three new members to its Management Board and one new member to the IBIA in Africa Board. The appointments were announced at the Association’s 23th annual dinner, which was held on February 8 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London. Heralding the beginning of International Petroleum week, the prestigious event attracted a record number of attendees, with over 1100 bunker industry professionals at the dinner, despite the gloomy state of the industry.

The CMA CGM Group informs it has reorganized its container shipping lines between Asia and Europe with the reshuffle of its FAL1 and FAL3 services to better meet clients’ needs and optimize vessel utilization, notably increasing Chinese ports coverage with the group’s largest ships. Starting June 24, with the aim of improving North China coverage, CMA CGM will reorganize its FAL1 service rotation, which deploys the group’s largest vessels. Twelve 11,000 to 18,000 TEUs vessels will sail the following rotation: Tianjin…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. today announced that on October 29, 2015, the MOL-operated containership MOL PROFICIENCY safely rescued all two survivors 400 km offshore of Canary Islands. ・ At 09:05 (all times in local time) on October 29, 2015, the MOL PROFICIENCY, sailing from the Port of Cape Town, South Africa, to Port of Algeciras, Spain, received a distress signal from a yacht and immediately changed course to approach the castaways, and started rescue operations. ・ At 12:25 of the same day, the two survivors were safely rescued. ・ At 22:35 on October 31, the two survivors disembarked at Port of Algeciras.