The basics of container stowage planning and why it is so important
In view of the recent incidents relating to stack collapses on board and containers lost at sea, I thought a refresher on “What is container stowage planning and how it works” would be in order..
This is also to remind everyone in the shipping chain – exporters, agents, freight forwarders, carriers, documentation teams, vessel operators, and stowage planners, the importance of providing and using the correct information for the planning and stowage of the vessel..
Container stowage planning is an art and I absolutely loved the time when I used to do it.. While there are computer systems to do this these days, the basics remain the same..
In this article I have explained how the stowage planning works and why it is so important..
The future of pharma and medical supply chains in the COVID-19 era
Supply chain is often described as the vital and crucial link required to get the product from the manufacturer to the market place for ultimate consumption by the consumers..
While this is a simple enough definition or explanation, it is not as easy as it sounds, especially in specialised industries like Pharmaceuticals..
ShipChain is bringing together some of the experts in the supply chain and pharmaceutical industries to understand the past, present, and future challenges for pharma and medical supply chains in the COVID-19 era..
The expert panelists will examine how supply chains will need to adapt in order to weather the storm caused by this pandemic and the future of pharmaceutical and medical supply chains..
Make your supply chains efficient and responsive during and after COVID-19
The sheer magnitude and unpredictable nature of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has put even the best, most established businesses on shaky ground.
All the best laid plans have had to be revisited and brought back to the drawing board. Businesses have had to adopt a ‘reactive’ approach and go into fire-fighting mode to stay afloat.
There have been questions like “How can supply chain performance be improved in order to ensure that it is responsive and efficient in meeting the needs of final consumers during the pandemic“.
So, what are the lessons that have been learnt? Are we wiser from our experience of this kind of disruption and can we use these learnings to make our supply chains more resilient?
Hydrogen Council welcomes new shipping members – CMA CGM and NYK
Hydrogen is being considered as a very viable alternative to fossil fuels and low sulphur fuels to power the maritime industry..
The Hydrogen Council, a CEO lead coalition comprising of 92 members including large multinationals, innovative SMEs and investors collectively welcomed two new steering members: CMA CGM and Microsoft; seven supporting members: Baker Hughes, Clariant, MAHLE, NYK Line, Port of Rotterdam, TechnipFMC and Umicore; and two investors: Mubadala Investment Company and Providence Asset Group..
Adani successfully completes first export using India’s Inland Waterways
On the 30th June 2020, a barge “MV Pruthvi” carrying 45 TEUs of sponge iron left Haldia Docks on its maiden voyage to Dhaka on the Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR)..
This first-ever containerised cargo from India to Bangladesh using the Inland Waterways reached Pangaon International Container Terminal, Dhaka on the 12th of July 2020..
This movement which was organised by Adani Logistics Limited in association with Five Star Logistics Private Limited carried the cargo of Rashmi Cement Ltd and Orissa Metaliks Pvt. Ltd..
Importance of proper lashing of containers on board ships
Since the inception of containerisation, the shipping container has been used to ship various products around the world.. An estimated 793.26 million TEUs were handled in container ports worldwide in 2019.. As of this article, 23.8 million TEUs are being shipped around the world in 6,136 active container ships.. These containers are being carried on container ships that are increasing in size and capacity year after year..
Naturally, there is increased concern and focus on the safety of the ship, its crew due to the number of containers being carried onboard especially because there have been several maritime disasters in the last few years, some of which have been reported in detail on this site..
A few of the incidents that involved containers falling of a ship have been attributed to the lashing of containers onboard or lack thereof..
We look at the importance of proper lashing of containers onboard ships..
50% of participants do not use any software for freight management – Freight Industry Survey
50% of participants do not use any software for freight management..
This is the result from a Freight Industry Survey that we ran on this site.. The results of the survey seems to highlight the progress that still needs to be made in the industry in this area..
What does it take to be profitable in Freight Forwarding
Achieving and maintaining profitability has been one of the serious problems faced by many freight forwarders and more so, in these trying times..
A Freight Forwarder is a multi-function agent/operator who undertakes to handle the movement of goods from point to point on behalf of the cargo owner and the essence of freight forwarding is to ensure that the cargo is collected from the seller and delivered to the buyer at the required place, at the right price and in the same condition that it is picked up from origin using the most suitable and optimal resources and routing possible..
While reducing costs, keeping costs low or maintaining the costs over a period of time is key to achieving profitability in freight forwarding, there are also other ways to be profitable in freight forwarding..
What do the markings on a container mean..??
The ubiquitous freight or shipping container has become an integral part of our lives not just if you are in the industry handling and moving these containers from point to point, but for all the businesses and industries that use the container..
It has been universally hailed as one of the greatest inventions of the modern world, one that completely changed the way in which business has been done since the 20th century and really and truly made the world a smaller place and the one true architect of Globalisation..
Exporters, importers, traders, packing houses, ports, customs, border authorities, police, clearing agents, freight forwarders, stevedores, hauliers, weighbridges ……………………….. and many more entities involved in a trade transaction may be seeing and handling a container on a daily basis..
But although many of these people see a container not everyone understands the many markings on a container..
The markings on a container play a very significant role in the movement of the container as they provide vital information to all entities in the supply chain relating to the monitoring and safety of the container and cargo during its carriage..
Let us look at each of the markings on a container individually using an example below..
Loss of containers at sea forces temporary closure of Port of Ngqura
The MSC Palak a Portuguese flagged container ship built in 2016 with a carrying capacity of 9,411 TEUs is reported to have lost 23 containers while at anchorage around the Port of Ngqura (Coega) along the Eastern Coast of South Africa..