APL Is Best Buy Top Carrier

APL has again been named Carrier of the Year by Best Buy, a leading multi-channel global retailer and developer of technology products and services. It's the second year in a row that the Singapore-based container shipping line has won the award.

APL, which transports Best Buy cargo from China to the US, was selected based on a nine-point scorecard. Criteria included transit time, pier service, shipping schedule integrity, systems, vessel space integrity, equipment availability, arrival notice issuance, loss and damage claims, and origin bill of lading issuance.

APL began transporting Best Buy cargo in 2008 from the Chinese ports of Shanghai, Xiamen, Fuzhou and Yantian. Most of it is discharged at the carrier's terminal at the Port of Los Angeles. Some is transported to the US East Coast via the Panama Canal.

Best Buy is an international retailer with operations in the US, Canada, China, Europe and Mexico .

source: logasiamag.com / picture:google.com

Saratoga Group became the majority shareholder of Mandala Airlines

Saratoga Group eventually became the majority shareholder of Mandala Airlines. Saratoga Group's ownership by 51% after signing the official documents conditional sale and purchase agreement.

Besides Saratoga, Tiger Airways is also a new ownership of Mandala Airlines with shareholder by 33%. While the remains is owned by unsecured creditors and holders of old shares.

"We were so pleased with the finalization of the documents of this transaction and look forward to Mandala Airlines immediately operational," said one of the founders of Saratoga Group, Sandiaga Uno.

By signing the agreement, the completion of the restructuring of Mandala Airlines closer. Just a note, Mandala Airlines has been serving a five-month due diligence. Mandala still must complete the requirements to mention a number of transactions required. Including the approval Mandala could flyback immediately from Indonesia’s government. This process is expected to take about 90 days before the operation.

"We expect continued to receive government support so that the plan could flyback to the Mandala can be realized immediately," said President Director of Mandala Airlines Air, Diono Nurjadin Diono Nurjadin.

Diono added, after transfer of ownership of the Mandala Airlines, the company will implement the business model of the Tiger Airways Group. Mandala Airlines will offer low cost travel to international destinations and domestic flights within five hours. The type of aircraft to be used post-restructuring is the Airbus A320.

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CSAV posts first half loss of US$525 million, looks to partnership

CHILEAN carrier CSAV recently announced a net loss of US$525 million in the first half of 2011, having made continuous losses for three years in a row since 2008, totalling $1.05 billion.

Searching for way back to profitability, the carrier said it was looking for a "strategic" shipping partner, but provided no details. Additionally, it has curtailed 20 per cent of its capacity in the past six months to cut costs.

CSAV's operating loss topped $567 million, showing a sharp downturn from $51 million profit recorded in the first half last year. It recorded an operating loss of $369 million in the second quarter, the worst performance in the company's history.

Facing the need for financing, CSAV said it plans to raise its equity by $1.2 billion, reported Paris-based analyst Alphaliner, adding that the carrier bears some financial burden of $1 billion for buying seven 8,000-TEU and two 6,600-TEU vessels between 2010 and 2012.

In the past two months, CSAV announced joint services with MSC and CMA CGM, which are expected to help reduce the losses in future, but for now the carrier forecasts full-year serious losses.

As part of re-structuring, CSAV is keen to separate its shipping business from the vessels and cargo maritime services business run by its subsidiary SAAM. It attempted to let SAAM go public earlier this year with up to 49 per cent initial public offering, but no further progress has been made since.

source: Shippingazette.com / picture: google.com

LION Air passengers increased during the Islamic holiday

PT Lion Mentari Airlines recorded an increase in the number of passengers during the  Islamic holiday this year, which is reach 1.2 million passengers, increase 20%compared with the last transportation year's period.

Edward Sirait, Managing Director of Lion Air, the frequency of flights during Islamic holiday transport until today reached 157 scheduled flights, an increase of 40.2% where in the past year serving 112 flights.

He revealed the number of seats to provide in the current year is about 30 thousand seats. Moreover, according to Edward, the level of on time performance (OTP) also showed a positive trend which reached 82%. "The OTP of Lion Air has exceeded the recommended average of 80%," said Edward Sirait.

According to Edward, during the Islamic holiday, Lion Air routes increased significantly are Surabaya-Balikpapan, Surabaya-Banjarmasin, Jakarta-Jogjakarta, Jakarta-Solo and Jakarta-Padang. The increase in the routes, he added, reaching 15% compared to a normal day.

Edward said they had added 200 seats per day during to serve the increasing demand for flights on the busy routes . "Lion Air also increase the frequency of four flights for four days with a total of 4800 additional seats to serve the reverse flow. We have budgeted an additional flight on demand," he said.

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DHL Achieves 15.7 Percent In Carbon Efficiency Despite Volume Surge

DHL announced that its Singapore Express division achieved a 15.7 percent improvement in CO2 efficiency in 2010, compared to 2009.

DHL Express Singapore's ability to clock double-digit improvements in carbon efficiency, despite volume surge, was made possible through the adoption of its three-pronged approach: fleet management, real estate enhancements and employee engagement, to effectively manage its carbon footprint.

Combating climate change by becoming more carbon-efficient is DHL's commitment towards ensuring a more sustainable environment. DHL is the first global logistics provider to set quantified CO2 efficiency targets under its GoGreen program in 2007.

DHL Express Asia Pacific started the assessment of its carbon footprint from energy consumption in real estate and ground transport in 2008 and developed a robust carbon accounting process that now covers over 1,000 facilities in 27 markets across the Asia-Pacific. As a result, DHL is able to accurately measure and see the results of its efforts in improving carbon efficiency through abatement programs.

Locally, DHL Express Singapore adopted a three-pronged approach, namely on-going active fleet management, real estate enhancements as well as employee engagement in energy-saving behaviour, that contributes towards improving its carbon efficiency.

Herbert Vongpusanachai, managing director, DHL Express (Singapore), commented, "As climate change issues take centre stage globally, ensuring sustainability has become a central aspect of our business and is an integral part of our day-to-day operations. The double digit improvement as reflected in the results of the 2010 carbon accounting process is the best indicator to show that we are doing the right things to improve our carbon efficiency."

In the transport and logistics industry, active fleet management is key to managing the carbon footprint. DHL Express Singapore is the first office in Asia to embark on a pilot trial program - Vehicle Energy Reduction Program (VERP) to monitor and improve vehicle fuel economy by changing driver behaviours.

Rolled out in one of the three service centres in Singapore, in-vehicle GPS and vehicle diagnostics units are installed in 17 vans to capture data on vehicle location, speed, fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and acceleration over three axes. The trial phase saw a five per cent improvement in fuel efficiency within a short nine-week period.

As reflected in the carbon footprint results, real estate contributes to the bulk of DHL Express Singapore's total CO2 emissions. Several energy-saving initiatives such as the installation of energy-efficient T5 lighting, use of electric-powered forklifts and incorporation of power-save options on the Material Handling System were implemented to reduce energy consumption, thus helping to improve our carbon efficiency.

More importantly within the company, many employees play an active role in helping to achieve the GoGreen targets. Increased employee engagement in the day-to-day green initiatives leading to effective behaviour change is the key to reducing the overall carbon footprint in the long run.

"We are pleased that our efforts in helping to improve our carbon efficiency have paid off and this is the first step towards protecting our environment. Our commitment towards sustainability will be the driving force as we continue to find ways to further improve our carbon efficiency," Herbert added.

Testament to its efforts towards environmental protection and sustainability, DHL emerged as the winner in the Enterprise Sustainable Business category at the recent Singapore Sustainability Awards 2011.

Presented by the Singapore Business Federation, the award serves to recognize the innovative and impactful sustainable business practices and green solutions of Singapore companies that are at the forefront of an emerging green economy.

With GoGreen being integrated as part of the corporate strategy, DHL Express was the first global logistics company to offer carbon neutral shipping service: DHL GOGREEN Carbon Neutral services to its customers, where carbon emissions generated by each shipment is offset by reinvesting in recognized climate protection projects such as hydropower, biomass or wind energy.

Globally, DHL successfully shipped more than 1.7 billion GOGREEN shipments in 2010, offsetting 82,000 tonnes of CO2 for customers. DHL Express Singapore currently counts Barclays and DVNPS as customers for its GOGreen Carbon Neutral product. More companies are expected to jump on the bandwagon as customers worldwide are increasingly demanding greener logistics.

source: logasiamag.com / picture: google.com

Singapore's APL Logistics wins Emerson Rosemount best supplier award again

FOR the second year in a row Singapore-based APL Logistics has received the best supplier award from US manufacturing technology giant Emerson's Rosemount business unit.

Tom Moser, president of Emerson Process Management, handed out the 2010 Supplier of the Year award to APL in Rosemount's annual strategic supplier summit held at Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"It's an honour for APL Logistics to be recognised by Emerson Rosemount two years in a row," said Tony Zasimovich, APL Logistics' vice president for international logistics services.

Last year, a programme designed by APL Logistics enabled Rosemount to cut its waiting time for access to imported materials for production in Singapore from between five and seven days to just 12 hours upon arrival.

This enables Rosemount to eliminate unnecessary urgent airfreight and production downtime. Rosemount also benefitted from full visibility of inventory movement and improved supply chain efficiencies with cost savings of 25 per cent.

Emerson is a diversified global manufacturing and technology company offering a wide range of products and services in the areas of network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and tools and storage businesses.

source: Shippingazette.com / picture: google.com

DELTA Airlines buy 100 units of Boeing 737

In the middle of news about the purchase of Airbus aircraft, on Thursday August 2011, Delta Airlines confirmed the purchased of 100 units of Boeing 737.

The American-built aircraft would be received by Delta Airlines in the year 2013-2018. The value of the purchase reached 8.5 billion U.S. dollars, although it is believe Delta Airlines received number of discounted rates.

The new Boeing aircraft to be ordered Delta Airlines has a more comfortable cabin, the roar of the engine smoother, and larger capacity of storage on the passenger's head.

It is estimated that Delta Airlines will receive a Boeing 737-900 Extended Range (ER) with a single aisle and can be loaded with up to 180 seats. Later, the planes will fly domestic routes.

Interestingly, the launch-customer that is believed to fly Boeing737-900 ER is Indonesian airlines, namely Lion Air. Even the Lion Air already order to 178 units, which until August has received up to 51 units of the aircraft.

In January 2011, Delta Airlines, based in Atlanta has announced it will order up to 200 aircraft, with an option to order another 200 aircraft. Delta Airlines aircraft intended to replace the old aircraft, such as the DC-9-50s and Boeing 757-200s.

The average age of Delta aircraft reaches 16 years, far below the Garuda Indonesia is on average only 7-8 years. When the new plane arrived, Delta Airlines expects to cut fuel costs between 15-20 percent. Delta Airlines, the world's second largest airline, with a total fleet of 700 units of the aircraft.

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GARUDA INDONESIA earned IDR 6.02 trillion in the 2nd quarter 2011

PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk earned revenue to IDR 6.02 trillion in the second quarter of 2011 or an increase of 40.5 percent over the achievement in the same period in 2010, amounting to IDR 4.28 trillion. The figure also shows an increase by 16 percent compared to past achievements in the first quarter which amounted to Rp 5.18 trillion.

The increase in revenue was achieved Garuda Indonesia in line with the implementation of "Quantum Leap" to develop Garuda until 2015.

VP Corporate Communications, Garuda Indonesia, Pujobroto explained the program "Quantum Leap" has a strategic role in relation to the development of Garuda forward, particularly in preparing fundamental airline Garuda Indonesia in order to be competitive and ready to face the business challenges ahead.

In addition to significantly increased revenue, Garuda Indonesia also managed to improve the performance of various operational aspects. In the second quarter of 2011 was Garuda Indonesia successfully carry as many as 4.19 million passengers, an increase by 38 percent over the same period in 2010 amounted to 3,02 million passengers. Production capacity (availability of seat kilometers / ASK) increased by 25.5 percent to 8.25 billion from 6.57 billion seat miles in 2010. In addition, the "yield" passengers increased by 13.9 percent to USC 9.4 compared to 2010 at USC 8.2.

During the quarter II/2011, Garuda Indonesia flight frequency increased by 23.1 percent to 32.424 flights, compared to the same period in 2010, a total of 26.333 flights. Of the overall total flight frequency, the frequency of domestic flights increased by 25.1 percent to 24,049 flights over the same period of last year 2010 while international flights increased by 14.7 percent to 5.182 flight, over the same period in 2010, a total of 4.518 flight.

Level passenger fields (Seat Load Factor / SLF) also increased by 9.8 percent from 68.4 percent in quarter II/2010 to 75.1 percent in quarter II/2011. Meanwhile, the precision of flight (OTP) increased to 89.2 percent, from 78.8 percent in 2010.

Improved performance of Garuda Indonesia in quarter II/2011 is driven by increasingly strong macroeconomic Indonesia as well as an increase in the domestic market. In addition, it also becomes an important achievement given the global economic situation is still unfavorable, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan that have an impact, as well as rising fuel prices significantly.

Meanwhile, in connection with the development of a fleet that carried, in 2011 Garuda Indonesia will receive 11 new aircraft consists of two A330-200 and 9 B737-800 Next Generation, while in 2010 Garuda Indonesia already added 24 new aircraft fleet consists of 23 Boeing Next Generation 737-800 and an Airbus A330-200.

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NEW engine for Boeing 737

To face with competition from the French aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the directors of the American aircraft manufacturer Boeing, has approved a new engine for the Boeing 737. Hopefully, this new engine is more efficient in fuel consumption, making Boeing 737 preferred airlines.

The commitment is released by Boeing on Tuesday (08/30/2011) and Boeing shares immediately rose two percent, in the lunch closing at the New York stock trading.

The decision to install a new machine, it's been awaited since last month, when American Airlines said he would buy a new engine Boeing 737 airplane when it intends to make. American Airlines also has agreed to buy 100 Boeing 737-900 ER.

Expansion purchase these aircraft from American Airlines, Boeing actually terminate the exclusive rights to supply aircraft to American Airlines. Because American Airlines within the next few years, not only ordered 200 unit of Boeing, Airbus but also 260 units.

The new engine Boeing 737, scheduled to be accepted airlines began in 2017. Boeing said the engine was a type of Leap-18 engines made by CFM International. Boeing confirmed, the new 737 engine will be more fuel efficient than the Airbus A320 neo. Specifically, four percent more fuel efficient than the neo A320, Boeing said.

Competition will be more stringent. Boeing 737 assembled in Renton, Washington, on the contrary Airbus A320 in Toulouse, France. Two types of aircraft, getting lots of orders, and both manufacturers encourage the production units that can assemble 42 aircraft per month. Where Boeing will achieve it in 2014, while Airbus in early 2012.

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