PortsNews

DP World Unveils Game-Changing Storage Rack for Containers

By MarEx 2018-12-17 13:16:25

DP World and materials-handling firm AMOVA have signed an agreement to develop a rack-storage system for shipping containers at Jebel Ali Terminal. Instead of stacking containers directly on top of each other, the system places each container in an individual compartment within an eleven-story-tall steel rack. This method creates three times the capacity of a conventional container terminal of equivalent size. As an added benefit, the rack carries the weight of the upper containers in the stack, so a container...

Cambodia Seizes Over One Thousand Elephant Tusks

By MarEx 2018-12-16 21:44:57

Cambodia has seized over 3.2 tons of ivory from 1,026 elephant tusks hidden in a shipping container at Phnom Penh Autonomous Port. The shipment, from Mozambique, was discovered last week after a tip off from the U.S. embassy. Demand from China and Vietnam has meant Cambodia has become a key transit point for the illicit wildlife trade. The nation has made a number of high-profile busts over the past five years including the 2014 seizure of three tons of ivory...

Panama Canal Signs Agreement with Port of Itaqui

By MarEx 2018-12-13 18:14:44

The Panama Canal signed a MOU with Port of Itaqui, located in the northeastern region of Brazil, to promote the shipment of grain, soybeans and other cargoes in the commercial route between the north of Brazil through the Panama Canal to destinations located in the Pacific Ocean. The Port of Itaqui, located in São Luís, Maranhão, is the Brazilian port closest to the Panama Canal and has the infrastructure and connectivity necessary to move these exports to...

World’s Largest LNG Bunker Vessel Commences Operation

By MarEx 2018-12-13 17:01:17

The world’s largest LNG bunker vessel Kairos started operations this week in the port of Klaipeda, Lithuania, on the Baltic Sea coast. The vessel is chartered by Blue LNG, a joint venture of the Hamburg-based LNG supplier Nauticor with a 90 percent share and the Lithuanian energy infrastructure provider KN with a 10 percent share. The construction of the vessel started in 2016 when the joint venture signed a time-charter agreement with shipowner Babcock Schulte Energy. In February 2018, steel...

Yamal LNG Reaches Full Capacity, On Budget and One Year Early

By MarEx 2018-12-13 16:46:25

On Wednesday, the icebreaking LNG carrier Christophe de Margerie loaded the first cargo of LNG produced by the third and last train of the Yamal LNG project. The loading marks Yamal LNG's arrival at full capacity operation, twelve months ahead of schedule and within the planned budget. Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian Prime Minister, initiated the start of cargo operations via video conference. The ceremony was attended by Leonid Mikhelson, Chairman & CEO of Novatek; Evgeny Ambrosov, SVP of vessel operator Sovcomflot;...

Two Seafarers Abandoned in African Port

By MarEx 2018-12-13 16:40:42

It's the second year in a row that seafarers Captain Asmael Alsarwt and Seyed Nasr Soltan are stranded, abandoned by their ship's owner in a port thousands of miles from home. Initially abandoned on their vessel the PSD2 in Mozambique’s Beira port in 2017, the ship sailed to Durban in South Africa, where it was once again abandoned and has remained ever since. The men have received food, medical supplies and emotional support from the Sailors' Society's Crisis Response Network....

EU Parliament Calls for Port Restrictions Over Kerch Strait Incident

By MarEx 2018-12-13 11:07:49

On Wednesday, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the EU to close European ports to Russian vessels arriving from the Sea of Azov in retaliation for Russia's recent seizure of three Ukrainian naval vessels. On November 25, Russian forces fired on and seized two Ukrainian gunboats and one tug after the Ukrainian vessels tried to pass under the Kerch Strait Bridge. They detained 24 Ukrainian sailors in connection with its seizure, and several have been charged with "breaching...

Action Taken Against NSW Ports for Anti-Competition Deals

By MarEx 2018-12-13 00:34:02

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against NSW Ports Operations Hold Co and its subsidiaries Port Botany Operations and Port Kembla Operations for making agreements with the State of New South Wales that the ACCC alleges had an anti-competitive purpose and effect. The ACCC is alleging that making these agreements containing provisions which would effectively compensate Port Kembla and Port Botany if the Port of Newcastle develops a container terminal as it...

Master Fined for Alcohol Offense while Leaving New Zealand Port

By MarEx 2018-12-12 23:54:34

The master of the tanker SG Pegasus has been fined for exceeding the alcohol limit for a seafarer while preparing to leave the port of New Plymouth in New Zealand on December 11. The New Plymouth District Court has fined Saurabh Kumar Singh NZ$1,000 ($690); he has also been removed from his position as master. New Plymouth pilots became concerned at Singh’s behavior when they boarded SG Pegasus to help guide the tanker out of New Plymouth...

ITF Alleges Safety Shortcomings at Jakarta's JICT Terminal

By MarEx 2018-12-10 19:19:42

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) dockers' union has set its sights on leading terminal operator Huchison's Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT), alleging patterns of poor workplace safety. On Monday, a new ITF Dockers' safety working group met in Hong Kong to discuss patterns of workplace incidents. Over the past year, more than 50 dockers have died in preventable incidents at ports around the world. During its review, the meeting noted a serious accident this week at Jakarta International Container Terminal...