European shippers push EU to action 
At the EU’s Maritime Forum at the end of March 2021, the European Shippers’ Council again put forward the shippers’ position on unreliability and peaking prices in the maritime container transport. It is their conviction that, in reality, shippers, ports authorities,... more
Retrofit for Latin American river boats
Atria Logistics UABL, a major South American push boat operator, is on its way to completing a fleet-wide retrofit to its tailshaft and rudder bearings. In 2014, the Argentinian owner, which operates a fleet of workboats on the Paraná River, installed Thordon’s River Tough... more
Martinique: new port system goes online
In mid-March, Fort-de-France, Martinique's main port, processed the first nine ships with its new Ci5 software. Now the port community is fully connected to Ci5. The partnership for the Caribbean Cooperation between Port+ and MGI started in 2007 with the deployment of AP+ to... more
Freeport status on film
Since DP World’s terminals at Southampton and London Gateway were both part of bids which were awarded freeport status by the British ministry of transport in early March, the Dubai-headquartered company published a film to illustrate its operations. Over the last decade, DP... more
Replacements in Liverpool
The British Peel Ports Group has placed an order for two new Liebherr ship-to-shore container cranes for its facility at the Port of Liverpool. They will replace two of the existing STS cranes, which will be relocated to Peel Ports’ Greenock Ocean Terminal at Clydeport. The... more
Ports worldwide stronger than estimated
In February, the container throughput index of the RWI – Leibniz reported a small, seasonally adjusted rise from (revised) 122.2 to 123.0. The North Range Index, which is an indicator for economic development in northern Europe and Germany, has decreased slightly, from... more
More mega ships for Evergreen
Taiwan-headquartered shipping company Evergreen Marine plans to build 20 new container vessels with a capacity of 15,000 teu each. According to press reports, the carrier will invest between USD 115 and USD 130 million per vessel. For 20 newbuilds, the total investment... more
Arctic design for the Nordic route
Although a number of big carriers have turned down the idea of sailing the Northern Route from Asia via the Arctic to Europe, this option is still on the table. Nevertheless, very few container carrying ships could sail Arctic waters, as such voyages also require ice-classed... more
A good year for Yang Ming, too
Taiwan-based Yang Ming Marine has reported its 2020 annual financial results. Consolidated revenues increased by 1.4% to NTD 151.28 billion (USD 5.11 billion) last year (2019: 5.03 billion), while handled volumes amounted to 5.07 million teu. Yang Ming’s profit after-tax... more
DP World invests in Peru
The terminal of UAE-based DP World Callao in Peru, the country's major container port, is investing USD 333.6 million in its facilities to expand the current pier from 650 m to 960 m, increase the storage area to 303,000 hectares and install two new quay gantry cranes. With... more