The Port of Los Angeles processed 725,059 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in February, the busiest February in the port’s 111-year history. Volumes jumped 16 percent compared to last February. Two months into 2018, overall volumes have increased 5.6 percent compared to 2017, which was the Port’s best year ever. The surge in February volumes is due in part to the Lunar New Year, which fell later this year. Shippers moved cargo ahead of the holiday celebrated in Asia and thus March volumes are expected to be lighter this year with the advance shipments coming in February.
In August 2017, Konecranes signed a major service agreement: the company’s Antwerp-based service organization will perform all of the maintenance and repair work on more than 150 Konecranes Noell Straddle Carriers of different generations for MSC PSA European Terminal (MPET), the single largest container terminal in Europe. The purpose of this service agreement is to achieve consistently high availability of the entire machine fleet. MPET, which handles the majority of containers in the Port of Antwerp, saw steady growth in 2016.
Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) new, fully integrated e-commerce platform has gone live. The new Order to Cash system replaces TNPA’s nine year old PortsOnline customer system for online submission of cargo documentation. TNPA Chief Financial Officer and Executive Sponsor of the project, Mohammed Abdool, said, “Order to Cash is another Smart People’s Ports initiative that seeks to modernize how Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) operates by creating a single view of our port system and making transacting more effective and efficient.
Californian Port of Los Angeles has seen its volumes increase by 10 percent in the first quarter of 2017 as it handled a total of 2.23 million TEUs in the three-month period, compared to 2 million TEU seen in the same quarter a year earlier. “We are pleased to end the first quarter of 2017 with strong volumes and continually efficient cargo handling operations,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. Gene adde: “We continue to earn the confidence of shippers and are encouraged by the strength of our supply chain partners.
New joint co-operation between Gasum and Wärtsilä aims to develop the utilization and distribution of natural energy gases in marine and land markets. Gasum, the Nordic leader in natural gases and Wärtsilä, a global leader in advanced technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets have signed a Joint Co-operation Agreement aimed at developing the utilization and distribution of natural energy gases in marine and land markets. The agreement between Gasum and Wärtsilä was signed August 29, 2016 and will run for several years.