Tag: port (Page 1 of 4)

Maersk doubles down on growth in Australia with Omnichannel Fulfilment

November 11, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

A.P. Moller-Maersk AS (OTC: AMKBY) is strengthening its omnichannel-fulfilment capabilities in Australia, with the opening of seven new facilities across the country. As the integrated container and logistics company celebrates its 30th anniversary in Australia, plans are in place to grow its already extensive operations and land-side capabilities.

The seven new facilities are being delivered over the 12 months to Q1 2024 as part of Maersk’s global integrator strategy with clear opportunities identified to expand the regional logistics landscape. This will bring the company’s total number of sites in Australia to eight in total, serviced by 550 full-time employees. Four sites opened earlier this year and three more are coming online between now and Q1 2024. Two of these facilities were integrated into the Maersk network as part of its acquisition of LF Logistics.

Maersk boasts five gateway ports and owned warehouse services in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with additional co-owned warehouse services in Perth and Adelaide. Maersk’s addition of seven facilities in Australia brings its footprint from 15,900 sqm in Q1 2023 to 142,500 sqm by end of Q1 2024, adding a total of 126,600 sqm in 12 months.

Six of the seven new sites will be omnichannel facilities, harnessing a variety of channels to interact with customers to fulfil orders. Omnichannel capabilities provide Maersk with better levels of availability and service, reduced working capital and better efficiency. It allows for an improved focus on sustainability by utilising renewable energy sources such as solar panels, smart power management systems and low energy consumption equipment.

The recent opening of Maersk’s Derrimut facility in Melbourne harnesses progressive AI technology to automate current warehousing processes. The facility caters to booming e-commerce fulfilment needs, as well as offering logistics solutions for different industries, including Footwear and Apparel, Beauty and Wellness, Healthcare, and Luxury Fashion products across Australia.

As part of Maersk’s expansion in Australia, exclusive new offerings to customers include the Flex Hub service, which enables customers to reduce warehousing costs and reduce time to market by placing products closer to their end customer markets.

The Captain Peter for reefer containers service allows customers to see the temperature inside reefer containers carrying their produce, allowing them to change it as needed, giving customers more control of how their frozen or refrigerated goods are managed while in transit with Maersk.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Air Niugini orders 6 Airbus A220 aircraft

November 3, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Toulouse, France, November 3, 2023 – Air Niugini, the national flag carrier of Papua New Guinea, has signed a firm order with Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) for six latest generation single aisle A220-100’s under its fleet modernisation program. In addition, the carrier will acquire three A220-300s and another two A220-100’s from third party lessors.

The order was announced at a special event in Port Moresby by Gary Seddon, Acting Chief Executive Officer Air Niugini and Anand Stanley, President Airbus Asia-Pacific, in the presence of the Honorable James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and Honorable William Duma, Minister for State Enterprises.

Air Niugini also announced that it has selected a flight planning support system from Airbus subsidiary NAVBLUE for its fleet. Called N-Flight Planning (N-FP), the solution will help the airline optimise on fuel, time and cost to meet operational needs, while ensuring overall safety and compliance.

Forward-Looking Statements

SWISS to introduce new service to Rotterdam, Netherlands

October 29, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) plans to further expand its route network in the coming 2023-24 winter schedules. The airline will offer its first ever nonstop services between Zurich and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The Dutch port city will be served six times weekly from January 22, 2024.

Rotterdam is the Netherlands’ second-largest city and a lively major port. The city itself is famed for its skyline and for such iconic structures as the Erasmus Bridge and the Cube Houses. Its impressive port is among the biggest in the world, and strongly colours the city’s character and feel. Rotterdam also boasts a varied arts scene, top-notch museums such as the Boijmans Van Beuningen and a wide range of shopping and nightlife options. The city is a cultural melting pot, too, and offers a unique blend of the past and the future that makes it a truly fascinating destination.

In adding Rotterdam to its network, SWISS is expanding its connections with the Randstad conurbation in the Western Netherlands. So in addition to its existing Amsterdam flights, SWISS will now offer a further attractive air travel option to and from the country’s economic and cultural center.

Short transits, good connections

The flight between Zurich and Rotterdam takes an hour and 30 minutes. The city’s modestly-sized airport is quick and easy to negotiate. The city centre is around ten minutes away by car traffic permitting, or 20 minutes by public transport. Rotterdam is about an hour’s drive from Amsterdam and half an hour from The Hague. Swift public transport services are also available to and from both cities.

Tri-Cities Intermodal moves forward to develop intermodal center

October 10, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Wallula, Washington, October 10, 2023 – Tri-Cities Intermodal (TCI) has signed a lease/purchase agreement to acquire the former Cold Connect warehouse and property, with plans to develop an adjacent intermodal ramp in Wallula, WA. The plan represents a revival of the plans previously announced by Tiger Cool Express before they shut down operations in June. Tri-Cities Intermodal is an entirely new company – and the transaction had no connection to Tiger Cool.

Tri-Cities signed the lease/purchase agreement on Sept. 27, 2023, with Union Pacific Railroad Corporation (NYSE: UNP).

The envisioned Tri-Cities Intermodal Center will benefit the entire agricultural community in the three-state region by providing cost-effective and sustainable transportation capacity. Initially, service is intended to be offered between: Wallula and the Northwest Seaport Alliance on-dock facilities for dry imports and exports (in ISO equipment.) It will also support Union Pacific’s intermodal customers moving between Wallula and Chicago and beyond.

Maersk launches rail offering from Barcelona, Spain to Southern France

October 8, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Barcelona, Spain – AP Moeller-Maersk AS (OTC: AMKBY) is launching a new rail product from the Port of Barcelona to Southern France especially designed to cut transit times of ocean cargo destined to the areas Toulouse, Bordeaux and Lyon by using Barcelona as an alternative gateway. Starting early November there will be three weekly direct block trains between Barcelona and Toulouse as well as one weekly connection between Barcelona and Lyon. Via Toulouse the solution also connects cargo to Bordeaux seamlessly by using a partner network. Furthermore, it is intended to extend the connectivity on the Spanish side by rail to the areas of Tarragona and Zaragoza.

This new offering can shorten transit times for import and export cargo in the areas Toulouse, Bordeaux and Lyon by up to 12 days (7 days on average) compared to traditional routings via French or North European ports. Thanks to shorter transport distances and the utilisation of electrified trains it can also be a more environmentally friendly routing. The block trains can also be booked for intra-continental cargo between Spain and France.

Maersk is operating this new end to end service via its own company APM Spain Railways and cooperates for the trains with the partners Captrain and Naviland.

Thanks to brand new interoperable locomotives, the block trains neither have to stop to change the locomotive or replace wheel-sets at the Spanish-French border for seamless operations and best-in-class reliability.

Germany First Lady Elke Budenbender Christens Berlin Express

October 4, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Hapag-Lloyd AG (Frankfurt: HLAG) has officially welcomed into its fleet the “Berlin Express”, the first ship of its new Hamburg Express class. At an event attended by some 300 guests from business and politics, naming patron Elke Büdenbender performed the ceremonial christening of the ship at the Container Terminal Burchardkai (Athabaskakai) in the Port of Hamburg. Among the guests were Peter Tschentscher, the First Mayor of Hamburg, and Daniel Günther, the Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein.

The Hamburg Express class will mark the beginning of a new era for Hapag-Lloyd and its fleet. In total, a dozen state-of-the-art large container ships will be put into service by 2025. Together, these vessels will make an important contribution to Hapag-Lloyd’s efforts to operate its entire fleet in a climate-neutral manner by 2045. Thanks to their cutting-edge dual-fuel technology, they will also be able to operate using non-fossil fuels, such as bio-methane and e-methane, and thereby generate hardly any CO2 emissions.

For the time being, liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be used, which will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 25 percent and soot emissions by 95 percent. In addition, advanced components – such as an optimised hull and a highly efficient propeller – will help the vessels to reduce fuel consumption and thereby greenhouse gas emissions.

The “Berlin Express” was built at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard in South Korea. With a length of almost 400 metres and a capacity of 23,600 TEU, it is the largest cargo ship ever to sail under German flag. The container ships in the Hamburg Express class will exclusively operate on the cargo-intensive Far East route between Asia and Europe. The “Berlin Express” will operate regularly on the FE3 service, which sails between Ningbo and Hamburg, via Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Yantian, Hong Kong, Singapore and Rotterdam.

A.P. Moller – Maersk expands global air freight services with Los Angeles air cargo gateway

October 4, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Los Angeles, California, October 3, 2023 – A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S A (Copenhagen: MAERSKa) has inaugurated a new 130,000 square foot air freight import/export gateway near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) that offers direct planeside recovery with immediate unit load device (ULD) transfers. The west coast facility complements Maersk’s growing north American network of air cargo gateways, including Atlanta and Chicago which have been stood up in the last 12 months.

The new facility is just 15 miles from LAX and less than nine miles from the Port of Long Beach. Site staffing will be in place for the conduct of customs brokerage, commercial sales, and freight operations such as LCL transload. This site is U.S. Customs bonded Container Freight Station (CFS) and a U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Certified Cargo Screening Facility (CCSF). This ensures timely and secure air freight handling. The facility is scheduled to attain Free Trade Zone status in 2024 to benefit from lower duties, reduced processing fees, and faster movement of goods.

The opening of the Los Angeles facility is the latest step in Maersk’s North American air freight capacity expansion program that extends across strategic cargo entry points and is aligned to customer demand. The new capacity allows for more supply chain integration opportunities and better scaling to care for seasonal peaks as well as market driven volume spikes for breakout product launches.

LAX is one of the busiest airports in the world for both passenger traffic and cargo handling and is a major gateway between the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region. According to Los Angeles World Airports, LAX ranks among the top 5 airports in the U.S. by tonnage. Los Angeles is a leading high-technology center for the nation in the entertainment, electronics, biomedical, computers, and aerospace industries.

A.P. Moller – Maersk opens doors to new warehouse in Douala, Cameroon

September 23, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

A.P. Moller – Maersk AS (OTC: AMKBY) opens new warehousing & distribution (W&D) facility, spread over 16,000 sq.m. inside the Douala Port zone and powered by a cutting-edge system, will serve mainly the growing demand for FMCG cargo and, potentially, other strategic verticals in Central Africa.

The state-of-the-art facility with modern WMS will provide customers with accurate and real-time visibility of their inventory. Full traceability using lot, batch, and serial numbering will ensure efficient movement of goods. Ultimately, the optimised operations using technology will aid in reducing waste and inventory errors and provide an improved experience to customers.

Maersk has a clear goal of being Net Zero by 2040, and every new investment being made has deep considerations in terms of the decarbonisation of logistics. The new facility by Maersk in Douala is no exception. 100% internal lighting will be done using low-consumption LED lights, and all external lighting will be powered by solar energy. All forklifts required in the W&D operations will be battery-operated and charged using solar energy. At the beginning of operations, 15% of the site’s electricity requirements will be fulfilled by solar panels installed at the site itself, with a plan to scale up in the coming years.

Maersk’s customers will get several benefits by utilising this facility for bonded as well as non-bonded storage and distribution. Bundled with ocean transportation, customs clearances, intermodal transportation and other services, Maersk will provide truly integrated logistics solutions to its customers. Such a solution also adds greater control over supply chains and offers higher resilience. With everything put together, customers will get cost advantages, too, as all their logistics requirements get fulfilled under the same roof.

KiwiRail re-opens rail line to Napier in cyclone Gabrielle recovery milestone

September 18, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

The reopening of the rail line to Napier – allowing rail freight to once again get to Napier Port – is an important step for the Hawke’s Bay cyclone recovery, KiwiRail Chief Executive Peter Reidy says. Scheduled freight services resumed Monday, September 18, following a seven month pause after the rail line was badly damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle.

Cargo that is typically carried by rail includes chilled and frozen meat, wood products such as logs, pulp and timber, food products and imported machinery and consumables used in manufacturing. Following the cyclone in February, KiwiRail reopened the Palmerston North – Gisborne Line to Hastings at the start of April. Temporary Container Terminal sites were also set up in partnership with Napier Port, transport operators and cargo customers so that freight could be railed to Hastings, then trucked to Napier.

The section of line between Hastings and Napier, particularly around Awatoto, was badly damaged in the cyclone, with track and embankments washed away, and major damage to Bridge 217, which lost piers and spans in the floods. The work included rebuilding two-metre-high embankments, replacing 800 sleepers, 140 metres of rail, laying 3,000 cubic metres of formation (the rock foundation under the tracks) and 3,500 tonnes of ballast.

KiwiRail also railed steel casings to Hastings from Christchurch for replacement bridge piers on Bridge 217 – which have been driven 30 metres into the riverbed. The rebuild of Bridge 217 is temporary, in order to get rail freight moving as quickly as possible. A permanent new bridge will be designed and built over the next couple of years.

Hapag-Lloyd successfully completes SM SAAM terminal business acquisition

August 1, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Hapag-Lloyd (OTC: HPGLY) today successfully completed its 100 % acquisition of SM SAAM’s terminal business and related logistics services, which is based on an agreement announced in October 2022. The transaction was approved unconditionally by the relevant antitrust authorities of all countries involved in this acquisition process.

Investing in terminal infrastructure is a key element of Hapag-Lloyd’s strategic agenda, and Latin America is one of its key markets. The transaction includes interests in terminals in Iquique, Antofagasta, San Antonio, San Vicente and Corral (Chile), Port Everglades (United States / Florida), Mazatlán (Mexico), Buenavista (Colombia), Guayaquil (Ecuador) and Caldera (Costa Rica) as well as related logistics services. The acquisition will further strengthen Hapag-Lloyd’s core liner shipping business and help the carrier to build up a robust and attractive terminal portfolio.

The new entity will be led by its CEO, Mauricio Carrasco, who has been Managing Director for the Terminals Division within the SAAM Group since 2020. Mauricio Carrasco is an experienced senior executive with long-standing experience in Latin America and globally. He has served as Senior Vice President of Development at CSAV and as Senior Director at Hapag-Lloyd, with responsibilities in the Americas, China, Dubai, and India. Rodolfo Díaz, former Senior Director Business Administration Region Latin America at Hapag-Lloyd, will join him as CFO.

Hapag-Lloyd has continuously expanded its involvement in the terminal sector and holds stakes in the Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven, the Container Terminal Altenwerder in Hamburg, the Italy-based Spinelli Group, the India-based J M Baxi Ports & Logistics Limited, Terminal TC3 in Tangier, and Terminal 2 in Damietta, Egypt, which is currently under construction.

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