Rising global fleet faces staff shortfall 
London-based maritime consultancy Drewry draws attention to a growing concern of the high sea shipping industry, according to the latest Manning Annual Review and Forecast report. Due to the diminishing attractiveness of a career at sea, coupled with rising man-berth ratios... more
Fifth Gulf state introduces TIR
Transport is becoming more efficient in the Middle East, now that the TIR system is going live in Qatar. TIR will help speed up supply chains in Qatar, which is set to host a series of major international events in the coming years, including the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This will... more
A silver lining for reliability at sea?
According to Sea-Intelligence, a maritime intelligence provider from Copenhagen (Denmark), the increase in global schedule reliability in March 2021 didn’t last. Reliability levelled out, with carriers recording a 1 percentage point decrease month-on-month in April, coming to... more
Ready for return of air cargo
Qatar Airways' resumption of four-weekly Atlanta (ATL) flights today, 1 June 2021, marks the full return of the airline’s pre-pandemic US network increasing its gateways to 12, two more than it operated before Covid-19. The airline will also be increasing frequencies to Boston,... more
Taking precautions before summer heat
ULD management services provider Jettainer has extended its long-standing management partnership with Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of Etihad Aviation Group, to manage the carrier’s cool containers. Exactly one month ago, Jettainer’s "cool&fly"... more
On the box ships' renaissance
The shipyards are busy again. According to Clarksons, the order book for container ships is also on the rise. Since 2010, when 30% of the global order book were container vessels, their share of the operating fleet worldwide saw a constant downward trend to the low of 8.8% in... more
Saudia Cargo's first commercial service to Denmark
Utilising Saudia Airlines B777-300 passenger planes with 140 t payload capacity per flight, Saudia Cargo kicked off its "preighter" flights to Copenhagen. Chief cargo officer Teddy Zebitz, who is from Denmark: "We believe that Copenhagen, as a central location... more
Rock-it Cargo targets Saudi Arabia
Los Angeles-headquartered Rock-it Cargo (Rock-it), an event logistics firm, and Jeddah-based Sela Sport Company (Sela) have teamed up to form a global partnership to tackle the entertainment market in and around Saudi Arabia. The partnership brings together combined... more
Next step from B737 to A320 family
Dubai-based Aerovista has completed the acquisition of two A321s to initiate its passenger to freighter conversion project. The two aircraft will go through a conversion programme, with a target to have the aircraft ready for freighter operations by Q3/2022 and Q1/2023. The... more
Landing in Ostend, flying lions to South Africa
Two years after Bcube Air Cargo started its adventure at Ostend-Bruges airport, the Italian air services provider has begun to handle Qatar Airways flights as the carrier has officially included the Belgian airport in its cargo network. "We are extremely proud of our... more