CMA CGM chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé has warned that major changes to global supply chains are on the way as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
In a video message to the group’s customers and partners, he said that consumption and working habits would inevitably be changed by the crisis.
The needs of both customers and partners would no doubt change significantly in accordance with their field of activity and...
https://container-news.com/more-resilience-needed-in-supply-chain-says-saade/
An alliance of leading shipping, ship management and maritime service companies has called on governments to urgently defuse the “time bomb” it says has been set ticking by the block on crew changes caused by measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The alliance, which says it has the backing of the International Chamber of Shipping and the International Transport Workers’ Federation, estimates that 100,000 seafarers are already “marooned at sea” as a result of measures taken by governments to...
https://container-news.com/new-alliance-calls-on-governments-to-designate-seafarers-as-key-workers/
Singapore carrier Pacific International Lines (PIL) has issued a strong statement denying reports that the company is suffering financial difficulties.
The company has made a series of sales including ships and a liner company in recent weeks as well as cutting services on the Pacific, while creditors were said to be concerned.
However, in its statement PIL said, “Recently, there have been rumours circulating on social media, making false claims about a potential bankruptcy of Pacific...
Global demand will decline by more than 4% over the course of this year if normal services are restored as we head into the third quarter, from July onwards, according to the latest Sea-Intelligence Sunday Spotlight report.
Over recent weeks Sea-Intelligence has tracked the effects of the global pandemic on key markets, monitoring cuts in capacity and the demand for services. The latest analysis from the Danish consultancy will raise the expectation that the returns for shipping lines this year...
https://container-news.com/demand-to-slump-more-than-4-in-2020/
There are suspicions that Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has been suffering a cyber attack, since 9 April, with the company’s official website down.
Some reports say that MSC shut down its website amid possible malware attack.
MSC confirmed to Container News that it faced a recent network outage issue, which is confined to its headquarters in Geneva only, not clarifying what caused this situation.
The company stated, “We operate different IT systems to separate headquarters from the agency...
Exis Technologies has confirmed it will launch Hazcheck Detect solution for undeclared and mis-declared dangerous goods (DG) in containerised shipments in May 2020.
The news comes as a spate of ship fires, last year and this year, continue to make headlines.
Hazcheck Detect is a cargo screening service that scans all booking or shipping instruction details for keywords, validates them against rules and highlights suspicious shipments to identify incorrectly declared cargo.
“The most important...
https://container-news.com/exis-tech-to-launch-dg-cargo-screening-service/
European ports believe that the European Union needs to decide on a recovery strategy on how to overcome the economic crisis Europe is facing.
Contingency plans have been activated to ensure that the ports remain fully operational during this crisis. “The first and most important priority of European ports is to help overcome the health crisis by ensuring the continuity of their operations and providing citizens, health services and businesses with the goods and materials they need,” stated...
https://container-news.com/european-ports-call-eu-to-decide-on-a-recovery-strategy/
An increasing number of major incidents in a matter of months, including the fire on board COSCO Pacific that started with a container load of lithium batteries, falsely declared as spare parts, has highlighted the severity of incorrectly packaging or declaring cargo.
On 1 January this year mandatory enforcement of the latest version of the IMDG (International Maritime Dangerous Goods) Code, Amendment 39-18, triggered the republication of the UK P&I’s recommendations: ‘Book it Right and Pack it...
https://container-news.com/insurance-mutuals-highlight-danger-of-incorrect-declarations/
An online meeting of the world’s port state control (PSC) regimes and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have agreed to find standardised methods of working to protect crew, other key workers and the environment, a statement from the IMO said on 10 April.
In a meeting called by the IMO that took place via video link over the internet on 8 April representatives of the 10 PSC regimes that cover the world’s oceans met to discuss the industry’s response to the current pandemic crisis.
IMO...
https://container-news.com/psc-and-imo-find-common-positions-in-time-of-crisis/
Busan has been made the largest free trade port in South Korea, after more territory was added to the existing Busan-Jinhae free economic zone (FEZ) in the country’s busiest container port.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) announced on 6 April 2020 that the container terminals of Busan New Port, and the adjacent hinterland, would be included in Busan-Jinhae FEZ. This will mean that the new Busan-Jinhae FEZ, which was originally designated in 2003, will have a total area of 12.2 million...
https://container-news.com/busan-jinhae-fez-expanded-with-busan-new-port/