The DCN Weekly

Two big reports were released this week. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau published its final report on the APL England incident. The containership lost 50 containers overboard in May 2020. And the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released its Container Stevedoring Monitoring Report 2021-22. The ACCC said it believes the regulation of Australia's container ports is ineffective.

Two unions made a submission to Australia's strategic fleet taskforce this week, urging the taskforce to address issues around maritime training. Australian ports agency Monson acquired Meridian Port Agencies, and more than 607,000 TEU passed through Tasmanian ports over this past financial year.

The Queensland government launched a $21 million maritime grants program this week, and a firefighting helicopter arrived at Port Botany. Progress was made on the Inland Rail project, and Maersk and IBM announced they would discontinue TradeLens. And also, a new Australia-India free-trade agreement is to soon come into force.

A direct shipping service between Tasmania and New Zealand commenced last week, and Federal Parliament passed legislation that progresses Australia's free trade agreements with the UK and India. In other news, Port of Newcastle used its two new mobile harbour cranes to load a containership. And, authorities seized drugs at a Sydney freight depot and arrested a logistics worker.

On Friday this week, the Fair Work Commission suspended Svitzer's lockout of its maritime employees, along with all industrial action by the company and unions for six months. The lockout would have affected seventeen ports around the country. In other news, Neptune Pacific Direct Line progressed its acquisition of a new vessel for its Norfolk Island shipping service, and the Australian Border For...

The latest episode of The DCN Weekly features coverage of the 2022 DCN Australian Shipping and Maritime Industry Awards in Melbourne. In the news, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority banned bulk carrier Costanza for underpayment the crew wages. Unions representing Svitzer's maritime workers gave notice of more protected industrial action, and a bill passed the lower and upper houses of New So...

Unions have been issuing notices of protected industrial action on Svitzer tugs on a near-daily basis this past week. Pacific International Lines launched an intermodal service, and the Western Australian government awarded a $15.2 million contract for a container terminal design project. And also, authorities in Hong Kong intercepted a record-breaking meth shipment packed in a shipping container...

A ship equipped with a hard sail called Newcastle on its maiden voyage this past week, and a vessel was purchased for deployment on a new trans-Tasman route. A containership lost power off the New South Wales coast, the Australian government announced millions in funding for the strategic fleet taskforce, and the Spirit of Tasmania called its new home in GeelongPort for the first time.

This week, the Australian government launched a taskforce to guide the establishment of a "strategic fleet" of Australian flagged and crewed vessels. In other news, the Maritime Union of Australia announced its members at Svitzer Australia would take protected industrial action next week. And, there is legislation before the federal parliament to update Australia's maritime environmental rules.

Flood warnings in Tasmania this week prompted Port of Devonport to suspend operations, and Port of Melbourne welcomed CMA CGM Estelle as the largest containership by capacity ever to visit the port. In other news, a report found the total TEU capacity of ships arriving in Australia has hit a two year high. Two men were arrested after authorities seized more than 300 kilograms of liquid MDMA hidden...

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 c...

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...

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.

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-...

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...

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...

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 consignm...

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.

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 an...

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...

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 Grou...

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...

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 - wh...

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.

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....