Containerchain Implemented In Sydney

In July 2011 the container park industry has introduced an IT solution, Containerchain to electronically control container de-hiring and collecting in Melbourne.
This system involves the transport operators booking timeslots at the container parks to either de-hire or collect an empty container. This IT solution was introduced to improve the turnarounds at the container parks and ultimately control the traffic flow that builds up during peak periods causing delays which in turn creates additional costs.
Now Sydney empty container parks are introducing Containerchain effective Monday 2nd July. We have been advised by four of the empty container parks in Sydney that transport companies will be required to book a “notification” (timeslots) in order to access their depots for both de-hires (returns) and export empty collections.
This time slotting procedure will incur fees. The transport company pays the booking fee and in turn will pass this on. Fees may vary between Container Parks and some are yet to be determined.
There is also a possibility that timeslots at these depots will not be available at the times carriers are required to be there. Additional charges for redirection may apply (via yard & lifts) for the redirection of any containers via yards due to lack of availability of a timeslot.
... and now WA
All of the major dehire parks in WA have implemented Containerchain the process is identical as is currently utilised in Melbourne. This means to de-hire containers at we will need to first book and slot the container in for dehire this will then allow for the de-hire of the container.
With the implementation of Container chain at the parks there will be a fee for booking the containers in for dehire. Again fees may vary between Container Parks and some are yet to be determined.
Strong growth in Victorian commodity exports
Strong commodity prices and an end to the drought were key factors driving a 19% increase in Victorian food and fibre exports in 2010-11.
A report announced that Victorian food and fibre exports jumped $1.3 billion to reach $8.07 billion in 2010-11. The end of the drought and stronger commodity prices, together with new access to the Indian market for Australian dairy farmers, are the key factors in an exceptionally strong showing for Victorian food and fibre producers.
Victoria made up 86% of the value of Australia’s dairy exports alone with $1.96bn worth, while the value of grain exports increased from $442m to $1.13bn. The report found fibre exports, including wool, skins and hides, were valued at about $1.77bn in 2010-11, an increase of $470m from the previous financial year.
Demand for wool was strong, with volumes exported to China rising 14% and shipments to Italy more than doubling. A total of 412,000 tonnes of meat products worth about$1.66bn were also exported

Quarantine and the Budget
In the Federal Budget the Australian Government signalled its continued support for the ongoing improvement of Australia’s biosecurity system, committing $524.2 million in new funding.
This includes:
• $379.9 million over seven years to build and operate a new government owned and operated post entry quarantine facility for high–risk plant and animal imports.
• $124.5 million over four years for risk response capability and external review and verification purposes. This will support biosecurity operations at international airports and mail centres, and arrangements such as the Interim Inspector General for Biosecurity and the Biosecurity Advisory Council. This is in addition to the annual Quarantine Border Security allocation to DAFF and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, which is $140.6 million in 2012-13.
• $19.8 million over three years to support the current biosecurity information and communication technology infrastructure and systems.
• In addition, a separate $95.9 million from the Caring for our Country program has been allocated to fund eradication programs for nationally significant pests and diseases.
• The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry also announced that consultation on new biosecurity legislation, which will replace the century–old Quarantine Act 1908, is expected to begin shortly.

Patrick to double Port Botany capacity
Stevedoring company Patrick has signed an agreement with Sydney Ports Corporation (SPC) to develop its Port Botany facility and extend its lease by 31 years. The capacity at Patrick’s container terminal will more than double.
Under the new agreement, Patrick will increase its footprint at Port Botany by 39% through the development of an integrated container terminal which comprises both its existing box facility and the adjoining 17.6ha site called Knuckle.
Patrick’s capacity will rise to 2.5m TEU a year and include an expansion of its quay line to 1400 metres with four berths capable of accommodating the new Panamax ships.

Imports surge at Port Botany
Our appetite for furniture and clothing helped boost the overall volume of containers through Port Botany by 3% in March to 159,560 twenty foot equivalent containers (TEU).
Containerised imports in March rose 9% from the previous corresponding period to 81,788 TEU thanks to miscellaneous manufactured articles including apparel, sanitary items and light fixtures.
Chemical imports including plastic materials, essential oils and pharmaceutical products also rose along with machinery and transport equipment.
Almost 44% of all containerised imports through Port Botany were sourced from East Asia and 16% came from Europe.
Meanwhile, containerised exports fell 5% from March 2011 to 37,845 TEU with cereals, machinery, transport equipment and chemicals making up almost a third of exports.
Sydney Ports’ $750m Botany expansion is expected to help manage the rise in container trade.
Rena’s cargo recovery phase ends
All accessible containers were recovered from the Rena salvage comes to an end recently.
A total of 940 boxes from the wreck have been processed and the salvors equipment has being removed. Removal of the wreck is the next phase in the operation and the owners and a tender has been issued for this purpose.
Containers in waters up to 50m deep are being targeted for extraction over the coming months as and when weather conditions allow. Five boxes were recently recovered from the sea bed.
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Prohibited and restricted imports
The Australian Government controls the import of certain goods into Australia. The controls either take the form of:
• an absolute prohibition, which means that you are not allowed to import the goods in any circumstances, or
• a restriction, where you need to have written permission in order to import the goods.

The following information broadly outlines what goods are prohibited or restricted, where you can obtain more information about the control and, in the case of restricted goods, the mailing address or e-mail address to use to apply for permission to import.
The Customs Information and Support Centre (CISC) can provide general information about Customs procedures in relation to prohibited and restricted goods. You can contact the CISC by telephone on 1300 363 263 or by e-mail at information@customs.gov.au.
The information about prohibited and restricted goods provided on this website is a guide only. Customs recommends that you exercise care with its use. Customs further recommends that you seek more detailed information to ensure that you will comply with legislative requirements before attempting to import restricted goods.
See also: prohibited and restricted exports;
Anabolic or androgenic substances and Ketamine Firearms and ammunition
Antibiotics Fish and toothfish
ANZAC Fly swatters/mosquito bats - electronic
Asbestos Growth hormones and substances of human or animal
Australian flag and coats of arms Hazardous waste
Cat and dog fur products Hydroflurocarbons (HFCs)
Ceramic ware - glazed Incandescent lamps
Cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) Kava
Chemical weapons Knives and daggers
Chewing tobacco and oral snuff Laser pointers
Cigarette lighters Money boxes, novelty - toxic materials
Cosmetics - toxic materials Ozone depleting substances
Credit cards - counterfeit Pencils and paintbrushes - toxic materials
Crowd control equipment Pesticides
Cultural and heritage goods - general Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Terphenyls and Polyphen-
Cultural and heritage goods from Papua New Guinea Pornography and other objectionable material
Diamonds - from Cote d'Ivoire Radioactive substances
Diamonds - Kimberley Process Suicide devices
Dog collars - protrusion Tablet presses
Dogs - dangerous breeds Therapeutic drugs and substances
Drugs and narcotics Tobacco - unmanufactured leaf
Embargoed Countries (UN Sanctions) Toys - toxic materials
Embryo clones - viable materials Trade Practices Act goods
Endangered animal and plant species - CITES Weapons
Erasers - novelty Woolpacks
Urtesy
Reminder: New weighing process in Sydney 1 July 2012
In December 2011 we alerted clients that it would be mandatory for all transport operators departing DP World Sydney with an import container to have the container weighed when leaving the terminal. Things have now progressed:
Patricks
Patrick weigh in motion devices have been installed at the Patrick facility at Port Botany. These devices capture and record axle and gross vehicle weights of trucks leaving the Terminal. They capture and record weights of vehicles moving at low or normal speeds. They have been introduced following legislation in NSW and will detect overweight vehicles, the new rules to applied in Sydney from 1 July.
Mass categories are:
Minor 0 - 5% overweight
Substantial >5 – 20% overweight
Severe >20%
Minor and substantial breaches are permitted to travel on approved port precinct roads only to approved container freight stations to have their loads adjusted or managed. Severe category breaches will have all loaded boxes removed.
DP World
They had an instance in testing where they were carrying and weighed a 20’ container weighing just over 25,000kgs. DP World was legally able to do so with the equipment they were using within the port precinct. The scales showed that they were overweight on the axle which resulted in an orange light (For trucks between 0 – 20% over the mass laws). In a live situation they would have be required to redirect the container to an authorised unpack facility.
Within office hours DP World will be able to nominate an unpack facility if a container has been redirected. Outside of office hours they will be redirecting containers to Patrick Logistics for further action. For the service they will charge on top of the Patricks invoice a $40.00 administration fee + transportation costs of $150.00 + fuel surcharge + timeslot fee + GST.
Please also take note on severely overweight containers when resulting in a red light (For trucks greater than 20% of mass laws) the driver has to turn around and return the container back to the terminal. DP World will charge $100.00 for the lift and will also not extend any storage. At this point the container can be either re-exported or railed from the terminal directly to a freight station. DP World advise that for this requirement they will be looking into Tautliners and loose delivery should you need this service.
This also will come at a substantial cost.
We cannot emphasise enough the need to make sure that your containers are packed with the required weight limits. If you do not containers may be held, stored and unpacked within the port precinct.
They will incur additional costs including double delivery, unpack, storage, handling fee, forklift fees and so on. Importers must ensure all containers packed overseas must not be overloaded. If the terminal weighbridge indicates the container is heavier than that stated on the container weight declaration, this can result in the container being left at the wharf or placed into a storage yard in the Port Botan
And there’s more….. Container weighing Sydney trials
Further to our reminder on the previous page, here are some of the issues facing transport operators during the June trials
There have been concerns raised regarding the accuracy of the weighbridges, in particular when measuring the steer axle. The transport association continues to lobby the Roads and Maritime Services (formerly RTA) regarding the accuracy of the weighbridges and also a tolerance level.
To date we have seen situations where 20 kgs over on one axle means a breach.
This situation is also going to see increased charges for these additional movements which are out of carrier’s control. Deliveries via yards, lifts, deliveries via the weighbridge and the actual weighbridge cost will need to be passed on. There will also be some kind of administration fee from the container freight station (CFS) is yet to be confirmed The CFS is required to enter each breached container into the ICS computer system for tracking and auditing purposes later on. Trucking companies are also finding that it is taking up to 1 hour in some instances to actually get onto the weighbridge at the terminal due to the queues waiting. This could see an increase in wharf waiting time hopefully only in the short term.
It is vital to have the correct weights shown on time slot requests. This information is critical for scheduling truck fleets. Incorrect weights could potentially be illegal and dangerous but also runs the risk of increased costs.
Rural Assurance - Postcode Review
From 1 July 2012 many Australian businesses and consumers will benefit from changes being made to the classification of Australian postcodes as part of biosecurity reforms. For more than 20 years, delivery postcodes had been used to indicate rural land use with resultant restrictions. Containers destined to be unpacked in rural areas are given a tailgate inspection to look for obvious biosecurity risks because pests or diseases have more likelihood of establishing in those areas. As Australia has become more urbanised and more cargo is being unpacked in built-up areas that were previously considered rural locations. To maximise the effectiveness of biosecurity interventions, a number of postcodes are being reclassified to reflect current land use patterns. DAFF Biosecurity is focusing on a wider range of imported goods than before – including goods destined for rural areas. Biosecurity initiatives include a nation-wide approach to engaging with stakeholders and increasing monitoring and surveillance. Information gathered from these activities will guide future biosecurity efforts to areas of greatest risk. The reclassification of postcodes will reduce unnecessary regulation and importers and consumers in the newly reclassified metropolitan postcode areas will benefit from cargo arriving sooner. As a result of the review a number of locations will now more accurately be classified as metropolitan – no longer requiring rural tailgate inspections. All shipping containers destined for rural areas will continue to be subject to tailgate inspections from 1 July 2012:
• the ‘fringe rural’ classification has been removed
• 100 fringe rural postcodes change to metropolitan
• 45 rural postcodes change to metropolitan
• 10 fringe rural postcodes become rural
• 21 postcodes split (by suburbs) between metropolitan and rural

Further details
Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
The Paris MoU is an organisation that consists of 27 participating maritime administrations and covers the waters of the European coastal States and the North Atlantic basin from North America to Europe.
Its mission is to eliminate the operation of sub-standard ships through a harmonized system of port State control.
More than 24.000 inspections take place annually on board foreign ships in the Paris MoU ports, ensuring that these ships meet international safety, security and environmental standards, and that crew members have adequate living and working conditions.
The “Black, Grey and White (BGW) List” presents the full spectrum, from quality flags to flags with a poor performance that are considered high or very high risk. It is based on the total number of inspections and detentions over a 3-year rolling period for flags with at least 30 inspections in the period.
On the “Black, Grey and White list” for 2010 a total number of 84 flags were listed: 18 on the Black List, 24 on the Grey List and 42 on the White List.
Most flags that were categorised as very high risk in previous years remain so in 2010. The poorest performing flags are DPR Korea, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Togo, Sierra Leone and Montenegro. New on the “Black List” are the flags of Tanzania United Republic and Azerbaijan (both medium risk).
Flags with an average performance are shown on the “Grey List”. Their appearance on this list may act as an incentive to improve and move to the “White List”. At the same time flags at the lower end of the “Grey List” should be careful not to neglect control over their ships and risk ending up on the “Black List” next year.
On this year’s “Grey List” a total number of 24 flags is recorded. Last year the “Grey List” recorded 19 flags. New on the “Grey List” are Egypt, Vietnam, Dominica, Slovakia, Jamaica, Honduras, Belize and Mongolia, last year still on the “Black List”.
The “White List” represents quality flags with a consistently low detention record. Compared with last year, the number of flags on the “White List” has increased by 3 flags to a total number of 42 flags.
Bermuda (United Kingdom) has been placed highest on the list in terms of performance. Next in line are Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. of the changes can be obtained from the DAFF website. y area.SOS looks forward to your on-going support and should you require any further information or assistance please do not hesitate to contact your local SOS Consultant Representative or your nearest SOS Office.
SOS Consultants
Suite 1/799 Centre Road
East Bentleigh VIC 3165
Telephone: 61 3 9570 1799
Fax: 61 3 9570 1188
Email: mailto:info@sosconsultants.com.au
Web:www.sosconsultants.com.au

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