The name Triple-E signifies the three main purposes behind their creation – economy of scale, energy efficiency and an environmentally improved design. At 400 metres long, 59 metres wide and 73 metres high, the Triple-E is the world’s largest vessel. It will produce 50 percent less carbon dioxide than the industry average on the Asia-Europe trade lane.

Eivind Kolding, CEO of Maersk Line, said the contract for the new vessels cements their position in the industry.

“They underline our strong commitment to the Asia-Europe trade and fit well with our current ambitions and expectations for the future development of the trade,” he said. “We believe the Triple-E ships with their record capacity and energy efficiency will enable us to deliver on the commercial and environmental expectations of our customers and also gives us a significant advantage in the market.”

While some pressure comes from regulations imposed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the majority is coming from businesses focused on reducing the carbon footprint of their supply chain.

Shipping by sea is the most energy-efficient mode of transport, performing far better on CO2 emissions per tonne of cargo carried than by rail, truck or air. In fact, the world’s fleet of container vessels is estimated to contribute 3.3 percent of all CO2 emissions worldwide—a figure that some may argue is small considering the scope of container shipping, but one that nonetheless is putting container carriers in the environmental impact spotlight.

This pressure has driven R&D investment from carriers to find solutions to reduce the impact. The list includes everything from improved engine design, optimisation of ventilation systems and efficient hull and propeller maintenance, to research projects involving the application of fuel cells and alternative energy sources.

Generating power from heat

An example of early innovation is the Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) system, which utilises heat contained in engine exhaust gases to generate steam. On a ship, that steam is channelled to the turbo generator that powers the vessel, adding energy without using more fuel.

Maersk, one of the world’s leading shipping companies, installed its first WHR system in 1988 and has since reduced fuel consumption by nine percent. WHR research is undergoing a revival as Maersk continues to install systems on all large container vessels ordered, and using knowledge gained in tackling the balance between Slow Steaming and WHR because in general, the faster a vessel sails, the more exhaust, and recoverable heat, it produces.

The new USD190 million Triple-E class ships scheduled for delivery between 2013-15, with an option on an additional 20, will be the largest of any type currently sailing at 400 metres long, 59m wide and 73m high. The 18,000 TEU (20 foot container) capacity is 16 percent or 2,500 containers more than today’s biggest container ship the Emma Maersk.

The Triple-E will produce 20 percent less CO₂ per container than the Emma Maersk and 50 percent less than the industry average on the Asia-Europe trade lane and consume around 35 percent less fuel than the other 13,000 TEU vessels to be delivered to other shipping lines in the next few years for the same service.

The design uses optimised hull and bow forms and two ultra long stroke engines to turn two propellers. An advanced waste heat recovery system will capture and reuse energy from the engine’s exhaust gas for extra propulsion with less fuel consumption.

All materials used will be mapped in a cradle-to-cradle passport that prescribes how they can be recycled or safely disposed of when the vessel is retired from service.

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said the plan would lower the cost of moving consumer goods and recoup billions of dollars of lost export earnings from the last boom. “This leads to a more efficient, seamless national economy with lower costs for producers, resulting in benefit for consumers and the economy.”

The plan will make dedicated freight rail lines available to avoid interference with urban commuter lines. Currently, freight lines are limited by curfews where they tangle with commuter lines and interfere with passenger travel.

The strategy could also see triple-trailer trucks allowed on more roads, including the Hume, Pacific and Bruce Highways. At present, B-triple trucks are restricted to rural and regional areas. In addition, inland ports—where goods are transferred from trucks to trains—will be expanded. Dedicated freight roads would be constructed to connect these expanded ports to sea ports.

The strategy has been developed in response to projections suggesting freight movements will more than double in the next 20 years. Truck traffic is expected to increase by half, rail freight by 90 percent, airfreight by almost 110 percent and containers crossing sea ports by 150 percent.

The draft national freight strategy was developed by the National Transport Commission and Infrastructure Australia. If implemented, it would rely on financial support from state goverments.

Every day millions of containers are trucked, shipped and flown across the world. Sometimes their contents are a little out of the ordinary.

Since their first large-scale sporting event appointment for the Sydney Olympic Games in 1999, global freight conglomerate DB Schenker has become a world leader in specialist operations, looking after major sporting tournaments, international exhibitions, artworks, museum pieces and events including the Catholic World Youth Day in 2008. Sabine Schlosser manages specialist logistics in Australia and New Zealand for the company. Her advice for exporters moving an unusual cargo is to consult the experts.

Freight involves a web of international regulations, protocols, documentation, permit applications and cargo agreements, and it can be hard for a novice to negotiate. “If it’s anything that is not just a normal pallet which you can send with normal cargo in the normal freight section, just give specialists a call,” Schlosser advises. “The advice costs you nothing.”

Basically, special operations logistics is “nothing fancy”, Schlosser says. “The principle of sending freight (by sea, air or road) and looking after pick and pack is fairly straightforward.” What sets special logistics apart is the planning and negotiation that goes on before and afterwards, making sure everything runs smoothly in a complex operation.

Planning routes and handling protocols, negotiating legalities, ensuring documentation and paperwork is correct, making deadlines and ensuring safe and timely transit are the hard parts. That’s where specialists like DB Schenker can help.

A holy commission

Things get more complicated when the client is the global Catholic Church. This took the special logistics department of DB Schenker into uncharted territory. While familiar with the transport of human remains, in the lead-up to World Youth Day 2008, Schlosser’s department was confronted with a new logistical challenge. How do you move the relics of a saint, dead for more than 85 years?

Pier Giorgio Frassati was never embalmed but his remains lie uncorrupted in a tomb in Turin. DB Schenker was asked to freight the relics to Sydney for the pilgrimage. “I believe in miracles,” Schlosser says, but she was determined to have a chemist involved in the process of freight. “There’s a reason why that body is not decaying.”

A chemist assisted DB Schenker to recreate the conditions in Frassati’s tomb for a special crate, and DB Schenker freighted Frassati to and from Sydney with no incident. “We’ve never moved a saint. And a saint doesn’t have a passport to start off with. The whole paperwork side of it was quite interesting.”

For its timely action in averting the threat presented by beetles aboard the Tatiana Schulte, Maersk Line Australia received the Regional Award for Services to Biosecurity from the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service on 16 November.

The Tatiana Schulte arrived in Australian waters on 5 February 2010, where the ship’s captain discovered and photographed the beetles in the cargo before notifying Maersk’s port agent Inchcape, who passed the information to AQIS.

AQIS identified the beetle, which will fly from ships towards lights on shore, and denied the Tatiana Schulte entry. Maersk coordinated a return to New Zealand to carry out AQIS requirements before the ship returned to Australia to clear quarantine and unload its cargo only 10 days later than scheduled.

‘The incident, although costly and unfortunate, was managed very well,” Maersk’s operations manager Andrew Cumming said, “but the real hero is the ship’s master who recognised the potential risk posed by the insects and brought it to the attention of the authorities.”

Maersk is now in the running for the national award which will be presented by the Federal Minister for Agriculture and Fishers at Parliament House in Canberra on 22 November.

Terms for delivering freight are covered by guidelines first formalised by the International Chamber of Commerce in 1936 and called incoterms (short for international commercial terms). Many of these were based on expressions used since the 1800s, with the result that some of them are out of date and no longer legally meaningful.

For example, did you know that ‘free on board’ (FOB) is an expression that refers to cargo carried loose, on men’s shoulders and backs, across the rail of a sailing ship? What it doesn’t refer to is containerised transport, even by sea, and what it means is that the buyer is responsible for the goods up until they are onboard ship.

Incoterms themselves are not legally binding but they become so when they are used in a contract of sale where they are used to specify at what point the responsibility for the goods transfers from the seller to the buyer. Since incoterms define the limits of the seller’s responsibility, and the costs involved, it’s important to use them correctly when brokering a contract that covers delivery of the goods.

“Ninety-nine point nine percent of people haven’t got a clue about incoterms and don’t even know there is any sort of written definition of those terms,” says Bob Ronai, director of Import-Export Services, NSW and member of the ICC’s incoterms advisory committee. “They just take a punt and use a term because somebody told them that’s the one to use.”

Ronai attended the launch of the updated Incoterms 2010 held in Paris on 27 September, along with delegates from 49 other countries. The updated terms come into effect from 1 January 2011, with some of the old terms disappearing and others melded into a single more appropriate term. Ronai believes this is long overdue. “When containers came into use in international freight in the late sixties it changed the whole concept, but everybody is still using outdated terms,” he says.

Incoterms decoded

Incoterms can be divided into four groups: E terms which cover departure, F terms where the main carrying is not paid by the seller, C terms where the main carrying is paid by the seller and D terms which relate to delivery.

EXW stands for ex works and is only really appropriate for intra country or trading block freight.

FCA (free carrier), FAS (free alongside ship) and FOB (free on board) define where the seller’s responsibilities end in the seller’s country.

CFR (cost and freight), CIF (cost insurance freight), CPT (carriage paid) and CIP (carriage insurance paid to) refer to the limit of the seller’s financial liability for transport to destination.

DAF (delivered at frontier), DES (delivered ex ship), DEQ (delivered ex quay), DDU (delivered duty unpaid) and DDP (delivered duty paid) are where the seller is financially liable for risk and transport to the destined country.

The new plane, which is 25 percent more fuel-efficient and emits less greenhouses gases than its predecessors, will travel five times a week between Sydney and Auckland.

The additional carrying capacity will service importers and exporters on both sides of the Tasman. Currently the DHL/TCA partnership holds a significant market advantage of arriving first on the flight schedule, up to 11 hours before some competitors.

According to Gary Edstein, senior vice president of DHL Express in the Oceania region, the additional carrying capacity is catering to growing demand for trans-Tasman cargo options.

“In 2009 alone, we experienced significant growth in trans-Tasman shipments, so increasing our capacity to offer faster services, and more often, to our customers is a key focus for us.”

On 28 June the global express and logistics company awarded designers Becky Cooper and Bridget Yorston the winners, based on the label’s ability to expand and sustain export growth.

The prize package included coaching in freight and logistics from DHL Express as well as freight to the value of $10,000. This will help bec & bridge grow to achieve further international success, said DHL Express Australia’s fashion and apparel industry vertical manager and judge Jamila Dlala.

“Bec Cooper and Bridget Yorston put forward an impressive entry. They demonstrated a collaborative approach to all areas of their business, as seen in their design element and business practice. This will contribute to them becoming great ambassadors for our fashion industry when exporting to international markets,” Dlala said.

“We are really looking forward to working with bec & bridge over the coming months and helping them to grow their business internationally.”

The designing duo are excited about the win, creative director Bridget Yorston said.

“We’ve been exporting to Asia, USA and New Zealand, for two years now and in terms of business growth this is a focus of ours. Our latest collection shown at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week captured the attention of international buyers, including those from the UK and Dubai. Winning the DHL scholarship has come at the perfect time as it will help us to meet this increasing demand.

“We are very excited about the $10,000 prize package, particularly the coaching and support from DHL which will help us to take full advantage of this opportunity,” she added.

“The scholarship presents a significant opportunity for one very talented emerging fashion exporter; providing export services and industry-specific intelligence at just the right time to help grow their business internationally,” said Gary Edstein, DHL Express senior vice president for Oceania.

Judging the scholarship entries will be Graeme Lewsey, director of Marketing & Communications for IMG Fashion (Asia-Pacific), designer Nicola Finetti, and Jamila Dlala fashion specialist at DHL Express Australia.

The competition requires entrants to submit a form as well as a resume and a design portfolio or look-books by Tuesday, June 8, 2010.

See www.dhl.com.au/runway2theworld for further details.