Biz in Brief

Port of Yantian has become only the fourth port in the world to offer liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering. LNG bunkering refers to the practice of providing LNG to specially designed ships so that they power themselves with this much cleaner fossil fuel instead of dirtier traditional alternatives such as heavy fuel oil, marine diesel fuel and marine gas oil. The port launched its service by hosting the 23,000-TEU M/V CMA CGM SORBONNE, the world’s largest LNG-powered container ship.

From Austria to Ireland, Ookla says 3 beats the rest for speed. Ookla, the global leader in fixed broadband and mobile network testing applications, data and analysis, presents its annual Speedtest awards every year. For the third year in a row, Drei Austria has been deemed the fastest 5G network in Austria. It celebrated with an ad campaign that treated German speakers to witty wordplay to highlight the win. 3 Ireland won its national contest for the fastest network for a fourth year in a row and the quickest 5G network for a third time.

The city of Venlo, a Dutch logistics hotspot near the Netherlands–Germany border, celebrated the 40^th anniversary of its founding as a rail terminal in October 2022. It has also been a barge terminal for more than 10 years, providing around 30 weekly connections to Rotterdam and vice versa as well as to other locations. Hongkong United Dockyards had a decade head start on Venlo and celebrated its 50^th anniversary with management from Hutchison Ports and HPH Trust.

Doubling even that impressive milestone, the Polish Port of Gdynia celebrated its 100^th anniversary. On 23 September 1922, the Polish Parliament passed legislation to transform the fishing village of Gdynia into a modern port. The 2022 gala saw over 700 luminaries of government and business join former and current port staff at the Danuta Baduszkowa Music Theatre celebrating with the people of Gdynia and the whole nation.

Modern ports are host to far more than just big boats; they are multi-modal transport hubs with trucks, rail and more all connecting their hinterlands to the sea. Hutchison Ports Yantian now has 11 inland ports in Mainland China. It opened its 10^th inland port in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province followed by Chenzhou, Hunan Province. The rail connection facility in Chenzhou is the third inland port operated by Hutchison Ports Yantian in the province. This network of inland ports has supported the rise of Hutchison Ports Yantian’s rail–sea throughput by 10% year-on-year.

Austrians are taking up the challenge to see if they can beat the radar! Special speed cameras have been set up on popular running routes across Austria that will take a picture if people can hit a minimum speed to trigger the camera. Metaphorically linked to the telecoms company’s superfast 5G network speeds, it is spawning swarms of superfast selfie speedsters.

HUTCHMED’s fruquintinib is now targeting second-line gastric cancer. A Phase III study, involving 703 patients, has shown a statistically significant impact in improving progression-free survival (PFS) when combined with another drug, paclitaxel. PFS is the length of time during and after the treatment of a disease wherein a patient lives with the disease but it does not get worse.

HUTCHMED has recently completed patient enrolment of ESLIM-01, the Phase III clinical trial of sovleplenib for the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), an autoimmune disorder that can lead to increased risk of bleeding. ITP can often be serious and can have a significant, multifaceted impact on patients’ health and quality of life. Patients often become resistant to treatment over time and new treatment options are desperately needed. The drug has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for ITP in China. It is also being studied for use in indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple subtypes of B-cell malignancies.

Wind Tre is introducing a new service for customers with the relevant smartphones that allow them to make calls over WiFi. This is distinct from using voice over internet protocol (VOIP) calling through apps using WiFi. It allows for making emergency calls when there is no mobile radio coverage and improves execution time of the call. Users can call people normally on their phone numbers rather than having to depend on using a compatible app the recipient may or may not have. This service will have no fees associated with it and does not require the downloading of additional apps; it just works.

3 Hong Kong is drawing in the next generation of worker bees, sleuthing out network blind spots using their phones with live-streaming apps such as Facebook and Instagram. Wacky ads recruited people to document their search for blind spots, letting consumers know that 3 Hong Kong takes network improvement seriously. Other fun recruitment drives included Beer Pong games held at the flagship 3 Hong Kong store with prizes including free airline tickets and honey bee beers. The city is buzzing with excitement over the promotions!

The UK is a global leader in achieving net-zero ambitions. Wales & West Utilities is helping businesses and gas consumers in the region with the transition to a greener fuel source, hydrogen. The HyLine Cymru pipeline is expected to stretch across south Wales, connecting customers to a clean-burning hydrogen option. Commercial-scale production of clean hydrogen in Pembrokeshire, Port Talbot and the Celtic Sea ensures that the generation of hydrogen is economically feasible and allows even more customers to benefit. Evidence from feasibility studies will enable projects like these to be launched in the future, supporting the widespread switch to hydrogen in the early 2030s.