Lyttelton Port of Christchurch (LPC) is advising customers the port’s core services are operational following the 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday 22 February 2011....

TTS Marine AB continues to equip the world's fleet of car carriers with cargo access equipment and two additional contracts have been received to supply ro-ro equipment to four further car carriers.The first contract was signed with Hyundai Heavy Industries for delivery of cargo access equipment to two newbuildings, hull no 2399 and 2400. The vessels are 6,500 units PCTC ordered by Glovis, a logistic company in the Hyundai Group. The equipment to be delivered consists of quarter and side ramps, internal ramps and covers including hydraulic and electric systems.

Mediterranean Shipping Company's 14,000 TEU MSC La Spezia has become the largest boxship ever handled at Fos container terminal. The vessel's first call at the facility on February 28 was on MSC's Far East-Med service.  Just three months ago the 13,000 TEU MSC Beryl set the previous record at Fos in a foretaste of operations when the world's second largest container line runs one of the two new Fos 2XL box terminals due on stream next year.

The Government of Costa Rica has awarded a 33-year concession for the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the new Moin Container Terminal (TCM) to APM Terminals. TCM will contribute to the transformation of the economic and social development of Costa Rica and of the Province of Limon in particular.

On February 23rd, 2011 the container vessel CSCL Star called the port of Hamburg on her maiden voyage in their Far East liner service "Asia-Europe Express-1/ China-Europe-Mediterranean Service" (AEX-1/CEM). CSCL Star with a capacity of 14 074 TEU, based on her container slot capacity, is the largest container vessel ever dispatched in the port of Hamburg. With a length of 366 m and a beam of 51.2 m the CSCL Star can load 20 rows of containers. Fully loaded she reaches a maximum draft of 15.5 m. The port of Hamburg is served on a weekly basis in the joint AEX-1 service of China Shipping and Evergreen which was founded in July 2009. The round voyage takes 56 days and serves the following ports: Hamburg, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantian, Felixstowe, Hamburg.

The ports in Gothenburg, Århus and Tallinn have received EUR 24.8 million in EU support. A joint project has been set up with the aim of improving sea transport throughout the whole of the Baltic region. The investment in the Port of Gothenburg amounts to EUR 11.5 million and will be used to eliminate bottlenecks in the infrastructure. The EU Commission has awarded grants within the framework of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). The purpose is to support transport solutions that promote growth in industry in Europe, generate environmental benefits and facilitate the flow of freight.

The Port of Felixstowe is celebrating a rare double after being awarded certificates that recognise the quality of its Environmental and Health and Safety management systems. The UK's leading container port was awarded the OHSAS 18001 Health and Safety, and ISO 14001 Environmental Management systems standards, on 22nd February by NQA.

FLAGSHIP, a Pan-European maritime transport project part funded by the EU, has successfully developed the first intelligent regulatory search and automated form filling system known as FLAGSHIP-RCS (Regulatory Compliance Support).  The system could significantly reduce the regulatory compliance and administrative burden ship owners and operators currently experience with estimates indicating a 50% time saving, compared with conventional text based search methods.  If every European ship adopted automated form filling this could lead to a total time cost saving in the region of €8.94 million per year.

In 2010, the TTS Group ASA reported earnings before depreciation (EBITDA) of NOK 3.7 million, compared to a loss of NOK 84.3 million in the previous year. EBITDA in the fourth quarter showed a loss of NOK 13.7 million. – With regard to results, 2010 was weaker than expected. However, the market for our products is recovering. The order intake in the fourth quarter was NOK 1 467 million, which is the highest order intake for one single quarter since the third quarter of 2008. This positive trend has continued in 2011, says Johannes D. Neteland, President and CEO.

The South Carolina State Ports Authority (SCSPA) is putting the final touches on a new and improved Columbus Street Terminal. The USD21.7 million investment enhances more than 70 acres of storage yard and adds additional rail infrastructure.