His Highness Visits Container Terminal 3
2014 opened with grandeur with the inauguration of Container Terminal 3, the World’s Largest Semi-Automated facility, by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
His Highness, accompanied by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, were welcomed to Terminal 3 by HE Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman, DP World, Mohammed Sharaf, Group CEO, DP World, Mohammed Al Muallem, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, DP World, UAE Region and other senior officials.
During the visit, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed viewed the construction of the pioneering Terminal 3, which will add 4 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent container units) capacity to Jebel Ali Port this year, taking total handling capacity to 19 million TEU.
Jebel Ali Port is the pride of the UAE, leading the industry by implementation of large scale automation. This includes 19 sophisticated automated quay cranes and 50 automated rail mounted gantry (RMG) yard cranes, all operated from a purpose-built operations building using remote control technology. This is also in line with His Highness’s vision of transforming Dubai with smart systems using technology.
Automation and new technology are our way of the future and will help our customers and the wider supply chain realise efficiencies on land that the new mega-ships generate at sea. Next generation vessels are a large support system to excellent customer service and will help us offer efficiencies as the country gears up to handle the cargo required for Expo 2020 preparation.
As a result of smart system technologies, quayside jobs such as remote quay crane operations will be located inside the new Terminal 3 Operations building. This has proven to be attractive to Emirati nationals, including women, who, we are delighted to note, make up a significant number of our new T3 team.
During his visit, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed talked with some of the new female recruits about their new roles and one of the women crane operators gave His Highness a live demonstration of a remotely controlled quay crane.
Planning for the long term and focussing on the next generation of Emiratis, is something DP World have always done and will continue to for the benefit of future generations. Indeed, 30% of the new quay crane operators recruited are Emiratis. The figure is even higher for RMG operators, with 70% of those recruited being Emiratis.
With the opening of Terminal 3, Jebel Ali Port will be able to handle ten of the largest vessels afloat simultaneously – the only port in the region able to do so. With the forthcoming connection of Etihad Rail to Jebel Ali Port, the port will be part of a multi-modal supply chain that seamlessly links sea-road-rail and air through the Dubai Logistics Corridor, reinforcing our position as the premier gateway for the region and the entire Middle East.
Forget the luxury yachts heading to Dubai Marina, there are other traditional ways of seeing Dubai and hopping on an Abra is one of the most enjoyable.
Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2014, the region’s leading travel industry showcase, celebrated its 21st edition which took place at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre from May 5 to 8, 2014. The exhibition welcomed over 4000 exhibitors from 95 countries with exhibition floor space covering more than 25,000 square meters.
One of the main highlights of the exhibition was the Middle East’s cruise sector which was highly visible and well represented at this year’s Arabian Travel Market. Having been in decline since the global downturn and the subsequent effects of the Arab Spring the cruise sector has seen a recent bounce back with significant infrastructure investment, easing visa regulations and creative marketing.?One challenge that the region faced was the lack of ports of call and the location of cruise facilities – most of the berths for cruise vessels were located within commercial shipping ports, which was not particularly conducive for leisure visitors. In response, Mina Zayed Port in Abu Dhabi is currently undergoing major redevelopment creating a dedicated cruise terminal. Dubai has been upgrading Port Rashid to accommodate seven vessels simultaneously, up from the current five, as part of its strategy to attract 450,000 cruise tourists by 2016.
CSS Group participated in the FPS sales conference 2014 which took place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from May 20 to 22, 2014. CSS Middle East was represented by Fida Asghar, Team Manager, NVOCC CSS Dubai and Dean Landers, General Manager, CSS Kuwait. The three day conference consisted of presentations, networking session, one to one meetings, sales training seminars, personal selling skills case studies, team building activities, gala dinners and social sightseeing excursions. “The one on one member meetings were extremely important as they were designed to build on the reciprocal sales activity and business opportunities between members,” added Fida Asghar. The three day event was hosted by Johnny Khoa, FPS member for Vietnam who added, “The conference provided valuable workshops on Personal Sales Technique and Advanced Selling Skills. It was a good opportunity to involve everybody in relaxed outdoor activities, entertainment, and to share an enjoyable stay here in Ho Chi Minh City.”
The Supply Chain Management facility CSLC- 2, of CSS Group began its operations in June 2004, with limited customers and today, has grown to become the preferred partner for major multinationals within the region. Located in JAFZA, one of the largest man made ports in the world, the facility is located close to the main container terminal which is naturally convenient for all parties involved. The current infrastructure of the facility is spread over 25,000 sq.mtrs with 14,000 sq.mtrs of state of the art racked warehousing that has a cargo capacity of 1050 TEUs. In addition, CSS Group is looking to expand this space by an additional 3000 sq.mtrs by the end of this year. The office space is around 300 sq.mtrs with an additional dedicated area of 500 sq.mtrs for value added jobs.
The 37th edition of the India Club UAE Open Badminton tournament got off to a colourful start with a record 595 participants in the men’s, ladies’, boys’, girls’ and veterans’ categories.
As part of our continuous commitment to the freight forwarding fraternity, CSS initiated a thank you scheme over 8 years ago, whereby one lucky name out of the scores of business cards that are dropped into the raffle bowls placed at the Delivery Order Counter will be rewarded with a gift.
When reading a particular book leaves a lasting impression, it usually brings inspiration when least expected. One such book, takes its title from an acclaimed English cricketer, born in Bangalore in 1932. Colin Cowdrey’s cover drive which was said to be like, “The Promise of an Endless Summer” evoked the book’s title. Cricket conjures up images of green turf, lazy sunny afternoons and the sound of willow hitting on leather. For many, these are things that dreams are made of. But it is one thing dreaming and another being spurred to do something about a dream.
Nobody expected such a stunning performance, when KPL team owners XI invited the team formed by the cast and crew of the famous Malayalam movie hit 1983 branded by the Concord ventures Group. Both team played professionally at the Sevens ground on the Al Ain road in Dubai. Concord ventures group team 1983 put up a formidable score of 152 as per the T20 standards, when they batted first. Some brilliant shots from actors like Kunchacko Boban and Madan Mohan helped 1983 team to put up a challenging score in front of the experienced KPL team owners XI.
Prior to the teaser match in Dubai, the KPL Management committee and the 1983 movie crew jointly conducted a press conference both in Cochin & Dubai.
The first of its kind T20 Cricket in UAE – Asian Cricketing with Middle Eastern seasoning! A total of 14 Glorious Teams named with 14 Districts from Kerala. Each team consists of a minimum of 3 players preferable from the respective districts of Kerala in a playing XI and the remaining from local talent with one player under the age of 22 and maximum of 2 overseas players. KPL Dubai is the biggest ASIAN sporting event providing you with the opportunity to be known to and reach, one of the largest communities in the region.
Emirates SkyCargo presented its top agents with special achievement awards at a dedicated event held in March 2014 at the JW Marriott Marquis in Dubai. These awards recognise the important role of cargo agents and forwarders in contributing to the airline’s success during the year 2013.
CSS was recently recognized at the Customer Award Night by Safmarine, at a dinner held at the Murooj Rotana in Dubai, UAE on April 9th 2014. In attendance to receive this award for CSS was Ajay Krishnan, Senior General Manager, Ocean Freight and Raufa Shaikh, Pricing Manager.
The Asian Relocation Association (ARA) was formed in early 2009, and consists of a close knit like-minded relocating companies within the Asian region. The conference acts as an excellent platform for relocation specialists within the region to network, and discusses recent trends and opportunities within the industry.
Saskia De Jong, Director FPS Rotterdam, visited CSS Dubai earlier this year to meet the entire team as part of their long standing business relationship.
CSS GROUP CELEBRATED ITS 19TH ANNIVERSARY STAFF PARTY IN ABU DHABI
The 20th edition of Intermodal South America which is the 2nd largest event in the world of Logistics, Cargo Transportation and Foreign Trade took place in São Paulo Brazil, Transamérica Expo Center from April 1st to 3rd, 2014.
The Middle East Air Cargo and Logistics Exhibition and Conference 2014 (MEACL 2014) organised by Arabian Reach FZ LLC and hosted by Etihad Cargo was held on 9th and 10th of April 2014 in Abu Dhabi. The Event attracted airlines, airports, freight forwarders and multimodal transport experts to discuss the trends and future opportunities in the logistics industry in the region.
Global marine terminal operator DP World has recently hosted a conference at the Mövenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate – Dubai, aimed at fostering partnerships to facilitate increased trade between Asia and Europe along the “New Silk Way” through Kazakhstan.
DP World Group CEO Mohammed Sharaf welcomed attendees to the conference saying: “With the shift of manufacturing to central and western Chinese cities, far from the traditional sea ports that have taken Chinese made goods around the world, the New Silk Way across Kazakhstan has enormous potential to link China and the west mainly by land, and particularly by rail.” In November 2013, DP World and KTZ signed an agreement that will see DP World provide management advisory services for the development of the Khorgos Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Inland Container Depot (ICD). DP World will also provide similar services under a separate contract at the Port of Aktau, Kazakhstan’s main cargo and bulk terminal on the Caspian Sea.
CSS Homeward Bound, the relocation and moving arm of CSS Group, was recently awarded the lashing and securing of personal vehicles by a prestigious client within the MENA region. The scope of the project was to collect the vehicles, conduct a damage survey and prepare a report of damages, transportation of the cars by car carriers, stuffing and lashing the cars into containers and handling the export documentation, freight, clearance, door delivery with destuffing.