新创建夥铁道部国内发展铁路集装箱中心站

新创建集团宣布已经与中国铁道部下属企业中铁集装箱运输及其他多家公司签订协议，合作设立「中铁联合国际集装箱有限公司」国内设立及经营18个铁路集装箱中心站，预料可於2010年前投入使用。

根据新创建所发表的声明，合资协议为期50年，而18个中心站全属枢纽性之铁路集装箱中心站，分别位於18个大城市。

该公司称：「此项目以崭新模式经营内地铁路集装箱运输，亦是中国铁道部首个大型中外合资项目。」

根据合资合同，是次项目的投资总额为人民币120 亿元（约为115 亿港元），注册资本为投资总额的35%，即人民币42 亿元（约为40 亿港元）。新创建集团持有合资公司22%股权，合资公司的其他股东包括中铁集装箱运输有限责任公司（58%），中国国际海运集装箱（集团）股份有限公司（10%）和汉彩投资有限公司（10%）。

「刚签订的合资合同内容包括铁道部的政策支持，如运力、土地使用权、服务可靠性（包括班列时间表、准时率以及服务水平）及网络运输，并将依照市场操作自主定价。」

合资期内，合资公司将主要负责建设及经营铁路集装箱中心站及有关业务，包括集装箱的到发、装卸、拼箱、堆存、集装箱维修、报关、转关、清关及查验、集装箱公路运输、配送和物流业务、国际货代、多式联运业务及承包集装箱班列等一条龙门对门物流服务。

为了应付中国境内外之贸易增长和货运需要，项目将会在中国内地18 个沿海及内陆之主要城市提供铁路运输网络。

18 个枢纽性铁路集装箱中心站将会分两期建设：第一期的11 个中心站包括上海、昆明、成都、重庆、武汉、西安、深圳、青岛、大连、哈尔滨及天津，其中上海站已接近完成及昆明站工程已展开；第二期的七个中心站包括郑州、兰州、渖阳、广州、乌鲁木齐、北京及宁波。18 个中心站计划於2010 年前建设。

新创建集团执行董事曾荫培表示，集团对项目发展前景充满信心。「中国内地经济高速增长，全国对物流服务的需求殷切。同时，中国内地幅员甚广，未来将逐步发展客运和货运的专线网络，因此建设大型枢纽性铁路集装箱中心站的发展潜力甚大。」

「此外，项目较早前曾聘请独立顾问公司作可行性研究报告，我们相信项目将来可为集团带来理想的回报。另外，各股东於其现有业务 攖内皆拥有专业知识，於项目中可发挥其业务优势。」

他透露，这个项目是要配合国家「十一五」整体规划发展，期内铁道部会增建17,000 公里铁路网络，加强电气化和快速列车技术，而建设18 个中心站网络将配合国内铁路运输的整体发展。

现时全国每年的铁路集装箱运量约为300 万个20 柜，占铁路总货运量3%，远低於美国的30%。铁道部期望可於2010年将铁路集装箱运量提升到1,000万个20 柜，占铁路总货运量的6%，预计将来18 个中心站建成後增长会更加迅速。

现时中国内地一般单层集装箱专列可载约100 个20 柜，其中北京至上海已采用双层班列，可载约150个20 柜。「十一五」期间双层班列将会扩大至其他线路。

大铲湾码头向振华订购42台吊机

由现代货箱码头持65%股权的大铲湾码头（一期）与上海振华港口机械（集团）在9月21日签订合约，购置12台可同时提吊双40英 货箱的岸边起重机，以及30台可负重40长吨的胶轮式龙门起重机。

新吊机预计可於明年8月投入使用。

根据现代货箱码头所发表的声明，这批设备达到世界一流水准，生产效率高、作业安全，可满足大铲湾码头（一期）高效率运作的要求。

现代货箱码头董事总经理及大铲湾码头（一期）董事长柯礼贤在签约仪式上表示：「我们的共同目标是令大铲湾码头（一期） 配备世界级的设施及人才，好让码头能够提供最佳的客户服务。是次设备签约仪式标志着我们朝目标又踏前一步。」

该公司表示，可提吊40英 双箱的岸边起重机的生产率较一般岸边起重机高出30%以上，最高负重80长吨。此外，吊具应码头操作的需要，也可以处理4个20英 货箱。岸边起重机前伸距离达67米，可装卸横24排的货箱船，配合前沿水深－15.5米（远期可浚深至－18米），可以高效率地处理未来世界最大型的货箱船。

另外，大铲湾码头（一期）的岸边起重机更采用35米的超宽轨距，是华南地区内最新最独特的设计，可同时容纳更多的货柜车往来，加快货柜车流转，进一步提高码头操作效率。

此次订购的30台40长吨胶轮式龙门起重机，起升高度可保证起吊一个货箱越过六层堆箱（堆六过七）；跨距为23.5米（六排箱加一条货柜车通道），可使堆场货箱堆存率达到目前市场最高水平。其配备的防撞箱系统和防货柜车吊起系统，可使设备操作更加安全。

大铲湾码头（一期）建设工程於2005年9月份正式启动，此次订购的岸边起重机及胶轮式龙门起重机将於2007年8月运抵码头，并於同年年底全面投入运行，配合码头投产时间表。

该码头共有5个泊位，年设计吞吐量为250万个20 柜，占地总面积约112万平方米，码头岸线长1,830米，纵深600米，首两个泊位於2007年底投产。

专家吁加强构建大中华物流圈

最近在厦门召开的第五届海峡两岸暨香港、澳门物流合作与发展大会上，有专家指出中国大陆、香港、澳门、以及台湾的经济发展给物流业带来了更大的机遇和空间；而经济全球化与信息技术的快速发展，也为海峡两岸、香港和澳门的物流业在物流标准、人力资源培训、资金项目引进和基础研究等方面，带来更多的实质性合作机会。

根据新华社的报道，中国物流与采购联合会会长陆江在大会上提出了7点建议，包括：建立海峡两岸暨香港、澳门物流行业协会更紧密合作机制、协调各方物流标准的制定和实施、相互通报物流统计数据、推动各方物流职业资格证书互认、为各方物流企业合作牵线搭桥、各方开放各自组织的会议和活动、共同开展相关问题的合作研究。

其他实质性的合作建议还包括研究各方经济发展和经贸合作走势、物流合作的趋势与重点、物流技术与管理的创新、以及「大中华物流圈」在亚太地区以至全球物流业中的地位与作用等。

陆江认为，海峡两岸及香港、澳门的物流业具有良好的合作基础。内地物流市场的庞大空间特别是进出口物流需求孕育着巨大的商机，而港澳台有极具效率的国际口岸，这些都是合作发展物流业的重要基础。

陆江说，内地物流发展的形势很好，「十五」时期，社会物流总额年均增长15%，物流总费用与GDP的比率由2000年的19.4%下降到2005年的18.6%。今年上半年，社会物流总费用与GDP的比率继续下降，由去年全年的18.6%下降至18.4%。

他认为，内地与港澳台地区物流同行的合作推动了四地物流业的融合与发展，尤其是《内地与香港关於建立更紧密经贸关系的安排》的签署，为内地同港澳台地区物流界合作带来了新的发展机遇。

上港集团有意购入泽布勒赫港股权

新华社报导，上海国际港务集团有望获得马士基港口下属泽布勒赫港（Zeebrugge）码头项目的40%股权。双方已签署了此项转让的框架性协议，但还未就进一步详细的条款达成一致。

泽布勒赫港是比利时第二大、欧洲第六大港口，是北海海岸4个深水港之一，也是欧洲最大的煤气运转港和液化气进口港。马士基港口拥有泽布勒赫港集装箱码头36年的使用权。

上港集团计划收购的集装箱码头於2006年开始运营，今年该码头集装箱吞吐量为75万个20 柜，未来将达到200万个20 柜。

上港集团董事会成员石径存表示，「公司将通过收购美欧港口业务，向海外市场扩张」。

近年来，中国国内航运企业对海外港口资产的收购呈加速之势。据报道，中远集团也正在与希腊方面谈判，竞投希腊叁个港口的经营权。

洋山港叁期计划引入多个投资者

新华社报导，正在兴建中的洋山港叁期将会引入多家境内外投资者。

洋山港叁期计划兴建7个泊位，总投资约100亿，年吞吐量达400万个20 柜，预计於2012年完成。

由於希望参股的公司太多，叁期可能会继续参照第二期的投资模式，引入多家境内外投资者。

随着第二期工程在今年底竣工，运营者上港集团也计划在洋山港区开通更多的国际航线，并已经向上海市政府表达了希望继续经营洋山港叁期的愿望，以确立其国际中转中心的地位。

目前对於洋山港区的规划只是到2015年，涉及小洋山港区9公里海岸线的开发建设，而大洋山港区的开发则还没有具体规划。

青岛前湾物流园区年底运营

根据新华社报导，招商局国际总经理助理耿虹海最近在亚太港口科技峰会上表示，由招商局国际斥资100亿元打造的青岛前湾物流园首个泊位将於今年年底投入使用，使该公司将以青岛作为进军中国环渤海湾港口物流业的桥头堡。

耿虹海表示，前湾物流园於去年9月28日正式动土，计划兴建7个泊位，包括5个集装箱泊位和2个散杂货泊位。保税物流园分为国际中转区、物流增值区、展示交易区和国际采购区，设计操作能力为每年500万吨，可望为港口带来每年50万个20 柜的业务量。

「今年12月，第一个泊位就将具备运营条件。」耿虹海透露，到明年年底前，招商局国际将共建成前湾3个集装箱泊位。

作为招商局国际进军华北地区的第一个集装箱码头项目，青岛前湾项目对於该公司而言，既是其在环渤海湾布下的重要一子，又是由单纯的码头运营商转型为以港口为核心的海运物流增值服务延伸的一次尝试。

作为中国大陆最大的独立港口运营商，招商局国际从2003年起在全国扩张港口业务。该公司先後投资了漳州、宁波大榭、天津五洲、上海港、深圳赤湾、深圳蛇口、香港现代货箱等多处港口，初步完成了其在长叁角、环渤海、珠叁角经济圈的布局。

随着青岛前湾项目的投入使用，招商局国际在环渤海湾经济圈所布的棋子也开始发挥作用。对此耿虹海表示，选中青岛正是看中其在环渤海湾经济圈中的领头作用。环渤海湾经济圈将是中国经济强劲增长的新热点区域。

除了目前在内地的投资，招商局国际也正在积极探索海外码头的投资。

马士基再有巨轮下水

A P Moller-Maersk集团旗下最新的一艘1.1万个20 柜的巨型集装箱船已被命名为Estelle Maersk。

命名仪式在丹麦的Odense Steel船厂举行，并由丹麦运输及能源部长主持。

根据该公司所发表的声明，Estelle Maersk将与另外一艘同级的姊妹船Emma Maersk一样被派到马士基旗下的环球线行走。

Estelle Maersk将会在丹麦的Hellerup注册，由Lars Peter Jensen船长负责指挥。

STX Pan Ocean to start new Intra-Asia service in August

STX Pan Ocean says it plans to launch what it calls the New Ho Chi Minh Service, or NHS for short, next month in a bid to expand its Intra-Asia service offerings.

The port rotation for the NHS will be: Pusan, Kwangyang, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh, Singapore, Pasir Gudang, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong and back to Pusan on a weekly basis.

STX Pan Ocean said in a statement that the new service would kick off around August 12, from the port of Pusan.

Increased freight forwarding charges on way in Selangor

ESCALATING operational charges in the past few years have led freight forwarders in Selangor, Malaysia, to put up their container-handling charges starting next month.

Malaysia's Business Times newspaper reports that starting August 1, members of the Selangor Freight Forwarders and Logistics Association (SFFLA) will charge MYR30 (US$8.12) to handle a full container load shipment in addition to the current rates.

SFFLA said for less than container load shipments, the charges will also be increased by MYR30 per shipment or the current per cubic metre rate, whichever is higher. However, it noted that this was subject to a minimum charge of MYR80 per shipment.

The report quoted the association saying that members had agreed at its 33rd annual general meeting on May 25, 2006, to revise current forwarding fees to cover "the escalating operational costs over the past few years".

"All other charges related to Customs clearance will remain unchanged and SFFLA members are strictly requested to adhere to the new guidelines.

"With this revision, SFFLA expects all the members will continue to uphold the high level of service to their customers," the association said in the report.

Long Beach, Los Angeles see box trade growth in June, H1

THE Port of Long Beach has announced that it handled a total of 617,002 TEU in June, or seven per cent more containers than in the same month a year ago, when 576,604 TEU passed through its terminals.

Figures released by the California port show that within the June total the port handled 319,737 TEU of loaded inbound containers, up 8.7 per cent year-on-year; 101,828 TEU of loaded outbound containers, an increase of 0.4 per cent; and empties rose eight per cent compared to the same month last year to 195,437 TEU.

In the first six months of the year, the port processed a total of 3,536,693 TEU, an increase of 12.2 per cent compared to the same period a year ago.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Port of Los Angeles reported that its total container throughput amounted to 726,871 TEU in June 2006, an increase of 14.64 per cent compared to the same month last year.

A breakdown of the figure shows that imported loaded containers amounted to 380,852 TEU last month, while 7,104 TEU of empty boxes were also imported into the port. The number of outbound loaded containers totalled 115,184 TEU, while outbound empty containers rose 66.01 per cent year-on-year to 223,730 TEU.

In the first six months of the year, the Port of Los Angeles handled a total of 3,868,258 TEU, an increase of 8.92 per cent over the first half of 2005.

Within this total, the inbound trade accounted for 2,051,213 TEU and outbound 1,817,045 TEU.

Batman leads customs service in Australia's NSW

GAIL Batman, a senior executive with the Australian Customs Service, has taken over as Regional Director for the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), succeeding David Collins, who is retiring from Customs after 42 years with the organisation.

Being the head of the largest Customs region in Australia, Ms Batman will direct a staff of 1,400 officers, mainly based in and around Sydney Airport.

Ms Batman was formerly Customs National Director, Border Intelligence and Passengers, based in Canberra and joined the Customs department in 1998 from the Australian Department of Health, working primarily on health care financing.

Ms Batman, who holds an honours degree in sociology from the Australian National University, said: "I look forward to the many challenges that this job will bring in maintaining the security of the border, particularly as Sydney is the major gateway to Australia.

"I also acknowledge the importance of working with industry to ensure the smooth and speedy movement of air and sea cargo while at the same time ensuring that government compliance standards are met."

Historic first Taiwan-mainland direct cargo flight takes off

A BOEING 747-400 aircraft belonging to Taiwan's biggest carrier, China Airlines, left Taipei at 10.10pm on July 19 on the first direct cargo flight between the island and the Chinese mainland, arriving at Shanghai at around 0.33am the next day.

The flight, though constituting only a modest breakthrough in the relations between the long-time rivals, nevertheless marked the historic beginning of regular chartered cargo flights between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait after a 56-year-old ban imposed by Taipei.

The Taiwanese aircraft was obliged to detour through Hong Kong air space, due to the insistence of the Taipei side, but was still able to shorten the time it normally takes to fly cargo from Taiwan to the mainland.

China Airlines expects to make two or three more chartered cargo flights of this kind before the end of July, according to Johnson Sun, a spokesman for the airline quoted by local media.

The new cargo flights are aimed principally at guaranteeing that Taiwanese companies can keep their mainland factories supplied with vital components and other materials, officials said.

They are the result of pressure from Taiwan's business community. Business leaders also hope to initiate direct cargo and passenger shipping links with the mainland.

China, Japan agree to expand services

THE Director General of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) Yang Yuanyuan and Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kazuo Kitagawa recently signed a protocol that goes toward expanding their air transport offerings to each other.

The protocol allows each side to add two more cities as places of departure and two more as destinations, bringing the total number of departure points and destinations to 23.

Meanwhile, capacities on passenger and freight services will be increased by 20 per cent and 100 per cent respectively, which means adding 92 passenger flights and 76 cargo flights between China and Japan every week.

The protocol also widens the scope of code sharing between carriers of both countries and provides more flexibility on the wetlease of planes and on flying through each other's airspace.

Ever since 1974 when China and Japan signed their first civil aviation agreement, a network covering 19 Chinese and 17 Japanese cities has been developed with a weekly service of 548 flights. In 2005, passenger and freight movements between the two countries amounted to 6.91 million persons and 300,000 tons respectively.

China has already become the second-largest overseas air market for Japan, while Japan has become the largest such market for China. An unnamed official of CAAC quoted by Xinhua said the agreement, which was reached after lengthy negotiations, updated the civil aviation arrangements made 30 years ago.

Based on full consideration for market demand, the agreement will provide greater convenience for air carriers from both sides, he said. The official also described the agreement as a step forward in Sino-Japanese aviation relations, which would help forge closer ties between the two countries.

UPS receives subpoena as part of price-fixing probe

PACKAGE delivery giant UPS says it received a subpoena from the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice requesting records and business documents recently.

This development relates to an on-going probe into allegations of collusion on price-fixing in the air cargo and passenger industries involving surcharges for fuel, insurance and security as well as rates for passenger fares.

The investigation, which was made public in February 2006, has placed the business dealings of more than a dozen airlines under the microscope, including Air France-KLM, Deutsche Lufthansa, British Airways, Luxembourg-based Cargolux Airlines International and ACE Aviation Holdings.

UPS said in a statement that it "does not believe it is a target of the investigation and will co-operate with the Justice Department". UPS' chief rival FedEx Corp. and its subsidiaries last month received a grand jury subpoena from antitrust authorities in the US to produce documents in connection with a similar probe into allegations of price-fixing in the air cargo industry.

FedEx, however, said that as with UPS it did not receive a search warrant unlike several other airlines that have had their offices raided by antitrust authorities in Europe and the US.

Emirates to join MAX service in July

EMIRATES Shipping Line says that it will start participating in the MAX service run by OOCL from July 9, after acquiring container slots on this Asia to Middle East service.

The port rotation is: Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Shekou, Singapore, Port Kelang, Jebel Ali, Port Kelang, Singapore, Hong Kong, and back to Shanghai.

"We are pleased to announce yet another option for our customers. This is a superior service on this very important trade route offering our customers service quality with very competitive transit times," chairman and CEO Vikas Khan was quoted as saying in an Emirates Shipping Line statement.

Emirates Shipping Line is registered in the United Arab Emirates' Dubai Maritime City and headquartered in Dubai and Hong Kong.

Anti-trust exemption in Japan may become thing of the past

THE system that has helped maintain stability in the world's shipping markets for over 150 years is at serious risk as Japan's competition regulator intends to ask for a lifting of the exemption on shipping lines from some anti-trust rules.

If Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport approves the request from the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), it would oblige the country's top three shipping companies - Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Mitsui OSK and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha - to pull out of liner conferences, according to a report in The Australian.

Toshiyuki Yokota, a director in the JFTC's Economic Affairs Bureau, said the watchdog would this summer ask the Transport Ministry to withdraw the anti-trust exemption, the paper says , in line with moves currently underway in Europe.

The exemption would lapse automatically if the Ministry did not respond within 30 days, although JFTC officials agreed that was improbable.

"Exercising this right is very symbolic, as it has never been done before," said Takanori Tanabe, Assistant Director at the JFTC.

Although lifting the exemption would be welcomed by representatives of shippers, who think that the conference system keeps sea freight prices uncompetitively high, analysts believe it could create turbulence in shipping markets to and from Japan, The Australian says.

Japan and its top three shipping lines have been firm defenders of the consensual rate-setting system and Japan this year strongly objected to the European Commission's plans to abolish exemptions on shipping conferences from anti-trust rules. The cartels are used by shipping lines to set common rates for scheduled services, mainly in container shipping.

"Japan has always been firmly supportive of the conference system and I think Japan's huge manufacturing corporations have generally been supportive of the conferences," said an analyst cited by The Australian, who asked not to be identified.

Lobbyists for shipping lines believe the Transport Ministry will reject the JFTC's request.

The Japanese Shipowners' Association, the shipping industry's trade body, is opposed to any moves to end the exemption and its members are understood to be pressing the JFTC to postpone any decision indefinitely.

Scheduled shipping services have traditionally been exempted from anti-trust rules since it was believed that they needed to be able to discuss rates and the demand for freight transport and capacity requirements to avoid wild fluctuations in rates, which would be detrimental to customers.

The system has been seen to be in decline in recent years, with shipping lines willing to offer important customers discounts on freight rates set by consortiums and many lines exiting from conferences entirely.

There have been regulatory changes internationally, with the US having withdrawn many aspects of shipping lines' anti-trust immunity in 1998 and the European Commission getting ready for even stronger action.

NYK turns to IBM for new IT accounting system

IBM Japan says that it has built a new accounting system with supporting IT infrastructure for Japanese transportation giant NYK Line.

Implementation of the new system has come as part of the company's "New Horizon 2007 " management plan which calls for enhancements to existing technology infrastructure in order to lower costs.

The new accounting system is expected to standardise and bring transparency to NYK's financial processes including charter fee settlement management, fuel inventory management and container management to improve corporate compliance and reduce time spent on finance processing tasks, an IBM statement explained. @FAXTEXT= The support the IBM Global Business Services Value Delivery Centre (VDC) provided during the system upgrade included system strategy development, integration of common processes across the enterprise and IT architecture expertise.

With the goal of the new accounting system being to improve responsiveness to rapidly changing market conditions, NYK Line selected IBM's open mainframe "IBM eServer zSeries 990 (z990)," Linux and SAP's ERP package.

The strongest feature of IBM's mainframe z990 is its ability to run its flagship z/OS operating system concurrently with open and industry standard technologies such as Linux and Java Linux on a single server, the IBM release said.

Gdynia Container Terminal opens

HONG KONG's Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) has celebrated the opening of the first phase of its newest container terminal at the Polish Port of Gdynia.

Gdynia Container Terminal (GCT) was officially opened on June 17 by John Meredith, Group managing director of HPH and Wojciech Szczurek, the Mayor of Gdynia, who together unveiled a plaque signifying the commencement of operations at GCT.

John Meredith said: "Stage One operations mark the emergence of GCT as a major container facility in the Baltic region. GCT is an important addition to HPH's port network in Europe and will further strengthen our services in northern Continental Europe with our ports in Felixstowe, Harwich, Thamesport and Rotterdam."

Wojciech Szczurek said: "I am pleased that the combined efforts of the City of Gdynia and HPH, the world's largest port investor and operator, have come to fruition. The successful partnership between HPH and the Gdynia Port Authority has helped transform GCT into a modern container handling facility."

The opening of the new container terminal coincided with the official opening of a new Polish Customs Branch Office at GCT, a statement from HPH said.

The Port of Gdynia is located on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea and is said to be home to 90 per cent of all Polish sea-borne containerised cargo.

Succession rumours sparked by NOL CEO's departure

RUMOURS abound as to who will replace NOL's CEO David Lim following his announcement last week that he will step down. According to a report by TMC Net, there are several likely candidates for the job.

The story suggests that the new CEO will more than likely come from outside the company, due to the fact that NOL has embarked on a global search for the new position.

This, according to the report and industry observers, would rule out NOL deputy chairman Cedric Foo or APL chief executiveRon Widdows from taking up the post.

Industry insiders have speculated that the new CEO could come from Singapore's political world.

Likely candidates for the position include Singapore's current Minister to the Prime Minister Lim Boon Heng and former Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong.

Other possible contenders include executives from dissolved or merged shipping companies such as P&O Ports, P&O Nedlloyd and CP Ships.

NOL has however remained tight-lipped on who will emerge as the new CEO, stating that it was not its "practice to discuss the executive search process or individual candidates".

Mr Lim announced earlier that he will continue in his present posts until his successor is ready to take over.

Shanghai Airlines makes maiden flight to Lion City

SHANGHAI Airlines has become the second mainland carrier to operate scheduled all-cargo flights between China and Singapore, after all-cargo carrier Yangtze River Express Airlines started flying the route last November.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said that Shanghai Airlines made its maiden landing at Changi Airport on June 17 at 1045 hrs.

Despite being a newcomer to Changi Airport, Shanghai Airlines will offer the highest number of all-cargo flights between Singapore and Shanghai, operating 16 weekly flights on this route, according to a CAAS statement.

"Shanghai Airlines' entry into the Singapore-China market occurs at a most opportune time, given the fast growing air freight market between our two countries, and it also provides shippers with an additional choice to move their cargo between our two countries," said MG(NS) Lim Kim Choon, Senior Deputy Director-General, CAAS.

Airfreight tonnage carried between Singapore and China in 2005 amounted to almost 130,000 tonnes, up 17 per cent over the previous year. For the Singapore-Shanghai sector specifically, total throughput grew by 20 per cent year-on-year in 2005.

Shanghai Airlines joins 12 other airlines at Changi Airport flying between Singapore and 19 cities in China. Together, they operate more than 400 weekly passenger and cargo flights between the two countries.

AirBridge boosts service to Sakhalin Island

AIRBRIDGE Cargo (ABC) says that it has boosted its airfreight service between its Russian hub in Krasnoyarsk to oil-rich Sakhalin Island by adding a second weekly IL-76 freighter flight to serve the route.

ABC said in a statement that it is the only scheduled all-cargo airline to serve the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk trade.

In addition the company, which is a member of the Volga-Dnepr Group, has opened an office on the island to support its oil and gas industry. The airline has appointed Stanislav Gaponenko and Alexander Vorontsov as its representatives in Sakhalin, who will be responsible for sales and customer service respectively.

The extra air cargo flight comes after ABC launched weekly service to Sakhalin from Frankfurt and Amsterdam in March last year amid growing demand from the oil and gas industry in the region, including from China and Japan.

Alexander Mazilin, Regional director of ABC in Krasnoyarsk, said: "Our weekly service has been very successful over the last year and it has always been our intention to increase the frequency of services to keep pace with demand from our freight forwarding partners and oil and gas customers."

An estimated 45 billion barrels of oil is believed to lie off Sakhalin's shores, an amount equivalent to the remaining reserves in the US or Europe.

New Tibet airport set for take-off

CHINA will open a new airport in Tibet in early July, bringing the number of civilian airports in the autonomous region to three.

Construction of Nyingchi Airport, 2,949 metres above sea level in Nyingchi prefecture and 400 kilometres from the Tibetan capital Lhasa, was completed in April at a cost of CNY780 million (US$97.5 million), Xinhua News Agency says.

Tibet's two other airports are in Lhasa, about 3,650 metres above sea level, and eastern Qamdo.

"The lower altitude will make Nyingchi an ideal first stop for tourists to gradually adapt themselves to Tibet's highland climate and minimise the effect of thin oxygen," said a spokesman for Air China Southwest, a subsidiary of Air China, quoted by Xinhua.

The new airport could bring an extra 120,000 visitors a year to Tibet, which had 1.22 million tourists in 2004.

It is slated to start operations the same month as the world's highest railway that now links Lhasa with Xining, the capital of western China's Qinghai province.

Beijing says the 2,040-kilometre rail link will promote development and help raise living standards in the region.

Links between Pan-PRD, Asean nations set to improve

CHINA's Pan-Pearl River Delta region is said to be speeding up development of a land-sea-and-air transportation network, integrating highways, railways, waterways and airways with those of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members.

Weng Mengyong, the Vice-Minister of China's Ministry of Communications was cited as saying that by 2020 coastal ports and highways in southern and southwestern China along with the Pearl River and South China Sea waterways will be connected with Asean's transportation system, in a bid to bring goods to market quicker and boost the region's trade with the rest of the world, Xinhua news agency reported.

Highways are seen as providing an important land link between the Pan-PRD and Asean, and there are already 11 customs checkpoints separating Yunnan and Guangxi provinces from their Asean neighbours.

In Yunnan, construction of the Chinese section of the 1,818 kilometre Kunming-Bangkok Highway is said to be proceeding. The road is expected to be completed by the end of 2007. Furthermore, the Kunming-Hanoi Highway is scheduled to open to traffic in 2007, and the Kunming-Rangoon Highway by 2010.

Building work on the Chinese sections of the Pan-Asian Railways linking southwest China with Asean countries, including separate lines from China to Vietnam, Burma and Laos has already begun and is forecast to continue until at least 2015.

With regard to shipping and air links, the Lancang-Mekong Waterway has been identified as a viable trade route, and construction of the new Kunming Airport that is intended to become a hub for trade between China, South Asia and Southeast Asia is underway.

Meanwhile in Guangxi, the ports of Fangcheng, Qinzhou and Beihai will be largely dedicated to handling the flow of goods between China and Asean nations.

CN to buy 50 more locomotives to handle rising Asian freight volumes

CANADIAN National Railway Company (CN) says it plans to buy 50 high-powered locomotives from manufacturer Electro-Motive Diesel for an undisclosed purchase price.

The locomotives are scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2007.

The acquisition of the 4,300-horsepower SD70M-2 locomotives is intended to help CN to handle growing volumes of international freight to and from the new intermodal terminal at Port of Prince Rupert in British Colombia, which is due to open for business at around the time the new locomotives will be arriving.

The Prince Rupert terminal is expected to create a new North American gateway for Asian goods destined for the principal centres of Canada and the United States Midwest and South, a CN statement explained.

Phase one of the new terminal will be able to handle 500,000 TEU annually. These containers will travel over CN's North American network from Prince Rupert to Toronto, Montreal, Chicago and Memphis, Tennessee.

E Hunter Harrison, president and chief executive officer of CN, said: "These new locomotives will position us to accommodate rising traffic volumes on our Western Canadian network and, in particular, anticipated new Prince Rupert freight volumes. CN's network has ample capacity to handle more freight, with new extended sidings in the west allowing us to improve velocity and efficiencies."

Shenyang to host int'l logistics expo in July

THE northern mainland city of Shenyang will host the "2006 China Shenyang International Transport & Logistics Exposition" in the city's International Exhibition Centre from July 11-13, Xinhua reports.

The event is the first international transport and logistics expo to be held in northeastern China. The exhibition has been backed by the Liaoning Provincial People's Government, and is jointly being sponsored by the Communications Department of Liaoning province and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Liaoning sub-council, the news agency said.

The conference is expected to draw representatives from logistics, port operation, shipping, container manufacturing, freight forwarding sectors and other related groups.

A number of seminars will be held in conjunction with the expo on such topics as supply chain management, information technology, logistics parks and port development.

Cross-straits cargo flights to go ahead

IN a move seen as an important step towards restoring regular aviation links across the Taiwan Straits, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan announced on June 14 that they have agreed to allow cross-straits cargo charters for the first time. Direct passenger flights will also be allowed during holidays.

In line with the agreement, Taiwan will permit cargo flights on a case-by-case basis, with companies based on the island being allowed to use these special chartered flights to ship goods and equipment to the mainland and back, according to China Daily.

Chartered passenger flights will be allowed during the Grave Sweeping Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival, in addition to the Lunar New Year holiday, when such flights have already been permitted. Special emergency medical and selected humanitarian aid charter flights will also be given the green light.

The agreement will allow six airlines on each side to operate a combined 168 round trips per year for the holidays, confirmed Joseph Wu, Chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, according to Reuters. The flights will be operated from Taipei or Kaohsiung to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or Xiamen. A spokesman from the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council said that direct links were needed by the millions of Taiwanese businessman who came to the mainland every year, by farmers in Taiwan who wanted lower transport costs in order to sell their fruit and vegetables on the mainland and by families desperate to visit their relatives.

"We hope the Taiwan authorities can abide by their pledges and approve talks as soon as possible to speed up cargo flights and expand charter passenger flights to weekends or on a regular basis," Pu Zhaozhou, Director of the Cross-Straits Aviation Transport Exchange Council, was quoted saying by Xinhua News Agency.

Taiwan has banned direct air links with the mainland since the former Kuomintang government fled to the island in 1949. In 2005 and 2006 six Taiwan and six mainland carriers were allowed to operate special charter flights during the Lunar New Year. Despite not being required to stop en route, they had to fly through Hong Kong airspace.

Singapore Airlines orders 20 Boeing 787-9s

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) has signed a letter of intent to purchase 20 Boeing 787-9s, with purchase rights for another 20 of the same aircraft.

Current manufacturer catalogue prices place the value of the 20 firm aircraft orders at US$4.52 billion. Deliveries are scheduled between early 2011 and mid 2013.

"The decision to purchase the 787-9 is the culmination of an extensive evaluation of the performance characteristics and operating economics promised for the different versions of Boeing's new 787 aircraft," the statement said.

A spokesperson for the airline said that the new aircraft would be equipped with the capacity to hold 20 tonnes of cargo.

SIA plans to deploy the aircraft on routes to North Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East.

SIA has also announced that its cargo division raised its load factor for May from 60.2 per cent last year to 60.9 per cent in 2006.

Qantas makes changes to domestic schedule

QANTAS says it has made changes to its Northern Tasmania and South Australia schedules, following a review.

Qantas Group general manager Narendra Kumar said Qantas would cease operations to its two South Australian ports, Kangaroo Island and Port Lincoln on June 28; cease operation to Burnie in Tasmania on July 31; replace daily Qantas B737 Launceston-Melbourne services with double daily Dash 8 services on August 1; and maintain Jetstar's 21 A320 jet return services a week between Launceston and Melbourne.

Mr Kumar said: "In the current environment of escalating fuel prices, we cannot continue to absorb losses on these routes. Moving to double daily Dash 8 frequencies between Launceston and Melbourne will address the issue of excess capacity on the route and at the same time offer passengers better connections in Melbourne," he said.