Letter from the Editor

EDITOR’S LETTER

International trade is the bellwether of the global economy; without trade there is no growth. Trade adds value: buy something somewhere for a dollar, spend another dollar to move it to market and sell it for three dollars – that’s a dollar made out of nothing. And the international maritime industry is the motor of that trade.

Older readers may remember seeing photos of New York harbour during the Great Depression of the 1930s, with every jetty along the Hudson occupied by an empty ship, with no cargo to load or discharge and nowhere to go. That means no earnings for shipowners, no work for longshoremen, no profits for traders and so on along the supply chain.

Today’s volatile geopolitical and economic environment is causing immense disruption in the maritime world – though at least (for now, anyway) there is still plenty of cargo moving. But not all cargo, and shipowners and investors are responding accordingly. The bulk carrier market is in disarray, with demand for coal declining as part of the response to climate change, and grain markets massively disrupted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some analysts have suggested that the global bulk carrier fleet might even shrink this year, with few orders coming in and owners happy to let their older vessels go for demolition.

Container shipping is in turmoil too; the major lines made massive profits last year but may have gone too far: high ocean freight costs have prompted some shippers to move to alternative transport modes, where they can. The Port of Antwerp-Bruges, for example, has reported a sharp decline in container throughput so far this year.

Things are brighter in the liquid bulk trades. The chemical tanker market has come back into balance and, with less competition from swing tonnage and firm demand from chemical shippers, rates have improved significantly, as Stolt Tankers’ latest financial figures (see page 26) ably illustrate. Some sectors of the LPG tanker market are also doing well, with rising rates across the board, except in the VLGC sector, where the prospect of booming business has led to an increase in new ship construction and, in the short term, an over-supply.

Doing best of all is the LNG sector, already supported by rising US exports and now benefitting from the rush by some European countries to replace Russian gas supplies with methane delivered by ship – and with the US the only supplier able to ramp up output at such short notice. It takes a long time to build a new LNG carrier, so those already in the water are enjoying astonishing freight rates right now.

The energy transition is also impacting shipping, with new concepts coming forward for alternative fuel propulsion and for the carriage of ammonia, methanol and hydrogen in bulk. That has also meant work for the regulators, with IMO pondering how best to adapt existing rules to fit the new ship designs (see page 52). That also means bulk liquids storage terminals will have to handle new products and new supply chains, while protecting themselves from the potential impact of a changing climate. As our report from this year’s TSA conference shows (see page 20), there will be a lot to do if terminals are to be ready to handle those trades.

But at least they still have cargo…

CONTENTS

VOLUME 43 • NUMBER 10

UP FRONT Letter from the Editor

30 Years Ago Learning by Training 01

04

05

TANKS & LOGISTICS Drive, they said ECTA reiterates driver shortage position 06 Driving force CBA helps members through the maze 08 Meeting of minds Lott happy with CivaCommand 10 Steady the ship Fort Vale invests around the world 12 Pulling as one A&R Logistics becomes Quantix 14 The right track More work for Nexxiot 16 News bulletin – tanks and logistics 18

STORAGE TERMINALS In the arena Climate change informs TSA conference 20 News bulletin – storage terminals 24 TANKER SHIPPING Bank the gains Better results at Stolt Tankers

Keep it clean Carbon capture aboard ship News bulletin – tanker shipping

COURSES & CONFERENCES Save the date GPCA meets in Riyadh Conference diary 26

27

28

30

31

SAFETY Incident Log Unpack the box Exis strong on technology Let’s make this simple Understanding the CTU Code 32

34

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REGULATIONS Prepare for landing Lots of changes agreed by UN experts 38 People get ready What’s new in IATA DGR 49 Code crackers IMO wrestles with new fuels

BACK PAGE Not otherwise specified

NEXT MONTH Sustainability in supply chains IMDG Code update Marine insurance issues What’s new in industrial packaging

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