DANISH shipping giant Maersk Line will apply a range of rate increases throughout its container service network from mid-October, plus applying dangerous cargo demurrage at St Petersburg.

The general rate increase from the Mediterranean to the Far East will be US$150 per container from November 1 excluding Syria. From Mediterranean to Syria will be $129 per container.



From the Far East to Central America and the Caribbean, rates will be $560 per TEU, and $800 per FEU from October 15 for cargo from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia to Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago and Panama.



From China and Taiwan to Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Santa Marta (Magdalena, Colombia), Cartagena (Colombia) and Barranquilla (Colombia), the rates increases will be US$560 per TEU and $800 per FEU from October 17.



Surcharges will apply to cargo bound for St Petersburg on dangerous goods as demurrage tariff rates as set by the UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) at the following rate: US$12 per TEU and $24 per FEU per day, rising to $425 per day per TEU per day, and $500 per day per FEU per day from the ninth to 20th day, and up to $457 per day per TEU and $600 per day per FEU per day every day thereafter.



Reefer demurrage rates for dangerous cargo at St Petersburg will be $485 per day per container for the first seven days, $763 per day per container per day from the eighth to the 14th day and $1,100 per day per container thereafter.

THE managing director of APL Dubai, Steve Dolan, who was implicated in the smuggling of 30,000 handguns and faced 50 years in prison, has been acquitted in Dubai, according to a report in his hometown St Louis Post-Dispatch.

Mr Dolan, a 27-year industry veteran with Singapore's APL, the container shipping arm of state controlled Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), had been detained in Dubai since February over a shipment from Turkey bound for Djibouti and transhipped through Dubai.



Mr Dolan and three associates, two from Sri Lanka and one from India, were implicated in the case. Mr Dolan told the newspaper that his passport had been confiscated, and he was coerced into signing a confession on a document written in Arabic.



APL told American Shipper: "We can confirm that our employees charged with weapons transportation in Dubai have been found innocent. We are pleased with the closure of the case, and extend our appreciation to those who have expressed concern and support throughout the judicial process."



On Monday, Mr Dolan emailed the St Louis paper to say he had been acquitted, thanks in part to media coverage of the case. "The media attention, especially after it got to the Dubai media, forced this decision rather quickly," Mr Dolan said.

THE Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement (TSA) has announced the 2013-14 contract rate increases of US$800 per FEU to the US west coast, $1,000 per FEU via all-water to the US east and Gulf coasts and $1,200 per FEU for intermodal shipments via all coasts.

"Carriers are potentially facing a kind of perfect storm next year and heading into 2014," said TSA administrator Brian Conrad.



"As global markets see greater certainty and trade growth accelerates in a meaningful way carriers will be facing capacity shortages, weak balance sheets and tight credit. It looks increasingly likely that reinvestment will turn on a sustainable rate structure," Mr Conrad said.



A rising regulatory tide, demanding the use costly low-sulphur fuel has also resulted in widespread extra costs, while at the same time, bunker has remained a nearly $700 a tonne, he said.



Meanwhile, TSA said "aggregate inland transport, equipment repositioning, cargo handling, feeder ship and maintenance and repair costs" will grow eight per cent over 2012-13. In coming months, these costs are likely to increase with the signing of new labour agreements, adding economic pressure on carriers.



"Carriers have faced a steep, uphill climb throughout 2012 to reverse dramatic revenue losses as steeply discounted rates in key lane segments crept into 12-month contracts," said Mr Conrad.



So, he said rate increases are "badly needed" as the overall rates plummeted a lot earlier in the year and carriers' debt levels are high.



Despite previous increases, the average freight rates, according to TSA's revenue index, remain at levels seen in early 2011.



Besides, average carrier operating margins have been negative since the beginning of 2011, bottoming at negative 12 per cent in first quarter 2012. Of the top 17 transpacific carriers, 11 have debt-to-cash ratios exceeding 6-to-1, and six have ratios exceeding 8-to-1.



In regard to overcapacity on the transpacific, TSA said most new vessel capacity deployed in this route during 2012-13 will be absorbed by "a combination of steadily rising demand, slow-steaming and other factors."



In the mid-term, TSA forecast that there will have a short supply in vessel space and equipment starting in 2014-15 as new vessel orders will drop significantly after 2013.



Standard transpacific contracts normally take effect on May 1 every year. TSA members include APL, CSCL, CMA CGM, Cosco, Evergreen, Hanjin Shipping, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, "K" Line, Maersk, MSC, NYK, OOCL, Yang Ming and Zim.

MAERSK Line and MSC are teaming up on the Mediterranean-east coast South America trade by combining into a single loop Maersk's Middle East-India-Med-ECSA Rumba service with MSC's Valencia-Las Palmas-ECSA service.

The weekly capacity of the new joint loop will be 6,500 TEU, 35 per cent down from the total of 9,900 TEU available on the two existing loops.



The joint loop will be implemented in November. It will initially operate with six or seven vessels of 6,000 to 7,000 TEU. The port rotation will be Gioia Tauro (MSC hub), Valencia (MSC hub), Algeciras (Maersk hub), Pecem, Salvador, Paranagua, Itapoa, Imbituba, Santos, Las Palmas (MSC hub), Tangier (Maersk hub), Algeciras (Maersk hub) and back to Gioia Tauro.



Maersk was quoted as saying in a report by Alphaliner, "The new service allows for a more cost beneficial operation in the current trading environment and reflects current market demand in this trade," which is described as being weak.



In order to continue its ECSA-Middle East-India links, Maersk will set up a Mediterranean-Middle East-India service (ME4), to be operated with 4,500 TEU ships. The ME-4 will connect Jebel Ali, Mumbai-Nhava Sheva, Jeddah, Marsaxlokk, Algeciras, Tangier, Genoa, Jeddah and back to Jebel Ali.



The east coast South America to Middle East and India corridor will therefore be served by Maersk via transhipment in Tangier on the new joint Mediterranean-ECSA service.



CSAV, which slots on the MSC service, is expected to continue to slot from MSC on the new joint loop.

SOUTH Africa's newest container port is continuing to set records with Ngqura Container Terminal (NCT) in the eastern Cape having had its best month yet in August by handling 63,857 TEU, 34 per cent ahead of the previous monthly record achieved in June this year, and 40.4 per cent ahead of volumes handled in the corresponding period of 2011.

According to Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), which manages the facility, the strong performance was related to "increased market demand and the start of the reefer cargo season," reports London's Containerisation International.



TPT said that imports accounted for 18,725 TEU, exports 16,444 TEU and transhipment cargo 28,688 TEU of the total. The latter reflects the growing success of the terminal as a gateway for Africa, with MSC and Mitsui OSK Lines among the carriers that have built a hub port strategy, based on the complex.



Commenting on the figures, Siya Mhlaluka, general manager of the eastern Cape for TPT, stressed the importance of the productivity enhancements being achieved at the terminal. "During August 2012 shifts working at the terminal consistently achieved 29 moves per gross crane hour. This has been made possible by teamwork and improvements in vessel and yard planning.



"These volumes also have significant economic benefit because faster and more efficient container handling has ripple effects for the rest of the supply chain."

HUNAN provincial statistics figures show that the province moved 1.15 billion tonnes of cargo from January to August, a 11.9 per cent year-on-year basis increase but representing 0.9 per cent slower growth, Xinhua reports.

In the same period, provincial passenger traffic increased 7.6 per cent to 1.22 billion person, 2.8 percentage points slower than one year ago.



Railway cargo volume fell 11.4 per cent to 35.4 million tonnes. Turnover volume dropped 4.1 per cent to 71.5 billion tonnes per kilometre.



Road cargo increased 14.1 per cent to 933 million tonnes. Turnover grew 23.7 per cent to 14.1 billion tonnes per kilometre.



Waterway cargo volume increased 3.1 per cent to 116 million tonnes. Turnover went 11.2 per cent up to 30.87 billion tonnes per kilometre. Waterway passengers dropped 3.8 per cent to 8.97 million persons. Passenger turnover fell 4.1 per cent to 47 million tonnes per kilometre.



The province's total cargo traffic turnover volume increased 12.7 per cent to 240.6 billion tonnes per kilometre. Passenger turnover increased 3.7 per cent to 120 billion persons per kilometre.

THE Ivory Coast is to reopen its airspace for Ghananian flights but will maintain land and sea closure following clashes at a border crossing near Abidjan and Noi.

The closure of all borders followed armed attacks on police stations and a gendarme barracks in Abidjan and Noi leading to a backlog in travellers in the Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) and Ghana, reported GAC Hot Port News.

KUWAITI global logistics provider, Agility, has appointed Chris Price as chief executive officer of its Asia Pacific operations.

The company also named Mike Bible CEO of its Europe operations, following the decision by Beat Simon to leave the company. In Europe, Mr Bible will manage more than 140 offices in over 29 countries, and more than 3,000 employees. Before his appointment, he was CEO of Agility Americas for five years, and before that, chief financial officer of Agility Americas.



"Agility has invested heavily in Asia in the last decade," said Essa Al-Saleh, president and CEO of Agility Global Integrated Logistics, in a statement. "The company is a top five logistics provider across the region, with a strong base in China that serves the domestic and international market, extensive operations in India, and market-leading presence in South East Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia."



Both appointments take effect from January 1.

GAC India has entered into an agency agreement with Mumbai-based Sarjak Container Lines Pvt Ltd, to handle its operations requirement in Chennai.

This latest development comes 12 months after its appointment to manage Sarjak's operations in Delhi and northern India.



Sarjak specialises in the transportation of Over Dimensioned Cargo (ODC) in containers, by its fleet of hard top, open top, flat rack, super rack and GP containers. The main cargo handled from the region includes transformers, boilers, chiller units, pressure vessels, and sugar manufacturing plants, oil well equipment, and various engineering goods. Sarjak was awarded "NVOCC of the Year (Special Equipment)" in the 3rd All India Maritime & Logistics Awards (MALA) 2012.



Sathya Chandrashekar, GAC India's general manager of Shipping Operations, says there are very few carriers specialising in the field of containerised project shipments in the Indian break bulk sector at a time when imports and exports of machinery are on the rise.



"GAC has a wealth of experience and professional expertise in moving over dimensioned cargo. We understand the importance of the timely delivery of such equipment, and spare no effort in ensuring that all formalities are cleared within the shortest time possible. We are confident that we can continue to add value to this mutually beneficial partnership," said Capt Sathya.

THE Kuehne Logistics University in Hamburg (KLU) has won a top tier place in the newly published research rankings, the Handelsblatt Uni Ranking, of 120 business studies facilities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The recognition comes just two years after the university was founded with a small faculty.



KLU "was able to hold its own against powerful competition with much larger numbers of professors," a company statement said.



In the research performance per professor ranking, the KLU made it to the top 10, coming in seventh, and with this result it is said to be on a par with long-established universities such as Mannheim, Munich and Cologne.

HONG KONG Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO) and Cathay Pacific Airways have teamed up to form a joint venture company, HAECO ITM Limited (HXITM) in Hong Kong to provide inventory technical management services to Cathay Pacific, Dragonair and other airline customers.

HAECO ITM services primarily cover provisions and pool management of components inventory, management of component repairs/overhaul and engineering-reliability, supply chain management and 24/7 AOG support.



HXITM, which is 70 per cent owned by HAECO and the remaining 30 per cent owned by Cathay Pacific will be managed by HAECO, with staff seconded from the existing HAECO ITM business and Cathay Pacific Engineering. The joint venture will take over HAECO's existing aircraft component assets, combine it with Cathay Pacific's existing inventory, to support both Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, and other airline customers, a statement said.



HAECO chief executive officer Augustus Tang said: "This is a milestone development for HAECO. The global trend is that airlines will outsource more non-core capital intensive engineering activities such as component management to service providers. This transaction enables improved economies of scale and creates synergies with Cathay Pacific, putting the best-in-class joint venture organisation in a strong position to manage supplier relationships and secure potential customers in the Asia Pacific region where strong growth is expected."

THE UN's International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Global Symposium, held this week by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), is focused on "how to prepare tomorrow's aviation workforce with today's training tools".

After keynote speeches were delivered by Pang Kin Keong, permanent secretary, Ministry of Transport and ICAO Secretary-General Raymond Benjamin, the delegates exchanged views on the challenges, trends, techniques and best practices in aviation training worldwide.



Other areas for discussion include competency-based training, human resource development and partnerships for training. The symposium also seeks to increase awareness of ICAO's Trainair Plus Programme.



The Trainair Plus Programme aims to strengthen the international aviation training network by supporting ICAO member states in implementing high quality aviation training, using the latest available training technology and tools. Under the Programme, full members develop and share competency-based and cost-effective Standardised Training Packages (STPs).



At the symposium, the ICAO also presented certificates to seven training organisations that were recently certified as full members of the Trainair Plus Programme, the CAAS training arm, the Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA).

UNDER-ESTIMATING freighter versus passenger bellyhold contributions to profitability is problem at airlines that forget that cargo planes generate more revenue to passenger operations than is appreciated by accounting departments and boardrooms alike, says a Seabury Group analyst.

"Many passenger aircraft operators do not realise the fact that their belly cargo capacity drives a significant profit contribution," says New York's Seabury Amsterdam aviation analyst Gert-Jan Jansen.



"Understanding the real added value of the freighter is essential. Some routes may appear loss-making in a 'classic' profitability model that does not factor in their revenue contribution to the rest of the network. It is only when capturing their 'beyond' added value that we see the actual contribution of the freighters on the network," he said.



"These two distinct sources of cargo capacity provide the same service, but at different cost levels. Belly operators can afford to lower rates and still generate positive profit contributions, further eroding margins of freighters," he said in an article in London's Flightglobal.



"The profitability of belly cargo is high, about 65 per cent. This is because belly capacity has the advantage of having a large proportion of aircraft operating costs allocated to passenger activities," said Mr Jansen.



"The result is that direct costs of the [bellyhold] cargo operation are limited to handling, incremental fuel, sales and general and administrative costs. Both passenger and cargo departments utilise the same asset and should therefore split all associated costs," said Mr Jansen.



Yet many accounting departments set up mechanisms so that this profitability is shrunk to a more industry-comparable level. This is done by re-allocating costs to cargo. At best, they add to bureaucracy; at worst, they can lead to incorrect commercial conclusions.



"The point is that airline executives need to understand that every dollar in belly cargo revenue adds 65 cents to the airline's bottom line. This is achieved regardless of the transfer price mechanism in place," he said.



Freighters operate under a different cost structure and do not nearly match the contribution of bellyhold cargo.



"While passenger aircraft bellies only bear the incremental operational costs, freighters absorb the entire cost of flying. This may cause route profitability to drop to zero or negative levels, particularly in these economic times," Mr Jansen said.



Furthermore, some say freighters contribute to belly hold revenue, though corporate finance departments often argue otherwise, he said.



"The real answer depends on the nature of the airlines' operations. A cargo network can definitely be set up in such a way that freighters feed bellies from trunk cargo routes. This may be the case for Middle-Eastern airlines, but is less the case for carriers like Cathay, which is sitting atop one of the largest cargo markets in the world," said Mr Jansen.



"Instead of calculating freighter profitability in a mixed fleet, the question should be what is the freighter's impact on total airline profitability? What if freighters make a small standalone loss, but have a positive contribution to belly revenue that is greater than that loss?



"In addition, a freighter adds value. It is perceived as a better product because of its main deck and guaranteed capacity, which may justify higher yields. It may also enhance the carrier's market share and promotes a better status towards forwarders," Mr Jansen said.