This week, Port Botany welcomed the ship with the biggest container capacity ever to visit the port , and the Australian government announced an independent review of the $14.5 billion Inland Rail project. Rail freight operator Aurizon received $5 million in funding for a hydrogen project, Poseidon Sea Pilots are preparing to commence services in Victoria, and police are seeking information on a consignment of cocaine they found in a shipping container at Port Botany.
Oct 07, 2022•4 min
Aurizon has invested $5 million in developing a multi-modal rail terminal at Port of Townsville, and Bass Island Line is introducing a new refrigerated container service to King Island. Also in the news this week, Tasmania is gearing up to welcome its first cruise ships of the season, the Australian government introduced a biosecurity amendment bill and Toll's Global Forwarding division appointed a new president.
Sep 30, 2022•3 min
The Australian Federal Police launched an investigation last week after more than $182 million worth of drugs was found concealed in a shipment of coffee beans, seized in Melbourne. Darwin Port and Port of Portland welcomed new CEOs, the Australian government announced funding for a barge service to Norfolk Island, and a cargo ship sank while it was berthed at the Turkish port of Iskenderun.
Sep 23, 2022•4 min
This week, Sydney-based logistics tech company Ofload announced its acquisition of CIA Logistics, and a noisy containership is to be phased out of its current service after leaving a trail of noise complaints. Also in the news, two men were sentenced to jail for their role in smuggling 1.3 tonnes of ephedrine into Melbourne. A Kiwi freight transport company is working towards deploying a methanol-capable ship on coastal routes, and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority co-ordinated the rescue...
Sep 16, 2022•4 min
The biggest story in Australia's maritime news this week was the release of the Productivity Commission's draft report on Australia's maritime logistics system. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority co-ordinated the rescue of two sailors in the Tasman Sea with support from the air force and two nearby ships, a build-up of congestion around Port of Brisbane sparked some concern, and two men were sentenced to jail for attempting to smuggle 645 kilograms of meth in a container full of barbeques....
Sep 11, 2022•3 min
It was a big week for the maritime industry as leaders gathered for the Ports Australia Biennial Conference in Brisbane. Among the many highlights of the event were presentations from the ACCC and Productivity Commission. In Canberra, the Jobs and Skills Summit discussed the enterprise bargaining system. Toll Shipping in Tasmania announced it has changed its name to Strait Link and is becoming an independent company, and an investment consortium's proposal to acquire GeelongPort fell through....
Sep 04, 2022•5 min
Port of Melbourne continued working through its proposed capacity enhancement program this week, with the goal of enabling the development of a new container terminal and securing the future of Tasmanian trades. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority diverted a bulk carrier in the Indian Ocean to rescue a kayaker, and there were several stories about border authorities intercepting drug consignments, including the largest shipment of the deadly opioid fentanyl.
Aug 26, 2022•4 min
A wage dispute brewing at Darwin Port for more than a month amounted to industrial action on Friday morning. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau launched an investigation into the grounding of a bulk carrier off the Western Australian coast, and a noisy containership left a trail of complaints across Australian and New Zealand ports. Episode 11 of The DCN Weekly covers these stories and more.
Aug 19, 2022•5 min
Two sunken tugboats were salvaged from a port river in Tasmania this week after a cement carrier allided with them in late January. The Australian Border Force uncovered 700 kilograms of cocaine on a containership at Port Botany and a New Zealand company announced a new trans-Tasman shipping service while another new trans-Tasman service took off with its first sailing. We explore these stories and more in the latest episode of The DCN Weekly.
Aug 12, 2022•3 min
This week, Daily Cargo News covered the industrial action that unfolded across Australian ports after towage operator Svitzer Australia applied to terminate its enterprise bargaining agreement with its maritime workforce. There was a change of plans in the salvage of two sunken tugboats in Tasmania's Port of Devonport, and Darwin Port exported the first load of iron ore from a local mining project. We unpack these stories and more in the latest episode of The DCN Weekly.
Aug 05, 2022•4 min
In the news this week, the Victorian government released its 30-year port plan as a result of an independent review of the state's port system. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority banned a Liberian-flagged tanker after receiving a complaint about crew underpayment and welfare issues onboard. Melbourne-based port logistics specialist Silk Logistics acquired Fremantle Freight & Storage Group, and Pilbara Ports Authority and Yara Clean Ammonia signed an agreement to facilitate the uptake o...
Jul 29, 2022•5 min
In the news this week, CMA CGM confirmed APL Vanda lost 55 containers overboard while sailing from Singapore to Suez earlier this month. Industrial action disrupted operations at Port of Mackay, and nearly escalated at Darwin Port where the Maritime Union of Australia accused port management of cutting workers' wages. The ACCC approved Aurizon's acquisition of One Rail Australia, a barge deployed to remove sunken tugs from the Mersey River was delayed by an east coast weather pattern, and north ...
Jul 22, 2022•5 min
The top news story this week was about a Dutch court's ruling that cargo lashing should be assigned to dock workers, not seafarers. In Port of Mackay, pilot cutter crews who went on strike were locked out by their company. An industry peak body raised concerns that biosecurity risks and clearance delays are adding costs to an already costly supply chain. And finally, bulk carrier Portland Bay - which nearly ran aground last week - has departed Port Botany.
Jul 15, 2022•4 min
This week's news was dominated by the story of Portland Bay and its crew. The bulk carrier lost power off the New South Wales coast and found itself in imminent danger of grounding on the rocks. It is a story of peril and the heroic efforts of tug and rescue crews. We cover this story and more in the latest episode of The DCN Weekly.
Jul 09, 2022•5 min
Over the past week, the master and first officer of a bulk carrier were fined $75,000 for breaching a designated shipping area in the Great Barrier Reef, and a protester suspended herself from the mooring line of a fishing vessel in Hobart. In the Middle East, a toxic gas explosion in a port killed at least 13 people and injured more than 250. A man was charged for his role in a plot to smuggle 1.2 tonnes of cocaine into Australia by transferring drugs between vessels at sea, and the deadly varr...
Jul 01, 2022•4 min
In the news this week, a man was charged for smuggling 7000 litres of alcohol into Australia while already serving a prison sentence for importing 100,000 cigarettes in the same shipment. Pacifica Shipping announced a new vessel on its NZ coastal service, and Maritime Safety Queensland hosted an oil spill response exercise in Gladstone. The World Shipping Council released some “worrying” figures in its latest Containers Lost at Sea report, and DHL Supply Chain announced it would acquire a nation...
Jun 26, 2022•4 min
This week, Maersk announced the launch of a coastal service in New Zealand, and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau explored the safety issues behind a fatal helicopter crash during a marine pilot transfer in 2018. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority celebrated the successful outcome of its proposal to mandate the reporting of seafarer fatalities in the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, and MSC has announced it will begin to use biofuel in its ships.
Jun 17, 2022•5 min
In the news this week, the Australian Border Force seized what it suspects to be cocaine on a ship at Port Botany, and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau launched an investigation into the near-grounding of a bulk carrier in Hydrographers Passage. The US Federal Maritime Commission released its findings on ocean carrier competition, Ports of Auckland halted its container terminal automation project and new leadership was appointed across several shipping and port companies.
Jun 10, 2022•4 min
