UK – FRANCE – SPAIN – Brittany Ferries had reintroduced its full programme of ferry crossings even before the P&O situation found itself in the headlines. Crossings between Portsmouth and Cherbourg and others are set to take advantage of the public dislike of the Dubai owned competitor as delays and confusion plagued the Channel ports last weekend, particularly Dover.
One outfit particularly happy is Associated British Ports (ABP) in Plymouth which witnessed the sailing of the first trip, that of the Pont-Aven to Santander last month on her new initial two trip per week schedule, swiftly followed by the the return of Armorigue which will resume daily rotations from Plymouth to Roscoff, France.
BELGIUM – As a result of their long-term partnership, they first signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)in September 2020, CHAMP Cargosystems and Air Cargo Belgium have launched an innovation platform, powered by CHAMP, to support innovation within the air cargo community. Stakeholders from the Air Cargo Belgium community can share information, ideas, and best practices with the objective to foster innovation. This is intended to bring broader collaboration among members to firstly benefit the Belgian community and secondly the wider air cargo industry.
NORWAY – SOUTH KOREA – GERMANY – Having concentrated on second-hand tonnage since it was founded in 2017, MPC Container Ships (MPCC) is investing in a $144.4 million order for the construction of two eco-design 5,500 TEU container ships at South Korean shipyard HJ Shipbuilding and Construction, (formerly Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Group).
The vessels, which will be on seven-year long term charters to Israeli line operator Zim following delivery scheduled in early 2024, thus represent MPCC’s first ever new build order and the company was advised on the matter by Watson Farley & Williams Hamburg partner Dr Christian Finnern. MPCC founding sponsor and key shareholder is Hamburg-based asset and investment Manager MPC Capital which has had a core focus on real estate, infrastructure and shipping for over 25 years.
FRANCE – UK – Operator GetLink tells us in March 2022, Le Shuttle Freight transported 139,283 trucks, an increase of 13% compared to March 2021, driven by a favourable comparison basis and the shutdown of P&O ferries since 17 March 2022. Since 1 January nearly 375,000 trucks have crossed the Channel aboard the Shuttles.
The same month Le Shuttle transported 122,319 passenger vehicles, reinforcing the upward trend observed in recent months. Since 1 January nearly 300,000 passenger vehicles have crossed the Channel aboard the Shuttles. GetLink says the comparison between this first quarter of 2022 and that of 2021 shows the relevance of Eurotunnel’s offer as soon as the health constraints are lifted.
SOUTH KOREA – The Korean Register (KR) has launched the 20th version of its KR-CON, a digital database that contains almost all the international conventions and other instruments from the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The program, which was developed and launched in Korea in 2000, has been used by seafarers, onshore support staff, maritime educational institutions and governments around the world for more than 20 years.
The latest version of KR-CON has been updated to improve the system’s speed and stability, enabling users to install the USB version of the database directly onto a computer. There is also a version of the system that can be installed via the web to improve its speed of use. The 20th version of KR-CON also includes amendments to SOLAS, MARPOL, and other procedures and guidelines adopted by the 31st Assembly of the IMO, the 104th Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), and the 77th Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in 2021. The database will be continuously updated to reflect any revised documents adopted in the future.
NORWAY – Classification society DNV has updated its recently released Compliance Planner. The digital tool will now additionally enable DNV customers to monitor their entire fleets and individual vessels against Flag State compliance requirements. Designed to provide an overview of IMO, ILO and EU requirements. Furthermore, the tool is continuously updated to reflect the latest decisions of regulators and includes several options for demonstrating compliance. Following considerable industry interest, the tool has also been expanded to cover MOUs.
DNV’s Compliance Planner provides the user with a tailored list of requirements that their fleet or individual vessel needs to meet to achieve compliance. Once logged in, the tool presents all the upcoming statutory requirements based on the vessels in DNV’s MyFleet portal.
The results are filtered to match the vessels within a customer’s fleet and broken down into mandatory and optional requirements. It also offers an easy jump off point to information that will help customers familiarise themselves with new regulations. Compliance Planner is available for all DNV customers with vessels and MOUs in class where DNV issues statutory certificates.
DENMARK – Maersk Air Cargo will now be the group’s main air freight offering utilising Denmark’s second largest airport, Billund, as its air freight hub, with daily flights creating several jobs in the region. To this end Maersk Air Cargo also announces their intent to enter into an agreement with the Flight Personnel Union (FPU) which is a part of the Danish Confederation and Trade Unions (FH).
The new air freight company is the result of the existing in-house aircraft operator, Star Air, which has transferred activities into Maersk Air Cargo, the new carrier henceforth supporting existing and new customers and Maersk’s end to end logistics. Maersk says the process of transferring activities has received excellent support from customers, suppliers, employees and the Danish Civil Aviation Authority.
