New Central Asian corridor open for TIR 
The Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Iran (KTAI) corridor is now open for TIR transports, according to the international road union (IRU). The corridor offers the shortest possible route between Iran and Kyrgyzstan, with TIR saving up to five days on the usual transit time.... more
Back to a more "normal" load factor?
Market analyses by Clive Data Services for February show that conducting a basic year-on-year comparison of airfreight volumes would have produced a decline of close to 2%. However, adjusting the analyses for the early Chinese New Year (-3%) and the Leap Year, with an extra day... more
Unctad's analysis of the coronavirus impact
Unctad also claims that it is too early to gauge the full economic and trade effects of the Coronavirus outbreak. However, shipping data, based on real-time observations of vessel positions (AIS) and information about the cargoes aboard those ships, already shows a change in the... more
SCF pushes its LNG strategy in the French name
The Russian shipping company's (SCF Group) latest LNG carrier was recently named "SCF La Perouse", after Jean-François de la Pérouse, a French explorer of the Pacific. The cargo capacity of the vessel is 174,000 cbm. The vessel features a slow-speed dual-fuel X-DF... more
Declining volumes, but waiting for virus impact
According to Iata, global air freight demand decreased by 3.3% in January 2020, compared to January 2019. Cargo capacity rose by 0.9%, outstripping demand growth for 21 consecutive months. Airlines in Asia-Pacific (-5.9%) and Europe (-3.7%) suffered sharp declines, while North... more
New service launched by Interasia and Wan Hai
Interasia Lines, based in Japan, is launching a two-weekly new South China to Vietnam and Thailand service (CV6) in conjunction with Wan Hai Lines. The service will become operational in early March. Interasia Lines shall jointly deploy one vessel with Wan Hai Lines... more
Rhenus takes over Malcolm Total Logistics in New Zealand
The Rhenus Group has entered into an agreement to buy 100% of the shares of the operating companies in the Malcolm Total Logistics Group. The company, founded in 1985 and headquartered in Auckland, offers services for the local market including air freight, sea freight, 3PL... more
Roll Group invests in Indonesia
The Bintan Offshore Marine Centre (BOMC), Indonesia, gains a new investor. The Germany-headquartered Roll Group will become an exclusive partner in the BOMC yard, taking care of the cranes and trailers to further develop the facility. BOMC is 70% owned and operated by Qube... more
Beware: turning panic into profit
In times of epidemics, watch out for villains. ITIC, the international transport intermediaries club, has been receiving an increasing number of reports of fraudulent invoices being submitted to vessel owners and managers for medical testing services following the outbreak of... more
Loxx invests in transport services to Georgia
Loxx Logistics is expanding its direct services to Georgia and now offering two weekly departures to Tbilisi and Batumi in cooperation with its Georgian partner company Vengo from Tbilisi that has proved itself on the international market since 2004. To this end, Loxx... more