Shipsta, a Luxembourg-based freight brokerage start-up formerly called Clear Logistics, has received a multi-million-euro investment from Russia's RTP and Luxembourg's Mangrove Capital Partners, enabling the firm to launch marketing and business development operations in Hamburg, a fast-expanding hub for digital logistics. Founded by former Kuehne + Nagel employee Christian Wilhelm, Shipsta plans to double its number of employees to around 40 within a year and expand its customer base.

Logistics is taking centre-stage in the German start-up ecosystem with millions of euros being invested in new ventures providing a broad range of innovative products and services. Eight logistics start-ups have recently raised capital, including Fliit, which is developing food delivery solutions; Seven Senders, which is positioning itself as an innovative parcel delivery platform for Europe; and FreightHub, which is working toward digitalising the freight forwarding sector.

Panalpina has unveiled its new customer portal at Transport Logistic 2019 in Munich. The platform offers collaborative shipment management, fully automated instant quotation and lane risk assessment, and Panalpina also enables customers to download tailored reports directly from the portal.

BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management’s Eurozone Logistics Fund has acquired a new-build warehouse in Leipzig from Goodman for an undisclosed sum. The fund says the 69,300-square metre Star Park Halle at the Star Park logistics facility strengthens its allocation to Germany.

Luxembourg-based Global Airlift Solutions has announced the acquisition of its first aircraft, a Pilatus PC-12, during the Transport Logistic 2019 trade fair in Munich. The event also saw the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology unveil an R&D project for the optimisation of waste collection in partnership with Luxembourg’s Polygone, while Cargolux received the Air Cargo Industry Customer Care Award 2019 from Air Cargo Week.

CFL has reported a €4.6m loss in 2018 by its multimodal business, an improvement on the previous year’s loss of €13.9m. The company’s cargo unit posted a net profit of €2.1m despite incurring significant costs for transitioning its locomotive fleet to the European Train Control System.

CFL Multimodal has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Port of Trieste to improve multimodal logistics services between Bettembourg-Dudelange and the Italian port. There are currently three weekly round trips between the two locations, and the partners are looking to increase and optimise rail connections along the Trieste-Bettembourg-Dudelange corridor.

Airbus Industrie could withdraw from the UK if the country leaves the EU without a withdrawal deal, company CEO Tom Enders has warned. Airbus produces wings for its commercial aircraft at plants in England and Wales, but Enders says many other countries would be ready to welcome the construction facilities.

Lufthansa Cargo has established a subsidiary, heyworld, to provide online retailers, digital marketplaces and forwarders with a range of tailored transport solutions. The e-commerce unit will offer rapid transport time, simple customs clearance, end-to-end shipment tracking and pricing at package level.

A combined DSV-Panalpina business will have a 6% forwarder market share once DSV’s planned takeover of the Swiss logistics group is completed, according to a report by consultancy Transport Intelligence. The firm says the deal is the most high-profile development in the forwarding sector in the past year, creating the world’s third-largest forwarder by revenue to rival market leaders Kuehne+Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding.

European airports saw cargo volumes fall by 6.2% year-on-year in April, the sharpest decline in freight traffic since January 2012, according to Airports Council International Europe. Frankfurt Airport volumes fell by 6.4%, and Paris CDG was down 6%. Just two of the top 10 European freight airports posted volume gains, with Madrid seeing a 3% increase and Liège up 0.4%.

Volvo Trucks has deployed its Vera autonomous vehicles for the transportation of containers between shipping line DFDS’s logistics centre in Gothenburg and the APM terminal at the city’s port. A number of the electric Vera vehicles are travelling on public roads in an industrial area, and operate at a maximum speed of 40 kph.

South Korea’s Busan Port Authority will develop a 20,000-square-metre warehouse at the Port of Rotterdam’s Maasvlakte Distribution Park West after acquiring the first of seven available plots on the site. The planned warehouse, which is expected to receive a BREEAM-NL outstanding certificate for sustainability, will become operational in 2021.

AP Moeller-Maersk is piloting the use of biofuel with select customers for cargo shipments. Clothes retailer H&M is the first company to test the use of fuel derived from waste sources, notably cooking oil, which has International Sustainability & Carbon Certification.