Transport communications

Portcare International is the press relations consultancy for the shipping and logistics industry. Formed by transport people for transport people. We can truly claim to understand our clients’ needs and ‘talk the same language’. Portcare provide effective, value for money PR to some of the industry’s best-known names.

Archives for March 2019

Campaign for Greater Container Safety Must Focus First on Dangerous Goods

The recent reports of container ship fires has once more focussed those in the container supply chain on safety issues related to the incorrect processing of dangerous goods.  The nascent Cargo Integrity campaign initiated by the international transport and logistics insurer, TT Club has as a consequence gained renewed impetus. 

20 March, 2019

The recent fire aboard ‘Yantian Express’, details ofthe final judgment on the  ‘MSC Flaminia’ explosion in July 2012, and the ongoing investigation of the ‘Maersk Honan’ fire are currently making headline news.  Then just days ago news has come in of ‘Grande America’ sustaining a container fire in the Bay of Biscay and subsequently sinking.  These perilous incidents not only frequently cost lives, millions of dollars in cargo losses and ship damage, but also significant delays in cargo supply chains amounting to major disruption across numerous industries in these ‘just-in-time’ days.

Yet these incidents are merely the tip of a failing safety iceberg.  Taking the maritime segment of global supply chain, it is estimated that a major container ship fire at sea occurs on average every 60 days, albeit that there have already been four major cargo-related fire incidents in 2019.  Furthermore TT Club’s records indicate that across the intermodal spectrum as a whole, 66% of incidents related to cargo damage can be attributed to poor practice in the overall packing process; that is not just in securing but also in cargo identification, declaration, documentation and effective data transfer. The calculated cost of these claims in the Marine Aviation & Transport (MAT) insurance sector is in excess of USD 500 million a year.

Peregrine Storrs-Fox, TT Club’s Risk Management Director, is leading the Cargo Integrity charge, “We are endeavouring to focus all direct and indirect stakeholders on recognising and doing the right thing,” he states. “One particularly critical aspect of this is the correct declaration and handling of dangerous goods (DG).”

All types of cargo can be mishandled, however wrongly classified, labelled, packed or simply inaccurately identified dangerous commodities bring the greatest potential risk of disaster.  Estimating the degree of failure to comply with best practices in this regard is not straightforward.  ICHCA International, the cargo handling operatives association has calculated that of the 60 million packed containers moved each year, 10% or six million are declared as DG.  Information from published government inspections (which are invariably biased towards declared DG loads) suggests that 20% of these are poorly packed or incorrectly identified.  This translates into 1.3 million potentially unstable DG containers traveling around the world each year.

Storrs-Fox emphasises that this scale of risk is elevated when undeclared or misdeclared DG consignments are considered.  “In these cases an estimate of volumes is more obscure. An indication has been given through the work of one container carrier, Hapag-Lloyd, developing a profiling algorithm to search its booking system for potential misdeclaration of commodities.  Results from Cargo Patrol, when extrapolated to the carryings of all the lines, concludes a reasonable estimate in excess of 150,000 volatile containers in the supply chain each year.”

Container lines in particular are making efforts to mitigate the problem.  The Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS), in which many of the top lines participate, has been active for a number of years and has successfully identified a number of commodities that commonly cause problems during transport – not always limited to those formally identified as dangerous.  TT Club has additionally promoted, together with UK P&I Club and Exis Technologies, the Hazcheck Restrictions Portal, which is designed to identify and streamline the complexity of regulations and protocols imposed by carriers and ports around the world in relation to transporting declared dangerous goods.

However, as Storrs-Fox concludes, “There is very much still to be done in achieving true Cargo Integrity. Our diverse campaign is seeking significant cultural and behavioural change to say the least.  Certain elements may require legislative action, enforcement and inspection and there are great challenges in the field of technological development.  Above all there is a need for all involved in the supply chain to have a realistic perception of risk and a responsible attitude towards liability.”  

ENDS

Notes to editors

TT Club is the international transport and logistics industry’s leading provider of insurance and related risk management services. Established in 1968, the Club’s membership comprises ship operators, ports and terminals, road, rail and airfreight operators, logistics companies and container lessors. As a mutual insurer, the Club exists to provide its policyholders with benefits, which include specialist underwriting expertise, a world-wide office network providing claims management services, and first class risk management and loss prevention advice.

www.ttclub.com

GEODIS Expands Growth in E-Commerce

New logistics centre in Oberhausen under construction

Levallois-Perret, 7 March 2019 – GEODIS will open a new warehouse in Oberhausen this summer. The 40,000 square-meter building is being built by SEGRO, a UK industrial real estate group, with which GEODIS has already implemented other major projects.

GEODIS will hire up to 500 employees for the extensive warehousing and order picking operations in Oberhausen. The combination of a strong, available pool of skilled workers and an attractive logistic location with very good transportation connections make Oberhausen the ideal choice for this new location. In addition, the logistics center will be implemented with an innovative warehouse concept that combines maximum space utilization with maximum productivity. Over the years, GEODIS has developed this industry-specific and highly automated process.

With this new opening, GEODIS is continuing to expand its long-standing e-commerce strategy. In recent years, the company has significantly expanded its contract logistics business on a national and international level with well-known companies in this sector. With Oberhausen, a total of six of the 14 logistics centers operated by GEODIS in Germany alone will specialize in e-commerce.

We have been pursuing a very successful growth strategy in this market segment for years,” says Thomas Kraus, President & CEO North, East and Central Europe. German e-commerce has been growing steadily for years. Market sales have increased to 63 billion euros in 2018, an increase of around ten percent compared to 2017.[1]  “The demand for modern and innovative logistics concepts in this area is high, because the goods are to be delivered to the end customer as quickly, cost-effectively and efficiently as possible. Thanks to our many years of experience, we have been able to develop a high level of expertise and concrete unique selling propositions in this area. This makes e-commerce one of our core competencies, both in Germany and internationally,” adds Kraus.

Further information on GEODIS can be found at http://www.geodis.com

GEODIS – www.geodis.com 

GEODIS is a top-rated, global supply chain operator recognized for its passion and commitment to helping clients overcome their logistical constraints. GEODIS’ growth-focused offerings (Supply Chain Optimization, Freight Forwarding, Contract Logistics, Distribution & Express, and Road Transport) coupled with the company’s truly global reach thanks to a direct presence in 67 countries, and a global network spanning 120 countries, translates in top business rankings, #1 in France, #4 in Europe and #7 worldwide.

In 2017, GEODIS accounted for over 40,500 employees globally and generated €8.1 billion in sales.


[1] According to the industry report Online-Handel 2018 of the IFH Cologne.

“K”LINE Press Release – Notice on Provision for Losses and Extraordinary Losses from Business Structural Reforms, and Revised Forecast of Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2018

Please be advised that “K” Line Tokyo Head Office published the following press release today.

Please click the following addresses to read our reports.

Notice on Provision for Losses and Extraordinary Losses from Business Structural Reforms, and Revised Forecast of Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2018.

https://www.kline.co.jp/en/news/ir/auto_20190307487356/pdfFile.pdf

Supplementary report

https://www.kline.co.jp/en/news/ir/irnews-201903071500-en/main/0/link/20190307_Supplementary%20Explanation%20Material%20EN.pdf

If you cannot open the URL please access via our Website.

http://www.kline.co.jp/en/