Asia Shipping News Nov 17, 2000
ne...@schednet.com
Friday, November 17, 2000
SchedNet http://www.schednet.com
* Agreements introduce BAF
* Sinokor first at Pyongtaek
* BNSF implements electronic freight payment scheme
* SAGT breaks records with radio data terminal network
* Atlas Air to operate largest fleet of Boeing 747-400 freighters
* Air France comes calling to Dallas/Fort Worth
* Credit where credit's due
Agreements introduce BAF
=========================
ARISING from regular review, member lines of the Asia Westbound Rate
Agreement (AWRA), the Eastbound Management Agreement (EMA) and the
Mediterranean Rate Agreement (MRA) increased the level of their BAF on
November 15.
The new charge has been raised from US$65 per TEU to $77 per TEU. LCL
cargo will bear a charge of $3.85 per revenue ton.
Lines involved include APL, CMA CGM, Senator Lines, Egyptian
International Shipping Company, Egyptian Navigation Co., Hapag-Lloyd,
Hyundai Merchant Marine, K Line, Maersk Sealand, MISC, National
Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, OOCL, P&O
Nedlloyd and Yang Ming.
Sinokor first at Pyongtaek
==========================
SINOKOR Merchant Marine was the first company to begin calls to the
South Korean port of Pyongtaek, with its new Inchon-Hong Kong Service
(IHS).
On October 24, the 431-TEU MV Nordsund arrived in Pyongtaek. It plies
the route with the 573-TEU MV Xiangpeng on a weekly basis, and calls
at Inchon and Kwangyang on the IHS.
The schedule is Inchon (Friday), Pyongtaek (Saturday), Kwangyang
(Sunday) and Hong Kong (Thursday).
Pier 2 is the only berth in use for container operations, with the
other wharves now being used for steel and car carrier vessels. The
stevedorage is arranged by a consortium made up of six companies with
trucking provided by Sunkwang.
Endi Kim, director of Sinokor said: "The initial conflict between the
management and the labour union has been fully resolved, and the
preparations for stevedoring, customs clearance and quarantine have
also been completed. All other negotiations have been finalised, with
Sinokor providing equipment for cargo handling, including cranes, with
the Pyongtaek consortium arranging the stevedorage."
Pyongtaek is situated right under the Inchon port facility and has
direct connections with Seoul via the Central Fast Highway.
The Seoul and Inchon area contains the most production facilities of
any region in the country. However, due to the paucity of
containership berths at Inchon, shippers or consignees have been
having to pay a premium for land transportation to the southeastern
port of Pusan.
For such shippers Pyongtaek has proved to be an ideal alternative to
Pusan.
The government considers the Pyongtaek area as `the first Free Trade
Area' of the country, promoting the region to speed economic
expansion.
With the increase in trade at Pyongtaek it is expected Pusan will see
a drop off of some 200,000 TEU per year and savings in transportation
costs have been estimated to be US$700 million per year.
Other benefits of shipping through Pyongtaek include reduced
environmental impact and a lessening of road congestion.
BNSF implements electronic freight payment scheme
=================================================
THE Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) has
implemented a web-based freight billing and payment application, ePay,
providing customers with the ability to manage their complete freight
payment process over the Internet.
The ePay application makes BNSF one of the first railroads to provide
customers with a complete suite of electronic offerings for handling
freight transactions. Customers can now order and pay for cars,
provide billing instructions, provide car-switching information, and
track and trace their shipment. The tool is available 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
EPay was also demonstrated at the National Industrial Transportation
League's 93rd Annual Meeting, Transcomp 2000, held in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, from November 10.
The tool was given a limited release to solicit customer feedback and
incorporate any suggested enhancements prior to general release, said
Todd Olsen, assistant vice president, finance and information systems
planning. "As a result of these recommendations, we added a dispute
resolution function. The secured, on-line tool allows customers to
view their freight statements at both a summary and detailed level, as
well as initiate payment."
Future enhancements to ePay will include an option for printing
individual BNSF freight bills along with the ability to manage the
billing and payment of miscellaneous bills. In addition, a new search
tool will enable customers to match freight and miscellaneous bills to
their shipments.
SAGT breaks records with radio data terminal network
====================================================
COLOMBO'S South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT) broke its own record in
October with the handling of 30,598 TEU at the former Queen Elizabeth
Quay (QEQ).
This is the first time that QEQ Berths 4/5/6 have handled more than
30,000 TEU in one month. The figure compares with the previous record
of 28,002 TEU which was set in May.
Containers handled in October show a 58 per cent increase in TEU terms
over the same month in 1999. SAGT handled 70 vessels during October
this year, of which three were running new services to the Port of
Colombo. Also in October, a new 24-hour shift record of 1,767 TEU
handled was established at SAGT.
Productivity levels were further improved with the introduction of the
Radio Data Terminal Network (RDT). This is an information technology
utility to enhance terminal efficiency and productivity in vessel and
yard operation activities.
SAGT has invested a significant amount in equipment from Teklogix, and
related software modules for NAVIS SPARCS yard and vessel planning
systems, as well as training SAGT staff on using the new information
technology tool. Overseas trainers and engineers from Teklogix and
NAVIS carried out equipment installation and user training together
with SAGT's IT staff.
Initially, SAGT will use RDT equipment for wharf and deck controlling,
yard position confirmations for receivals and deliveries, damage
recording and seal checks, and the monitoring of refrigerated
containers. With the introduction of RDT equipment, SAGT systems are
updated at point of work as and when terminal activities are
performed, thus minimising wrong data input, paperwork, and also the
need for voice communication between the planners and terminal staff.
SAGT plans to implement RDT in terminal trucks and rubber-tyred gantry
cranes with Automatic Position Detection in March 2001, when Stage 1
of the new terminal is expected to be ready.
Atlas Air to operate largest fleet of Boeing 747-400 freighters
===============================================================
THE Boeing Company has confirmed an order from Atlas Air for four new
Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft.
This purchase is valued at US$750 million making Atlas Air the largest
freighter operator in the world. These orders are existing orders that
have been accounted for in cumulative order totals published by Boeing
earlier this month. The aircraft are also part of an order previously
placed in 1997.
"I'm pleased to announce that Atlas will take delivery of four new
747-400s from Boeing in 2002," said Michael Chowdry, Atlas Airlines
chief executive officer. "These aircraft will come with the same
attractive economics as the twelve 747-400s currently in our fleet. We
look forward to the delivery of these aircraft and their profitable
placement into service."
Atlas Air operates 38 Boeing 747s, 12 of which are new-technology
747-400 freighters. With the addition of these four new aircraft,
Atlas Air will have sixteen 747-400 freighters.
"Having the right product to meet our customers' needs is very
important to us," said Seddik Belyamani, executive vice president,
sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group. "The 747-400 freighter has
the greatest capacity of any commercial air freighter and is the only
new production freighter capable of more than a 120-ton payload."
Air France comes calling to Dallas/Fort Worth
=============================================
AIR France is to expand its presence in the US when it begins a
non-stop service between Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and
Air France's hub at Charles De Gaulle Airport on May 7 next year.
"Unlike other non-stop services to Paris offered from DFW, customers
will have easy one-stop connections to more than 85 cities throughout
Europe, the Middle East and Africa," said Bruno Matheu, executive vice
president, Air France network. "Metroplex area business travellers
will be able to make easy connections to many cities throughout the
world that were previously difficult for them to reach."
Air France will operate Airbus A340 aircraft on the route, with flight
323 leaving Dallas/Fort Worth at 1915 hrs and arrive in Paris at 1130
hrs the following day. Flight 320 will leave Paris at 1340 hrs and
arrive at Dallas/Fort Worth at 1710 hrs.
"The United States is Air France's most important non-French market,"
said Christopher Korenke, vice president and general manager US for
Air France. "DFW will be part of this growing market when it becomes
our 13th gateway to Europe."
"This new service by Air France is a reflection of the robust
international business climate of the DFW Metroplex," said Joe Lopano,
DFW's executive vice president, marketing. Dallas/Fort Worth Airport
will be the second Texas airport served by Air France. Currently, Air
France flies daily between Houston's George Bush Intercontinental
Airport and Paris.
Credit where credit's due
=========================
FINE Air Services Corp. has obtained final approval for a two-year
US$55 million line of secured financing from the Bank of America, its
current lending institution.
The credit facility was approved by US bankruptcy judge Jay Cristol in
Miami, where Fine Air and its subsidiaries, including Arrow Air, have
been operating under the protection of the bankruptcy court since
filing petitions for Chapter 11 reorganisation on September 27, 2000.
This credit facility ensures that Fine Air will have substantial
financial resources during the entire reorganisation process.
"This financing reassures that we will continue to provide our
services to Latin America and the Caribbean, and retain our position
as the largest scheduled air cargo carrier of international freight
operating out of Miami International Airport. We are confident that
with the help of the court and our creditors, we will be able to
fashion a solution which will benefit everyone including our
employees, our customers, our vendors, our community, and our lending
institutions," said Barry Fine, the carrier's president and chief
executive officer.
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