Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, today announced that it has joined the “Human Capital Management Consortium,” which was established by seven founders including Kunio Ito, Director of CFO Education and Research Center, Hitotsubashi University.

In recent years, the concept of “human capital management,” which views human resources as “capital” and enhances corporate value in the mid to long term by maximizing their value, has gained greater attention both in Japan and overseas, accompanied by disclosure details and methods of human capital information.

In Japan, for example, the ideal of one-step further disclosure of information on human capital-reporting “human resources development policies” and “policies on the development of internal environments” based on the significance of human resources strategy in the mid-to-long-term improvement of corporate value, including the ratio of female managers, wage disparity between male and female employees, and so on, as specific disclosure items in annual securities reports-has been discussed.

MOL Group sets “Human & Community -Contributing to the growth and development of people and communities-” as “Sustainability Issues (Materiality)”, aiming to achieve successful coexistence among everyone in MOL Group and in the sustainable growth and development of communities through its activities as a corporate group that respects diverse personalities and that can maximize the capabilities of every employee.

By participating in the consortium, MOL aims to achieve higher quality “human capital management” through information sharing and discussion with other participating companies, and at the same time, strives to continuously enhance its corporate value by creating new value by combining the diverse individuality and capabilities of all group employees all over the world.

MOL Group 5 Sustainability Issues
MOL Group will contribute to realizing a sustainable society by promoting responses to sustainability issues, which are identified as social issues that must be addressed as priorities through its business. We anticipate this initiative to contribute especially to the realization of “Human & Community- Contributing to the growth and development of people and communities-“.

Source: https://www.marineinsight.com/shipping-news/mol-joined-the-human-capital-management-consortium/

The St. Lawrence Seaway transported 514,000 tonnes of grain out of the Great Lakes between March 22 to the end of July this year. This represents a 37% increase from the same period last year.

“As the season progresses, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System continues to provide shippers a reliable route for a diverse range of commodities flowing in and out of the US heartland,” said Craig H. Middlebrook, deputy administrator for the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development. “Cargo numbers continue to improve thanks to the port workers and seafarers who are keeping essential products like grain and steel moving efficiently through the Seaway’s maritime supply chain.”

The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership’s August report shows that the surge in US grain shipments will help alleviate global food concerns in the wake of the Ukraine war. A minimum of 27 nations have received US Great Lakes grain during the month of July, up from 26 in June.

“We are also seeing some new grain products and bulk materials in our mix this season,” said Joseph Cappel, VP of Business Development for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.  “Our strategy of obtaining equipment and constructing facilities that have multiple purposes has worked to our advantage. We can handle just about any type of cargo.”

Ports on the Great Lakes are also increasing investments in facilities and equipment. This is due to a surge in grain exports, road congestion, increasing energy prices, and a supply chain crisis.

“We’re seeing the results of a surge in maritime business that once was the hallmark of Oswego. Our continuing investments of over $26 million include upgrades to our facilities to make the port once again a leader on the lakes,” said William W. Scriber, executive director of the Port of Oswego. “We’re particularly proud that our revenue not only supports our operations but also supports local jobs and businesses without relying on tax dollars.”

What Is The St. Lawrence Seaway?

The St. Lawrence Seaway is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America. The Seaway is named for the Saint Lawrence River, which flows from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. It is estimated that more than 160 million metric tons of commercial cargo are transported on the waterway each year.

The Great Lakes-Seaway System serves a region that includes eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. If the region were a country, it would have the 3^rd largest economy in the world with a GDP of $5.5 trillion – larger than that of Japan, Germany, Brazil, or the United Kingdom. The region is home to 107 million people and accounts for almost 40 percent of the total cross-border trade between the U.S. and Canada.

Source: https://gcaptain.com/grain-is-gushing-out-of-the-great-lakes-this-year/

• 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

A newly built wood chip carrier vessel recently delivered to Japanese shipping company NYK is equipped to collect ocean microplatics for researchers to study.

The Stellar Harmony, built by Imabari’s Iwagi Zosen Co., Ltd shipyard, was officially handed over on August 23. The vessel will transport wood chips mainly from New Zealand, Australia, North America and South America under a long-term contract between NYK and Marusumi Paper Co., Ltd.

Once in operation, the ship will pump in seawater along its routes to collect microplastics floating in the ocean. The collected microplastics will be unloaded and analyzed by the Chiba Institute of Technology and used for research to clarify the actual distribution of microplastics in the ocean.

Stellar Harmony also comes equipped with hybrid fins (energy-saving equipment installed on the rudder to improve propulsion efficiency) and an energy-saving governor (equipment that saves fuel and reduces the load during main engine operation), as well as an eco-friendly main engine with specifications that improve fuel efficiency during low-load operation.

Source: https://www.marinelink.com/news/new-wood-chip-carrier-collect-ocean-499045