Porti & ambiente — le notizie raccolte

Feeder ships continue to dominate newbuilding orders for containerships, driven by Asian players. During the Posidonia event in Greece this week, Greek owner Venergy Maritime’s container shipping arm, OceanV Maritime, added to its orderbook with two 1,900 teu ships from CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, with options for another two. OceanV, set up in 2025, ordered its first two 1,900 teu vessels from Wenchong in December, with options for two more exercised in February, and in April two more similar vessels were ordered. Malaysian feeder operator and tonnage provider MTT Shipping and Logistics, has made good on its pledge to use part of its$165m IPO proceedsfor newbuildings. It ordered two 3,300 teu ships from Wuhu Shipyard, costing nearly $40m each, to be delivered in 2029. These newbuildings will be the largest in MTT’s fleet. Ningbo Ocean Shipping (NBOSCO) said on Sunday it had ordered four 1,900 teu ships at Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group, with options for another two. Ningbo-Zhoushan Port Group’s liner shipping unit approved the investment in March, saying it had budgeted $251.28m for the order. Chinese tonnage provider Baozhou Shipping, which was launched during the pandemic-induced boom, has ordered its first newbuildings, two 2,700 teu ships, with options for two more, from Chinese shipbuilders Yangfan Group and Zhejiang Tenglong. Baozhou commenced operations after acquiring second-hand ships, and today owns the 4,250 teuEverlasting Grace(built 2003) and has 10 newbuildings on order, including six at 1,956 teu, which will also be built by Zhejiang Tenglong. MB Shipbrokers said the latest orders proved that container newbuilding activity was being driven by Asian owners and operators this year. The Danish brokerage added: “However we do see growing interest from European buyers, particularly in the mid-size segment.” On the car-carrier front, Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Maritime has reportedly commissioned a pair of LNG dual-fuelled 7,000-ceu vessels at CIMC Raffles, which has built 10 PCTCs for the UK-based company. Priced around $90m, the ships would be delivered in 2028. Zodiac, which has chartered some car-carriers to Chinese carmakers BYD and Geely, is banking on expected growth in Chinese electric vehicle exports. In addition, Japanese shipping group K Line has commissioned four 1,380-ceu LNG dual-fuelled PCTCs at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Nanjing) for its European subsidiary, K Line European Sea Highway Services. The ships are designed for intra-Europe shipping to comply with size restrictions at some European ports.

Container shipping rates from India to the Persian Gulf have significantly softened from the peaks recorded since the outbreak of hostilities in February. Freight rates ex-Nhava Sheva (JNPA)/Mundra to Jebel Ali (UAE) are down by up to 40% from the averages seen two weeks ago, according to data from industry sources. Companies are now booking cargo for that port pair in the region of $2,100 per 20ft and $3,200 per 40ft, slipping from $3,500 and $4,800, respectively, say sources. They also reported significant rate declines for other ports of discharge across the Persian Gulf. Rates ex-Nhava Sheva/Mundra to Dammam (Saudi Arabia) have dropped to $4,700 per 20ft and $5,700 per 40ft, from $5,700 and $6,700, sources said. They believe the influx of capacity from regional lines looking to exploit the supply chain chaos for profitability, had helped improve supply-demand fundamentals in the war-disrupted corridor. For example, CULines in late April began two new shuttle services connecting China and India to the Middle East. A fleet of four ships, including the 10,000-teuExpress Berlinthat CULines had taken over from the downsized SeaLead, has been deployed on one of the standalone loops. Sources said the downward rate correction was also being driven by the slowing pace of Middle East-bound cargo flows, as mainline carriers had been able to evacuate the majority of containers rerouted to Indian ports, alongside clearing the backlogged Indian export boxes. “The correction in India–Middle East ocean freight rates is a sign that the market is gradually stabilising after a period of disruption and uncertainty,” Pushpank Kaushik, CEO and head of business development for Indian subcontinent, Middle East & SEA at Hyderabad-based diversified maritime group Jassper Shipping, toldThe Loadstar. “While freight rates have softened, the market is not entirely back to normal, as fuel costs, insurance premiums, and regional geopolitical developments continue to influence shipping economics,” he added. Meanwhile, Maersk has announced a series of Middle East trade relief measures in the form of extended free storage times – broadly 15 days more – for containers that consignees had been unable to clear timely out of Salalah (Oman), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), and Jebel Ali (UAE). The carrier is also offering a concessional storage fee for affected transhipment containers at these Middle East hubs. “As part of our contingency actions and to support customers during this period, we are implementing temporary ‘line detention’ solutions to facilitate the timely return of empty containers and to provide greater flexibility to help you manage your supply chain,” Maersk told customers. “This means that customers who had contracted less than 15 days of free time now will automatically see their free time allowance extended,” the carrier explained. The Middle East has boosted the significance of multimodal logistics solutions for cargo movement within the region, with authorities vigorously establishing cross-border customs-enabled green corridors or land-bridge frameworks. The latest was an agreement between Sharjah Ports/Customs and Oman Customs, announced last month.

Recent disruption across global supply chains has exposed uncomfortable questions about how freight forwarders and carriers wield their power over shippers, according to the president of the Global Shippers Association (GSA), Mark Chadwick. The GSA negotiates freight contracts on behalf of around 25 major shippers representing approximately $5bn in annual logistics spend. Speaking toThe Loadstaron the sidelines of TIACA’s Executive Forum, Mr Chadwick said: “Lots of our members were getting frustrated having to do so many spot rates, so they said ‘could we help by maybe agreeing a surcharge based on different origin pairs and try and get some consensus from the forwarders around those charges?’. “So, we asked them to let us know where would they need extra money and how much it would be on these different trade pair combinations,” he explained. However, Mr Chadwick revealed that, for the same tradelane combination, some forwarders were asking for “zero assistance”, while others wanted substantially more. “The worst case was a 250% increase,” he said. “I mean, it was ridiculous, all the disparity across forwarders was so much we had to abandon the whole thing. There’s no way we’d get any consensus, and so we just say to the GSA members, ‘sorry, you have to keep spot voting and just handle it ad hoc, because we’re not going to get anyone to coalesce around these numbers’. “Because some people were asking for nothing, so why would we say, ‘oh, here you go, because somebody else asked for 200% we’ll give you 20%’. “Even Europe to Europe. We don’t have many Europe to Europe airfreight lanes, but we do have some. They were asking for, I think, like 75% increase, and this is on top of fuel surcharge that we give them. It’s not like this is just fuel, we’re already giving them fuel, this was like war-risk market gyration kind of money,” he said. The experience has left some shippers questioning whether parts of the forwarding industry are taking advantage of their position during periods of market disruption. Mr Chadwick said some providers appeared to be treating the crisis as an opportunity to boost margins, rather than recover genuine costs. “It was just like a couple were trying to make the year on a couple of months,” he said. “We were offering support to partners and completely been taken advantage of.” Mr Chawick revealed that a similar scheme during Covid yielded positive results. “We were able to get the forwarders to coalesce around numbers, and we’d revised them every month. We had pretty good alignment,” he explained. He also added that, from his perspective, the ocean carriers’ opportunistic behaviour hadn’t been as bad as he’d seen from major forwarders. “Some of the ocean carriers haven’t hit us with any [surcharges] outside of fuel, any war-risk, unless you go into the region itself,” he said. Although he acknowledged there was “some opportunism” among carriers, he added that “it’s not as scandalous as with some of these forwarders”. Mr Chadwick explained that market fundamentals may be restraining carrier behaviour. With container shipping demand relatively weak and capacity plentiful, carriers risk damaging long-term customer relationships by imposing excessive charges. “I think it’s because they know once this is over that the market dynamics are still there, that demand is down, capacity is up,” he said. “If they really stick it to the shippers now, they might make some extra money in the short term, but it’s going to really bite them afterwards.” By contrast, he suggested some freight forwarders had been “a little bit more cavalier”.

TIACA’s executive summit in Warsaw was fun; but better still, it was different – not a word always associated with air cargo conferences, admittedly. People complain that air cargo is cliquey, an old boys’ club where the same faces say much the same things. The reality is simpler – air cargo is tiny. After a few events, everybody knows everybody. But what was striking at TIACA this week was how many people there were that nobody knew. And it wasn’t just a geographical quirk – although of course there were a lot of people from central and eastern Europe, which made a nice change. But there were other newcomers – and new ideas – everywhere: young people, women, start-ups; people who haven’t spent the past 20 years arguing over airport capacity, or the interminably long road to digitisation. And it would seem that much of that change is down to TIACA’s varied and interesting awards programmes, which have rewarded the industry with fresh blood. Some attendees were in their late teens and twenties, others half a century older, but also brimming with new ideas and a whole new lease of life, focused on ecommerce, electric aircraft, and new delivery models. (Watching air cargo veterans Stan Wraight and Jacques Heeremans’ video of the pair in flight on the new Beta electric aircraft, huge beams on their faces like kids at a sweet shop, was as pleasurable as hearing about young female-led start-ups in the business) It’s hard not to like an industry when you see people rediscovering why they fell in love with it in the first place. The conference itself has also come a long way. For years, air cargo conferences have had a tendency to be dull: same-old, same-old. Digitisation, sustainability. A map of an airport showing it to be in the heart of its own catchment area; an SaaS provider bearing their wares. Many men. Photo: Emma Murray, Meantime Communications While air cargo still has some way to go, Warsaw felt noticeably different. Women weren’t just present on stage; they were moderating, leading discussions, and speaking as commercial and operational decision-makers. The percentage of female speakers has doubled since TIACA’s 2024 event – and this week was above 30%, a number to be very much congratulated. But not only were there more women, there was also more personality. A keynote speaker from outside the industry brought fresh thinking. A fireside chat with United Cargo’s Jan Krems was exactly that, a look at his career. And even the networking is evolving. (Much gratitude to Port Polska and LOT Cargo for two beautiful evenings in stunning settings). The Miami ACF later this year will feature not just golf – thank God – but yoga and pickleball too. (No doubt somewhere, an air cargo executive is currently googling “pickleball”). Much of this change can largely be traced back to one person. Glyn Hughes has spent the past several years dragging TIACA into the modern era. Membership has grown; the association feels more relevant. It has become more willing to challenge itself, and more willing to welcome people who weren’t already part of the furniture. Replacing him will not be easy. We understand there were around 30 applicants for the role and an announcement is expected soon. Mr Hughes has offered to stay around and help – if his successor wants it – and why wouldn’t they? The transformation isn’t quite finished. In many ways, the hard work of the past years is only just becoming visible. The next secretary general will inherit an organisation with momentum, energy and, perhaps most importantly, optimism. So, as they say in politics, a continuity candidate would make a lot of sense. The foundations have been laid; the shoots are appearing. Now is probably not the time to start digging everything up again. Air cargo spends a lot of time talking about innovation. In Warsaw, for once, it actually felt like you could see it. Long may it last, and well done TIACA. Thanks to David Linford, CHAMP Cargosystems, for this video of the conference opening.

Air Canada Cargo’s decision to replace its cargo management system may have been announced this week, but comments made during a press briefing suggest the project has been years in the making. The carrier revealed it had selected CHAMP Cargosystems’ Cargospot neo platform to manage operations, commercial functions, and revenue accounting across its global cargo business, following a very lengthy evaluation and approval process. Speaking after the announcement at TIACA’s executive summit, Air Canada Cargo MDcargo operations & transformationJanet Wallace offered a rare glimpse into the realities of securing major technology investment within an airline. “When you’re in a passenger airline and you’re raising funding, it’s very hard,” she said, describing part of the challenge behind the project. Air Canada Cargo’s journey began several years ago. During the briefing, it was noted there had been “a lot of change in CHAMP’s product over four years”. According to Ms Wallace, the airline initially went to market to assess available systems, but was not immediately convinced by any one provider. “When we first went to market to have a look at what was going on, we weren’t really sure whether one was better than the other,” she said.“But when we went back to them a couple of times, we’re kind of like, ‘wow, this is moving forward’.” That evolution was also highlighted by CHAMP chief commercial officer Nicholas Xenocostas, who noted that Air Canada had been able to see significant progress between demonstrations. “What we showed you at the beginning, to what we showed you 12 months later, you could see that actually there’s tremendous work done,” he said. The project goes well beyond a traditional cargo management system replacement. Air Canada Cargo will implement Cargospot neo Airline, neo Handling, neo Revenue Accounting and Cargospot Mobile, alongside CHAMP’s customs and messaging capabilities, creating what executives described as a single platform spanning commercial, operational and financial processes. For Air Canada Cargo, one attraction was the ability to eliminate paper-based workflows. Ms Wallace pointed to CHAMP’s mobile-first strategy, noting that the airline still manages large volumes of paper documentation, including air waybills, security forms and operational checklists. “We need to get the paper out of the operation,” she said. Implementation is already under way. Executives said months of detailed planning had taken place, involving multiple stakeholders across operations, sales, ground handling and other business units. Both Air Canada and CHAMP executives acknowledged that change management would be one of the biggest challenges ahead, particularly for an organisation that has relied on the same systems and processes for many years. “They have a system that’s been there a very long time,” said one executive. “People have been doing things the same way for a very, very long time. They think this is the only way to do it.” The deal also represents an important milestone in CHAMP’s own transformation. Since the arrival in January of chief executive Manuel Galindo, founder of digital air cargo booking platform WebCargo, the company looks set to continue and accelerate the modernisation of both its technology stack and its market perception. For years, CHAMP has been viewed as one of air cargo’s dependable incumbents – deeply embedded across the industry but often seen as less innovative than newer cloud-native entrants. Mr Galindosaid he was excited about the challenge of moving perception from a legacy provider to a platform capable of supporting the next generation of digital cargo operations. Air Canada’s comments suggest that effort may be gaining traction. Rather than selecting a finished product, the carrier appears to have spent several years watching CHAMP’s roadmap unfold before ultimately deciding the company was moving in the right direction. The result is a significant endorsement of the neo platform. If CHAMP’s future depends on proving it can reinvent itself while retaining the scale and reliability that made it an industry standard, winning Air Canada Cargo is the right kind of customer validation. More broadly, the project highlights a challenge familiar to many airline cargo executives: choosing a new system can be difficult, but securing the funding, internal support and organisational commitment to replace it can take even longer.

The port of Antwerp-Bruges has appointed Rob Smeets (above) as its new chief executive, for a six-year term, succeeding Jacques Vandermeiren, who announced on 14 April that he would be stepping down. Mr Smeets had been acting as interim CEO since Mr Vandermeiren’s announcement. The appointment follows “a selection process carried out over recent weeks, during which a wide range of candidates were assessed by a selection committee of members of the board – Rob Smeets emerged as the strongest candidate”, the port authority said. He is no stranger to the port, having worked there for more than 20 years in a variety of several senior roles. In 2014, he was appointed to lead the towage department; in 2017 he became nautical operations director; and since 2019 he has been chief operations officer. “We ran a swift but thorough selection process, with a selection committee, in-depth interviews and a strong pool of candidates,” Dirk De fauw, vice-chair of the port authority board said. “Based on his experience, knowledge of the port and leadership qualities, Rob came out of that process as the strongest candidate.” “He is a familiar face, both within and beyond the organisation, knows our stakeholders well and is able to reconcile different interests,” Johan Klaps, port authority chairman said. “Rob knows the port authority and the port like no one else,” he added. Meanwhile, Mr Smeets said: “I am grateful to the board of directors for their trust. Port of Antwerp-Bruges is strongly positioned internationally and has outstanding employees, customers and partners. Together, we want to continue building a port that keeps increasing its impact, is ready for tomorrow’s challenges, and further strengthens its position as a leading global port. I am looking forward to it,” he said.

Key takeaway: An ALJ-approved deal hands Amazon a major win on joint employer status, but the war over who employs its 390,000 last-mile drivers is far from over. For the Teamsters, it was supposed to be the case that cracked open Amazon’s last-mile fortress. Instead, it ended with a whimper and roughly $250,000 in back pay, loose change for a company worth over $2.7 trillion. Background In mid-May, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative Law Judge G. Rebekah Ramirez approved ...

Ascolta la versione audio dell'articolo 4' di lettura English Version Translated by AI. For feedback, please contact english@ilsole24ore.com Il percorso green di Sanlorenzo, quella Road to 2030, che prevedeva la costruzione di barche sempre più compatibili con la tutela dell’ambiente, si è fermato. E non perché lo abbia voluto il patron del gruppo di yacht di lusso, Massimo Perotti, ma perché la situazione geopolitica mondiale ha imposto uno stop alla realizzazione di carburanti verdi e alla creazione di infrastrutture per distribuirli. Ma è lo stesso imprenditore a pronunciare un chiaro «non ci sto». E dalla Venice climate week, iniziata ieri e in programma fino all’8 giugno, lancia una doppia sfida: all’Europa e alle istituzioni, chiedendo loro di allinearsi ed agire, per garantire disponibilità di combustibili da rinnovabili, in particolare metanolo e idrogeno, e infrastrutture che consentano alla nautica di applicare sugli yacht le tecnologie green che già esistono e che già permetterebbero di montare a bordo motori B-fuel, per il 70% a metanolo e per il 30% a gasolio. L’appello di Perotti agli stakeholder, dunque, è di accelerare gli investimenti per i carburanti alternativi e si concretizza in una lettera che l’imprenditore consegnerà lunedì 8 alla commissaria europea per l’Ambiente, Jessika Roswall, all’indomani di una cena tenuta al centro culturale Casa Sanlorenzo. Cavalier Perotti, in mancanza di un intervento di Bruxelles, la Road to 2030 del cantiere si bloccherà? Loading... L’abbiamo già fermata con gli inizi del 2026. Dopo il lancio dello yacht 50 steel Almax nel 2024, primo al mondo con un impianto fuel cell a metanolo, che avevo acquistato io stesso, abbiamo approntato il progetto per la costruzione dello scafo da 50 metri su cui montare i motori B-fuel, ma ora abbiamo fermato la costruzione della barca. Avevamo attivato anche un piano d’investimenti che arrivava dall’Europa, che avrebbe interessato sia Nanni Industries, che produce i generatori a metanolo, sia l’importatore italiano di motori Man, e che finanziava, appunto, la realizzazione del generatore e del motore, oltre che, in parte, la costruzione della barca. Ma ora tutto è bloccato, perché il mercato non esiste. Se vai da un cliente, oggi, e gli dici: ti faccio una barca che è sostenibile perché, per il 70%, va con metanolo green, quello ti risponde: mi fa molto piacere ma io non la compro perché non so dove rifornirmi di metanolo green. Il problema è che manca una produzione sufficientemente forte da poter ipotizzare, nei prossimi anni, la distribuzione di questo metanolo: meno dell’1% della produzione globale di questo tipo di prodotto deriva da fonti rinnovabili, con una disponibilità concentrata in grandi hub come i porto di Rotterdam e di Anversa. Dunque, ha deciso di appellarsi a Bruxelles. Sì e la Venice climate week è un’opportunità enorme in questo senso, perché ci dà la possibilità di avere più di 100 scienziati da tutto il mondo, giornalisti interessati e le presenza delle autorità europee. Oggi, se si vuole andare in barca in Mediterraneo e fare il pieno di un fuel diverso dal gasolio, occorre essere certi che Spagna, Francia, Grecia, ex Jugoslavia lo distribuiscano, perché altrimenti sei costretto a stare in Italia. Nel nostro Paese, in effetti, abbiamo già fatto dei progressi: siamo quelli più avanzati come regolamentazione, grazie proprio al fatto che Sanlorenzo ha messo in mare il primo 50 metri con fuel cell, nell’estate 2024, quando nessun porto del Mediterraneo ancora distribuiva il metanolo; l’estate successiva, peraltro, dopo un inverno in cui abbiamo lavorato bene con Confindustria nautica e con il Governo, sono arrivati i protocolli. Intanto, però, negli ultimi 16-18 mesi, il mondo è cambiato, al punto che i signori di Blackrock, che sono tra i principali fondi Usa, gli stessi che nel 2021 ci avevano chiesto di fare un progetto serio sulla sostenibilità, o sarebbero usciti dall’azienda come investitori, nei mesi scorsi hanno alzato il braccio e hanno detto: ci siamo sbagliati, sulla sostenibilità torniamo indietro.

Questi i principali appuntamenti del 6 giugno VIAREGGIO - Grand Hotel Principe di Piemonte ore 11.30 Conferenza stampa, con il presidente nazionale On. Vannacci e il coordinatore nazionale Simoni RAPALLO - Porto Carlo Riva ore 9.30 Confindustria, 55/mo Convegno dei Giovani Imprenditori con i ministri Tajani e Urso, con Renzi, Calenda, Schlein e il presidente di Confindustria Orsini MILANO - Camera del Lavoro ore 10.00 Meeting internazionale 'Tax the rich', punto stampa del Segretario di Sinistra Italiana Fratoianni AMENDOLARA - ore 16.30 Flai Cgil, manifestazione nazionale alla stazione di servizio dove è avvenuta la strage dei braccianti MESTRE - M9 ore 10.00 Incontro su 'La violenza di genere. prima e dopo Giulia' con la presidente della Commissione parlamentare di inchiesta sul femminicidio Semenzato e Gino Cecchettin FIUMICINO - Aeroporto Leonardo Da Vinci ore 6.00 Partenza del Papa nel suo viaggio apostolico in Spagna MILANO - Arco della Pace ore 20.30 Party Like a Deejay con Annalisa, Carl Brave, Ditonellapiaga, Gaia, Fulminacci, Giorgia, Frah Quintale, J-Ax, Levante, Noemi, Paola Iezzi, Pinguini tattici nucleari, Sayf, The Kolors e Tommaso Paradiso MILANO - San Siro ore 21.00 Concerto di Tiziano Ferro BALATONFOKAJAR - Balaton Park ore 10.45 MotoGp di Ungheria, qualifiche; alle 15.00 Sprint Race PRINCIPATO DI MONACO - ore 16.00 F1, Gran Premio di Montecarlo, qualifiche PARIGI - Roland Garros Tennis, Open di Francia Riproduzione riservata © Copyright ANSA Da non perdere Condividi

US trade representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer has pushed back on EU criticism that proposed tariffs of 10% on the bloc – over alleged failures to stamp out the use of forced labour in supply chains – conflict with an agreement struck between them last year. As reported byThe Loadstar, the EU and 59 countries are facing a new, additional tariff rate of 10%-12.5%on all goods for either failing to introduce or failing to properly impose legislation prohibiting trade in goods that have benefited from forced labour. Announced yesterday, the new tariff rate sparked outcry from across Europe, with an EU spokesperson describing them as unjustified, and chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade Bernd Lange labelling them “utterly absurd”. Responding to the criticism, Mr Greer said that the deal between the EU and US, known as the Turnberry Agreement, included the bloc’s recognition that the US “can impose tariffs up to a certain level”, adding: “We understand that a deal is a deal. “We want to make sure we’re able to resolve trading practices identified as problematic in our investigations and we are going to take into account the Turnberry deal, of course, because we believe the Turnberry deal addresses a lot of these issues,” Mr Greer said. The tariff threat follows a USTR investigation that determined Australia and the UK would be subjected to a 12.5% rate after failing to push through laws to address forced labour practices, joining 52 other countries on the same rate, including China, Japan, and India. Canada, Ecuador, the EU, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan have all been flagged as introducing, but failing to properly enforce, legislation resulting in the “unlevel playing field” the US action is pushing back against. “The failure of our most important trading partners to address the import of goods made with forced labour… creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field,” Mr Greer noted. “We will no longer tolerate it. Some trading partners have taken initial steps to prevent the import of forced labour goods. However, each of our trading partners must do more to ensure trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labour globally.”