Airbus has chosen Kuehne + Nagel to act as Lead Logistics Provider for its entire logistics operation. Kuehne + Nagel will exclusively manage and operate all of the Airbus regional logistics hubs located in France, Germany, Spain, and the UK.

The new 6-year contract significantly strengthens the partnership of Kuehne + Nagel with the aircraft manufacturer entered into in 2003. It also marks a strategic entry of Kuehne + Nagel into the French and UK aerospace and aviation logistics markets.
The new Airbus logistics concept foresees the successive consolidation of all local warehouse facilities into six regional hubs by 2010. As part of this, Kuehne + Nagel will run a pan-European network of logistics centres in France, Germany, Spain, and the UK. Kuehne + Nagel’s operations for Airbus will encompass over 150,000 sqm of warehousing space.

Rickmers-Linie has increased from ten to 14 the number of multi-purpose heavylift newbuildings for its expanding liner service network.

The latest quartet has been ordered from Wuhu Xinlian Shipbuilding Co Ltd by Polaris Shipmanagement Ltd, a Rickmers Group company, and will be taken on long-term charter by Rickmers-Linie. The first vessel is scheduled for delivery in December 2010 and all four should be in service by September 2011. The contract also includes an option for four additional vessels to be delivered in 2012.

The newbuildings have been purpose-designed for the carriage of breakbulk, heavylift and project cargo. With a deadweight of 24,000 tonnes, an overall length of 175m and a beam of 26.5m, they will be fitted with variable height tweendecks for maximum cargo flexibility.

The vessels will be equipped with three cranes, one capable of lifting 100 tonnes and two 350 tonne units that can be combined to handle loads of up to 700 tonnes.

Lufthansa spells out ambitious goals in its strategic environmental programme. The Group has specified 15 guidelines to steer its path towards realisation of further decisive progress in environmental efficiency by the year 2020. Lufthansa’s efforts on behalf of environment and climate protection and social responsibility are documented in the Group’s Sustainability Report “Balance”. The 14th issue of the Report is scheduled to be published shortly.

The 15 guidelines ensue from the internationally recognised four-pillar strategy, which spans the entire range of practicable measures for protecting the climate in the operation of air traffic. The principle points of the strategic environmental programme are:

• Lufthansa expressly supports the IATA fuel-efficiency target and intends to reduce its CO2 emissions per flown kilometer by 25 per cent by 2020 against the level in 2006.
• Lufthansa supports the ACARE target of reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by 80 per cent by 2020 compared with the level in the year 2000.
• Lufthansa intends to increase the amount of bio-fuel admixed with conventional kerosene up to ten per cent by 2020.
• Lufthansa supports ecologically-oriented incentive systems, which rest on an economic and revenue-neutral basis, e.g. emission-based landing fees, which were introduced earlier this year at Frankfurt and Munich Airports.
• Lufthansa will continue to advocate within international organizations a practicable solution for including air traffic in emissions trading.
• Lufthansa will further pursue diverse noise abatement measures and is cooperating in related research projects designed to achieve the ACARE objective of halving noise emissions by 2020.

Faced with increasing mobility needs, the air traffic industry must respond to forthcoming challenges in environment protection policy. Environmental protection is a tradition at Lufthansa and a prime corporate objective. With its strategic environmental programme, the Group has charted a road map for sustainable growth and profitability in the years to come.

Schenker AG acquires from Siemens AG the remaining 49 percent shareholding in the Schenker Industrial Logistics GmbH joint venture, effective retroactively to January 1 of this year. A contract to this effect has now been signed.

The company was founded in 2003 as a joint venture between Schenker AG and Siemens AG. The management of the company’s business operation is the responsibility of DB Schenker.

Schenker Industrial Logistics GmbH has concentrated on providing contract logistics solutions for industrial customers in the high-tech and technology sector. Its range of services includes tailor-made logistics solutions for the electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace, semiconductor and electronics industries.

UPS announced it expects earnings per diluted share for the second quarter within a range of $0.83-to-$0.88 compared to the $0.97-to $1.04 per share the company originally anticipated.

Slow U.S. economic growth and an unprecedented increase in the cost of fuel have resulted in lower-than-expected U.S. package volume and an accelerating contraction in the use of premium air products. In addition, the anemic U.S. economy is negatively impacting package volume into the United States, affecting results for the International segment. Performance in the Supply Chain & Freight segment is continuing to exceed expectations.

ProLogis announced that it is developing its first distribution facilities in Austria.

The company has started construction on the first of two planned distribution centers that will comprise ProLogis Park Himberg, a new industrial park located just outside the capital city of Vienna, in close proximity to the S1 highway and other major roads comprising Austria's north-south and east-west transportation corridors. ProLogis expects to complete the 352,000-square-foot (32,700 square meters) facility in early 2009.

Vienna is the largest city in Austria with more than 2.2 million people. Located along the Danube River, a major pan-European trade route, its well-established transportation network includes the country's largest inner harbor, a major international airport, three Autobahns and one of the best railway systems in Europe. In addition, more than 300 international corporations have established their central and eastern European headquarters in Vienna, including ProLogis' global customers DHL, Schenker, Kuehne + Nagel, Volvo and Hewlett Packard.
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Maersk has signed an agreement with Hyundai Heavy Industries for the delivery of 18 container vessels in 2011 and 2012. The vessels will each have a capacity of 4,500 TEU (twenty- foot equivalent unit).

The ships are designed to meet the highest demands for safe and economic transportation of goods in geographies such as the Eastern Mediterranean, Africa, and Latin America. In addition, each vessel is equipped with a waste heat recovery system. The system reuses excess heat from the exhaust and thus generates energy for propulsion of the vessel or on-board electricity consumption. The reduction in fuel consumption results in a corresponding reduction of emissions. It is the first time that an Asian yard will install a waste heat recovery system of this size and efficiency.

In view of the flexible design of the vessels, Maersk Line will work on a variety of deployment scenarios. Currently, we expect to deploy the vessels in the trades to and from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Maersk Line has a 25% market share in Sub-Saharan Africa and own offices in 35 countries in the region. Customers are offered fixed weekly services in most trades, the best schedule integrity in terms of port calls, coverage and timeliness, and transit times are among the best in the market.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the average export growth is currently 7% p.a. The average import growth is 11% p.a. Since 2002, export and import volumes have almost doubled. To support this development, the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group is not only involved in container shipping (Maersk Line, Safmarine, and Ocean Africa Container Line), but also in other container related activities such as terminals, stevedoring, logistics, warehousing and rail transportation.