Newsletter – July 20, 2023

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Cargo On Demand fraud lawsuit against Polar Air Cargo thrown out

aircargonews.net
Polar Air Cargo’s efforts to dismiss a fraud lawsuit brought by freight forwarder Cargo On Demand (COD) have been successful.
The civil Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) lawsuit was filed late last year in the Southern District of New York Court. Read more here.

Mighty Maersk: not so mighty in airfreight…?

theloadstar.com
Much has been made of Maersk’s recent appearance on a list of the top 25 air forwarders. The Danish logistics hybrid crept onto the list at the lowliest place: #25, with 211,484 metric tons of airfreight flown in 2022.
Philip Damas, head of supply chain for Drewry, trumpeted on social media: “Maersk has joined the top 25 air freight providers’ ranking (as 25th) for the first time… as the top providers of ocean transport strongly increase their presence in air freight … Read more here (login required).

Automated air cargo handling eyes new heights as labour shortage bites

theloadstar.com
Automation is changing air cargo handling, a trend exacerbated by the shortage of a skilled workforce.
Since last month, the evoBOT robot has been performing test runs at Cargogate in Munich Airport and, according to the developers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), the technology has “immense potential to revolutionise cargo handling automation”. Read more here (login required).

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Canada port strikes called off

aircargonews.net
Strikes at the Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert have been called off, putting an end to the threat of multimodal supply chain disruption.
Over 7,000 dockworkers belonging to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada went on strike at the ports on July 1, after the ILWU failed to reach an agreement with the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA). Read more here.

Box lines seek new partners as they target profitable routes

theloadstar.com
To penetrate more lucrative tradelanes, ocean carriers are looking for vessel-sharing partners outside their main east-west alliances.
And with their services under financial pressure, container lines are redeploying tonnage to routes they believe can still make money, whether on a standalone basis, by vessel-sharing or, in the first instance, with slot purchases. Read more here (login required).

Russia issues military threat to commercial shipping

splash247.com
Russia has warned that from today ships travelling to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports will be considered potential military targets, as Kyiv said it would set up a temporary shipping route to continue grain exports following Moscow’s withdrawal from a deal that permitted food shipments from Ukraine’s ports.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that it would deem all ships travelling to Ukraine to be potentially carrying military cargo on behalf of Kyiv and “the flag countries of such ships will be considered parties to the Ukrainian conflict”.Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

UPS talks with unions set to resume as strike action looms

aircargonews.net
Talks between UPS and union representatives are set to resume next week with potential strike action less than two weeks away.
The express giant urged quick action to finalise a deal with the Teamsters union saying that members would not work beyond July 31 when the current deal is due to expire. Read more here.