Snippets of Freight and Logistics News from Around the Globe This Week

UK – WORLDWIDE – Legal outfit HFW which specialises in matters logistic is helping shipping association BIMCO draft the industry's first standard contract for the operation of autonomous vessels. The new standard contract will be based on the unfortunately titled 'SHIPMAN 2009' agreement for use with autonomous ships, and is expected to be published in 2021.

HFW, the only law firm on BIMCO's drafting committee, has previously helped BIMCO draft several standard contract and clauses, including its first cyber security clause, the industry's first standard offshore decommissioning contact, and two clauses relating to the International Maritime Organization's 2020 sulphur emission rules.

UK – Pallet delivery outfit Pall-Ex is celebrating its first birthday as a member and management owned network. In the past 12 months the company says it has welcomed an influx of new hauliers and recorded a 20% increase in shareholder membership enquiries compared to the previous year and now has over 80 shareholder members.

It has also acquired the assets and goodwill of both the Fortec Distribution Network and Cranleigh Distribution Services Limited, while also making a raft of senior management appointments across the Pall-Ex Group, also growing freight volumes by 11%, compared to the sector average of -1.1% as recorded by the Association of Pallet Networks (APN) and despite the pandemic.

SWEDEN – Forsea Ferries, a Stena group company, runs two RoRo ferries, the Tycho Brahe and Aurora which run entirely on battery power and, following the successful fitting of grease free bearings to the latter’s bow doors, Canadian group Thordon Bearings are to retrofit similar to her sister ship.

Since conversion to electric power the pair make annual savings of around 23,000 tonnes of CO₂ along with NOx and SOx reductions. With bow doors weighing 32 tonnes and being opened 48 times daily the original bronze-type bushings seized and often cracked. Mats Holst, Production Manager, Oresund Drydocks says the ThorPlas-Blue bushings show no wear on shaft or rotating parts, thus saving time and money.

US – Technology group Geek+ is introducing its UVC disinfection robot at the ISSA North America Virtual Experience Show on Nov 16 - 19, 2020. By combining autonomous mobile robot and disinfection technology, Geek+ says its robots can help secure unmanned 24/7 disinfection of large-scale facilities and shared spaces. This frees up time spent on ensuring disinfection through manual operations and helps businesses and organisations secure public health and business continuity.

NETHERLANDS – NORWAY – The Longship Group BV has announced the acquisition of 50% of Wagle Chartering AS. Wagle Chartering is a competitive broker, agent and commercial manager based in Moss, Norway. This latest acquisition by the Groningen based shipping company is in line with its strategy to enhance its position in Scandinavia.

Additionally the partnership will enable active participation in the ongoing consolidation of the dry bulk short sea market. Wagle Chartering and Longship enjoy already a long-standing cooperation and therefore will optimise their synergies with the intention of becoming a notable player in Northern Europe.

FINLAND – BRAZIL – Technology group Wärtsilä and CBO, one of Brazil’s leading operators of offshore support vessels, have recently signed an agreement to convert a vessel from CBO’s fleet to operate with hybrid propulsion. The CBO Flamengo will be the first vessel in Latin America to be fitted with a battery pack for hybrid propulsion, which will improve the vessel’s energy consumption and reduce its carbon footprint.

The Wärtsilä Hybrid Solution to be installed on the craft, a platform supply vessel (PSV), complies with the DNV-GL’s ‘Battery Power’ class notation, allowing the ship’s engines to run more efficiently by operating safely with fewer stresses at a higher load. The hybrid system will provide redundancy power and reduce intermittent load increases (peak shaving), thereby saving fuel and reducing exhaust emission levels. Furthermore, because the engines will operate for fewer running hours, maintenance requirements and costs will be reduced.

Photo: The Tycho Brahe, one of Forsea Ferries 100% battery powered RoRo ships.