Dear Readers,
It is Thursday 3rd May and in some parts of Europe, the hangovers after the May 1st worker’s day parties should have subsided by now. May 1st is about red flags, speeches, rights and wrongs, but above all (especially here in the North of Europe) it is a day off of work, nothing more and nothing less. Workers rights are important but when “workers” follow what is happening in Brussels (the capital of the EU) where the EU commission now wants to spend more money instead of tightening the belt, it seems that a line has been crossed.
The EU establishment in Brussels is a colossal bureaucracy with a clear French influence of endless meetings, committees, and relationships. 2500 or more plastic trunks with documents are transported from Brussels on five lorries or so once a month year-round to the parliament meeting in Strasbourg and then after two days back again. Why? I can’t remember the cost of it but 100 million euros comes to mind. Read more…
With a bloated bureaucracy, non-elected commissars (EUSSR) and an inability to enforce its own borders whilst paying off Turkey with billions to do it for them, makes one wonder about the future. The EU is one of the nicest places in the world to live in, so it is hard to believe how ineffective our core leadership is. The order of the day seems to be no decisions, only meetings, no savings only spending.
Today we have interviews with a company that at least has some industrial teeth and another country that has a lot of self-inflicted problems biting its own tongue. We are talking about Germany and Brazil. Impressive countries in many ways and for many reasons. We also have interesting shipping news for you today in the form of a couple of new features, namely “This week in shipping history” and “a light moment of the week” – we all need that after a hard weeks’ work.
Followed by the usual sector news, video and photo of the week. The video is very remarkable, it shows the first ever face to face meeting between a North and South Korean leaders, one of them, surprise surprise, is named Kim.
Enjoy and have a great rest of the week.
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
LPL Projects & Logistics – Hamburg, Germany
Interview with
Mr. Marc de Waele
Managing Director
Tell us about the history of LPL Projects, when the company was started and who are the owners today etc.?
Under the name LPL we have been in the market since 2003. But we have been doing project business since the late 1970s, formerly as a department of the Lehnkering Group.
LPL is a privately owned company, specialized in the field of worldwide project business with a total of around 100 employees. Presently we have, besides our 4 offices in Germany, own offices in Egypt, Italy, Malaysia, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Mozambique, South Africa and a new office in the US.
ES Logistics – Brazil
Interview with
Mr. Fabiano Ardigó
Director
First of all, Fabiano tell us a bit about ES Logistics. When was the company established, who owns it and why did you establish your head office in Itajai?
ES Logistics is a family-owned company established in 2001. Our head office is in the south of Brazil in Itajai which today is at the center of the second largest inbound and outbound sea freight market in Brazil after Santos. Our objective has always been to be very strong in the South of Brazil which is the region with the second largest GDP of the country after Sao Paulo.
Ocean7 Projects Strengthens its Position In Asia with New Office and Partnership
Ocean7 Projects, a specialized chartering and commercial management company focusing on the transport of heavylift, project and breakbulk cargo, proudly announces the opening of their new office in Bangkok, where a partnership and general agency for the region has been established via the J/V company WeShip.
M/V Interlink Amenity Calls the Port of Vancouver USA on Her Maiden Voyage
The Port of Vancouver USA welcomed the M/V Interlink Amenity, commanded by Capt. Fengli Zhang of China, on her maiden voyage May 1. Capt. Zhang and his 20-member crew were welcomed to Vancouver by representatives from EVRAZ North America, Jones Stevedoring, General Steamship, Allports Forwarding Inc. and the Port of Vancouver USA.
Thorco Projects Celebrates 15th Anniversary
Thorco Projects was founded in 2003 as a collaboration between THORNICO, Thor and Christian Stadil, a young and energetic Thomas Mikkelsen and the industry veteran and now retired, Finn Spring. It all began in modest premises on top of a tiny backyard bike shop in Svendborg, the historic maritime town of Denmark. From here, the team quickly grew the business.
Why CMA CGM Ordered ‘Game Changing’ 22,000 TEU LNG-Powered Container Ships
Last week Seatrade Maritime News sat down for a fireside chat with Nicolas Sartini, CEO of APL, part of the CMA CGM Group, about the game-changing decision by the French container line to order nine LNG-fuelled, 22,000 TEU capacity containerships. Below we publish some extracts from the conversation that took place at the Sea Asia LNG Forum in Singapore.
Biotech
WuXi Biologics to Invest €325 Million to Build Largest Biomanufacturing Facility Using Single-Use Bioreactors in Ireland
An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Prime Minister of Ireland today announced that WuXi Biologics, a Hong Kong-listed (2269.HK) global open-access biologics technology platform company, is to invest €325 million and create 400 new jobs over five years in a new biologics drug substance manufacturing facility on the Industrial Development Authority’s (IDA) greenfield site in Mullagharlin, Dundalk, Co. Louth. Read more…
Construction
Robo Sand Promoters’ Set Up a Production Facility in Telangana
Hyderabad based Robo Sand Promoters has forayed into precast partition wall panels segment through Robomatic Precon. The company has set up a fully automated state-of-the-art precast partition walls manufacturing facility on a three-acre land at Lemoor village in Ranga Reddy district in Telangana. Read more…
Plants & Processing
Haier Group to invest in Noida’s Greenfield MFG Plant
Haier Group, a Chinese electronics consumer durables major, is looking to invest over Rs 32 billion in a greenfield manufacturing plant in Noida. Read more…
Oil & Gas
Baker Hughes To Supply Barents Sea Project
GE company Baker Hughes (BHGE) was awarded a contract to provide turbomachinery equipment for the topside structure for the floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) to be located at the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea. Read more…
This Week in Shipping History
Editor’s Note:
Yours truly at five years old, waving to my father whilst passenger onboard MV Venezuela at the Port of Gdynia, Poland, in 1968.
Light Moment of the Week
Editor’s Note:
Who said anything about blockchain technology and shipping?
Editor’s Note:
Something extraordinary happened in the past week.
The South and North Korean leaders met each other at Panmunjon border between the two Koreas. The rest of the World surely hopes that things finally and permanently change for the better, as they do share more than just a border!