IN D U ST RY N EW S Israel war restricts countrys moving businesses Moving and relocation firms in Israel are among the many businesses that have been impacted by the aftermath of the Hamas attacks on 7 October. According to FIDI Affiliates operating in and out of the country, increasing hostilities disrupted air and sea transport, and day-to-day operations. As FIDI Focus went to press, they continued to cause uncertainty to civilians across the region. Elad Gur-Arie, Customs Clearance Manager at Sonigo International Shipping, said: Logistics operations are still permitted subject to caution but the lack of carriers in and out of Israel is limiting capacity on one side and increasing freight charges on the other. While shipping services to the country he of Rotterdam offers sustainability fee-cut initiative The Port of Rotterdam has announced a significant reduction in port fees for ships that use sustainable fuel. The Dutch port says the move aims to support the early adoption of more sustainable fuels, such as methanol, in advance of plans to establish greener shipping corridors from Rotterdam to the Baltic and Singapore. It will also support the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance, an initiative launched recently to promote sustainability in the shipping business. To qualify for the reduction, ships must bunker alternative fuels that have at least a 90 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases on conventional fuels. This could amount to a saving of up to half a million dollars for a large container vessel, said the port authority. continued, security issues were reported for vessels arriving into Ashdod port, near Jerusalem, with most shippers now preferring to discharge cargoes at Haifa in the north of Israel. Rerouting ships and lower space availability have added time and cost, while insurance rates have increased, with war-risk premiums also added by many shipping lines. Most overseas airlines stopped flights to Tel Aviv immediately after the start of hostilities and have been operating reduced services. Local operator El Al is continuing services, but freight operators have reported congestion at the airport because of the lack of capacity. Widespread restrictions on daily life in Israel are ongoing, with limits on the number of people permitted to gather in one place, schools and leisure facilities closed, and various regions affected by rocket attacks at different times. Many offices are also closed. Ilan Rebibo, CEO of A. Univers Transit, said: Our company is striving to maintain services, albeit with limitations. Some of our staff have been called to military service, while others are working remotely from home. Suren Shahnazarian, Export/ Import Manager at Teamnet Ltd, advised customers to check regularly on developments. We are doing our best to help customers who wish to leave or return to Israel, and we are analysing shipments on a case-by-case basis depending on final address, he said. There are developments daily, so I recommend our overseas colleagues and partners check with us regularly. Daniel Drenger, VP of Marketing & Client Development at Ocean Relocation, said in an update: Ocean Relocation is working to ensure we support the expat and local community in Israel as much as possible during these challenging times. We are assisting our clients with muchneeded support in moving their goods and pets, storage, evacuating, finding new and temporary accommodation, or seeking immigration support. Ofer Grinberg, Manager at Globus Relocation, said the company supported displaced people and the army: Globus, along with many other companies, has been supporting the community and our soldiers as much as we can. We have trucks and crews collecting donations and supplies to deliver them to evacuees and soldiers. He added that parts of the company deal with the Israeli Ministry of Defence and are classified as essential operations, without restrictions. The firm provided trucks for the visit of US President Joe Biden see picture (left). Gosselin launches reduced carbon box Gosselin has launched a universal moving box that it says has a significantly lower carbon footprint than new cardboard boxes or standard boxes made from recycled materials. The company unveiled Notabrownbox which is made from recycled cardboard and can be reused up to four times at the IAM exhibition. [PICTURE Gosselin box] Almost all moving boxes, worldwide, are printed with the logo of the moving company and used only once. By designing a brand-free box made of thicker cardboard, we want to encourage movers to reuse and share their moving boxes, said Madeline van der Rhee, Benelux Manager, who initiated development of the new product. Gosselin is introducing 150,000 brand-free moving boxes into circulation. These will result in an 80-tonne reduction in CO2 emissions compared with a standard moving box made from recycled material, or a 144-tonne reduction compared with a new cardboard moving box. Marc Smet, CEO of Gosselin Group, said the company will now look at other environmental packaging initiatives. Gosselin will soon eliminate plastic bubble wrap as packaging material, and more ecologically motivated initiatives will follow. 14 FF312 Dec_Feb 23 pp10-17 News.indd 14 05/12/2023 09:00