Supply Chain News

Maersk Q2 Beats Expectations Amid Trade War

The world's biggest container shipping company AP Moller-Maersk delivers a 17% increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to USD 1.4 bn in Q2 compared to the same quarter last year.Revenue grew slightly to USD 9.6bn, which is on par with last year, and the underlying profit increased to USD 134mln from USD 15mln in Q2 2018.“Q2 was a quarter of solid progress. EBITDA was up 17% and cash flow improved 86% year on year, driven by continued recovery in Ocean,” says Søren Skou, CEO of A.P. Moller – Maersk.

Port of Vancouver Sets Records

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the largest port in Canada and the largest in the Pacific Northwest, has recorded new mid-year record for container volumes.Between January 1 and June 30, 2019, overall cargo through the port increased 0.5% to a record 72.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) over the same time last year, with new mid-year records in containers, potash, grain and cruise passengers.“This year’s record mid-year cargo volumes reflect what continues to be two of the Port…

Los Angeles Port Posts Strong July

For the fourth consecutive month, the Port of Los Angeles (PoLS) has set a new single-month cargo record. In July, the Port moved 912,154 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), the busiest July in the Port’s 112-year history.A press release form PoLS, also called America's Port, quotes Executive Director Gene Seroka as saying that: "Container exchange per vessel reached 9,915 TEUs, the highest and most efficient level we’ve ever experienced. Despite the continued decline in exports and high level of uncertainty driven by trade tensions…

Ship Recycling: Wallenius Wilhelmsen Wins Award

Norwegian/Swedish shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s role in developing the pioneering Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative has been recognised with another award from the automotive sector, as efforts to improve vessel recycling practices step up a gear."Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s founding role in the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI) has been recognised with a second automotive industry award," the  logistics and shipping solutions provider said in a press note.Wallenius…

Mitigating Maritime Risk

“The First Steps in Mitigating Contemporary Risks to our Strategic Sea Lines of Communication”It is indisputable that the world’s economy floats on seawater. It is equally indisputable that international maritime transportation is the tool that keeps the global economy moving. The world economy has surged over the last half century, and that growth has been largely driven by globalization and the consequent reduction in barriers to trade. Any operational disruptions in maritime transportation have wider consequences for society…

Port of Los Angeles Reports Record July TEUs

Volumes Increase 9.4% Compared to Previous Year.For the fourth consecutive month, the Port of Los Angeles has set a new single-month cargo record. In July, the Port moved 912,154 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), the busiest July in the Port’s 112-year history. “Container exchange per vessel reached 9,915 TEUs, the highest and most efficient level we’ve ever experienced,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “Despite the continued decline in exports and high level of uncertainty driven by trade tensions…

Cargo Dips in July at Port of Long Beach

Tariffs continue to hamper trans-Pacific trade.Port of Long Beach cargo volumes last month were down from the previous July, when the number of containers moved through the harbor neared 700,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).The July 2019 total, 621,780 TEUs, was 9.7% less than last year. Imports decreased 9.9% to 313,350 TEUs, and exports shrank 6.8% to 111,654 TEUs. Empties were 11% lower, at 196,777 TEUs.“The trade war is hitting the West Coast hard,” said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero.

Retail Imports at Near-Record Levels Despite Tariffs

Imports at the nation’s major retail container ports are expected to continue at near-record levels this month and the remainder of the year despite a new round of tariffs on goods from China, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.“Even with virtually everything American imports from China soon to be subject to tariffs, it isn’t quick or easy for retailers to change their supply chains,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said.

HII Announces Leadership Changes

Huntington Ingalls Industries announced leadership changes for its Newport News Shipbuilding division.Damon Saetre has been promoted to vice president of integrated planning and production control. In this role, he oversees all direct planning, supply chain planning and production control functions across the organization. This includes leading the Navy program work plans, as well as workforce and capacity planning.Saetre, who assumed his new role this week and reports to Newport News President Jennifer Boykin…

Smart Ports Paper Offers Digitization Guide

The British Ports Association (BPA) and the Port of Rotterdam have launched a new joint smart ports paper examining port digitalization.The white paper seeks to show how sharing data will help ports work towards digital maturity and grow into smart ports.It outlines a model for digital maturity that shows how ports need to develop and exchange data in order to keep up with the digital developments around them, highlighting that technology plays a key role but is not an objective in and of itself.Joyce Bliek…

Crowley Announces Additional Promotions

Crowley Maritime Corp. announced new leaders in its Solutions group to support the continuing focus and growth in its government service offerings. This enhanced alignment will leverage commercial best practices in the transportation, energy and technology sectors to drive innovation and value for customers in the public sector.Chris Goss has been promoted from director to vice president of business development, to lead contract capture and proposals, and expeditionary logistics…

CEVA Logistics Implements Turnaround Plan

Following the friendly takeover bid for CEVA Logistics, the CMA CGM Group has implemented a turnaround plan which includes a new governance, a new brand identity and priorities reset. CEVA’s new operations center opened in Marseilles.The CMA CGM Group now holds 99.6% of CEVA's equity. Structural decisions have been made during the second quarter of 2019 to enable CEVA’s financial recovery and create the conditions of a solid and successful turnaround.Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group…

Savannah Port Moves Record 4.5M TEUs

Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) announced that the Port of Savannah moved a record 4.5 million twenty-foot equivalent container units in the fiscal year that ended June 30, an increase of more than 305,000 TEUs, or 7.3 percent.“Our ports are firing on all cylinders,” said Governor Brian Kemp. “This success is a testament to the men and women who work throughout our entire supply chain and make a difference for Georgia and the nation every day. Because of their commitment, our factories…

LBCT Develops APIs

The largest container terminal in America, Long Beach Container Terminal Inc (LBCT) has officially developed “Application Programming Interfaces” (APIs) to improve upon the Terminal’s ease of doing business with the truck drayage community at large.LBCT is the first Marine Terminal Operator (MTO) at either the Port of Los Angeles or Long Beach to provide an API solution as a modern interface for trucking companies to integrate with their terminal operator partners, said LBCT President Anthony Otto.According to a press release…

Neptune Acquires Interests in Offshore Indonesia

Neptune Energy East Sepinggan, subsidiary of the European exploration and production company Neptune Energy has agreed to acquire interests from the Eni East Sepinggan Limited, a unit of Eni in the Kutei basin production sharing contracts (PSC) offshore Indonesia.According to a press release from the Italian multinational oil and gas company, it  will continue to be the Operator of the area which is located in the East Sepinggan area, offshore East Kalimantan in Indonesia, and includes Merakes development and Merakes East discovery.

ICTSI Manila Adds More Equipments

The port and terminal operator International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) said that  its flagship Manila International Container Terminal (MICT)  recently took delivery of another new quay crane (QC) and eight new hybrid rubber tired gantries (RTGs).According to a press release, the terminal has the largest fleet of modern container-handling equipment in the Philippines today with 18 QCs and 58 RTGs.Manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. (ZPMC), the QC is part of the five from ICTSI’s 2018 USD80-million capacity improvement program package.

CSP Zeebrugge Terminal Deploys Navis N4

The terminal operating systems (TOS) provider Navis announced  that CSP Zeebrugge Terminal, part of COSCO Shipping Ports, has successfully gone live with Navis N4.The unit of Cargotec Corporation and provider of operational technologies and services that unlock greater performance and efficiency for the world’s leading organizations across the shipping supply chain, the terminal connecting European market will use N4 to focus on real-time data sharing and efficiency for better service.The terminal…

Fourth Global Regulatory Summit Held at FMC

Senior government officials from the European Union (EU), the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and the United States met Wednesday at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to participate in the Fourth Global Regulatory Summit.Attendees represent the competition authorities responsible for regulating international liner shipping in the world’s largest liner trade lanes. The delegations were led by Director Henrik Morch from the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission and Deputy Director-General YI Jiyong of the Water Transport Bureau…

MTC Logistics Breaks Ground at Port of Mobile

MTC Logistics (MTC), along with officials from the Alabama State Port Authority, Alabama Department of Commerce and elected officials, broke ground on MTC’s 12 million cubic feet international temperature-controlled distribution center. MTC is investing approximately $61 million at the Port of Mobile generating 50 to 70 direct jobs at the new facility.When completed in the fourth quarter of 2020, the new facility will provide shippers with seamless supply chain solutions focused on global commerce.

Marseille Fos Accelerates Air Emissions Cuts

Among a string of new eco-friendly initiatives, the Marseille Fos port authority is to spend $22 million over the next six years to extend shoreside electrical connections for berthed vessels to every ferry, cruiseship and repair quay within the Marseille eastern harbor.Already available on the Corsica ferry quays, the network will be expanded in two phases to cover North Africa ferry quays and the shiprepair hub by 2022 and the cruise terminal between 2022 and 2025. The zero…

Shepherd to Lead GE Gas Turbine Business

Kris Shepherd has been appointed the General Manager of GE’s marine gas turbine business.Shepherd, based in Evendale, OH,  is responsible for the full lifecycle of all GE marine gas turbine programs, product management, engineering, marketing, supply chain, services, and commercial organizations.GE's marine gas turbine business serves commercial and naval customers worldwide and offers a suite of six propulsion engines to meet any mission profile with power options from 4.6 megawatts to 52.7 MW: LM500 (4.6 MW)…

ONE Launches India-Europe Direct Service

Ocean Network Express (ONE)  announced the launch of a new direct service, the Indian Ocean Service 3 (IO3), which covers South East India, Mediterranean, and North Europe.The new product will offer new port coverage and boost reliability to a wider range of direct port call options to ONE’s valued customers, the Japanese container shipping company said in a press release.It will also further expand ONE’s already comprehensive service offerings and allow its clients to enjoy greater choice while bringing efficiency and additional values to the supply chain…

Setting the Course for Low Carbon Shipping

In a collective call to action for the decarbonization of shipping last year, 34 signatory CEOs from the industry made clear that efforts to significantly lower the carbon footprint of shipping presented “biggest technology challenge in the past 100 years”.This statement was not an exaggeration. In fact, the transition to a low-carbon future will take more than an unprecedented commitment to the research and development that traditionally underpins technological advance. Finding complex solutions that are at once commercially viable…

INSIGHTS: John F. Reinhart, CEO, Virginia Port Authority (VPA)

John F. Reinhart is the CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority (VPA). He is responsible for the broad programmatic areas of business development and growth, strategic marketing, finance, and operations of Virginia’s marine terminal facilities: Virginia International Gateway, Newport News Marine Terminal, Norfolk International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal, Richmond Marine Terminal and the Virginia Inland Port.Under his leadership, the goal has been to…

Shipping Majors Join CargoSmart Digital Initiative

The provider of software-as-a-service based shipping and logistics solutions, CargoSmart has announced the official execution of the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) Services Agreement with shipping majors.According to a statement from the shipment management software company, CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping, COSCO Shipping Ports (CSP), Hapag-Lloyd, Hutchison Ports, OOCL, Port of Qingdao, PSA International and Shanghai International Port Group have signed up with it.As per the agreement…

Singapore, China ink Maritime Collaboration MoU

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Waterborne Transport Research Institute (WTI), an agency under China’s Ministry of Transport during the 2019 Maritime Silk Road Port International Cooperation Forum (MPF). The MOU seeks to enhance cooperation in information exchange and research and development (R&D) between the two agencies, in areas such as smart port technology, maritime safety, and environmental protection.