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As we are approaching the end of December, the year is also coming to an end. This year has been pretty exciting for the maritime industry. Let us quickly recapitulate the events that have left a trail of significance behind them. The Global Shippers Forum Has Asked to Revoke the European Consortia Block Exemption The Global Shippers Forum (GSF) has raised demands to the European Commission for putting an end to the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation (BER). The BER enables the shipping companies with a combined market share of below 30% to participate in the cooperation agreements or to offer joint cargo transport services that would improve productivity and service levels too. The European Commission is now considering the extension of the Block Exemption Regulation for a further term period of 5 years, which will commence from April of 2020. Last week, four shipping companies have expressed their wishes to continue with the extension of the BER. The Secretary-General of the Global Shippers Forum, Mr James Hookham, has reflected on the fact that the GSF organization is working in close collaboration with the worldwide shipping community to stop the renewal of the BER. GSF has requested the elimination of special privileges in the liner shipping industry, which will lead to the introduction of the normal standards of competition for all the companies associated with it. Mr Hookham has also highlighted the fact that there is a strong chance that the existing legal instruments will be removed in the long run and that new, augmented arrangements will take their place. Samskip Plans to Develop Autonomous Containerships With its roots in Europe, Samskip is a world-famous multimodal operator that has taken an initiative to launch autonomous containerships with zero emissions. Samskip has named the project as ‘Seashuttle’ and has revealed that these container vessels will try to operate at the desired profit. According to the recent developments, the ‘Seashuttle’ venture will supervise the development of two all-electric ships that will focus on connecting Norway’s Oslo Fjord, Poland, and the Swedish west coast ports. These autonomous vessels are built to generate propulsion power from their state-of-the-art hydrogen fuel cells. The Managing Director of Samskip Norway, Mr Are Grathen, has laid stress on the introduction of the next generation shortsea shipping. Mr Grathen also believes that the perfect combination of technology and fuel has the strong potential to transform the venture into a cost-effective solution. Expressing his views on the topic, Mr Grathen has commented that the door-to-door services will play an instrumental role in providing cost-effective competition with useful truck-ferry options and promoting sustainability. APM Terminals Mumbai Sets a New Record in 2018 The APM Terminals Mumbai has been successful in handling more than 2 million TEUs throughput during this year. The APM Terminals was commissioned back in 2006 and is currently, the largest container terminal facility in the country. Throwing some light on this milestone, Mr Ravi Gaitonde (COO of the APM Terminals Mumbai), has commented that he is very proud of the brilliant and steady performance delivered by the employees, frontline workforce and the contractors. Mr Gaitonde has appreciated the hard work done by each and everyone associated with the APM tag in order to be rewarded with such a big achievement. In fact, the APM Terminals Mumbai is the only port in the country to have created such a record in a span of one calendar year. Mr Gaitonde has also highlighted the fact that the port authority has observed all the safety regulations during the services. An Ultra-Modern Cruise Vessel Arrived at the Chennai Port The M.V. LE LAPEROUSE, an ultra-modern Romanian cruise, has anchored at the Chennai Port and is the first of its kind to visit the port. Launched in 2018, the vessel is well-equipped with all the latest facilities, such as the blue eye underwater lounge (passengers can view the underwater life) and the floating marina. The cruise arrived at the Chennai Port on 25 th December and its next stop was Port Blair. This vessel was the first cruise to have anchored at the recently modernized Cruise Passenger Facilitation Centre at the port and it was also the vessel’s maiden visit. An estimate of 151 passengers and 113 crew members were aboard. The Chairman of the Chennai Port Trust, Mr P Raveendran, happily welcomed the crew and the passengers to the Chennai Port and has assured that they have do not face any problems at all. DP World Has Constructed an Automated Stacking Yard at its London Gateway Terminal The DP World organization has built a new, automated stacking yard at its London Gateway terminal that incorporates a state-of-the-art landside interchange zone. The London Gateway terminal contains a total of 60 automated stacking cranes (ASC) that is divided into 30 for landside and 30 for ships-side. The automated stacking cranes are operated across 30 modules and each module consists of six vehicle bays. The vehicle bays are able to operate in wind-speed up to 28 meters per second. One ASC has the power to lift 41 tons under the spreader and the crane has the potential to straddle one over five high cube containers, according to the reports. DP World has revealed its plans of revolutionizing the concept of container storage and handling an advanced technology that is supposed to increase the capacity by 200%. Sources: https://splash247.com/shippers-demand-end-to-european-consortia-block-exemption/ http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/news/europe/samskip-leads-initiative-on-autonomous-shortsea-shipping.html http://www.maritimegateway.com/apm-terminals-mumbai-sets-record-surpasses-2mn-teus/ http://eximin.net/NewsDetails.aspx?name=40122 https://www.porttechnology.org/news/friday_focus_dp_worlds_automated_container_stacking