Newsletter – August 17, 2020

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    Aug

    Newsletter – August 17, 2020
    AIR FREIGHT UPDATES
    Hong Kong port at the centre of major Covid-19 outbreak
    splash247.com
    A new wave of the Covid-19 outbreak has hit Hong Kong with nearly half of the latest cases coming from the city’s Kwai Tsing Container Terminals.
    The Centre for Health Protection reported that Hong Kong recorded 74 new Covid-19 infections on Sunday, reversing the recent downward trend in cases. There are 34 cases linked to the cluster at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminal, of which 33 patients work for the same company. Read more here.
    How Air Canada beat US airlines removing seats for cargo
    freightwaves.com
    It took the Federal Aviation Administration two months to authorize U.S. airlines to remove seats from passenger aircraft for cargo purposes. Air Canada (TSX: AC) received its governmental OK in a week.
    Industry urgency to innovate also was greater north of the border. Canada’s flag carrier was already flying cabin-loaded flights by mid-April, one month before U.S. carriers even applied through their trade association to remove seats from their airplanes. Read more here.
    OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES
    Resource groups call for end to Montreal strike
    insidelogistics.ca
    OTTAWA – Industry groups representing the mining and forest products sectors have jointly requested federal intervention in the Port of Montreal strike, which has been ongoing since Monday, August 10. The groups urged the government to “take any and all action necessary to address this work stoppage”. Read more here.
    Carriers quizzed by China over transpacific rate surge
    lloydsloadinglist.com
    HINA has launched a probe into the recent freight rate spikes on transpacific trade following shippers’ complaints.
    The Ministry of Transport has approached six major container shipping carriers for an explanations about the “rate fluctuations” on some routes, including China-US.
    The written request from the regulator also asked the shipping lines to send their “working plans for the next stage”. Read more here.
    ZIM deploys artificial intelligence to root out misdeclared cargoes
    splash247.com
    Israeli carrier ZIM has developed and implemented an artificial intelligence-based screening software to detect and identify incidents of misdeclared hazardous cargo before loading to vessel. Misdeclared cargoes have been the source of many boxship blazes in recent years with liners keen to find a solution to the issue. Read more here.
    Yang Ming’s Q2 strong but not strong enough
    freightwaves.com
    Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. reported Friday it had shaved its loss from more than $27 million in the first quarter to $2.25 million in the second.
    Still, that means the Taiwanese carrier had a net loss for the first half of the year of nearly $29.5 million. During the first six months of 2020, consolidated revenue was down 12% compared to the same period in 2019, to $2.2 billion. Volume was down 9.86% to 2.38 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Read more here.

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