The CKYH Alliance -- COSCO Container Lines, "K" Line, Yang Ming, and Hanjin Shipping -- on Tuesday made the first call at the new Euromax terminal in the Port of Rotterdam.

The first vessel to call at Euromax was the 4,444-TEU vessel YM Portland, which operates on the Asia/Europe AES3 loop.

OOCL and NYK will next month enter tonnage on the U.S. East Coast/Indian Subcontinent Indamex service of APL, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd.

OOCL and NYK have been taking slots on the service since July.

The ESPMC-WITASS liner conference said Monday its members will introduce an overweight container surcharge of $150 per container in the northbound trade from the West Coast of South America to North Europe.

The surcharge will apply to containers with a gross (tare and payload) weight in excess of 18 tons per TEU

APM Terminals has signed a joint venture agreement with Pharung Shipyard Co., a division of the Vietnamese state-run Vinashin Group, to develop and operate a container terminal in Vietnam's Dinh Vu Industrial Zone.

Construction of the planned 630-meter berth and 24-hectare (60 acre) terminal

Gold Star Line is set to withdraw from the trans-Tasman trade, another victim of fuel costs, the Taranaki Daily News reports.

The service had been running for a mere six months operating a weekly trans-Tasman service using two vessels, the Australia Star and the New Zealand Star.

Japanese shipping giant MOL says its training vessel the Spirit of MOL has transported aid supplies for the Philippine government to assist with relief efforts in Iloilo state, which suffered severe typhoon damage.

At the request of the Philippine Department of Transportation and Communication, trainees on the Spirit of MOL

DP World and the Yemen Gulf of Aden Port Corp have finalised a joint venture that will see DP World operating and developing the container handling facilities in the port of Aden.

The agreement includes the lease of both Aden Container Terminal and of nearby Ma'alla Container Terminal,

APL - NOL ( Vietnam) Ltd. has anounced new THC quantum for BL dated on/from August 01, 2008 onward as follows.

Inbound THC

Destination: Vietnam
Origin: TP Trade (North America, Mexico and Latin)

Maersk Lines has increased its Bunker Adjustment Factor charge in light of increasing fuel surcharges, the National Business Review reported.

On New Zealand-US services the price has been raised from US$438 per TEU to $844, and on routes to Asia and Europe it has been raised from $350 to $675 per TEU.

Container lines in the ESPMC-WITASS conference are about to introduce a peak season surcharge of 310 euros per TEU for all southbound cargo in the trade between Europe and the Caribbean.

The six conference members - Container Cargo Lines Inc., CMA CGM, Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV)

Port Klang Authority plans to build a multi-purpose berth to increase the port's occupancy rate to 65 percent.

The berth will be built within the next two years, and could cost up to US$18.5 million.

Chile's CCNI and German carrier Hamburg Süd are set to switch calls in Mexico on their joint Far East/North and South America China Express Service/ASPA 1 from Manzanillo to Lázaro Cárdenas.

The 2,532-TEU Cap Carmel, which departed Yokohama on July 10, is scheduled to make the first southbound call at Lázaro Cárdenas Aug. 5.

Eimskip starting Friday will slow its Iceland/North America service to a 28-days round voyage, extending the sailing frequency from every 12 days to fixed-day fortnightly.

The changed schedule will start with the departure of the 712-TEU Reykjafoss from Reykjavík on July 18.

Samudera Shipping Line has added a third Indian subcontinent feeder service with a fortnightly operation connecting Singapore, Chittagong and Haldia.

The Chittagong Haldia Express (CHX) started July 10 from Singapore and uses one 1,100-TEU vessel.

What is envisioned as India's largest privately owned port is due to open this week on the country's East Coast, about 120 miles north of Chennai.

The Port of Krishnapatnam will begin operations with the opening of four berths, one of which will be dedicated to containers. By 2020, port officials see 40 berths in operation, the Economic Times reported.

German ocean carrier Hamburg Süd said Monday it has received approval from China's Ministry of Communications to expand its network of proprietary offices in China from one to seven.

The carrier's China subsidiary was established in 2005 in Shanghai, but now it has been granted permission to open branches in the key transport hubs of Guangzhou, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Xiamen.

With the market share of import- export container throughput making up over 65% of those in the ports of southern provinces and over 42% nationwide, the receipt/delivery and vessel dispatch activities at Cat Lai port have played an important role in the import - export trade of the Southern provinces and the national economy.

Cat Lai port is the biggest and most modern container port in Vietnam

Fifty-five ports from around the world committed to reducing CO2 emissions and improve air quality at the closing session of the C40 World Ports Climate Conference held in Rotterdam July 9-11.

The International Association for Ports and Harbors (IAPH) will prepare some concrete measures to build