Freight Unit News

Hyundai Glovis, a logistics company headquartered in Seoul and part of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, has secured 1.42 trillion won (US$1.3 billion) in orders to ship vehicles, said a report in RTT News. The auto freight unit of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group quoted as saying that the orders are to ship vehicles built by Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. The report said that, under the two separate deals, Hyundai Glovis said it is set to ship Hyundai and Kia cars to the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia until December 2019. The two deals cover up to 60 percent of Hyundai and Kia's exports, respectively. Last year, Hyundai Glovis signed a share purchase agreement with Eusu Ship Management Co., Ltd.

Ireland’s maritime industry grew strongly in 2015, says the Irish Maritime Transport Economist (IMTE), an annual publication issued by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO). The iShip Index, which measures the total volume of traffic moving through our national ports, recorded a 7% increase, with all major traffic modes delivering substantial growth. Bulk traffic grew by 7% to reach 29.8 million tonnes, with Cork, Greenore, Shannon Foynes, Waterford and Wicklow recording above average growth rates. LoLo traffic, moving predominantly through Dublin, Cork and Waterford, grew by 8% to 860,277 TEU, with each port recording significant volume gains. RoRo traffic grew by 6% to 1,002,920 units, 88% of which was shipped through Dublin and 12% through Rosslare.

The Port of London saw larger ships than ever calling last year as the tonnage of cargo handled at Thames terminals climbed to 45.4 million metric tons (up 2 percent from 2014). PLA chief executive, Robin Mortimer said, “Last year a number of operators introduced new, bigger ships and records were broken. The record breakers included containership, UASC Barzan and cruise ship Viking Star. The 400 -meter-long Barzan set a new benchmark as the biggest-ever ship on the Thames when she called at London Gateway Port in September.

Commodities trader Cargill has appointed a new head of its shipping business, weeks after announcing it would close its London freight unit amid a worsening global seaborne market. The dry bulk sector, which transports commodities such as coal and grain, continues to suffer from too many ships available for hire and slowing demand for goods, especially from top importer China, which has led to freight rates slumping to record lows. Cargill, a leading shipping player, said on Friday Jan Dieleman had taken the helm since March 1 of its ocean transportation business, succeeding Roger Janson who had run the division since 2011. Dieleman, who had run Cargill's North America power and gas business since 2014, will operate from the group's freight headquarters in Geneva.

Scandlines reports good financial results in 2014 as the company strengthened its competitive position through significant investments in new ferries as well as the completion of a number of important strategic objectives concerning customer service and environmental initiatives. Scandlines expects continued revenue and income growth in 2015. Scandlines recorded moderate revenue growth of 1 percent to EUR 509 million in 2014 (2013: EUR 505 million) based in particular on progress in the Germany-Denmark corridor and positive developments in catering and retail. Ferry services experienced positive growth with a significant 5.5 percent increase in freight unit volume to 0.7 million…