Weekly Edition 4th August

Major move on docks crime

IN THEIR day, the Painters and Dockers Union was notorious for their violence and corruption on the Australian waterfront.

Agility strait service launched

AGILITY Shipping’s new Melbourne-Bell Bay service is due to launch early next week after the 516-teu Hafentor arrived in Melbourne last Thursday to begin preparations.

Inchcape wins UASC agency

INCHCAPE Shipping Services has won United Arab Shipping Corp’s agency business in Australia and will set up a special-purpose company to handle its representation.

PB newbuilding for Melbourne

PB Towage is to deploy its newbuilding PB Plenty to Melbourne while the current tugs are overhauled.

Capesize rates up, outlook uncertain

FREIGHT rates for all ship classes have risen despite a fall in demand for dry bulk cargo.

Stevedores enjoy a win over truck ‘dual runs’

DP WORLD and Patrick have had a win, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission granting them interim authorisation to give preferential treatment to truck carriers undertaking ‘dual runs’ at the Port of Fremantle.

Australia and Brazil lead a fall in port delays

AVERAGE day delays due to port congestion continue to slip at most major ports, especially coal and iron ore ports in Australia and Brazil.

Port Botany closed as winds batter city

GALE force winds forced the temporary closure of Port Botany and Sydney Harbour this week.

Memorial services held for Melbourne stevedore in 11 ports across Australia

WATERSIDE workers, MUA officials, politicians and family friends gathered at memorial services around Australia last Friday to remember Melbourne stevedore, Steve Piper.

Equipment imports dip to new low

SHIPMENTS of heavy machinery to Australia fell to the lowest level in four months as a stall in infrastructure projects weighs on demand for road-making equipment.

Coastal trading blow as newsprint goes offshore

A SUBSTANTIAL chunk of east-west coastal cargo will disappear following a decision by Western Australian Newspapers (WAN) to source most of its newsprint requirements offshore.

Melbourne dredging project comes in comfortably under budget plan

THE PORT Phillip Bay channel deepening project was completed $248m under budget, according to Victorian premier John Brumby.

Ron Brent named ombudsman for aircraft noise

WITH the Federal election looming, the ban on noisy freight jets flying in and out of Australia’s major airports appears to have taken a step forward with the government last week appointing its first independent aircraft noise ombudsman.

Shipping Australia and VTA trade blows on ECPs

SHIPPING Australia has taken a swipe at the Victorian Transport Association over its stance on the issue of operations at empty container parks.

Healthy demand for Asia-Pacific airfreight

CONTINUED growth in China has seen the Asia-Pacific airfreight industry outperform its European and US counterparts.

Geelong ring road to get upgrade

TRUCK drivers are expected to be major beneficiaries of a $71m upgrade of the Geelong Ring Road, announced last week by federal and Victorian transport ministers Anthony Albanese and Tim Pallas.

Graincorp/AWB merger agreed pending vote

GRAINCORP and AWB have agreed to merge with the resulting new company set to be more competitive with other global grain giants.

Exporters call for incentives for fast loading of grain

PRESIDENT of the Australian Grain Exporters Association Robert Green has called for incentives to encourage the quick loading of grains at Australian ports.

First quarter fall in global trade growth

GROWTH in global trade declined in the first quarter of this year, according to a new report by Capgemini Consulting, despite the unexpected strength of global container trades.

Dry bulk owners told to curtail ordering

DRY BULK shipowners must act more responsibly and stop following the herd mentality of ordering newbuildings if the sector is to stand any chance of tackling its chronic oversupply, Pacific Carriers managing director Kuok Khoon Kuan said.

Chinese manufacturing fall sparks concerns

CONCERNS over the slowing dry bulk market and the sustainability of the container recovery will be further heightened by new figures indicating that China’s manufacturing declined in July for the first time since early 2009 as the Chinese Government tightened the economy to control inflation.

Cosco net profit soars 85%

STRONGER performance in shipbuilding as well as improved fortunes in its dry bulk shipping business led Singapore-listed Cosco Corp to post an 85% year-on-year increase in net profit to S$68.4m (US$50.6m) in the second quarter this year.

Maersk in US sanctions settlement

MAERSK Line in the US has reached a US$3m settlement on unlicensed shipping services originating in or bound for Sudan and Iran, in violation of Washington’s economic and trade sanctions.

Japan’s big three beef up earnings forecasts

BOOSTED profits for Japan’s top three shipping lines in their first quarter of the 2010 financial year has prompted an upwards revision of full-year earnings forecasts, with slowsteaming and strengthening rates in the containership market in 2010 providing growing confidence.

Car carriers back on the growth track

PESSIMISM about the car carrying business among Japan’s big three shipping companies appears to be waning.

Container shortages still plague shippers

SOME of the largest shippers in the US are continuing to suffer from container shortages as the back-to-school and pre-Christmas peak shipping season gets underway on the trans-Pacific trade.

Banks pull plug on KG ship fund

A GERMAN shipping fund issued by KG house Elbe Emissionshaus (EEH) has filed for insolvency.

Who’s who in ports heads to Vietnam

Foreign investment is pouring into box terminals at the south-east Asian ‘tiger-in-waiting’, writes ROGER HAILEY

Poor road and rail links set to hold back new nation’s modern ports

AS VIETNAM puts the port components of its logistics jigsaw in place, some pieces affecting hinterland links are still to emerge.