THE US Port of Charleston’s harbour deepening project has received another boost after the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Work Plan for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2012 included US$2.5 million to continue work on the deepening project. Bill Stern, chairman of the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) board, said in a statement, “The nation needs a true 50-foot harbour in the southeast region to serve the growing needs of…

AIRNET Systems Inc, an express air cargo airline, has announced the launch of AirNet Cargo Charter Services, a move that signals the realignment of its business to focus on the operation of its express cargo charter airline throughout North America. “We will be changing our brand name to AirNet Cargo Charter Services and introducing new and improved products to support the expansion of the company’s airline operational expertise,” said sales…

SINGAPORE-based APL Logistics has launched a shipment planning platform that it expects to change the way large freight buyers coordinate their transport activities, the company said. “This technology innovation allows global shippers to advance their allocation decisions,” said APL Logistics president Jim McAdam. “They are now better empowered to ship more efficiently and accurately, meeting critical in-store or planned delivery requirements.” Engineered by the company, ShipmentOptimizer, is said to be…

US EXPRESS delivery giant FedEx has announced the expansion of its network coverage from Asia to markets in the Middle East, providing significant service improvements to meet increasing demand. Building on the January 2011, launch of the first FedEx direct service between India and the FedEx Asia Pacific hub in Guangzhou, southern China, this five-times-a-week routing improves FedEx connectivity to Middle East markets. With this new routing, Guangzhou, Mumbai, Dubai…

ENVIROTAINER has won the Cool Chain Excellence Award for ‘Innovation in Quality Distribution’ for its latest innovation, the RAP e2 composite heating and cooling container for the transportation of highly sensitive healthcare products. The accolade was presented at the International Quality & Productivity Centre’s (IQPC) Cool Chain Europe 2012 event in Basel, Switzerland. This is the third award the company has received from IQPC having previously been recognised for its…

HONG KONG’s Kerry Logistics has announced the completion of the acquisition of its former joint venture, Kerry Salvat Logistics SA through a buyout of the remaining shares from its partner Salvat Logistica. Kerry said it entered the Spanish market in 2005, to provide a range of international freight and logistics services including, sourcing and buying from Asia. It also acted as a platform for its Spanish customers to create opportunities…

THE Port of New York and New Jersey handled a record 5.5 million TEU in 2011, representing a year-on-year increase of four per cent, said the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). Earlier this month a consultant’s report blasted the PANYNJ as a “dysfunctional organisation suffering from insufficient cost control and a lack of effective oversight of the World Trade Centre programme”. Yet there were successes. The…

TRANSNET’s Port of Durban has recorded a 7.3 per cent increase in container throughput at 2.5 million TEU, doubling 2010′s performance which was shut down by a countrywide transport strike. South African seaport container volume increased by 9.4 per cent to 4.4 million TEU though growth slowed from 2010′s 10 per cent rate, but it stayed ahead of the global average of eight per cent, said state-owned port operator Transnet…

ATHENS based Danaos Corporation, a leading international owner of containerships, has posted a 454 per cent increase in unaudited net profit of US$61.1 million. Fourth quarter profit came in at US$13.4 million against a 2010 loss of $8.8 million, drawn on quarterly revenues of $128.3 million, which increased 27.7 per cent year on year. “This year was one of the most eventful ones in recent history. The year started with…

VICE PRESIDENT Xi Jinping, expected to be the next leader of China, visited the Port of Los Angeles in the third and final leg of his US tour to view ongoing expansion of the China Shipping terminal costing US$121 million dollars. Mr Xi cited China Shipping terminal as a “role model for future co-operation between the Chinese and US business communities” boasting 1.5 million TEU handled in 2011, 10 per…

TAIWANESE ports have recorded 5.4 per cent growth in container volume of 13.4 million TEU in 2011, hitting a four-year high to beat off growth rate of three per cent in Hong Kong and Singapore’s 5.3 per cent. Across its five free-trade harbour zones Taiwan posed an increase of 21.4 per cent to 4.076 million tonnes and a trading high of seven per cent to NT$302.6 billion (US$10.23 billion). Of…

HONG KONG’s OOCL has issued an advisory to its customers saying that implementation by the US Customs Border Protection (CBP) of the new standard relating to the testing of a mechanical seal’s ability to indicate evidence of container tampering, will be delayed until further notice. The advisory concerns the new ISO standard for high security seals, the ISO 17712:2010. The shipping group said in a statement that it has fully…

SINGAPORE’s Changi Airport saw airfreight demand drop over Chinese New Year period, with cargo movements in January down 7.1 per cent compared to the same month a year earlier to 136, 800 tonnes of cargo handled. In contrast, air traffic movements were up in January by 14.9 per cent year on year to 27,600 aircraft movements. Passenger numbers at the airport rose by 12.1 per cent in January to 4.24…

SOUTHEAST China’s Fujian province recorded 147 sailings of cross-strait direct cargo shipping services in January, carrying a total of 993,400 tonnes, which was 97.85 per cent more than in the same month in 2011, Xinhua reports. But in terms of value Fujian’s January Taiwan trade fell 23.8 per cent year on year to US$740 million, sliding 20.2 per cent from December. Exports fell 28 per cent to $190 million year…

THE launch of air freight operations from Ozar airport were originally scheduled to begin in March, according to Halcon chief executive officer V Kiran Kumar in a report by the Times of India. However, it’s unclear if the plan will actually come to fruition after he was cited as saying, “Some air cargo companies had shown their interests, but nothing concrete has emerged. We have not yet tied up with…