UK selects first eight freeports 
In his annual budget announcement, British chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak said that eight freeports will be established in England, with Teesside and the Solent amongst the winners. The first wave of freeports includes successful bids from the Thames (including London... more
More than 100,000 teu at Liège
The Autonomous Port of Liège, Belgium, witnessed a new mark in 2020 for the volumes of river container traffic. With 115,921 teu and an increase of 20% (+19,701 teu), the container terminals of the Port of Liège thus recorded their eighth consecutive increase. Total traffic... more
From transatlantic to transpacific?
Transpacific is one thing, transatlantic another. Sea Intelligence, the maritime intelligence provider from Copenhagen, recently analysed the volume of blank sailings on the transatlantic trades. CEO Alan Murphy: "In 2020 there was only a single 2020-1H spike in blank... more
HMM's fleet growing faster
The South Korean carrier HMM, formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine, will deploy its latest newbuilds earlier than expected. The eight vessels with a capacity of approx. 15,300 teu were ordered by HMM in 2018, delivery was scheduled for the first half of 2021. In March, two of... more
MGI and TGI join forces
Software provider MGI, a port community systems (PCS) specialist, and TGI Maritime Software, which focuses on the francophone terminal operating system (TOS) market, are working together to ensure AP+ migration to Ci5 for the following maritime terminals: Terminal Des Flandres... more
Barcelona in the black
Despite the impact of the pandemic, the Port of Barcelona closed its FY 2020 in the black with a result of EUR 17 million. The port generated a turnover of EUR 139 million over the year, down 20% from 2019’s level of EUR 172 million. This decrease is due mainly to the decline in... more
Turn in trade with China?
Statistics for 2020 show a clear shift in the trade flows between China, the USA and the EU. According to European Union statistics, EU states saw an increase in imports (+5.6%) and exports +2.2%) to and from China last year, despite the pandemic. The United States Census,... more
A transatlantic coalition is forged
Two big industrial ports have a common cause. The US-Port of Corpus Christi, Texas, and the European Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, have signed a memorandum of understanding for further collaboration. The ports outlined a number of shared objectives, which include... more
Vessel traffic service to take off in Antwerp
The Port of Antwerp has launched a new shipping guidance system called Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) to improve safety and environmental protection on the increasingly busy Scheldt River and at the Antwerp docks. VTS provides information and advice on both ship navigation... more
World trade growing again
In January 2020, the container throughput index published by the German research body Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI - Leibniz) and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) registered a moderate surge in world trade and container... more