• New service dedicates up to 100 weekly containers on rail for southern Thailand customers who ship products via Penang Port

• A depot at Penang Port with a monthly operating capacity of 7,500 TEUs handles special containers for specific products and non-dangerous liquid cargo

• The weekly Penang-Padang Besar block train service reduces the Thai shippers’ customs, monitoring and transportation costs

CMA CGM is offering Thai shippers an intermodal link via rail and sea that will transport their export cargo from southern provinces through Malaysia’s Penang Port, the company said in a press release carried by Hellenic Shipping on August 29.

The global logistics giant, which offers sea, land, air and logistics solutions, also launched a container depot at Penang Port with a monthly operating capacity of 7,500 (TEUs) containers.

The company, a global player in, also officially opened a container depot at the Penang Port. The depot also handles special containers for specific products and non-dangerous liquid cargo.

The weekly Penang-Padang Besar block train service, operated in partnership with Infinity Logistics and Transport Ventures Limited (Infinity), is dedicating as many as 100 containers each week for CMA CGM shippers, the company said in a press release.

Once laden, the containers on rail dedicated for CMA CGM shippers are picked up from Padang Besar, a Malaysian town on the border with Songkhla province.

Penang Port is a practical gateway for the southern Thailand exporters as the port lies on the coast of the Strait of Malacca, a trade-rich route to the Far East via the Singapore Strait.

The train will then set for the Penang Port to be loaded on the CMS2 and KCM2 services provided by CNC, the CMA CGM Group’s Intra-Asia specialist.

From Penang, the two weekly services will head for Malaysia’s top export destinations in Asia including Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Qingdao, and Busan.

Designed to go the extra mile for customers with CMA CGM as a one-stop service provider, the multimodal offering secures equipment as well as rail and sailing slots, the company said.

The service also reduces the shippers’ customs, monitoring and transportation costs, and saves them on scheduling activities with different providers.

In August last year, CMA CGM also opened a container depot in Cakung, Indonesia, that handled 150,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) after nine months of operation.

It was the company’s fourth and largest container depot in Indonesia and handles special containers for specific products such as rubber and non-dangerous liquid cargo.

Meanwhile, CMA CGM announced earlier in August that it was resuming its China-Mongolia rail service, which had been closed due to severe congestion and long delays at the gateway port for shipments bound for the Mongolian capital Ulaan Bator in Mongolia.

“We are advised by the rail service operator that the situation has considerably improved,” the company said.

“We therefore wish to confirm the product rail Tianjin – Ulaan Bator is now back active in CMA CGM Intermodal and Transport Solutions’ portfolio and bookings are accepted.”

Source: https://www.portcalls.com/cma-offers-thai-shippers-intermodal-link-to-penang/

The international shipping industry is responsible for the carriage of around 90% of world trade so vessel safety is critical. During the early 1990s, the global fleet was losing 200+ vessels a year. This has dropped to around 50 to 75 a year over the past four years — a statistic made more impressive by the fact that there are an estimated 130,000 ships in the global fleet today (over 100 gross tonnage [GT]) compared with some 80,000 30 years ago.

The sector continued its long-term positive safety trend in 2021 with 54 reported total losses compared with 65 a year earlier. Annual shipping losses have declined by 57% over the past decade since 2012 (127), while 2021 represents a significant improvement on the rolling 10-year loss average (89), reflecting the increased focus on safety measures over time, such as regulation, improved ship design and technology and risk management advances.

South China, Indochina, Indonesia and the Philippines is the main global loss hotspot, accounting for one in-five losses (12), although activity declined year-on-year. The Arabian
Gulf (9) saw a significant increase in loss activity to rank second ahead of the East Mediterranean and Black Sea region in third (7). South East Asian waters are also the major loss location of the past decade (225 out of 892), driven by factors such as high
levels of local and international trade, congested ports, older fleets and extreme weather.

Cargo vessels accounted for half of all vessels lost in 2021 (27). Foundered (sunk) was the main cause of total losses across all vessel types during 2021, accounting for around 60%
(32). Fire/explosion ranked second (15%, 8), with machinery damage/failure third (11%, 6). Extreme weather was reported as being a factor in at least 13 losses during 2021, while December and May were the most frequent months for losses with seven each respectively.

Collectively, foundered (52%), wrecked/stranded (grounded) (18%) and fire/explosion (13%) are the top three causes of total losses over the past decade, accounting for more than 80% of 892 reported losses.

While the number of total losses declined over the past year, the number of reported shipping casualties or incidents increased. The British Isles saw the highest number of reported incidents (668 out of 3,000). Machinery damage/failure accounted for over one-in-three incidents globally (1,311).

Fire/explosion (178) is the third top cause (after collision [222]), with the number of fires increasing by almost 10% annually.

The East Mediterranean and Black Sea region is the location of the most shipping incidents over the past decade (4,763), accounting for 18%.

Globally, most incidents have been caused by machinery damage or failure (9,968), followed by collision (3,134), contact (2,029), piracy (1,995) and fire/explosion (1,747).

Source: Allianz Insurance