The MediTelegraph

Swissterminal expands intermodal portfolio, new barge service to Rotterdam and Antwerp

Basel - Switzerland-based integrated logistics provider Swissterminal AG and its partner DP World have announced the introduction of a regular barge service from Basel-Kleinhüningen and Basel-Birsfelden to various deepsea terminals at the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, starting 1 January 2021. With the launch of this new intermodal product, Swissterminal offers two roundtrips each week to Port of Antwerp and Port of Rotterdam

Fortune Italy load heavy lift cargo at Marghera

Venezia - Fortune International Transport in Italy have recently loaded a complete new high pressure separator including all equipment at Marghera in Venice with the destination of China. The heaviest piece weighed 90tn with three additional pieces at 40tn each as well as other cargo in cases totalling 500cbm as a whole shipment

Delta Maritime with transport of tram trains in Greece

Piraeus - Delta Maritime report an ongoing project they are assisting with involving the transport of tram trains from Piraeus Port to Elliniko Tram Station. The project will help the flow of traffic throughout the Athens and Piraeus network

SGP takes over management of King Abdulaziz Port container terminals

Dammam - On 1 October 2020, Saudi Global Ports Company (SGP), one of PSA International’s subsidiaries, officially assumed the management of both first and second container terminals at King Abdulaziz Port Dammam (KAPD), Saudi Arabia. SGP has thus become the sole container terminal operator of the deep-water hinterland port.

UK mulls Scotland-Northern Ireland bridge

London - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched a review aimed at improving transport links across the UK, including a possible bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland, as part of a plan to boost the pandemic-hit economy and strengthen ties between its member nations. The study will consider air links within the country, road and rail links in Scotland, the Welsh rail network

Sally rumbles toward U.S. Gulf Coast, historic flooding possible. Ports closed along the Coast

The U.S. Coast Guard restricted travel on the lower Mississippi River from New Orleans to the Gulf, and closed the ports of Pascagoula and Gulfport, Mississippi, and Mobile

Refiners, offshore producers shut ahead of Hurricane Sally landfall

The U.S. government said 21%, or nearly 396,000 barrels per day (bpd), of offshore crude oil production and 25%, or 685 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), of natural gas output were shut in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

Swiss complete trans-European rail route with Ceneri Tunnel under the Alps

"It's the last part of the puzzle," Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) Chief Executive Vincent Ducrot told reporters. "The goal to have a flat rail line through the Alps has now been achieved."

Amazon's latest grocery store concept opens, with high-tech carts

Los Angeles - Amazon.com Inc on Thursday said it is opening a supermarket in Los Angeles with shopping carts that let customers skip checkout lines, as the e-commerce company builds out its offline presence. The market, in the Woodland Hills neighborhood, is called the Amazon Fresh grocery store. It is the first location to let customers in - by invitation only - out of seven that Amazon has confirmed for Southern California and greater Chicago

Algeria to allow private banks, airlines, shipping firms

Elected in December 2019, Tebboune wants to encourage private investors and improve the investment climate in an effort to develop the non-energy sector and reduce reliance on oil and gas

Kuehne und Nagel second quarter core earnings drop

Swiss freight forwarder Kuehne und Nagel International reported on Tuesday a 12.6% drop in second-quarter core earnings

Webuild to work on €220m contract for Turin-Lyon high-speed railway base tunnel

Turin - Webuild, formerly Salini Impregilo, and its partners have won a €220-million contract to help develop the base tunnel between Turin and Lyon, a major infrastructure project that is part of an ambitious European Union initiative of sustainable mobility to connect the continent’s railway networks and increase the transport of people and goods on rail rather than road

DHL temporarily suspends Chinese import shipments to India

The German logistics company said on Wednesday it has temporarily suspended picking up import shipments from China to India, after border tensions between the countries led to clearance delays

ZIM to meet eCommerce boom with record US-China service

Haifa - Container shipping line ZIM has launched a dedicated service from South China to Los Angeles US West Coast – Speedy ZIM eCommerce Xpress (ZEX) to cater for the increasing needs of eCommerce customers. In a statement, the carrier said the emphasis on eCommerce was particularly relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic

No demand: world’s container ships run near empty

Hong Kong - Warehouses are getting so full of goods like fridges and washing machines that retailers are asking shipping companies to push back deliveries, which may drag global container shipments down as much as 30% in the next few months

Angola confirms first cases as coronavirus spreads over Africa

Many African countries have already shut borders, closed schools and universities and barred large public gatherings to curb the spread of the virus, which has infected over 250,000 people around the world and claimed more than 10,000 lives

Autotrasporto, torna in Sicilia la protesta dei Forconi

Dovrebbe scattare domattina, martedì 7 gennaio, la protesta degli autotrasportatori siciliani contro il caro navi

EU signs 75 million dollars of infrastructure deals with Bosnia

Sarajevo - The European Union and its lending arm, the European Investment Bank, have signed deals with Bosnia worth 68 million euros ($75 million) to help improve the Balkan country’s water supply, flood protection and transport infrastructure

Portugal’s fuel-tanker drivers back down, walkout continues

Lisbon - Portuguese fuel-tanker drivers will maintain their strike indefinitely after a 10-hour meeting of union leaders and government officials ended without an agreement.

Fuel-truck drivers in Portugal raise spectre of empty filling stations

Lisbon - Fuel-tanker drivers raised the spectre of empty filling stations and aviation fuel shortages during Portugal’s busy tourist season on Tuesday, saying they would comply with a government order to go back to work but would not do extra time.

Controlled explosions demolish remains of collapsed Italy bridge

Genoa - Six seconds of controlled explosions wiped out the remains of a collapsed bridge in the northern Italian city of Genoa on Friday, paving the way for a new structure to replace the ageing viaduct that gave way last year, killing 43 people.

Montenegro: chinese Crbc interested in more works

Belgrade - For the highway Bar-Boljare, 129 kilometers long.

The Market of Genoa (SGM): from fruit to logistics

Genoa -The future is logistics. And the Mercato di Genova has for a long time been at the forefront.

China seeks to allay fears over BRI debt risks

Beijing - China aims to make the Belt and Road initiative sustainable and prevent debtrisks, its finance minister said on Thursday, seeking to allay criticism that the infrastructure plan to boost trade and investment creates a heavy burden for some nations

“In Italy we pay costly for the lack of infrastructure”/ INTERVIEW

Marcucci: “There are 15 infrastructure elements, tangible and intangible, that Confetra considers decisive for our development”.

We proudly present: nominees for the FRUIT LOGISTICA Innovation Award 2019

Venice Mestre enhances intermodal station

Venice - The upgrading of intermodal systems in the Venice Mestre railway station area, promoting interconnectivity between rail and road transport modes, and rebuilding the urban fabric of Venice’s Mestre and Marghera neighbourhoods

Ronchese Lavaggi Interport, quality shipping services

In conversation with Managing Director Fabio Pittaluga

Maersk to start reefer rail service in Russia

St. Petersburg - Maersk intends to develop reefer rail service in Russian from sea port into hinterland. According to Maersk Russia, the line has already made test shipments of perishables by rail. Thus, import fruit was dispatched from St. Petersburg to Novosibirsk

The new Synchro-Net approach to multimodal international logistic chains

Rescuers deal with fire in Genoa bridge rubble before day of mourning

Genoa - Day of mourning, funeral planned for Saturday. Some families to boycott that in protest.

Genoa: investors turn on Italy bridge operator after disaster

Genoa - Italy’s biggest toll-road operator came under heavy stock-market attack on Thursday after Rome criticised it for a deadly bridge collapse this week, moving to revoke its concession and accusing it of failing to ensure the viaduct’s safety.

Divača-Koper at 160 km/h / ANALYSIS

THIS past year in Slovenia, there has been a debate on the upgrading of the Divača-Koper rail line. The project, because of its high cost, has been held hostage by the political clash between the majority and the opposition. Suffice it to say that several referendums have been held to stop the project

Workers forced to move 10,000 books in a shift

Pavia - Ten thousand books to be moved in one shift, ‘weekly’ contracts renewed for years, 200 hours of overtime per month, systematic violations of every labour right. These were, according to 300 workers’ stories, the working conditions reported by a study into ‘caporalato’, a kind of illegal job brokerage

DPW to build and operate logistics hub in Mali

Dubai - Global trade enabler Dp World has signed a 20-year concession with an automatic 20-year extension with the Republic of Mali to build and operate a 1000-hectare modern logistics hub outside of Bamako

Continental to invest 4 mln euro in Timisoara tire plant

Timosoara - Automotive parts supplier Continental Romania said it is investing 4 million euro ($4.7 million) to expand the system for treating olfactory emissions at its Timisoara plant, Continental Anvelope.

China launches new Iran train route

Tehran - China sent an inaugural train toward Iran carrying 1,150 tonnes of sunflower seeds.

UPS weighs strategy to deliver bulky goods to boost growth

New York - UPS and its rival FedEx Corp currently deliver parcels up to 150 pounds (68.04 kg) in weight to a person’s door step, and neither carries packages into a person’s home or handles so-called “white glove” services such as product assembly or installation.

Amsterdam connects with the new Silk Road

Amsterdam - A new direct connection has been launched between Amsterdam Container Terminal and Yiwu in China as part of the new Silk Road connecting two of the world’s leading economies. The first train set off on its 11,000 kilometre, 16-day journey on 7 March 2018

World Bank’s IFC calls for investment in Iraq reconstruction

Kuwait - The International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) country manager for Iraq, Ziad Badr, was speaking in Kuwait ahead of an international conference this week for donors and investors to rebuild and revive Iraq’s economy as the country emerges from a devastating three-war against Islamic State.

Global Fruit & Veg market worth €246 billion

Berlin - According to Münch, that figure could reach the 400-billion mark in 2030, with fruit representing 32% of the world’s population daily diet.

“Never in Italy” to Amazon and its bracelet

Roma - In Italy, Amazon’s patent for a wireless bracelet to speed up employees’ retrieval of products stored in warehouses has generated a controversy that has not yet subsided. Minister of Economic Development, Carlo Calenda, has made it clear that such bracelets will never be used in Italy

Suez Authority extends toll cuts for dry bulkers

Port Said - The Suez Canal Authority has extended the discount offered to dry bulk vessels back in April 2017 until the end of 2018. Specifically, a 75% rebate of the canal transit tolls is being offered to laden or ballast dry bulk vessels coming or heading to ports at South West, South and East of Australia

“How RAM will serve to relaunch logistics” / INTERVIEW

Naples - Although he has accumulated titles and presidencies and held prestigious positions throughout in his life, he is still known to everyone as “the professor,” a title to which Ennio Cascetta is particularly attached.He calls himself a perfectionist, and admittedly not an easy personality

EU lawmakers back exports control on spying technology

Brussels - Members of the European Parliament’s trade committee voted by 34 votes to one in favour of a planned update to export controls on “dual use” products or technologies.

ALIS flexes its muscles with three thousand assembly attendees

Rome - As first assemblies go, this one was certainly well attended: if there weren’t 3,000 it wasn’t far off; and, naturally, the representatives of Italy’s ports were in the front row, members of the Logistics Association for Sustainable Intermodality (ALIS), founded by its president, Guido Grimaldi.

Circle among the main companies of 4th Shipping & Intermodal Transport Forum

Genoa - The Italian firm will share its concrete experiences on Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 for the optimization of intermodal Supply Chain.

ECG, new course on Negotiation Management

Brussels - ECG,the Association of European Vehicles Logistics, announces the extension of its education arm to include a new specialist course on Negotiation Management. This new course further reinforces ECG’s commitment to education & training, and complements its successful ECG Academy

Logistics: contract negotiations at an impasse

Genoa - The workers have been without a contract for 22 months.

Kuhne + Nagel, results improve

Genoa - In the third quarter of this year, net sales for the Swiss logistics group Kuehne + Nagel amounted to 4.7 billion Swiss francs (€4.1 billion), up 14.9% from 4.1 billion Swiss francs in July-September 2016.

Laos merely a bystander as China pushes Belt and Road ambitions

Luang Prabang - An ambitious $6 billion high-speed railway project in Laos that would link China with the Laotian capital of Vientiane on the Thai border is meant to be a symbol of cooperation under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative.

Tractor-thief gang dismantled in Savona

Cairo Montenotte - They stole tractors in the area between Liguria and Piedmontand exported them to Romania for reselling in Eastern Europe. The gang of agricultural vehicle-jackers were caught thanks to an operation by the carabinieri police of the Cairo Operational Headquarters

EU to reform sales tax, end appeal of low-rate states in blow to Amazon

Strasbourg - VAT to be charged with rates of EU states where goods are sold. Move aimed at tackling frauds and dissuade tax schemes.

New China-Italy rail connection

Lugo - Rail Cargo Operator (RCO), the intermodal division of Austria’s Rail Cargo Group (RCG), specializing in frequent long-distance connections, handled its first rail link between Taiyuan, in China’s Shanxi province, and Lugo, located near Ravenna, Italy, on behalf of China Container Transportation Corporation (CRCT)

Switzerland ensures slots at Gotthard Tunnel

Locarno - According to the revision of the Law on Freight Transport, the Swiss Federal Council and Parliament have instructed the Federal Transport Office (UFT) to guarantee traffic rights (slots) for both passenger and freight traffic

Switzerland develops Rhine river ports

Basel - The Swiss Federal Office of Transport (UFT),the Cantons of Basel-city and Basel-country, and the Swiss Rhine River Ports (SRH) have signed a declaration of intent for upgrade work at the ports located along the Rhine, including the construction of a third basin at the port of Kleinhüningen

Grimaldi: “Marebonus is running aground”

Rome - “The ‘Marebonus’ is running aground.And doing incalculable damage to Italy’s economy. The road haulage companies believed in the ‘Marebonus’ [i.e. Sea Bonus] to such an extent that they directed their investments to more and more intermodal transportation”

Customs, the return of protectionism: expert panel discussion in Italy

Genoa - This will be the first time the World Customs Law Meeting event is held in Italy, it will take place September 6-8 at the headquarters of Italy’s Customs Agency in Rome.

Top Canadian investor says U.S. behind in race for infrastructure capital / INTERVIEW

Toronto - Ontario Teachers’ CIO says Canada better positioned. Pension fund held talks with White House officials. Says U.S. considering copying some Canadian plans.

Pre-clearing set to begin for automotive in Italy

Ravenna - In early September advanced customs clearance proceduresfor motor vehicles are set to start. A trial period by Italy’s Customs Agency will last six months, and it will represent the first time that vehicles are also included, since 2014, when the procedures started being applied to containers

Titan ships machinery from Italy to India

La Spezia - Italian firm Titan Project & Logistic shipped of machinery for a tannery.The machinery was picked up from the Italian tannery after dismantling and was stuffed, lashed and loaded on a 20’ flat at the Titan premises as photographed. The shipment then left La Spezia in Italy bound for Nhava Sheva, India

The Peleggi era winds down: Kessler to take over as Italy’s Customs Agency director

Genoa - On the docks Peleggi will be remembered for creating an IT infrastructure that enabled Italy to handle expanded freight traffic.

The Swisstrain expands its service offering

Frenkendorf - The Swisstrain, a transportation product offered by Frenkendorf-based Swissterminal AG, expands its service portfolio. As from 10 July 2017, the train will serve the Port of Antwerp in addition to the Port of Rotterdam.

Venice, double link to Frankfurt

Venice - The German company Lokomotion Rail, has introduced a new pair of trains on the freight rail link between Venice and Frankfurt, on behalf of DB Cargo. They were originally meant to be used on the Bologna-Frankfurt line

Milestone Logistics leads an alliance in Spain

Valencia - Milestone Logistics in Spain announces they are leading an alliancewith four other companies to offer full services in the supply chain. The “360 Alliance”, which offers logistics consulting services, international transport, warehouse logistics and packaging solutions, is led by Milestone Logistics

PSA Voltri-Pra’, extended hours at gate

Genova - As a result of the increase in the flow of container traffic at the PSA Terminal Voltri-Pra’, from 1 June to 15 September, acceptance hours will be extended at the lorry gate. The summer Monday to Friday operating hours are the following

Big breakbulk Genoa to Veracruz shipment / GALLERY

Genova - Alpha Maritime Services,Ufo representative in Italy, successfully handled breakbulk shipment to Mexico. A total of 995tns / 1,950 cbm of cargo was shipped from Genoa Port in Italy to Veracruz Port in Mexico for an important client

HMM takes three Hanjin berths in Kaohsiung

Kaoshiung - Taiwan’s port of Kaohsiung has completed the handing over of three container berths, previously operated by the now-defunct Hanjin Shipping, to Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) on Thursday, increasing the number of HMM-operated berths to five

Asia’s first automated terminal operational

Qingdao New Qianwan Container Terminal in China has become Asia’s first fully automated container terminal after servicing the 13,386 TEU “Cosco France” on May 11. Locals refer to it as the “ghost port” after watching its machines and trucks operating day and night to unload the vessel without people in sight

Yilport starts investments in Ecuador

Puerto Bolívar - Yilport Holding started investments in Ecuador’s Puerto Bolívar container terminal by installing two mobile harbor cranes. The MHCs arrived on 21 May, and the equipment will be operational by the first week of June, the company said in its press release

Assiterminal’s new president is Luca Becce

Genoa - Luca Becce, 57, who is from Savona, has held various managerial positions in the GIP Group and is currently C.E.O. of TDT, Terminal Darsena Toscana, in Livorno.

Proven track record at JSL Global in Qatar / GALLERY

Doha - JSL Global completed the offloading,local transportation and handling of 40 modules arriving at Hamad Port from Croatia. Each module weighed 25mt with dimensions of 14.0 x 3.6 x 3.6m. When the vessel berthed at Hamad Port, JSL noticed that the cargo was very delicate and because of its hollow structure

Throughput record for Contship in La Spezia

La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT) has recorded its largest ever result in container throughput in the first four months of 2017. Total throughput at the terminal, which is the leading gateway container handling facility in Italy operated by the Contship Italia Group

Genoa: new services at PSA Terminal

Genova - Tuesday 9 May was the day of the inauguration of the new ship services at the PSA Voltri-Pra Terminal. The first is Ocean Alliance’s MED1 - operated by Evergreen, OOCL, CMA, APL and Cosco - which will call at the terminal for the first time with the 14,000-TEU container carrier “Tampa Triumph”

Russian automotive backs on track

Moscow - The big freeze in Russia’s car market may just have started thawing.Domestic vehicle sales rose late last year for the first time in almost two years with further growth during the first quarter of 2017 after a 9.4% surge year-on-year in March, according to the Association of European Businesses

China invests $124bn in Belt and Road project

Beijing - The Chinese government is investing tens of billions of dollars as partof an ambitious economic plan to rebuild ports, roads and rail networks. China’s President Xi Jinping has pledged $124bn (£96bn) for the scheme, known as the Belt and Road initiative: “Trade is the important engine of economic development,”

Logistics: digital and borderless into the future

Munich - The digital revolution was topic No. 1 at transport logistic 2017, which took place from May 9 to 12, 2017 in Munich. Another much-discussed topic of the discussions was rising national protectionism which is a risk for international trade

Codognotto: “Italian logistics needs bigger margins” / INTERVIEW

“Operators are crushed by demand for lower and lower prices

“Marebonus” and “Ferrobonus” to start by May

Rome - “We’re satisfied with the sense of urgency and availability shown by the Ministry of Transport in relation to the needs of the haulage and logistics sector, as, by securing the funding destined for the sector in 2018 and 2019, it has recognized the sector’s fundamental role” it said from ANITA

Interporto Sud Europa, tenders launched

Caserta - A call for tenders for the expansion project of its multimodal terminal was posted on the Interporto Sud Europa (ISE) website, with 26 April as the closing date. The project involves the rail area of the terminal, slated for a doubling of its intake and delivery tracks, to increase to a total of six

Montecargo profit falls in 2016

Podgorica - Montenegrin majority state-owned rail cargo operator Montecargo said its net profit fell to 12,789 euro ($13,895) in 2016 from 53,717 euro a year earlier. The company’s operating profit decreased 12.9% to 6.2 million euro, while operating costs declined 4.3% to 6.2 million euro

ECG celebrates 20 years of activity

Brussels - ECG,the Association of European Vehicle Logistics is proud to announce its twentieth year as the leading voice of the European vehicle logistics sector. The Association had the pleasure to commemorate this momentous anniversary along with over 250 of its members, supporters and industry friends

Freight cleared in under five minutes

Genoa - Italy’s customs one-stop-shop going digital. With the spread of electronic filing, 92% of freight clears customs in record time.

Hupac boosts service Novara-Lubeck service

Novara - Swiss intermodal operator Hupac, in collaboration with Germany’s Kombiverkehr, has increased to five its weekly departures in both directions along the rail linking the inland port of Novara CIM (Eurogateway terminal) and the Baltic Rail Gate terminal in Lübeck-Travemünde

Arcese, work starts on new logistics hub

Genoa - Italian logistics and transport group Arcese began the construction of a new multimodal platform in Basiano, in the province of Monza and Brianza.

Conxion handles large boiler for Qatar Fertilizer

Doha - Qatari PCN members, Conxion Logistics & Heavy Equipment have successfully handled the national transport of a large RG boiler with dimensions of 14.00 x 3.20 x 3.80m and a weight of 70tns from Hamad Port to the Mesaieed Industrial City for Qatar Fertilizer Company

“Freight trains on the high-speed lines at night” / INTERVIEW

Genova - Andrea Gentile,55, is the new president of Assologistica as of a few days ago. Assologistica is the association that represents the 250 logistical operators, that is, Italy’s general and refrigerated warehouses, port terminals, freight villages and airports

“A logistics system combined with Europe”/ INTERVIEW

Milan - Mearelli (Assologistica): “But Italy must reduce the power of the Regions”.

“This is how we get to the heart of Europe” / INTERVIEW

Laguzzi: “The Mediterranean is increasing centrality, new opportunities for rail services”

STS, analysts puzzled over business plan

Genoa - The strategy of Ansaldo STS and Hitachi Rail Italy,its majority shareholder, is not convincing analysts. According to investment consultancy firm Equita, following results for the first nine months of the year, no indication on finding potential synergies with Hitachi have emerged

Deutsche Post van signals new entrant threat to auto industry

Frankfurt - Software advances allow new entrants into auto industry. Suppliers’ knowhow has blossomed since global crisis. Deutsche Post making vans without producing a single component.

DHL buys MIT

Rome - DHL Supply Chain Italy, the Deutsche Post DHL group company which specialises in managing integrated logistical services for companies, acquired 100% of MIT, a leading Italian company in high-tech advanced logistical services.

New border inspection post at Naples

Naples - On 26 September in Naples, a new single Border Inspection Post (PIF) will be inaugurated.

Amazon set to increase bet on Italy

Milan - Online retailer Amazon.com is set to announce on Friday the first in a seriesof investments in Italy worth at least 500 million euros ($550 million), a bet on the government’s plan to go from laggard to leader in digital commerce, sources said. Amazon will invest 150 million euros to build a major storage centre

Customs: 90% of declarations take less than 5 minutes

Genoa - The World Bank has moved Italy from 56th, to first position worldwide, in the Trading Across Borders indicator - and for ease of doing business, Italy’s rank rose from 65th to 45th.

MSC attacks Italian terminals

Genoa - The MSC Group has its eyes on Italy’s docks. And it does so having become the sole operator of the container terminal managed by Conateco in the port of Naples, given that the Chinese COSCO Group has left the scene.

New weight rule for containers isn’t leading to congestion at Italian ports

Genoa - The rule entered force Friday, 1 July. Its implementation represents a small upheaval for ports and the logistics sector, Italy’s included.

SOLAS Convention: Genoa ready in 3 months

Genoa - The weighing of containers in the port of Genoa has already startedon a trial basis, prior to the worldwide entry into force of the SOLAS Convention, on 1 July. At the port of Genoa the new system will be fully up to speed within the next three months

Grimaldi acquires stake in Autoterminal

Naples - The Grimaldi Group has acquired through Automar(led by Costantino Baldissara and jointly owned by Grimaldi: 40%, Bertani: 40%, Mercurio: 20%) a 50% stake in Autoterminal Gioia Tauro. The car terminal had been, until now, wholly owned by Germany’s BLG Logistics

Europe on track for a hike in car production

Baveno - “Factory-Europe” is getting a bit of a boost, the Mediterranean area is again a consumer market.