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BUENOS AIRES, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Large grain transport ships using Argentine’s port hub of Rosario have had to reduce their cargo by between 3,200 and 4,300 tonnes because of an unusually low water level in the Parana River, the Rosario grains exchange said on Tuesday. The Parana River is used to transport approximately 80 percent of Argentina’s agricultural and agroindustrial exports to international markets, but a drought at its origin in southern Brazil has seen its level drop by up to half a metre. Argentina is the world’s biggest exporter of soyflour and soybean oil, the third largest exporter of corn and also a major global wheat producer. The exchange said the reduced cargoes impacted freight rates and forced ships to top-up their cargo in areas where merchandise was scarce or more expensive.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has won an order to provide Kalmar Fleet Solution of mobile equipment to Australian Container Freight Services (ACFS) operations in Adelaide, Fremantle and Melbourne. This order, comprising a total of 3 units of DCG100 Empty Container Handlers and 2 units of DRG450- Reachstackers, has been booked into Cargotec 2018 Q2 order intake. ACFS is the largest privately owned Container Logistics operator in Australia. With extensive knowledge and experience across the warehousing, transport and freight logistic sectors. ACFS facilities are strategically located close to port locations nationally, as they are fully committed to provide a “full port to customer door” container freight logistic service throughout the nation.

CMA CGM Group has announced the launch of LYDIA feeder, linking Rouen to Le Havre on a weekly basis. Starting the 2nd of august, LYDIA feeder is dedicated exclusively to cargo from Rouen to West Africa cargo under B/L CMA CGM. LYDIA feeder will call at Le Havre port (1 day transit time) with connections on direct services to West Africa: EURAF 1 and EURAF 5

An Iranian local official broke the news that the first Indian freight ship carrying grains containers destined for Afghanistan berthed at Iranian SE port of Chabahar. “The first container ship of India destined for Afghanistan from Indian port of Kandla, berthed at Iranian southeastern port of Chabahar,” said Hossein Shahdadi, an Iranian local official in Sistan and Balouchestan Province. According to the official, the containers onboard the vessel will be unloaded at Iranian port to be later transported to Afghanistan through trucks. Chabahar, which lies on the Gulf of Oman, provides India with an easier land-sea route to Afghanistan. The Indian government has committed $500 million to the development of Chabahar, and has offered to build a sprawling artery of roads and railways which is estimated to cost $15 billion. Last year, India sent two cargos of wheat to Chabahar to be shipped off to Afghanistan, in a move to show the route’s viability and broaden the cargo flow before the port is fully operational. Source: MNA

The official signing of the contract between Stena Line and Halmstad (HallandsHamnar) was made on Friday 13 July, making the move from Varberg to Halmstad a firm deal.

A new rule requiring tankers carrying LPG through the Turkish straits to be accompanied by has been delayed to September 1, according to sources, citing an announcement by the Turkish VTS Traffic Control Center on Friday. The rule had been due to come into force Wednesday. All LPG tankers passing the Dardanelles and Bosporus will be obliged to use an escort tug, according to the announcement. The new rule is expected to affect costs rather than timings, significantly increasing transit fees. The Istanbul port authority was unavailable to comment. Bunkering operations in the are not expected to be affected by the new rule. Source: Platts

Four reachstackers and three empty container handlers (ECH) for container handling operations have arrived at the Sapangar Bay Container Port (SBCP), Tawau Port and Sandakan Port. Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd (SPSB) said in a stab tement yesterday that these equipment, used for transporting and stacking of containers, are essential in yard side operations so as to enhance the operational efficiency at these ports. Two reachstackers and two ECH are each assigned to SBCP. Tawau Port will receive one unit each whilst Sandakan Port will receive one reachstacker to complement the existing equipment at their respective ports. As part of its 30-year master plan to strengthen port performance via improved yard side operations, SPSB conducts periodic reviews of the performance of its cargo handling equipment and procures new equipment that are due for replacement.

Trafigura has applied to build a deep water port in Texas, United States, that would be able to load supertankers, the company said, supplying badly needed oil export infrastructure to the country. The company said it had applied for a permit on July 9 via its subsidiary Texas Gulf Terminals. A spokeswoman added the infrastructure would include a new onshore terminal that will be fed via a pipeline and close to Corpus Christi. The SPM will have a capacity of around 500,000 barrels per day, the spokeswoman said.

Mombasa port, which has been in operation since the 18th century, has grown over time and contributes more than 40 per cent of Kenya’s annual revenues. Being one of the largest ports in Africa, the port serves Kenya and landlocked countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the DRC. Sea ports are gateways for 80 per cent of trade cargo. Currently, Kenya, Tanzania and Djibouti are competing to be the region’s transportation and trade hubs. Djibouti poses less of a threat because of Mombasa’s larger hinterland and operational efficiencies, not to mention the possible diversion of Ethiopian traffic to Eritrea. These nations continue to pump in huge investments to further develop and modernise the available supporting infrastructure. Mombasa port is the largest in East Africa, with capacity to handle up to 500,000 TEUs. However, the port’s volumes exceed the throughput capacity by a factor of more than two

Two more routes will be added to New York City's popular new ferry service, connecting millions of New Yorkers to new neighborhoods, growing job centers, housing and more. The new Soundview and Lower East Side routes will be launched later this month, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and NYC Ferry operated by Hornblower. The Soundview Route will launch on August 15, running from the Soundview section of the Bronx (Clason Point Park), to E.90th Street on the Upper East Side, to East 34th Street, ending its run at Wall Street/Pier 11. The trip will take approximately 54 minutes from start to finish. The Lower East Side Route slated to launch August 29 will run from Wall Street/Pier 11, to Corlears Hook, to Stuyvesant Cove, East 34th Street, and end at Long Island City, Queens — a 32-minute trip from start to finish.

The port of Taranto and the container terminal have their eyes set on Turkey’s Yilport Holding AS. On Tuesday, the Port System Authority of the Ionian Sea, whose president is Sergio Prete, acknowledging the “preliminary positive evaluation by the Permanent Internal Commission, in consideration of the importance of the proposer and the scope of the concession request with respect to the requests received”, and agreed that the Turkish Yilport Holding’s offer would “from various points of view, be the opportunity most in the public interest, ensuring the widest and most profitable use of the multisector wharf, the revival of employment, increase in port traffic and logistics, as well as the enhancement of the role of the port of Taranto and the Italian port system on the Mediterranean scene”. Taranto’s Port Authority ended its examination of the four partial applications submitted in recent months. The companies involved were South Marine Gate, Southgate Europe Terminal Consorzio, Taras Terminal and ATI Interterminal and Ecologica. A competitive dialogue procedure was opened with these companies on 11 May with a view to improving the bids submitted. With the examination of these companies now closed, the examination of Yilport Holding AS, which had submitted an application on 3 July, will begin. Source: The MediTelegraph

Dubai’s government said on Thursday the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) has ruled DP World’s port container terminal contract in Djibouti was valid and binding. The government of Djibouti seized the Doraleh Container Terminal from DP World in February over a dispute dating back to at least 2012. Dubai government-controlled DP World has called the seizure illegal. “The LCIA Tribunal has ruled that Doraleh Container Terminal’s Concession Agreement ‘remains valid and binding’,” Dubai’s government media office said in a statement, which did not state when the ruling was made. “DP World will now reflect on the ruling and review its options.”

On 24th July, Damen Shipyards Group signed a contract with Cyprus-based VTS Vasiliko Terminal Services, the supplier of marine services to the Port of Vasiliko and the VTTV Oil Terminal Jetty, for a Damen ASD Tug 2310. The new ASD Tug 2310, which is to be named Ayia Marina, is a standardised vessel from the Damen portfolio, but has been enhanced with some specific custom requirements from Vasiliko Terminal Services.

Scotland’s port of Lerwick welcomed its largest-ever cruise ship, MSC Cruises’ MSC Meraviglia, on 31 July 2018. At 316 metres long and 171,598gt, MSC Meraviglia is larger than the previous record-holder, which was Celebrity Cruises’ 122,210gt Celebrity Silhouette. She arrived with 5,092 passengers – the most yet on a single ship at Lerwick – and more than 1,500 crew. The passengers will be transferred ashore by tenders.

Leveraging the cabotage relaxation, the Cochin Port Trust intends to promote ICTT Vallarpadam as an international storage hub for empty containers. “We are in touch with shipping lines and terminal operators for repositioning their empties to all major ports and has also enhanced the free time of empty storage in the port from 3 to 10 days,” AV Ramana, Port Chairman, said. The availability of sufficient space in Kochi is an added advantage and this could attract empties from ports such as JNPT which lacks enough space for storage. Repositioning of empties is now carried out at Colombo and Jebel Ali Port in the UAE. Besides getting additional revenue, the new business model will ensure Kochi a surge in empty containers that registered a steady rise in the last few years, posting a 29 per cent growth in 2017-18, he told BusinessLine.

Port Waratah Coal Services’ two terminals at Newcastle port in eastern Australia had nine ships waiting offshore Sunday, compared with three a week ago, the Hunter Valley Coal Chain Coordinator said in its weekly report, Monday. The queue was expected to comprise six ships at the end of the month, HVCCC said. A total of 1.76 million mt of coal was shipped out of the PWCS terminals in the week ended Sunday, down 662,700 mt from a week earlier. Month-to-date exports totaled 1.23 million mt, according to the report. Coal producers had forecast August arrivals at the terminals at 9.7 million mt, and for September at 10.7 million mt, said the report. Meanwhile, coal throughput on Newcastle port’s railway last week was 2 million mt, HVCCC said. Around 241,300 mt of coal was shipped through the NCIG terminal at Newcastle last week, S&P Global Platts data showed.

Port of Amsterdam said the maximum Environmental Ship Index (ESI) discount is doubled for ships with ESI certificates and liquefied natural gas (LNG). For some years Port of Amsterdam has been giving discounts on port dues to vessels listed in the ESI that have attained an ESI score of 20 points or higher. "As of 1 August, we will be increasing this incentive by adding another discount: Port of Amsterdam will be doubling the maximum ESI discount for vessels that are in the possession of an ESI certificate and use LNG for their main engine or auxiliary engine," said a press release.

India’s harbors have become clogged up with coal as imports to power an expanding economy outpace railroad capacity to transfer the fuel to consumers. Stockpiles rose by 15 percent in seven weeks to 19.2 million metric tons, according to data from 18 ports compiled by CoalMint in a July 30 report. Inventory at Vishakhapatnam Port Trust in the eastern state of Andhra Pradesh is near the limit because a rail-car shortage is slowing distribution, Deputy Chairman P.L. Haranadh said in a phone interview. The stockpile of 1.2 million metric tons is “pretty much all we can hold,” Haranadh said. His port gets about 10 of the wagon clusters known as rakes each day to send coal to consumers, against a requirement of 16. A rake comprises about 60 open-top wagons with total capacity of some 4,000 tons.

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Initally, few outside of the Hunter seemed too concerned about the secret lease conditions making it all but impossible for Newcastle to have a container terminal, with the general belief being the idea wouldn’t work anyway, so why worry about a piece of obscure paperwork? Now, however, for a variety of reasons, that line of thinking is being challenged, and the consortium that operates the Port of Newcastle has seen enough in many months of investigations to believe that a container terminal can and will work in Newcastle. To help achieve its aims, it’s hired a former shipping industry manager and government policy expert, Craig Carmody, as the port’s new chief executive, with an explicit brief to try to bring a Newcastle container terminal to fruition. Nobody under-estimates the size of the task. Botany’s operator will want to hold on to its monopoly status for as long as possible. The Port of Newcastle is hoping the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will say that the Botany protection is anti-competitive, but as the ACCC waved the privatisations through in the first place, that is by no means a certainty. At the same time, Newcastle has to convince a global shipping industry that there’s enough business to warrant a stop-over when Botany is virtually next door, a little over 80 nautical miles away. Source: The Herald