Tassie freight study due soon
A report into whether the Tasmanian government should subsidise an international freight service into Bell Bay is expected in August, at the earliest. Top of FormÂ
Tassie infrastructure minister David O'Byrne is expecting to receive a report into Bass Strait trade.
Since the departure of the Triple-AAA consortium in April 2011, there have been calls for another service and for the state government to provide financial assistance to potential carriers.
On the other hand, some have argued the government should avoid paying subsidies which are inherently anti-competitive and a poor deal for Tasmanian exporters.
Tasmanian media reported this week that Office of Infrastructure minister David  O'Byrne had confirmed a consultant report on Bass Strait freight would be provided to the Freight Logistics Coordination Team for review at its August meeting.
Earlier this year, Bell Bay Aluminium successfully negotiated a deal with Swire Shipping to collect freight from the Bell Bay port on a short-term contract.
While this service deals primarily in aluminium exports, it also takes limited consignments of general freight. Bell Bay Industry Group spokesman Bob Gozzi was quoted as saying this service was working well.
DP World secures China-Australia-Taiwan contract
DP World Australia has won a contract to stevedore a new China-Australia weekly service that calls into three eastern seaboard container terminals to handle about 250,000 containers a year.
L - Yang Ming (Australia) Managing Director Ed Wu; C – Capt Dion A. Pablo, Master of YM OAKLAND; R - DP World Australia CEO Ganesh Raj
DP World Australia managing director Ganesh Raj welcomed the new CAT consortium of Yang Ming Line, Evergreen Line, Sinotrans and Pacific International Lines (PIL) which connects with China, Australia and Taiwan.
'“Covering the next three years, the contract will position DP World as a stevedoring leader in the Asia Pacific,†Mr Raj said.
“With over 60% of container volume originating from or destined for Asia, DP World Australia’s terminals are strategically placed to assist these growing and emerging Asian markets.â€
The new weekly service is to run on rotation between DP World Australia’s east coast ports with Taiwan and then China, with the rotation expected to take about six weeks.
The service runs: Sydney – Melbourne – Brisbane – Kaohsiung (Taiwan) – Ningbo – Shanghai – Shekou – Kaohsiung.
Six vessels with a nominal teu (twenty foot equivalent unit) capacity of 4200 will be deployed on the route.
Yang Ming Line is to operate two ships, a further two by Evergreen Line and one each from Sinotrans and PIL.
The first CAT vessel is expected to arrive in Australia is the Yang Ming Line 4200-teu YM Oakland, which made its maiden call to DP World Melbourne from Sydney.It then sails to Brisbane on July 4 before heading back to Taiwan.
Yang Ming (Australia) managing director Ed Wu said the start of the CAT service coincides with the third anniversary of the company’s return to Australia.
Egypt revises Suez revenue as transits decline
Egypt is seeking to hike up its earnings from the Suez Canal by raising fees or adding new surcharges, to offset the tourism slump caused by persistent social unrest.
Higher earnings are needed to bolster the country’s dwindling coffers ahead of fresh loan talks with the International Monetary Fund.
However, the proposed push for more revenue from shipping lines – in addition to May’s 2.5% hike – comes amid an almost 10% on-year fall in cargo vessels using the waterway in the first quarter of 2013 to 3929 ships, compared to 4347 a year ago.
There were 106 fewer transits of containerships in the first three months of 2013 at 1479 vessels – the lowest level in more than three years – as trade between Asia and Europe went into reverse.
Disruption to shipping from social unrest and a further increase in fees could be the tipping points that drive ship operators to avoid the canal where schedules permit.
Tolls from shipping bring the Egyptian government around US$5bn a year. A standard ultra-large containership pays around US$1.2m per return trip through the canal.
Brisbane receives four new automated stacking cranes
New automated equipment worth $250m has arrived at Brisbane; two further shipments are due. Top of Form Â
Automation of port operations in Australia took another step forward today with the arrival of a shipment of four Kalmar automated stacking cranes (ASCs).
“Over the last 12 months we have been working with leading construction firm York Civil to deliver this project.
“By developing a new yard area, we’ll be using a combination of automatic stacking cranes that will interact with shuttle carriers to maximise terminal capacity and improve operational efficiency,†said DP World managing director Ganesh Raj.
Manufactured at Cargotec’s Shanghai facility, the Kalmar ASCs are fully-automated, rail-mounted gantry cranes that perform container moves within each 300 metre-long module.
Two further shipments of Cargotec cranes are due, one each in July and October and will be assembled on site over the next three to six months.
DP World will operate a total of 14 ASCs at the Brisbane terminal once all shipments have been received.
The first stage of development will take capacity to approximately 850,000 teu and will become operational by Q4 2013.
“By 2014, the port of Brisbane will be the first in Australia where all stevedores in operation will have automated container handling equipment,†said port of Brisbane CEO Russell Smith.
Giant cranes arrive at East Swanson
Two giant new cranes have arrived at Patrick’s East Swanson Dock.
Project cargo vessel Zhen Hua 21 delivered the two ship-to-shore cranes cruising under the Westgate Bridge. Zhen Hua 21 had been anchored off St Kilda Beach for about two days waiting for good weather, to complete the project.
A spokesman for Asciano/Patrick said the event represented the completion of delivery of four new cranes, with the first two already being commissioned at container terminals in Brisbane and Perth.
Asciano’s Patrick terminals and logistics director Alistair Field said the cranes would provide a boost to operations.
“The arrival of these state-of-the-art cranes will enable us to improve capacity and efficiency at our terminals right across Australia, further improving our service offering to all our customers,†he said.
The cranes are to be used for loading and unloading containers and stand 104.5 metres high and 31 metres wide with an outreach of 50 metres and a back-reach of 18 metres.
The cranes were delivered partially-assembled, to fit under the Westgate Bridge.
They were built by ZPMC of Shanghai and are to go through a detailed acceptance and commissioning process before a formal hand-over process to the operations crew.
A spokesman said the cranes will begin work in Melbourne by late July.
 Aust export volumes grew strongly in 2012
Australia’s total export volumes grew by over 6% in 2012 according to new, annually-released, research by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade shows.Top of Form Minerals, such as those shipped from Port Hedland, contribute strongly to Australian export volumes. Bottom of Form
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Growth in export volumes last year was double the average rate over the last 10 years and the highest annual rate of growth in export volumes since 2000.
Mineral and fuel exports increased by 10.9% in 2012, leading the growth in export volumes. This is well above the average rate of 5% for these exports over the last 10 years.
Rural export volumes also grew strongly, up 11.6% in 2012.
Overall, export values fell 4.2% to $300.1bn in 2012, as the increase in export volumes was outweighed by the fall in export prices (down 10.2%).
China remained Australia’s top trading partner in 2012, with two way trade of $125.2bn, equal to 20% of total trade.
Japan ($71.1bn) and the US ($56.2bn) followed, accounting for 11.5% and 9.1% of total trade respectively.
Exports of natural gas rose strongly, up 21.1% to $13.4bn.
Natural gas is now Australia’s fifth largest export by value after iron ore, coal, gold and education services.
Last year 2012 was the third straight year of rising elaborately transformed manufactures (ETM) exports, up 2.1% to $28.1bn.
Within this category exports of pharmaceutical products rose 15.4% to $4.2bn; road motor vehicles and parts were up 20.3% to $2.8bn and machinery for specialised industries were up 5.2% to $4.2bn.
Food exports “performed well,†the department says, with wheat exports up 7.5% to $6.5bn and vegetables, fruit and nuts, up 28.9% to $1.9bn.
Source: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Box lines face ‘make or break’ peak season, says Drewry
Container lines are under “severe strainâ€, according to Drewry’s latest analysis of the sector’s financial health, which shows that total industry debt has doubled in the past five years to US$100bn.
Drewry Maritime Equity Research senior analyst, Rahul Kapoor, says the 2013 peak season is “a make or break for profitability†in which carriers have a “narrow window of opportunity to get their act together or risk severe lossesâ€.
Mr Kapoor said: “Even as the market awaits the fate of July 1 Asia- Europe general rate increases, the sheer collapse in Asia-Europe freight rates in the past two months shows how fickle the industry’s demand supply balance remains.
“[In the] short term, industry profitability has become highly volatile, driven not only by underlying supply-demand dynamics but increasingly by carriers’ actions with respect to short-term capacity management.â€
He added: “The only way to minimise losses is to address effective capacity immediately, or else any hope of full-year profitability can be written off.â€
Timber Fumigation
If timber products are painted, varnished or have some other impervious coating that the coating materials must be applied after fumigation of the raw timber products.Â
Coating materials such as paints, lacquers, varnishes, waxes are to be applied after fumigation as they reduce the penetration capability of the fumigant from reaching the target of the fumigation.
The products must be ‘shipped’ within 21 days of fumigation. ‘Shipped’ includes the date that the goods were delivered to the wharf in a container for on forwarding to Australia and not necessarily the date that the vessel sails for Australia.
Govt and industry to map freight's future
Victorian ports minister David Hodgett and transport minister Terry Mulder met with senior freight industry players yesterday for the first Ministerial Freight Advisory Council round table discussion. Top of FormÂ
According to a joint-statement, the ministers confirmed the state government will soon release a Victorian Freight and Logistics Plan.
Addressing the round table, Mr Hodgett said the government’s highest freight priority was ensuring port gateway capacity availability.
“It is a fantastic opportunity to have all of the key industry players in one room, with one common objective, to provide the insight and direction required to maintain and increase Victoria’s competitive edge,†he said.
“Action is well and truly underway in this regard.
We’re expanding capacity at the port of Melbourne with the $1.6bn Port Capacity Project and we’ve begun the process of creating additional capacity at the port of Hastings by allocating $110m to progress planning for Victoria’s second container port.â€
Mr Hodgett was said the movement of inland freight also would be improved through the $28m Transport Solutions initiative to boost Victoria’s growing regional export market.
“We know Melbourne has excellent road and rail links connecting the port to the city and beyond, standing it apart from other Australian ports.
This will be enhanced further with the construction of the East West Link, which will provide a great boost to our freight network.
Mr Mulder said the government’s initiatives were aimed at maintaining Victoria’s leadership in the nation’s freight and logistics sector.
Container Ship Breaks in Half and Sinks, 26 Rescued
26 crewmen had to be rescued by the Indian Coast Guard after the containership they were on snapped in half and sank off Yemen.
The hull of the MV MOL COMFORT broke in two, forcing its crew to abandon ship. The men were plucked from the rough waters.
Three nearby vessels aided in the rescue of the mariners, after they managed to get off the ship into two life rafts and a lifeboat.
The damaged vessel sank shortly afterwards in the same position, with most of its 4,500 containers scattered in the Arabian Sea, with an unspecified amount of oil spilled. The cause of the disaster and type of cargo onboard were not immediately known.
Official Statement:
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Koichi Muto) reports that the MOL-operated containership MOL Comfort, while under way from Singapore to Jeddah on the Indian Ocean (12’30â€N 60’E) at about noon JST (07:00 local time) on June 17, 2013 during inclement weather, suffered a crack amidships and ingressing water in the hold. This made it impossible for the vessel to continue on under its own power.
Some of the containers on the vessel were lost overboard or suffered damage during the incident. Details are being confirmed. The damage to the MOL Comfort is extensive, while the 26 crew members took to lifeboats. All were safely rescued by other vessels in the area.
Type of ship: Containership (8000-TEU type)
Capacity : 4,382 units (7,041 TEU)
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Upcoming Changes to the Cargo Compliance Verification (CCV) ProgramÂ
Who does this notice affect?
Those involved in the importation of containerised sea cargo.
What is changing?
During June 2013 the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) will be implementing the next group of process improvements to the random inspection function for imported containerised sea cargo – known as the Cargo Compliance Verification (CCV) Program.
This next group of process improvements supports the expansion of the CCV Program to the population of containerised sea cargo consignments not currently referred for DAFF biosecurity consideration. Between 1000 and 2000 inspections annually will be reallocated from the national CCV inspection target to cover this population – the overall number CCV inspections will not be increased.
These process improvements build on those implemented on 1 February 2013, which improved randomisation of consignment selection, better aligned inspection targets to the volume of imports arriving at Australian ports, and strengthened DAFF procedural consistency.
Expanding the scope of CCV to the full range of imported containerised sea cargo will create an efficient and robust system to verify DAFF’s sea cargo intervention program is operating effectively and targeting those imports which pose the greatest biosecurity risk.
How this will affect you
From mid June 2013 there is a chance that a consignment that would not typically have been referred to DAFF for biosecurity consideration will be selected for a random verification inspection through the CCV Program.
We recognise that your consignment would not usually have been inspected by us when it is selected for CCV and we will continue to work closely with you to minimise any disruption the inspection may cause.
No inspection fees or charges will be applied for consignments that comply with biosecurity requirements. Standard document processing fees will apply, as they usually would.
We also seek to conduct CCV inspections at the importer’s premises, or a premises nominated by the importer, at a mutually convenient time.
DAFF will alert importers or their agents when a consignment has been selected for CCV inspection. A Quarantine Direction will be provided through our entry management system, AIMS, providing detailed instructions on what needs to happen next
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When your consignment is selected you can help minimise delays by ensuring: containers are held at the agreed location with seals intact until a biosecurity officer is present to conduct the inspection your staff are available to fully unpack the consignment within the agreed inspection time all required documentation is submitted to DAFF in a timely manner and is also made available at the inspection, including documentation that specifies the commodities listed on the Full Import Declaration the work environment is safe for our biosecurity officers and your staff.
For consignments containing imported foods, importers and their agents should be aware that inspection and testing processes required under the Imported Food Inspection Scheme (IFIS) will still apply after the CCV inspection. Please discuss any IFIS requirements with the DAFF bookings officer to ensure that arrangements can be made to coordinate these activities.
