[070115.EN.SEA] 'K' Line Boss' Annual Speech Sees Fewer Hours And More Regulatory Compliance

"K" LINE's annual presidential address reviewed a so-so year and looked to the future's "existential value" in which it sought shorter working hours and greater regulatory compliance

"We intend to the elimination of long work hours and full compliance," said company president and CEO Jiro Asakura in his annual address to the Japanese shipping giant.

"However, we will need to employ an approach that moves simultaneously from the bottom up and top down. Moving in just one direction will only result in incomplete reform that will lack company-wide acceptance," he said.

Compliance references appear to refer to "K" Line being fined US$67 million in September for ro-ro price fixing by the US Department of Justice and a painful share sale to pay for the penalty.

Also a year ago, "K" Line also declared an extraordinary loss ahead of $54.81 million in expected price fixing fines levied by the Japan Fair Trade Commission.

Otherwise it had been a so-so year, said Mr Asakura.

"Our containership business did better than expected on the back of favourable conditions in the freight rate market during the first half," he said.

This was helped by weak yen and falling fuel prices. "As a result, we enjoyed a significant improvement in our balance of payments compared to our competitors in the same sector," he said.

"On the other hand, our bulk shipping business showed a slight year-on-year decline due to a decrease in the number of automobiles transported and continuing sluggishness in the dry bulk market," he said.

"Our initiative to lower costs, an effort that is now in its third year, is helping support recovery in our business performance," said Mr Asakura.

Fuel-saving vessel operations are "bearing fruit by substantially lowering costs while helping us reduce our greenhouse gas emissions", he said.

"As a result of our efforts here, we were recognised for the first time as a leading company in climate change information disclosure and performance by an international organisation in the field in October of last year," Mr Asakura said. 

Source : HKSG.

[070115.ID.BIZ] Tol Akses Priok: Pemerintah Akan Buka Tender Baru

Bisnis.com, JAKARTA—Pemerintah berniat untuk memulai kembali proses tender baru untuk proyek pembangunan jalan tol akses Tanjung Priok, Jakarta, paket  North South Link (NS Link) pertengahan tahun ini setelah kontrak pelaksanaan konstruksinya antara pemerintah dan kontraktor berakhir.

Djoko Murjanto, Direktur Jendral Bina Marga, menjelaskan bahwa pemerintah tetap berupaya untuk mempercepat proses pembangunan tol akses Tanjung Priok agar dapat selesai dalam waktu yang tidak begitu jauh dari target semula.

“Ya, kita percepat. Dulu kan target selesainya akhir 2015. Sekarang mungkin pertengahan 2016 sudah selesai semua,” katanya di Jakarta (7/1).

Djoko mengatakan bahwa saat ini masalah pembebasan tanah yang menjadi kendala tertundanya proses pengerjaan telah diselesaikan. Proses pembebasan lahan ini diatasi dalam kerja sama dengan Pemerintah Provinsi DKI Jakarta.

Meski begitu, menurut Djoko proses yang berlarut-larut telah terlanjur memakan waktu pengerjaan sehingga melampaui masa kontrak dengan kontraktor.

“Ini kan baru selesai (pembebasan lahan) sehingga proses konstruksinya juga baru mau dimulai lagi. Kita harus evaluasi lagi karena kelambatan tanah ini menyebabkan kontraknya harus tertunda, jadi harus evaluasi lagi dengan JK,” katanya.

Sementara itu, Kepala Satuan Kerja Pelaksanaan Jalan Tol Akses Tanjung Priok Bambang Nurhadi mengatakan bahwa proyek tol ruas NS Link yang akan dilelangkan kembali itu mencakup 11 pilar yang tertunda konstruksinya akibat terhambatnya pembebasan lahan.

Ke-11pilar itu dikeluarkan dari paket proyek NS Link karena tidak dapat terselesaikan hingga akhir masa kontrak.

“Ini yang dimaksud bapak dirjen akan dilelangkan kembali menjadi paket pekerjaan baru,” katanya.

Bambang mengatakn bahwa pembongkaran paksa sudah dilakukan pada 3 September 2014. Sekarang area sudah dikuasai pemerintah sehingga proses pengerjaan konstruksi dapat dimulai.

Sebelumnya, Kepala Balai Besar Pelaksanaan Jalan Nasional (BBPJN) IV Ditjen Bina Marga Kementrian PU-Pera Bambang Hartadi mengatakan bahwa perusahaan gabungan SMCC-Hutama Karya yang selama ini menjadi pihak kontraktor tidak lagi berminat untuk memperpanjang kontrak. Proyek pengerjaan tol ini tidak dinilai lagi menguntungkan.

“Kita sedang mencari siapa yang akan membangun seksi NS link melalui proses tender,” katanya.

Sumber : Bisnis Indonesia, 07.01.15.

[060115.EN.SEA] Iran Evades Sanctions With Syria by Emitting Confusing False GPS Signals

IRANIAN oil tankers are emitting false data to satellites to confuse global tracking systems (GPS) and conceal voyages made by themselves and Syria which is also subject to international economic sanctions.

The two countries are close allies and have helped each other deal with shortages by swapping badly needed fuels such as gasoline for diesel.

Now tanker tracking data monitored by Reuters and shipping specialists have highlighted a more subtle twist, said the report published in the Jordan Times.

Large vessels must transmit their identity and location to other ships and coastal authorities using an automatic satellite communication system, but in the last month Iranian vessels sailing in Asian waters have sent signals that took over the identity of other vessels, so the same ship appeared to be in two places at once.

In one case, a tanker appeared to sail from the Suez Canal to the Red Sea stopping off in Jordan and Yemen on its way to Iran while at the same time it appeared to be going through the South China Sea to Mingo.

"It is possible to manipulate or falsify information in these messages," said Richard Hurley, a senior analyst at IHS Airplay, a maritime intelligence publisher.

Inmarsat security chief Peter said a ship could get its GlobalPositioning System (GPS) to give false data, including pretending to beanother vessel.

"That equipment is programmable one way or another," he said, adding that he had come across data manipulation by ships involved in illegal fishing or waste dumping.

Syrian-owned Lady Rasha's satellite track first mixed up with theIranian-owned oil tanker Millionaire on October 20, when the tanker begantransmitting the same signal as the cargo ship.

The Lady Rasha was then docked in Benghazi, Libya while the Millionaire tanker was sailing in the Indian Ocean.

To do this, the Millionaire changed its MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identity, a nine digit unique number that is associated with your specific VHF installation, and really like a digital Call Sign). One's DSC (Digital Selective Calling) is a message that contains both location and identity data, from 572450210 to match the Lady Rasha's number: 677030700.

Although the Lady Rasha sent signals during its journey across the eastern Mediterranean, her identity was overwritten by the Iranian ship, which wasalso sending position signals of its own from the Indian Ocean.

As a result, the Millionaire appears to be undertaking two parallel journeys thousands of kilometres apart, while the Lady Rasha's track is not plotted.

On one track the Millionaire can be seen sailing the Lady Rasha's course in the Mediterranean, and on the other it is steaming though the Indian Ocean from east Asia back to Iran.

Soirce : HKSG,

[061214.ID.OTH] Dua Gubernur Penghapal Quran ini Raih Penghargaan Kepala Daerah Inovatif

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Menteri Dalam Negeri Tjahjo Kumolo menyerahkan Penghargaan Kepala Daerah Inovatif kepada dua gubernur penghapal Alquran. Kepala daerah tersebut adalah Gubernur Jawa Barat Ahmad Heryawan dan Gubernur Sumatra Utara Gatot Pujo Nugroho.

Ahmad Heryawan meraih penghargaan karena program Citarum Bestari yang dimulai sejak Februari 2013 hingga 2018. Upaya ini dilakukan untuk membersihkan aliran sungai. Sedangkan Gatot Pujo Nugroho, menerima penghargaan karena kebijakan industri kelapa sawit yang diintegrasi dengan pengelolaan sapi dan energi.

Selain menjabat sebagai Kepala Daerah Jawa Barat, Ahmad Heryawan merupakan seorang mubaligh dan hafiz 30 Juz kitab suci umat muslim. Tidak berbeda jauh, Gatot pun dikenal sebagai ustadz sebelum menjabat Gubernur Sumatra Utara.

Penghargaan ini diberikan oleh salah satu media nasional di Indonesia. Menteri Dalam Negeri Tjahjo Kumolo menyerahkan trofi penghargaan secara langsung. "Saya berharap agar prestasi yang diterima para kepala daerah di sini mampu mendorong pejabat tertinggi daerah lain melahirkan kebijakan inovatif," ungkap Tjahjo di Solo, Kamis (11/12).

Ia pun menyampaikan keinginannya agar semua kepala daerah dari Sabang hingga Merauke mampu melahirkan kebijakan inovatif untuk mempercepat kesejahteraan rakyat.

Sumber : Republika Online, 14.12.14.

[050115.EN.BIZ] Rising Costs in Asia Lead to Exodus of European Manufacturers

AFTER years of moving production to Asia, some European companies are tiptoeing back to their home regions, driven by rising salaries in China that are eating away at the profit margins that once lured them abroad.

The likes of Italian leather goods brand Piquadro SpA and battery maker FIAMM SpA have decided to boost production at home.

They are weighing the still lower but climbing manufacturing costs abroad against the difficulty of overseeing production far from home, plus the cost and time taken to get goods to Western markets, reports Reuters.

In a reversal of the offshoring" phenomenon that has shaped global business for two decades "reshoring" is being led by clothing, footwear and electronics companies, partly because they are rediscovering the cachet of the "Made in Europe" label.

But in Spain, for example, depressed wage levels since the euro zone crisis have also prompted foreign car firms to open production lines there.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 384 euro zone non-financial companies in November found 60 per cent had reshored some operations, mainly production, over the past year, against 55 per cent which had done the opposite.

Italy topped the reshoring list with 44 companies, while Ireland, Germany and Spain also featured prominently.

Professor of management and engineering at Italy's L'Aquila University, Luciano Fratocchi, said reshoring has become part of companies' survival strategies since the economic crisis.

Many Italian firms have reduced or overhauled their production lines because of falling demand, concentrating their remaining manufacturing closer to target markets.

In Spain, trade unions have accepted flexible working practices and salary freezes due to high unemployment, encouraging companies such as Ford Motor Co and PSA Peugeot Citroen SA to open assembly lines.

The trend has affected even countries which weathered the crisis relatively well. German mid-sized companies like household goods brand Fackelmann and chainsaw maker Stihl have also reshored production.

High-end teddy bear maker Steiff announced in 2008 that it was returning production from China because it had quality problems and transport took too long.

Often, however, rising wages in Asia was the main factor. According to consulting firm AlixPartners, official data show China's average wages in manufacturing rose 364 per cent between 2004 and 2014, albeit from a far lower base than in Europe.

Piquadro chief executive Marco Palmieri says the average monthly salary of the firm's Italian factory workers is five times the Chinese level. But this gap was around 16 times in 2008, while executive pay is now the same in both countries.

Piquadro's Italian production is about a third more costly than at its Chinese factories. But Palmieri says this is partly offset by high transport costs from Asia and import duties.

Shipping from China also takes more time, a handicap for fashion companies whose customers want the latest products fast. Piquadro therefore decided 1-1/2 years ago to make its Sartoria line of bags near Pisa, close to its leather suppliers.

"Chinese factories are designed to handle large volumes: we increasingly need smaller volumes of a much larger variety of products. And we're also under pressure to reduce the time-to-market of our products," Mr Palmieri said, adding the "Made in Italy" label is a plus for his higher-end bags.

Source : HKSG.

[050115.ID.SEA] Arus Peti Kemas JICT & TPK Koja Naik

Bisnis.com, JAKARTA--Arus peti kemas ekspor impor pada 2014 melalui dua terminal peti kemas internasional di Pelabuhan Tanjung Priok yaitu Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) dan TPK Koja naik masing-masing 17% dan 21% dibanding periode yang sama tahun 2013.

Data produktivitas bongkar muat peti kemas internasional pada Pelindo II/IPC yang diperoleh Bisnis hari ini, Senin (5/1) menyebutkan, pada periode 2014 arus peti kemas yang dibongkar muat melalui JICT mencapai 2.355.903 twenty foot equivalents units (TEUs) atau setara 1.591.331 bok.

Pencapaian tersebut naik 17% dibanding realisasi tahun 2013 yang tercatat 2.012.620 TEUs atau setara 1.361.867 bok.

Sedangkan arus peti kemas melalui TPK Koja selama 2014 mencapai 872.508 TEUs (587.712 bok) atau naik 21% dibanding pencapaian pada periode tahun 2013 yang tercatat 715.578 TEUs atau setara 460.532 bok.

Realisasi arus peti kemas internasional 2014 di JICT tersebut berasal dari kegiatan ekspor sebanyak 1.139.364 TEUs atau setara 757.296 bok dan kegiatan impor 1.216.540 TEUs atau setara 834.035 bok.

Adapun realisasi arus peti kemas melalui TPK Koja sepanjang 2014 berasal dari kegiatan ekspor sebanyak 441.426 TEUs (275.677 bok) dan impor 461.082 TEUs atau setara 312.035 bok.

Data Pelindo II juga menyebutkan arus kunjungan kapal internasional yang dilayani JICT pada 2014 mencapai 1.845 unit sedangkan di TPK Koja 501 unit.

Sumber : Bisnis Indonesia, 05.12.15.

[040115.EN.SEA] CMA CGM Charity Honours Lebanese Autism Society

THE Lebanese Autism Society (LAS) has received the CMA CGM Corporate Foundation for Childhood 2014 award for its social and humanitarian work in support of vulnerable children.

The prize was presented at the head office of CMA CGM Liban and Merit by the chairwoman of the foundation, Naila Saade.

Founded in 1999 by the parents of autistic children, LAS is a forerunner in the field of care to these children in Lebanon and the Middle East.

The society advocates for the right of autistic children, from early childhood through to adulthood, and provides them with assistance and support through a specialised educational programme, a statement from the French shipping group said.

To date 91 children and teenagers have benefitted from the school integration programmes, including technical courses and vocational training.

"We were deeply touched by the remarkable work conducted by the Lebanese Autism Society," said Mrs Saade.

"Their field of intervention is wide and comprehensive through diagnosis and early intervention targeting young children, vocational training for a better social integration of young teenagers, and raising the population's awareness on autism."

In 2014, the CMA CGM Corporate Foundation also helped three other Lebanese associations, which won the call for projects aimed at "improving the daily lives of children suffering from sickness and trauma."

They are: the "Himaya" association which received a subsidy for building an infirmary and for purchasing computers and educational software for the young residents of the new internal resilience centre in Mar Chaaya.

The association "Assameh" received a subsidy for equipping the paediatrics department at Beirut Governmental Hospital with 30 beds.

Finally, the "Braveheart Fund" was granted a subsidy for performing surgical operations on underprivileged children born with cardiac malformations in Beirut.

Source : HKSG.