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Ian Matheson, from Impress Communications, reviews some recent news that might impact on members’ business
SNCF puts Channel operator
SeaFrance up for sale
French national rail operator
SNCF has sought bids for its
subsidiary SeaFrance,
confirming media reports. The
potential buyer will enjoy the
position of “a leading operator
for cross-Channel traffic” said
the railway.
The Rail Freight Group has
published a new paper setting
out its views on how the
railways can best achieve cost
reduction, economic growth
and carbon reduction, without
the need to adopt ideas such
as vertical integration. It
outlines some of the successes
of the rail freight market and, in
particular, how it has achieved
a 30% improvement in
efficiencies since being
privatised.
A launch event for ProtectRail,
a €21 million European
Commission-funded
programme that aims to
develop an integrated system
intended to improve European
railway security through better
protection of trains and
railways, was hosted by the
International Union of Railways
(UIC) last month.
A report commissioned by the
Campaign for Better Transport
shows that Britain is lagging
behind other European
countries in developing a
charging system for lorries to
end unfair competition from
foreign hauliers.
TRANS European Freight
Exchange, an internet platform
where users share information
about available loads and
vehicles, has developed a
highly efficient solution for
marketing freight loads and
truck space. The innovation is
specially tailored to the
requirements of forwarding
alliances and larger forwarders
with numerous branch offices.
UK business secretary Vince
Cable has visited DP World’s
London Gateway project to
give his backing to the
£1.5 billion River Thames port
and logistics park project. A
potential of 36,000 new jobs
could be created in the
Thurrock, Essex, area.
The port of Felixstowe
handled a record 10,764
containers (16,209 teu) by rail
in the week ending 26
September, beating the
previous record by 182 boxes.
Felixstowe said the increased
volumes follow a number of
track and equipment
improvements made over the
past two years, including a
39 metre extension of the
South Rail Terminal to
accommodate 22-wagon trains,
and the inauguration of a
second new rail-mounted
gantry crane in August.
Research by industry
consultant Box Trade
Intelligence (BTI) shows that
shipping lines’ Asia-European
services generated a
$5.3 billion profit during the
first half of 2010, compared
with losses of $3.3 billion in the
same period last year.
This winter will see a growing
number of idle containerships
as lines layupvesselsfor the
season, said Paris-based
analyst AXS Alphaliner. The
majority of ships expected to
be laid-up are over 3,000 teu, a
size of vessel difficult to switch
to alternative trades.
The Federal Aviation
Administration in Washington
has issued a safety alert for
operators summarising
research on the risks
associated with the
transporting of lithium batteries
as cargo on aircraft. It
recommends actions that air
carriers and forwarders can
take to reduce those risks.
The restocking phase of the
inventory cycle helped push
international cargo traffic up
19.6% in August, compared
with 23% growth in July. Official
figures show this was 3%
above the pre-recession
levels of early 2008. During the
firstquarter,airfreightgrewat
an annualised rate of 25%, but
only 12% for the first two
months of the third quarter.
Air Cargo News reported last
month that despite meeting
the deadline for 100% cargo
screening, the US
Transportation Security
Administration still has gaping
holes in its security,
according to inspectors. The
inspector general at the
Department of Homeland
Security investigated the
current screening process and
reported that terrorists can still
easily smuggle explosives into
the cargo of passenger
aircraft.
Cargo traffic at London
Heathrow grew 12.2% in
September over the same
month a year ago, but freight
demand showed signs of
slipping with the airport’s
smallest monthly tonnage since
April. Heathrow’s cargo
tonnage fell 2.7% in September
compared with August, the
second straight month-tomonth
decline, airport manager
BAA reported. ■
4 November 2010