Category: Uncategorized

According to recent Royal Mail’s survey 68% of UK SME online retailers currently sell overseas. 80% of them sell to Europe (mainly France, Germany and Spain), 35% to USA, 31% to Canada and 17% to Asia. Despite these figures there is still a keen appetite for exporting with almost two thirds aiming to increase international…

  On 16th February Asian families and friends welcomed the Chinese New Year with fireworks, feasting and red envelopes. It’s the Year of the Dog, where intelligence, being straight-forward and a strong sense of responsibility are rewarded. We must remember though that every year, Chinese New Year plays havoc with international trade of every product…

The discovery of hundreds of brown marmorated stink bugs aboard cargo ships bringing cars from Japan to New Zealand mean that the car carriers are being turned away to be fumigated. According to the NZ Herald no facility in NZ can effectively treat the infested ships. Vehicle Importers Association chief executive David Vinsen says the…

The EU Parliament has voted recently to tighten export controls restricting the supply of surveillance and encryption technology to regimes with poor human rights records. The restrictions are the result of growing evidence that equipment being supplied by companies in Europe has been used by oppressive regimes to suppress political opponents, journalists and campaigners. The…

The French prime minister Edouard Phillipe said at a maritime conference at Le Havre that France needs to draw up a national strategy to make its ports more competitive in the global maritime industry. The authorities have designated three port systems of European and international importance to develop. They are Le Havre, Marseilles and Dunkirk.…

In November the air freight sector has been confronted with a serious capacity crunch driven by high demand and insufficient extra-peak season supply. It has led to higher rates and cargo backlogs at several airports, especially in China. Surging cross-border demand triggered by the online retail event in China, “Singles Day” on November 11th led…

Tesla has launched a battery-powered truck, which it claims will offer an extraordinary performance improvement, increased safety, lower overall costs and a better driver experience compared with diesel vehicles. It will be available in 2019. Without a trailer Tesla Semi achieves 0-60 mph in just 5 seconds, compared to 15 seconds in a comparable diesel…

Examination of global ship tracking data for the last two years has shown several instances of multiple vessels reporting their locations as being on land at airports far from where the ships were operating off shore. “Spoofing” a GPS receiver is the intentional transmission of false GPS signals to cause it to provide incorrect time…

Air freight markets are expected to have a successful end of the year, the only drawback being the prospect of capacity bottlenecks as peak season approaches. Big companies, such as Panalpina and DHL Global Forwarding have been preparing the ground in anticipation of a strong finish to a year. They have negotiated peak capacity with…

The maritime sector, which includes shipping, ports and people that operate them, can and should play a significant role helping countries to create conditions for increased employment, prosperity and stability, through promoting trade by sea, enhancing the port and maritime sector as wealth creators, and through developing a sustainable blue economy at sea. This is…