BG Freight Line Introduces Tri-weekly Dublin-Liverpool Service to Meet Growing Demand in the Irish Sea

June 17, 2020 - BG Freight Line has taken a positive step by adding an additional weekly service call to meet the growing demands of container traffic between Liverpool and the Irish Sea hub.

The newly announced service will call between Liverpool and Dublin on a tri-weekly basis, ensuring a regular facility to the meet the dynamic needs of each customer in the fast-paced environment of short-sea shipping.

BG Freight Line, part of the Peel Ports Group, provides a comprehensive range of logistics services to and from Ireland, the UK and continental Europe. These services include door-to-door shipping, feedering and quay-to-quay shipping for all types of containerised cargo.

Koert Luitwieler, CEO, BG Freight Line, said: “Our sailing schedule is amongst the best in the business and as part of the Peel Ports Group, we are able to offer the assurance to our customers that we are both an established and reliable partner.

“We are always looking for new growth opportunities and adding another service to the Dublin – Liverpool route will strengthen our excellent Irish Sea network even further. The extra call in Liverpool allows us to meet the demands of our customer, giving them greater flexibility to move last minute cargo closer to its end destination in an ever-changing landscape”.

David Huck, Managing Director, Peel Ports said: “We are delighted to welcome this extra weekly service as it reinforces the strategic importance of this route, as well as our ambition and commitment to provide the seamless movement of goods between Dublin and Liverpool.

“During these uncertain times, it’s imperative that we remain agile for our customers and remain customer-focussed to find a fast solution that ensures cargo, especially essential supplies reaches its destination on time”.

The Port of Liverpool is ideally positioned to be at the heart of a distribution network for UK and Irish markets. The Port is adept at offering innovative and sustainable solutions for warehousing, manufacturing and retail industries, connecting the UK’s major conurbations to both the Irish Sea Hub and beyond.

SOURCE: Peel Ports

G2 Ocean to Take Part in USD 20 Million Automation Project

June 15, 2020 - G2 Ocean is partnering up with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and 22 maritime industry partners to study safe methods and technology for enabling ship automation.

On June 12, 2020, The Research Council of Norway announced that is awarding more than USD 20 million to Norwegian research project Safe Autonomous Ships (SFI Autoship). The strategic research project studies methods and technology for enabling safe and secure autonomous operations of maritime vessels.

The aim of the project is to ensure that Norwegian players take a leading role in the development of ship automation, especially within the areas of technology, business models and security.

G2 Ocean and one of its owners, Grieg Star, are two of the 22 partners involved in the project.

“This is an exciting collaboration between world-leading researchers and industry partners. Developing partnerships and supporting knowledge sharing is important to drive the maritime industry towards a digital future,” says Vice President Project Cargo & Innovation Leif Arne Strømmen.

Autonomous cargo handling

The development of autonomation is gaining increasing attention in the maritime industry both nationally and internationally.

G2 Ocean’s participation in the project is mainly related to autonomous cargo handling as this is expected to expand in the future.

“The largest cost to the shipowner, apart from bunkers, is the vessel’s time in port. Over the years, we expect to see more ports with 24 hours working time through better automation, without increasing labour requirements but significantly improving their safety,” VP Operations Phil Curran says.

The project’s academic focus areas include:

• Innovations in enabling technologies, such as situation awareness, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, simulation, and testing.
• New business models and operational concepts for the use of autonomous vessels.
• Guaranteeing safety and security of using autonomous ships.

About G2 Ocean

G2 Ocean is a joint venture of two of the world’s leading breakbulk and bulk shipping companies: Gearbulk and Grieg Star. The company operates the largest fleet of open hatch vessels worldwide, in addition to a substantial fleet of conventional bulk carriers. For further information, visit: www.g2ocean.com

SOURCE: G2 Ocean

G2 Ocean Strengthens Fleet with a New Bulk Carrier

June 8, 2020 - G2 Ocean announced that Star Nike, a new-building of 63,000 deadweight tonnage capacity, joined G2 Ocean’s bulk pool on June 5.

Star Nike is a conventional bulk carrier constructed and equipped at a first-class shipbuilding dockyard at Imabari, Japan. She was named and delivered to Grieg Star on June 5, 2020, and is on a Long Term Time Charter contract.

Vice President Bulk Petter Mowinckel at G2 Ocean is honoured to be trusted with another Ultramax from Grieg Star.

“Amid COVID-19, the delivery of Star Nike underlines our commitment to offering the best possible service to both new and existing customers, even at challenging times,” Mowinckel says.

“The ship offers the highest standards of safety, stability, and fuel efficiency. She will not only give us a competitive advantage but also allow us to provide additional capacity and flexibility to our customers,” he adds.

Star Nike is named after a goddess from Greek mythology. Nike is the goddess of strength, speed and victory – symbolising famous athletes and their victorious competitions.

About G2 Ocean

G2 Ocean is a joint venture of two of the world’s leading breakbulk and bulk shipping companies: Gearbulk and Grieg Star. The company operates the largest fleet of open hatch vessels worldwide, in addition to a substantial fleet of conventional bulk carriers. For further information, visit: www.g2ocean.com

SOURCE: G2 Ocean

Coalition Issues Joint Call For World Governments to Introduce ‘Key Worker’ Designations for Transport Workers

June 3, 2020 (Breakbulk Magazine) - A coalition of industry organizations has issued a joint call for world governments to introduce ‘key worker’ designations for skilled personnel in essential global breakbulk operations in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The joint statement – issued by the International Maritime Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the International Labour Organization – calls for ‘key worker’ designations for a wide range of transport workers.

“Our three Organizations seek to ensure that seafarers, marine personnel, fishing vessel personnel, offshore energy sector personnel, aviation personnel, air cargo supply chain personnel, service provider personnel at airports and ports are designated as ‘key workers’, regardless of nationality, to exempt them from travel restrictions, to ensure their access to emergency medical treatment and, if necessary, to facilitate emergency repatriation,” the organisation said in a joint statement.

Air freight

As logistic supply chains have been disrupted by lockdowns, transport hubs are being impacted flight crew and aircraft frequently denied entry to countries and shutdown of airports leading to large delays.

“We are seeking the support of Governments to facilitate crew changes, operations essential to maintain the global cargo supply chains and operations,” a spokesperson for the ICAO said.

The ICAO states that airfreight represents 35% of the value of goods shipped in all modes combined with 887,000 licensed aviation professionals in 2019.

Crew changes

The organisations note that more than 80% of global trade by volume is moved by maritime transport, with a global workforce of 2 million seafarers operating the world's merchant ships many of which require transfer.

“It is estimated that from the middle of June 2020 around 150,000 seafarers a month will require international flights in order to be changed over from the ships that they operate, about half travelling by aircraft for repatriation, the other half joining ships,” the organisations state.