The agreement was subject to approval by relevant authorities. Today, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) announced that it will allow the VSA to come into effect.

The U.S. was the only remaining jurisdiction where the VSA had to obtain approval. Maersk Line and MSC can now implement the VSA as planned.

“We are very pleased that the FMC has decided to allow our VSA with MSC to become effective. In our view, this is a win-win situation. Due to a larger and more cost efficient network, we can continue to provide our customers in North America, Europe and Asia competitive and reliable container shipping services. We look forward to starting operations on our new East/West network in January 2015.” says Vincent Clerc, Chief Trade and Marketing Officer, Maersk Line.

In the new East/West network, Maersk Line offers customers more services and ports: 21 strings (vs. 18 today), 1,036 port pairs (vs. 788 today) and 291 ports called (vs. 212 today).

The VSA will also result in cost savings through the deployment of larger and more efficient vessels and improved utilisation. In addition, we will be able to lower our CO2 emissions.

In total, the VSA has an estimated capacity of 2.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) or approximately 185 vessels. Maersk Line will contribute around 55 % of the total capacity.

“The Port of Charleston’s ability to handle post-Panamax vessels 24 hours a day without tidal restriction is critical to the future competitiveness of our state port system,” said Jim Newsome, SCPA president and CEO. “Completion of our harbor deepening project to 52 feet ensures that SCPA will continue to grow above the market average and remain a top ten port, facilitating trade and economic development for our entire state, region and nation. We would like to recognize the expertise and professionalism of the US Army Corps of Engineers as our partner on this project, and we look forward to working together through the completion of harbor deepening.”

Launched in 2011, the federal deepening project will expand the Port of Charleston’s ability to handle the post-Panamax vessels dominating the ocean carrier industry. Following the opening of the Panama Canal expansion and raising of the Bayonne Bridge in New Jersey, post-Panamax vessels are expected to call the East Coast more frequently, requiring ports to invest in infrastructure and deepening projects to be competitive. Charleston currently receives seven post-Panamax vessel calls weekly and handles ships of this size with tidal restrictions.

Growth of commerce in the Southeast region also requires a deeper harbor. US container trade is expected to be export dominant by 2020, and export containers typically weigh three tons more than import boxes. The strong manufacturing presence in South Carolina and throughout the Southeast drives increased exports and the need for harbor depth to accommodate fully-loaded post-Panamax vessels.

 “Deepening the Charleston Harbor is a project that has garnered united political support at all levels of government,” said Bill Stern, SCPA Board Chairman. “We are fortunate for the leadership and vision of our General Assembly, who previously set aside the state share of construction costs. Our Congressional delegation members are among the strongest advocates for our project and the importance of our state’s port system.”

 The SC General Assembly set aside the full estimated state share of the deepening construction costs in 2013, and the project was named was named one of President Obama’s “We Can’t Wait” initiatives. Construction will begin following the issuance of the Chief’s Report in September 2015 and the Preconstruction Engineering and Design Phase, during which additional cost saving opportunities on the project may be identified.

The report released today outlines the project’s significant benefits to the nation and illustrates that the project can easily be constructed in an environmentally-responsible manner. For more information about harbor deepening, visit the port’s website at www.scspa.com.

The system will go live later this year at KAP, which is operated by National Container Terminals. The port is currently undergoing its second stage of development, which will see capacity increased to 2.7 million TEU per annum by the end of 2014.

Officially launched this June at the TOC Europe event in London, CTAS 7.0 Reefer system is Identec Solutions’ latest generation real-time wireless monitoring and control system for refrigerated containers. Ports and container terminal operators can use the system to remotely monitor reefer temperatures, adjust set points, perform pre-trip inspections (PTIs), download data logs and other key functions.

“We are very pleased KAP has become the latest customer to seek the benefits delivered by CTAS Reefer, which gives port and terminal operators the ability to automate monitoring across the end-to-end reefer container visit,” said Peter Cosgrove, Senior VP Sales & Services for Identec Solutions. ‘KAP is our first customer in Saudi Arabia and we very much look forward to a long-term partnership.”

“In shaping KAP to be one of the world’s foremost tech-driven ports, selecting IDENTEC’s CTAS Reefer solution was a no-brainer,” said Loai Naamani, CEO of 3M+1, the master systems provider entrusted with the turnkey deployment of all terminal systems and management of the ICT operation at KAP. “We’re shooting for maximum reefer coverage and the freshest user interface on the market with CTAS Reefer.”

Exploratory talks started in Morocco in June between Marseilles Fos CEO Christine Cabau Woehrel and Morocco’s transport and logistics minister Aziz Rabbah, who then led a return visit to Marseilles in August.  This trip saw the signing of two cooperation agreements for the development of freight and passenger shipping services, training programmes, IT support and an agricultural products logistics hub.

The follow-up trade mission on September 25-26 was arranged with the support of the Tanger Med port authority, Morocco’s national ports agency and the Moroccan exporters’ association. 

Mme. Cabau Woehrel and VMF chairman Herve Balladur made presentations stressing the port’s rapid connections as a gateway to Europe.  The Moroccan exporters hosted two meetings in Casablanca focused on the container and fruit & vegetable trades, while two further round-tables in Tangiers addressed the ro-ro and vehicle import/export sectors.