AVEM AERO, Flightline, Business Wings, RAF-AVIA and another anonymous carrier said that demand for urgent cargo was down by around 30% between September and November compared with pre-pandemic levels.

The main reason for the decrease is an unprecedented semiconductor shortage in the automotive industry and lower consumer demand for vehicles.

Ignacio Isla Moreno, commercial director of Flightline SL, said: “The industry is missing semiconductor and microchips, many of the world’s leading automakers have been forced to cut production by temporarily closing down some of their manufacturing facilities.

“On the other hand, consumers have little demand for such products. For example, Europe slowly switches to electric cars, for many reasons, so Europeans don’t feel much need for new auto spare parts. Additionally, people still don’t know what will be in the future, they wait for uncertain times to end. All these impact the situation in the urgent cargo flights market.”

Nikolay Kurbanov, managing director of AVEM AERO, added: “Automotive spare parts always were dominating cargo for ‘go now’ carriers. Experts give different prognosis for the chip shortage to be resolved — from no way in any time soon to the second half of 2022.

“Doing the best to survive through these times we expanded our business to other types of services, for example, launched Flight Dispatch and Operations Control Centre services.”

The airlines said that the autumn months are typically a busy time of year, but this year there have been peaks and troughs.

Lars Best, managing director of Business Wings, explained: “September was the deadest, October was better, and November was even better but still lower than pre-Covid times.”

On pricing, Jelena Rigere, commercial director of RAF-AVIA, said that rates for urgent cargo flights became even lower this year due to increased market proposition.

Kurbanov added: “If it continues as it is now, when service is offered cheaper and cheaper, this is way to devastating crises for businesses.”

Source: www.aircargo.com

Image: www.pexels.com

The post Troubled automotive sector hits demand at go-now carriers appeared first on Cargo News Today.

Turkish marine operations company, ARAS Marine will use the Falcon to support the wide range of projects it undertakes in both International and Turkish territorial waters. These projects range from marine construction and offshore supply services, to seismic research support, emergency response and salvage and wreck removal.

“Equipped for the wide array of tasks ahead, ARAS’s 1000m depth-rated Falcon comes complete with a fibre optic upgrade, manipulator, soft rope cutter, cameras, Tritech sonar and Applied Acoustics’ USBL system,” said Saab Seaeye.

Modular functionality

ARAS can add further systems any time as the Falcon can handle an array of cameras, sensors, tooling and complex systems typically found on much larger robotic vehicles.

The ease of adding systems comes from the Falcon’s iCON intelligent distributed control architecture. Module-focused iCON provides each device with its own microprocessor for individual control – a concept that also makes it future-flexible for evolving technologies.

The Falcon’s 20-year success comes from being a portable, metre-sized, intelligent, powerful, five-thruster, highly manoeuvrable, multi-tasking, easy to use vehicle, depth rated to 1000 metres.

With a reliability record covering over a million hours underwater, including deep tunnel work, the Falcon can remain stable in turbulent waters and strong currents whilst undertaking both robust and precision tasks.

The contract was negotiated through Saab Seaeye’s Turkish distributor, Aspiro.

Source: www.maritimejournal.com

Image: www.pexels.com

The post Falcon aids Turkish operations appeared first on Cargo News Today.

The acquisition, which is part of a broader strategy to expand and diversify MICCO’s growing vehicle fleet, boosts its local final-mile vaccine delivery capability to over 1.1 million vaccine doses per day.

The addition supports the work of the Hope Consortium, an Abu Dhabi-led public-private partnership developed to respond to one of the greatest logistical challenges in history by delivering large quantities of COVID-19 vaccines locally and globally from its hub in Abu Dhabi.

Expansion of the fleet extends Abu Dhabi Ports’ scope of services, as well as its range of supply-chain solutions for last-mile delivery certified by licence from the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH).

Robert Sutton, head of logistics cluster, Abu Dhabi Ports, commented: “The investment in advanced technology places Abu Dhabi in a strong position to not only offer extended services to its healthcare sector partners, but also fulfil the goal of the Hope Consortium to end the pandemic and help chart a sustainable pathway to recovery.

“Abu Dhabi Ports is committed to diversifying and extending its logistical solutions to accommodate all types of vaccines on the market through our specialised final-mile fleet. By working closely with the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), we are ensuring that MICCO is equipped with the most advanced chilled vehicles currently available on the market, elevating our emirate’s logistics capabilities for years to come.”

Equipped with complete data loggers and advanced temperature monitoring, the brand-new fleet will be capable of carrying vaccines, medical equipment, or pharmaceutical products from Abu Dhabi Ports’ 19,000 sqm cold and ultra-cold storage facility located at Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) to healthcare centres across the UAE.

The fleet has been fitted with cooling equipment to support handling of vaccines requiring a temperature range of 2°C to 8°C, as well as -80°C with the addition of specialised packaging.

Clifford D’souza, Executive Vice President and COO, MICCO Logistics, said: “This significant investment serves to boost MICCO’s overall capability to transport vaccines and other sensitive pharmaceuticals to all corners of the UAE safely and efficiently, and across a wide-range of temperature bands.

“Our ability to incorporate advanced digital systems that provide for monitoring and tracking in real-time, assures our customers, including hospitals, clinics, vaccine centres, and testing centres, full product transparency and integrity. Through these solutions, we are positively reinforcing Abu Dhabi’s supply chain and its capability to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our age.”

Image from pixabay.com

The post AD Ports expands vaccine supply chain solution appeared first on Global Cargo Insight.

The post AD Ports expands vaccine supply chain solution appeared first on Cargo News Today.