Blogs

The last leg of the July month has been as promising as the earlier weeks, which have passed by in a flash! Here we are back again with the significant highlights in the marine industry. APL Introduced the Weekly Japan Russia Service (or JRX Service) APL has launched a new service in the shipping market, which is currently the only ocean freight service connecting Japan and Russia on a weekly basis. As per a press release, this Japan Russia Express service or the JRX service will have unparalleled transit times and will share its operations with the TG FESCO. Incidentally, the cargo ships will transfer shipment from Yokohama to Vostonchny in a period of 7 to 9 days. Meanwhile, the cargo from Kobe will arrive in 4-6 days to the two aforementioned ports. As a matter of fact, the shipment associated with the JRX service can be easily transferred via the Trans-Siberian Railway service to both Central Russia, and further into the European Union. Moreover, this enables the shippers belonging to Japan and Russia, might consider getting attached to APL’s widespread network for accessing the global market in a better way. It has been decided that new JRX service will be implemented on August 24 from Yokohama. The rotation is Vostonchny- Vladivostok- Yokohama- Shimizu- Nagoya- Kobe- Busan- Vostonchny. Read More Contaminated Marine Fuel Has Been Discovered in Singapore Unfortunately, the recent discoveries indicate that the contaminated fuel that harms ship engines has been found in Singapore. Singapore is the world’s largest refueling hub in the shipping industry and this rather unpleasant revelation has been declared as both shocking and unexpected. According to the media, the news had been delivered by a marine fuel surveying company that quickly alerted the clients. Maritec, a marine fuel surveyor and consulting firm (based in Singapore), has issued a warning to its clients regarding six samples of adulterated marine fuel in Singapore that has caused a lot of damage by blocking pipelines, clogging the centrifuges through muddy deposits and putting pressure on the fuel filters. The use of such polluted fuel can result in expensive damage and the vessels might require extensive flushing and repair work before they can be functioning normally. Reuters announced the bad news that this contaminated fuel is being used in around 100 vessels in the Panama region, Dutch Antilles and the U. S. Gulf Coast. It has been confirmed that the samples sold in Singapore, contain both the “U.S. type fracked shale oil” and “Estonian type oil shale”. As an unfortunate consequence, the adulterated oil has been exported to all Asian countries and the crisis has spread out over a vast region. Read More Development of the National Waterway 4 Is in Full Swing The thorough planning for the construction of the National Waterway 4 is in full progress and is to be carried out in three separate phases. A hydrographic survey has been conducted by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on the Kakinada to Ennore part, in order to build waterways in the Kakinada-Chennai stretch in future. The Phase-I had a pre-fixed budget of 96 crores and is being built between the Vijayawada to the Muktyala stretch of the Krishna river. Meanwhile, Phase- II is focused on the Vijayawada-Kakinada and Rajahmundry-Polavaram area. Lastly, the Phase-III will deal with the balance stretches of the National Waterway 4 after the completion of the previous phases. Mr. Pon. Radhakrishnan, the Minister of State for Shipping and Finance, has shared the details of the development of the Waterway with the Lok Sabha. Read More The Cochin Port Plans to Build a New Cruise Terminal The Cochin Port Trust ( CoPT ) has signed the work order for developing a state-of-the-art cruise terminal at the Ernakulam Wharf of the Cochin Port by February in 2020. The new terminal will have advanced facilities to skillfully handle around 5,000 tourists at the port. These facilities will include both a passenger and a crew lounge, 8 Customs clearance counters, 30 immigration counters, tourist information center, 7 security check counters, medical care, ATM/Bank services, duty-free shopping, Wi-Fi connection, mini conference hall, foreign exchange counter, cafeteria etc. and the list goes on. Recently, the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Tourism have collaborated in order to improve the situation of the cruise tourism in India. Read More Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) Joins the NYSHEX Freight Platform The South Korea-based, Hyundai Merchant Marine or the HMM is declared as the sixth container line to sign up for the services at the ever-growing freight platform, the New York Shipping Exchange or the NYSHEX. Hapag Llyod, Maersk Line, OOCL, CMA CGM and COSCO are some of the other container lines that are associated with the hugely popular NYSHEX. The freight platform allows the shippers to connect with the available carrier slots through the concept of digital contracting. Like the other companies, HMM will act as a carrier member of the exchange. The HYSHEX has been successful in offering the easy access to reliable bookings and numerous services to the global shippers. Read More Want to know more news Around the World ? Stay tuned every Monday to ODeX and get the latest in shipping.