World Maritime News
WMNF 2020/07/23
Flooding disrupts Yangtze River cargo flow and ports tighten reefer container control amid virus concerns in China
China’s worst floods in decades are disrupting port operation in the center of the country and along the east coast, leading to port closures on the Yangtze River and hitting cargo operations at Shanghai and Ningbo. The floods, caused by rains over the last six weeks, have also impacted container operations in Southern China where reefer imports have already been disrupted by stringent checks on meat and other perishables due to COVID-19. The difficulties have added to congestion in Shanghai and Ningbo.
Read more: JOC | Lloyd’s List
Global regulators failing to keep container shipping fair
Global regulators are failing to keep the container shipping industry in check, allowing them to wield disproportionate levels of power over service providers and shippers, argues Olaf Merk of the International Trade Forum of OECD. The need for amended regulation to curb carriers’ power is clear with the industry’s exemption from antitrust law in Europe, according to Merk who is a vocal opponent of the corona block exemption regulation. He points to how European carriers can jointly contract with port providers and manage capacity together and freely share operational information.
Read more: JOC
EU emissions reform leave much still to play for
The European Union’s control over shipping emissions rules is inevitable. The European parliament voted 7 July to include shipping in the emissions trading systems (ETS) that will require a 40 % reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030. The bloc’s political momentum and agenda on climate change is too popular, aggressive and all-encompassing for maritime to escape it. The “whens” and the “hows” are still very much up for discussion. That is where the shipping industry will likely deploy its energy and political capital.
Read more: Lloyd’s List1 | JOC | Lloyd’s List2
Telework shift poses challenges for railroads
If the average American continues to telecommute after the COVID-19 pandemic, railroads and trucking companies must adjust to changing freight flow patterns caused by fewer populated urban office centers, president of Gross Transportation Consulting said. He believes companies will discover downtown office are no longer necessary, especially if workers prefer to work at home to avoid crowed trains and elevators. Our best estimate is that 25 to 30% of the workforce will be working from home multiple days a week by the end of 2021.
Read more: JOC
Port of Charleston to boost retail BCO business
Walmart will build a 278,700 m2 distribution center in South Carolina, the port authority of Charleston announced 20 July, as Charleston port officials look to increase its annual volume to 1.4 million TEU and attract other omnichannel retailers building out their e-commerce fulfilment networks. The Walmart distribution center will be located in the Ridgeville Commerce Park about 48 km from the Wando Welch Terminal of Charleston, South Carolina and is due to open in the spring of 2022. Walmart has three distribution centers in Virginia and two in Georgia.
Read more: JOC
Hamburg pioneers machine learning to reduce dwell times
Hamburger Hafen und Logistik, the German terminal operator, has turned to machine learning in an effort to reduce dwell times and improve efficiency at its Altenwerder and Burchardkai terminals. It hopes the new terminal operating system add-on, developed by IT system developer Inform and implemented by Hamburg Port Consulting, will improve box stacking and optimize collection handling. The goal is to predict the precise pickup time of a container. Machine learning solutions provide us with many opportunities to increase productivity and capacity rates at the terminal, Angela Tizrath chairwoman of HHLA said.
The software supports terminal operations by allocating optimized container slots. In addition to the dwell time, the algorithm can help calculate the type of delivery.
Read more: HPC | Lloyd’s List