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Archives for November 2010

Dachser wins GreenIT Best Practice AWARD 2010

November 8, 2010 by

Monday, November 8th, 2010… Kempten/Berlin: The internationally operating logistics provider Dachser was one of 13 nominees invited to Berlin on Wednesday where it was awarded the GreenIT Best Practice AWARD 2010 in the category “energy-efficient IT systems”.

Dachser received the award for combining various different innovative concepts to produce a sustainable and effective overall solution:

1. Energy-efficient data centre

Dachser’s new data centre offers several innovations: In case of fire an argon fire protection system removes the oxygen from the air; this has no adverse impact on the environment as the inert gas argon is in any case a normal component of the mixture of gases that we know as “air”. In addition, the data centre is only cooled to 24°C rather than the usual 20°C, reducing energy consumption by 15%. For high-performance servers the logistics provider uses water-cooled racks. The energy-optimized data centre is configured to have separate warm and cold aisles and was constructed with a 100cm-high raised floor with flow ducts, noticeably improving cooling efficiency.

2. Use of Network Clients (NCs)

The data centre was only needed in the first place because when traditional work stations were replaced there was a move away from Personal Computers towards Network Clients. Today Dachser has around 7,000 NCs in use. These compact devices only require a tenth of the energy consumed by a PC. This saves the company 920,000 kWh of electricity and at the same time significantly reduces the amount of waste generated from electronic and electrical equipment.

3. Use of waste heat for new office building

Thanks to two heat exchangers, the waste heat from the data centre is collected and used to heat the office building completed in 2010. This contributes 300 kW, which is up to 50% of the energy required to heat the entire building. The remaining 50% is harvested by Dachser using geothermal probes. The result for the logistics provider is an annual saving of EUR 23,000 on the cost of heating from fossil fuels and a reduction in its annual CO2 emissions of 144 tonnes.

“Sustainability is firmly enshrined in Dachser’s corporate values,” says Michael Schilling, managing director of European Network Management & Logistics Systems at Dachser. “By combining various different techniques we have been able to generate both environmental and economic benefits for the business, in the interests of sustainability,” says Stefan Selbach, manager of Dachser’s Information Technology division.

In 2009 the family-owned company Dachser generated total revenue of EUR 3.2 billion. 17,500 staff working in 306 profit centres worldwide handled 41.8 million consignments weighing a total of 29.4 million tonnes.

PHOTO CAPTION:

Secretary of State Cornelia Rogall-Grothe, the German Government’s Commissioner for Information Technology, and Stefan Selbach, manager of

Dachser’s Information Technology division, at the Green IT award ceremony.

Filed Under: Dachser UK

K Line Starts Service for Honolulu

November 5, 2010 by

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line) is pleased to start offering a service connecting Asia and Honolulu. K Line will further enhance its service coverage by this inauguration and provide a high quality package to its customers.

The service is offered through slots on an existing Asia-West Coast South America service operated by K Line jointly with MOL and NYK, and its outline is as follows:

Port Rotation: Pusan – Keelung – Ningbo – Shanghai – Nagoya – Yokohama – Honolulu – Manzanillo – Buenaventura – Guayaquil – Manzanillo – Honolulu – Tokyo – (Pusan)

  • Vessel Deployment: 9 x 2000-2100TEU vessel
  • Sailing Frequency: Weekly
  • The First Sailing: MOL SATISFACTION V.1903E
  • Pusan: 2-3 Dec
  • Keelung: 4-5 Dec
  • Ningbo: 5-6 Dec
  • Shanghai: 7-8 Dec
  • Nagoya: 10-11 Dec
  • Yokohama: 11-12 Dec
  • Honolulu: 20-21 Dec
Filed Under: "K" Line

Shipowners’ Club Reports Encouraging Half Year Growth and Announces No General Increase in Premiums

November 5, 2010 by

The Shipowners’ Club has published its first half-yearly financial report and has advised Members that no general increase will be imposed for the next policy year, 2011/12. Strong underwriting performance coupled with a small investment return result in a US$23.9M overall surplus, increasing free reserves to US$159.2million.

Shipowners’, the mutual P&I Club which specialises in providing liability insurance to smaller and more specialised vessels, has for the first time made public results of its half-year performance. At the same time the Club has also confirmed that no general increase will be applied to Members’ premiums at the 20th February 2011 renewal.

Commenting on the recent Board decision, Charles Hume, CEO stated, “We have applied general increases during recent renewals but in view of our encouraging first half results and the challenging operating environment still being experienced by many of our Members, we are pleased to announce now that no general premium increase will be applied for the 2011 policy year. That said, underwriters will be looking closely at the claims record and premiums paid by each Member and also assessing closely the risks associated with every vessel type. It is through this sort of prudent underwriting that the financial stability of the Club will be maintained.”

The results in question are indeed encouraging with the unaudited figures for the six-month period showing gross earned income of US$ 96.3M, which represents a 14% increase in debited income over the same period last year. In keeping with the experience of other P&I insurers, Shipowners reports a reduction in the number and value of claims despite the total number of vessels entered with the Club being reasonably constant at around 28,000 since 2007.

With claims reduced and income increasing, the six-month underwriting performance is predictably strong. In this regard, Shipowners reports an anticipated technical account surplus of US$21.1M, producing a combined ratio of 75.4%.

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

A pdf of the Half Year Report 2010/11 is available for download at www.shipownersclub.com

The Shipowners’ Club is a mutual marine liability insurer, providing Protection & Indemnity insurance to small vessels since 1855. The Club currently covers over 28,000 vessels from 6,322 Members worldwide and is a member of the International Group of P&I Clubs.

The Club has regional offices located in Luxembourg, London, Singapore and Vancouver.

Download the Shipowners 2010-11 half year report

Filed Under: The Shipowners' Protection Ltd

IAPH launches Environmental Ship Index

November 2, 2010 by

The organization representing global ports, backed by six major European ports introduces a scheme aimed at significant reductions in vessel emissions

Starting in January 2011, under the auspices of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), the World Ports Climate Initiative (WPCI) will introduce the Environmental Ship Index (ESI), an international standard for calculating emissions by ships. Ports and other nautical service providers will be able to use the index to reward clean ships, and so contribute to encouraging sustainability in the shipping industry.

Participation by ship-owners is voluntary. They can calculate the emissions of their vessels on the newly constructed website www.environmentalshipindex.org. Participating vessels will receive a certificate that may form the basis of a reward system employed by ports and other nautical service providers, discounting port dues, rates and alike.

The ESI identifies seagoing vessels that perform better in reducing emissions than required by the current emission standards set by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), which are based on the amount of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulphur oxide (SOx) that is released by the ship. In addition, the ESI tests for the presence of a management plan for the greenhouse gas emissions of the ship. The ESI is therefore a good indication of the environmental performance of the ship, and will identify clean ships in a general way. Modern sea-going vessels with clean engines that use low-sulphur bunker oil in ports score high on the ESI.

Over the past two years, the ports of Le Havre, Bremen, Hamburg, Antwerp, Rotterdam and Amsterdam have worked together closely to develop the ESI. The programme is entirely voluntary and the ports through the WPCI hope that the global port community will adopt ESI as a universal means of improving their own environmental performance and as an instrument for reaching their sustainability goals. Five initiators – Hamburg, Bremen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp – have indicated that they will use the ESI to reward clean ships and to promote sustainability.

The hope is that the ESI will grow to be an instrument for positively distinguishing clean shipping. It should become a driver for sustainability and innovation, but also for the ‘greening’ of port dues and the logistic chain.

Notes for Editors:

World Ports Climate Initiative (WPCI)

55 of the world’s key ports have committed themselves to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions while continuing their role as transportation and economic hubs. This initiative is called the World Ports Climate Initiative. www.wpci.nl

International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH)

The key objective of the IAPH is to develop and foster good relations and cooperation among all ports and harbours in the world by acting as a forum for exchanging ideas and sharing experiences on the latest trends in port management and operation. The IAPH strives to emphasize and promote the fact that ports form a vital link in waterborne transportation and fulfill this important role in today’s global economy while promoting clean ports and clean shipping.

www.iaphworldports.org

Filed Under: Uncategorized