OOCL is launching next month a new Indian Subcontinent East Coast Express (IEX) service, connecting India and Pakistan to the US east coast.

"This direct weekly service is in response to customers' increased demands for a quality service to and from this fast-growing market, and to provide additional capacity from the US east coast to India, Pakistan and Jeddah," a company statement said.



The IEX service will commence from Karachi on August 8. The service will have a fixed weekly schedule on the following port rotation: Karachi, Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Damietta, New York, Norfolk, Charleston, Port Said, Jeddah, Karachi.



Hong Kong-based OOCL has more than 280 offices in 58 countries. Linking Asia, Europe, North America, the Mediterranean, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Australia/New Zealand, the Chinese carrier offers transportation services to all major east/west trading economies of the world.

MEMBER lines participating in the Asia Australia Discussion Agreement (AADA) have announced an increase in the bunker surcharge for freight transported from China and Hong Kong to ports in Australia.

The move has been prompted by the ongoing surge in fuel prices in Hong Kong and South Korea.



A statement issued on behalf of members said that in accordance with the established review procedures, the bunker surcharge level will be adjusted to US$650 per TEU and $1,300 per FEU for dry and refrigerated containers with effect from August 8, 2008.



AADA members are ANL Singapore Pte Ltd, China Shipping Container Line (HK), Cosco Container Line, Hamburg Sud, Hanjin Shipping, HMM, "K" Line, Maersk Line, MSC, MOL, NYK Line, OOCL, Gold Star Line (HK) and Zim.



Maersk sees container shipping growing 7-8pc in 2008



MAERSK sees international container shipping growing seven to eight per cent this year buoyed by a robust intra-Asia trade despite soaring fuel prices and a US economic slowdown.



Maersk Line Asia Pacific chief executive Jesper Praestensgaard said intra-Asia trade was growing faster more than that between global regions, thus Asia was more protected from any downturn, reported Reuters.



To tap these new opportunities, Mr Praestensgaard said that Maersk would introduce a new China-Singapore service to meet the growing intra-Asia demand.



Maersk Line operates over 500 containerships and 1.9 million containers. Since June, it has ordered 34 ships for delivery by 2012 despite global concerns about oversupply.



"We invest in ships with lifespan of 25 to 30 years," he said, "and you have to measure success over that lifespan."



Soaring bunker prices represent more than 50 per cent of the firm's operating costs and bigger ships consume 46,200 litres every 100 kilometres.



To counter this, Maersk imposes surcharges, engages in fuel hedging and deploys "slow steaming" to cut fuel consumption and make up lost volume by increasing the number of ships on routes.



"There is no doubt that oil prices hinder trade, both in terms of reducing consumption and increasing transport costs in general," he said.



On mergers and consolidation, Mr Praestensgaard said the potential merger between Singapore's NOL and Hapag-Lloyd, the container unit of Germany's TUI AG, could be good for an industry that is too fragmented.



He declined to comment on Maersk's own interest in the German shipping line, but Maersk Line global CEO Eivind Kolding said he was not ruling out takeovers and was keeping a close eye on Hapag-Lloyd.

A DEDICATED rail line will run between Shenzhen's Shekou Container Terminal and Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, from August 1, reports Lloyd's List.

Transit time on the rail connection, operated by China Merchants' logistics division, will take 36 hours, said China Merchants, which owns a share of Shekou terminal.



"Changsha is a regional manufacturing centre that produces construction equipment and high-tech products with firms such as Mitsubishi, LG, Bosch and Hitachi while nearby Zhouzhou makes chemicals.



With volume growth slowing this year in the Pearl River Delta. particularly on the transpacific, Shekou seeks to reach into its hinterland for more cargo. Suffering Yantian port mostly handles import-export transpacific cargo, but few transshipments, which help make throughput numbers look good.

GREAT Ocean Container Line (GOCL), a Hong Kong-based company, plans to launch a dedicated Asia-Europe container shipping service in the fourth quarter of 2008.

This service will operate between North and Central China, Hong Kong, South China, Singapore and India before heading to Europe, reports AXS-Alphaliner News.



It said GOCL has been providing since April 2007 a Far East-Europe service through slot buying on the CKYH-UASC CNX-AEC 3 service. It has since chartered three 1,118-TEU containerships from German owner Vega Reederei, the report said.

DP World has announced that its total container volume surged 21 per cent in the first half of the year to 13.6 million TEU, with growth driven by the Asia and the Middle East trade routes.

The strong growth was seen in Middle East, Europe and Africa where the throughput grew 26 per cent. In Jebel Ali and Port Rashid, volumes increased 17 per cent, while the throughput for the Asia Pacific and Indian subcontinent rose 15 per cent, and was up 12 per cent for Americas and Australia together, reports the Gulf News.



"Our consolidated terminals have made a very pleasing start to the year with 21 per cent volume growth driven by our focus on the faster growing emerging markets along the Asia-Europe trade routes and our success in rolling out capacity in those markets which are capacity constrained and where our customers are focused," said chief executive officer Mohammad Sharaf.



"These strong volumes across all regions are expected to deliver good first half financial results well ahead of the same period last year."



Merrill Lynch analysts were optimistic that DP World would gain market share, which could give Dubai state-owned firm greater pricing leverage.

THE Thai Airfreight Forwarders Association (Tafa) says air cargo demand has fallen 30 per cent this year as customers switch to ships, reports the Perth-based AirCargo Asia-Pacific magazine.

Perishables, chiefly vegetables, fruit and flowers, account for 60 per cent of all air cargo shipments from and to Thailand.



"Exporters of electronic goods to Asian destinations such as Singapore and Hong Kong have turned to marine shipments rather than air to lower costs," a TAFA spokesman said.



"On some routes, fuel surcharge has become higher than transport fees," said the group.



This follows more positive first quarter numbers with statistics from the Air Cargo Business Association (ACBA) showing 137,747 tonnes of cargo shipped by air from Bangkok, up from 134,687 tonnes in the same period of 2007. Inbound volume rose to 82,086 tonnes from 74,527 tonnes.



Total outbound and inbound figures in 2007 were 534,319 and 307,490 tonnes respectively, according to the ACBA.

SWISS forwarding giant Kuehne + Nagel had first half profits rise 14.5 per cent to CHF308 million (US$303 million), but looks forward to slower growth in months and years to come.

Turnover grew 7.3 per cent to CHF10.7 billion. EBITDA improved by 12.3 per cent to CHF530 million; the margin rose from 4.7 to 5.0 per cent.



"We prepared for any possible economic slowdown in good time, focusing on strict cost management and profitable growth," said Kuehne + Nagel International CEO Klaus Herms. "We are satisfied with the half-year result, which reaffirms the sustainability and stability of our business model even in difficult economic times."



The company increased its container volumes by 7.4 per cent. The group achieved strong growth on trade from North America to Europe and Asia while Asia to Europe trade growth has slowed.



The strong demand for the company's sea freight information logistics solutions, alongside productivity increases and strict cost management, contributed to a 12.2 per cent improvement of the operational result. At 4.3 per cent the EBITDA margin was above the previous year's 4.2 per cent, a company statement said.



Kuehne + Nagel said the group registered slower airfreight growth in the second quarter, and increased tonnage by 11.4 per cent during the first half of the year. Cost efficiencies, new contracts and growing existing accounts were crucial to this good performance that is also reflected in the operational result's 20.6 per cent improvement. The EBITDA margin reached a record 6.1 per cent, up from 5.6 per cent the previous year.



In overland business, net turnover was up 13.8 per cent year on year. Higher capacity utilisation helped raise operational results 8.7 per cent. The EBITDA margin remained stable at 1.7 per cent.



The contract logistics business unit benefited from its global focus, with business remaining stable at a high level despite economic uncertainties. Net turnover increased by 5.9 per cent. Strict cost management helped leverage the operational result by 11.0 per cent. The margin increased from 5.2 - 5.5 per cent, the release said.

AIR FRANCE Cargo and KLM Cargo have modified their fuel surcharge mechanism based on flight miles to better reflect rises in jet fuel prices and to provide shippers with a more transparent fee collection method.

The revised mechanism also represents a complete change of the present model for air cargo surcharges, reports AirCargo World of Washington, DC.



Starting September 1, fuel surcharges will be incorporated into the shipping rates, making them commissionable. The US dollar will serve as the basis for the new mechanism and be converted to other currencies for billing. Existing exchange rates will be used to determine the new fuel surcharge levels should prices change.



New fuel surcharge changes will be implemented in increments of 10 cents instead of five cents.



"To increase stability and prevent changes due to short-term peaks, a monthly moving average will be used," said Michael Wisbrun executive vice president for Air France-KLM Cargo.

BOEING and Aviation Capital Group (ACG) a subsidiary of Pacific LifeCorp, have announced that the Newport Beach, California- based leasing company has ordered 15 more Next-Generation 737-700s.

The order, announced at the recent Farnborough International Air Show in England, is worth approximately US$934 million at list prices.



"This supplements our order for 17 Next-Generation 737s," said ACG chief executive Stephen Hannahs. "We continue to order the 737 with the latest improvements to have the most fuel-efficient airplanes."



With this, ACG has ordered 96 Boeing aircraft - 91 Next-Generation 737s and five 787 Dreamliners. This includes 15 Next-Generation 737s for which ACG acquired delivery positions from Delta Air Lines in 2006. Of the 96 Boeing airplanes ordered, 89 remain to be delivered.



ACG's current fleet contains 131 Boeing planes, including Next-Generation 737s, as part of the company's portfolio of more than 230 aircraft.



"The Next-Generation 737 is the best-selling jetliner of all time because of its high reliability and fuel efficiency and its low operating costs," said Boeing sales vice president John Feren.



To date, 115 orders have been placed for more than 4,800 Next-Generation 737s. Unfilled orders for the Next-Generation 737 exceed 2,200 airplanes, worth more than $160 billion at list prices.



Aviation Capital Group is owner/lessor and portfolio manager of a diversified fleet of commercial jet aircraft leased to the world's leading airlines. Its portfolio includes 233 aircraft leased to 97 airlines in 42 countries. ACG's Capital Markets Group also provides asset management and remarketing services to airplane investors and institutional clients. ACG was founded in 1989 and is a unit of Pacific LifeCorp.

HONGKONG Post has officially launched its iMail service after a successful soft launch in the spring.

The service is designed for small-sized goods purchased online and initiated by the post office's Bulk Registered Air Mail service.



"It provides an ideal B2C [business to consumer] total solution that facilitates the whole mailing process from mail preparation to delivery to overseas buyers," said the post office statement.



iMail service includes added bonuses of insurance and online credit card payment. Its online mailing tool also allows for all-in-one shipping label and posting history. Its additional facility for customs pre-declaration could end up being a prerequisite as suggested by EU and US customs.



Higher security on delivery is maintained with a signature compulsory on collection.