Archives: October 2009 cargo news
The News stories below are cargo / freight related stories which made the headlines in October 2009 (other archived months are shown at the bottom of the page).
For all the latest Cargo News, click on the link on the left-hand side menu. ukimports.org
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31/10/09 - Alert as six faint on board plane
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)Ambulance staff were called to treat six passengers at Heathrow airport after they fainted while on a British Airways flight from the US.
None of those assessed needed hospital treatment and all were able to continue their journeys, the airline said.
London Ambulance Service was asked to meet the flight from Newark at Terminal Five at 0650 GMT on Saturday.
Emergency services teams initially wore protective suits as it was unclear what had caused the passengers to faint. ukimports.org
30/10/09 - Postal strikes enter second day
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)The second day of the second wave of postal strikes has begun as the Communication Workers Union (CWU) remains at loggerheads with Royal Mail.
Reports suggest that the two parties will resume talks to try and thrash out a deal.
The two parties are embroiled in a bitter row about pay and modernisation.
Four hundred workers at three sites in Plymouth, Stockport and Stoke, who assist mail centres by entering addresses, are due to strike.
Then on Saturday it will be the turn of 77,000 delivery and collection staff across the UK. ukimports.org
28/10/09 - Fresh mail strikes will go ahead
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)Three days of nationwide postal strikes will go ahead as planned starting on Thursday, the union has said.
Strikes will begin at 0400 GMT, with up to 120,000 workers involved.
Royal Mail condemned the union's decision to walk away from negotiations and go ahead with the planned industrial action.
Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have been in talks for three days to try to end the dispute. ukimports.org
28/10/09 - BA to meet unions over cut plans
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)British Airways is set to hold talks with unions later aimed at averting a dispute with BA's check-in workers and other staff who deal with customers.
Officials from the Unite and GMB unions will meet airline management to discuss planned job losses and cost cutting.
Unite has already announced a ballot on industrial action among almost 14,000 cabin crew in protest at the imposition of new employment contracts next month.
BA plans to cut 3,700 jobs in addition to the 2,500 it has shed since 2008. ukimports.org
28/10/09 - Aviance and Flybe deal secures 145 jobs at Southampton Airport
- Courtesy of The Southern Daily Echo (www.dailyecho.co.uk)A DEAL securing 145 jobs at Southampton Airport has been sealed between ground handling firm Aviance and airline Flybe.
Due to Flybe’s domination of the services at Southampton, landing a three-year extension to its existing agreement, was key to Aviance staying.
Aviance, an international airport services giant operating at 126 airports worldwide, described the deal as “vital” to “securing its position”.
The contract renewal at Southampton is part of a multi-location deal across the UK worth in the region of £18m. ukimports.org
27/10/09 - Pair charged with smuggling tortoises
- Courtesy of The Ipswich Evening Star (www.eveningstar.co.uk)TWO people have been charged with 42 offences in relation to the illegal importation of endangered tortoises to the UK.
The pair, both 42 years old and from Walthamstow, east London were arrested at Stansted Airport on Friday, July 17 after arriving on a flight from Corfu.
Seven tortoises were found in their hand and hold luggage.
Both will appear before magistrates in Chelmsford tomorrow charged with offences under the Animal Welfare Act, 2006. ukimports.org
27/10/09 - Jail for £3m bacon drug smuggler
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)A Merseyside man who admitted trying to smuggle 63kg of heroin into the country through a consignment of "dodgy" bacon has been jailed for 13 years.
Darren Hunter, of Kew Road, Southport, masterminded the plot to import heroin with a street value of £3m, Canterbury Crown Court heard. ukimports.org
27/10/09 - Objections to port expansion plan
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)Council chiefs have objected to multimillion-pound plans to expand a container port in Southampton.
Plans for the £600m "super-port" at Dibden Bay, near the New Forest, were blocked by the government in 2004.
At the time Hampshire County Council objected to the plan. On Monday night it reaffirmed its position.
The docks' owner, Associated British Ports (ABP), published a 20-year master plan in July stating it wanted a new port ready between 2021 and 2027. ukimports.org
26/10/09 - £8 Million Rail Route Upgrade Confirmed And Electrification Suggested
- Courtesy of Felixstowe TV (www.felixstowetv.co.uk)Felixstowe's rail route to the Midlands has been given £8 million of European funding for upgrades, and proposals have also been put forward to electrify the Felixstowe - Ipswich line.
£8.3 million of European funding has been allocated to improving the rail line between Felixstowe and Nuneaton, the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) and the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) have confirmed. They said, "Improvements to this significant European transport route will allow more freight to be shifted from the port by rail, reducing congestion on the A14." ukimports.org
23/10/09 - Postal strikes delay 40% of mail
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)The nationwide postal workers' strikes have delayed about 30 million letters, some 40% of a typical day's post, Royal Mail has revealed.
Friday saw a second day of strikes, with delivery and collection workers walking out, following Thursday's 24-hour strike by mail centre staff. ukimports.org
23/10/09 - Transport schemes win £30m boost
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)A rail freight line linking the Port of Felixstowe with the Midlands is getting £8.3m as part of a £30m package of European funding for eastern England.
The rail line improvements will allow freight from the huge container port to go directly to Nuneaton, Warwickshire. At present it goes via London.
The European Union funding includes £12.7m for dredge work for a new container port at Thurrock, Essex. ukimports.org
22/10/09 - US airlines report mixed fortunes
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)US airlines have reported mixed fortunes between July and September as they battle to cope with the sluggish economy at home and abroad.
Delta - the world's biggest airline operator - reported a quarterly loss bigger than a year ago and said it would cut capacity by 3% next year. ukimports.org
22/10/09 - Lessons learned as the Box returns
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)Recession rule of thumb number one: however grim it is in your industry, it is worse in container shipping.
Not my clever observation, unfortunately, but borrowed from the estimable Lex column in the Financial Times.
With a record 10% of the total fleet idle, and revenues per container likely to drop from already extremely depressed levels, it has certainly been an interesting time to be following a single container around the world. ukimports.org
21/10/09 - BAA to buy 700 homes near runway
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)Airport operator BAA has agreed to buy 700 homes under threat from the new third runway at Heathrow Airport.
Proposals for the runway have made it difficult for residents in the area to sell their properties. ukimports.org
20/10/09 - Campaigners warn about business park
- Courtesy of The Ipswich Evening Star (www.eveningstar.co.uk)FELIXSTOWE: Countryside campaigners say if a 280-acre business park is built in the middle of the Felixstowe peninsula it will be “a disaster for the environment”.
Save Felixstowe Countryside has expressed anger and concern that Trinity College, Cambridge, has put forward to Suffolk Coastal council and regional planners the project for land on the edge of Trimley St Martin and Kirton. ukimports.org
19/10/09 - BA chief in 'frank' union talks
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh has held "open and frank" talks with union leaders to try to avoid cabin crew balloting for strike action.
The two sides have been locked in a row about BA's plans to cut 1,700 jobs and make changes to pay and conditions.
Unite has said it will have no option but to ballot for industrial action if BA's changes are imposed on staff. ukimports.org
19/10/09 - Man held over £1m cigarette haul
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)A lorry driver from East Sussex has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to smuggle five million cigarettes from France into the UK.
UK Border Agency officers discovered the haul, thought to be valued at £1m, in a lorry at Newhaven ferry port. ukimports.org
19/10/09 - Study backs Thames island airport
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)There are no "insoluble" issues to prevent an airport being built in the Thames estuary, a report has concluded.
London Mayor Boris Johnson is considering building an airport several miles off the Essex and Kent coasts. ukimports.org
19/10/09 - Operation Stack lifted as SeaFrance strike ends
- Courtesy of The Kent Messenger Online (www.kentonline.co.uk)Cross-Channel ferry services are back to normal as strikers at SeaFrace bring their industrial action to an end and return to work.
There was chaos on Friday as unions staged a walkout at Calais beginning at 7am. ukimports.org
18/10/09 - Gatwick extension faces objection
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)Campaigners against the expansion of Gatwick airport are objecting to plans to extend its North Terminal and build a multi-storey car park.
Gatwick has submitted two applications to Crawley council for developments which will allow it to handle an extra five million passengers a year by 2018. ukimports.org
18/10/09 - BAA begins airports sale appeal
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)BAA will appeal against an order to sell three of the seven UK airports it runs at a hearing starting later.
The Competition Commission ruled in March that BAA must sell Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh or Glasgow airports within two years. ukimports.org
17/10/09 - Ferries sail again after blockade
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)Ferry sailings between Dover and Calais have resumed after a 24-hour strike by French SeaFrance workers who blockaded the port of Calais.
SeaFrance and P&O said their Saturday sailings were operating as normal after the strike ended at 0830 BST. ukimports.org
16/10/09 - Striking staff block French port
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)Thousands of ferry passengers have been stranded at the Kent port of Dover after striking French SeaFrance workers blockaded the port of Calais.
All Cross-Channel ferry services between the two ports were suspended on Friday following a 24-hour walkout by the CFDT union over proposed job cuts.
SeaFrance staff have been stopping ships entering or leaving the port. ukimports.org
14/10/09 - Bailout to keep Air India flying
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)The Indian government has agreed to help keep the ailing national carrier, Air India, flying with an injection of more than £689m ($1.1bn).
The large financial aid package would be paid out in phases, Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.
In return the airline must agree to restructure the company.
It will have to boost its revenues with cost cuts that total £407m ($650m) spread over the next two years, the minister added.
The airline reported a loss of $875m in the fiscal year ending in March. ukimports.org
14/10/09 - Talks start over BA strike threat
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)Talks aimed at averting a strike by British Airways (BA) staff over job cuts and changes to pay and conditions are under way.
The talks come after BA said last week it was cutting 1,700 cabin crew roles, freezing pay for current staff, and cutting wages for new employees.
Unions say they'll have no option but to ballot for industrial action if the changes are imposed on staff. ukimports.org
13/10/09 - LM Logistics 'prefers CVA to administration'
- Courtesy of Roadtransport.com (www.roadtransport.com)Felixstowe warehousing and distribution firm LM Logistics says it remains hopeful that the business can be rescued as it looks to gain new funding, subject to the acceptance of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) by its creditors.
The company says it has endured a "difficult year", and has seen its UK-Ireland groupage service hit particularly hard by the recession. ukimports.org
13/10/09 - Changing shape of Port (Felixstowe)
- Courtesy of The Ipswich Evening Star (www.eveningstar.co.uk)FELIXSTOWE: Britain's top container biggest port is undergoing one of the biggest and most dramatic changes in its 134-year history - as these superb aerial photos show. ukimports.org
13/10/09 - Postal strike expected next week
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)The union representing Royal Mail workers says national postal strikes could begin on Thursday 22 October.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) urged Royal Mail to agree to a "peace plan", but said if this failed, they would have "no option" but to strike. ukimports.org
13/10/09 - Delayed ferry operation to start
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)A new fast ferry passenger route between Ramsgate and Boulogne will be launched in November following several delays, a company has announced.
Euroferries said it would start operating its high-speed channel crossing on 14 November.
The start of the new ferry service has been delayed three times. ukimports.org
13/10/09 - Warning over depot plan 'blight'
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)A planned 270-acre freight depot would "blight" the landscape and turn part of Kent into a massive warehouse complex, an inquiry has heard. ukimports.org
12/10/09 - Man jailed over 6m cigarette haul
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)A man from Fermanagh has been sentenced to 30 months in prison over the seizure of nearly six million cigarettes at Dover docks in Kent.
Border Agency officers found the haul, in a load supposed to be carrying frozen apples, on a lorry disembarking a Calais ferry on 27 August 2008.
Lorry driver, Ronan Gerald Hughes, 30, from Newtownbutler, pleaded guilty to evading revenue of about £927,000.
Only eight of the 1,188 boxes unloaded from the lorry contained fruit. ukimports.org
12/10/09 - Port pollution fears
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)Thousands of people living near Kent and Sussex ports are at risk from pollution caused by ships.
Diesel fumes from ferries, tankers and freighters can cause bronchial problems - especially for the elderly and the young. ukimports.org
11/10/09 - Search teams recover man's body
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)Police are trying to identify a man's body which was recovered from a dock in Liverpool.
Underwater search teams pulled the body out of Seaforth Dock on Saturday afternoon. ukimports.org
10/10/09 - Birkenhead tunnel remains closed after high-speed police chase (Queensway Tunnel, Liverpool)
- Courtesy of The Liverpool Echo (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)BIRKENHEAD tunnel remains closed after a high-speed police pursuit led squad cars into it yesterday.
The tunnel was closed from around 11.40pm, after a silver Audi A4, being chased by officers, dived into the tunnel. ukimports.org
09/10/09 - Lorry fire causes tailbacks
- Courtesy of The Thurrock Gazette (www.thurrockgazette.co.uk)A LORRY caught fire this morning (Friday) on a roundabout near Tilbury.
Firefighters from Grays, Corringham, Brentwood and Wellington attended the scene to put out the blaze.
The cab of a milk truck was reported at 10.15am to be on fire on the A1306 near Tilbury.
Two lanes were closed for an hour while the fire was put out. ukimports.org
08/10/09 - Treble trouble for shipping firm
- Courtesy of The Thurrock Gazette (www.thurrockgazette.co.uk)THIEVES broke into a shipping firm and stole cash.
The crooks got into Wharf Shipping, in the Warren, Stanford-le-Hope, after forcing their way in and stole an unknown amount of petty cash.
It is the third time in three months’ the firm has been broken into. ukimports.org
08/10/09 - Southampton docks boss defends opposition to Liverpool waterfront cruise terminal plan
- Courtesy of The Liverpool Echo (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)SOUTHAMPTON port boss Peter Jones has ended his silence over the cruise berth row after the ECHO revealed he once described Liverpool as the best possible UK location for luxury ships.
The former Mersey Docks chief executive broke cover to defend his company’s efforts to block Liverpool’s attempts to turn the city’s cruise terminal from a facility for day calls to an embarkation and disembarkation point. ukimports.org
07/10/09 - Lorry driver guilty of £1m fake hijack
- Courtesy of The Liverpool Echo (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)A LORRY driver bound and gagged himself with parcel tape, faked a brutal attack and spun lies to detectives to dupe them into thinking he was the victim of a £1m heist.
But the lies caught up with Brian Fogg, 47, when a court convicted him of being the inside man in a brazen plot to steal a trailer-load of cigarettes from Birkenhead. His £1m cargo has never been found. ukimports.org
06/10/09 - Four car crash causes 10-mile traffic jam
- Courtesy of The Southern Daily Echo (www.dailyecho.co.uk)A FOUR-car smash on the motorway has caused tailbacks stretching back miles near one Hampshire town.
The crash happened between junctions 12 and 13 of the M3 northbound by Eastleigh at 7.10am.
Nobody was injured in the accident although firefighters had to cut a man in his 30s free from a car.
The crash caused tailbacks of up to ten miles along the M27. ukimports.org
06/10/09 - Congestion work to start at key junction
- Courtesy of The Southern Daily Echo (www.dailyecho.co.uk)A MAJOR set of roadworks is set to begin at a Hampshire motorway junction tomorrow – though drivers may not feel the affects until November.
Workmen are set to move in at junction five of the M27 to begin a £2.65m programme of improvements aimed at easing congestion. Transport bosses say any work that affects traffic flow in the area will not start until the middle of next month. ukimports.org
05/10/09 - Praise for air crew’s emergency landing
- Courtesy of The Southern Daily Echo (www.dailyecho.co.uk)TERRIFIED passengers sobbed with fear as they braced themselves for an emergency landing at Southampton Airport.
A burning smell filled the cabin of the Flybe flight from Edinburgh as it prepared for its descent to the runway.
Crew members on board the BE-7248 service frantically checked cupboards and looked out of the windows as they tried to locate the source of the odour. ukimports.org
03/10/09 - Thieves steal £60K supercars from docks
- Courtesy of The Southern Daily Echo (www.dailyecho.co.uk)THIEVES broke into a compound at Southampton docks and stole four stateof- the-art cars worth almost £250,000.
The gang forced the fence to access the metallic-finish blue/green Range Rover Sports which were waiting to be exported to Chile. ukimports.org
03/10/09 - Fire on ship in Southampton docks
- Courtesy of The Southern Daily Echo (www.dailyecho.co.uk)FIRE crews from Southampton were dispatched to the city's docks last night after a fire was discovered in the hold of a cargo ship carrying 1,900 tonnes of wheat pellets.
The Dutch vessel was diverted to the port at 5.30pm yesterday as it was off the coast of West Sussex.
It was established that the cargo of 1,900 tonnes of pelleted wheat was smouldering.
Some of the burning cargo was place near the 2,500 tonne vessel's diesel tank. ukimports.org
02/10/09 - One-way Dartford toll considered
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)The southbound toll at the Dartford Crossing between Kent and Essex could be scrapped to help cut congestion.
Transport Minister Sadiq Khan said one-way charging was one of two options being considered to help traffic flow and improve safety.
In a letter to Hornchurch MP James Brokenshire, Mr Khan said the other scenario would see the toll layout changed and new technology introduced.
He said each option had the potential to cut traffic.
Mr Brokenshire has been calling for crossing tolls to be scrapped. ukimports.org
02/10/09 - EU queries airline tie-up plans
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)The European Commission's competition authorities have raised concerns about the transatlantic plans of British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia.
The Oneworld alliance members want to operate as a joint business on flights between the EU and North America.
If they are to go ahead they will also need approval from US regulators.
The Commission has sent its Statement of Objections to the airlines, and they now have the chance to respond before a competition decision is reached. ukimports.org
01/10/09 - Drug-smuggling pensioners jailed
- Courtesy of The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)Three pensioners involved in a £5m cannabis smuggling operation have been jailed.
They were part of a gang which imported cannabis from Holland hidden in frozen chicken imports. ukimports.org
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