Port News

MSC resumes operation to Iran 

After six years MSC has resumed its schedule calling at the south port of  Bandar Abbas

The services is expected to be weekly with the vessel capacity of 1,162 TEU

Port of Mumbai

It has been reported that there is a shortage of workers at Mumbai port which is having an adverse effect on trade as vessels are taking longer for loading and unloading their cargoes.

Port of Antwerpen 

Antwerps executive is suggesting a closer working relations is necessary to countger risks posed by Chinese investment in southern European ports.. China is already building growth in Piaraeus and in Kumport  Turkey as China wants to be less depenedent on the northern European ports.

Transport

Weight verification  link to register

The method used for weighing the container's contents under Method No. 2 is subject to certification and approval as determined by the competent authority of the State in which the packing and sealing of the container was completed. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 5.1.2.3. Shippers are responsible for complying with any certification and approval requirements that may be established by the State in which the container packing is done, or, in a case where a container is packed in multiple places, any certification and approval requirements that may be established by the State where the last contents were packed into the container. 

Port News

 

Port of London 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DP World London receives the largest container ship

U~ACS's M.V. Al Muraykj is on its way to London carrying a world record of 18,601 TEU.

Port Arthur, Texas 

Cheniere Energy Houston has started production  at its Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas terminal in Louisana. Its main target market is Europe and the terminal has six plants know as trains which are used for chilling the natural gas.

Port of Salalah (northern part of the Indian Ocean)

The port has opened a new deep water general cargo and liquid bulk terminal.  This new addition to the terminal will add 20 million tonnes of dry cargo  as well as 6 million tonnes of liquid bulk cargo. The port is operated by APM Terminals.

Company News

 

Grimaldi Group's ACL has taken delivery of the Atlantic Star the first of five new G4 con-ro vessels being built in China. The vessel will join the transatlantic services having being launched in Liverpool. The remaining vessels will be delivered during the first half of 2016

UPS to build parcels hub at London Gateway

The facility is expected to be completed in the summer of 2017.

DP World to become sole owner of Southampton container port

DP World has aquired the remaining 49% stake in the port from ABP

Trade News

 

 No further Eurozone expansion during the next few years

 

The eurozone is not expected to welcome any new members in the coming years, as the region's long crisis seems to have put some countries off, deputy European Commission chief said in a newspaper interview Monday.

Law

 

Top EU court rules against Scottish minimum drink price law

The EU's top court ruled Wednesday that Scotland's minimum price system for alcohol, designed to stop people "drinking themselves to death," was contrary to EU law.

Air News

 

IAG Cargo has extended its Cargo Connector service to include deliveries as well as pick-ups in the USA; San Fransisco, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle and Houston for shipments less than 300 kilos

Turkish Airlines is operating a weekly Thursday Airbus A210 freighter service from Istanbul Ataturk to London Stansted.

Lufthansa Cargo is to to make permanent its weekly freighter service to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam after a trial period.

Panalpina is to acquire a majority stake in Airflo based in Kenya and the Netherlands and with a speciality cargo exporting flowers and vegetables

UPS is expanding its Worldwide Express Service to more than 41,000 new postal codes around the world including1,371 in the UK

IAG Cargo has introduced its first Boeing 787-9 on its London - Delhi route with a capacity of 22 tonnes each day. Further expansion is expected.

General News

 

City banker loses job after admitting £8,000 fare-dodging scam
A city banker who spent two years commuting to work using a photocopy of a train season ticket has lost his job after pleading guilty to the £8,000 fraud.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that the father of three had twice been given an interest free loan of around £4,000 by his employer, Citigroup, which he used to purchase an annual season ticket, known as a gold card

Rail Franchises are monopolies that need scrapping

by Adrian Quine

If you are smarting at increased rail fares introduced this weekend (some are rising by as much as a third!) you might be forgiven for wondering how complacent railway companies get away with it year after year. What happened to privatisation? What about competition driving down fares? Thankfully, however, some good news might be about to pull into the adjacent platform.

"The last two decades have seen airlines rival each other to innovate with low fares and on-board service. But the franchised rail model has seen the exact reverse"

Hundreds of buses to be fitted with green technology to cut air pollution. 

 

The government has announced new money for councils to cut emissions in 439 buses around the country as part of a £7 million scheme.

Russia extends Turkey sanctions

 

Russia imposed sanctions on Turkey, in the form of a decree “on measures to ensure Russia’s national security and protect nationals of the Russian Federation from criminal and other illegal actions and to use special economic measures against the Turkish Republic.” By that decree, Russia banned or restricted imports of certain Turkish goods, including fruit and vegetables, suspended its visa-free travel agreement with Turkey and banned charter flights between Russia and Turkey.

President Putin today signed an order extending those sanctions, by bringing into force some of the sanctions imposed on November 28 that had not yet been implemented. The new order also bans a number of Turkish organisations or limits their activities in Russia.

EU delists prominent Syrian businessman 

Last week, the EU de-listed Samir Hamsho and his companies Al Buroj Trading and Syria Steel/Hmisho Steel from its sanctions measures on Syria. Samir Hamsho was listed for being a prominent Syrian businessman benefitting from and supporting the Syrian regime, for having been appointed to the Homs Chamber of Commerce by the Minister of Industry in 2014, and for owning the designated companies named above.

EU Parliament resolution calls for Maldives sanctions

The European Parliament has passed a resolution calling for the EU to impose asset freezes and travel bans on members of the Maldivian government and their leading supporters in the Maldivian business community.  The resolution expresses “deep concern about the gradual deterioration of the democratic standards and increasingly authoritarian tendencies in the Maldives”, and calls for “the Maldives government to release, immediately and unconditionally, former President Mohamed Nasheed, former Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb, and former defence ministers Tholhath Ibrahim and Mohamed Nazim, together with Sheikh Imran Abdulla and other political prisoners”.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the release of former President Nasheed in April, and in October the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that Nasheed’s detention was unlawful and called for his immediate release. The Maldivian parliament has passed legislation making it a treasonable offence to call for the imposition of sanctions and associated penalties against the Government of the Maldives and its members.

US adds targets to its Russia sanctions

The US has sanctioned 34 new people and entities under its Ukraine-related Russia sanctions regimes. Of the 34, 14 are said to be linked to those that have engaged in serious and sustained evasion of sanctions or are owned by a designated entity, 6 are alleged separatists who have threatened the security or stability of Ukraine, 2 are former Ukrainian government officials said to have been complicit in the misappropriation of public assets or to have threatened the security of stability of Ukraine, and 12 are entities that operate in the contested Crimea region of Ukraine. The US also identified a number of subsidiaries that are owned by listed entities VTB Bank, Sberbank, and Rostec.

 In the US Treasury’s press release Acting Director of OFAC John Smith stated that “It is critical that Russia takes the steps necessary to comply with its obligations under the Minsk Agreements and to ensure a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine”, adding that the US is “closely matching its designations with those of our international partners”. The press release notes the US’ “sustained commitment to a policy of non-recognition with respect to Russia’s purported annexation of Crimea, and our intent to maintain Crimea-related sanctions until Russia ends its occupation of the peninsula”. This reflects the position taken by the EU; several of the people and entities newly designated by the US have previously been listed by the EU. The EU renewed its own sectoral sanctions on Russia on Tuesday.

HM Treasury has published a note providing guidance to NGOs on operating within sanctions legislation. The guidance states that:

1. 1. The purpose of terrorist asset freezing regimes is to prevent funds from being used or diverted for terrorist purposes. The purpose of other international sanctions regimes is “to influence the behaviour of the targets of the sanctions by increasing the cost of doing business, denying them access to resources needed for the unwelcome behaviour, and to send a broader political message condemning the target’s behaviour. In Syria, the aims of sanctions are to downgrade Assad’s ability to wage war on his people and pressure the regime into reassessing its position and reengaging in negotiations with the moderate opposition”.
2. The purpose of the licenses from HM Treasury are to “mitigate the impact of an asset freeze on certain aspects of a designated person’s life, whilst still ensuring that funds cannot be diverted for terrorist purposes or to support activities such as human rights violations and nuclear proliferation”. HMT say that it would be “unusual” for licences to be granted to cover payments made overseas; they “usually cover payments within the UK, where terrorist financing risks can be more easily managed”.
3. NGOs must consider whether their activities are prohibited if they interact with designated people. “For example, simply meeting with a designated person, or providing them with a meal or a drink is unlikely to fall within the prohibitions whereas paying funds to the designated person or repaying a debt on their behalf are among the prohibitions that would apply”. Legislation does not prevent NGOs from operating overseas, including in areas where terrorist groups operate, but that it is the responsibility of NGOs and other organisations to “take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of non-compliance”.
4. The Government “acknowledges the negative impact” of bank account closures / restricted banking services on NGOs, but says that “neither the government nor regulators can compel banks or other financial institutions to offer an account to a particular customer. Decisions taken by bank are private and taken in accordance with their risk appetite and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements”. Individuals should “engage proactively with their bank at the earliest possible stage and provide information about their desired transactions, including how the ultimate use of the funds will be monitored. It may also be helpful for NGOs to demonstrate their existing due diligence processes”.
5. The risk of prosecution for terrorist offences for involvement in humanitarian work is low.

The guidance also has sections on proscribed organisations under the Terrorism Act, ransom payments, and BIS export control licences.

 

EU Commission provides transitional rules for

operators and customs authorities for a

limited period from 1 May 2016

On 17 December 2015, the European Commission adopted a

delegated act to establish transitional rules (hereafter the

Transitional Delegated Act) for operators and customs

authorities pending the introduction of new IT systems to

create a fully electronic customs environment..

"I warmly welcome The Transitional Delegated Act will now be notified

simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council, both of which

then have a period of two months, which can be extended by another two

months, to express an objection.

The present Act is the last element of the Union Customs Code (UCC) package

aimed to provide a modern and integrated EU customs system. It joins the

Delegated Act (DA) and the Implementing Act (IA) as the three pillars that

will, inter alia:

• streamline customs legislation and procedures;

• simplify customs rules and procedures and facilitate more efficient customs transactions in line with modern-day needs;

• complete the shift by customs authorities to a paperless and fully electronic environment; and

• reinforce swifter customs procedures for compliant and trustworthy

economic operators.

The Transitional Delegated Act lays down provisions for a transitional period

during which the electronic systems for the exchange of information between

customs authorities and the Commission and for the storage of such

information as laid down in the UCC Work Programme are finalized. (By way of

background information, the UCC Work Programme is used as planning and

transition tool to govern all necessary steps at Union and Member States level

to ensure full electronic implementation by 31 December 2020). Specifically, it

lays down the rules on the exchange and storage of data in the absence of

certain information technology (IT) systems, i.e. the use of existing systems or

the use of paper-forms, to allow implementation of the UCC while work

continues on the development and deployment of the relevant IT systems. In

addition, and in order to ensure predictability and legal certainty, the

Transitional Delegated Act contains suspensions of certain provisions in the

Delegated Act where they are needed, to clarify, where necessary, that paper

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