All Those Bits You Missed This Week as the Cricket/Football/Rugby Was On

UK – DHL Supply Chain has engaged tech start-up, DigiHaul as its primary sub-contractor in a 10-year contract. Through DigiHaul, DHL is now able to tap into a network of 750 sub contract carriers, shoring-up availability ahead of the busiest period in the year and at a time when driver resource is in high demand. Over 600 loads a day will be booked, tracked and managed through the DigiHaul solution.

The pair say that the move will optimise DHL’s carrier network, helping to make its transport operation more resilient as it heads into the peak period, and contribute towards its reduction in carbon emissions by decreasing empty running. Despite the undoubted breadth of the DHL operation, DigiHaul claims it can provide one central view of DHL sub-contraction needs and track demand across sites to enable better forecasting and planning.

UK – CRP Subsea (formerly Trelleborg Offshore UK) has made a large-scale investment in a new manufacturing 12,000 m² facility in in Skelmersdale, Lancashire to support their transition from primarily oil & gas, into the renewables market. The purpose-built manufacturing facility includes a state-of-the-art semi-automated production line for the NjordGuard cable protection system used in offshore wind farms.

The company says the new facility enables it to significantly improve flow of materials, achieve throughput efficiencies and increase productivity, increasing Bend Stiffener production output by a factor of 20. The enhanced capacity has therefore positioned it to support the growing number of offshore wind projects.

UK – As the country continues to struggle with supply chain issues, GB Railfreight (GBRf) says it is excited to have successfully operated a series of intermodal services from the Port of Tyne to strategic rail hubs in Yorkshire and the Midlands.The campaign saw GBRf operate intermodal services from Port of Tyne to Yorkshire twice-a-week in addition to services to the Midlands once-a-week.

This series of intermodal services comes as the Port of Tyne welcomes intermodal traffic to help ease the strains caused by simultaneous increased consumer demand and supply chain challenges, ensuring the delivery of goods across the UK.

UK – CANADA – US – Reygar Ltd, which supplies remote monitoring and reporting platforms to the maritime sector, has teamed up with Canadian maritime software solutions provider Helm Operations to integrate their respective vessel and fleet management products, BareFLEET and Helm CONNECT. The products provide a suite of software tools offering cloud-based data measurements for vessel operators on maintenance, compliance, and personnel and client management.

The collaboration is being trialled in operation on board a vessel supplied by a prominent US harbour towage company, providing a live testing platform to track the performance of the integration in shaping the solution and its capabilities for wider expansion to the global market. Reygar and Helm will showcase the integration at Stand #2311 at the International Workboat Show in New Orleans, USA, from December 1st- 3rd.

FRANCE – The HAROPA port group will see further development in the Le Havre region as temperature-controlled food logistics Seafrigo has agreed to go ahead with a new 60,000m² ambient temperature logistics platform consisting of two new buildings each 30,000 m² owned by AG Real Estate.

Seafrigo will operate the units for a fixed 12-year period as a complete multimodal hub soon to be connected to the railway network and with a quay which will be created to boost river traffic and encourage modal transfer to the ports of Paris. The plan is to have the units operating at full capacity by the end of the year and will accommodate logistics flows for large retailers and manufacturers in the food industry.

ASIA – Pacific International Lines (PIL) is to commence a new, weekly, direct service connecting key ports in China, Singapore and West Malaysia served by a consortium of four vessels with an average capacity of 2,800 TEUs, jointly deployed by PIL, Goldstar Lines (GSL) and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL).

Named the China Straits Service (CSS) the first sailing will commence from Qingdao on 18 December 2021 with a port rotation of: Qingdao – Shanghai – Xiamen – Nansha – Singapore – Port Kelang – Penang – Port Kelang – Pasir Gudang – Nansha – Qingdao.

NETHERLANDS – Imperial Logistics has opened a new, larger tank-cleaning facility at Terneuzen, replacing its smaller operational site at Axel. The facility has out of hours and weekend capabilities and has three separate cleaning bays, two for standard chemical products and a third cleaning line with a re-circulation system for heavy-duty cleaning of substances such as latex or synthetic resins.

IBC (Intermediate Bulk Containers) cleaning can also be performed at the new station and a significant upgrade is provided by an on-site tank container depot for storage of empty and uncleaned units, which increases the flexibility of the cleaning services.

HONG KONG – Air cargo handling just got even bigger for the region’s largest player with the opening of the Hactl Control Centre (iHCC), creating a single command centre that is manned ‘24/7/365’. The move centralises Operations, Engineering and Facilities Services, and Information Services departments meaning duty managers are now able to monitor the entire SuperTerminal 1 facility, from traffic management at its truck parks through the many different functional areas of the terminal, to cargo dispatch activities at the airside area.

COSAC-Plus, Hactl’s self-developed cargo management system, connects all air cargo stakeholders such as government bodies, airlines and freight forwarders, and processes around one million data transactions every day. There is a 3D Schematic Display System, which graphically shows the position of all cargo and equipment in the terminal’s cargo handling systems, and a CCTV monitoring system covering all 1000+ cameras located throughout the terminal, plus a flight tracking system assists in predicting aircraft arrivals.

Photo: Inside the Hactl new Control Centre.