Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/643635
www.cargobusinessnews.com January 2016 7 neWs, trends & analysIs tor Wang Hong at a national meeting on marine work. The total production value last year is expected to account for 9.6 percent of the total gross domestic product, according to the SOA. The industry em- ploys more than 35 million people and maritime science and technology con- tributed to 60 percent of the maritime economy, SOA data shows. Wang said the government plans to coordinate the construction of high- tech and innovation industrial bases and demonstration zones, and foster emerging industries including marine biomedicine, marine facilities and sea water desalination in 2016. The SOA will also push to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies concerning maritime industries and advance industrial upgrades in the next five years, he said. Looking to further the rule of law, the country will promote legislation in the fields of resource exploration in deep sea - floor areas, protection of ocean oil and gas pipelines, and the management on Antarctic activities, according to Wang. F o r m o r e o f t h e X i n h u a s t o r y : news.xinhuanet.com fAST NEW gT USA CoNTAiNER SERviCE CoNNECTS floRidA ANd CENTRAl AMERiCA The new Blue Stream service, operat- ed by StreamLines, part of the Seatrade Group, will provide refrigerated and dry container service to and from GT USA's cargo terminal at Port Canaveral, focusing on fresh produce and perish- able cargoes. The Blue Stream service rotation employs five ships with 1300 TEU capacity and 250 reefer plugs, on a weekly rotation. The new line will serve Central America to Port Canaveral in just three days and will offer the one of the fastest transit times between Florida and Europe, just 11 days. The service includes direct calls to the United Kingdom. "We are excited about the opportunity to provide our signature world-class ser - vice to StreamLines and to be its U.S. port of call. The new Blue Stream service can showcase Port Canaveral as an ideal gateway, opening markets in Central America to Central Florida, and provid- ing our local exporters the most efficient route to Europe," said Peter Richards, CEO of GT USA, and managing director and CEO of the Gulftainer Group, a pri- vately owned, independent terminal op- erating and logistics company. "This will undoubtedly lead to even more growth in coming months for Canaveral Cargo Terminal, building Port Canaveral's reputation as a key U.S. cargo port." Blue Stream's maiden call at GT USA's Canaveral Cargo Terminal is expected on January 31 with the arrival of the M/V NORDEROOG. From Canaveral, the vessel will proceed directly to Rotter - dam, Netherlands, with calls in Tilbury, United Kingdom, and Radicatel, France. After departing Europe, the schedule loop takes the vessels to the French West Indies ports of Fort de France, Martinique, Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe and Phillipsburg, St, Maarten. From St. Maarten, the vessels then proceed on to Moín, Costa Rica; Puerto Cortés, Hon - duras; and Santo Tomas, Guatemala and f rom there directly on to Port Canaveral. EU iNvESTigATES bElgiUM CoNTAiNER TERMiNAl oPERAToRS The European Commission said it has opened an in-depth investigation into al- leged state aid to two container terminal operators in Europe's second busiest port, Antwerp in Belgium. The commission said concession agreements for PSA Antwerp NV and Antwerp Gateway NV contained a re- quirement for the handling of a mini- mum tonnage. The two did not reach this between 2009 and 2012, meaning they would have to pay compensation to the publicly-owned port authority. However, the Antwerp Port Authority decided in 2013 to reduce the minimum tonnage retroactively, reducing the com- pensation to be paid by some 80 percent. The commission said it received a com- plaint from a competitor and opened an investigation to determine whether a pri- vate investor would have acted in the same way to reduce the compensation due. If not carried out on market terms, it would constitute state aid. The commis- sion would have to determine whether to authorize such aid under rules allow- ing member states to grant state aid for certain public interest goods. The concession contracts were con- cluded in 2004 for a period of 42 years related to the transhipment of contain- ers in the Deurganck dock. F o r m o r e o f t h e R e u t e r s s t o r y : www.reuters.com AMAzoN REgiSTERS WiTh fMC AS oCEAN foRWARdER Amazon.com is now eyeing the high seas as it strives to conquer the logistics of package delivery, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Seattle retailer registered itself with a federal agency, the first phase of a process that would allow the e-com - merce giant to serve as an intermediary for suppliers shipping merchandise to or from the U.S. Flexport Inc., a startup that offers simi- lar services and discovered the registra- tion, said Chinese companies are most likely to work with Amazon to use freight forwarding, as the service is known. Amazon registered with the Federal Maritime Commission using the name of a subsidiary, Beijing Century Joyo Courier Service Co., which is based in Beijing. The registration, which was filed in November, would potentially al- low Amazon to begin helping to arrange cargo shipments into or out of the U.S. immediately, said Peter King, director