HUMBER, UK: August 07, 2019. Anticipating a no-deal Brexit and subsequent logistics chaos at the Port of Dover, Associated British Ports (ABP) says using its four Humber Estuary ports in the east of England to deliver food and medicines will help avoid expected shortages.

Research by the University of Hull Logistics Institute commissioned by ABP suggests using the Humber ports of Hull and Immingham offer a better deal for shippers, drivers and the environment.

Since 2017 the number of shipping services connecting the two ports to Europe has increased by over 30 percent, with new services from Amsterdam and Ghent plus the introduction of deep-sea feeder services into Hull.

The university study concludes that by using ports on the Humber instead of Dover, delivery times to major logistics hubs around Leeds, Doncaster and Manchester would be reduced by over five hours and CO2 emissions by nearly half a tonne per trailer.

The study also estimates that moving 10 percent of cargo from Dover to the Humber could save around 100,000 tonnes of CO2 every year.

ABS says a report by consulting company MDS Transmodal has reinforced the university's findings. MDS compared the distances and transit times between the UK’s five principal warehouse clusters, located in the Midlands and Northern England, and other ports on the east coast including Dover and concluded Hull and Immingham are the only ports that are within four hours of each cluster.

The port group hopes the two reports will encourage shippers to avoid Dover as Britain leaves the EU without a deal at an estimated initial cost of £29.3 billion, according to figures released last month by the UK Office of Budget Responsibility.

Last week Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned of an “instant shock” to the UK economy with rising food prices for consumers and increased gasoline costs for the country’s trucking industry. Former Conservative party leader Ian Duncan Smith, Brexit spokesman and rabid proponent of leaving the EU at any cost, described his comment as “project fear” – mongering.

PORT OF NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY: July 10, 2019. The Port Authority has released its development plan for land-use and infrastructure development projects until 2050.

The primary objectives are to provide opportunities for growth through stakeholder engagement; improve the port’s commercial value by investigating opportunities to maximize lease revenue; to continue to serve as an economic engine for the region; and to promote safe, resilient and environmentally sustainable operations in partnership with its tenants.

Release of the plan coincides with a new all-time port record. During the first five months of 2019, it handled 3,041,814 TEUs – surpassing the Port of Long Beach for the first time in two decades.

“Our predecessors had the foresight to clearly understand the value of the port to regional jobs and economic activity and made substantial investments that today are paying huge dividends,” commented Port Authority chairman Kevin O’Toole. “This plan will continue the momentum we have built and drive this port to new heights that two decades ago would have seemed impossible to achieve.”

Noting the Port Authority has made significant progress towards achieving environmental sustainability and hardening its key infrastructure, the new plan acknowledges it is “facing an imminent rising sea level and an increasing number of extreme weather events caused by climate change” and recommends “protection strategies for its critical assets”.

The report publication coincides with a Nasa study that is forecasting the irreversible collapse of the Thwaites Glacier, part of the West Antarctic Ice sheet, that will trigger a 50cms (1.6ft) rise in global sea levels.

Should the whole ice sheet fall into the sea, possibly within the next 150 years as a result of an irreversible climate crisis, global sea levels would rise five metres (16ft). A scenario not included in the latest Port Authority plan.

The Center for Climate Integrity, a project of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, has calculated the current cost of protecting New Jersey from rising sea levels by 2040 will be US$25 billion for 2,696 miles of seawalls. The state is No.6 on the Center's most costly mitigation list that is topped by Florida at US$76 billion followed by Louisiana and North Carolina with a bill of US$38.4 billion and US$34.8 billion respectively.

The Center says the cost should be borne by the principal polluter - Big Oil & Gas.

Pictured: The Port Authority is using electric buses at JFK, Newark and soon New York La Guardia airport as part of its commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement.

HAMBURG: August 02, 2019. The Port of Hamburg reports a 20 percent increase in inland waterway volume of 34,640 TEU compared to the same period in 2018. Total tonnage rose 12.1 percent year-on-year to 2.57 million tons.

On a less-positive note, the port says inland barge growth has been constrained by “the barely navigable River Elbe caused by low water since May”.

According to Stefan Kunze, head of the Port of Hamburg’s office in Dresden, this means forecasting what happens for the remainder of the year will be difficult.

While TEU transshipments from and to inland waterway vessels is expected to produce more inland traffic for Hamburg in the future, Kunze said it will depend on the better alignment of infrastructure to the operating requirements of inland shipping.

“Digitalization and intermeshing the various carriers, construction work on the waterways and optimized coordination of inland vessel calls in the Port of Hamburg, will in future lead to more cargo and simplified handling of transport chains along the Elbe and Elbe Lateral Canal,” he explained.

However with forecasts of above average growth for German seaport-to-hinterland transport, Kunze said the only way to cope with it, given that road and rail networks are already operating at “almost full capacity”, is to make a better job of incorporating inland shipping into transport chain planning.

TANGIER, Morocco: June 28, 2019. APM Terminals’ second transshipment terminal at MedPort Tangier, with an annual capacity of five million TEUs, was inaugurated this week.

Construction took two years at a cost of US$ 800 million and consolidates Morocco’s position as one of the world’s most important transshipment locations due to its location along key trade lanes and rising cargo flows to and from Africa.

Approximately 200 cargo vessels pass through the Strait of Gibraltar daily, with major liner services linking Asia, Europe, the Americas and Africa.

“APM Terminals has a long-term relationship with Morocco and we are proud to be operating the second container terminal in the Tanger Med Port complex,” declared APM Terminals CEO Morten Englestoft. “APM Terminals MedPort Tangier is a key junction in our global network allowing us to serve our customers better and further facilitate global trade.”

With a quay length of 1,200 metres and a draft of 16 to 18 metres, the new facility will support MedPort’s goal to increase its annual throughput capacity to nine million TEUs.

The EU is Morocco's largest trading partner, accounting for 59.4 percent of its trade in 2017 with 64.6 percent of its exports and 56.5 percent of imports for a total value of €37.4 billion. 

BRUSSELS: July 31, 2019. The European Commission has approved Romania's plans to grant €27.4 million investment aid to the Port of Galați, the largest sea-river port in the country.

The total investment is €89.9 million co-financed by the Romanian State, private investors and the Connecting Europe Facility, a key EU funding instrument.

The project consists of building a new multimodal platform with a capacity of 150,000 TEU a year in an area called Port Bazinul Nou, including quay upgrades and building the required infrastructure to support an intermodal terminal.

The EC says the newly-created logistic node will promote a shift from road to railway and inland waterways/maritime transport on the Rhine-Danube Trans-European Transport corridor, fulfilling an objective of EU common interest.

The Commission noted the aid "was necessary, proportionate and that the distortion of competition will be limited", given the relatively small-to-medium size of the Port of Galați.

According to EC traffic forecasts, the slight capacity increase created by the project would be offset by the increase in demand, mainly stemming from other road-based flows transport routes in the Rhine-Danube region. As a result, the Commission concluded that the investment aid is compatible with EU rules, which allow state aid for the development of certain economic activities - provided it does not "unduly affect trade and competition" in the Single Market.

STOCKHOLM: June 05, 2019. Neste, the producer of renewable fuels from wastes and residues, and Air BP have begun delivering sustainable aviation fuel to Swedavia, a state-owned group that owns, operates and develops 10 Swedish airports.

Stockholm Arlanda, Malmö, Umeå, Åre Östersund and Göteborg Landvetter airports will be using the fuel to support Swedavia reduce CO2 emissions.

“I want to congratulate Swedavia for its courageous decision to use sustainable aviation fuel as a means in decreasing greenhouse gas emissions of corporate staff air travel,” commented Neste’s president and CEO Peter Vanacker.

“I firmly believe Swedavia’s example will be followed by many companies over the next few years, as corporations pay close attention to their corporate air travel footprint, seeking to operate their businesses in a more environmentally responsible and sustainable way,” he added.

Neste produced the fuel in Finland from renewable waste and residues including used cooking oil. Supplied by Air BP it will produce up to 80 percent less greenhouse gas emissions over its life-cycle compared with conventional jet fuel.

“Reconciling people’s need to meet with the absolute necessity to transform the transport sector and make it fossil-free is one of the most important challenges of our time,” declared Swedavia president and CEO Jonas Abrahamsson. “Being able to fly in a way that is environmentally sustainable is an essential requirement in order for air transport to also be a transport mode of the future that links Sweden together and links Sweden with the rest of the world. Bio jet fuel is one of the tools that will get us there.”

Currently, sustainable aviation fuel offers the only viable drop-in alternative to fossil fuels for powering commercial aircraft and Neste is expecting to produce up to 100,000 tons per year in the US and Europe and over one million tons when its Singapore refinery expansion comes on line by 2022.

Swedavia specialises in developing airports with low environmental impact.

SEATTLE: July 10, 2019. Members of the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), including port representatives of Seattle and Tacoma and handler SSA Terminals, have begun the modernization of Seattle’s marine Terminal 5 to accommodate larger containerships.

First constructed in 1999, terminal operations were suspended in 2014 while the Port of Seattle found a suitable tenant to modernise the facility for handling two 18,000 TEU containerships simultaneously. Currently 14,000 TEU vessels regularly call at terminals in the North and South harbours.

NWSA estimates Terminal 5 will produce 6,600 new direct jobs and more than US$2 billion in annual business activity. The members have pledged US$340 million in construction funds with private partner SSA Terminals contributing an additional US$160 million towards the project.

“As a local terminal operator in Seattle for the past 50 years, SSA Terminals is proud to be part of making Terminal 5 a modern asset in this harbour. We see this investment as part of a long-term growth strategy and look forward to its development,” said SSA Terminals COO Ed DeNike.

The 185-acre facility is expected to open in two phases, with one major berth ready to handle container cargo in the Spring of 2021 and the other berth ready by 2023.

“Four years ago this August, our two ports announced the joining of our operations in order to better compete on a global scale,” said Clare Petrich, Port of Tacoma commission president and co-chair of the NWSA. “Today is proof that we made the right decision as our efforts here at Terminal 5 provide us new opportunities for cooperation and the creation of family-wage jobs,”

Port of Seattle commission president and NWSA co-chair Stephanie Bowman added: “Today we begin the modernization of Terminal 5, the best container handling terminal in the Pacific Northwest. When complete, it will be a cornerstone of our region’s economic activity for decades to come.”

In April this year Tacoma and Seattle port commissioners approved a lease agreement for Terminal 5 with SSA Marine and Terminal Investment Limited, which is associated with the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). The 2M Alliance of Maersk and MSC have agreed to make Terminal 5 port calls.

NWSA is a marine cargo operating partnership of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma whose combined volume makes it the fourth-largest container gateway in North America. It is also are a major centre for bulk, breakbulk, project/heavy lift cargo, automobiles and trucks.

Pictured: Port of Seattle's Terminal 5 that will be able to handle two 18,000 TEU containerships simultaneously from 2023.

MUNICH: June 05, 2019. The airports of Amsterdam (AMS) and Atlanta (ATL) have signed an MoU to promote air cargo trade and investment between the Atlanta region and the Netherlands.

The MoU will enable an exchange of data between AMS and ATL to facilitate end-to-end planning and capacity optimisation, extend the benefits of the AMS Cargo Community system to ATL, and boost trade flows between the respective air cargo gateways.

From September this year the two airports will be developing the Atlanta Cargo Network in a bid to increase exports of agricultural and manufacturing goods produced in Georgia.

“This collaborative agreement will enable us to promote the benefits of strengthening the Netherlands as a gateway to Europe, and Atlanta Airport as a gateway to the Atlantic, the Midwest, and the South of the USA,” declared Bart Pouwels, head of Cargo for Schiphol airport.

The agreement will also connect the key cargo operators and logistics providers at AMS and ATL supported by Cargonaut, which operates the Schiphol Cargo Community Information Platform at Schiphol.

ATL airport is currently working with Kale Logistics Solutions and the local air freight community to create the next generation airport cargo community system.

“The next gen platform goes beyond the traditional message exchange systems and aims to integrate the whole air freight supply chain from exporter to importer, thereby creating efficiency, transparency, and security in the supply chain,” said Amar More, director of Kale Logistics Solutions.

“This community system also has the capability to link to the partner airport communities through digital corridors and illuminate the end-to-end shipment journey,” he added.

The collaborative agreement with Atlanta coincides with the ongoing rollout of Schiphol’s Smart Cargo Mainport Program (SCMP) that focuses on sharing data and other collaborative initiatives to optimise air cargo flows.

Pictured left to right in Munich: Ben Harris, Director, Supply Chain Ecosystem Expansion, Metro Atlanta Chamber; Bart Pouwels, Head of Cargo, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol; Elliott Paige, Director of Air Service Development, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; Amar More, Director, Kale Logistics; Nanne Onland, Chief Executive Officer, Cargonaut.