Week #12 - 2019 - Project Cargo Weekly

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Week #12 | 21 March 2019

It’s Week 12 and Thursday, which means that Project Cargo Weekly is once again in your inbox and hopefully not in your spam box.

I am writing this editorial from Hong Kong and, as you might know by now, it’s one of my favourite cities in the world. I have a long history with Hong Kong as I first arrived here in 1986. Two years later, I got married here in St. Margaret’s church in Happy Valley with a good view of the Happy Valley race track. It was some years then still, until the British handover of Hong Kong to China, which took place in 1997. Many Hong Kongers were worried about becoming part of China back then, even under the ‘one country, two systems’ concept developed by Deng Xiaoping.

In fact, so many Hong Kongers managed to get Canadian passports that the people of the Canadian city of Vancouver began to call itself Hongcouver. Anyway, once you get addicted to Hong Kong – the handy size, the ease of doing business, the proximity to potentially the world’s largest market – you cannot help but want to return to the city to continue doing business and hopefully earn more money. It’s a loud place but I believe sometimes that Chinese people need the noise and cannot live without it.

Sitting here in 2019 and looking back to 1997, there is of course no doubt that Hong Kong has changed but so has China overall, at least to a foreign eye. It’s impressive to say the least and Hong Kong’s economy has certainly benefitted from the influx of cash-rich Chinese people or tourists, of which there are plenty from the mainland now. Try and stand in line at the Louis Vuitton store here in Tsimshatsui and you will know. Here are a few shots that I’ve taken during my Hong Kong trip, which might whet your appetite for visiting.

I hope that the local SAR government in Hong Kong and Beijing will continue to keep the difference and develop the ‘one country, two systems’ measure for the future so that Hong Kong doesn’t become ‘just another Chinese megacity’. Time ultimately will tell. One thing for sure though is that cost levels are going through the roof, not least in housing etc. so that’s something that needs to be addressed by anyone pretending to care about the interests of Hong Kong.

To business, then, and of course we have some interviews for you this week. We start off by visiting the small country of Lebanon, a country that has a long and sometimes troubled history, but also a reputation for clever business people spread out worldwide. We talk to a local shipping agent also with a very long and distinguished history in the field of logistics. We then head the way of many Lebanese folks, i.e. to France and it’s here that we speak to a local project freight forwarder that is active and highly specialised. Finally, we visit the industrial engine of Europe that is Germany and talk to a very reliable project freight forwarder with solid experience in the trucking of oversized pieces in Germany. We provide you with shipping and sector news and alongside our Video and Features of the Week, we round of the newsletter with Wise Words.

Until next time,

Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen

Henry Heald & Co. S.A.L – Beirut, Lebanon

Interview with

Mr. Sami Khoury
Business Development Manager

Sami, could you first tell us a little about the history of Henry Heald? When was your company first established, who owns it and from where does the name originate?

Henry Heald & Co. was founded in Beirut in 1837 by an Englishman from Leeds named Henry Heald, hence the name. The great grandfather of our current majority shareholder (chairman of the board and managing director, Ms. Harriet Joly) went into partnership with Henry Heald’s nephew and purchased the remaining shares in the company from the nephew’s heirs upon his death. Harriet Joly has dual British and Lebanese nationality, more than thirty years of experience in the shipping industry and has led the company to becoming the number one ro-ro importer into Lebanon for the past several years.

Read the full interview

SIS Logistik – Hannover, Germany

Interview with

Mr. Andreas Becker
Manager Intercontinental Traffic

Andreas, for starters I would like to ask a couple of questions about you. When did you start your own career in logistics? Why did you start in logistics and not in, say, banking or other industries? What is it that you like about logistics?

I started in logistics in 1982 as a trainee directly after graduating high school. Like most Germans, I participated on a dual education trainee program which took three years. Two days a week I was in school, three days with the company. Actually, I wanted to work in rail but at the beginning of the eighties, Germany was in a recession and the German railways stopped hiring. So, I thought of working for a forwarder as also being transport-related and when I got an offer for a trainee programme I end up in logistics. In logistics I’m always facing new challenges and I also enjoy organisation. Additionally, it is international business and I get to interact with people from all over the world. Of course, travelling is always a highlight.

Read the full interview

C.E.R.L. – France

Interview with

Mrs. Maria Nouveau
Deputy Managing Director

Firstly, Maria, I see that you come from Austria. How did you end up in logistics in France? It must mean that, amongst other qualities, you speak French?

Indeed, I was born in Austria and fell in love with France while I was working as an au-pair girl in Paris thirty-five years ago. Later when an Austrian haulier offered me a temporary job in Lyon, France, I immediately accepted. So, I was working for their agent in France (Danzas), where I met Georges, my husband. Well, you know how love is, I never left France again. So indeed, I speak French (it’s much better than my German now).

Read the full interview

Port of Spain – Trinidad And Tobago Aerial Video

Editors note:

Port of Spain seems like a nice place – also for shipping – to my regret I haven’t been there but need to go soon. I even have a nice contact from my days in Malta who now works for CMA CGM in Port of Spain.

Enjoy this video!

Why Djibouti is home to China’s first foreign military base

Editors note:

In shipping news this week we can see the development of CMA CGM in Ethiopia following the French presidents visit on another note it is also interesting to read this article that clearly sets out the case currently between USA and China vying for influence in selected hubs and strategic places around the world.

Last August, China opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti, a tiny nation in the Horn of Africa. Djibouti plays host to more foreign military facilities than anywhere else in the world, offering a key strategic location to supply regional peacekeeping and humanitarian missions and combat piracy. This August, China was reported to be funding a mountain brigade and training facility for Afghan troops in the Wakhan Corridor, bordering China’s troubled Muslim region of Xinjiang

Loading Heavy Equipment in a CakeBoxx

CakeBoxx two-piece shipping containers are perfect for transporting heavy construction equipment and vehicles.

CakeBoxx design is perfect for loading long cargos such as beam and pipe, but it can also be a massive problem solver for containerizing and shipping difficult-to-load vehicles, some of which would never fit through the doors in a standard container. http://cakeboxx-technologies.com/

View video

French shipping group CMA CGM to form new venture with Ethiopian firm MACCFA

France’s CMA CGM has signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture with Ethiopian company MACCFA, as well as a letter of intent with ESLSE to manage Ethiopia’s Modjo port, according to a document made available by the French President’s office.

AAL Mega-Size MPV Delivers 22 Chinese Petrochemical Plant Modules to Major Expansion Project in Texas in a Single Sailing

Specialist breakbulk and project heavy lift carrier AAL has successfully shipped 22 petrochemical plant modules from the Wilson Heavy Industry Company in Nantong, to the Ethylene Glycol II Expansion Project in Point Comfort, Texas on behalf of the Pacific Ocean Group Limited.

Dongfeng and Maxion Wheels form aluminum wheel joint venture

MaxionWheels, the world’s largest wheel manufacturer, announced today the agreement to form a new passenger car aluminum wheel joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Parts and Components Group, one of China’s largest automotive parts companies. The new legal entity, Dongfeng Maxion Wheels, will build a new two-million per year capacity plant in Hubei Province, China, with series production scheduled for second half 2020.

Kalesnikoff Lumber Company Announces New $35 Million Mass Timber Facility in West Kootenays

Kalesnikoff’s $35 million mass timber investment will encompass construction of a new 110,000 sq ft. building, and the purchase of state-of-the-art processing equipment and technology from leading companies including Denmark-based Kallesoe Machinery and Canadian-based Conception RP.

Chinese-Korean JV wins $408m railway in UAE

China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and South Korea’s SK Engineering and Construction have been awarded the $408m Package A of Stage Two of the UAE National Rail Network by Etihad Rail.