Danish headquartered container shipping giant, Maersk Line has announced enhancements to their service to the Australian continent from Asia.  The new service to be known as "Boomerang" will combine three existing services into one single rotation.

Maersk Line describes the new service as a unique and innovative solution to servicing the Australian market and that the "pendulum loop" of which the service consists, will encapsulate the deployment of ten vessels allowing for the optimal combination of efficiency through size and ability to operate at economical speeds.

(more…)

Puerto Cortes, the largest and deepest port in Central America located on Honduras’ Caribbean coast has reported this week that it is the only port in the Western Hemisphere to scan one-hundred percent of inbound and outbound shipments for radioactive substances.

Ranked 29th in the world in volume of shipments to the United States, Puerto Cortes  is a partner to the U.S. Government’s Container Security, Megaports, and Secure Freight Initiatives.  Indeed the port hosts both U.S. and Honduran customs officials as well as enabling Department of Homeland Security Officers back in the United States, to view real time imagery from security scanning activities at the port.

(more…)

Florida based maritime shipping company A.R. Savage & Son Incorporated has announced that it has taken steps to unify two if its operating companies relating to shipping and cargo under one corporate brand.

The companies that are affected are both the Savage Shipping Company, as well as Intermodal Shipping Service’s terminal rail and trans-loading business, with both companies now operating under the A.R. Savage and Son brand.  It is understood that despite the corporate unification, employees present with the two previous brands will remain in their respective roles.

(more…)

Danish container shipping line, Maersk Line has announced that it will adjust its Asia Europe services in an effort to keep the services sustainable amongst a climate of rising costs.

Driven mainly by the rising cost of fuels, Maersk Line will adjust its  AE5, AE7, AE2, and AE8 to reduce capacity and increase efficiency.  The changes will see a reduction in space by 2,000 forty-foot equivalent units per week whilst keeping all corridors served in the network.

Specifically, the changes Maersk Line have announced will see the suspension of the AE5 service, whilst retaining services to Kaohsiung through AE8.  AE7 will see its sailing speed adjusted from July 8 when the Ella Maersk will depart from the Port of Rotterdam and sail to Bremerhaven, Algeciras, Tangier, Tanjung Pelepas, and Yantian.

(more…)

The member lines of container shipping’s Grand Alliance have announced, that in partnership with The New World Alliance that a new service to and from Asia and the Black Sea, has commenced from the 25th of June.

The Grand Alliance  which is considered as the the leading integrated consortium in global container shipping, is made up of Hapag-Lloyd, MISC Berhad, NYK and OOCL, while The New World Alliance features such shipping lines as APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines  and CMA CGM.

Since starting cooperation in February with a slot exchange on their respective fortnightly services to the Black Sea. The new joint service will now provide shippers a weekly frequency with common port.

(more…)

Three of the worlds major container shipping lines, Hamburg Süd, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk Line are set to join forces with ANL-USL to adjust services between Australia, New Zealand and the west coast of North America.

The new service, subject to regulatory approval, will see the the four lines, in partnership, offer eight monthly sailings under a three string service concept, with ANL-USL integrating their existing service into the Oceania Vessel Sharing Agreement.

According to partner Hapag Lloyd, the new service will consist of a  weekly Pacific Southwest String, a fortnightly Pacific Southwest String, as well as a Pacific Northwest String sailing fortnightly.

(more…)

Automotive shipping and logistics company Wilh Wilhelmsen has announced that due to a new taxation environment in Norway, the company will relocate its shipping activities to the island of Malta, as well as listing part of its new fleet on the Maltese Maritime Authority shipping register.

With a total of forty-two new vessels on order, it is unclear how many will be placed on the Maltese register, however the company has expressed that the decision is based on a new tax regime to be applied to shipping companies in Norway.

The Chief Financial Officer of Wilh Wilhelmsen, Nils Petter Dyvik has remarked that the decision by the company was “both political and commercial,” and that “the tax situation faced by ship owners in Norway has been under constant scrutiny for the last 10 years.”

(more…)

Late last week, both Dubai Ports World (DP World)and Israel’s ZIM Ports announced they have purchased respectively a 60% and 40% share in Spain’s Contarsa Sociedad De Estiba (Contarsa).

The Spanish company holds the concession to operate the Port of Tarragona’s container terminal, as such both DP World and ZIM Ports have moved to enter the substantial Spanish container market.

Taking the majority share in Contarsa and subsequently the Tarragona concession, DP World Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said that “Tarragona is an exciting addition to DP World’s global portfolio with considerable growth potential. We are looking forward to building a closer relationship with Spain to serve customers across the region as well as increasing the trade between the Middle East and southern Europe.”

(more…)

Worldwide container shipper, Maersk Line, has announced that it will make changes to its KNSM service operating between Northern Europe and Morocco.

Changing from an interim schedule which included the Port of Agadir in the service rotation, from July the carrier will implement a fixed-day schedule on the service, but removing the Port of Agadir from the service.

Maersk Line advises that Agadir will still be served by the carriers feeder network via Algeciras in Spain, however the KNSM service will now limit its rotation to include only the ports of Bremerhaven and Rotterdam in Europe, and Casablanca in Morocco.

Based in Copenhagen Denmark, Maersk Line enjoys a fleet of over 500 container vessels with more than 1,900,000 containers.  The company has 325 office in 170 countries, employing over 25,000 people.

Source: Maersk Line

German shipping company Hapag Lloyd has announced that it will launch a new container service between the continents of Asia and Africa, the service being initiated because of an increase in demand for more fixed services.

To be known as WSX, the new service will begin operating in July with fortnightly journeys between Asia and the African nations of South Africa, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria.  Specifically the WSX service will depart the Shanghai port with subsequent destinations being the ports of Ningbo, Xiamen, Shekou, Port Kelang, Durban, Tema, Lome and Lagos, before returning to Shanghai via Durban and Port Kelang.

(more…)