Denmark’s Maersk Line, and its sister Safmarine, have revealed they will commence a new service from August 12, called the FEW3, linking the Far East with southern and west Africa.

Cargo Info News was told that the rotation is expected to be Shanghai, Shenzhen,Yantian, Guangzhou, Nansha, Tanjung Pelepas, Durban, Pointe Noire,Tin Can Island, Durban and Shanghai. The number and size of vessels has yet to be determined.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Foreign trade value at the world’s biggest container port, Shanghai, increased 39.5% year-on-year to US$315.58-billion in the first half of 2010, reported news agency, Xinhua.

Encouragingly, the increase to a record high also represents a 6.5% jump on the same period of 2008, the time before the global financial crisis. In the first six months, Shanghai’s export value came to US$192.05-bn, increasing 2.1% on the first half before the recession in 2008. Imports increased 14% to US$123.53-bn over those 2008 figures – giving a trade balance of +US$68.53-bn.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Chinese car manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group yesterday announced it had completed the acquisition of 100% of Volvo Car Corporation from Ford Motor Company.

The company commented: “This famous Swedish premium brand will remain true to its core values of safety, quality, environmental care and modern Scandinavian design as it strengthens the existing European and North American markets and expands its presence in China and other emerging markets."
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Trade statistics for June released last week by the South African Revenue Service reveal a trade surplus of R5.6 billion.

Exports for the period increased by 17.8% while imports were up 5.2%. Exports for June (up by R8.4 billion or 17.8%) amounted to R55.6 billion and imports (up by R2.5 billion or 5.2%) to R49.9 billion. This compares to a deficit of R0.3 billion in May, a month-on-month improvement of R5.9 billion.

Reasons for the trade surplus are attributed to postponed merchandise trading activities as a result of the Transnet industrial strike of May 2010 and positive growth in seasonal exports in the citrus industry The cumulative deficit for the year to date is R7.8 billion compared to R17.8 billion in 2009, an improvement of R10 billion or 56%.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

“A massive growth” in volumes is creating a challenge for the Port of Ngqura, executive manager for Eastern Cape Terminals, Siya Mhlaluka told Cargo Info News. “Things are growing so fast,” he added, “that the number of containers supersedes the current number of operating staff. But the terminal is currently accelerating its resources plan, boosting the work-force from the present three gangs to five gangs by the end of September.”
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The container truckers body (Durban Harbour Carriers Association) is to look for members’ support for a vote of no-confidence in the ability of Durban container terminal (DCT) management.

Post-strike terminal performance was described as “pathetic”, and a call was made for mother body, the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff), to have this sent by chairman, Basil Pieterson, to Chris Wells, Transnet acting-CEO.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The proposal to reduce the permissible maximum rear axle mass for heavy freight vehicles from 9 000-kilograms to 8 000-kgs has now “been put on ice”, according to Gavin Kelly, technical and operations manager of the Road Freight Association (RFA).
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Weighing containers before loading would go a long way to clearing the ambiguity over liability of boxes lost as sea, according to UK P&I Club insurance expert, Martyn Haines.

Haines was reported on the Internet as telling a London conference that bills of lading and cargo manifests are either misleading or just plain wrong about weights and content, which become a problem in establishing liability among the usual suspects - shipowners, shippers and crew.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The SA Revenue Service (sars) has announced that a new form for the remittance of value-added tax (VAT) was introduced on Monday (June 28).

According to information released to Cargo Info News by communications officer Siba Mfabe the changes to the VAT 201 form will impact all vendors, but specifically those involved in the import and export and of goods. They will now be required to indicate separately on their declarations all transactions involving the import and the export of goods.

The new VAT201 form was also available on eFiling from Monday – and the tax authorities added that taxpayers who submit their VAT201 manually must utilise the form as was provided to them by Sars. It believes that the changes being introduced will help to improve efficiency and compliance across the different taxes administered by SARS.

The updated form includes the following additional information fields that will have to be filled in.

• A field (Field 2A) indicating zero-rated supplies of all goods exported from the Republic of South Africa.
• A field (Field 14A) for the calculation of input tax that applies to capital goods imported in respect of which a valid release document is held.
• A field (Field 15A) for the calculation of input tax that applies to non-capital goods imported in respect of which a valid release document is held.
• A Customs Code next to the field for “Trading or other name”. This is the eight-digit number issued to importers and exporters when they register with SARS. The Customs Code will serve to link the information declared for Customs purposes to the information declared for VAT purposes.

“If field 2A, 14A and 15A have been completed,” Sars added, “it will be mandatory to fill in the customs’ code.” The authority recognised that these changes may impact vendors’ accounting systems which may have to be reconfigured to enable reporting on transactions that involve the import and the export of capital and non-capital goods.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Dubai has just opened what is planned to become the world’s largest airport, starting with cargo operators, making the emirate a two-airport city, as it aspires to build itself into a global logistics hub.

Dubai Airports said in statement, said that the Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International (DWC) already has 16 freight carriers signed up. According to Airwise News, phase one of DWC includes one runway capable of handling Airbus A380 superjumbos, 64 remote stands, one cargo terminal with capacity for 250 000-tonnes of cargo annually and a passenger terminal building capable of handling 5-million passengers a year. When completed, the airport will have five runways, up to four terminal buildings and the capacity for 12-m tonnes of freight and 160-m passengers a year.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

News that “public-private partnerships (PPAs)” are back on the Transnet agenda has been welcomed. Chris Matchett, Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) executive head infrastructure, told Cargo Info News that PPPs were likely to focus on container terminal development and operations, but would not exclude private investments in other, more basic infrastructure.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Gautrain management have confirmed the fares for the new high-speed rail link when it becomes operational in June. The system will open with two train services between OR Tambo International Airport and Sandton.

The “Airport Service” will cost a commuter R100 for a single train trip to the airport. All airport trains connect directly with Sandton station. The “Commuter Service” will link all the stations with the exception of the airport. A single train trip from Sandton to Marlboro will cost R16.50, from Sandton to Rhodesfield R21.00; and from Marlboro to Rhodesfield R18.50.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The Transnet strike is over as the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) members accepted the new offer, the union's policy and research officer, Jane Barrett told Cargo Info News yesterday afternoon.

"We have accepted... We have signed," added deputy president, Robert Mashego. "We are not happy about the offer per se, but we think we can live with it." Members are due to begin returning to work today (Friday) and everybody was expected to be back in their posts by Monday latest.

The highlights of the final settlement are:
1. 11% increase on basic wage plus all workers will receive an additional 1% of annual salary - paid as a once off payment in June, and not built into the salary.
2. R1000 ex gratia payment to allemployees.
3. Medical aid subsidy to be extended to workers belonging to medical schemes other than Transmed (additional accredited schemes still to be agreed by the parties).
4. Medical allowance to be paid to workers who do not currently belong to any medical aid scheme.
5. 1000 contract workers to be employed on a permanent basis by October. An agreed process for the placement of remaining contract workers, including the nature of their employment contracts.
6. The lifting of the minimum wage from R38 000 pa to R50 000.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Despite hopes to the contrary, British Airways failed to reach agreement with cabin crew on Sunday and the first wave of strikes began yesterday (Monday). Cabin crew have downed tools until Friday, with the second wave of strikes beginning on Sunday.

Joint Unite Union leader Tony Woodley said there had been “fantastic progress” during talks on Saturday and yesterday’s Guardian reported that he was furious after protesters from the Socialist Workers’ party invaded the meeting, which had to be halted and the police called in. One of the key issues in the dispute appears to be the reinstatement of travel concessions. The union did not endear itself to BA CEO Willie Walsh when one of the leaders was accused of sending out live Twitter updates during Saturday’s meeting – a move that Walsh said “undermined confidence”.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Transnet has confirmed that the second round of mediation, under the independent arbitrators’ body, the CCMA, concluded at 04:00-hours yesterday (Wednesday) and was “constructive and positive”.

The unions, Utatu and Satawu, were reported to have taken with them a draft deal which they will put before their members for a mandate. The employer and union negotiators are due to reconvene at 16:00-hrs today (Thursday) – after which Transnet have promised to release a full report on the details of the negotiations. With an estimated two-thirds of Transnet’s workforce having been on strike since Monday last week, SA’s sea-borne export and import trades have ground to a halt. It was also said that a separate settlement had been reached to end a strike at Passenger Rail Agency (Prasa), which left millions of commuters stranded this week.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) has advised of various road closures at the airport leading up to and during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. According to a spokesman for the Airports Company of SA (Acsa) various roads, such as the lower roadway, which is normally used for pick-ups at arrivals, will be closed to the general public.

“We advise people to use the parking bays if they are picking up people. The airport has a 15 minute free parking grace period in all parking areas, which gives enough time to collect and drive off,” said the spokesman. In the meantime the upper driveway will only be used for the drop-off of passengers. No passengers will be allowed to be picked up from this level.

Acsa’s assistant GM for operations at the airport, Tebogo Mekgoe, called on the public to be patient during the next few weeks as the airport prepares for the influx of passengers at the busiest airport on the African continent. “It is during this demanding period when we expect up to 50 000 people to be moving in-and-out of ORTIA on a daily basis that we want to keep operations as seamless as possible.”
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

With no sign of resolution in sight for wage negotiations between Transnet and the transport unions, a well-placed shipping source estimates that strike action could drag on for a further two weeks. Our source believes that this will result in up to 50 ships sitting off Durban – which would take three months to clear. “This will be the biggest disaster for the shipping industry in living memory,” he said. And his concern is that Transnet will remain intransigent and “will starve them into coming back to work. “The repercussions of this could be a go-slow or further strike action down the line,” he said. “A speedy resolution is critical.”
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Transnet called on union leadership to ensure discipline amongst members and ensure that there was no violence and intimidation against those colleagues who choose to work as SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union members embarked on strike action after rejecting the revised offer of an 11% increase on pensionable income.

Utatu, which represents 45% of our employees in the bargaining chamber (Satawu represents 39%), has chosen not strike as it consults it member on the latest offer. The SA Police Force is on high amid concerns about the impact of a divided workforce, especially with regard to violence and intimidation. According to Transnet’s recognition agreement, the unions are responsible for discipline and order during a strike. Picketing rules have been agreed between management and Satawu in all regions.

“We have tabled a fair wage increase offer. Still, we accept that in a progressive economy like ours every worker has a right to strike. This is a protected strike which means that whilst workers will not lose their jobs for going on strike, Transnet, as the employer, also has a right to apply the “no work, no pay” rule”, a Transnet spokesman said. “We appeal to those of our colleagues who choose to strike today to respect the rights of those colleagues who choose to come to work. “In addition to increasing our vigilance and capacity to detect any acts of violence and intimidation, our legal team is ready to ensure that any acts of violence, vandalism and/or intimidation are severely and immediately dealt with. The company intends instituting both criminal and disciplinary charges against those found to have broken the law and the agreed picketing rules.”

Ahead of today’s strike action, our seven Command Centres went live to ensure the movement of key commodities as well as the safety and security of Transnet’s employees and assets. On Sunday extra trains were put on to transport key commodities. Transnet employs nearly 54 000 employees in its five operating divisions: Transnet Freight Rail, Transnet Rail Engineering, Transnet National Ports Authority, Transnet Port Terminals and Transnet Pipelines About 85% of the company’s employees are unionised.”
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The divided labour movement has led to reports of intimidation of non-strikers in the major port city of Durban yesterday.

The workers body, the United Transport and Allied Workers Union (Utatu) expressed concern at intimidation of its members by the other union, the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu). Utatu was still deciding whether to join the nationwide Transnet strike, and president George Strauss said: “I just had calls from Durban where people are being intimidated. It is totally unacceptable due to the fact that we haven't said yes or no. Give us a chance to talk to our members.”
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Transnet is making huge efforts to lobby government for the premises of the old Durban Airport in order to build a second port in Durban.
According to Pumi Motsoahae, a Transnet planning specialist, feasibility studies and other research around the use of the land has been completed. “We are making major efforts to try to secure this land and to convince government that a second port is the way for the future.” Motsoahae said plans for the port would include a car terminal as well as a 16-berth container terminal.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Motorists, who are still feeling the pinch of the March fuel price increase, should brace themselves for a further price hike on Wednesday. The Energy Department says motorists will have to fork out an extra 14 cents for a litre of all types of petrol. The price changes mean that the cost of a litre of 95 ULP petrol in Gauteng will go up from R8.58 to R8.72 and from R8.35 to R8.48 in the coast. The cost of Diesel 0.05% and Diesel 0.005 will rise by 29.5 cents a litre.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The national strike at Transnet is now diarised for May 10 – with the 50 000 union members due to down tools at the start of the first shift on that Monday. The strike has been called by the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) and the United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Utatu). This is supposed to bring Transnet Freight Rail (TFR); Transnet Rail Engineering; Transnet Port Terminals (TPT); Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA); Transnet Pipelines; Transnet Capital Projects and the corporate head office to a grinding halt.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) on Friday released trade statistics for March 2010, revealing a trade surplus of R0.46 billion. This was due to an increase in imports of 11.16% and an increase in exports of 27.50%.

Exports for March 2010 of R51.53 billion and imports of R51.08billion resulted in a surplus of R0.46 billion. Imports increased by R5.13 billion (11.16%) to R51.08 billion and exports increased by R11.11 billion (27.50%) to R51.53 billion. The trade surplus for March 2010 at R0.46 billion (Deficit of R0.57 billion in March 2009) compared to a deficit of R5.5 billion in February 2010, is a month-on-month improvement of R6 billion. The cumulative deficit for the year to date is R8.56 billion compared to R19.01 billion in 2009, an improvement of R10.45 billion or 55%.
Souce: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Despite assurances on Monday from Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) that the backlogs from the Durban strike last week had been cleared, the latest port information forwarded to Cargo Info News by Lawrie Bateman, MD of rail users, MSC Logistics, indicates differently.

Yesterday (Wednesday) there were still 12 trains stacked up at Kings Rest waiting to get into the port area with about 447 export containers aboard; while there were 1 024 import containers still on the docks waiting to be uplifted.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Pretoria – Transport Minister, S’bu Ndebele, says government has invested more than R19 billion rand on public transport infrastructure for the World Cup to ensure that the tournament leaves a rich legacy for the country and continent.

Speaking at the opening of the new Central Terminal Building at OR Tambo International Airport yesterday, Ndebele said the department was ready to provide reliable, safe and secure, convenient and affordable transport to spectators attending matches.

“Special dedicated trains and buses will be deployed to ferry fans to the respective stadiums across the country. A multi-disciplined operational team is currently working on the issue of train delays in certain areas,” he said. Ndebele said the R23 billion Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP), which is one of the largest such projects to date, is scheduled for completion by the end of the year. He added that all outstanding construction work would be suspended for the duration of the World Cup and would not result in any adverse impact on traffic movement between World Cup venues.

”On completion, the network will provide an interconnected freeway system of inner and outer ring roads, including high occupancy vehicle lanes that will contribute to the reduction of congestion,” he said. He added that traffic law enforcement would be deployed on identified routes with high traffic volumes as well as routes leading to and from host cities, airports, hotels, stadia, fan parks, public viewing areas and other places of interest. Meanwhile, Ndebele said the opening of the new terminal highlighted the country's world-class airport infrastructure.

He said the Cape Town International Airport had also undergone a complete transformation and boasted a common-use central terminal with vastly improved retail and food beverage offerings, additional parking bays as well as a significantly improved road network. In Durban, the new King Shaka Airport will be operational from May 1 and will be officially opened on May 8 by President Jacob Zuma.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

SAA flights between SA, London, Frankfurt and Munich started normal scheduled operations yesterday (Wednesday) – with an extra London flight last night. Details from SAA’s call centre – Telephone: 011 978-1111 or 0861 606-606.

Regular users of the N3 are warned to take note of expected blasting for the Multi Product Pipeline that is set to take place in the vicinity of the toll road in the coming days. On April 22 there will be blasting north of Bergville Interchange; 23, 24 and 26 April at the Winterton Colenso Interchange; 12 km north of the Tugela River on 28 and in the vicinity of the Tugela River on 29 April.

According to the Road Freight Association, notification has been given of the blasting that is set to take place daily before 1pm. The N3 Toll Route will be closed for at least 30 minutes during the blasts in the interest of safety. In the meantime the concrete repair work taking place between Cedara and Mngeni River is expected to be completed by the end of April, while the rehabilitation and resurfacing of the Van Reneen’s Pass should be finished by the end of the year. Anyone with problems on the route can call the N3TC Customer Careline.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The building of a multibillion-rand, high-speed rail link between Durban and Johannesburg - which would cut transport times from about 12 to three hours - is included in the national transport master plan 2050.

A high speed rail link between Durban and Johannesburg will encourage the move from road to rail on what is the country’s busiest, most congested route, Transport minister, Sibusiso Ndebele, said last week. He announced that he would be asking the Cabinet in this financial year to approve a feasibility study for a rail link which would make the R25-billion spent on the 65-kilometre Gautrain line seem like chicken feed.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

On April 15 Maersk Douglas, which had been awaiting cargo at Table Bay harbour, was windbound at Berth 603 for 13 hours and 30 minutes due to wind while Safmarine Asia (Berth 601) was delayed for 14 hours and five minutes for the same reason.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Air cargo operations have been severely disrupted across Europe, with the cloud of volcanic ash drifting in from an eruption in Iceland closing airports.

The following airspaces were reported as affected: AUSTRIA; BELGIUM; BRITAIN; BULGARIA; CZECH REPUBLIC; DENMARK; ESTONIA; FINLAND; FRANCE; GERMANY; HUNGARY; IRELAND; ITALY; LATVIA; LITHUANIA; LUXEMBOURG; NORWAY; NETHERLANDS; POLAND; ROMANIA; SLOVAKIA; SPAIN; SWEDEN.

On Sunday reports were that all Russian airports were open; with Aeroflot flying to the US via the North Pole. SAA flights between SA and and London, Munich and Frankfurt remained grounded over the weekend. And winds blowing the massive volcanic ash cloud could keep lashing Europe until the middle of next week, according to experts.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The active global containership fleet is expected to grow by 12% by the end of the year and by 25% by the end of 2011, according to research by container leasing firm SeaAxis.

Quoted by the UK’s IFW, vice-president Philippe Hoelinger said the current global fleet stood at 13-million TEU capacity, of which 1.6-m TEUs was laid-up. By the end of the year, the fleet would be 13.6-m TEU, but with less than one million laid-up. By the end of 2011, Hoelinger added, almost all the total fleet of 14.4-m TEU would be in use, translating to fleet growth of 25% by the end of 2011.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Rotterdam, Europe’s largest box port, saw a 16% increase in container volumes to 2.6-million TEUs during the first quarter of this year. The first three months also saw total volumes across all trades increase by 14% to 107-m tonnes.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

In view of conflicting information on transport plans during the World Cup, the Road Freight Association has released details of the current state of play.

During match days the areas (approximately 3km radius) surrounding the stadiums will be restricted for normal traffic. There will be a number of Fan Parks and PVAs (Public Viewing Areas) in operation at various locations, some of which are still to be finalised. Traffic delays and limited road restrictions can be expected in the surrounding areas of Fan Parks / PVAs. This will be applicable approximately three hours before and three hours after the games.

No national roads will be closed or restricted as a result of any match activities. The closure of national and feeder routes cannot be excluded; this however will be the result of road incidents or for security reasons. Alternative routes will be made available in the event of such incidents. Increased volume of traffic is expected on secondary roads due to tourists and teams travelling in coaches, buses and taxis. It must be noted that road conditions on these secondary routes are not in a good state in certain areas.

Normal import/export activities at the ports should not be affected by the World Cup, and it should be “business as usual”. Rail transportation will be rescheduled where applicable and in line with the match schedules by TFR, clients and host cities e.g. Durban. Increased volume of traffic is expected in the vicinity of all airports, including regional airports. A number of concerns have however been raised.

Many matches will end at around 23:00. Late night congestion on roads surrounding these venues, Fan Parks, PVAs and Park-and-Ride facilities will be a common occurrence. Unofficial public gatherings / PVAs will occur which may result in more congestion in some areas. This will also increase the risk of intoxicated drivers and pedestrians on the roads. It is therefore recommended that late night transportation be limited.

The high number of road incidents remains a concern and special precautions need to be implemented. An example is the monitoring of vehicles and drivers over this period which needs to be increased to ensure there are no unforeseen incidents/occurrences due to unscheduled stops, insufficient rest periods and participation in the festivities. High congestion is expected at the different border posts which will affect the transit times of imports and exports by road. The queuing of vehicles transporting dangerous goods remains a serious concern at the border posts. The uncontrolled number of activities like cooking, open fires etc. in the vicinity of these vehicles is the order of the day and creates a safety and security risk. The lack of competent emergency services at these areas still exists. An increased safety and security risk exists with regards to hijackings of heavy motor vehicles (especially dangerous goods). It is therefore important to immediately report any hijacking (or attempted hijacking) to the nearest SAPS station. A number of recommendations have been put forward.

Trip planning, journey management, driver awareness and driver pre-trip briefings must be stepped up ensuring all risks and concerns are addressed. Supply of product to clients/customers must be planned well in advance especially around match venues and dates. All deliveries in outlying areas should not be affected by any restrictions, except for possible delays due to traffic congestion.
This information is based on the current status supplied by Fifa, the national, provincial and local authorities.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Emirates Skycargo has advised that its services to the UK have been disrupted by volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajoekull in Iceland. It is likely that its northern European services will also be disrupted as the ashes are blowing in a southeasterly direction, causing several airspaces in the region to close.

Flights to the UK were cancelled yesterday due to the closure of UK airspace as an ash cloud from a volcanic eruption in Iceland moved across the country. The closure of airspace is in keeping with the safety advice issued by UK air traffic control (ATC). The airline has advised customers with European-bound cargo to check with their local office before delivering it to the airport, and to check on www.skycargo.com for further updates.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Efforts to merge United Airlines and US Airways could run into strong headwinds from unhappy pilots and tougher antitrust enforcement, according to news agency, Reuters.

The possibility of a deal to create the world’s second biggest airline sent airline shares higher, the report added, although neither US Airways nor United would confirm discussions that sources said were advancing.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Laid-up containerships have fallen to 8.9% of the global fleet, dropping below nine percent for the first time since February 2009, according to Paris-based Alphaliner’s fortnightly survey.

New services and service resumptions are expected to employ 60 vessels between 3 500 and 6 500-TEU.

There were 455 idle ships at the end of March, totalling 1.18-million TEU. The recent increase in demand led to a rapid reduction of idle tonnage with the idle fleet falling below 1.2-m TEU for the first time in 13-months.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

South Africa's Business Confidence Index (BCI) increased by 0.2 index points to 83.2 in March says the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI). The March 2010 BCI is 4.3 points higher than in March 2009 - the first year-on-year increase since September 2007. The BCI registered its lowest level of 78.9 in March 2009. The positive changes in export and import volumes were particularly significant in boosting confidence.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The South African security forces, in conjunction with other government departments, have launched a maritime borderline patrol of the South African East Coast from Cape Agulhas to Kosi Bay.

The operation will focus on locating, stopping and searching vessels and crews and if necessary, seizing vessels transgressing South African law. "The main focus will be the search for drug trafficking, smuggling of humans, weapons and counterfeit goods and fishery transgressions.

"The South African Navy frigate, the SAS AMATOLA, sailed from Simon's Town accompanied by the Marine and Coastal Management's fisheries protection vessel, the Lilian Ngoyi," the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) said in a statement.

Various members of the South African Police Service and members of the intelligence agencies, as well as customs officials from the South African Revenue Service, representatives of the Departments of Home Affairs and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries are on board the SAS AMATOLA with the S A Navy crew in this inter-departmental law enforcement project.
A South African Air Force Lynx helicopter is lending aerial assistance in locating and identifying vessels to board. Boardings will be conducted mainly on vessels up to and including 500 tonnes which includes coasters, fishing vessels, yachts and leisure craft. During the trip, the vessels will visit the ports of East London, Port Elizabeth and Durban. The SAS UMZIMKULU, a Navy mine counter-measures vessel, will join the operation in Durban.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Zimbabwe has banned all imports of animal and animal products from SA from March 30. This decision, said the ministry of agriculture, followed a series of outbreaks of rift valley fever in the Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Free State provinces in February.
Although official confirmation has not yet been received, the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) told Cargo Info News “we understand that the ban covers all animal and dairy products” – which would include beef, milk (in all forms), cheese, butter, yogurt, dairy juices, ice-cream, chocolate, chickens, table eggs, hatching eggs, pork products, salamis, pies, processed meats, tinned goods (beef, ham, meat balls, Vienna’s) and even fish.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

One of the longest waits for transhipment cargo in many a moon finally ended at week’s end when the containership, Maersk Dryden, finally sailed from Cape Town after an overall delay of 432 hours.

While Maersk Line admitted that wind delay contributed significantly to the delay, there were other issues at play – like the fact that the vessel had to wait for 393 containers to be transhipped back from Port Elizabeth after Safmarine Makutu bypassed the Mother City Port earlier in the month rather than incur delays of more than 300 hours.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

A strike by British Airways cabin crew entered its third day this Monday, with more than 120 BA flights from London’s Heathrow airport cancelled that day, according to the BA website, but all flights to-and-from London City and London Gatwick airports operating normally.

More walkouts were threatened by the Unite union - which represents about 90% of BA's 12 000 cabin crew - for Saturday, reports Reuters, in a dispute that centres on cost-cutting plans and staffing levels.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Maersk Line has announced a new direct weekly service between Ecuador and Russia - the ECUBEX service. The service will be the first direct liner route between the two countries. Investment in this service has been motivated by client demand for reliable and fast refrigerated transportation of fruits, especially bananas, from Ecuador to the Russian market. It will also give Russian exporters an opportunity to develop trade connections between Russia and South America.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) is to call at London Thamesport instead of Felixstowe as it alters the port rotation on its Europe-West Africa service. It deploys three 2 100-TEU ships and follows a revised rotation of: London-Thamesport, Tangier, Abidjan, Tema, Lagos, Abidjan, Vigo, Antwerp, Zeebrugge and London-Thamesport. Both ports are owned by Hutchison Ports UK.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Construction of a new port on the Thames Estuary is underway in what will be Britain’s first new deep-sea facility in 25-years, according to Shipping Gazette. Terminal owner DP World told the London Times the port would be big enough to handle six of the world's biggest container vessels, and offer an annual capacity of 3.5-million containers, most of which would be hoisted over to the logistics park quayside. This will be direct competition for the UK’s largest container port of Felixstowe.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The Fifa Local Organising Committee has reassured the industry that there will be no embargoes on the transportation of dangerous goods during the World Cup.
There will also be no embargoes on general freight during the tournament, according to the LOC. The Road Freight Association has however warned that host cities are currently finalising plans for traffic management in and around the stadia. Details of road closures, detours and delays on high volume spectator routes to and from the venues will become available at a later stage. The Association has advised operators not to schedule transportation near stadia on the day before, during or after a match.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

SA Airlink flights will start operating from the newly built King Shaka International Airport in Durban on May 1, a month before the kick-off of the 2010 Fifa World Cup. SA Airlink is currently advising its passengers about the cutover date from the existing Durban International Airport to the new state-of-the-art facility. The new airport is approximately 65 km away from the current airport.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Over and above the six extra flights announced in January, Delta will add a further 11 in July and August between Atlanta and Johannesburg. A B777-200LR aircraft will operate the service.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Using lighter containers for the transport of airfreight cargo not only saves costs but reduces carbon emissions considerably, making aviation a little greener. That was the motivation behind a recent project by Lufthansa Cargo which involved the use of 1 000 new lightweight containers on global routes.

Construction of the containers from lighter composites than aluminium reduces their weight by 20%, according to a spokesman, lowering fuel burn and CO2 emissions appreciably. “By 2020 we aim to reduce our specific fuel consumption by 25%,” said Lufthansa Cargo chairman Carsten Spohr.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has completed its R20 billion upgrades at the various airports across the country. Major projects at OR Tambo Airport include the completion of the Central Terminal Building at a cost of R2285m as well as a golf Apron (R424 million) and a multi storey parkade (R496 million).

Acsa said upgrades and development also saw a new multi storey parkade erected at Cape Town Airport costing R394 million as well as a new terminal costing R1522 million for the airport. In Bloemfontein the runway was rehabilitated to the tune of R121 million while other renovations and upgrades amounted to R46 million. In Durban an entire new airport is being developed at La Mercy, said Acsa. More than 3 000 jobs have been created as a result of these projects.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Effective March 30, Air Zimbabwe will resume scheduled services between Johannesburg and Victoria Falls. A B737 aircraft will be deployed on the route operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. .
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The Embassy of Finland has committed technical and financial assistance to the tune of 50 000 euros (R500 000) to the Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG). The money will be used to gather data on how the growth along the transport corridors is affecting and improving economic conditions. It will also include the funding of a fact-finding mission to Helsinki Finland by members of the WBCG which will visit relevant institutions in Finland.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Safmarine Makutu bypassed Cape Town last week rather than incur delays in excess of 300 hours. Terminal data for February 24 confirmed her arrival five days previously and a plan to berth her on March 3, by which time her total delay (including 38 hours of wind stoppage) would have been 305.48 hours.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Bilateral trade ties will be on the agenda when President Jacob Zuma undertakes an official visit to Britain next month where he will meet Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, among others.

They are expected to discuss bilateral trade and issues of mutual interest when they meet on 2-5 March. Zuma, who will be accompanied by12 government ministers and a business delegation, will address the British Parliament at the Palace of Westminster. According to BuaNews, R74.9 billion in trade passed between the two countries in 2008. China’s recovery firmly on track.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Siza Mzimela will become the new CEO of SAA from March, taking over from acting CEO Chris Smyth. She is currently the CEO of SAA’s domestic partner airline, SA Express (SAX).

Mzimela joined SAX in 2003 and in 2009 the airline declared a net profit of approximately R235,4m under very difficult economic circumstances. She holds a degree in economics and statistics and started her career in the small business and retail division of Standard Bank in 1991.

Three years later she joined Total SA as a corporate planning analyst responsible for managing capital projects, before joining SA Airways (SAA) in 1996 as a research analyst. After various promotions at SAA, Mzimela was appointed executive vice-president of global passenger services in 2001/2, later taking on responsibility for the airline’s core business global sales and the airline's loyalty programme, Voyager in 2002/3. She was involved in setting overall strategic direction for the sales and Voyager team and in actively managing and reducing costs. She was also responsible for the strategic positioning of SAA and for optimising alliance partnerships. She is also a board member of SA Tourism and was the chairperson of the Airlines Association of South Africa for two years. In 2002, she was a finalist in the Nedbank Businesswoman of the Year Award.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Eskom has been granted a tariff increase of 24.8% effective from April 1 this year, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa said yesterday.

Eskom, which had initially requested a 45% tariff increase for the next three years, revised its request to 35% at the end of 2009. The utility claims that the increase is to help raise funds for its R385 billion power expansion plan. Following public hearings into the tariff increase request, Nersa approved only 24.8% for 2010, while Eskom will be granted a 25.8% increase from April 2011 and 25.9% in April 2012.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Lufthansa Cargo and Austrian Cargo are to merge their global activities from July 1. Apart from a joint-exercise in Austria, all freight activities round the world will be handled by Lufthansa Cargo.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

South Africa’s airlines are expected to require some 172 new aircraft by 2028 to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for air travel in the country, according to the latest Airbus Global Market Forecast.

Larger aircraft in all size categories are required to help ease traffic congestion and to accommodate growth on existing routes. South Africa has experienced 27% growth in air traffic over the past ten years. According to Andrew Gordon, Airbus Director Market Analysis, expectations following the global economic downturn is that aviation is back on track in terms of positive growth. “World freight traffic recovered by 22% in December 2009 alone. The forecast is that both passenger and freight volumes will continue to increase in 2010 and have returned to the predicted normal airline growth rate as was the forecast before 2009 by 2011.”
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

April 15 will see the launch by Indian carrier Jet Airways of a daily non-stop service between Johannesburg and Mumbai using a new widebody Airbus330-200 aircraft.

t’s the airline’s first destination on the African continent and the twenty-second in the airline’s international network. It currently flies to New York (both JFK and Newark), Toronto, Brussels, London (Heathrow), Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Jeddah, Sharjah and Riyadh.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

South Africa has four of the five best airports in Africa, according to the annual ACI Airport Service Quality (ASQ) passenger survey. It put George first, followed by Johannesburg (Oliver Tambo), Cairo, Port Elizabeth and Durban. .
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Toll fees are set to increase from March 1 this year, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) announced last week.

Effective on all the national toll routes in the country, the increase is part of Sanral’s annual fee adjustments and has been approved by the Minister of Transport, Sibusiso Ndebele. Sanral CEO Nazir Alli said that toll financing enabled government to add capacity (new highways or additional lanes) that could not otherwise be funded under current and projected allocations from the fiscus. “The ‘user-pay’ principle is a constructive means of ensuring the delivery of a well maintained road infrastructure. Income from the tax base is therefore able to meet other prioritised sectors within the broader South African context.” .
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The announcement by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday that South Africa would spend R846 billion over the next 3 years on public infrastructure shows that our efforts in this regard will not all peter out once the Fifa World Cup investments have been completed.

This was the message from Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies, in his response to the Budget speech. “It demonstrates that we are on course to effect major infrastructure renewal in programmes that will continue for many more years.”
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s decision to increase fuel taxes by 25.5 cents per liter came under scrutiny following the delivery of his Budget Speech in Parliament. AA spokesman Gary Ronald said the cost would be severely felt in the freight industry and ultimately affect the pocket of the consumer while trade union Solidarity called the move a mistake.

In a statement the union said the increase in fuel taxes would ultimately result in an increase in the cost of living, and consequently inflation, and will be to the detriment of consumer spending.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

China’s exports rose by 21% in January compared to the same month a year earlier, while imports soared by 85.5% on the back of a very weak performance last year.

This, said the Shipping Gazette, added to other signs that world trade is starting to recover from the global financial crisis. The growth in exports could re-ignite calls from the US and the European Union (EU) for China to break its currency peg to the US dollar and allow the yuan to appreciate, reports The New York Times.

It also noted that the rapid rebound in Chinese exports has led to some factories located in the Pearl River Delta experiencing a shortage in available empty containers in which to ship their goods, while container shipping lines have been raising their rates. China has now overtaken Germany as the world's leading exporter, the report said, with Chinese exports amounting to US$1.2-trillion in 2009, compared to US$1.1-tn for Germany, according to figures provided by the German Federal Statistical Office. The China trade surplus was US$14.17-billion in January 2010, compared with US$18.43-bn in December and US$39.1-bn in January 2009, according to figures released by China's General Administration of Customs.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

March will see the launch by Safmarine of a new, direct, fully-containerised shipping service from Far East to East Africa.

The new service, to be known as the Mashariki* Express, will replace the existing ‘Mombasa Express’ service. The new service will be launched on March 2,with the sailing of the 2496 TEU Safmarine Zambezi from Mombasa in Kenya to Tanjung Pelepas in the Far East.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

With big mobile operators looking for growth wherever it can be found, Bharti Airtel, the biggest Indian operator when measured by subscribers, is hoping to expand into Africa.

It has already tried this move before, according to The Economist, when two previous efforts to merge with South Africa’s MTN fell through, the latest in September last year. “The deal was blocked by South Africa’s government,” the report added, “which was unwilling to let go of a national champion.”

But Bharti is now in talks with Zain, a Kuwaiti telecoms company, to buy its sub-Saharan assets for the equivalent of R82.39-billion. Said The Economist: “If the new deal proceeds, Bharti should find a warmer welcome in the 15 countries, including Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania, where Zain provides mobile phones to some 42-million customers.”

The arrival last week of the CMA CGM/Delmas vessel Northern Faith marked a milestone for the Port of Maputo. The 240m long, 3538 TEU vessel was the biggest container vessel to call at the port. She was en route to Far East base ports, connecting to worldwide destinations.

British Airways, in partnership with the Solena Group, is to establish Europe’s first sustainable jet-fuel plant and plans to use the low-carbon fuel to power part of its fleet from 2014, according to a statement from the airline.

The new fuel will be derived from waste biomass and manufactured in a state-of-the-art facility that can convert a variety of waste materials, destined for landfill, into aviation fuel. The self-contained plant, likely to be sited in east London, will convert 500 000 tonnes of waste per year into 16 million gallons of green jet fuel through a process that offers lifecycle greenhouse gas savings of up to 95% compared to fossil-fuel derived jet kerosene.

This volume of fuel would be more than twice the amount required to make all of British Airways’ flights at nearby London City Airport carbon-neutral. Put another way, the fuel’s reduction in carbon emissions would be the equivalent of taking 48 000 cars off the road per year. The project will make further major savings in greenhouse emissions by reducing the volume of waste sent to landfill, thus avoiding production of the powerful global warming agent, methane, and generating 20MW of electricity a year from renewable sources.

British Airways has signed a letter of intent to purchase all the fuel produced by the plant, which will be built by the Solena Group, an advanced bio energy and bio fuels company based in Washington DC.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Several freight forwarders – including Kuehne & Nagel, Panalpina, DSV-Logistics, and air cargo players including UPS and DHL – have received statement of objections (SoO) from the European Commission (EC) over alleged price fixing.

An SoO is a procedural document whereby the EC communicates its preliminary view of a possible infringement of European Union (EU) competition law. The EC said the statements had been sent out over allegations of price-fixing cartels within the firms’ air forwarding divisions. It said: “The commission is investigating allegations that these companies fixed prices by colluding on the imposition, level, timing and application of various surcharges.

“The allegations concern four separate infringements involving the provision of freight forwarding services from the UK to outside the European Economic Area (EEA), from the EEA to the US, from China to the EEA and from southern China/Hong Kong to the EEA.”

This follows EC investigators launching raids on several forwarders’ premises in October 2007; and was part of a multinational probe into alleged anti-competitive behaviour by several major forwarders, conducted by several competition authorities – including those in the UK, the US, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and SA.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Durban director, Glenn Delve, has confirmed to Cargo Info News that the line is is amending its Europe-South Africa service with the reintroduction of a call at Rotterdam.

In South Africa, Port Elizabeth will be replaced with a call at Ngqura where MSC’s 4 953-TEU MSC Catania was the port’s maiden caller last October. The service changes will apply to slot charterers Hapag-Lloyd and Stinnes Linien.

The revised port rotation is: Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Las Palmas, Cape Town, Ngqura, Durban, Ngqura, Cape Town, Las Palmas, and back to Felixstowe.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The number of idle vessels is declining as carriers look to redeploy some of these vessels for their extra slow steaming long haul services.

In addition, shipping lines have also recommenced using vessels between 1 000 and 2 500 TEU on some new services that were previously discarded due to the financial crisis last year, while other vessels are now being used as “extra loaders” on trades suffering from tight space, according to a report by AXS Alphaliner.

The fast pace re-induction of vessels is evident from the hiring of 30 idle ships of 70 000 TEU capacity between mid-January and February 1 - which marked two consecutive fortnights of decline in idle capacity.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa has approved the revised interconnection agreements that were filed by Vodacom, MTN and Cell C earlier this year.

The agreements provide for interconnection rates to drop from R1.25 to 89 cents, during peak period, from 1st March 2010. The rate for off-peak calls remains unchanged at 77 cents. “The Authority holds that this reduction in interconnection rates will be passed through to the consumers. However, the Authority has informed the three mobile operators that they are obliged to re- negotiate all interconnection agreements they have with other licensees based on the non- discrimination principle in clause 8 of the Interconnection Guidelines of 2000.”
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Boeing’s latest US$300-million 747-8 freighter - with 16% more cargo space than its predecessor - has embarked on its first flight from Paine Field in Everett, Washington.

The company claims that the new, high-capacity 747 that will give cargo operators the lowest operating costs and best economics of any freighter.

Cargolux, Nippon Cargo Airlines, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates SkyCargo, Guggenheim and Korean Air all have ordered the 747-8 Freighter.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Toyota South Africa Motors has announced the vehicles to be included in its recall service campaign to correct the accelerator mechanism in these cars.

The list of affected vehicles is the result of an exhaustive technical study which covered all Toyota vehicles on sale in South Africa and includes the following models:

Toyota Corolla (February 2007 to January 2010) – 45 040 vehicles
Toyota Auris (June 2006 to January 2010) – 6 665 vehicles
Toyota Verso (October 2008 to January 2010) – 841 vehicles

This equates to a total of 52 546 Toyota vehicles that will form part of this campaign.

These vehicles will be recalled as part of a service campaign to correct a potentially faulty accelerator pedal mechanism. Toyota will start contacting customers of the affected vehicles immediately The corrective action should take less than an hour, but could take longer if the dealer is experiencing very high levels of service calls. The full cost of the corrective process will be borne by Toyota.

In an unrelated service action Toyota has decided to recall all new generation Prius models (August 2009 to February 2010) for a software upgrade to the electronic brake system. This action involves 216 vehicles. This upgrade will address the delayed brake feel on slippery surfaces that has been experienced elsewhere in the world. Given the small volume of new generation vehicles affected Toyota is already in the process of contacting each Prius owner to inform them of this upgrade and schedule a convenient appointment time at their closest Prius dealer.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

In 2009, Jiangyin, Xiamen, Zhanjiang and Huzhou broke into the list of Chinese ports with an annual throughput of 100-million tonnes.

This brought the total to 20, news agency Xinhua reported. The number of 100-mt ports reached 12 in 2006, 14 in 2007 and hit 16 by the end of 2008.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

By the time Valentine’s Day dawns on 14 February, Lufthansa Cargo will have delivered to Europe around 850 tonnes of roses on board its freighters or in the belly holds of its passenger aircraft.

That equates to about 24 million roses, or ten full MD-11 freighters. Kenya is among the world’s biggest rose producers, with more than 280 tonnes of roses sourced from Nairobi.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Recent port statistics provide patent evidence of the productivity problems at the port of Durban.

The port has a stated capacity for handling 3.2-million TEUs a year – 2.4-m at Durban container terminal (DCT) and 800 000 at Pier 1.” And last year, according to Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) statistics, 2.4-m TEUs went through the two terminals.

“On that basis they were 75% utilised. Under that there should be no congestion.” But there was significant congestion between September and November last year. “Quite simply, if there is congestion under this circumstance, the productivity is just not good enough. The assets employed are not achieving their theoretical capacity. “That means a shortage of productivity compared to the investment made,” says an industry source who has pointed a finger at management and staff.
Source: www.cargoinfo.co.za

Exporters’ problems with the unique consignment reference (UCR) number may have rather put the brakes on the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) plans to start full-scale electronic monitoring and matching of exports (EMME) this year.

The scheme is aimed at introducing an automatic system for checking exports leaving the country, and the money coming back into SA to pay for them – and the ultimate phasing out of the F178 foreign exchange form.

Toyota South Africa has named the models that will be part of the technical study of all the vehicles that are sold in South Africa They are the Auris, new generation Verso and Corolla and will in all probability be included in the South African recall programme.

The car manufacturer has not excluded any other vehicle yet and will be in a position to clearly communicate which model ranges and specific date ranges for those recalled models this week.

The January port stats from Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) make for a cheerful read – with seafreight totals leaping up over the same month last year.

Total bulk handled (with the majority through the iron ore port of Saldanha and the coal port of Richards Bay) was 15 043 783-tonnes – up 24.5% on the January 2009 total of 12 079 757-t.

Breakbulk was also up – hitting 960 456-t in January 2010, a rise of 29.6% on the previous January’s 741 053. Durban is the big player. The six commercial ports (now including the newly opened port of Ngqura) landed 112 658 full TEUs – up 14.3% on 09’s 98 548.

They shipped 89 926 full TEUs – up 27.4% on 70 597 TEUs in January 2009. Durban is again the main port for container movements.

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have placed export bans on 16 mines operating in the country for failing to grow food, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported this week.

Companies operating in the Katanga province in the southeast of the DRC are expected to plant some 500 hectares of staple crops as a contribution to improving food supplies in the province that is heavily dependent on imports.

The 16 mines, that include companies from China and Belgium, have effectively been banned with immediate effect from exporting any of their mining products due to their non-compliance with the province’s regulation.

In the US a partnership has been signed-up between Lufthansa Cargo, Covenant Aviation Security and Smiths Detection to provide low-cost security solutions for the freight forwarding, air cargo shipping and logistics industries.

This has been approved by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Lufthansa Cargo is the world’s largest scheduled air cargo carrier; Covenant specialises in on-site security services; and Smiths Detection in screening technologies - including X-ray and explosives trace detection systems.

French shipping line CMA CGM on Tuesday received confirmation of bank financing of US$80 million.

This is part of the overall restructuring plan which calls in particular for the grant of a US$500 million cash facility. This payment is made at a time when the Group’s operations are continuing to show strong improvement month after month, a spokesman said.

South Africa may not escape the recall of millions of vehicles by Toyota globally due to accelerator pedal problems.

Toyota in January announced its intention to recall approximately 2.3 million vehicles from across the globe due to the problem. This figure has since grown substantially with some 4.3 million cars and trucks having already been recalled in America, Europe and China to fix the accelerators.

The company has also taken the unprecedented action of stopping production of affected vehicles for the week of February 1.

Vehicles affected by the recall include certain 2009-2010 RAV4, certain 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2005-2010 Avalon, certain 2007-2010 Camry, certain 2010 Highlande, 2007-2010 Tundra and 2008-2010 Sequoia,

South Africa, initially thought to be unaffected by the recall, was however notified this week that they it will be part of the expanded recall, despite not having experienced any problems. A spokesman for Toyota SA said a technical team had already been appointed to look at locally manufactured vehicles as well as imports.

As South Africa raises its export volumes of mostly bottled wines, it also increases its carbon emissions. “So it becomes a delicate balancing act to enhance our sustainability profile while pushing up our output," says Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa (Wosa).

And one of the answers lies in reducing the weight of the bottles. "New 350 gram glass bottles for red and white wines have been designed to accommodate screwcap closures, which account for over 65% of South Africa's wine production. They are scheduled for launch by mid-April, in time for the 2010 harvest," said Birch. At the same time, the average weight of bottles sealed with corks has been reduced in weight from 570 grams to 460 grams, she said.

A fierce south-easter lambasted the Mother City for more than 16 hours from mid-afternoon on January 28 causing delays of more than 200 hours to vessels at Cape Town Container Terminal.

By far the worst affected was Nele Maersk, expected to berth on January 28 after arriving six days earlier (delay 284.50 hours).

Viking Eagle awaited transhipment cargo, hence her expected delay of 215.25 hours.

Uganda will start producing crude oil this year, Tullow Oil, the Irish firm exploring for oil and gas in Uganda, said.

According to the publication, New Vision, initial oil production will be between 500 and 1 000 barrels per day, which will progressively rise to 10 000 barrels next year and to 150 000 barrels by 2015.

African importers and exporters are being invited to attend the 107th Session of the China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) taking place from April 15 to May 5 in Guangzhou in China.

With some 188170 buyers from more than 200 countries expected to attend the event, which sees more than 55 000 stands on show, the Canton Fair is heralded as one of the best ways of entering the Chinese market.

Organisers say it is an important channel of China’s foreign trade, representing the entire spectrum of the Chinese manufacturing industry.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has announced that total transits increased by a slim 2% in the first quarter of its 2009/10 fiscal year from October to January.

Transits were 3 590, compared to 3 520 in the same period for 2008/09. More bulk carriers and tankers went through, the authority added, but containership, reefer and ro-ro transits declined.

Figures just published showed that China’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 10.7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter.

Industrial production jumped by 18.5% in the year to December, while retail sales increased by 17.5%, boosted by government subsidies and tax cuts on purchases of cars and appliances. In real terms, the rise in retail sales last year was the biggest for over two decades.

“A year ago many economists were fretting about unemployment and deflation,” reported The Economist. “Now, with indecent haste, they have shifted to worrying that the Chinese economy is overheating and inflation is taking off.

“The 12-month rate of consumer-price inflation rose to 1.9% in December, an abrupt change from July when prices were 1.8% lower than a year before.”

As of January 21 there were 5 896 ships active on liner trades, offering 13 690 765-TEU capacity and 181 720 546-tonnes deadweight (TDW), according to the latest AXS Alphaliner figures.

This includes 4 718 fully cellular ships, giving 13 101 095-TEU capacity.

We’ve read about piracy surcharges and peak season surcharges – and now you can add an obesity surcharge by airlines.

But according to Reuters, Air France-KLM has denied recent media reports that it planned an extra charge for overweight passengers if they were unable to fit into a single seat.

According to the report, the airline has said that from February 1 overweight passengers who had freely chosen to buy an extra seat for comfort would get their money back on flights that were not fully booked. Overweight passengers are offered a second seat at a 25% discount.

Unions are threatening to take to the streets if an electricity tariff increase of 35% per annum for the next three years is granted to Eskom.

Eskom initially requested a 45% increase per year, but this was later revised to 35%. In the meantime Cosatu has said it will oppose any tariff increase that exceeds inflation as it would negatively affect not only business but also lead to more illegal electricity connections.

Eskom has, however, told Nersa that the increase was necessary if the power utility did not want to compromise the continuity of electricity supply to the country.

The 1 550TEU reefer vessel, Alioth, the first vessel chartered for MBG Shipping’s new South Africa/Europe/West Africa service, remained in the port of Cape Town mid-week.

Ian Wicks, man behind the new venture, told Cargo Info News Alioth would sail “no later” than January 20. The service, beset by difficulties in obtaining reefer boxes, is seven weeks overdue.

As part of the preparations for this year’s 2010 Fifa World Cup, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) is to impose restrictions on hand luggage for domestic flights.

The new airport regulations came into effect yesterday (January 20) at OR Tambo International Airport and will be implemented at Cape Town and Durban International Airports on February 6.

Economy class passengers will be allowed to carry only one bag and a laptop while only two bags and a laptop will be allowed in business and first class. Compliance with these requirements will be verified at security checkpoints at the airports. Acsa said an increase in the number of hand luggage items was the reason behind the restrictions.“With passengers now being able to check in at home or though the self-service kiosks, we have seen a huge increase in hand luggage. “In many instances the hand luggage cannot fit into the cabin, meaning it has to be manually loaded into the hold of the aircraft, resulting in flight delays,” said Acsa spokesperson Solomon Makgale.

In a joint venture, SA Express and Congolese business BizAfrika Congo, have introduced a new airline.

Congo Express will begin operating an air service between Lubumbashi, Kinshasa and Mbuji Mayi in the DRC from February 1.

Emirates Airline and Airbus celebrated a milestone achievement last week with the handover of the 6 000th aircraft in the manufacturer’s 40 year history - Emirates’ eighth A380 and the 25th produced by Airbus.

With a total order for 58 aircraft, Emirates is the single largest customer for the A380.

Lufthansa Cargo has rallied to the support of Haiti’s earthquake victims and will next Monday despatch an MD-11 freighter with about 80 tonnes of relief supplies from Frankfurt bound for the Greater Antilles.

The shipment consists largely of food, medicaments and technical equipment. Since Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti is restricted exclusively to military aircraft, the relief flight will land in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. From there the supplies will be trucked by road to Haiti on a journey lasting around 15 hours.

At least four pirates have been killed following clashes over a record ransom paid for the Maran Centaurus, a Greek-flagged tanker carrying 2 million barrels of oil.

According to Reuters the ransom, believed to be between $5.5 and $7 million, was dropped on the deck of the ship on Sunday for a record ransom. Witnesses said four pirates were killed in a clash between rival groups over the cash.

The supertanker was released on Monday, but the money has resulted in major fighting between piracy groups in the town of Harardhere in Somalia. The Maran Centaurus with its crew of 28 was seized on November 29 last year.

South Africa on Sunday became a member of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), which aims to promote the use of renewable energy worldwide, the South African Press Association reported yesterday.

Minister Elizabeth Dipuo Peters signed the necessary paperwork in Abu Dhabi to become a member of the agency that was founded last January. Peters said that membership allowed South Africa to work with other countries to accelerate the introduction of renewable energy and to confront our vexing energy challenges.

Reuters reports that Cecil Field airport in Jacksonville, Florida was awarded a federal license last week to fly commercial space vehicles being designed to ferry tourists, researchers and others beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

Air charter operators are working round the clock to keep up with demand for humanitarian aid in earthquake-shattered Haiti. Chapman Freeborn Airchartering’s worldwide offices have processed a number of charter requests and are helping clients to get rescue teams and emergency aid supplies to the region.

The first cargo consignments left from Europe for Port au Prince (PAP) last week on Chapman Freeborn chartered IL-76 freighters, and many more are expected to follow in the coming days and weeks.

A wide range of freighters will be utilised for the aid operation - including L-100 Hercules, AN-12s, IL-76s, A300Fs, AN-124s B747Fs as well as passenger aircraft.

For the first stage, the cargo includes rescue equipment, medical supplies, blankets, high energy biscuits, tents and plastic sheeting. The second stage will see the movement of reconstruction equipment.

Arts and Culture Minister Lulu Xingwana will announce this week whether the new La Mercy airport, north of Durban, will be named King Shaka International Airport. The new airport is scheduled to start operating in May.

A major American port was forced to close this week after nine containers of highly explosive material spilled at the facility.

According to media reports, the Port in Morehead City, one of the deepest on the American East Coast, had to call in explosive experts following the incident. A forklift is believed to have punctured the containers containing the explosive during off-loading.

The South African Press Association reported that there were no injuries during the incident, but that fast action following the chemical spill helped to contain the situation.

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) is to construct a hybrid car carrier, slated for launching in 2012. This will be used to validate and assess its CO2 reduction effect in actual operation.

The hybrid power supply system being developed combines solar power generation technology with lithium-ion batteries. The goal is zero emission while the vessel is in berth by effective use of renewable energy. Electricity generated by solar panels while the vessel is under way is stored in the lithium-ion batteries. The batteries then supply power while the vessel is in berth, allowing the diesel generator to be shut down.

China’s exports rose 17.7% in December, with news agency Xinhau suggesting the country has overtaken Germany as the world’s largest exporter. The rise, compared to a year earlier, breaks a 13-month decline in trade as a result of the global downturn.

China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) said exports overall in the year were US$1.2-trillion, down 16% from in 2008, while imports were US$1.01-tn, 11.2% down.,
The total trade surplus was down 34.2% to US$196.1-billion.

The figures suggest China will surpass Germany’s export total for the whole of 2009, although this will not be confirmed until Germany’s full-year data is published in February.

Singapore is set to retain its title as the world’s busiest box port even though container volumes last year fell for the first time since the dot.com bubble burst in 2001, reports Lloyds List.

Analysts said provisional figures, which are likely to be confirmed by March, will show the position of the world’s top four box ports — Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen – will remain as is.

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