Porti & ambiente — le notizie raccolte

"Scelte timide e ambigue" contenute nel Piano Urbano della Mobilità Sostenibile (Pums) di Ancona. Lo afferma il Comitato Porto-Città di Ancona - Circolo Territoriale Verdi Ambiente e Società che ha presentato le proprie osservazioni."Oggi - sottolinea in una nota - rimarchiamo la nostra delusione per l'assenza, nella stesura del Pums, di quella iniziale caratterizzazione del contesto ambientale entro cui si sarebbero dovuti sviluppare i contenuti propri del Piano. Ne deriva un vuoto in cui i dati del rilevamento del traffico sono fini a sé stessi e non restituiscono la conoscenza complessiva dell'inquinamento causato dal traffico alla città e dalla quale attingere contenuti e strategie migliorative da attivare".Il Comitato si sarebbe atteso "un Piano più coraggioso, senza tentennamenti né ambiguità di scelte, anche perché a questo punto della storia, se l'accelerazione verso le rinnovabili è inevitabile, tanto vale guidare la trasformazione sostenibile con più fermezza e maggiore consapevolezza". Da qui, le osservazioni: "Diminuire l'accessibilità del traffico privato generalizzato; liberare le strade grazie ai parcheggi per i residenti; implementare i sensi unici per allargare i marciapiedi; aumentare la mobilità dolce e le aree pedonalizzate; verificare l'adeguatezza delle aree Ztl e Zac e della mobilità portuale; regolamentare la logistica; curare la comunicazione pubblica, in modo diffuso e continuo, - conclude - di tutte le fasi di realizzazione del Piano, perché la conoscenza dei dati reali e corretti rende i cittadini consapevolmente attivi". Riproduzione riservata © Copyright ANSA Da non perdere Condividi

The Hormuz crisis has upended normal container freight rate seasonality, according to Sea-Intelligence analysis, with spot rates on major east-west trades rebounding sharply instead of following the customary post-Chinese New Year decline. According to the consultancy, the disruption has been particularly pronounced on the transpacific, where spot rates are now hundreds of dollars per 40ft above levels normally expected at this point in the seasonal cycle. Using Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) data from 2013 to 2025, Sea-Intelligence analysed seasonal rate movements around Chinese New Year (CNY), defining “week 0” as the period immediately preceding the holiday and examining freight rate developments from the 15 weeks before CNY to the 15 weeks after. Rates on the Shanghai-Los Angeles trade typically peaked three weeks before CNY, as shippers rushed cargo out before the factory holiday shutdowns.Historically, the holiday is followed by a sustained seasonal slump, but the consultancy said 2026 had deviated sharply from that pattern. “Not only was the slump prior to the CNY peak deeper than usual, but we also saw it was followed by yet another unusually deep slump after Chinese New Year,” Sea-Intelligence noted. “Then it is followed by a steep, sustained, increase after the onset of the Hormuz crisis.” To account for the earlier-than-normal decline this year, Sea-Intelligence shifted 2026 data by three weeks, to compare it more accurately with the historical seasonal patterns. The consultancy then calculated the gap between expected “normal” seasonal spot rates and actual market developments, which it described as a potential “Hormuz premium”. Source: Sea-Intelligence “We see a strong steady increase, and are presently at a level which is $735 per 40ft higher than what would have been expected seasonally,” the report said. A similar pattern was observed on the Shanghai-New York trade and, after adjusting for the same three-week seasonal shift, Sea-Intelligence calculated a current Hormuz premium of $864 per 40ft on the US east coast route. Source: Sea-Intelligence However, the Europe trades showed a more mixed picture. On the Asia-North Europe corridor, the deviation from normal seasonality emerged earlier, with a two-week offset rather than three, while post-CNY declines were less severe than on the transpacific. Source: Sea-Intelligence Sea-Intelligence said the impact of the Hormuz crisis on North Europe rates had also been “a lot more volatile”.It found North Europe’s Hormuz premium initially surged to around $600 per 40ft, before disappearing completely, only to re-emerge recently as spot rates climbed again. The latest premium was calculated at $245 per 40ft. Source: Sea-Intelligence Meanwhile, the Mediterranean trade displayed even sharper swings. Source: Sea-Intelligence “We see how the early premium peaked at $844 per 40ft, dropped to zero, but has now come back at $811,” Sea-Intelligence said. Despite the strong correlation between the timing of the Hormuz crisis and the reversal in freight rate seasonality, the consultancy cautioned that:“First, it must be mentioned that the changes could also be due to other factors than just the Hormuz crisis. “This could be localised developments in supply and/or demand, as an example. “However, the break from seasonality does appear to coincide with the outbreak of the Hormuz crisis, and it can therefore be justified, for now, to call it a Hormuz premium.” Watch the latest episode of The Loadstar’s News in Brief and subscribe so you never miss an episode!

In a nutshell: Intramotev and Parallel Systems are quietly commercializing autonomous freight railcars, and the implications for intermodal last-mile economics could be profound. While the logistics industry remains fixated on the long-promised, perpetually-delayed arrival of autonomous trucking, something arguably more consequential has happened on the rails, and almost nobody in the forwarding world noticed. St Louis-based Intramotev is the first company to commercially deploy autonomous freight railcars. Not a pilot. Not a demo loop at a trade show. The ...

Over the weekend the Chinese government announced that preliminary agreements on tariff reduction had been reached with the US after last week’s visit by Donald Trump to the East Asian powerhouse. Here atThe Loadstar, editorial discussion concerned just how valuable an announcement it was. Alongside the news on tariffs, Beijing also confirmed that deals had been struck on agricultural produce and aircraft. Surely this was all indicative of the world reverting to some semblance of normality. In any ordinary environment that would make sense, but with fewer than 18 months on the clock in his second go round at being president, Mr Trump and his “deals” have proven predictably unreliable. Take India: only in February, he announced agreement had been reached that would see the US cut its tariff rate against Indian goods to 18%. Fewer than 10 days later, the US Supreme Court struck down the White House’s capacity to use tariffs as a cudgel for beating trade partners into submission, capping the highest tariff rate at 10%. Unsurprisingly, the Indian government opted against implementing a deal that just a few days earlier left the country in relatively strong position. For shippers and their logistics partners, the constantly shifting landscape is more than mere political intrigue. It undermines their capacity to forward-plan and leaves them in a constant state of limbo. LikeThe Loadstar,they must have become used to seeing “Breaking trade deal” headlines, and now think “let’s wait a month or so and see what happens”. One entity not waiting any longer to see what happens, however, is Hapag-Lloyd. Together with CMA CGM, the German carrier has suspended bookings to and from Cuba, seemingly taking seriously the implications of the 1 May US executive order that further tightened sanctions against the Caribbean country. Hapag-Lloyd said it was “currently assessing the situation to determine whether, and under which conditions, services to and from Cuba may continue in the future”. Whether this means it is concerned that provision of services would breach the new sanctions, or it fears war is coming, is not clear. But what is clear – and audible – are the drumbeats coming out of Washington to expand President Trump’s military expeditions further still.

Many of South Korea’s regional carriers and feeder operators have announced their 2025 numbers, reporting double-digit growth in operating profits. They posted a better financial performance than their ocean-going compatriots HMM, SM Line, and KMTC Line, proving that regional lanes are doing better than long-haul routes. Sinokor, regarded as the largest privately owned South Korean container line, and its affiliate, Heung-A Line, both posted double-digit gains in operating profits. Sinokor generated revenue of $1.5bn, operating profit of $228.2m, and net profit of $446.2m. Revenue increased by 8%, operating profit increased 14%, and net profit was up 52%. Amid the turmoil caused by US tariffs, Sinokor achieved “a strong performance due to cost reduction efforts and better volumes on regional routes”. Heung-A Line recorded revenue of $946.2m, operating profit of $136.6m, and net profit of $139m. Revenue increased by 21%, operating profit by 48%, and net profit by 76%. Similar results were achieved by Namsung Shipping and its subsidiary, Dong Young Shipping. Namsung saw revenue up 17% year on year, to $554m, while operating profit nearly doubled, to $52.5m, while net profit grew 62%, to $50.2m. Namsung has diversified its networks into Indonesia, Malaysia, and India, moves that bore fruit as the company achieved its highest sales in three years. Dong Young recorded revenue of $192.3m, operating profit of $22.7m, and net profit of $24.6m. Sales increased 14% and operating profit by 11%. However, due to the absence of one-off gains, net profit fell30%. Feeder operator CK Line recorded revenue sales of $319.7m, operating profit of $23.2m, and net profit of $22.6m, up 15%, 31% and 16%, respectively. Pan Ocean, primarily active in dry bulk, saw revenue from its container shipping division, which concentrates on intra-Asia routes, up 21%, to $305.8m, and operating profit up 15%, to $33.3m. Pan-Continental Line posted sales of $164.2m, operating profit of $16.5m, and net profit of $27.3m. Compared with a year ago, sales were up 15% and operating profit by 36%, but net profit dipped 1%. Dongjin Shipping recorded sales up 6%, to $154.7m, operating profit up 36%, $15.3m, and net profit up just 2%, at $18m. In comparison, HMM, South Korea’s flagship carrier, saw 2025 revenue dip 7%, to $7.5bn, operating profit fall 58% ,to $1bn, and net profit halved, to $1.3bn. SM Line, active in the transpacific and intra-Asia lanes, saw a 61% rise in 2025 revenue, to $1.9bn, but higher costs saw operating profit drop 11%, to $273m. Higher investment income enabled net profit to grow 10%, to $284.7m. KMTC Line, which resumed transpacific services last year after a 40-year hiatus, saw revenue dip 1%, to $2.1bn, and higher costs caused operating profit to fall 37%, to $182.9m, and net profit to decline 45% to $226.7m.

Alliance Ground International (AGI), one of the largest outsourced cargo and ground handlers in North America, is facing a wave of safety allegations from workers at New York’s JFK and LaGuardia airports, including claims of malfunctioning brakes, runaway tugs, flooding cargo areas, and inadequate training. SEIU Local 32BJ said on Friday it had filed formal complaints with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on behalf of 21 AGI workers — 14 at JFK and seven at LaGuardia — covering cargo warehouse, ramp and ground-handling operations. The allegations span AGI cargo facilities at JFK Buildings 21 and 77, Post Office Building 250, and cargo and former passenger operations at LaGuardia. According to the union and NYCOSH, workers reported malfunctioning brakes and emergency brakes on airport tugs, missing seat belts and mirrors, non-functioning alarms, unsafe forklifts, flooding in cargo facilities, inadequate PPE, insufficient heat protections and a lack of hands-on industrial vehicle training. One worker claimed parked tugs could begin rolling even with emergency brakes engaged. “The tugs have problems with the brakes,” said an anonymous JFK warehouse and mail handler quoted in the complaint materials. “Even when they’re in ‘park’, with the emergency brake on, they will move.” Another worker, former LGA ramp agent Josh Edwin, described an incident in which workers allegedly had to chase a runaway tug after the emergency brake failed. The complaints also allege multiple workplace injuries, including forklift strikes, falls and a heat-related hospitalisation in summer 2024. Workers further allege “persistent pressure to rush and complete jobs with insufficient staff”. An email reviewed byThe Loadstarshows OSHA’s Queens district office has confirmed receipt of the complaints and said it was “reviewing” them. The allegations come as AGI faces broader scrutiny over labour and workplace practices. A separate wage-and-hour lawsuit filed in Virginia this month by current and former AGI workers at Washington Reagan National Airport alleges supervisors instructed employees to work ‘off the clock’ and reduce recorded hours before payroll processing. The company denies any wrongdoing. According to a union fact sheet, AGI and related entities have accumulated 37 OSHA or state-plan violations since 2014. The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health earlier this year included AGI in its “Dirty Dozen” list of employers associated with significant workplace safety concerns. AGI, which was acquired by private equity firm Lone Star in March, said it had not yet received formal notification from OSHA and therefore was “not in a position to respond to the allegations”. However, the company toldThe Loadstarit “takes all safety and regulatory matters seriously” and would “fully investigate and respond to any OSHA inquiries we receive”. While AGI outlined its formal safety systems and training programmes, the company did not specifically rebut individual allegations contained in the OSHA complaints, including claims involving malfunctioning brakes, missing safety equipment and inadequate training. AGI said it maintains “a robust safety management system, certified under the IATA ISAGO framework”, along with preventative maintenance programmes, safety committees and comprehensive employee training systems. The company also said all required PPE was provided to employees and that its stations were “fully compliant with OSHA recordkeeping, posting, and reporting requirements”. AGI provides cargo, mail, security and ground-handling services at more than 60 airports across North America. Airlines serviced by AGI workers at JFK include Delta Air Lines, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, LATAM and China Southern, according to the union fact sheet. , Catch up with the latest News in Brief podcast, with exclusive insights from Xeneta.

The unanimous verdict of the US Supreme Court that brokers can be held liable for negligently recruiting truckers with spotty safety records will decimate the number of brokers and truckers and usher in higher trucking costs for shippers. On the bright side, it can be seen as a catalyst for the establishment of a measurable standard of brokers’ vetting of trucking providers. The ruling ends a legal odyssey that sprang from an incident in 2016, when a Caribe Transport truck struck a driver parked on the side of the road, causing injuries that required amputation of his leg. CH Robinson, which had hired the trucking firm, was charged with negligence in its trucker selection, but argued that as a broker it was exempt from state tort claims. The Supreme Court’s ruling dismissed this argument, making the 28,000 or so truck brokers in the US viable targets in legal proceedings seeking damages for damage caused by truckers they selected. The verdict was greeted with dismay by the Transportation Intermediaries Association. “While brokers are fully committed to safety and to working with federally licensed motor carriers in good standing, the decision imposes an impossible task on brokers that entails evaluating safety of a motor carrier, despite the federal government deeming a carrier as safe to operate,” commented TIA president Chris Burroughs. “This is like asking travel agents to evaluate the safety of a given airline despite the fact that the airline has been licensed to fly by the federal government.” Harish Abbott, co-founder and CEO of Augment, reported concerns voiced by several brokers about potential state-by-state standards for ‘reasonable care’, greater litigation risk for brokers, likely insurance pressure, and new urgency around documenting carrier selection processes. “The concern is real — especially among smaller brokerages that may not have the resources to absorb or defend the onslaught of litigation this is going to cause. Nobody knows yet how 50 different states are going to interpret this, and that uncertainty is uncomfortable. “What brokers can control is knowing who they’re putting on their loads and being able to prove it. The legal standard is going to take shape through litigation, and that means more scrutiny every time there’s a crash. The operational response is straightforward: tighten carrier selection, standardise the workflow, and make sure the audit trail holds up years from now,” he said. The Supreme Court ruling does not render brokers liable in each case, but they have to be able to show that they performed due diligence in the carrier selection process. To that end, they need a defined and consistent protocol for the process. “It really comes down to three things – set a real standard for carrier vetting, apply it the same way every time, and make sure you can prove it,” Mr Abbott noted. The bottom line for this is checking the carrier’s record in the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) database. “Brokers need to layer in SMS BASIC thresholds, out-of-service limits, crash and inspection history, insurance verification, and identity checks. Make these criteria concrete enough that two operators evaluating the same carrier reach the same conclusion. The data to do this is largely free and public,” he said. The standard has to be applied consistently, and every step must be documented, he stressed. “This is exactly the kind of work AI agents are built for. They follow the SOP. They never skip a step. They produce an auditable record on every load. Set the standard once, and let it run,” he said. Cassandra Gaines, founder and CEO of Carrier Assure, observed that many brokers were already employing carrier vetting tools that go beyond FMCSA records and insurance checks. The popular notion that these two elements sufficed constituted an outdated view in an industry moving towards a measurable broker standard of care, she commented. More and more brokers review carriers’ inspection histories, monitor unsafe driving indicators, analyse out-of-service percentages and examine crash trends, she adde. While all parties should welcome a nationwide standard of carrier vetting as a positive outcome of the Supreme Court ruling, they also stand to see costs rise. Insurance premiums are bound to go up, both for brokers and truckers, notes Satish Jindel, founder and president of SJ Consulting Group. “Brokers should expect insurance premiums to rise. Broker E&O and contingent auto policies were already hardening as plaintiffs’ firms pushed through the circuit courts. With the federal shield now gone in all 50 states, underwriters will re-price. Expect higher premiums, tighter terms, and harder questions around the vetting process at renewal. Brokers who can’t show a documented, systematic vetting process will feel that adjustment most,” Mr Abbott predicted. The Supreme Court ruling is also expected to reduce the number of truckers and brokers, losing notably the smaller players that lack the financial wherewithal to absorb the elevated insurance and compliance costs. Brokers command higher margins than truckers, so the latter should be more impacted, said Mr Jindel. Ultimately, shippers are going to face elevated trucking rates as a result. “The downstream effects follow a fairly predictable chain. As brokers narrow their approved carrier lists to manage liability, smaller carriers with marginal safety records will struggle to find freight. Some will exit the market. When capacity tightens, rates rise, and shippers absorb that cost, which eventually flows through to consumers,” Mr Abbott commented. “Shippers will see some price increases,” agreed Mr Jindel. The next step in the litigation theatre could be for victims of accidents caused by trucks to sue the shipper, which could prompt another round of increased diligence, he reflected. This could lead to more direct contracts between shippers and carriers and less use of the spot market, he added.