It has been well documented that most maritime accidents (~80%) are caused by human error. Still, most of the focus on learning is rooted in technical causes and adding procedures and checklists.

Despite this bias, many accident investigation reports pinpoint that the leadership or safety culture was the root cause of more recent accidents such as the Bulk Jupiter, El Faro, Helge Ingstad and Costa Concordia, as well as older accidents such as the Exxon Valdez, Bow Mariner, Herald of Free Enterprise and Amoco Cadiz.

Industry blind spot

The critical failures leading to the accident were in most cases known before the accident took place. This demonstrates that failures which are not handled properly may develop into critical situations and accidents. This is a blind spot because the biased focus on technicalities and “impeccable” safety inspections makes people reluctant to be open about their failures, concerns and mistakes.

We at SAYFR think shipping companies, and the whole industry, needs to change its focus. Thousands of auditors and inspectors across the world are engaged by classification societies, flag and port state authorities, vetting and insurance companies and HSEQ departments. They verify that ships do the right thing and comply with technical and procedural requirements. However, ticking boxes never made anyone safer.

Cover-up culture

Also, and worryingly, there is a cover-up culture causing errors and unsafe practices. There are now so many procedures and checklists that, in some cases, it is impossible to comply with all of them. The fear of failure is driving accident statistics, and surveys reveal that 45% of seafarers admit that they regularly do not comply with procedures.

I firmly believe that human factors are key to prevent threats and failures from escalating. Yet improving safety or performance is about improving not only individuals but also the collaboration between sea and shore staff, between officers and crew and between different nationalities and cultures on board ships.

Huge potential to reduce accidents

Although this is recognized, it is not always addressed, so I believe a new approach is necessary to improve collaboration and reduce risks. Indeed, collaboration is strongly correlated with the risk of accidents and business interruption. Our experience of working on multiple projects over the years shows that it is possible to reduce the risk of major accidents by up to 75%.

However, there is no quick fix to improve collaboration and implement behavioral changes through, for example, training courses. Changing the culture is key and that process takes time. To help operators improve their approach to safety, proven methodologies must be used.

Safety leadership behaviors

Put simply, it involves observing and identifying working methods on board and then working with all the officers and crew in teams and as individuals to deliver the eight-point safety leadership behaviors, namely:

• Giving feedback
• Speaking up
• Building trust
• Creating openness
• Showing care
• Facilitate learning
• Promoting teamwork
• Managing dilemmas

Experience shows that the focus on the eight behaviors work because they address the blind spot. By encouraging the participants to openly share errors, failures and concerns, they are able to break the chain of events that can lead up to a major accident. Also, this approach helps to move beyond the culture of punishment to the positive safety-enhancing culture where crew members help each other.

Culture assessments key to improving safety

In order to understand how the organization culture influences safety, there is a need to use methodologies specialized for this purpose. One thing that many people are ignorant of is that a key professional competence of organizational psychology is advanced mathematics and data analysis. The evaluation of organizational culture relies on interviews, observations and questionnaires applying psychometric instruments that are tailor-made to ensure valid and reliable results. The professionals drive the process while the data provides the results. As a consequence, the more and better the data on these topics, the more valid, reliable and to-the-point are the results.

However not all the instruments used in the industry are valid and reliable. In a recent review of safety culture maturity instruments, only 3 of 43 instruments were valid. Indeed, there is not one single test alone that can demonstrate the validity of a survey instrument. Therefore, SAYFR has developed tailor-made psychometric instruments to assess these topics and has a database of responses from about 300 000 seafarers.

When it comes to the qualitative and quantitative tests that can be made to verify validity, the basic one is content validity. This dictates how well a safety instrument addresses a safety issue. It specifies that the survey instrument adequately covers the topic being studied as well as having sound scientific grounds and references.

This is important because so many historical examples show risks that were identified well ahead of time but were not addressed. These include the Deepwater Horizon blowout, which claimed 11 lives and caused huge environmental damage, rig personnel had knowingly by-passed safety barriers. In this case, failures were identified but the root cause of the problem – i.e. human neglect, whether cultural or circumstantial – was not factored in.

Reliability of survey instruments through data

Reliability of the survey instrument is also key and that is ensured statistically by use of data. Factor-analysis is a statistical method used to describe variability among correlated items in terms of a potentially lower number of unobserved variables, called factors. For our instrument, the eight factors are equal to the eight SAYFR leadership behaviours (8SLBs) mentioned above.

Moreover, predictive validity is the instrument’s ability to predict something in the future such as an event, or correlations with instrument measurements made by other instruments. If an organization scores low in terms of the 8SLBs, it is a good indicator of future problems. This has been shown on a number of occasions when departments, units or suborganizations have received low 8SLB scores only to have accidents occur in the intervening time, before action was taken.

Predictive validity can also be applied to solutions. When action was taken based upon a low 8SLBs score, a shipping company experienced a 60% reduction in the frequency of serious accidents, to a level which was maintained five years subsequent to the investigation.
Concurrent validity and construct validity are also important elements. Concurrent validity measures the correlation between two independent measurements performed at the same time. An increase in the ability to manage failures, for example, will necessarily correlate with the number of incidents that occur.

Construct validity is when a theoretical model of cause and effect – for example, do the improvements prescribed following appraisal of the 8SLBs – accurately replicate the real-world scenarios they are intended to represent? Construct validity is the ultimate validity measurement, and necessarily incorporates all other validity factors.

Reduction in the frequency of serious accidents

Also, it’s not only the psychometric instruments that rely on data. The use of digitalization, the internet of things (IoT), sensor data, machine learning, and big data has picked up in recent years. The idea is that those with the most data can create the best analytics and forecasts. With the use of more quality data, risk assessments and worst-case scenario simulations provide reliable predictions and identify effective interventions to prevent accidents.

In short, what we at SAYFR see is that the best shipowners and operators have a proactive organizational culture that goes beyond ticking the ‘compliance boxes’ and instead applies a collaborative, trusting approach from top to bottom in the company’s organization. This also includes assessing culture using valid and reliable survey instruments. This is what really helps to improve safety.

Source: www.maritimeprofessional.com

Author: Dr. Torkel Soma, Chief Scientific Officer, SAYFR

Image: www.pixibay.com

The post A New Approach to Maritime Safety is Needed appeared first on Cargo News Today.

The zero-emissions vessels, which will be constructed for New York-based Zeeboat and available for charter from 2025, will run entirely on battery power, without the use of diesel engines—a first for towboats in North America. Vancouver, B.C.-based Shift Clean Energy will deliver the battery energy storage systems.

ISS, which was selected in 2021 to provide general contract, project management and vessel support services for the manufacture and delivery of the first-of-their-kind vessels, said its request for proposal (RFP) will be open form May 15 through June 30, 2022 and is for construction of the first hull, with options for up to three additional hulls.

The fully-electric vessel is based on The Shearer Group, Inc.’s (TSGI). proven 95- by 34-foot  towboat hull design, which is said to increase water flow to the propeller and improve overall efficiency of the barge/towboat combination by more than 10% compared to traditional towboat designs. When coupled with an azimuth thruster pod drive system, the hull design will improve overall efficiency by more than 30% when compared to conventional towboats, the Houston-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm said.

The project partners said their first goal is to enable greener transit with zero-emissions towboats, but they will later work toward a joint development of electrification technologies to further reduce the carbon footprint of ports and harbors.

“Moving carbon-intensive processes, like shipping and port management, to electric power sources is a critical step to meeting net-zero emissions targets,” said Wade Stockstill, ISS CEO. “Our electrification technologies and track record dovetail neatly with innovations from partners like Shift Clean Energy, enabling ISS to deliver turnkey solutions to some of today’s biggest green energy challenges.”

ISS said interested shipbuilders should contact its director of business development, Jessica Lewis, at Jessica.Lewis@iss-na.com for RFP submission information and detailed project specifications.

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pexels.com

The post ISS Issues RFP to Construct North America’s First Zero-emissions Towboats appeared first on Cargo News Today.

The international freight transport insurer said it is calling for increased vigilance to ensure secure and safe lithium battery supply chains following a number of recent fire incidents affecting container transport, ro-ro ships and air cargo movements allegedly involving lithium batteries.

E-commerce consumer demand for a wide variety of rechargeable products is driving increased shipments of lithium batteries, but these batteries now carry more energy, and aren’t always being tested.

However, the company added that revised regulatory restrictions regarding the carriage by air of lithium batteries, which took effect from April 1, may result in greater volumes being transported by surface modes.

“Understanding the risks is crucial,” commented TT’s risk management director, Peregrine Storrs-Fox. “As with many successful technologies, market demand has outpaced the development of safety regulations. Since the mid-1980’s lithium batteries have been classified under dangerous goods regulations for transport based on the weight of lithium contained in the cells or batteries and the potential hazard presented by a given battery is also related to the amount of lithium it contains.

“However, as technology has advanced, the amount of energy derived from the active material has increased by up to 50%, leading to regulatory mismatch where provisions are essentially framed around mass and energy output.”

Lithium batteries are required to be certified to an international standard involving a rigorous series of tests performed by an approved independent testing laboratory, to ensure they can both withstand everyday use through their expected lifetime and the rigours of transport, explained TT Club.

Responsibility for testing and achieving certification rests with the shipper and/or manufacturer. The sharp rise in demand has been accompanied by supply of cheaper, poorer quality and untested batteries, including refurbished and even homemade power banks. E-commerce platforms have facilitated a global trade in potentially lethal products, often circumventing global standards and regulations.

Throughout their intermodal journey the primary risks exist when batteries are poorly manufactured, untested or defective; these have a higher propensity to malfunction.

However, supply chain risk – at any point of handling, storage and transport – is compounded by used, fully or partially charged batteries. As such the reverse logistics of batteries must be carefully managed; damaged and faulty products being returned or shipped as waste for disposal or recycling present increased risk.

The consequences of lithium fuelled fires can be more extensive than others.  They are very difficult to extinguish, prone to thermal runaway and present an explosion risk. Due to the heat generated, re-ignition once a fire has been extinguished is an additional risk.

The UK government’s Zero Emission Flight (ZEF) Delivery Group recently confirmed it aims to make use of battery and hydrogen technology to make zero-emissions flights feasible.

US ULD manufacturer Satco also recently opened a $10m air cargo safety research centre (ARC) for Unit Load Devices (ULD) featuring a fire safety test facility, in response to the increase in products using lithium-ion batteries.

And Qatar Cargo recently invested in Safran Cabin’s new Fire Resistant Containers (FRC) as it aims to take a lead in countering the risk posed by lithium battery shipments.

Source: www.aircargonews.net

Image: www.pexels.com

The post Call to improve safe transport of lithium batteries appeared first on Cargo News Today.

The study, which was conducted by MDS Transmodal, identifies the extent of capacity restriction in 2021 that resulted from scheduled port calls being skipped by shipping lines. It measured the number of container ship slots that were expected to be available at the port but never materialized because the lines skipped the port—often because vessels were already fully occupied by containers collected at ports called at earlier on the service.

Skipped ports have become part of how shipping lines are managing their heavily utilized fleets.

“Skipped port calls have multiple effects on shippers,” says James Hookham, director of the GSF. “They create local upward pressure on shipping rates, as shipping line agents ‘auction off’ available slots on the vessels that do call. Shippers also face unexpected surcharges for the handling and storage of delayed containers.

“More pernicious is the wider effect on national economies, especially those of developing nations that lose opportunity to deliver their exports, and hinder the recovery of their economy from the effects of lockdowns and COVID restrictions,” Hookham adds.

Source: www.inboundlogistics.com

Image: www.pexel.com

The post Shipping Lines Skip a Beat appeared first on Cargo News Today.

A survey carried out by booking portal Freightos found that 46% of air cargo carriers now enable instant rate searches for quotes on their websites compared with 10% in 2019.

Meanwhile, 33% offer e-booking with instant confirmation compared to 25% in 2019.

But there is still room for development, with 21% offering instant allotment booking and 4% allowing payments to be made online.

Freightos said that the most widespread digital stride among air carriers was the leveraging of third-party platforms to extend their online reach.

The research shows that 46% of leading air carriers provide instant rate search through third-party platforms and 42% also enable e-booking through these channels.

Shipment tracking is also widely available, with 42%providing this as an option.

Freightos said the adoption of third-party platforms was higher in air than ocean, where just 18% offer e-booking on portals.

“In the fragmented air market – compared to the consolidated ocean market and the growing leverage the pandemic has shifted to ocean carriers – airlines are eager for the low-touch access to new customers, new segments and new geographies that platforms represent, even at the cost of making price and service comparisons easier,” Freightos said.

“And the volatility of air cargo during the last two years served as a catalyst for this trend.”

The overall shift to digital booking was accelerated by the pandemic, the company said.

“The rush on PPE early in the pandemic, just as passenger travel plummeted, was an extreme example of the volatility in the air cargo industry over the last two years.

“The fast pace of air transport only quickened as labour shortages and ever-shifting quarantine requirements led to frequent operational changes.

“This environment accelerated the ongoing search many carriers had already been engaged in for improved internal efficiency and faster ways to communicate and transact with customers.

“Like in ocean freight, the pandemic accelerated the pre-existing trend toward digital connectivity.

“While carriers made gains in their website offerings and API connections, the biggest shift was in leveraging third-party platforms to extend their reach.”

Johnny Rubio, chief commercial officer of Silk Way West, said that online booking portals allowed carriers to introduce e-booking without a massive amount of investment in resource and capital and also makes its services more visible to a wider customer base.

IAG Cargo head of distribution Peter Roberts added: “Not only have our e-bookings increased, but the average weight per e-booking has too, suggesting that customer trust is growing.

“In addition to improving both customer satisfaction and our reach, the data unlocked through e-booking enables better business intelligence and a data-driven strategy.”

Source: www.aircargonews.net

Image: www.pexels.com

The post Air cargo continues to ramp up its use of digital booking appeared first on Cargo News Today.

The use of the passenger cabin for cargo, known as cargo-in-the-cabin flights, have been operating since 2020, after the EASA issued approvals and exemptions for the transport of cargo in passenger cabins on a case-by-case basis.

These approvals and exemptions were time-limited and while the EASA extended the rules in August 2021, it will not extend the timeframe again, it said in a statement on April 11.

The decision to allow cargo-in-the-cabin flights followed the grounding of passenger aircraft at the start of the pandemic and the subsequent high demand placed on freighter aircraft. In addition to the use of cargo-in-the-cabin flights (with seats in place and seats removed) the pandemic also saw a number of airfreight stakeholders invest in passenger to freighter aircraft conversions.

However, passenger operations – and therefore the availability of bellyhold capacity – are beginning to ramp up while the need to transport urgent pandemic related cargo such as PPE has eased.

The EASA said it “has concluded that the logistical challenges that arose in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 crisis no longer exist to the same extent”.

In its Issue 6.0 guidelines for “Transport of cargo in passenger compartment – Exemptions under Article 71(1) of regulation (EU) 2018/1139 (The Basic Regulation), published on April 11, it further explained: “Cargo capacity in the holds of passenger aircraft is expected to increase by summer 2022, thus reducing the pressure on the logistic chain.”

The EASA said that in accordance with the guidelines it has “determined that the exemptions delivered in this context will not be extended beyond the current validity of July 31, 2022. The same applies for existing approvals that have been granted based on the use of the Deviation on transportation of cargo in passengers compartments.

“This Deviation can also not be applied to any certification projects for which the approval is issued after that date.”

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) last year ruled that from January 2022 the passenger cabins of China-registered aircraft would only be able to carry pandemic-related cargo.

However, contacts have told Air Cargo News that Chinese carriers have continued with cargo in the cabin flights past the deadline.

European regulator extends temporary-freighter exception into 2022

US extends cargo-in-the-cabin exemption

Chinese airlines to refit seats in response to stricter cabin rules

Source: www.aircargonews.net

Image: www.pixibay.com

The post EU to end cargo-in-the-cabin flights appeared first on Cargo News Today.

The latest figures from CLIVE Data Services, which is part of the Xeneta rate benchmarking platform, show that demand for March was 4.5% down compared with a year earlier – and 6.5% down on pre-Covid 2019 levels – marking a “sudden interruption to the recovery trend of recent months after the peak Covid disruption of the past two years”.

Capacity in March was down 3% compared with last year and 14% against 2019 levels.

As a result, dynamic load factors – accounting for both weight and volume – stood at 66%, which is the same level as recorded in 2019 and six percentage points lower than 2021 after record levels were reached that year.

Despite aircraft being less full in March than they were a year ago, rates have actually increased by 27% year on year and are up by 141% compared with two years ago.

Niall van de Wouw, chief airfreight officer at Xeneta, said this was down to disruption on the ground.

“There are also still many issues with capacity on the ground. One bottleneck got replaced with another one,” said van de Wouw.

“Load factors are lower this year than they were last year, but prices are higher. The latest disruption in Shanghai is not unexpected but it adds to the worldwide issue of staff absence because of high Covid cases.

“Pilots, cargo handling workers, truck drivers etc, unlike many others, cannot work from home. It’s hardly surprising then to hear the International Monetary Fund (IMF) blaming soaring shipping costs for driving up inflation rates.

“Right now, the airfreight and oceanfreight markets are in general a mess, with shippers and consumers having to pay the price. In the first two months of 2022, we were talking of growing resilience in the airfreight market and a recovery to pre-Covid levels. March data shows how quickly this can change.”

CLIVE also noted an increase in the placement of capacity into the spot market on certain trade lanes, such as Europe-Japan trade, where the amount of chargeable weight at a spot rate increased to 60% of the market, or 20 percentage points higher than February’s spot share.

Rates from Japan to Europe increased to around €5 per kg, nearly 50% higher than the weeks preceding the Ukraine war.

Carriers on the route had removed capacity as they sought flight paths that avoided Russian airspace.

“In overall air cargo market terms, March was a step back from the trend we saw late last year and earlier this year. We have been reminded of how the limited control the general airfreight market has over its own destiny and how it is impacted by passenger traffic trends, disruption in the ocean freight market, and geopolitical events,” said van de Wouw.

He added that ongoing disruption in ocean shipping could provide a boost to air cargo demand while higher inflation could have a negative impact.

“Although it is too soon to tell what the skyrocketing inflation numbers in the US will result to, the logistical difficulties on the water between these two continents must put some wind into the sails of the air cargo market.

“With continuously declining schedule reliability of the ocean liners, logistical departments will likely be required to resort to airfreight because of disruptions to their supply chains caused by these record low service levels,” he said.

Source: www.aircargonews.com

Image: www.pexels.com

The post Air cargo demand takes a hit in March but rates stay high appeared first on Cargo News Today.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, dipped 11 points, or about 0.5%, to 2,358 points, its lowest since March 8.

The main index has gained about 6.4% this quarter and 15.6% in March, its second monthly gain this year.

The panamax index dipped 95 points, or 2.9%, to 3,141 points. The index added about 22.1% this quarter, after posting declines in the last two. For the month, it was up more than 20%.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, fell by $850 to $28,273.

Dalian iron ore rose boosting a quarterly gain that was the biggest since end-2020, while the Singapore benchmark hovered around the $160 mark, as traders anticipated additional policy support to shore up China’s economy.

The capesize index gained 114 points, or 6.9%, to 1,760, but posted its second straight quarterly decline at 23.9% and an 8.8% monthly decline.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased $938 at $14,593.

The supramax index dropped 67 points to 2,808 points and increased about 22.6% for the first quarter of the year.

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pixibay.com

The post Baltic Dry Index Drops to 3-week Low, Ends Quarter Higher appeared first on Cargo News Today.

On episode 120 of the Inbound Logistics podcast (bit.ly/ILMagPodcastPage) Marty Wadle, chief commercial officer and Paul Jensen, senior vp of supply chain solutions for Ruan, an Iowa-based logistics provider, spoke about the importance of transparency and trust in the industry. Here are the highlights of their interview.

Wadle: A single integrated solution removes waste and duplication and creates a stronger relationship with the customer. It creates inventory visibility throughout the supply chain—whether it’s raw materials inbound, work in process, or finished goods.

If you work with one logistics provider, you see the freight all the way through the process. Visibility across the entire supply chain when you’re working with one provider is a huge benefit.

A single, integrated solution also enables rapid response to supply challenges. If we see what’s going on in the entire supply chain, we’re able to effectively maneuver around a clog, wherever it might be. If we see where we have challenges—at the ports or with containers coming in from overseas—then we can do other things to expedite freight once it hits our borders to get that product to customers more efficiently.

We also look at ways to work with our carrier partners to put them on continuous moves. Shippers today are looking to be a shipper of choice. As we act as an extension of our customer, we do our best to create that shipper of choice view from our carrier perspective: How quickly can we get carriers in and out of the docks? Can we put two or three different lanes together to create a continuous move, keep that carrier moving, and eliminate their empty miles? That just creates a better solution.

We also look for backhauls for our dedicated resources that may be delivering finished goods for one of our value-added warehouse customers. The trucks can pick up inbound raw materials or other third-party freight so we can keep dedicated assets loaded at all times. That drives continuous improvement and takes waste out of the system for customers.

Jensen: A common theme across the different services that we provide is transparency. On the dedicated fleet side, we’re 100% transparent. On the managed transportation side, we’re 100% transparent with our customer—from a service, cost, and carrier payment standpoint—and that develops a sense of trust with customers.

We operate best when we’re part of our customer’s enterprise. We bring the most value when we’re included in strategic discussions about the direction of their organization, when our goals and objectives are fundamentally aligned. And that starts from the first day we engage with a customer.

We are all about being as transparent as possible, so that the decision-making on both sides—from our customer’s perspective and our perspective—drives toward a common goal.

IL: What are some innovations that Ruan has implemented where you really see that value-add in play?

Jensen: Every implementation of a solution begins with the needs of the customer. Whether that’s a sophisticated racking system or a complex pick-to-light, multifaceted kitting operation that directly feeds manufacturing lines, we build solutions that meet a specific customer objective.

That includes both finished goods on the outbound side as well as inbound raw materials through a consolidation center. We bring product from across the country into a single consolidation point for splitting, cross docking, reconfiguring, staging, and shipping to various manufacturing sites.

It starts with what our customer’s needs are. As we get into a customer’s business, and we start to learn what their supply chain chokepoints are, we can help them design a better solution that feeds through that distribution process. We understand what it takes to run assets, what it takes to manage carrier relationships, and what it takes to run distribution and finished goods shipping.

IL: When shippers look for a warehouse partner, a lot of thought has to go into that decision. What are some of the things shippers might overlook when they evaluate a new partner?

Jensen: As proposal systems and technology have gotten better, the nuts and bolts of how to share requirements has gotten easier over the past five or 10 years. What hasn’t gotten easier is understanding who your partner is going to be—getting to know them. And not just the services that they provide, but the type of organization they want to be. The way they behave, the way they interact with their customers, and cultural alignment is often overlooked. You need the ability to meet each other’s needs in a transparent way and develop a sense of trust.

When you go out and try to find the right partner, understanding who they are and what they want to be is just as important as pricing and capabilities because your needs will evolve.

I saw this on the shipper side when I worked for a seed manufacturer. In the five years I was there, our business in that industry changed dramatically with complexities that were injected into the manufacturing process, which resulted in much different distribution. Having a partner who could work through that with us would have been a lot easier than trying to figure it out on our own. That’s the kind of partner we want to be.

I’d also caution folks as they look to build a distribution network, build out a regional distribution concept, or just take distribution out of manufacturing to allow more space to create material. Don’t shortchange your long-term plan. Often, in the interest of saving a few dollars on the front end, companies want to buy into a smaller facility that meets today’s needs, but it won’t meet their needs in three to five years. Take a hard look at what your long-term plan is and build for who you want to be—not for who you are.

Although it’s more expensive in the near term, it’s a lot less expensive in the long term to be in the right facility, as opposed to having to make changes along the way as you implement your growth strategy.

Wadle: We perform site analysis for potential customers. One thing that you look at is identifying the right location for your inbound raw materials and for your outbound finished goods locations, to reduce that transportation spend.

Once you’ve picked that location, you also want to look at where you will draw employees from to fill that warehouse. If you’re in a spot where you don’t have access to enough team members, you will be challenged.

We work with our customer to make sure that not only do we find the right location from a transportation standpoint, but also decide if it is the right location for staffing inside the facility. Then we work closely on the configuration.

If we know that a customer’s growth projects that they will need 450,000 square feet in four years, we don’t want to get them into a building that’s 250,000 now and then we’ve got a year to figure out how to add to it or move into another location down the road. We work with the customer to configure the portion of that building they need with the ability to grow into the balance of it.

In the meantime, we’ll work with other partners, other shippers, to bring in third-party freight to defray the cost of that facility so customers can take the full building and be able to grow into it eventually.

Source: www.inboundlogistics.com

Image: www.pixybay.com

The post How transparency enhances and strengthens supply chain partnerships appeared first on Cargo News Today.

Traveling in rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB), kayaks and as swimmers, protesters from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Netherlands and Germany on Sunday went in front of supertankers Waikiki and SFC Baltica in the Baltic Sea, displaying banners with “Oil Fuels War” as Greenpeace calls on Europe to reject and ban Russian fossil fuel imports to weaken the attack on Ukraine.

Mads Flarup Christensen, executive director of Greenpeace Nordic, said, “While people suffer in Ukraine and people in Russia take to the streets pleading for peace, Putin’s oil and gas is still arriving at European ports, contributing to his war chest. Supertankers crossing our seas with Russian oil and gas are still delivering fossils to Europe. If we want to stand for peace, we must stop this and urgently get off oil and gas.”

Waikiki, owned by Greek shipping company Cardiff Marine, is reportedly carrying 100,000 tonnes of crude oil from Russia to Rotterdam, and SFC Baltica, owned by Russia’s Sovcomflot, is transporting 85,000 tonnes of fuel oil from Russia to Antwerp.

© Will Rose / Greenpeace

A new tracking service launched by Greenpeace UK has identified at least 189 supertankers carrying oil and gas from Russia since the start of its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, with 88 of them headed to Europe. Despite some countries declaring a ban on the arrival of Russian vessels, Russian cargo is still arriving via ships registered to other countries.

Russia is the largest source of the European Union’s fossil fuel imports. Europe spends up to $285 million per day on Russian oil, which funds Putin’s war effort, according to the Transport & Environment (T&E) thinktank.

Last week in France, Greenpeace activists confronted Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Boris Vilkitsky at sea, and earlier this month 20 activists from Greenpeace Germany painted ‘No Coal’ and ‘No War’ on the side of the bulk carrier Grant T loaded with 100,000 tons of Russian coal as it approached the port of Hamburg.

Dockers in France, the U.K. and the Netherlands have already refused to unload fossil tankers coming from Russia. And the Swedish Dockworkers Union decided on Thursday to block ships from Russia.

© Jean Nicholas Guillo / Greenpeace

Source: www.marinelinks.com

Image: www.pexels.com

The post Greenpeace Protests Against Ships Carrying Russian Fossil Fuels appeared first on Cargo News Today.