Construction has begun on a new large port near Lamu island in southeast Kenya. The AFP wire service said Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir were on hand Friday to mark the official start of the $24.5 billion project that will include a railroad and […]
Following March 1 increases in rates by many lines, today’s World Container Index for Shanghai-Rotterdam rose from $1,276 per 40-foot container on Feb. 23 to $2,372 per 40-foot container, a jump of 114%.
A group representing U.S. shipping companies is expressing concern that if President Obama allows the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to be tapped that the oil industry may once again try to move much of the oil using foreign vessels. American Maritime Partnership (AMP), a broad-based coalition representing U.S.-flag vessel operators, maritime unions, and allied […]
The union that represents pilots who work for UPS asked Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to press their employer to voluntarily adopt a new FAA rule on pilot fatigue when he meets with UPS executives today. Robert W. Travis, president of the union, said in a letter to LaHood that “UPS has indicated, at […]
The master and second officer of the container ship Rena pleaded guilty on Wednesday to 10 out of 11 charges made against them following an investigation into the ship’s grounding off New Zealand on October 5 last year.
The NVOCC CaroTrans has begun offering a weekly fixed-day LCL export service from Charleston to South Africa. The service, which began in February, offers a transit time of 25 days to Durban, 30 days to Johannesburg, and 32 days to Cape Town. The service will feature broad coverage to all South African ports […]
Rickmers-Linie, the Hamburg based operator of heavy lift and project liner services, said it is expanding its market coverage in China and is enhancing its sales and marketing activities in Central China and Southern China. Wolfgang Harms, Rickmers-Linie’s chief representative Greater China, said moving closer to major industrial production facilities and engineering, procurement and […]
A new service has been launched by four companies, Stonetrans, Rickmers-Linie, Antwerp Breakbulk Agencies and DP World Breakbulk, to ship rough blocks of granite and sandstone from India to Antwerp. Rickmers, which upgraded its Indian service with the addition of new vessels in 2011, will take care of the ocean transport. Five new […]
The containership leasing company Seaspan said it had a $23.5 million profit in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to $141.6 million in the same 2010 period. Revenue was $155.2 million in the fourth quarter 2011 compared to $117.9 million in the same 2010 period. But adjusted EBITDA was $118.4 million in the fourth […]
Zim said it would impose a general rate increase of $475 per TEU on April 1 on all westbound cargo from Asia moving to North Europe, the West/ East Mediterranean (including Israel) and Black Sea region. It said the increase was needed “to maintain our current levels of service and high reliability.”
U.S. trucking volumes fell back sharply in January. The American Trucking Associations’ preliminary truck tonnage index of for-hire fleets dropped 4 percent to 119.4 in the first month of 2012 after advancing 6.4 percent, to a record 124.4 in December. The index is based on a survey of member companies and is adjusted to […]
Jeff McCorstin has been named vice president of international air and ocean freight transportation services at UPS. He will succeed Bob Noonan, who played a key leadership role in the successful integration of Fritz Companies after UPS acquired that company in 2001 as well as the growth of freight forwarding within the UPS […]
The U.S. economy grew faster than previously thought in the fourth quarter of 2011. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s revised forecast, Gross Domestic Product increased 3 percent during the three months ended Dec. 31, up from 2.8 percent in its preliminary estimate, on the strength of consumer and business spending. The Bureau […]
Supply chain service provider SBS Worldwide has appointed Michael Mohan as its new UK Air Freight General Manager. Mohan will be in charge of furthering the development of the air freight division in key markets and along new verticals. Mohan will also be responsible with applying SBS’s business plan across its air freight […]
RF Code, a provider of active IT asset management and wire-free environmental monitoring solutions, has released a new infrared enabled badge tag that provides real time, room-level personnel location information.
Fox Valley Commerce, an Il.-based 3PL and supply chain consulting firm, is gearing up to launch a new American Truck Directory website to give American truckers a digital forum to directly connect with thousands of shippers across the U.S. The site will serve as a comprehensive marketing platform for U.S.-based trucking companies, owner […]
Express consignment carrier DHL announced Thursday that Home Shopping Europe 24 (HSE24) has extended its package delivery contract and placed all its logistics requirements with DHL as of the middle of next year. DHL is expanding its role by taking over warehousing services for the Munich-based multi-channel mail order company that were outsourced to […]
Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, a business division of Phoenix-based Avnet, has launched the Rapid Benefit Estimation Tool (RaBET) for reducing supply chain costs. RaBET is a free supply chain diagnostic tool that aims to show customers ways to save money by using Avnet as their supply chain partner. John Sanders, director, supply chain management, […]
Apple’s latest product salvo, the iPad3, is due to hit U.S. stores any day now, if the online rumors are to be believed. The often secretive tech giant hasn’t announced a release date, but airfreight activity in China, where the product is being assembled, suggests the new tablet launch is near. Taking […]
The ocean carriers Maersk Line and CMA CGM have slowed their joint weekly TP3/TP9/Columbus pendulum linking Pacific Northwest ports with Asia and Maersk’s Southeast Asian hub at Tanjung Pelepas, before continuing westabout via Suez to the U.S. East Coast. Round voyage time has increased from 105 days to 112 days. The joint service is also scheduled to skip […]
