All About Logistics's Information
Top 5 hotspots
Nigeria, Gulf of Aden, India, Indonesia, Tanzania
Source: The Star, 21 April 2008
Saturday, January 31, 2009
(Newspaper) All About Logistics - Global Pirates Attack
All About Logistics's Information
Top 5 hotspots
Nigeria, Gulf of Aden, India, Indonesia, Tanzania
Source: The Star, 21 April 2008
(Newspaper) Iron Ore
All About Logistics's Information
Iron ore
1) World's most shipped commodity - acccounts for 1/2 of the dry bulk cargo
2) Cia. Vale do Rio Doce - world's largest prodecer
Source: The Star, 09 Feb 2009
(Newspaper) MASkargo's freigh forwarders
All About Logistics' Information
Ranking for MASkargo's freigh forwarders
1)Nippon Express
2)Bax Global Logistics
3)DHL Global Forwarding
Source: The Star, 19 May 2008
(Newspaper) Port Klang depot operators still looking for solution
All About Logistics's Information
Compaints to depot operator:
long queues, inefficient, poor facilities, poor margins
Source: New Straits Time, 03 Sept 2007
Friday, January 30, 2009
(Newspaper) Westport - Human Capital Development & Practices Award
Source: New Straits Time, 10 Sept 2007
(Newspaper) THC - Terminal Handling Charges
All About Logistics' Information
China is having the lowest THC among the Asia countries.
Source: New Straits Times, 27 Aug 2007
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Who do pirates call to get their cash?
The hijacking of ships off the coast of Somalia has become a mini-industry, with another seized on Thursday. The ransoms are always paid - but how? Simon Cox goes on the money trail and finds all roads lead to one destination: London.
Piracy off the coast of Somalia is big business. Last year alone pirate gangs were paid an estimated £35m from holding scores of ships and hundreds of crew members to ransom.
But securing their release is the responsibility of a hidden mini-industry of lawyers, negotiators and security teams based nearly 7,000km (4,200 miles) away, in London, UK, the business capital of the world's maritime industry. FINE OUT MORE...
The Investigation is on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, 29 January, at 2000 GMT
Or hear it later on the BBC iPlayer
The key players in this sector like to keep their activities as discreet as possible but in my investigation I gained access to people involved in every part of the ransom chain.
When a ship's owner discovers one of their fleet has been hijacked, the first port of call for them is normally to a lawyer like Stephen Askins, whose firm is one of the few that deals with kidnaps and ransoms at sea.
"We would expect to be called early," says Mr Askins. "And how you then deal with the negotiations will be a team decision.
There's no official "how to pay a ransom" rulebook - and the uncertainty leads "lots of sensitivity".
Can't walk away
"[P]eople will do it in different ways," says Mr Askins, "but at the end of the day it's somebody from the owner's side talking to someone from the pirate's side, negotiating their way to a final settlement."
Aboard a captured ship
Enlarge Image
No two kidnaps are the same but the proliferation of attacks off the coast of Somalia in the past year means a pattern has been established where the pirates see it as a business. They may be armed and dangerous but, Mr Askins says, money is their chief motivation.
"They are negotiating for money, therefore anybody who has been on holiday and has tried to bargain with an Egyptian [market trader] for a carpet will understand how difficult it is to negotiate a conclusion. But we don't have the option of walking away, we have got to keep negotiating."
It's a radical departure from the airline hijackings of previous decades. Then, hijackers, who tended to be politically motivated, knew it was only a matter of time before special forces would be called in and try to kill them. Ransoms were often not paid.
But Somali piracy is different. Paying a ransom is not illegal under British law, unless it's to terrorists. And while governments have failed to clamp down to hijackings, a precedent of paying up has been established. So, as soon as pirates set foot on a ship they know pay day is only a matter of time.
The next link in the chain is a specialist negotiator, whose job is to try to reach a reasonable price.
Going rate
Negotiations tend to begin with astronomical demands from the hijackers before the price is bargained downwards.
How do you pay a pirate's ransom?
Q&A: Somali piracy
Japan to deploy ships off Somalia
James Wilkes, who runs specialist maritime risk company Gray Page, which has been involved in negotiations in several hijackings in Somalia, says it can mean daily contact with pirates for several months. The average hijack lasts two months before a ransom is paid.
The going ransom rate is $1m-$2m, but getting to a final figure is like a "tense boardroom negotiation" he says.
"A commercial transaction is probably a good way to describe it. They have hijacked the ship, the crew and its cargo and they want a certain amount of money for its release.
"It's about finding the right way to get the ship released and on the right terms, although human lives are involved and the consequences of something going wrong are quite significant."
But agreeing a ransom leads to an even bigger headache - getting the money to the pirates.
It's fraught with difficulties. The ransom for the Sirus Star oil tanker, hijacked in November, appeared to have been dropped from the air. But normally it means delivering a huge wodge of cash by sea to the hijackers, who will have anchored off the coast of northern Somalia.
Once a drop-off boat and crew have been hired and the weather negotiated, there's another big hurdle, according to risk consultant Darren Dickson: more pirates.
Navigating the high seas with a stash of money is not for the fainthearted.
Fixed overheads
"Some of these people who have done these drop offs by boat actually have to fend off pirates as they are delivering the ransom themselves," says Mr Dikinson. His firm, whose firm has delivered ransoms to several pirate gangs. We are trying to do the job we have always done at the rates we would charge in any other case.
Stephen Askins
Dodging the pirates is only one difficulty - another is to make sure the good guys know what you're up to as well. According to Mr Dickson, of Drum Cussac, it's vital that "you're not going to be looked at as a pirate vessel... then you might get taken out by a naval vessel."
All these specialist services don't come cheap in the UK. Factor in the cost of lawyers, risk consultants, security advisers, as well as the fixed overheads, and delivering the money to the pirates "can lead to doubling the ransom amount," says Simon Beale a marine underwriter.
Last year Somali pirates pocketed an estimated $50m. Not all of this is going to British lawyers, negotiators and security teams but a fair chunk of it will be. It has led to some criticism, particularly in Spain, that London is profiting from crime.
"I don't think people are trying to exploit the situation", says maritime lawyer Mr Askins. "We are very much trying to do the job we have always done at the rates we would charge in any other case."
And what happens to the tens of millions of pounds that the pirates make?
All the kidnap specialists who deal with the Somali pirates say it's a purely criminal enterprise. But Bruno Schiemsky, a Kenyan arms analyst, believes there is an even darker link - between the pirates and the radical Islamist group al-Shabab. SOMALIA PIRACY
More than 100 attacks in 2008
40 successful hijackings
14 ships currently held, including the MV Faina carrying tanks
About 200 crew held hostage
Source: International Maritime Bureau, 2008
He says the pirates will pay a percentage of the ransom to al-Shabab - as much as 50 per cent in areas where the group is in control.
"It's an alliance of convenience, which makes it fragile," says Mr Schiemsky, "but for the moment both parties - pirates and al-Shabab - see the value of working together since they have a common enemy, the international community, and this relationship is only getting stronger through time. "
Trying to verify this is difficult. When I ask the Serious Organised Crime Agency if it has any suspicions about where the money was going, I get a firm "no comment".
But the American diplomat chairing a new international group of 24 nations which is looking at tackling Somali piracy said US counter piracy officials wanted to find out more about how pirate operations were paid for and which "outside sources" were involved.
If a link was established between the pirates and terrorists it could create serious problems for all parties involved. As one underwriter summed it up, "we'd all be going to jail".
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7847351.stm, 29 Jan 2009
Rating, Tare Mass and Payload of Containers
Rating
Rating is the maximum gross mass (or weight), that is, the maximum permissible weight of a container plus its contents.
20' - 24000 kgs (52900 lbs)
40' - 30480 kgs (67200 lbs)
Tare Mass
Tare mass is the mass (or weight) of empty container.
20' - 1800 - 2400 kgs
40' - 2800 - 4000 kgs
40'HC - 3900 - 4200 kgs
Payload
Payload = Rating - Tare Mass
In exporting, it is common to encounter a payload of 17,500 kgs. or less in the 20' container, and 24,000 kgs. or less in the 40' container.
Max payload:
20' - 21727 kgs (47999 lbs)
40' - 26780 kgs (59040 lbs)
40'HC - 26512 kgs (58450 lbs)
Source: http://www.export911.com/e911/ship/dimen.htm#xDimension
Rating is the maximum gross mass (or weight), that is, the maximum permissible weight of a container plus its contents.
20' - 24000 kgs (52900 lbs)
40' - 30480 kgs (67200 lbs)
Tare Mass
Tare mass is the mass (or weight) of empty container.
20' - 1800 - 2400 kgs
40' - 2800 - 4000 kgs
40'HC - 3900 - 4200 kgs
Payload
Payload = Rating - Tare Mass
In exporting, it is common to encounter a payload of 17,500 kgs. or less in the 20' container, and 24,000 kgs. or less in the 40' container.
Max payload:
20' - 21727 kgs (47999 lbs)
40' - 26780 kgs (59040 lbs)
40'HC - 26512 kgs (58450 lbs)
Source: http://www.export911.com/e911/ship/dimen.htm#xDimension
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Customs Form No 1A - K1A
K1A is to be submitted together with K1 if:
1) The good's/invoice value is more than RM10,000 &
2) The item is dutiable
Customs Form No 3 - K3
Customs Form no. 3: Application/ Permit to transport goods within the
Federation/Malaysia
(Newspaper) Shortage in shipping industry
All About Logistics's Information
Before the world economy's downturn,
1) Shortage in Malaysia was 3582 seafarers
2) International shortage was 20,000 seafarers
Source: The Star, 19 Jan 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
(Newspaper) All About Logistics' Information - Haulier
All About Logistics' Information
1) Hauliers require 48 hours of notification for pick-up and delivery
2) In China, import containers are needed to be cleared in 1 hours!
Sorce: The Star, 12 Jan 09
(Newspaper) Hyundai, Samsung, Daewoo
Facts
3 World's Largest Shipbuilders
1) Hyundai Heavy Industry Co
2) Samsung Heavy Industry Co
3) Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co
Source: The Star, 12 Jan 09
(Newspaper) Frontline seeks another 10 tankers
Fact
World busiest route for supertankers - Middle East to Asia
Source: The Star, 12 Jan 09
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
China's exports in record decline
China's exports have dropped into their biggest decline in a decade.
Exports in December were down 2.8% from the same time last year, a bigger decline than November's 2.2% drop, the China Daily said.
The numbers provided fresh evidence of a serious trade slump that has caused a wave of factory closures and staff layoffs, analysts said.
The communist leadership has expressed fears of social unrest as economic problems worsen.
The BBC's correspondent in Shanghai, Chris Hogg, said that China's economy relies on domestic demand for its goods and services more than any other country in Asia.
Only around 30% of the economic activity here is dependent on exports, suggesting that problems in the export sector are affecting less than a third of the economy.
Trade surplus
December imports fell even more sharply, declining 21.3%, the China Daily reported.
That was a bigger decline than November's 17.9% drop.
The global economic downturn is hitting China's growth
With exports in December worth $111.2 billion, and imports worth $72.2 billion, that made December's trade surplus $39 billion.
That is the country's second highest trade surplus ever, just short of November's record $40.1 billion.
Our correspondent adds that the huge decline in imports is partly due to the slowdown in exports.
More than half of China's exports are made up of goods which are simply assembled here with components imported from overseas, so as exports drop, the need for those components falls.
Steep falls in world commodity and energy prices make it cheaper for China to import them and that again helps to reduce the overall import total.
Taken together these figures are more evidence that economic activity is slowing, but not necessarily that that slowdown was much greater last month than it had been the month before.
According to JP Morgan, December's export decline was the sharpest since April 1999.
"Export growth is likely to be flat in 2009, with negative year-over-year growth in the near-term," said Jing Ulrich, JP Morgan's chairwoman of China equities, in a report.
No immunity
When the global financial meltdown began to bite, some commentators looked to the seemingly unstoppable export engine of China for relief.
A series of numbers released in recent months have suggested that China is no more immune to worldwide trade problems than any other large economy, analysts said.
With Japan, the US and Europe now in recession, China's heavily trade-dependent economy is expected to harder hit through the coming year.
Predictions by the World Bank of growth of 7.5% in 2009, if proved true, would be the lowest recorded since 1990.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7825573.stm, 13 Jan 09
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Saudi tanker 'freed off Somalia' - 15
A Saudi supertanker that was captured by Somali pirates in November carrying two million barrels of oil has been released, reports quoting pirates say.
A regional maritime group also said pirates had left the Sirius Star, Reuters news agency reported.
A negotiator for the pirates told the BBC a $3m (£1.95m) ransom was paid.
A small plane was seen apparently dropping the ransom by parachute onto the tanker. The ship's owner has refused to comment.
The vessel, with 25 crew, is the biggest tanker ever to be hijacked.
Coalition naval forces in Bahrain said it appeared that the pirates on the Sirius Star had received a ransom payment in a container parachuted from a plane.
Reuters later reported that five of the pirates making off with the ransom money had drowned after their boat was hit by high seas.
The audacious seizure of the tanker had drawn fresh attention to the dangerous waters off Somalia's coastline. All our people have now left the Sirius Star. The ship is free, the crew is free
Somali pirate, Mohamed Said
There were more than 100 reported pirate attacks in the busy shipping lanes off eastern and northern Somalia in 2008.
An international force headed by the US is due to be established by the end of the month to tackle the problem.
On Friday, Kenya's port authorities said a fishing vessel had been attacked and three Indian crew kidnapped, Reuters reported.
Pirates are still holding a Ukrainian cargo ship, the MV Faina, which was seized in late September carrying 33 tanks and other weaponry.
'Usual asking price'
"All our people have now left the Sirius Star. The ship is free, the crew is free," Mohamed Said, one of the leaders of the pirate group, told the AFP news agency.
The Kenyan-based East African Seafarers' Assistance programme said gunmen had disembarked from the tanker and that it was "steaming out to safe waters".
How do you pay a pirate's ransom?
On patrol with the pirate hunters
Life in a pirate town
Combined maritime forces patrolling off the Somali coast said only that the ship was expected to be on the move in the next 24 hours.
The release took place at midday, according to one of the negotiators for the Somali pirates, who spoke by phone to the BBC's Mohamed Olad Hassan in the capital, Mogadishu.
The negotiator said the pirates had disembarked from the Sirius Star and were heading back to their homes in central Somalia, and the vessel's crew was safe.
The pirates agreed on Thursday night to accept a ransom of $3m from the ship's owners, although they had wanted more, he added.
The owner of the Sirius Star refused to confirm or deny any details when contacted by the BBC.
The Sirius Star was carrying $100m worth of oil- a quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily output - when it was seized 450 nautical miles south-east of Kenya.
It was held near the Somali town of Harardhere.
One of the pirates, calling himself Daybad, told the BBC by telephone at the time of the seizure that they had no intention of harming the crew, which included Britons, Saudis, Poles, Croatians and Filipinos.
He admitted they were negotiating a ransom of "the usual asking price", but denied reports it was up to $25m (£16.6m).
And he blamed the lack of peace in Somalia and the plunder of its waters by foreign fishing trawlers for their move into piracy.
The ship's captain, Marek Nishky, was allowed to speak to the BBC under the scrutiny of his captors, and said there was "not a reason for complaints".
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7820311.stm, 10 Jan 09
Monday, January 5, 2009
(Newspaper) Airfreight to fall further
Facts
1) Air cargo handles 35% of the value of goods traded
2) Asia Pacific carriers accounts for 44.6& of global freight
Source: The Star, 05 Jan 09
(Newspaper) Dry Bulk Market shows signs of recovery
Facts
1) China is the world's biggest steel-maker
2) Maybulk is China biggest dry bulk shipping company
3) Top 3 iron ore 鐵礦 prodecers - BHP, Vale, Rio Tinto
Souce: The Star, 05 Jan 09
Thursday, January 1, 2009
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