January 2023

PD Ports Adds Weekly Europe Service

Posted on 23 January, 2023 by David Priestman

PD Ports is delighted to have secured an additional weekly sailing between Rotterdam, Botlek and Teesport thanks to continued collaboration with shipping line A2B-online.

The expansion of the service, which will start from the end of January, will increase sailings on the route to four times per week and increase the total number of containers handled via the route to 40,000 per year, further demonstrating how Teesport acts as the UK’s Northern gateway for international trade.

Building on a long-standing partnership that dates back to 2014, the commitment to an additional vessel call reinforces the confidence that global shippers have in Teesport, and PD Ports.

Kim Catterick, General Manager – Key Accounts at PD Ports, said: “This is fantastic news for PD Ports and for the wider Tees Valley region as it demonstrates how resilient our business, and businesses across the River Tees, are to the current challenges facing the UK economy.

“The addition of another weekly sailing means that we can now provide more opportunities for shippers to import and export their goods to and from Europe whilst taking advantage of our extensive service offering as a reliable trading partner. We look forward to continuing our relationship with A2B and seeing how the business continues to develop.”

This particular service has been connecting Europe and the UK successfully since 2018, in addition to a bi-weekly Moerdijk to Teesport service that sees an extra 12,000 containers imported annually.

Michael van Keulen, Operations Director at A2B-online, praised continued positive collaboration for the success and expansion of the service calls. He said: “After already successfully operating a LoLo container service between Rotterdam, Botlek and Teesport since 2018, this expansion is the next logistical step but it wouldn’t be possible without the good cooperation from our partners at PD Ports. This additional sailing will increase the total capacity on this route to 40,000 containers a year which enables us to serve the growing demand of our large and loyal customer base.”

The news of an additional weekly service comes just a month after PD Ports, owner and operator of Teesport, also announced a brand new weekly service from the Baltics.

Webinar: Digital Transformation to Optimise Transport Operations

Posted on 23 January, 2023 by David Priestman

Technology is the beating heart of the future for transport and logistics and it’s imperative to optimise transport operations. Yet rapid and constant changes in consumer expectations – alongside rising ecommerce sales – are putting greater demand on logistics and distribution operations. Those who are best equipped can adapt quickly and are better positioned for success.

Without digital capabilities you put the success and growth of your entire operation at risk of operational downtime, inefficiencies, security breaches and cyber-attacks amongst many other factors.
Aptean’s upcoming webinar, hosted in partnership with Logistics Business and moderated by Editor Peter MacLeod, will explore the key benefits of digital transformation and how it can help solve complex routing challenges and optimise your logistics operations.

Book your place and join us for a live panel discussion on Wednesday 8th February where you’ll discover how migrating to the Cloud can help you:
• Reduce cyber security risks and maintain business continuity with disaster recover
• Future-proof your business allowing you to scale and move as required
• Become more sustainable by leveraging cloud-hosted applications
• Improve efficiency gains across time, cost, and resource
• Optimise logistics operations and make smarter plans for a better tomorrow

Optimise Transport Operations

If it’s not already – digital transformation should be your number one priority for 2023. Transitioning to a cloud-based route planning platform couldn’t be easier. Secure, scalable, and cost effective – it’s the ideal platform to ask what now, what if and what’s next. Click here to book your place and discover how, now.

Webinar: Digital Transformation to Optimise Transport Operations

Posted on 23 January, 20237 August, 2025 by David Priestman

Optimise Transport Operations

Export Consolidation to South Africa Offered

Posted on 23 January, 202331 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Growth in Dachser UK’s Air & Sea Logistics (ASL) activities continues apace with the introduction of regular consolidated freight services on the export trade to South African destinations.

With weekly departures to Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth the service is designed to help optimize customers’ supply chains. Dachser ASL provides the opportunity to ship smaller, less-than-containerload (LCL) shipments on a frequent basis without the necessity of delaying supplies until a larger quantity of goods are available to fill a container. Dachser’s reputation for quality and reliability, supported by its well-established IT tracking system, enhances shippers’ visibility and control.

“Supply chain disruption in the post-pandemic international trade environment has driven a need by shippers to often react more quickly to market demand with smaller quantities of goods to be delivered seamlessly,” said Chris Radley, Air & Sea Branch Manager at Dachser Northampton. “Our consolidated, or LCL services are tailored to fulfil this developing need and the new UK to South Africa offering is already proving popular.”

The recently inaugurated Dachser export consolidation service features vessel departures with preferred ocean carrier partners from London Gateway with transit times to the South African ports of between 26 and 30 days. All handling services including customs clearance are reliably provided by experienced, dedicated Dachser teams in both the UK and South Africa. Local hubs and CFS stations convenient to both shippers and consignees are utilised and hazardous goods are also catered for.

“Dachser’s well-established and much vaunted track and trace platform is available to monitor all shipments,” emphasises Radley. “Our eLogistics platform delivers peace of mind to our customers throughout the UK and South Africa, whether they are shipping freight throughout Europe or around the world. Our own network of offices enables a degree of reassurance and reliability which now extends to UK exporters of groupage cargo to South Africa,” he concludes.

Dachser, a family-owned company headquartered in Kempten, Germany, provides transport logistics, warehousing, and customized services in two business fields: Dachser Air & Sea Logistics and Dachser Road Logistics. The latter is divided into two business lines, Dachser European Logistics and Dachser Food Logistics. Comprehensive contract logistics services and industry-specific solutions round out the company’s offerings. A seamless shipping network—both in Europe and overseas—and fully integrated IT systems provide for intelligent logistics solutions worldwide.

PTV Group and Conundra Continue Integration

Posted on 23 January, 2023 by David Priestman

PTV Group, Econolite and Conundra, along with backers Bridgepoint and Porsche have announced the further integration and strategic reorganization of the companies into two strong and distinct businesses serving their respective end markets: Mobility and Logistics.

In order to form a new pure-play software Logistics business, PTV Logistics and Conundra are integrating their respective resources to offer state-of-the-art software solutions for route planning and optimization with best-in-class algorithms and data, as well as additional use cases to enhance savings in logistics costs and emissions. Rebranding for Logistics is in progress and will be announced shortly.

Structure and leadership is as follows:

The PTV Logistics group joins forces with Conundra to form a global software provider for logistics solutions in route planning and optimization. This combined group will be led by newly appointed CEO, Steven De Schrijver, former CEO and Co-founder of Conundra. Abbas Mohaddes, former CEO of Econolite is appointed to Chairman of the Advisory Board for both businesses.

Mohaddes said, “Our focus remains to be market and demand driven, offering superior products and services to better plan and manage our transportation systems, sensitive to desire and needs of users, travellers and alike. We are committed to embrace Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in support of global Mobility for Humanity.”

Carsten Kratz, Partner, and head of the DACH region at Bridgepoint, added “We made great progress during 2022 with the integration of PTV and Econolite, while acquiring Conundra and other enhancing assets. This rebranding and reorganization are the logical next steps in enhancing our growth and our quest for global market leadership. This is a big milestone for us, and we’ll continue to invest in both businesses.”

Lutz Meschke, member of the board of management responsible for investment management at Porsche SE, stated “The new strategic setup of the mobility and logistics businesses marks yet another important milestone in the development of PTV, Econolite, and Conundra. We look forward to further supporting the development of both businesses.”

Steven De Schrijver, Logistics group, Chief Executive Officer, added “Our goal is to provide exceptional optimization tools, that meet and exceed the expectations of the global Logistics marketplace.”

PTV Logistics is a leading global software company for planning, calculating, and optimizing transport logistics to save time and costs. With more than 40 years of experience and record-breaking algorithms in route planning and tour optimization, the software empowers logistics companies to realize the theoretical savings potential of route planning automation in practice.

PTV Group and Conundra Continue Integration

Posted on 23 January, 202331 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Structure and leadership is as follows:

Dexory Announces new Investors

Posted on 23 January, 2023 by David Priestman

Dexory, a leading intelligence and robotics company, announced today they have a new round of angel investors. This follows significant investment in 2022, when they secured $13m (£11m) in a seed round led by Swiss venture capital firm Lakestar. This announcement marks another milestone in Dexory’s journey, after the recent rebrand from BotsAndUs, reflecting their growth.

The new investors bring a range of expertise in the logistics space that will be invaluable in guiding Dexory during this vital growth stage. Dexory welcomes Paul Dodd, Martin Bysh, and Thomas Bagge as angel investors, among others.

Paul Dodd, Chief Innovation Officer and co-founder of Huboo brings over 20 years of experience working with robotics and supply chain with P&G, both in the UK and worldwide. Together with Martin Bysh, CEO, co-founder of Huboo, the pair have gone from deploying the technology at Huboo to investors, showing their confidence in the Dexory solution. Their experience in leading both the technical and commercial sides of Huboo will be of great benefit to the leadership team at Dexory.

Thomas Bagge, the CEO of Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) similarly brings a wealth of experience, having been working with global supply chains for 25 years in both logistics and container shipping companies. A large part of his career has been centred around digital transformation, process automation and deployment of new technologies, aligning well with Dexory’s vision of automation in the logistics space. The funding raised previously was used to expand and grow Dexory’s ground-breaking data solutions, establish strong partnerships with industry leaders and experts to boost growth and product development, and expand the company’s team. Dexory works with major industry leaders such as Menzies Aviation, Maersk, Huboo, and a number of other logistics and warehousing companies in the UK and across Europe.

Andrei Danescu, CEO of Dexory comments: “I’m proud to welcome such industry-leading expertise into Dexory. To secure this calibre of investors speaks volumes of their faith in the path we are on, and their guidance will help us continue to grow in 2023. We’re sure their industry knowledge will help to shape our roadmap at Dexory, and maximise the capabilities of our tech. Our unique approach to problem-solving, which integrates smart AI technology and robotics, gives us confidence that we can unlock great benefits for our customers”.

Dexory Announces new Investors

Posted on 23 January, 202325 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Short Sea boost for London Thamesport

Posted on 23 January, 2023 by Keith McKinley

The range of short sea container services available from Hutchison Ports London Thamesport is to be increased following the announcement by Viasea Shipping of a new service from the South East UK port.

Commenting on the new sailing, Mark Taylor, Director, London Thamesport, said:
“London Thamesport is already well established as one of the leading short sea container ports in the South East of England and offers excellent service levels in both quayside and landside operations. We are delighted that Viasea Shipping has chosen Thamesport as its gateway into the region. The addition of their UK-Norway service complements the regular and reliable connections we already have to Northern and Southern Europe. We look forward to working with them over the coming years to increase the range, frequency and reliability of options for shippers.”

Morten Pettersen, Managing Director of Viasea said:
“The south of UK has significant volumes of import/export to Northern Europe and Baltic region. Adding a call at London Thamesport will allow us to assist UK shippers and receivers to reduce their reliance on the heavily congested Channel crossings and will allow greater predictability for deliveries. It will also offer a greener route reducing the distances travelled by road as we bring our vessel closer to the market in this region.”

Norwegian-owned Viasea Shipping, established in 2016, is an independent short sea operator connecting Norway with the UK, Europe and the Baltic states. The new service from London Thamesport will call weekly with connections to Moerdijk and the Norwegian ports of Oslo, Moss and Kristiansand, with onward connections into the Baltic and Poland.

Hutchison Ports London Thamesport is located on River Medway near London, in the heart of South East England, 35 miles from Central London. The terminal provides road and rail links to the UK’s important manufacturing and distribution centres and is ideally positioned to serve as a port of entry for UK-bound short-sea container traffic as well as infrastructure projects around London.
Hutchison Ports London Thamesport is a member of Hutchison Ports, the ports and related services division of CK Hutchison Holdings Limited. Hutchison Ports is the world’s leading port investor, developer and operator with a network of port operations in 51 ports spanning 25 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australasia. Over the years, Hutchison Ports has expanded into other logistics and transportation-related businesses, including cruise ship terminals, distribution centres, rail services and ship repair facilities.

Short Sea boost for London Thamesport

Posted on 23 January, 2023 by David Priestman

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