MAERSK has unilaterally declared its intention to penalise shippers with a "weight discrepancy charge" of EUR35 (US$45.74) per container for misstating container weights in the Port of Trieste starting from October 1.

The charge will be applied if boxes are found outside of the following weights:



TEU (1) 0 - 9.999 tons, (2) 10-19.999 tons, (3) over 20 tons



FEU (1) 0 - 13.999 tons, (2) 14-23.999 tons, (3) over 24 tons



London's Containerisation International's said the introduction of the charge in Trieste alone suggests that containers will be weighed on arrival. "If so, the timing seems premature as the [UN's] International Maritime Organisation's [IMO] Solid Goods and Containerised Goods sub-committee (DSC 15) of the Maritime Safety Committee (MDC) is currently discussing if all containers should be compulsorily weighed," said the CI report.



"Should the issue be considered important enough by DSC 15, which will be known this in a couple of days time, and a proposal could be fast tracked for member states to consider in the next Maritime Safety Committee meeting at the end of November. If not, the following meeting is scheduled in May 2013," said CI.

AS the tensions between China and Japan intensify over the sovereignty of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, a trade war between the second and the third largest economies in the world is about to break out.

The escalation of Chinese anti-Japanese protests were triggered by Tokyo's earlier decision to use public funds to buy the islands. 



Many Japanese factories, restaurants and supermarkets in China have closed, including the closure of manufacturing lines of Canon and Panasonic, as well as 30 out of the 35 Japanese supermarkets owned by Aeon Group.



The bilateral trade value between the two largest Asian economies stands at nearly US$200 billion with China exports, accounting for 55 per cent, noted London's Containerisation International, adding that there has been a growing market in China for Japanese goods.



Known as Diaoyu by the Chinese and Senkaku by the Japanese, those disputed and gas-rich remote islands are not only claimed by mainland China (officially known as the People's Republic of China) and Japan, but also by Taiwan (officially known as the Republic of China), as these islands are located roughly in the east of mainland China, northeast of Taiwan, and west of Japan's Okinawa Island. 



China claims it discovered the islands in 14th century and controlled them until the 1894-95 Sino-Japanese War when Japan held them until its 1945 defeat in World War II by the Allied Powers, which included China. But the islands were returned to Japan by the American occupying power unilaterally in 1972 without agreement from China or Taiwan.

ZEPOL Corporation, a trade intelligence company, has reported that US import shipment volume for August fell by 0.3 per cent compared to the same month a year earlier, and is down three per cent from the previous month. 

The result goes against the trend of the past three years of a August spike in imports, the company noted, adding that in 2010 and 2011, August was the peak month.



"The lower August numbers could be due to early holiday purchases in July, which saw abnormally high TEU numbers," said Zepol CEO Paul Rassmussen, "but may also have to do with the potential for labour strikes or lockouts at east coast ports from the union, the International Longshoremen's Association [ILA] or from the employers, the United States Maritime Alliance [USMX]."



On the other hand, the company highlights speculation that the strike will not affect import volume and that September will be a major month for US imports. 



The results show that most Asian countries saw a drop in shipments to the US from July to August. China volume in TEU terms decreased by 0.59 per cent, while imports from South Korea and Singapore were down 10 per cent. But the two big European major exporters did better in the same period with Germany increasing exports 1.9 per cent year on year while Italy enjoyed a 3.4 per cent boost.



A statement posted by Marketwire via Comtex said seven of the top 10 US ports posted declines in container imports for August compared to the previous month. The Port of Los Angeles imports fell 3.9 per cent from July and the Port of Oakland seven per cent in TEU volume. The Port of Savannah, however, saw the volume of imports in August rise 7.6 per cent from July, making it the nation's fourth busiest port.

GOLDEN Week on mainland China has resulted in the cancellation of 22 sailings on the Far East-Europe route in October, in anticipation of weak demand around the time of the holidays.

Alphaliner reported that 10 sailings will be scrapped between October 1 and 7, representing one-fifth of the total weekly capacity on the tradelane. A further 12 sailings will be withdrawn between October 8 and 14, representing 27 per cent of the weekly capacity.



CMA CGM and MSC are the latest carriers to announce a temporary freeze on two sailings from October 8-14, involving CMA CGM's FAL 1 service, which is branded Condor by MSC, as well as MSC's Lion service, which the French shipping line calls the FAL 7.

HAMBURG SUD will join the ranks of a growing number of ocean carriers exiting its chassis service, but will still provide it at the ports of Portland, Seattle and Tacoma until November 1, 2013.

The German carrier is to leave sourcing of chassis to the SSAT Pool (or as it will be known, the Trac Chassis Pool) for haulage in and around the three ports. Intermodal moves beyond the port radius will not be affected.



Customers can now go to Trac Intermodal, or other chassis leasing providers, to gain equipment, it was announced. Ocean carriers are exiting the chassis business due to high cost of maintenance.

THE intermodal corridor to Europe from south east China has won support from Fei Weijun, vice director of the Ministry of Transport's Waterborne Research Institute, who says a sea-rail intermodal link will bring Chongqing closer to the world and cement its status as shipping and logistics hub. 

Chongqing's plan to develop a railway intermodal "new silk road" via Xinjiang, Central Asia to Europe and a sea-rail intermodal corridor via Kunming to South East Asia. 



Mr Fei considers sea-rail intermodal as a way to fully utilise the advantages of both railway and waterway. High-quality sea-rail intermodal service can effectively enhance efficiency and lower cost, boosting hinterland region's export business. 



Chongqing is a lead port in the upper Yangtze River region. Its mileage of navigational channels of third category and above takes up 75 per cent of the region's total. Port throughput capacity accounts for 85 per cent of the region's total and the only port to have deep-water terminal of 5,000 tonnes in the region. Shipbuilding capacity occupies 80 per cent of the region's total. Container fleet capacity even takes up 98 per cent of the region's total. In 2011, Chongqing's waterway cargo transportation volume and port throughput both surpassed 100 million tonnes. 



Chongqing is the only million-tonne river port in China, said Mr Fei, others who have equivalent large throughput are seaports.