The new chord will reduce rail freight journey times to and from the UK’s largest container port by one hour in each direction providing a substantial performance and efficiency improvement for both rail and sea freight operators.

Commenting on the latest improvement to Felixstowe’s rail connections, Clemence Cheng, Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited Chief Executive Officer, said:

“The Port of Felixstowe already has a unique rail advantage. The 60 freight train movements we handle every day connects the port with 17 different inland destinations and offers shippers a frequency and range of services that are simply not available anywhere else.

“This latest development complements the opening of a new rail terminal at Felixstowe last year, our third at the port. The new terminal, and the Ipswich Chord, will allow a greater number of 30-wagon trains to operate from the port providing greater choice and lower carbon emissions for our customers.”

Rail volumes at the Port of Felixstowe reached record levels in 2013 when 830,000 TEU were handled at the port’s rail terminals.

When he visited the chord on 21 March 2014, Rail Minister Stephen Hammond said:

“We are investing record amounts into transforming our railways because we recognise they are a key engine for growth. It is great to see that investment taking shape on the ground through projects like the Ipswich Chord. This will deliver a real boost to the freight industry, driving forward our economy and freeing up capacity to improve passenger services. In addition, it will help remove lorries from our roads, delivering safer journeys, a cleaner environment and relieving congestion.”

Richard Schofield, Network Rail route managing director, said:

“The completion of the new rail link is great news for passengers and road users in Ipswich and across the Anglia region. It’s a fantastic example of how investment in infrastructure can deliver benefits for local and regional economies and will contribute to the growth rail freight while helping passenger services improve further.”

The chord provides a new 1.2km double track railway linking the Great Eastern Main Line with the East Suffolk Line. It enables freight trains to link directly with the Felixstowe to Nuneaton route without having to turn around at Ipswich Yard.

The direct link provides a significant increase in capacity by enabling trains to run at higher speeds without the length constraints associated with Ipswich Yard. It also reduces the safety risks associated with unnecessary yard operations and train reconfigurations.

Test trains will run on the chord from 24 March 2014.

According to the BBC the investment is being made across two locations – the Green Port project in Hull, and a second manufacturing facility in Paull in East Yorkshire. Siemens said the UK “recognises the potential of offshore wind energy.”

“We invest in markets with reliable conditions that can ensure that factories can work to capacity,” said Michael Suess, head of Siemens’s energy sector.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey: “This is great news for Hull, it’s great news for the UK”

“The British energy policy creates a favourable framework for the expansion of offshore wind energy. In particular, it recognises the potential of offshore wind energy within the overall portfolio of energy production.”

Energy secretary Ed Davey said that wind power was an efficient means of producing energy.

“Offshore wind is producing 80-85% of the time,” Mr Davey told the BBC. “We are the leading country in the world for offshore (wind) investment,.”

The public is behind wind power, which will “create a huge number of green jobs”, he added.

Associated British Ports, which is collaborating with Siemens on the Green Port development in Hull, is investing £150m in the project.

The combined investment of £310m is expected to create up to 1,000 jobs directly – 300 more than previously announced – plus additional jobs in construction and through the supply chain.

The Green Port facility will construct, assemble and service offshore wind turbines, while the second Siemens site in Paull will be used to manufacture the 75-metre rotor blades.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey said the investment demonstrated the UK was “backing enterprise with better infrastructure and lower taxes”.

“This deal is excellent news for the people of Hull and the Humber, the UK, the wind industry, and our energy security,” he said.

Due to an increase in vessel size and the need to optimize safety, there has been an increasing demand for load monitoring and remote release functionality to reduce operators’ exposure to danger through controlled release of the mooring lines. The need for these capabilities in a more compact footprint has largely driven the development of the QRH Compact Series. These smaller and simpler hooks have primarily been developed to meet the needs of commercial ports and wharfs, which require a more compact installation footprint than traditional hooks could offer, or as a replacement for more traditional bollard applications.

Richard Hepworth, President of Trelleborg Marine Systems, says: “We have reacted to the need to improve the efficiency and safety of mooring operations with a QRH designed specifically for smaller and simpler applications. We are also committed to our business in the LNG sector, and as such, we believe many of the features of the new series of hooks will meet the needs of the small-scale LNG market as it evolves.”

The QRH Compact Series combines the knowledge of Trelleborg’s vastly experienced engineering team with FEA software, providing an optimized solution for less complex and lower rating mooring applications, and representing a viable alternative to bollards for commercial ports and fuel wharfs.

The new hook also reduces maintenance requirements through a single stage locking mechanism which has fewer moving parts, and is available in a range of designs including single, double, triple and quad hooks in capacities up to 50T.

Trelleborg’s QRHs are field proven since 1972 and installed in over 500 facilities worldwide. As is the case across the entire portfolio of Trelleborg Marine Systems, the QRH Compact Series is manufactured under strict quality control, with Trelleborg taking the project from design through to installation, providing aftercare services including maintenance and operational training and maintenance programs.

Trelleborg’s new Quick Release Hook Compact Series will officially launch at Gastech 2014, at the Kintex in Korea.  Trelleborg will also be showcasing its Seatechnik™ Universal Safety Link (USL). Another truly innovative product, it was developed by Trelleborg in response to the market requirement for a Ship-Shore Link (SSL) which addresses the needs of the rapidly developing LNG marine fuel and small scale transfer market looking to adopt best practice.

Gastech 2014 takes place on the 24 to 27 March, visit Trelleborg at stand F160.

The negotiable electronic ocean or master bill of lading was issued by NYK Line to a global essDOCS customer, for a shipment from Singapore to China on the M/V Vancouver Bridge.

The NYK Line eB/L was issued to Elite International Logistics Singapore (the forwarder working on behalf of the customer) on February 7th, who in turn added the necessary supporting eDocs and presented the set of electronic documents (eSet) to the American trade finance bank. After completing its review of the eSet, the American bank presented the eSet to the issuing bank, China CITIC Bank. Following that transaction, China CITIC Bank accepted the eSet under the terms of the eUCP letter of credit and in turn sent the original eDocs to Wuhan XinLianChuang Plastics. Wuhan XinLianChuang then surrendered the eB/L to NYK and received their cargo at Shanghai port.
 
This shipment marked many firsts for essDOCS:

First operational use of essDOCS eB/L solution in the liner segment

First use of eUCP involving a liner eB/L

First containerised chemical shipment using eB/Ls

First operational use by NYK Lines of essDOCS solution

First operational use by Elite International Logistics

First operational use by leading American trade finance bank (essDOCS’ first American Bank to adopt ePresentation solution)

First operational use by China CITIC Bank (essDOCS’s first Chinese Bank to adopt its ePresentation solution)

First operational use by Wuhan XinLianChuang

The eB/L was created from XML data pushed by NYK Line into the essDOCS eB/L solution using a standard message, resulting in an eB/L comprised purely of data based on NYK Line’s standard B/L template. This approach reuses Lines’ current IT capabilities and transitions the majority of interfacing work to essDOCS. 

Most crucially, all documents involved in this transaction were managed electronically, therefore handled as eDocs only. Electronic documents used in addition to electronic bill of lading included:

Notice of Completeness

Insurance Certificate

Commercial Invoice

Packing List

LC Negotiation Form

Covering Letter

This significant live transaction followed several weeks of testing in Q4 2013, involving all the trial participants. essDOCS has been undertaking similar tests with a number of other container lines who have completed successful testing last year and are planning to transition to operational use in coffee and metals trades later this quarter.  essDOCS is in advanced talks with a number of other lines, and expects the number of users testing its liner eB/L solution to increase steadily throughout the year. 
 
Lincoln Leung, Global & AOC BPM of NYK Line, said:
“The use of our existing XML files and data structure meant we could populate the electronic NYK Bill of Lading draft quickly, and send it with one click to Elite to verify. Once Elite confirmed the eB/L draft, our Export Documentation Team in Singapore signed and issued the eB/L upon vessel departure.  Overall we were not asked to change our process much, which is a good thing.”
 
Yong Liu, General Manager of International Banking Department of China CITIC Bank said:
“It’s a pleasure to issue and honour the first Letter of Credit requiring eDocs including eB/L presented through essDOCS in China. China CITIC Bank always focuses on innovation, and will devote to promote the use of electronic documents in trade finance.”
 
Alexander Goulandris, CEO of essDOCS, said:
“Today marks a major milestone in essDOCS history which couldn’t have been accomplished without the vision and collaboration of our customers, who are supported 24/7 by essDOCS’s dedicated eB/L specialists.  Our first liner eB/L marks essDOCS entrance into it’s last major shipping segment, and demonstrates the growing interest of eDocs, and in particular, the eUCP in the Asia Pacific market.”