International News Notes

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 9/1/1999

Air Freight--KLM Cargo and Envirotainer will offer temperature-guaranteed services initially between Europe, South Africa, and South America, and later worldwide. KLM will use Envirotainer's equipment to maintain shipments at an agreed-upon temperature (plus or minus 2 degrees Celsius) for 72 hours. Emery Worldwide has expanded its "Gold Priority Express" guaranteed service to include shipments between Japan and the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. The Los Angeles International Airport has awarded a $12 million contract for Cargo Building A, a new warehouse that will replace two outdated buildings. Cargolux Airlines has launched weekly Boeing 747-400 freighter service to Luxembourg from Portland, Ore.--the first nonstop aircargo service to Europe from that city. Polar Air Cargo has formed a code-share alliance with Air New Zealand that includes six weekly flights between the United States and the South Pacific. LTL carrier AAA Cooper now offers scheduled service to 13 countries in Central and South America through a partnership with Challenge Air Cargo.

Ocean Carriers--Contship Containerlines has begun fixed-day weekly service between the U.S. East Coast and the Port of Nhava Sheva (Mumbai) via sister company Lykes Lines' North Atlantic Sprint service. Econocaribe has inaugurated biweekly service from Miami to Itajai and São Francisco Do Sul, Brazil. APL Ltd. has launched the industry's first direct container service between Asia and major ports on the Red Sea. The Red Sea Express service will call at Singapore and Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan. Zim Israeli Navigation has introduced weekly service from Cambodia to the United States and Canada via feeder service over Shekou, China.

Ports--The Port of Hamburg has redesigned its Web site (www.mainport-hamburg.de) to allow shippers interactive access to several of the port's internal databases. The Port of Tacoma (Wash.) and Hyundai Merchant Marine celebrated the opening of Hyundai's 60-acre container terminal, which features on-dock ship-to-rail transfer capability. The Port of Galveston (Texas) reported an increase of 172 percent in net income for the first half of 1999 compared with the same period last year. The Port of Savannah (Ga.) will install integrated container-management software that will improve the port's gate operations, export/import processing, bookings, billing, EDI capabilities, work-order tracking, and vessel, yard, and operations management.

Freight Forwarders--Schenker International will invest more than $11 million in a new Integrated Logistics Center at the Port of Rotterdam's Distriepark Botlek. The multimodal center will offer a full range of value-added logistics services, including cross-docking, consolidation, and hazardous-materials handling. BAX Global has opened a company-owned office that offers air and ocean import and export services in Bangkok, Thailand. Consolidated Freightways has formed an alliance with Fracht AG, a Swiss forwarder serving Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Sweden. U-Freight has opened a new $5 million freight terminal in Hong Kong. The 30,000-square-foot facility specializes in cross-border air freight and dedicated contract services. Hellmann Worldwide has opened two company-owned offices in Seoul, Korea, to provide forwarding and customs brokerage for ocean and air shipments. BDP International now offers construction-project cargo services through its office in Shanghai, China. Twin Modal has expanded into international transportation with the launch of its Air/Ocean Division. Services include airfreight forwarding and ocean cargo consolidation.

Logistics Services--Mercantile Logistics has been granted licenses to establish six branch offices throughout the People's Republic of China. The company offers logistics-management and freight-consolidation services for retail goods. Exel Logistics will establish a joint venture company with China's Huatong Group. The new entity will develop China's largest network of regional warehousing and transportation services.