Uzbekistan's Centrum Air airline on Monday launched a direct passenger flight connecting Tashkent and Guangzhou /adm. center of Guangdong province/. Guangdong.

According to the schedule, the new flight in both directions will be operated by Airbus A321 airliner twice a week. The flight from Tashkent to Guangzhou on Wednesdays and Sundays, and from Guangzhou to Tashkent on Mondays and Thursdays.

The opening of the new air route will not only facilitate the movement of passengers between the two countries, but also give a new impetus to economic and trade cooperation between Uzbekistan and China, said Centrum Air CEO Abdulaziz Abdurakhmanov.

Pan Jian, operations director of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, expressed confidence that many Chinese will use the flight to travel, do business or visit relatives in Central Asia.

One of the busiest container terminals on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in Wuhan City is unexpectedly quiet -- only a few people are on the premises, while automated cranes and unmanned trucks work smoothly and efficiently.

“Now 50 percent of the loading and transportation at our terminal is automated, which has greatly improved productivity,” said Chen Xiaomian, production and operations manager of Wuhan CSP Terminal Co., Ltd. which operates the terminal in Wuhan, the administrative center of Hubei Province /Central China/.

“We only need 12 employees to remotely manage the work, which previously required 39 employees at a traditional terminal,” he added. By utilizing “5G plus industrial internet” technology, employees can operate the cranes with a single remote control while watching the process on screens.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Informatization of the People's Republic of China, “5G + Industrial Internet” is a new infrastructure, application model and industrial ecosystem deeply integrated into the industrial sector of the economy using next-generation information and telecommunications technology in the form of 5G.

By integrating people, machines, things and systems through 5G, “5G + Industrial Internet” aims to build entirely new production and service systems covering the entire production and value-added chains, to provide new pathways for industrial development, to digitalize, network and intelligent development of industrial sectors, and to help enterprises reduce costs, improve quality, enhance efficiency and ensure green and safe development.

As part of its technology-driven growth strategy, China has committed to developing “5G plus industrial internet” in recent years, seeking to accelerate the intelligent upgrading of its traditional industries.

According to the aforementioned ministry, steel manufacturing, equipment manufacturing, mining and port logistics are industries that have made extensive use of “5G plus industrial internet”, with technologies such as intelligent logistics, automated visual inspection, remote control and automated patrolling finding increasing application.

A notable example is Hegang, a rust belt city in Heilongjiang province in northeast China, where the local graphite mining industry is experiencing a renaissance.

Unlike the previous model characterized by extensive exploitation, ongoing mining operations are carefully planned using remote monitoring and data analysis. These technologies can significantly improve operational efficiency and prevent wasteful use of resources, helping the city transform itself into one of China's largest graphite centers.

The city's technology-fueled renaissance reflects a broader trend across China, with more than 15,000 “5G plus industrial internet” projects underway, covering all 41 major industrial categories in the country.

Zhou Ji, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that “5G plus industrial internet” is the main driving force behind the ongoing development of smart manufacturing in China, which includes not only technological advances but also the reshaping of industrial models.

He expects that by 2035, digital, networked and smart manufacturing technologies will be widely adopted by industrial companies across the country, making China a leader in global smart manufacturing.

To further accelerate this transformation, the ministry announced the 5G plus Industrial Internet pilot program in 10 cities at the recently concluded All-China Conference on 5G plus Industrial Internet 2024. The program aims to promote large-scale application, with cities such as Nanjing, Wuhan, Qingdao and seven other cities participating.

According to the ministry, these cities will focus on developing 5G-based industrial clusters and innovation ecosystems with pace-setting effects at both regional and national levels.

During the conference, Chen Ronghui, deputy head of the State Data Administration of the People's Republic of China, said that the administration will continue to transform traditional industries with digital technology. Moreover, it will create more digital solution providers to offer optimized, low-cost products and services.

Looking ahead, Shang Guangyun, chief technology officer and deputy general manager of Inspur Yunzhou Industrial Internet Platform, said there should be more solutions customized to companies' needs. He also suggested that the prices of all types of 5G-based equipment should be lowered.

He added that with the emergence of more smart factories in China, “5G plus industrial internet” technology will provide a wider range of application scenarios such as intelligent sensing, real-time analysis and precise control, thereby further improving production efficiency.

As part of its campaign to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea that it associates with Israel, the Houthis have been actively threatening shipowners the Association of German Shipowners (VDR) revealed today. The militants' use of a spokesperson and social media is well known, but the association says the group is also using emails to threaten shipping companies.

"The Houthi rebels obviously have well-researched email addresses, as the threats were also sent to individual contacts,” said Irina Haesler, member of the VDR management board and responsible for maritime security policy. “These are targeted attempts at intimidation.”

According to the VDR, which told AFP (Agence France-Presse) the German Navy has confirmed the authenticity of the threatening messages, the emails have been sent in “recent months.”

The threats themselves are nothing new, as the VDR reports they are directed against ships calling at Israeli ports, as well as against those passing through the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean. The association says, “Regardless of their location, ships with supposed links to Israel are considered potential targets.”

The VDR notes that German shipowners continue to divert their vessels around Africa. They highlighted the detour takes almost two weeks and causes higher costs. Haesler said the threatening emails underline the risks ships are facing and the necessity to divert.

“We take these threats very seriously and are in constant contact with our members and the security authorities,” said Haesler.

As the calendar ticks past a year since the Houthis began their attacks with the boarding of the car carrier Galaxy Leader, the group asserts it has targeted more than 200 vessels. Recently, they vowed to continue targeting ships and companies associated with Israel saying they would not consider changes of flag or registered owner when selecting targets. They said all ships trading with Israel need to be “punished.”

After launching an attack against two U.S. destroyers a week ago, and claiming to have targeted the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, the Houthis appear to have fired on a Turkish-managed bulker on Sunday and again today. The master of the unnamed vessel reported to UK Maritime Trade Operations that it had twice seen missiles “splashed in close proximity.”

The first of the incidents was reported on November 17 while the vessel was southbound in the Red Sea. It was 25 nautical miles west of Mukha at the northern reaches of the Bab al-Mandeb when the first missile was seen. The second attack was on November 18 while the same bulker was 60 nautical miles southeast of Aden. Neither attack hit the ship and UKMTO reports the crew is safe and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call.

The EU operation Aspides highlights that it continues to provide protection for vessels transiting the waters and recently CMA CGM considered sending additional vessels through the Red Sea based on the decline in frequency of the attacks. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd however said they expect their new Gemini Cooperation will continue to reroute vessels well into 2025.

Singapore Airlines launched an air route linking Beijing's Dasin International Airport and Singapore on Monday.

Flights on this route are operated by Boeing 787-10 aircraft daily in both directions.

Thus, the number of passenger flights of the aforementioned airline on the Beijing-Singapore route has increased to 28 per week, Singapore Airlines informed.

Dai Haoyu, spokesperson of Singapore Airlines, said the growing Chinese market will be a bright spot in the global civil aviation passenger transportation market over the next 10-20 years.

“China is an important strategic market for us,” he added.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China predicts that the country's passenger transportation volume will reach a record high of 700 million by the end of 2024. China has been the world's second-largest civil aviation sector for 19 consecutive years. Its contribution to the growth of global air transportation exceeded 20 percent.

The average delay for containerships behind schedule has continued to increase in 2024 rising to the highest levels except during the peak of the pandemic and surge in container volumes. Sea-Intelligence is out with its monthly look at the average performance of the container shipping carriers across 34 different trade lanes highlighting the industry remains broadly impacted by the disruptions of 2024.

“While schedule reliability in 2024 has stabilized within the 50 to 55 percent range, it’s been on a slight downward trend since the May peak,” commented Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence. He however notes that “The low levels of volatility in schedule reliability in 2024 do give shippers a relatively good idea of what to expect month over month.”

Overall, the industry’s schedule reliability slipped a further 1.2 percentage points in September to 51.4 percent. It is the bottom of the range for 2024 and the lowest level the industry has seen in 24 months. From a dismal level of just one in three ships on schedule in 2021, the industry surpassed the 50 percent mark in October 2022 and was able to get as high as 64 percent in mid-2023. The declines resumed in December 2023 as the Houthis began to interrupt containership schedules through the Red Sea.

The current performance compares with 2019 when before the pandemic, the surge in volumes, and now the Red Sea diversions, containerships were reaching 80 percent schedule reliability. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have set an ambitious target of reaching 90 percent schedule reliability on key routes once they launch the Gemini Cooperation in 2025.

Maersk remains at the top of the industry with the best schedule reliability in September 2024 and one of only four carriers among the top 13 that were able to improve performance between August and September. However, Maersk is at just 55.5 percent down from 70 percent a year ago. Zim, PIL, and Wan Hai were the other carriers that were able to improve performance month over month.

All the top carriers are showing a significant decline year over year. From an average of 60 percent in September 2023, the largest carriers are down 13 percentage points to an average of 47 percent in September 2024. Three carriers (MSC, PIL, and Wan Hai) are each down over 20 percentage points year-over-year calculates Sea-Intelligence. The average decline year-over-year is 13 percentage points with a 2.5 percent point average decline in September 2024 versus the prior month.

While schedule reliability has been in a narrow range for 2024, Sea-Intelligence highlights that the September 2024 average delay is “the third-highest figure for the month, only surpassed by pandemic highs of 2021-2022.”

The average delay in September was up a further 0.21 days reports Sea-Intelligence. They calculate that the average delay for late vessel arrivals is now 5.67 days. The average for 2024 is up half a day from the 2023 average. Before the rerouting began, vessels had clawed the delay back to below five days for late arrivals.

The most consistent level of port congestion remains in Asia reports Linerlytica. In addition to the Chinese ports, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Korea, Linerlytica however shows increased levels at Savannah and in Northern Europe’s large container ports on its October 31 snapshot.

With the diversions around Africa and winter weather challenges off the South Africa, ports and carriers highlighted problems with vessel bunching at ports. This was creating the congestion spikes at individual ports which further added to the delays.

Maersk warned the industry last week that it expects the disruptions coming from the Red Sea rerouting to continue well in 2025. The Houthis over the weekend vowed to continue their attacks while the leader of the group reported they have targeted over 200 vessels in the past year.