Danish conglomerate Maersk, through its shipping company subsidiary Maersk Line, has come to an agreement with Hutchison Ports Limited, regarding access to terminal facilities at the Port of Felixstowe.

The agreement will see Maersk Line utilize the Port of Felixstowe’s Trinity terminal for at least ten years, with the deal aimed at ensuring long-term access for Maersk Line, as well as giving both company’s the ability to forward plan United Kingdom (UK) operations

Commenting on the deal, Doug Bannister, the Managing Director for Maersk Line in the UK and Ireland said that the “new agreement with the Port of Felixstowe means we have capacity guaranteed, giving us greater control over the operation of our vessels. Greater operational control for us means greater reliability for our customers.”

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Canadian rail freight operator Canadian National Railway Company (CN) was directed yesterday to identify and remove faulty train wheels that are possibly in service with the carrier.

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities issued the directive which states that CN must inspect for and withdraw from service any faulty wheels by no later than the the fifteenth of  October 2008.

“The safety and security of Canadians is our number one priority, and our
government is acting to make our railways as safe as possible,” said the Minister.  “By issuing this emergency directive, I want to ensure every possible
measure is taken to prevent potential derailments related to faulty wheels.”

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The Pacific Heron, the newest ship in the fleet of nuclear materials handling company, Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL), arrived this week at the Ramsden Dock Nuclear Terminal at Barrow-in-Furness in the United Kingdom.

The ship, which was built by  the Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Company at the Tamano shipyard in Japan is set fulfil its designated role as nuclear materials transport ship, between Japan and Europe.

Boasting specialised features such cargo compartments protected by a double hull configuration as well as back-up availability of all essential systems, the Pacific Heron will allow the transportation of nuclear materials by storing the waste in what PNTL call special transport packages.  The packages, which can hold up to five tonnes of nuclear material,  are constructed from 25 centimetre thick forged steel and are designed to withstand severe accident scenarios.

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North Carolina based shipping and logistics company Horizon Lines has announced that the company will assist and join New Jersey’s DAS Global Services to establish a weekly automotive vehicle shipping service.

The service, between Port Elizabeth in New Jersey and San Juan Puerto Rico will consist of a weekly shipment , departing every Friday and arriving in San
Juan the following Tuesday, thus making vehicles available on Thursday the same week of arrival.

Brian Taylor, the President of Horizon Logistics commenting on the cooperation between Horizon Logistic and DAS Global Services said that “We look forward to working with DAS to provide the speed and reliability necessary to succeed in the Puerto Rico trade lane. DAS has always shown that creativity and partnership will drive success and we value their relationship across all our ventures with them”.

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In an announcement made earlier this week, Transport Canada has given Canadian cargo airline Cargojet the go-ahead to operate cargo services from the airlines Hamilton base to three destinations in Mexico.

Cargojet will initiate services to Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey, the  destinations adding to Cargojet’s existing international destinations of Newark, New Jersey as well as the island of Bermuda.

Responding to enquiry from Freightscene.com, Vice President of Marketing, Public and Government Relations, Pauline Dhillon commented that the new services will “provide a co-load network freighter flight that could feed all 3 Mexican cities, providing a reliable end-to-end solution to our Canadian shippers and forwarders.”  Ms Dhillon also added that Cargojet “would be providing an interline network for our overseas airline partners who have traditionally struggled gaining main-deck access to this market.”

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The Canadian city of Burlington is set to receive a boost as worldwide package delivery company United Parcel Service (UPS) expands the company’s Mainway Road facility.

The decision to expand comes as UPS aims to achieve faster shipping turn-around for the local, national and international businesses UPS serves in the area.  The facility serves as a key central supply chain facility in Canada for
major national retailers.  Additionally, increasing e-commerce activity across Canada is driving customer requirements for post-sales service and returns management, and UPS expects that the expanded facility will better support after-sales activity and critical parts inventory management for high-value technology components and computer products.

The present UPS facility at Burlington boasts two buildings with 800,000 square feet in total.  The expanded facility will increase in size to more than 975,000 square feet, as well as adding another building that will act as a third distribution centre.

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A new transshipment terminal implemented by the Mongolian government under the auspices of the “Transit Mongol” scheme has opened at the Zamyn Uud border checkpoint, with expectations that the terminal will be a boon to local and regional trade.

The terminal has been installed at the checkpoint thanks to a investment from the Mongolian Government of $3 billion Mongolia Tugrik, some $2.59 million US Dollars. The new facility is able to load simultaneously eight rail carriages a day as well as freeing up the significant road going traffic in the border region. 

The town of Zamyn Uud, which is strategically located on the Mongol-Chinese border is central to the 900 hectare “Zamyn Uud Free Economic Zone”, which was established after the “Law on Free Zone of Mongolia” was approved by the Mongolian Parliament in 2002.  The Zamyn Uud Free Economic Zone being implemented to assist with the development of industrial, commercial and tourism in the region.

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Detroit based Northwest Airlines Cargo in a response to the severe thunderstorms that have raged through the mid-west of the United States has announced that they will suspend the shipment of live animals from Detroit Metro airport.

Releasing an operational update the airline has said that the suspension will stay in place until 5:00 AM Eastern Time tomorrow, however the  suspension would not effect live animal shipments whose final destination is the Detroit Metro Airport .

Northwest Airlines Cargo complies with International Air Transport Association (IATA), Live Animal Regulations and participates in the IATA directed Live Animals and Perishables Board.  Northwest’s Senior Specialist for Cargo Operations, Mr Gregg Pittelkow is currently Chairman of the Live Animals and Perishables Board.

Source: Northwest Airlines Cargo and the IATA

Update - June 13 2008:  Northwest Airlines Cargo has again placed an embargo on the transfer live animals at Detroit Metro Airport . The suspension started at 11:00 AM Eastern Time, June 13, with normal operations expected to resume at 5:00 AM  Eastern Time, Saturday June the 14th.

Choice Logistics, the New York headquartered provider of mission critical logistics services has been retained by Swedish medical technology group Elekta to provide forward and reverse logistics services for the company’s medical technology.

Specializing in medical equipment for the purpose of fighting cancer and brain disorders, Elekta has chosen Choice Logistics to manage service parts delivery in several countries including Italy, Germany, Japan and the United States, with future expansion also mooted for France.

Speaking on the announcement of the decision by Elekta’s, Choice Logistics Executive Vice President of Operations, Gary Weiss said that Choice is “honoured to work with Elekta to support the critical inventory logistics needs of this worldwide leader in the medical technology field.”

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The freight division of French Rail company SNCF has warned its customers to prepare for disruptions as three rail unions plan to initiate industrial action against the company today.

The FP, Sud Rail and CGT Unions have called for a national strike to protest a planned reorganisation of the freight division of SNCF, the strike to expected to last twenty-four hours.

SNCF has moved to reassure customers that the company would work to minimise disruption to its services, the intent being that orders that have already been taken and goods already en route with SNCF, shall be delivered.  The company saying via a news release on its website that SNCF will mobilize “to limit the effects of this movement and remain at your disposal to inform you, in our usual procedures, the realization of your movements.”

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