Original news was published on 15 January, 2015

Latvia’s Freeport of Riga handled 41.08 million tons of various cargo in 2014, surpassing the 2013 volumes by 5.6 million tons, or 15.8%, and setting a new record for the port.

Overall, 23.73 million tons were handled in the dry bulk segment in 2014 that is by 10% or 2.16 million tons more than during the previous reporting period.

7.07 million tons were handled in the general cargo segment, which is by 4.3% more than in 2013. Container transshipment increased by 6.1% and reached 4.15 million tons.

The port handled a total of 10.28 million tons of liquid cargo, which is by 44.6% more than in 2013.

Last year, the Port of Riga welcomed almost 738 thousand passengers, which is by almost 12% less than in 2013. Passenger volume drop can be attributed to reduction of Tallink scheduled voyages in summer 2014.

*NEWS SOURCE

UPS announced the expansion of its UPS Worldwide Express Freight service in twelve new origin and nine new destination countries for urgent, time-sensitive and high-value international heavyweight shipments.

The service offers faster guaranteed palletized shipments, over 150 lbs. (70 kg.), in more lanes than any other carrier. Delivery is door-to-door and day-definite, with customs brokerage service included. Saturday deliveries are available to select U.S. and Canadian postal codes.

“UPS can help make growing internationally easier with solutions like this urgent air freight offering. Worldwide Express Freight helps customers get everything, from parts to finished goods, to more destinations fast, enabling businesses of all sizes to better compete on a global scale.” Nick Basford, UPS vice president of international marketing.

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Cork-based Ardmore Shipping has taken delivery of a 25,000 DWT IMO II product and chemical tanker, the Ardmore Cherokee, built at Fukoaka Shipbuilding in Japan.

The Ardmore Cherokee is the fifteenth vessel to join Ardmore’s fleet on the water, where she has been placed under the technical management of Thome Ship Management.

The vessel has been fitted with an array of fuel efficiency technologies, including the SkySails’ performance monitoring system, in order to deliver optimal operational performance.

“Ardmore Cherokee has been designed and built to the very highest standards and we would like to thank all those involved in her successful delivery by Fukuoka Shipbuilding for their hard work and commitment. We wish her master and crew safe seas and look forward to her contribution to Ardmore’s continued growth,” said Mark Cameron, COO of Ardmore Shipping commenting on the delivery.

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MAERSK remained the No 1 box carrier, in Alphaliner's annual capacity Fleet Review ranking of the top 20 container shipping carriers in the world.

The Danish carrier increased capacity 12 per cent in 2014 to 2.89 million TEU with the delivery of nine 18,000 TEUers as well 19 chartered newbuildings, including 4,900-5,500 TEU ships for African and Indian service.

Maersk was also active on the charter market, with a net addition of 120,000 TEU. In 2015, the carrier will take delivery of its remaining seven Triple-E units, together with four chartered ships of 9,000 - 10,000 TEU.

In No 2 spot remains Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) with an operated fleet increase of seven per cent to 2.54 million TEU, having received a "relatively small number of newbuildings" last year.

"MSC will see a massive capacity expansion this year, as 30 new ships with a total capacity of 357,000 TEU are scheduled for delivery to the carrier in 2015," said Alphaliner.

No 3 is Marseilles-based CMA CGM again, which increased its fleet nine per cent or by 139,000 TEU year on year. The French Line took delivery of nine long-term chartered newbuildings, including four wide-beam neo-panamax ships of 9,200-10,600 TEU from Chinese owner CIMC.

No 4 is Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, recently merged with Chile's CSAV, which resulted in their combined fleet to shrink two per cent or by 18,000 TEU in 2014. The two lines received five owned newbuildings in 2014, of three 13,100-TEU ships for Hapag-Lloyd and three 8,600 - 9,300 TEU ships for CSAV.

No 5 is Taiwan's Evergreen which increased its fleet 12 per cent or by 99,000 TEU in 2014, receiving 187,000 TEU of newbuildings.

"With only four 'L' class ships of 8,500 TEU due this year, the carrier will take a breather until 2016, when 10 long-term chartered units of 14,000 TEU will join the Evergreen fleet," said Alphaliner.

No 6 is Cosco, having increased its fleet six per cent or by 49,000 TEU, after the delivery of four newbuildings of 13,400 TEU, a gain made possible by Beijing's fleet renewal subsidies.

No 7 is China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) whose fleet grew 14 per cent or by 81,000 TEU in 2014. China Shipping's 18,900 TEU sisters CSCL Globe and CSCL Pacific Ocean delivered in November and December rivaled each other as the world's biggest containership, until the 19,200-TEU MSC Oscar took the title.

No 8 was Korea's Hanjin Shipping despite a fleet that shrunk three per cent or 19.000 TEU, as the company struggled, resulting in a rescue by Hanjin Group and the removal of its chairwoman.

Hanjin's newbuilding programme is limited to two remaining 10,000 TEU ships chartered from Seaspan, due in the first quarter of 2015, and four 9,000 TEU ships financed by the Turkish Ciner Group.

No 9 is Japan's MOL increased its operated fleet 11 per cent or by 59,000 TEU in 2014. The carrier added 93,000 TEU from newbuilding deliveries, including two 13,900-TEUers chartered from G6 partner, APL, and one owned 8,600-TEU ship, the last of ten 8,000-,8600 TEU ships ordered in 2004, 2005 and 2011.

No 10 is Singapore's APL, ending a "miserable year" with a 12 per cent decrease of its operated fleet, the largest fall among the Top-20 carriers.

Despite receiving 83,000 TEU of newbuilding capacity, the carrier registered a 79,000 TEU reduction. New ships included the last two 13,900-TEUers of a 10-ship order from 2011. APL also received six new 9,200-TEU ships, first planned the transpacific trade, but now bound for West Asian service.

The top 20 by capacity are ranked by Alphaliner as follows: Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen, Cosco, CSCL, Hanjin, MOL, APL, Hamburg Sud, OOCL, NYK, Yang Ming, PIL, Hyundai, "K" Line, UASC, Zim and Wan Hai.

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Air France KLM Martinair Cargo will this month add three B747 Combi frequencies from Amsterdam Airport-Schiphol (AMS) to and from Dubai International Airport (DXB).

Starting 10 January, the European carrier says that the upgrade offers “increased flexibility to carry main deck commodities to our hubs, Dubai International Airport (DXB), and to Al Maktoum Airport (DWC) which our freighters already use.”

The carrier states that it will be the “only scheduled airline” to offer 21 main deck pallet positions a week directly to Dubai International Airport.

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Original news was published on 30 December, 2014

FRENCH shipping giant CMA CGM is upgrading services between north Europe, the Mediterranean and West Africa by offering two weekly loops instead of one, and specialising its EURAF 1 and EURAF 2 services.

To continue improving its offer and to meet its African and European customers' needs, CMA CGM has announced the specialisation of its EURAF 1 and EURAF 2 services.

The upgrade will offer improved reliability and punctuality, with a new calls on Hamburg and London Gateway to ports to Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal as well as two weekly calls on Antwerp, the company said.

CMA CGM will still benefit from connections Worldwide with calls on Tangiers and "with the entire African continent thanks to the group's bespoke intermodal solutions and logistics expertise".

The EURAF 1 service will deploy six 3,500-TEU vessels ships on a weekly rotation through Dunkirk, Antwerp, Le Havre, Montoir, Tangiers, Dakar, Abidjan, Dakar, Tangiers and Dunkirk, where it starts from January 22 with the sailing of 3,108-TEU CS Discovery.

The EURAF 2 service will deploy six 2,600-TEU vessels on a weekly rotation through Antwerp, Hamburg, London Gateway, Tangiers, TinCan, Tema, Abidjan and Antwerp, starting with the voyage of the 2,478-TEU Frisia Helsinki from Antwerp on January 25.

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The port of Antwerp is expected to handle a total of 198.8 million tonnes of freight by the end of this year. That’s an increase of 4.2% in comparison with 2013 and a new record for the port.

The previous record dates from 2013, when the freight volume came to 190.8 million tonnes. The record growth was driven by container handling (up 5.6%) and liquid bulk (up 5.4%). The other side of the coin is the contracting volume of labour-intensive breakbulk (down 3.3%) and dry bulk (down 4.9%).

Containers and breakbulk

The container trade shows impressive growth, both in tonnes and in number of boxes. The number of standard containers (twenty-foot equivalent units) rose by 4.5% to 8.96 TEU. This means that Antwerp should pass the 9 million TEU mark next year. In terms of tonnage also, the growth was more than respectable, up 5.6% to 108.1 million tonnes.

The ro/ro volume, however, was down by 1.2% to 4.51 million tonnes. The figures are mainly due to a decrease in the number of cars handled. By the end of this year its is expected that 1.2 million cars will have been shipped in and out of the port of Antwerp, 7.8% fewer than in 2013. The lower volume is due among other things to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the unrest in the Middle East and the poor economic situation in Argentina and Brazil, all of which are important markets for second-hand cars.

Conventional breakbulk for its part was down by 3.3% and is expected to total 9.75 million tonnes for the year as a whole. But despite this decrease, breakbulk is still very important for employment in the port, accounting for some 40% of dock labour.

Liquid bulk

The liquid bulk volume expanded over the past 12 months by 5.4% to 62.7 million tonnes. After the record year of 2013 in which the total growth of liquid bulk surged by 31.4%, this year’s figures are still very significant. Exports of liquid bulk in particular rose strongly by 17.8% because of the greater trading activities of some players. Imports for their part remained more or less stable.

The petrochemical cluster in the port of Antwerp made positive news several times over the past year. There was the investment by ExxonMobil, the American oil giant which announced a commitment of 1 billion dollars to its refinery in the port of Antwerp. The new facility will convert heavy, high-sulphur oil residue into cleaner oil products and transport fuels such as diesel and gasoil for shipping. The French group Total for its part is similarly investing 1 billion euros in its Antwerp site. Further developing this petrochemical platform is one of the major ambitions of Antwerp Port Authority for the near future. For this purpose it has set up an Oil & Chemical taskforce which will collaborate with FISCH and Essencia to create ideal conditions for attracting international investors to Antwerp.

Dry bulk

The dry bulk volume contracted by 4.9% to 13.67 million tonnes. This continued downward trend is caused by the decline in coal imports, due mainly to the closure of various coal-fired power stations in the immediate hinterland of the port. This trend is not expected to reverse anytime soon.

Seagoing ships

During the past 12 months 13,978 seagoing ships called at the port of Antwerp, 1.7% fewer than in the previous year. On the other hand the gross tonnage was up by 1.5% to 334.68 million GT. The number of ULCS (ultra-large container ships of 10,000 TEU or more) is expected to reach 265 this year, 67 more than in 2013. The growth is particularly marked in the category of 13,000 TEU and more, with no fewer than 80 of these giant container carriers calling at Antwerp this year. At the beginning of January (ETA 7 January) the Morten Maersk is expected in Antwerp, which at 18,000 TEU is still the largest container ship in service anywhere in the world.

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