MONTREAL/OSLO: September 26, 2019. IATA has launched a ‘25by2025Campaign’ to encourage its members to increase the number of women in senior management positions by either 25 percent or to a minimum representation of 25 percent by 2025.
Currently they represent 5.0 percent of the global pilot population and 3.0 percent of airline CEOs. China Eastern, Lufthansa Group and Qatar Airways have signed up to the initiative.
“Our work will not be done in 2025, in fact, this is only the beginning. Our ultimate aim is of course for a 50-50 gender split with equal opportunities for everyone in every part of our industry,” commented IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac.
Also announced this week was the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) celebration of World Maritime Day with this year’s theme ‘Empowering Women in the Maritime Community’.
Höegh Autoliners, which will increase its Europe-Australia service from four to five a month from November in response to a growing demand from the breakbulk, outsize and automobile sectors, says it believes diversity is about having an inclusive culture “where everyone feels welcome, is treated with respect, receives equal pay for equal work and is given equal opportunities”.
With only two percent of women in the maritime industry employed as seafarers, Monalisa Alejandrino was one of the first female cadets employed by Höegh Fleet Services Philippines in 2008. This April she became the company’s first female Chief Officer: “There was no secret to how I got to be where I am now. All I did was give my best in everything I do. And now, my goal is to inspire other female seafarers to believe in themselves. Because, if men can do it, so can we,” she declared.
It’s a view also held by the Norwegian branch of the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) who’s vision is to empower women to lead, with the conviction that gender diversity is key in providing a sustainable future for the shipping industry.
However the organisation has also recognised the role men can play in gender equality according to Pia Meling, president of WISTA Norway: “To bring the discussion on gender equality and diversity from the problem definition phase to finding good solutions, we need to invite men to the table – and especially the male leaders of our industry.”
As a result Wallenius Wilhelmsen CEO Craig Jasienski has now joined the association: “To build a sustainable future of shipping and logistics, we need to bring together diverse views, experiences and perspectives in a workplace where everyone can thrive,” he said. “I hope to see many more men join me as members of WISTA, to join the conversation and together build a truly inclusive industry.”
WISTA has a consultative status in IMO and has since its inception in 1974 has partnered with the European Commission, International Chamber of Shipping, InterManager, INTERTANKO, World Maritime University, ISWAN, the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and YoungShip to increase women’s participation in the maritime industry.
SHANGHAI: September 25, 2019. The first of nine ultra-large containerships, each with a capacity of 23,000 TEUs and powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been launched at the Shanghai Jiangnan-Changxing Shipyard for the CMA CGM Group.
In a statement, the company said its LNG-powered vessels will reduce emissions of sulphur oxides and fine particles by 99 percent; nitrogen oxides by up to 85 percent; and carbon dioxide emissions by “around 20 percent”.
The new French-registered box ships, each 400 metres long and 61 metres wide, will be equipped with a smart system to manage ventilation for reefer containers and operate between Asia and Northern Europe from 2020.
The first vessel is named CMA CGM Jacques Saadé after the group’s founder. At the launch event his son, chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé said: “With the launching of the first 23,000-TEU ship powered by liquified natural gas, we demonstrate that energy transition can be effectively successful in our industry if all the players work together. It paves the way to a global shipping approach where economic growth and competitiveness can coexist with sustainability and the fight against climate change.”
NEW YORK: September 23, 2019. A.P. Moller - Maersk says it has become a founding member of the ‘Getting to Zero Coalition’, announced at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, to decarbonise global shipping and energy value chains by 2050 and operate zero emissions vessels by 2030.
Despite reducing emissions 41 percent on cargo moved by 2017, the company has decided the shipping industry must introduce carbon neutral propulsion technologies to achieve zero emissions.
“Maersk is in a unique position to set a visionary ambition for the future. ‘Getting to Zero’ is a great opportunity for Maersk to lead the charge for decarbonising logistics and ensure that our industry adds its strong voice to the global dialogue on climate change,” commented company COO Soren Toft.
Other members of the coalition are Citibank, Shell, Cargill, Kuehne + Nigel, and Unilever. The aim is to have the first commercially viable, deep-sea carbon-neutral vessel by 2030.
The transport industry is responsible for 23 percent of the global GHG emissions annually, with 2-3 percent coming from maritime shipping. If maritime shipping were a country, it would be the world’s sixth biggest GHG emitter.
Maritime shipping is a “hard-to-abate” sector, says the company, because costs of cutting carbon emissions are high and progress in reducing them is slow. Other similar sectors are aviation, cement, steel, chemicals, and long-distance trucking.
Maersk says decarbonising shipping and its energy value chains demands for close collaboration and deliberate collective action from shipping companies, logistics providers, researchers, technology developers, cargo owners, and legislators to transform the industry and move away from fossil-based technology.
TROMSØ, Norway: September 20, 2019. After a decade of preparations, scientists from 17 nations left Norway today on the German icebreaker RV Polarstern for a €140 million, year-long research project that will see the vessel pass the North Pole while frozen in ice.
Escorted by the Russian icebreaker Akademik Fedorov on its initial journey, the 40 year-old vessel (pictured) will set sail for the Central Arctic where researchers will investigate a region that is virtually inaccessible in winter, and crucial for the global climate, to gather urgently needed data on the interactions between the atmosphere, ocean and sea ice, as well as on the ecosystem.
The two icebreakers will remain in visual contact as they head across the Barents and Kara Seas in the next 14 days on course for the Central Arctic.
The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate expedition, or MOSAiC, is led by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research and faces significant logistical challenges: An international fleet of four icebreakers, helicopters and aircraft will mainbtain a supply chain to 600 international participants, half of whom are researchers.
"Climate change is the greatest challenge facing humankind. The MOSAiC mission is proof that, despite all of the setbacks in the worldwide climate protection process, there is still a strong desire at international level to take on this challenge,” commented German Federal minister of Education and Research Anja Karliczek. “It is a promising signal for climate change mitigation that scientists from 17 different countries will come together to conduct research in the Arctic Ocean, the epicentre of climate change.
“Thanks to their great personal commitment, the scientists will make an outstanding contribution towards helping humanity overcome the challenges of climate change and preserving our world as we know it for future generations. Everyone on this expedition, and also those in their home countries supporting them from afar, are heroes of our time,” she continued.
HAMBURG: July 26, 2019. Zeamarine is introducing a US$35 surcharge per freight ton for its liner services from September 01, 2019.
The move is prompted by International Maritime Organization (IMO) Low Sulphur Regulations that require shipping companies to reduce the current level of sulphur oxide (SOx) production from January 01, 2020.
Chief commercial officer Dominik Stehle said Zeamarine had decided “to pursue the most environmentally friendly option of switching from IFO380 heavy fuel oil (IFO380) to an IMO2020 compliant low sulphur fuel”.
The company is in the process of preparing fuel tanks, piping systems and engines of its vessels “at significant cost” during Q4 2019 and will also incur ongoing costs due to the more expensive fuel.
As a result, tramp voyages commencing on or after September 01, 2019 will be subject to a new bunker adjustment clause and liner bookings will be subject to the new surcharge irrespective of volume, loading and discharging region.
PARIS: August 23, 2019 As the G7 leaders meet in Biarritz August 24-26, the CMA CGM Group has announced it will not use the Northern Sea Route between Asia and Europe – currently being developed by Russia and China and last year tested by Maersk Line.
In a statement, the shipping line acknowledged the NSR has been made navigable due to the effects of global warming and if developed would represent a significant danger to the unique natural ecosystems of the region, mainly due to the numerous threats posed by accidents, oil pollution or collisions with marine wildlife.
Meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron and Economy and Finance minister Bruno Le Maire, minister of Labour Muriel Pénicaud and deputy minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition Brune Poirson, CMA CGM chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé said his company would also choose LNG to power future ships.
During the meeting, Saadé presented Macron with a Sustainable Actions for Innovative and Low-impact Shipping (SAILS) charter on behalf of 10 French maritime operators: Brittany Ferries, CMA CGM, Corsica ferries, Corsica Linea, Express des îles, Jifmar, La Méridionale, LDA, Orange Marine and PONANT.
The charter signatories have committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect whales, optimise vessel energy and performance, and strengthen relations with the scientific community.
“We make these choices to meet the needs of our employees and our customers, who are increasingly concerned about the environment. But above all, we make these decisions for the future, to leave our children a cleaner planet. These are brave, bold choices, which go far beyond purely business decisions,” declared Saadé. “This is a firm belief for us, born out of our family ethos and our strong human values, to make responsible, forward-looking choices. That is how we plan to build fairer, more environmentally-friendly trade, and I invite the entire industry – competitors, partners and customers – to join us.”
By 2022, CMA CGM will operate 20 LNG-powered vessels including nine box ships with a capacity of 23,000 TEU each with the first due for delivery next year.
WASHINGTON, DC: July 19, 2019. According to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), China has declared itself a “Near-Arctic State” and is promoting the region as a “Polar Silk Road”.
In a report to Congress published in May this year, the DoD says China has increased activities and engagement in the Arctic region since gaining observer status on the Arctic Council in 2013. The council consists of the eight Arctic States: Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
The report says China’s new Arctic strategy includes presumptive access to natural resources, securing Arctic sea lines of communication, and promoting an image of a “responsible major country” in Arctic affairs. The strategy also highlights China’s icebreaker vessels and research stations as integral to its implementation.
China maintains research stations in Iceland and Norway and operates one Ukrainian-built icebreaking research vessel, the Xuelong, which in 2017 completed its 8th Arctic expedition and became the first Chinese official vessel to traverse Canada’s Northwest Passage.
In 2016 China commissioned the first of a new series of “ice-capable” patrol boats and in September 2018 the Xuelong completed its 9th Arctic expedition. In July this year, China entered into service its second icebreaking research vessel the Xuelong 2 (pictured).
Designed jointly by Finland's Aker Arctic Technology in Helsinki and China's Marine Design and Research Institute in Shanghai, construction began at Jiangnan Shipyard Group in December 2016.
According to China Daily, the vessel can break through ice 1.5 metres thick, compared to the original Xuelong’s maximum of 1.2 metres, and is the first polar research vessel that can do it while moving forwards or backwards.
Arctic border countries have raised concerns about China’s expanding capabilities and interest in the region, says the DoD, with Denmark’s government publicly expressing concern about China’s interest in Greenland, which has included proposals to establish a research station in Greenland, establish a satellite ground station, renovate airports, and expand mining.
Last September the Russian Federation announced it was strongly opposed to foreign icebreakers operating on the Northern Sea Route, whether they were Chinese or US.
However, warns the DoD, “Outside potential friction over the Northern Sea Route, the Arctic region is an area of opportunity for Sino-Russian commercial cooperation, in addition to energy development and infrastructure projects such as the Yamal liquefied natural gas project.”
Last month Denmark's A.P. Møller-Maersk Group and the Russian ministry of Transport signed an MoU to launch the blockchain-based TradeLens platform, jointly developed by Maersk and IBM, with the inclusion of the Port of St. Petersburg as part of the pilot. According to TradeLens CEO Mike White, the move into Russia aims to “significantly facilitate the interaction between shippers and various regulatory and administrative bodies in the country, ultimately increasing the speed of cargo clearance and movement of goods across borders”.
In September last year Maersk conducted its first test of the Northern Sea Route by sending its 3,600 TEU ice-breaker class Venta Maersk from Vladivostok via Busan, South Korea to St. Petersburg.
GENEVA: August 19, 2019. The 23,000+ TEU MSC Gülsün, the world’s largest container ship, has arrived in Bremerhaven, Germany from Algeciras, Spain after completing its maiden voyage from the north of China that began on July 08.
Gülsün is the first of 11 similar vessels to be added in to the global shipping network of the Mediterranean Shipping Company in 2019/2020. South Korean shipbuilders SHI will deliver six and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering the other five.
At some 400 metres long and more than 60 metres wide, the ship’s capacity is the equivalent of 1,358 B747 freighters, over 14,000 heavy trucks and 44 trains each 8,000 ft. long.
The vessel is on track to meet international 2030 environmental policy targets set by the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) ahead of time, building on a 13 percent improvement in CO2 emissions per ton of cargo moved already achieved across the MSC fleet between 2015 and 2018.
To comply with an upcoming marine fuel regulation in 2020, the ship is also equipped with a UN IMO-approved hybrid Exhaust Gas Cleaning System and has the option of switching to low-sulphur fuel, or to be adapted for LNG in the future.
HAMBURG: July 15, 2019. Hapag-Lloyd is introducing a new liner service (MIAX) in October 2019 with direct connections between the Gulf, India, Sri Lanka, La Réunion, South Africa and West Africa.
The carrier will operate MIAX jointly with Ocean Network Express. Nine vessels with a capacity of 2,800 TEU each will be used, with five from Hapag-Lloyd (example pictured).
"With MIAX, we are expanding our service offerings for the growing African market and integrating the continent even more tightly into our global network. We are pleased to be able to offer our customers even faster and more flexible direct connections in the future," said Mark Wottke, Hapag-Lloyd senior director Trade Management Africa.
The new service is integrated into the company’s Global Mainline Network with the central ports Jebel Ali (Dubai) and Colombo with the following rotation: Jebel Ali ▪ Mundra ▪ Nhava Sheva ▪ Colombo ▪ La Réunion ▪ Durban ▪ Cape Town ▪ Tema ▪ Lagos (Tincan and Apapa) ▪ Cape Town ▪ Durban ▪ Jebel Ali.
Last week shipment management software solutions provider CargoSmart announced agreements with Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping Lines, COSCO Shipping Ports, Hapag-Lloyd, Hutchison Ports, OOCL, Port of Qingdao, PSA International and Shanghai International Port, to establish a not-for-profit joint venture to accelerate the digital transformation of the shipping industry.
MOSCOW: July 25, 2019. Russian natural gas producer Novatek says its Arc7 ice-class LNG tanker Vladimir Rusanov (pictured) has completed a record eastbound transit of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) with a cargo of LNG from the Yamal Project port of Sabetta (pictured) to the port of Tianjin, China.
The vessel completed the ice-covered part of the route in only six days, setting a new record for independent passage via the NSR without ice-breaking support carrying cargo. The net voyage time from Sabetta to the destination port was completed in a record 16 days, which is less than half the time required to transport a cargo of LNG along the traditional westbound route via the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca.
“For the second year in a row, our Arc7 ice-class LNG tankers were once again the first ships to open the summer navigation period via the Northern Sea Route,” noted First Deputy chairman of the Management Board Lev Feodosyev. “This voyage set a number of records for the passage time of the ice part of the NSR, and for the total voyage time to China from the Russian Arctic region.
“These achievements were made possible due to the accumulated ice navigation experience and the outstanding ice performance characteristics of LNG tanker fleet designed specifically for our Yamal LNG project. We will continue to optimize our logistical model to ensure competitive LNG supplies to key global consuming markets,” he added.
BASEL: July 08, 2019. Panalpina has applied a War Risk Surcharge (WRS) for all FCL and LCL shipments on ocean carriers traversing the Strait of Hormuz as a result of increased insurance premiums.
Cosco, Maersk and CMA CGM have introduced a WRS in response to attacks on shipping in the region.
Panalpina’s surcharge currently applies to shipments via the Strait of Hormuz and to shipments with destination or origin port in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (Eastern Province ports Dammam and Jubail), and the UAE.
“There is an increased risk of operating in the Gulf region and a sense of insecurity for shipments going through the Strait of Hormuz,” explained Peder Winther, Panalpina's head of Ocean Freight. “Now that shipping lines have added insurance-related surcharges for such shipments, we have to pass these costs on in order to stay competitive.”
Via its in-house carrier Pantainer Express Line, the company is now applying a US$52 per TEU for FCL shipments and US$3.0 per cubic metre for LCL traffic with the exception of US origin or destination traffic that becomes effective August 01, 2019.
“What counts is the date of the Bill of Lading. We are keeping a close eye on the developments in the Gulf region and we will adjust the War Risk Surcharge accordingly,” added Winther.
