The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles, with the support of C40 Cities, signed a memorandum of understanding today to establish a green and digital shipping corridor between Singapore and the San Pedro Bay ports complex to support the decarbonization of the maritime industry and improve efficiencies through digitalization.
The memorandum was signed by Teo Eng Dih, Chief Executive of MPA; Mario Cordero, Port of Long Beach Executive Director; and Gene Seroka, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles. The signing was witnessed by Jonathan Kaplan, United States Ambassador to Singapore; S. Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations; Niam Chiang Meng, Chairman of MPA; Sharon L. Weissman, Long Beach Harbor Commission President; and Edward Renwick, Vice President of the Los Angeles Harbor Commission.
The overall container volume of major Chinese ports rose 3.5% year-on-year from January to March reaching 69.7 million TEUs.
For the same period, the overall cargo volume of the Chinese ports climbed to over 3.8 billion tons translating to a year-on-year growth of 6.2%.
The following chart shows the cargo throughput and container throughput data of the twelve major ports in China.
The Ultra Large Container Vessel (ULCV) MSC Tessa called at the port of Sines in Portugal on 14 April on its maiden voyage and became the largest boxship ever to dock in a Portuguese port.
The global port operator PSA said the arrival of the 400-metre MSC Tessa with a loading capacity of 24,116 TEUs gave PSA Sines the opportunity to showcase the terminal’s operational capabilities in cargo handling, executing around 4,500 container movements during MSC Tessas’s port stay.
The global Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) market will achieve a value of $52.3 billion by 2030, according to a recent industry report. In 2022, the sector was worth $24.9 billion, meaning that, between 2023 and 2030, the global UAV industry is predicted to register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.2%.
The report, entitled “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast,” was released by Vantage Market Research on April 20. The study also noted that commercial UAV sales will account for 48% of the market’s total value by 2030.
A newly introduced bipartisan bill will grant the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) the power to block anticompetitive agreements among ocean carriers and marine terminal operators.
The proposed bill, the Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act (H.R.2710), would allow the FMC to ensure that any agreements between these entities are not unreasonably anticompetitive.
This aims to address the current problem in which the FMC cannot block such agreements without first obtaining a federal court order, which can be time-consuming and inefficient.
Canada’s new renewable energy investment tax credit (ITC), unveiled in the 2023 federal budget, will make the country a global leader in favorable financial conditions for green energy projects. Rystad Energy’s renewable economic modeling shows that these new tax breaks will raise the value of some projects by more than 50% over their lifetime, positioning Canada as the second most attractive place for renewable developers, behind only the US.
The ‘made in Canada’ strategy is part of a growing global trend of policies prioritizing domestic production and labor, similar to the US Inflation Reduction Act. The ITC – a refundable incentive that offers up a percentage of the cost of capital investment – will provide a 30% tax write-off for renewable technologies deployed through 2034.
On 14 April 2023, Saudi Arabia has announced the establishment of new special economic zones (free zones) across the country. These zones will offer a range of incentives to businesses, including tax exemptions, 100% foreign ownership, and streamlined customs procedures.
This is a major step forward for the country's economic diversification efforts and show the Saudi government's commitment to creating a more business-friendly environment. The new free zones will provide opportunities for both local and international businesses to grow and thrive in the Kingdom. The free zones are supposed to make it easier for businesses to establish a presence in the country and take advantage of its strategic location at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa.