Tag: CMA CGM

Along with other container lines participate in the Cargo Incident Notification System Network Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co join forces to reduce the number of accidents caused by hazardous cargoes, poorly stowed containers or inaccurate weight declarations.The purpose is to collect and share all information related to potentially dangerous containerised freight on an industry-wide basis. That would enable container lines to receive a rapid alert in the case of worrying incident, and for carriers to have a clearer idea of how widespread certain bad practices or possibly risky situations are across the industry.These two large container lines along with CMA CGM, Evergreen, and Hapag-Lloyd, are participating in the Cargo Incident Notification System Network. The TT Club and the International Group of P&I Clubs, are also involved in the project,with the Container Owners Association acting as a neutral host for the database.All information about cargo that either has or could have caused an accident will be fed into Cinsnet so that statistics can beproduced and industry trends identified.Shipowners will have the hard evidence to back up their claims in case any clear patterns emerge indicating that further action ought to be taken either at industry or regulatory level .The statistics ...

Opens compliance desk to enhance security MARSEILLES' CMA CGM has establishing an Iran compliance desk after being implicated in a case of falsified documents that concealed a weapons shipment, in which it says it was blameless.US congressmen called for sanctions against CMA CGM unless it boycotted Iranian ports. Asked for a response, the French shipping giant told American Shipper said it was setting up a compliance desk instead.The desk is part of a larger operation to orchestrate security measures and regulatory requirements rising from both individual countries and international bodies, reported American Shipper. The company said it will set up a new security and regulations section on its website and will also focus on Libya and the Ivory Coast."In this way, CMA CGM customers and prospects, as well as outside observers, can now easily find, clearly and transparently, the main regulations governing shipments to and from Ivory Coast, Libya and Iran," the carrier said.On March 15, Israeli commandos raided CMA CGM's 1,678-TEU Victoria, bound for Alexandria and found aboard weapons for Iran. CMA CGM said the container involved had been falsely labelled as lentils by the shipper, adding that it had no power to check contents of containers as that ...

Ports in southern China are preferred Hong Kongs status as one of the worlds leading maritime centres is not under threat, but change is coming. At the start of April this year container giant Maersk cut its calls at the port of Hong Kong by a quarter, from around 30 per week to 22-23. The reason? The carrier said it would be transferring most of the calls to a terminal at the port of Nansha near Guangzhou in southern Mainland China which is partly owned by sister company APM Terminals.The transfer was a huge blow both to Modern Terminals, which handles most of Maersks calls at Hong Kong, and to Hong Kongs status as the regions leading container hub. More blows could follow.The port lost its status as the worlds largest container port back in 2004 and was ranked third according to 2009 throughput totals, some distance behind Singapore and Shanghai. The ports of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, located over the border in Mainland China, were fourth and sixth in the rankings.Last year the port of Hong Kong handled 23.7m teu, again putting it in third place although the figure was still below the record set in 2008 pre-global financial crisis.The ...

Failure to comply may lead to penalties and fines The shipping industry has warned its customers that failure to comply with new EU regulations will mean fines and their cargo will not be loaded.The new regulations, requiring cargo information 24 hours before shipment, came into force on 1 January, but for the first six months, compliance was not strictly enforced, to allow companies time to get used to them.However, from 1 July, the Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) regulation will be fully enforced, meaning carriers will refuse to load cargo if the requirements are not met.The new regulation allows EU Customs to perform a security risk assessment before goods enter the EU.It requires that shipping companies receive an ENS which includes information such as the bill of lading number and shipper and consignee name and address 24 hours before loading the cargo on a vessel that will call at an EU port, or, for shortsea traffic, two hours before entry at its first EU port.It applies to all goods brought into EU customs territory, cargo transhipped via an EU port even if it has a non-EU final destination or cargo remaining on board a vessel calling en-route at an EU port.Maersk ...

Green Shipping for Blue Oceans is the theme for the 2011 To mark World Environment Day and World Ocean Day, the CMA CGM Group is organising its third CMA CGM Environment Days on 7 and 8 June.Green Shipping for Blue Oceans is the theme for the 2011 edition. Every year CMA CGM uses this initiative to take stock of the numerous eco-friendly actions undertaken by the Group and to further raise awareness of the issues at stake among its 17,400 employees on land and at sea.As it did in 2010, the operation involves all 650 agencies and offices, plus the subsidiaries, terminals and vessels. For the second year running the best green initiatives will be recognised by the Think Ecologic Awards presented on 7 June at Head Office.Throughout the two days a green village has been set up at the Groups Head Office in Marseille, with various activities organised around an environmental theme in partnership with Ifremer, Comex and a brand of organic produce.These two Environment Days have become an essential rendez-vous for the Group which has put the environment at the centre of its strategy. CMA CGM is particularly committed to reducing its greenhouse emissions and has already cut ...

It was claimed they found it carrying over 50 tonnes of weapons to Gaza strip CMA CGM has denied any knowledge that one of its vessels was carrying arms from Iran, after calls from US congressmen for the US Treasury Department to consider sanctions against the line.In a letter, obtained by a newspaper, Republican congressman Mike Conaway urges Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to consider sanctions against CMA CGM for its failure to comply with international counterterrorism legislation.On 15 March, the MV Victoria was seized by Israeli commandos after it was claimed they found it carrying over 50 tonnes of weapons destined for the Hamas administration in the Gaza strip.CMA CGM released a statement explaining that documents detailing the contents of three containers on board the ship were false.These documents, prepared by the shipper, clearly indicated that the containers were loaded with lentils, when in fact they contained weapons.It stated: As regards trade to and from Iran, CMA CGM diligently applies the rules prescribed by the United Nations, the European Union and the US.It has also announced that it has set up an in-house Iran Compliance Desk that works with agents to ensure that cargo ...

CMA CGM Group has extremely strict policies for the security of its vessels and the cargo onboard CMA CGM Group would like to respond in more detail to the many questions concerning international legislation governing container transport, and particularly regarding responsibilities in the seizure of the MV Victoria containership in international waters by the Israeli Navy last March.As the worlds third largest container shipping group, CMA CGM carries nearly nine million containers around the world every year and has deployed extremely strict policies concerning compliance with national and international regulations, the security of its vessels and the type of cargo they carry. Fraudulent shipping documents Like other leading international maritime shipping companies, on very rare occasions, CMA CGM has to deal with fraudulent shipping documents, containing misleading information about the true nature of the shipped cargo.In March 2011, for example, the shipper of three containers carried on the MV Victoria falsely described their contents in the shipping documents. These documents, prepared by the shipper, clearly indicated that the containers were loaded with lentils, when in fact they contained weapons. Declarative principle CMA CGM reaffirms that container shipping is based on the same principle as postal mail, i.e. the declarative principle. ...

It went aground off Xiamen last week CMA CGM is working with Chinese authorities in a bid to save a post panamax containership that went aground off Xiamen last week.The 11,400-teu CMA CGM Libra (built 2009) ran aground on a hard sandy bottom on 19 May shortly after departing Xiamen Port.The ship is said to have around 6,000 containers onboard and was headed for Hong Kong before scheduled calls at various ports in Europe.Unconfirmed reports say the Hyundai Heavy Industries-built ship is running in the FAL1 service between China and Western Europe.Reports say the casualty is hard-a-ground, has developed a 10 degree list and is substantially out of her free floating draught.Hull interests have agreed a Lloyds Form Contract (LOF 2000) with Shanghai Salvage, reports marine insurance and admiralty solicitors Waltons & Morse.On the insistence of the local authorities, bunkers will have to be removed before any containers are lightened to aid refloatation, the London-based firm says.Latest reports are that Shanghai Salvage has now discharged around 75% of the bunkers aboard the Maltese-flagged containership.Although the ship owners have yet to formally declare General Average, such a declaration is expected imminently, Waltons & Morse said.Albatross Adjusters Limited in Cyprus are on ...

All of the shippers are under investigation The EU Commission said it suspects that Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Corp. and several other shippers have been engaged in cartel activities in violation of EU antitrust regulations.The commission said it launched an investigation into the matter on May 17 with a raid on the offices of the shippers since it had collected sufficient evidence pointing to their wrongdoing.However, the commission declined to disclose any further details of the probe or the alleged cartel activities, saying the investigation was still in progress.Apart from Evergreen Marine, the other shippers being investigated are Singapore-based Naptune Orient Lines, Hong Kong's Orient Overseas (International) Ltd., South Korea's Hanjin Shipping, Denmark's Maersk Line, CMA CGM of France and Hapag-Lloyd of Germany.All of the shippers, including Evergreen Marine, have confirmed that they are under investigation by the EU Commission.The commission said it will respect the right of the shippers to defend themselves and has no presumptions on the results of the probe.It also said it has no timetable for wrapping up the investigation, as this will depend on several factors such as the complexity of the case and whether or not the shippers will cooperate with the investigators.The commission's records ...

Xiamen races to free grounded large Malta-flagged container ship On May 18th, a large Malta-flagged container ship, CMA CGM Libra, got stranded in the Xiamen sea area.It's the first time that a large ship has run aground at Xiamen Port. The Xiamen government paid close attention to the rescue work for the large ship, reports Xiamen Daily.The large container ship with over 7,000 tons of fuel won't pose a threat to the Xiamen sea area as its body is not damaged and it is away from the main sea routes, the report said.As of May 23rd, two-thousand tons of fuel was unloaded from the ship. To speed up the rescue work, a DALI Floating Crane from Shanghai Salvage Co. (SSC), with lifting capacity of 2,500 tons, joined the rescue team on Monday.Mr. Pan Shijian, vice mayor of Xiamen, urged an all-out effort to help the Malta-flagged container ship during conferences held for the rescue work.Source: OnXiamen