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Chinese naval vessels ignored repeated distress calls from the 'Central Park' when it was under attack by suspected Somali pirates on Sunday, according to the Pentagon. The USS 'Mason' and allied ships, reportedly belonging to Japan, recovered the Israel-linked tanker. At least three People’s Liberation Army Navy ships in the area failed to heed the distress calls. The ships were there as part of a counter-piracy mission, but they did not respond. During the rescue operation, five armed hijackers attempted to flee in a small boat and were detained by the US Navy. Initial indications were that these five individuals are Somali. This was continued to be assessed that, as well as next steps in terms of the disposition of those five individuals. The 22 crew members of the Central Park were uninjured. The crew had been able to lock themselves into a safe room. The pirates attempted to access and take control of the ship. Concurrently with the attempted hijacking, two ballistic missiles were fired towards the USS 'Mason' from areas controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The missiles fell 10 nautical miles (11.5 statute miles) away from the vessel, causing no injuries or damage. The Zodiac Maritime ship management company, part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group, had called the attack on the Central Park “a suspected piracy incident.” “We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law,” said Zodiac Maritime on Nov 27. The Turkish-captained vessel has a multinational crew consisting of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino nationals and was carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid.

A total of four boats with 217 migrants on board were rescued between the night of Nov 29 and the early morning of Nov 30, which were heading to Lanzarote. On Nov 29 at around 8:15 p.m., a boat with 48 migrants, among them 40 men, seven women and one minor of sub-Saharan origin, was intercepted 15 nautical miles east of Lanzarote by the Sasemar 101 aircraft and the 'Salvamar Al Nair'. The Red Cross reported two transfers to health centers for different pathologies. At 11:32 p.m., the rescue of another ruber boat with 59 people with 46 men and 13 women of sub-Saharan origin on board occurred 20 miles east of Arrecife. The rescue was carried out by the 'Guardamar Caliope', after the boat was detected by a satellite phone. On Nov 30 at 01:04 island time, the next rescue of a rubber boat with 60 people on board, of sub-Saharan and North African origin, all of them in apparent good health, took place 37 nautical miles east of Arrecife. The 'Guardamar Caliope' also picked up the occupants of a third boat, which was detected by the tank m/v 'FT Sturla' (IMO:9447287), en route from Dhaka to Ravenna, 40 nautical miles east of Arrecife. On board were 50 men of North African origin.

After the previous year’s downturn caused by the corona pandemic, in 2021 the seaborne cargo throughput trend in the Port of Hamburg was more positive than expected. This totalled 128.7 million tons, or nearly two percent more than in the first year of the corona pandemic. At 8.7 million TEU - 20-ft standard containers, container handling was up by 2.2 percent. Rail freight transport reached a record level in 2021. Last year, the Port of Hamburg Railway handled a transport volume of 48.5 million tons, up by four percent. At 2.79 million TEU, an eight percent advance was achieved for containers. “Hamburg is impressively extending it position as the world’s largest rail port. Despite persistent challenges caused by the pandemic and disrupted transport chains, a new record figure was achieved for environment-friendly freight transport by rail,” said Ingo Egloff, Joint CEO of HHM – Port of Hamburg Marketing. Rail growth was powered by additional container train services and growing shipments in the medium-distance segment of up to 300 kilometres. Rail’s modal-split share of container transport in Hamburg has meanwhile reached around 51.5 percent. Transfer of freight shipments to rail there has been exemplary. This frees up roads and conserves the environment. At 46.1 percent, trucking’s share is declining. For container transport to and from the Port of Hamburg, inland waterway shipping attained a share of 2.4 percent. Rapid growth of container shipments along the New Silk Road Supplementing sea transport, a constantly growing number of containers are being transported between China and Hamburg by rail. Hamburg is Germany’s leading point of arrival and departure for seaborne container shipments and container train services on the New Silk Road. “Even if around 20 days are currently needed for rail transport over the 12,000 kilometres between China and Hamburg, the land route via the New Silk Road is faster than a ship by sea. For time-sensitive freight, the container train services therefore provide an attractive alternative for transport between Hamburg and China. Last year, around 160,000 TEU were shifted by rail between Hamburg and more than 25 destinations in China, an impressive 51 percent increase. Various suppliers market a total of more than 290 China train services to and from Hamburg,” explained Axel Mattern, HHM’s Joint CEO. Seaborne cargo throughput in the Port of Hamburg in 2021 In 2021, the worldwide repercussions of the corona pandemic again affected handling and transport trends in Germanys largest universal port. Over the whole year, 128.7 million tons of seaborne cargoes were loaded or discharged at Port of Hamburg terminals, a 1.9 percent increase on the previous year. Both general cargo throughput, up by 1.3 percent at 88.9 million tons, and bulk cargo handling, 3.3 percent higher at 39.8 million tons, contributed. In the container handling segment, 2021 throughput in Hamburg totalled 8.7 million TEU and was 2.2 percent higher. Within the bulk cargo segment, grab cargo throughput at 21.6 million tons was ahead by 11.2 percent. The main contributions there came from coal imports, up 15.9 percent at 5.5 million tons, and those of ore, 10.6 percent higher at 10.5 million tons. In the agribulk area, a total of 6.4 million tons was handled in 2021. The 14.7 percent downturn there is attributable lower throughput of grain. 2021 throughput of liquid cargoes was 1.7 percent up at 11.8 million tons. Higher exports of mineral oil products were primarily responsible for this slight advance, which formed part of the generally very steady development of this segment. “While considering the cargo volumes handled in the port, one also needs to remember that from German production alone, goods to the value of around 116 billion euros are annually exported all over the world through the Port of Hamburg. The Port of Hamburg secures around 607,000 jobs in Germany,” said Egloff. China, the USA and Singapore head the ranking of Hamburg’s Top Ten partner countries for container handling Of the Port of Hamburg’s ten leading partner countries for container handling, no change occurred among the top six. The downturn in seaborne container handling with China recorded in the previous year has been halted. In 2021, a 5.5 percent advance to 2.6 million TEU was achieved. China consolidated its position as Hamburg’s leading trade partner by a wide margin. “We are delighted that with its China Germany Express (CGX), from April Hapag-Lloyd will be linking the Port of Hamburg every week with the Southern Chinese Dachan Bay terminal that forms part of the Port of Shenzhen. This new container liner service will further expand the range of altogether 18 liner services linking Hamburg with Chinese ports and consolidate Hamburg’s position as the leading China port,” says Mattern. Below China in the ranking of Hamburg’s trading partners in container transport come the USA - up 4.5 percent, Singapore - up 0.9 percent, Russia - down three percent, Sweden - up 7.5 percent, and Great Britain - down 9.9 percent. Port of Hamburg’s Top Ten are completed by Poland - up 20.7 percent in seventh place, South Korea - down 0.4 percent in eighth, Denmark up 4.6 percent in ninth, and Brazil up 3.2 percent in tenth place. Completion of fairway adjustment on Lower and Outer Elbe brings advantages Compared to the situation prior to deepening of the fairway, shipping on arrival and departure now profits from an increase in draft - depending on ship’s size – of between one metre and 1.90 metres. Irrespective of the tide, Megamax vessels with a breadth of up to 62.50 metres or a length of 400 metres, can now sail into port with a draft of up to 13.10 metres. Before the adjustment, the limit was only 11.40 metres. Depending on the tide, on leaving the limit is now 14.10 metres. Incoming, a draft of 15.40 metres is now possible. The maximum previously possible was just 13.60 metres. "We would like to thank our customers and partners for their trust in us - the Port of Hamburg during the fairway adjustment project, which has been under way for many years. Since late January this year, we can offer maximum draughts of between 1.00 and 1.90 m - depending on ship size - in both tide-independent and tide-dependent traffic. This helps to strengthen the Port of Hamburg's competitiveness," says Jens Meier, CEO of the Hamburg Port Authority. An additional advantage is the opportunity now secured for readier passing by mega-ships. Along eight kilometres near Wedel, for instance, a ‘passing box’ has been constructed. This makes it possible for vessels with a combined breadth of up to 104 metres to pass each other. The fairway between Wedel and the Stör estuary has also been widened from 300 to 320 metres. Vessels with a combined breadth of less than 92 metres can now safely pass each other there. The Joint CEOs of Port of Hamburg Marketing, Axel Mattern and Ingo Egloff, welcome the now successfully completed fairway adjustment of the Elbe. “For shipping and our port business customers, these simplifications of access to Germany’s largest universal port also offer them the advantage of being able to route more cargo via Hamburg. Last year alone, 221 mega-containerships with slot capacities of between 18,000 and 24,000 TEU called the Port of Hamburg. That was a 16.9 percent increase, underlining the tremendous importance of the now completed fairway adjustment for rapid and secure traffic control on the Elbe. With high-performance transport routes, smart logistics solutions and growing use of low-emission energy sources and technology, we are on the right course for sustainable growth,” said Mattern. On the land side, environment-friendly rail plays the main part in freight transport, connecting inland market regions rapidly and reliably with the port. Prospects for 2022 "The war in Ukraine will have an impact on the throughput development of the Port of Hamburg. However, it is not yet possible to say to what extent the sanctions imposed on Russia will influence cargo handling. A realistic forecast for the current year cannot be made at this point in time because the pandemic could also continue to have an impact on global trade," says Mattern. For 2022, the Port of Hamburg's marketing organisation hopes for an overall stable trend in seaborne cargo handling.

FBCCI would like CTG port’s capacity increased After completion of some development projects like Bangabandhu Industrial City a s nd other economic zones of the country within years, the pressure on Chittagong Port will increase several times. Against this backdrop, the capacity of the port needs to be increased to cope with increasing demand As the economy recovers from the Covid, leading business leaders of the country have emphasized on increasing the capacity of Chittagong Port to cope with increasing export and import in the coming days. President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Jasim Uddin made the remarks at the first meeting of the FBCCI Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping on Thursday afternoon, according to a press release. He said that Bangladesh will become a member of developed economies by 2041 as set by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the capacity and service of the Chittagong Port need to be improved like the developed countries. He u rged the standing committee to find short, medium and long the problems regarding the Chittagong Port.term solutions by identifying After completion of some development projects like Bangabandhu Industrial City and other economic zones of the country with in years, the pressure on Chittagong Port will increase several times. Against this backdrop, the capacity of the port needs to be increased to cope with increasing demands, said FBCCI boss. "If the capacity of Chittagong port is increased, it will be poss ible to reduce the cost of doing business in the country by at least 5%. At the same time, the interest of foreign entrepreneurs to invest in this country will also increase," he said. "At present, the speed of cargo vehicles on the Dhaka hour. If this speed Chittagong highway is 40 kilometres per d is doubled, the competitiveness of the export sector will increase by 6%," FBCCI boss further said. FBCCI vice-president Amin Helaly said that some more ports would be opened in the future. “If we can work according to the plan, the progress of the count utilizing the potential of these ports,” he said. FBCCI vicery can be further accelerated by president Habib Ullah Dawn alleged that importing vehicles through Chittagong port would cost double the fare as compared to Mongla port. He remarked that different fares in diff Standing Committee Directorinerent ports in the same country is unreasonable. Charge AM Mahbub Chowdhury said the profit of Chittagong port has increased several times in the last few years. Despite being a nonprofit service organization, it was taking increase the amount of profit, he added. steps to increase the tariff again to The Chairman of the committee Dr Pervez Shazzad Aktar called for not increasing the tariff in order to create a business friendly environment. He said most tariffs have to be paid in dollars. If tariff increases, the cost of also increase. foreign exchange will Moreover, foreign ship owners can also increase the fare in this opportunity. In that case, there will be fear of an increase in the price of imported goods. In the open discussion, the members of the standing committe port and customs officials to speed up the import hoped for the cooperation of the export activities.

A number of guests booked aboard the 'Quantum of the Seas' were denied boarding in Brisbane due to overbooked guarantee staterooms, and without available cabins, on Nov 28, 2023. The 8-night South Pacific cruise is a round-trip itinerary from Brisbane, calling on ports in New Caledonia and Vanuatu before returning to Brisbane on Decr 6. Several guests received unexpected letters at the cruise terminal, alerting them to the unusual situation. “We regret to inform you that currently we have been unable to allocate a stateroom number to your reservation.” There was no explanation as to why staterooms were unable to be allocated. The impacted guests were reported to have booked “GTY” or “guarantee” cabins. Those reservations are made without specific stateroom numbers, but are usually assigned a few days before departure.

A total of four boats with 217 migrants on board were rescued between the night of Nov 29 and the early morning of Nov 30, which were heading to Lanzarote. On Nov 29 at around 8:15 p.m., a boat with 48 migrants, among them 40 men, seven women and one minor of sub-Saharan origin, was intercepted 15 nautical miles east of Lanzarote by the Sasemar 101 aircraft and the 'Salvamar Al Nair'. The Red Cross reported two transfers to health centers for different pathologies. At 11:32 p.m., the rescue of another ruber boat with 59 people with 46 men and 13 women of sub-Saharan origin on board occurred 20 miles east of Arrecife. The rescue was carried out by the 'Guardamar Caliope', after the boat was detected by a satellite phone. On Nov 30 at 01:04 island time, the next rescue of a rubber boat with 60 people on board, of sub-Saharan and North African origin, all of them in apparent good health, took place 37 nautical miles east of Arrecife. The 'Guardamar Caliope' also picked up the occupants of a third boat, which was detected by the tank m/v 'FT Sturla' (IMO:9447287), en route from Dhaka to Ravenna, 40 nautical miles east of Arrecife. On board were 50 men of North African origin.

British unions and politicians were on the other end after the country's largest ferry company - P&O Ferries - on March 17, 2022, fired 800 employees without notice, and put security guards to remove the fired from the ferries. In the morning of March 18, the ferries were still not sailing, and according to announcements from the shipping company on Twitter, they will not do so for the rest of the day. DFDS, which competes with P&O Ferries on the route between Dover and Calais, announced on March 17 that they were largely able to transfer the travelers who are currently unable to sail with P&O Ferries. The unions have called for large demonstrations in Dover, Liverpool and Hull on March 18, while the fired crew members are already taking action on the ferries. It was uncertain whether some of the fired were still on board the ferries. Not only the unions that are furious over the dismissals, but also politicians from both major parties condemned in sharp terms the methods used. P&O Ferries, owned by DP World in the United Arab Emirates, in the morning of March 17 ordered all the company's ferries into port, where the crews had to wait for an important announcement from the company. The announcement took the form of a Zoom meeting, where a representative of the management in a recorded feature announced that 800 employees had been fired with immediate effect and that as a result they would have to leave the ferries immediately. The vacancies will be taken over by foreign employees, subject to other agreements. According to the fired crew members, the new crew members were already present in the ports, where they were waiting in buses. Security guards were also waiting at the port. The guards were tasked with removing the fired employees from the ferries. In addition to the affected ferries on the Dover-Calais route, P&O operates ferry routes from Hull to Rotterdam, Liverpool to Dublin and Cairnryan to Larne in Northern Ireland.

On November 18, the first steel cut for the SILVER NOVA for Silversea Cruises was celebrated at the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg, and the construction phase officially began. The SILVER NOVA will be hybrid driven: LNG is to be used as the main fuel, fuel cells and batteries are to be used in ports so that the ship can stay there without emissions. The SILVER NOVA will be measured with approx. 54,700 gross tons and designed for 728 passengers. Delivery is planned for summer 2023. Full article + image: https://www.cruisedeck.de/bau-der-silver-nova-hat-begonnen/

In the early morning of Nov 30, 2023, a rubber boat with 50 people on board, of North African origin, was located 40 nautical miles east of Arrecife by the 'FT Sturla'. The tanker was en route from Dhaka to Ravenna and notified Salvamento Maritimo. The SAR boat 'Guardamar Caliope' was mobilized and picked up the occupants, who were taken to Arrecife.

The 'Baltic Star', also called 'Birger Jarl', must be moved from the harbor in Lunde immediately according to a decision by the Kramfors municipal board. The owner Leif-Ivan Karlsson had plans to convert it into a restaurant and hotel ship and more. But the ship has not been approved as seaworthy and the necessary permits have not been in place, either to be at the quay or to have activities on the vessel, which was moved from Vivstavarv's industrial area in Timrå to Lunde in August 2022. The municipal management in Kramfors points out that the owner has moored the ship without a permit. The owner has been given respite to carry out repairs and maintenance, but now the municipal board puts pressure on him. The decision also entails a fine of SEK 200,000 for each calendar month that the vessel remains at the quay in Lunde. The ship had approached the port with the intention of remaining without checking whether it was permitted. It was accepted that it remained for repairs for a while. Kramfors municipality also demands that the company that owns Lunde harbor must ensure that the quay is free for boat traffic.

⚓ Brazilian Port workers carry out strike this Friday ⚓ Federal government lifts restriction for travelers coming from Africa Brazilian Port workers carry out strike this Friday This Friday (28), port workers all over Brazil have been on strike. The demonstrations have begun at 7 am and shall last until 7pm. The context of the demonstrations is related to CODESA, port authority for the state of Espírito Santo, set to be auctioned on March 25th, 2022. With other four similar auctions being expected this year, port workers are protesting against what they view as a privatization process of the Public Port Authority. After leasing 12 port terminals in 2021 (generating a total of BRL 1.8 billion in investments), the Federal Government now aims to modernize the port authorities themselves. The demonstrators, however, believe Brazil is going against basic principles of the global port system, where the State is present in port management for its administration in matters such as health, safety and the environment. Federal government lifts restriction for travelers coming from Africa Last Friday (21), the Federal Government published an ordinance that ends restrictions on entry into Brazil for travelers coming from Africa. The measure follows Anvisa's guidance published in early January. Now, travelers with passages through South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe are once again allowed to enter Brazil, provided they present the RT-PCR test with a negative result performed 72 hours before, or the negative antigen performed 24 hours before. It will also be necessary to fill in the Traveler's Health Declaration (DSV) and present the vaccination card. Our team is closely monitoring the situation. For any questions please direct to noelmagioli@gmail.com

Heavy rains put pressure on Itaqui and Ponta da Madeira terminal Heavy rains in state of Maranhão have put pressure on the shipment of iron ore and soybeans. Climatologically, the month of March is one of the rainiest months of the year in the region of São Luís, capital of Maranhão. However, we are facing the second rainiest March in 15 years, having already accumulated more than 686mm. During this week, the region reported a line up of 70 vessels. In addition, an accident with one of the eight conveyors belt that load the iron to the ships at the beginning of the year made the productivity projections more distant from being reached. According to José Reinaldo, ex-governor and ex-minister of Transport, a way to minimize the problems would be to start the transition from the Ponta da Madeira Terminal to receive other cargo, especially from agribusiness. It is worth mentioning that the completion of the North-South Railway and its connection with Fico (Central-West Integration Railway), scheduled for the next three years, will cause the volume of agribusiness loads to rise and the EFC (Railroad) Vale's Carajás), in addition to the ports in Maranhão, could become bottlenecked for the flow of these new volumes. To avoid the bottleneck, Reinaldo suggests the construction of a railway extension from the EFC to the TPA (Alcântara Port Terminal), a private terminal already approved by ANTAQ. The new terminal negotiates with Vale to make the handling of ore cargo feasible. TPA draft is superior to that of Ponta da Madeira and would expand the Brazilian ore shipping capacity. It is estimated that TPA's handling capacity could reach 560 million tons per year, which would make it the largest iron ore port on the planet. Companies should be aware of potential disputes with demurrage claims and cargo (soy) quality due humidity. With informations from Agência INFRA. Our team is closely monitoring the situation. For any questions please direct to noelmagioli@gmail.com