The liner has signed DSME, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Hyundai Heavy Industries to develop 20 new vessels in total – seven 23,000 TEU ships from DSME, five 23,000 TEU ships from Samsung Heavy Industries, and eight 14,000 TEU ships from Hyundai Heavy Industries.

DSME and Samsung Heavy Industries are expected to deliver the newly ordered vessels in the first quarter of 2020, whilst Hyundai Heavy Industries will deliver their newly built ships in the second quarter of 2021.

The orders, which were placed by HMM in April, 2018, are set to push the container shipping company up to the current size of Taiwan’s Yang Ming Marine, which is the ninth largest line, according to Alphaliner data.

HMM have also formed a ‘newbuilding examination committee’ in order to review all the conditions of the builds and ensure the selection of the builds was constrained by fair procedures.

The new ships will count towards South Korea’s plan to order 200 vessels over three years to bolster the shipping industry – which has been struggling with recent diminished global demand and mounting costs.

However, Maritime consultancy agency Drewry have recently stated that HMM’s expansion plans are “incompatible with market stability.”

DP World Yarimca is upgrading two Konecranes RTGs to remote operation  —  In a move that shows great confidence in the future viability of Konecranes’ container crane technology, DP World, the global trade enabler, is upgrading two of its Konecranes Rubber Tired Gantry (RTG) cranes to test the capabilities of remote operation. This will take place at DP World’s Yarimca container terminal in Turkey, which operates a fleet of 18 Konecranes RTGs.

DP World is exploring the possibilities of better productivity through remote container crane operation. The DP World Yarimca container terminal, one of the largest container terminals in Turkey with 1.3M TEU capacity, will upgrade two of its Konecranes RTGs to test the viability of remote operation.

DP World Yarimca’s Konecranes RTG cranes are electrically powered by cable reel systems. They are already equipped with safety-enhancing and operator-assisting features such as Stack Collision Prevention, Trailer Lift Prevention, Auto-Truck Guiding and Auto-Positioning. They are also equipped with Auto-TOS Reporting. This will make the upgrade to remote operation relatively easy, involving the installation of two Remote Operating Stations (ROSs).

Antoine Bosquet, Sales Director, region EMEA, Port Solutions, Konecranes, said: “I am pleased to receive this opportunity to field-test remote operation with two of the Konecranes RTGs in the DP World fleet. Together, we will test the remote operation concept, studying the performance of the remotely operated RTGs versus the manned RTGs in the container yard as they carry out work cycles in everyday operating conditions.”

The upgraded RTGs will be remotely operated from two Remote Operating Stations (ROSs). De-coupling the crane and operator is an important step towards the next generation of lifting. The operator can become much more productive, and the productivity of the entire crane fleet can be improved. The upgraded RTGs are scheduled to be operational at the beginning of next year.

ICTSI Croatia links to wood exporter  —  Croatia’s Rijeka Port has launched an intermodal service connecting a wood producer to ICTSI-operated Adriatic Gate Container Terminal (AGCT) amid an increase in Croatian wood exports.
Beech wood products supplier Cedar Limited and Freight solutions provider AGIT have partnered with the terminal on wood exports. AGCT’s partnership is set to export beech wood products from Cedar’s production facility in Vrbovsko, Croatia, using a recently inaugurated an intermodal facility with rail links to the terminal.

Most of Cedar’s wood transports are transported by freight solutions provider AGIT, a company of state-owned rail operator HŽ Cargo Group. After leaving the Rijeka port, the products are exported to North Africa, Middle East, India and the Far East region via sea.
Rijeka Port has seen higher container traffic due to wood export growth, with volume for the first eight months in 2017 exceeding the overall volume in 2016.

Wojciech Szymulewich, AGCT CEO said: “The collaboration of Cedar, AGIT, and AGCT is a perfect example of how intermodal solutions are supporting the success of large scale production projects.
“We are very pleased that with increased share of intermodal transport at the Port of Rijeka, road traffic is reduced while more efficient and environmental friendly transport by railway and sea is increased.”

Darko Prodan, Cedar Director said: “Part of the project was to build an intermodal container yard on our land connected to the Vrbovsko rail tracks and purchase container handling equipment such as reach stackers and automated container stuffing machines.
“The new and direct intermodal link with AGCT via rail enables sustainable and cost-effective logistics. I am very happy with the results and fruitful efforts of involved business partners.”