Hutchinson Ports in Sydney are increasing their Infrastructure Levy at Port Botany terminal to ensure that they have sufficient capability to serve the needs of the industry. This significant increase to $63.11 excluding GST will be effective as of 18 November 2019. The Infrastructure Levy will apply to all full containers received or delivered by road or rail at the terminal. If you have any queries please contact one of our team members at Tomax.

DP World Australia has announced that as of 1 January 2020 there will be increases to their Terminal Access Charge (formerly known as an Infrastructure Surcharge) and other ancillary charges at their Port Botany, Fisherman Island, Fremantle and West Swanson Terminal operations. The revised fees are as per below:

Terminal	Terminal Access Charge
Fremantle	$45.00
Fisherman Island	$89.00
Port Botany	$91.00
West Swanson	$98.00

Other ancillary charges such as the:

• VBS Administration Fee – electronic
  
• Stack Run In/Out Fee
  
• Direct Return of Empty Booking Fee
  

Will all increase to $18.45 per slot/per full container for all terminals. There are also a number of adjustments to import storage charges for all terminals. If you require further information please contact one of our friendly staff at Tomax.

Four men have been charged over the importation of 400kg of methylamphetamine, which was detected by the Australian Border Force (ABF) concealed in bottles of Sriracha chilli sauce imported from the USA.

On Tuesday 15 October 2019, ABF officers targeted an air cargo consignment which had recently arrived at a freight depot in Sydney from the US. The consignment, which was declared as hot chilli sauce, was examined by ABF officers who noted discrepancies. After further testing, 768 bottles of chilli sauce returned a presumptive reading for methylamphetamine, more commonly known as 'ice'.

A preliminary forensic analysis determined the bottles contained about 400kg of methylamphetamine, which has an estimated potential street value of more than $300 million.

Strike Force Diffey investigators, with assistance from Australian Federal Police and ABF, seized the consignment and conducted a controlled delivery of the goods.

As a result, on Sunday 20 October 2019 a 36-year-old man was arrested by strike force detectives outside a home at Plumpton. The next day, detectives arrested two Victorian men – aged 30 and 34 – in the carpark of a hotel in Sydney’s CBD. Shortly after, police searched a vehicle in the carpark and seized eight boxes containing bottles of chilli sauce, box cutters, moving bags and gardening gloves. A search warrant was also executed for a hotel suite, where police seized 26 boxes of chilli sauce and four mobile phones.

The men were all charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and large commercial drug supply.

Following further investigations, strike force detectives executed a search warrant at Edensor Park on Thursday 31 October 2019, where a fourth man, aged 45 was arrested outside the home and taken to Fairfield Police Station, where he is expected to be charged.

Acting ABF Regional Commander for NSW, Matt O’Connor, said the seizure had prevented approximately four million hits of ice hitting the streets.

Investigations under Strike Force Diffey are ongoing.

Australia and Malaysia announced the successful conclusion of Operation REDBACK XIV, a joint border protection exercise to fight maritime crime in the Malacca Strait, near Langkawi, Kedah.

Director of Maritime Enforcement and Coordination Division, First Admiral Nurul Hizam bin Zakaria said, the operation focused on people smuggling and human trafficking. "The Operation shows the close relation between Malaysia Coast Guard and Australian Border Force in sharing intelligence and expertise on border security to reinforce combined effectiveness and capability," said the Admiral.

“The close ties between Malaysia and Australia has definitely contributed to the success of this 14th Operation Redback in combatting maritime security threat together. We both have significant maritime borders; we are serious about cooperating on security in our region and are committed to combatting threats in the maritime domain,” said Nurul Hizam.

Malaysia is currently facing the movement of people from Myanmar to Malaysia. In 2015, about 25,000 people travelled across the Andaman Sea and went to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Deputy Commander for Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders, Australian Border Force Commander Tony Smith said that Operation Redback was an important deterrent to illegal maritime activity and that the issue of maritime people smuggling has not gone away.

“The victims of these transnational crimes are tricked by criminals and their lives are put at risk. The threats are very real so we all have an important role to play defeating these syndicates and saving lives at sea.” Commander Smith said.

In June 2019, Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders launched an information campaign, Zero Chance of Illegal Migration, warning that anyone who tries to come to Australia illegally by boat will be intercepted and returned.

“We want people in the region to understand the truth so they will not be exploited by people smugglers. This policy is designed to deny people smugglers a product to sell, protect Australia’s borders and importantly, prevent deaths at sea,” Commander Smith said.

Admiral Hizam advised that so far this year, the Malaysia Coast Guard has disrupted 768 cases involving people smuggling and maritime crime activities. This success underlines the value of a joint training exercise like Operation Redback.

Hybrid car carrier Emerald Ace recently graced us with its presence at Port of Adelaide.

The car carrier was launched earlier this year, with MOL president Koichi Muto saying how it was designed to generate zero emissions while berthed.

The Emerald Ace was built as a world’s first newly built hybrid car carrier, and is equipped with a hybrid electric power supply system that combines a 160kW solar generation system – jointly developed by MHI, Energy Company of Panasonic Group, and MOL – with lithium-ion batteries that can store some 2.2MWh of electricity.

Conventional power generation systems use diesel-powered generators to supply onboard electricity while berthed.

On the Emerald Ace, electricity is generated by the solar power generation system while the vessel is under way and stored in the lithium-ion batteries.

The diesel-powered generator is completely shut down when the ship is in berth, and the batteries provide all the electricity it needs, resulting in zero emissions at the pier.

The vessel’s hybrid system is said to represents “a significant step forward” in next-generation car carriers.

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