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Container Services News

03 Apr 2023

Rotterdam Container Terminal Set for €1 Billion Expansion

(Photo: TopView, courtesy APM Terminals)

A.P. Moller - Maersk's container terminal operating arm APM Terminals announced the expansion of its Maasvlakte II terminal in Rotterdam, increasing the terminal's capacity by approx. 2 million TEU The project involves a site of approximately 47.5 hectares with 1,000 meters of deep-sea quay. The Port of Rotterdam Authority is now constructing the new quay walls, which will be completed by mid-2024. The new section is expected to be operational in the second half of 2026.APM Terminals opened at Maasvlakte II in 2015 as a fully automated facility with zero carbon emissions.

19 Jul 2022

UK Dockworkers at Major Container Port to Vote on Strike Over Pay

Credit: Unite

Hundreds of dockworkers at one of Britain's largest container ports will be balloted for strike action in a dispute over pay and conditions, a union representing them said on Tuesday, threatening disruption to supply chains.Staff from a range of sectors, including rail and aviation, have resorted to strikes as pay hikes fail to keep up with British inflation, which reached a 40-year peak of 9.1% in May.The Unite union said more than 500 dockworkers at MDHC Container Services, part of Peel Ports…

17 Mar 2021

Hapag-Lloyd Acquires NileDutch

(Photo: NileDutch)

German container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd announced Wednesday it has reached a deal to acquire NileDutch, based in the Netherlands, strengthening Hapag-Lloyd's position in the African market.The sale and purchase agreement will see Hapag-Lloyd acquire all shares of  Nile Dutch Investments B.V., subject to the approval of antitrust authorities.Rotterdam-headquartered NileDutch is among leading providers of container services from and to West Africa. The company currently offers 10 liner services…

26 Jan 2020

Hamburg Port Defends Service Losses

Germany's largest port, the Port of Hamburg not expecting reduction in container throughput caused by liner service changes announced by Ocean Alliance and Maersk.From April, the Ocean Alliance NEU 5 service handled by EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg – CTH is being transferred to Antwerp, said a press release from the a sea port on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, 110 kilometres from its mouth on the North Sea."This service will be run by the Ocean Alliance Partner, CMA CGM as FAL 3 with an approximate annual volume of 150,000 TEU," it said.Going forward, according to CMA CGM, the entire container volume carried until now to and from Hamburg by this service will be handled by the five Ocean Alliance liner services continuing to call in Hamburg.

16 Jan 2020

Port NOLA Sets New Box Record

Louisiana’s only international container port Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) moved more containers in 2019 than at any time in its history, totaling 648,538 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 10% compared to one year ago.The multimodal gateway for global trade said in a press release that the record marks the sixth consecutive year the Port surpassed the half million TEU-mark at its Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal, which is operated by New Orleans Terminal and Ports America.“Port NOLA has now seen double-digit growth in total container volumes for two consecutive years, primarily driven by the Panama Canal expansion, exports from Louisiana’s booming petrochemical industry and a growing market for imports,” said Brandy D.

25 Oct 2019

Iraq's Umm Qasr Ready for Bigger Ships

Philippines-based International Terminal Container Services Inc. (ICTSI) formally inaugurated two new berths in the port of Umm Qasr, Iraq’s main dry cargo port.The inauguration marked both the opening for business of the two new berths 25 and 26 with a depth of 14 meters, and the completion of ICTSI’s overall $250m investment program at its Basra Gateway Terminal (BGT) making the port capable of receiving box ships of up 14,000 teu.Located in Umm Qasr’s North Port, BGT operates a high capacity container terminal together with specialized facilities for the handling of general cargo, ro-ro, dry bulk and project cargo for the oil and gas sector.Earlier development included the construction of Berth 27…

06 Oct 2019

Traxens, UN Unveil Smart Container Data Standards

France-based developer of smart data for ports Traxens has led the development of the first standards for smart container data exchange now published by the United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT).Business Requirements Specifications (BRS) delivers internationally standardized messaging to facilitate the use of smart container data. Although many smart containers are already in use, there are no global standards in place to capture and communicate consistently and multimodally the array of data they generate.Initiated in October 2017 under the leadership of Hanane Becha, innovation & standards senior manager at Traxens…

31 Aug 2019

Container Ship Deliveries Down in H1 2019

Container ship deliveries in H1 2019 reached a historically low level, while the newbuilding market was equally subdued, said MPC Container Ships ASA.Scrapping activity in the feeder segment remained at a comparable high level in Q2 2019 as in the previous quarter, the Norway-based shipping company said.Various economic and political circumstances had a dampening effect on global container trade, compelling analysts to lower their full-year growth forecasts. However, estimates for global container trade growth for FY 2019 ranges between 3% and 3.5% while growth in active container fleet capacity (fleet development less scrubber retrofits) is estimated to grow only 1.9%.Charter rates for container ships in the Post-Panamax segment began to rise in March this year.

16 Aug 2019

Port of Hamburg Reports Strong Growth in H1

Germany’s largest universal port Port of Hamburg remains on a growth course, achieving a distinct 4.1% advance to 69.4 million tons in seaborne cargo handling in the first half of 2019."Especially good growth trend in the general cargo segment, up 6.1 percent at 48.4 million tons, was the main contributor to the excellent figures for total and container handling," said a press release from the third-busiest port in Europe.The total for bulk cargo handling was just 0.3 percent lower than for last year’s first half at 21.0 million tons.The 7.5 percent increase in container handling to 4.7 million TEU is primarily attributable to the four new liner services that have linked the Hanseatic City with ports in the USA…

01 Aug 2019

Yilport Pact for 49-Year Concession at Taranto

Turkey's Yilport Holding signed a concession agreement with Port Network Authority of the Ionian Sea (PNAIS), the managing institution of the Port of Taranto in Italy for the multipurpose terminal.The deal was signed on 30 July 2019, at Castello Aragonese in Taranto, Italy by Robert Yuksel Yildirim, Yilport Holding Chairman, and Sergio Prete, the President of Taranto Port Authority.The agreement appoints Yilport to undertake all operations at the multipurpose terminal of Taranto Port for 49 years.This is the 22nd marine port in Yilport Holding’s portfolio, and its first terminal in Italy. The company, ranked 12th among international container terminal operators by Drewry…

17 Jun 2019

Bristol Port Upgrades Box Terminal

Port of Bristol, which comprises the commercial, and former commercial, docks situated in and near the city of Bristol in England, announced that its container terminal capacity has been boosted significantly by the completion of a GBP 9 million upgrade.A release from the port authority said that the investment is a further commitment to the ever-expanding container services offered at Avonmouth and Portbury Docks.James Stangroom, Commercial Manager at Bristol Port, said: “This upgrade is designed to further refine our productivity, and to provide considerable extra capacity to handle an increase in container traffic.“Our container services continue to grow…

03 Jun 2019

Chinese VP Visits Hamburg Terminal

China’s Vice President Wang Qishan visited the HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) at the Port of Hamburg.Wang was greeted by the Chairwoman of the Executive Board of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), Angela Titzrath, Hamburg’s First Mayor, Dr Peter Tschentscher, and representatives of the Chinese container shipping company Cosco Shipping Lines. Wang headed a 40-strong party of high-ranking Chinese government officials, and the terminal operator said the visit emphasizes Hamburg’s importance as a global trade gateway.The largest container vessels of Chinese shipping company Cosco Shipping Lines are handled at the facility of Container Terminal Tollerort every week. On Thursday, for instance, the Cosco Shipping Aries was docked at the CTT quayside.

24 Apr 2019

Tanjung Bruas Receives Container Ships

Malaysia's Tanjung Bruas Port (TBP), a member of MMC Group, announced that it now offers container ships services at its Tanjung Bruas Port terminal.TBP recently welcomed the MV West Scent, the first Container vessel to ever call its terminal at Tanjung Bruas Port. The 145.68 meters long MV West Scent came alongside on 18 April 2019 with an exchange of 1,150 move counts.The specially chartered Container vessel by manufacturer Xinyi Glass Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, is currently at TBP berth and will depart to Humen Port, China after completing its cargo operations. This is the first ever project undertaken by TBP in handling Containerised shipment.Captain Davidiuk Aleksandar, the Master of the Container vessel was welcomed by Mohamad Nizam Ibrahim, General Manager of TBP together with Ir.

19 Apr 2019

APM Intros GOH Service in India

The Indian Container Services Division of APM Terminals Inland Services said that its specialised service that allows clothing manufacturers to ship garments on hangers (GOH) helped cater to leading global apparel brands.APM Terminals Inland Services fabricates and modifies standard dry shipping containers, enabling them to conveniently carry coats, dresses, jackets and blazers and any other clothing necessary. As a result, for example, in a 20 feet container, approximately 5,000 women’s coats can be placed.“It is an efficient and dust and wrinkle-free method of transportation for the clothing industry as it keeps the garments protected and in a hanging format - cutting down on multiple post receipt activities under the traditional approach…

03 Apr 2019

Port of Dover Prepared for Brexit: Drewry

Alternative capacity could be provided by short-sea container services between the UK and EU to alleviate possible congestion at the Port of Dover post-Brexit.The Port of Dover is the cross-channel port situated in Dover, Kent, south-east England. It is the nearest English port to France, at just 34 kilometres (21 miles) away.According to a new study by global shipping consultancy Drewry the Port of Dover had the capacity to cope with moderate Brexit disruption.The earlier study, validated by the Port of Dover, concluded that of the 2.5 million trailers going via Dover, around 20% (i.e. 500k trailers) could possibly shift to another mode of transport.Using this ‘alternative mode’ assumption…

27 Feb 2019

Port Dover Faces Brexit Heat

Britain's Port of Dover has the resilience to cope with moderate disruption arising from Brexit and there is latent short sea capacity to absorb significant overflow at the port in the event of capacity constraints, according to an independent study by global shipping consultancy Drewry.Among the political arguments about Brexit and its consequences, there has been a surprising lack of objective and quantitative analysis of the implications for the future of the vital short sea trade between the UK and the EU, particularly for the key port of Dover, and how traffic might be routed in future if Dover faced capacity constraints.Drewry sought to fill this information gap by carrying out an assessment of the capacity of the port…

18 Feb 2019

Hamburg Port Sets Record in Intermodal Growth

Handling 135.1 million tons of seaborne cargoes (down one percent), Germany’s largest universal port can report a respectable result for 2018.Hamburg successfully asserted itself in a difficult environment, achieving a distinct advance on railborne seaport-hinterland transport. In 2018, this category accounted for totals of 46.8 million tons – up 2.7 percent – and 2.44 million TEU – up 4.7 percent.More than 60,000 cargo trains with around 1.6 million freight cars were handled during 2018 on the Port Railway network alone. This topped the record total set in 2016 and extended Hamburg’s position as Europe’s leading rail port.Jens Meier, CEO of Hamburg Port Authority, says: "The positive figures for the Port Railway are a success that we achieved together with our partners last year.

27 Jan 2019

Port NOLA Sets Container Record in 2018

The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) moved more containers in 2018 than at any time in its history, totaling 591,253 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 12.3 percent compared to one year ago.The deep-draft multipurpose port at the center of the world's busiest port system -- Louisiana's Lower Mississippi River said in a press release that the record marks the fifth year in a row Port NOLA has surpassed the half million TEU-mark at its Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal, which is operated by New Orleans Terminal and Ports America.“The expansion of the Panama Canal and growth in containerized exports, namely resin and frozen poultry, have buoyed Port NOLA’s containerized cargo to record levels.

22 Jan 2019

Neele-Vat Logistics Sets-up at City Terminal

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.

01 Nov 2018

London Thamesport Eyes Short-Sea Container Hub Status

Hutchison Ports London Thamesport’s growing reputation as a short-sea container hub has been further enhanced by Helsinki-based Containerships plc’s introduction of a second weekly service from Gdynia, Poland.Containerships has chosen the Kent based port for its second direct service to and from the southern part of the UK. The service offers regular and fast connections with Poland, with improved service and transit times from Gdynia of 3-4 days and 4-6 days for the return journey.Mark Taylor, on behalf of London Thamesport, said:  “We are delighted to welcome Containerships’ second weekly service to London Thamesport. Containerships’ port of choice reflects the growing interest we are seeing for short sea container services into London Thamesport.

03 Sep 2018

Evergreen Group Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Evergreen Group celebrated its 50th Anniversary at the Chang Yung-Fa Foundation, home of the charity set-up by Evergreen Group Founder and Chairman Dr. Y.F. Chang, said a press release from the company.In addition to senior executives and employees of the Group’s businesses, the event was also attended by public officials, customers and business agents from both the shipping and airline industries as well as representatives of supply chain partners from more than fifty countries.The celebration commenced with a performance by the choir of the Yihsing branch of Jiahsing Elementary School from Hsinchu County. The choir was a gold medal…

28 Jun 2018

Customers Not Happy with Service Quality of Ocean Carriers

The service provided by container shipping lines has deteriorated since 2016 and is now seen by exporters, importers and freight forwarders as more problematic, according to the second annual shipper satisfaction survey of Drewry and the European Shippers’ Council (ESC). The joint ESC and Drewry survey reveals that the 400 shippers and forwarders who took part rated the service of container shipping lines with a score of 3.2 on average on a scale of 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied). There were different levels of satisfaction for 16 different carrier activities reviewed in the survey. Satisfaction with documentation accuracy scored 3.4…

18 Feb 2018

Mundra Port, Port of Montreal Sign Cooperative Agreement

On a trade mission to India, the Montreal Port Authority (MPA) has signed a Cooperative Agreement with Mundra Port, Gujarat State, north of Mumbai. This agreement aims to develop cooperation in marketing and business development while sharing information on marine operations and industry best practices. Mundra Port is India’s largest commercial port. A diversified port, it handles liquid and dry bulk and more than three million TEUs in annual container traffic. It is operated by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ). Vice-President, Growth and Development at the MPA Tony Boemi: “Asia, and especially India, is an emerging market with enormous potential. It and the Port of Montreal are already solidly connected thanks to container services.