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Cyber attack attempts are becoming more common at U.S. ports and terminals, according to findings published this week by law firm Jones Walker LLP.The firm publicly released the findings of its 2022 Ports and Terminals Cybersecurity Survey,…

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London’s marine insurance market has widened the area of waters around the Black Sea and Sea of Azov that it deems high risk as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine intensifies and perils to merchant shipping grow.

The insurance industry’s Joint War Committee (JWC) said in an advisory dated March 7 that the high-risk area had been widened to waters close to Romania and Georgia after initially adding Russian and Ukrainian waters in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov on Feb. 15.

At least five commercial ships have been hit by projectiles since Feb. 24, including one vessel that sank and another on which a seafarer was killed by a missile that struck the ship. Read full story

The new high-risk areas also extend to various inland waters and sections of the high seas, underscoring the increasing dangers.

“There is clearly a growing nervousness around the region in the insurance market, especially in relation to the Black Sea,” said Marcus Baker at insurance broker and risk adviser Marsh.

“Any future amendments to these areas will very much depend upon a further escalation of activity in the region.”

Insurance premiums for voyages in the region have soared since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, an action Moscow calls a “special operation”.

Many shipping companies have suspended sailings to affected ports and the United Nations’ shipping agency will convene a special meeting this week to discuss the worsening situation.

Guidance from the JWC is watched closely and influences underwriters’ considerations over insurance premiums.

The JWC advisory pointed to three ships that had been hit around the Ukrainian port of Odessa, adding that the situation is “dynamic” and being monitored closely.

The listed areas will be readjusted if the JWC believes it appropriate, the guidance said.

The JWC normally meets every quarter to review areas it considers high risk for merchant vessels and prone to war, piracy, terrorism and related perils. It had previously met in February before Russia’s invasion.

Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at trade association BIMCO, said there was a higher risk of Black Sea export disruption owing to shipping companies’ reluctance to service the area and because of increasing freight costs.

“Of particular concern to global supply is the export of wheat and maize, which is mainly loaded in the Black Sea (region).”

Source: www.marinelinks.com

Image: www.pixibay.com

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Port operations across the country are vital to America’s economy, often coming at a cost to health and welfare of neighboring communities—notably, by emitting harmful emissions and producing poor air quality.

Incorporating propane can help ports support economic growth while safeguarding our environment.

The loading and unloading of container ships at marine terminals requires a variety of cargo handling equipment, historically powered by diesel and gasoline. As the country seeks to reduce emissions and fight climate change, stevedores need reliable, efficient equipment to help them handle growing cargo volumes, as well as an energy source that doesn’t sacrifice environmental impact in the process.

While battery-powered EV equipment is answer for some applications, there are significant challenges to be overcome and it is important to consider other “Near Zero” emissions options with ultra-low NOx, including propane equipment.

Propane offers ultra-low NOx “Near-Zero” emissions for port applications
Recently passed legislation outlining funding availability for ports infrastructure will help ports across the country make the switch to “Near Zero” emissions technologies and enable our ports to be better stewards of the environment today and into the future.

While many port authorities are making the jump to electrification thinking this equipment is the best solution for reducing emissions, they are likely unaware that propane is cleaner, with a reduced carbon footprint than electricity when lifecycle emissions and nominal electricity production emissions are taken into consideration. Using propane produces 43% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than using an equivalent amount of electricity generated from the U.S. grid, according to data from the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC).

Switching to cleaner energy directly impacts the millions of people living near ports. Families can be exposed to air pollution output from diesel engines at ports and be at risk of developing asthma, heart disease, and other serious health problems. Equipment, vehicles, and marine vessels that burn diesel fuel are the primary source of combustion-related emissions at port facilities, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Existing propane applications in ports include forklifts and small and medium-duty vehicles that are meeting today’s emissions regulations and sustainability goals.

Near-zero emission propane port tractors produce fewer emissions and cost approximately $200,000 less than electric models, meaning ports can afford to replace more of their diesel-powered fleet and achieve carbon reduction goals faster. Propane powered cargo handling equipment in development includes reach stackers, empty container handlers, and rubber-tired gantry cranes.

Plus, propane can support employees needing to operate equipment both indoors and out, whereas gasoline and diesel equipment aren’t fit for indoor use. Propane forklifts, for example, can safely operate in properly ventilated indoor spaces, thanks to the equipment’s low-emissions profile. Well-maintained propane forklifts meet or exceed nationwide indoor air quality standards, whereas gasoline and diesel can produce higher amounts of carbon monoxide and other harmful emissions.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
A new $1.2 trillion law to improve America’s infrastructure creates an unprecedented opportunity for more fleets to take advantage of low emission energy sources, like propane. Propane is recognized in the Act as a clean alternative energy source and its inclusion is a major win for both ports and near-port communities, allowing more ports and dockworkers the opportunity to replace the use of diesel and gasoline on-site.

With funding available as of January 2022, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides over $9 billion in funding for refueling infrastructure and clean vehicles and equipment—including $5 billion earmarked for ports. Propane-powered vehicles and refueling infrastructure are eligible for the following funding opportunities under the new law:

• $2.5 billion in grants for emissions reduction at port facilities
• $2.5 billion in grants for charging and refueling infrastructure

Ports interested in taking advantage of this funding can make the switch to propane knowing that it’s a go-to energy solution for their operation. Propane reliably powers on- and off-road vehicles including forklifts, light- and medium-duty vehicles, port and terminal tractors, shuttles, and small marine vessels.

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pexels.com

The post The Time to Reduce Port Emissions is Now appeared first on Cargo World Today.

Logistics is like a chain – if one of its links is broken, it affects the whole chain. The same has happened with cargo ship congestion in the world’s major ports. They have led to problematic situations not only in sea freight but also in air freight.

I have previously analyzed the consequences of congestion for cargo ships in the logistics sector. Not only have they significantly reduced the speed of delivery of goods, but they have also increased the cost of services, adversely affecting both suppliers of goods and consumers. In order to continue to work efficiently and reduce waiting times, companies are trying to find other ways to deliver cargo from point A to point B. One of them is by air freight. The strong desire of companies to switch suddenly from sea to air transport has led to an unexpected increase in demand for air freight, which is difficult to meet with current capacity. For example, in 2021, a total of 183,362 tonnes of air cargo were handled at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport, which is 36% more than in 2020.

Does all the blame lie in ship congestion?

It would be foolish to think that the situation was exacerbated only by congestion in cargo ports. Other factors have also made an impact. For example, changing consumer habits. At the beginning of the pandemic, when countries closed their stores for several months to fight the virus, people began to shop online, which led to a sharp increase in demand for goods. Air transport is clearly the fastest way to transport goods between intercontinental routes. Those companies that were initially willing to pay more, knowing that the product will be delivered on time, immediately increased the demand for air transport. Others, on the other hand, preferred maritime transport to save money, but rushed to find available carriers due to congestion.

An increase in demand raises the price

As in any other industry, including logistics, when the interest of service recipients exceeds supply, the price of the service increases with the increase in demand. Until now, this has been the case in maritime freight transport, but it is now slowly beginning to affect the aviation sector as well. It has been observed that air freight rates have remained well above the 2019 price level in recent months due to high demand. WorldACD data show that global rates reached $ 4.57 / kg in the first week of December, compared to $ 4.26 / kg in 2019. (https://cargoworldtoday.com/air-cargo-capacity-climbs-but-rates-remain-high/) Data from the Baltic Exchange Airfreight Index (BAI) show that prices from Hong Kong to North America were at a record high in the same week – 14 , 30 USD per kg compared to the previous week, when the price per kg was only 12.41 USD. IATA data also show that it was three times more expensive to transport three kilograms of goods by cargo plane, for example, in September 2021 than by sea. However, compared to the time before the pandemic, this price was even 12.5 times higher.

It may seem that the increased transport costs make some retailers think twice about switching from sea to air freight, but this is not the case. Many are willing to accept a higher price. Why is it? Because, undeniably, in the intercontinental freight market, air is the fastest way to deliver goods from point A to point B.

Relieving tension by increasing the amount of cargo planes

One of the most effective ways to prevent air freight from entering a crisis with even higher prices is to balance supply with demand. How to do it? Passenger airlines must carefully consider the idea of ​​offering freight services as well. Qatar Airways and the Emirates Group, known to the general public as passenger airlines, have already taken this step in early 2020. Thanks to this decision, both companies earned more than half of their 2020 revenue from air freight. At the beginning of the pandemic, many companies may have moved in the direction of freight, desperately trying to avoid bankruptcy, but this could be a strategic and growth-enhancing decision that would help the company continue to make money in the face of repeated passenger restrictions.

Author: Roland Peterson, logistics expert

Image: www.pexels.com

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Singapore has held onto its spot atop the list of the world’s best maritime cities, according to a recent report from classification society DNV and Menon Economics.

The 2022 edition of the Leading Maritime Cities (LMC) report launched Thursday provides fresh insights into which global hubs offer the best infrastructure, technology, finance, and world-class talent, to help the maritime community connect and prosper.

There have been many dramatic developments since the last edition of the LMC report was published in 2019. For one, we are still living with the pandemic. Two years of fluctuating restrictions have caused severe trade and travel upsets. Extreme weather events have made us all more acutely aware of the climate crisis, another major driver of change. Shipowners, charterers, cargo owners and lenders are gearing up for a decarbonized future, with rapid adoption of zero-carbon fuels expected over the next decade. Ongoing digitalization, including ports and the supply chain, will drive efficiency in support of this transition.

“Maritime cities and clusters are generating unique strategies to cope with these global transformations. They will play a leading role in the green shift, with new business models that drive the transition,” said DNV Maritime CEO Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen.

The LMC report is compiled in cooperation between classification society DNV and Menon Economics. As before, it benchmarks each maritime city based on five key pillars – shipping, maritime finance and law, maritime technology, ports and logistics and attractiveness and competitiveness.

Singapore’s strong performance across the board sees it retain its number one spot overall. “Singapore holds the top slot for attractiveness and Competitiveness while also scooping the Maritime Technology title, thanks to the city-state’s unrelenting focus on digital transformation. Singapore gives way to Athens and Shanghai in Shipping and Ports & Logistics respectively, and losing some ground in Maritime Finance & Law,” notes Dr. Shahrin Osman, Regional Head of Maritime Advisory at DNV and the report’s co-author.

Two European cities feature in the top three as well. “Rotterdam’s second place demonstrates that it’s a maritime city on the rise. Although only 10th in Shipping, the Dutch hub scores well overall and particularly in Ports & Logistics and Attractiveness & Competitiveness. London is also among the top contenders, from fifth to third place overall, however it has lost out its previous top slot in Maritime Finance & Law to New York,” says Dr. Shahrin Osman.

Fourth and fifthth place overall go to Asian counterparts Shanghai followed by all-rounder Tokyo.

“The 2022 analysis uses some new and more comprehensive objective and subjective indicators, as well as data sources, for each pillar. This facilitates more refined benchmarking of the relative performance of each city,” explains Menon partner Dr. Erik W Jakobsen, who is the co-author of the report

Subjective indicators reveal the perceptions and assessments of 280 invited business executives – mostly shipowners and managers – from around the world. Looking five years ahead, they predict that Singapore will remain number 1, with Shanghai coming in second. London, Oslo and Rotterdam are seen as leading the field in Europe, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi competing hard in the Middle East, India and Africa region. Dubai is predicted to grab sixth place overall by 2027.

The experts see Singapore, Oslo, Shanghai and Copenhagen as best prepared for digital transformation, while Oslo tops the list for sustainable technologies and solutions for the oceans, followed by Singapore and Copenhagen.

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pexels.com

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The White House on Wednesday lauded improvements in clogged U.S. supply chains, with more goods moving than ever before, but said more work was needed to ensure fair competition in a global shipping sector dominated by three alliances of ocean carriers.

In a new blog, the White House National Economic Council said the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), an independent agency, was already investigating excessive shipping fees, but should consider using other tools, including challenging carrier alliances if they resulted in unreasonable costs or delays.

It also urged Congress to enact reforms to give the FMC more tools to oversee the global shipping sector, including boosting transparency about fees carriers charge their customers.

President Joe Biden and his administration are racing to address supply chain snarls that emerged in the wake of stronger-than-expected recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, fueling product shortages and inflation.

Much of the focus has been on U.S. ports, which have been inundated with cargo as a result of seismic shift in consumer spending during the pandemic, from travel and dining to physical goods.

The pandemic also reduced the number of workers needed to keep goods flowing smoothly. Aging truckers retired early, while infection control measures have limited dock and warehouse staffing.

The White House said new data showed continued improvements, with a record number of containers imported at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, from January to October, retail inventories up 4% from 2020, and on-the-shelf availability at 90%, just 1% below levels seen before the pandemic.

“The good news is that we’re moving more goods than ever before, we’re seeing that retail is fully stocked, and we’re seeing that the ports are moving these goods more quickly,” a senior White House official said. “That means it’s going to be a normal holiday season for Americans.”

At the same time, the White House said more work was needed to improve exports out of U.S. ports, with rising shipping costs making it more profitable for carriers to load empty containers instead of waiting for loaded containers to get to ports.

“The problem … raises questions about the fair treatment of American exporters and importers in the shipping industry,” it said, noting that nine carriers organized in three alliances now controlled 80% of global shipping, up from just 29% in 2011.

The alliances are legally immune from antitrust laws, but the FMC can challenge them if they result in unreasonable delays, unreasonable increase in transportation costs or “substantially lessen competition,” the White House said.

It said the U.S. Justice Department stood ready to help the FMC, adding that the agency needs a bigger budget than its current $30 million.

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The pandemic has caused a serious health and social crisis, as well as an economic turmoil, but for some container carriers, this is also a time of opportunity. Unforeseen profits, freight congestion, freight rate inflation, accelerating fleet expansion – this is the situation in the global maritime freight supply chain in May 2021.

Upstream at all stages of the chain

The first signs of such a situation were already visible in the middle of 2020, when there was a certain upward trend in international trade at all stages of the chain. This was particularly pronounced compared to the global container fleet affected by the first half of the 2020 pandemic. In a highly competitive and volatile market, affected by persistent overproduction problems and erosion of freight rates, the situation of sea freight carriers has significantly improved.

Gross profit will reach about $ 47 billion

According to several experts, the container cargo market has never been as active as it is today. In the UK, for example, local container shipping rates have risen by 200%, while stock prices for ocean liner companies have risen by 300%. The gross annual profit of the container industry will also reach approximately USD 47 billion. The industry points out that practically all indicators have the same – upward – trend.
Cargo congestion in ports

However, there are always two sides of the coin, and rapid “warm-up” can have different consequences. In this case, it is worth paying attention to the quality of supply chain management – productivity in moving container cargo from ships to North American supply chains has been poor for months. In Denmark’s latest shipping market survey, the global container market was described as a frontier of chaos in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021. The example of congestion in the report shows that delivery from Tianjin, China to the port of Long Beach, California, took 92 days. The causes of cargo congestion in North American ports range from labor shortages, partly caused by the pandemic, to container shortages caused by shipping disruptions in early 2020, as well as lack of space in warehouses and other bottlenecks in the supply chain.
Although the situation has put freight owners in a difficult position, the consolidation of the ocean shipping industry from around 20 main lines five years ago to 10 lines, which now account for 85% of container capacity, has increased shipping discipline and strengthened the integrity of freight tariffs.

Overall increase of 10%

Forecasts for the rest of 2021 suggest that the boom in container shipping will soon slow down. Experts estimate that in the second quarter of 2021, container traffic will grow by 15% and overall growth will be around 10% compared to 2020. The profits of the container industry could reach $ 87 billion between 2020 and 2022. At the same time, it should be noted that experts are not concerned about future overcapacity in the container transport sector, when the market will inevitably start to decline. Nor are there any concerns about the prospects of ocean carriers who have chosen to invest windfall profits in their shipbuilding rather than charter them.

The post Impact of Covid-19 on container freight and global trade appeared first on Cargo World Today.

The pandemic has caused a serious health and social crisis, as well as an economic turmoil, but for some container carriers, this is also a time of opportunity. Unforeseen profits, freight congestion, freight rate inflation, accelerating fleet expansion – this is the situation in the global maritime freight supply chain in May 2021.

Upstream at all stages of the chain

The first signs of such a situation were already visible in the middle of 2020, when there was a certain upward trend in international trade at all stages of the chain. This was particularly pronounced compared to the global container fleet affected by the first half of the 2020 pandemic. In a highly competitive and volatile market, affected by persistent overproduction problems and erosion of freight rates, the situation of sea freight carriers has significantly improved.

Gross profit will reach about $ 47 billion

According to several experts, the container cargo market has never been as active as it is today. In the UK, for example, local container shipping rates have risen by 200%, while stock prices for ocean liner companies have risen by 300%. The gross annual profit of the container industry will also reach approximately USD 47 billion. The industry points out that practically all indicators have the same – upward – trend.
Cargo congestion in ports

However, there are always two sides of the coin, and rapid “warm-up” can have different consequences. In this case, it is worth paying attention to the quality of supply chain management – productivity in moving container cargo from ships to North American supply chains has been poor for months. In Denmark’s latest shipping market survey, the global container market was described as a frontier of chaos in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021. The example of congestion in the report shows that delivery from Tianjin, China to the port of Long Beach, California, took 92 days. The causes of cargo congestion in North American ports range from labor shortages, partly caused by the pandemic, to container shortages caused by shipping disruptions in early 2020, as well as lack of space in warehouses and other bottlenecks in the supply chain.
Although the situation has put freight owners in a difficult position, the consolidation of the ocean shipping industry from around 20 main lines five years ago to 10 lines, which now account for 85% of container capacity, has increased shipping discipline and strengthened the integrity of freight tariffs.

Overall increase of 10%

Forecasts for the rest of 2021 suggest that the boom in container shipping will soon slow down. Experts estimate that in the second quarter of 2021, container traffic will grow by 15% and overall growth will be around 10% compared to 2020. The profits of the container industry could reach $ 87 billion between 2020 and 2022. At the same time, it should be noted that experts are not concerned about future overcapacity in the container transport sector, when the market will inevitably start to decline. Nor are there any concerns about the prospects of ocean carriers who have chosen to invest windfall profits in their shipbuilding rather than charter them.

The post Impact of Covid-19 on container freight and global trade appeared first on Cargo World Today.