How the pandemic hit the rail business 
The pandemic severely disrupted railway traffic from March 2020 onwards. Following the introduction of governmental measures such as lockdowns, curfews and various traffic restrictions, freight and passenger traffic fell by more than 20% in comparison to January 2020. Levels... more
Libya on the agenda
The Italian shipping company Tarros Group is introducing a new direct service from Italy to Libya by adding the port of call in Genoa to the current line, with a rotation schedule every 14 days. The new connection completes the range of destinations for traffic arriving from... more
Long-range drones: first vaccine delivery
Zipline, a major global player in instant logistics, has successfully completed the first long-range drone delivery of both authorised mRNA Covid-19 vaccines requiring ultra-cold-chain in Ghana. The collaboration of Zipline, Pfizer and Biontech, which worked together earlier... more
Maersk expands logistics services in Africa
After a long time of cooperation in South Africa and beyond, Grindrod and Maersk are extending their partnership concerning Grindrod Intermodal' logistics services and Ocean Africa Container Lines (OACL)'s maritime operations. Maersk will dominate the newly formed... more
South African wins Fiata’s last Yiffy award
Pandemic or not – Fiata, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations, based in Geneva, and the international freight transport insurer TT Club, its partner since the inception of the Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award (Yiffya) in 1999,... more
Unctad optimistic for 2021
In its shipping report "Review of Maritime Transport for 2021", Unctad made it clear that despite the anti-pandemic measures, volumes in fell less dramatically in the course of 2020 than formerly expected: "The shock in the first half of 2020 caused maritime trade... more
High rates well into 2024?
Starting out from the China Containerized Freight Index, the Copenhagen-based shipping consultancy Sea-Intelligence has defined five periods each of sustained rate decreases and of sustained rate increases, specially the average percentage point drop per week over the full... more
Two for cyber security at sea
Bureau Veritas (BV) and insurance consultancy Bessé are teaming up to improve protection against cyber-attacks in the maritime sector. This partnership will be key to help shipowners comply with IMO and IACS requirements. BV has developed a set of rules (NR 659) which make... more
More Messina Line in Koper
The Italian shipping group Ignazio Messina has a new weekly ro-ro service that will link the Port of Koper, Slovenia, with East and South Africa, the Persian Gulf and India. The link will be operated by the group’s shipping arm Messina Line and its agent Neptune International... more
Three Boeing 757-200F for Astral Airlines
Aquila Air Capital, a specialty finance platform focused on commercial aerospace, has signed a contract operating leases for three Boeing 757-200F freighter aircraft with Astral Airlines. Sky Exec Capital Jets acted as arranger and will service the lease during the term. ... more