Dear Readers,
It’s Thursday 12th September and we are here again with our weekly newsletter. I have just booked my final trips for the remainder of the year and, although there are so many conferences that one should attend, it’s simply not possible to be everywhere, when one considers both time and travel cost. I shall be attending the www.cross-ocean.com and the www.clcprojects.com network conferences that take place in Bangkok on 8-9/11 and in Cebu on 16-17/11 respectively, but before that, I will attend the global FIATA conference that takes place in Cape Town, South Africa between 30/9 and 5/10.
I have visited South Africa a couple of times before. The first time was in 1968 when I was a youngster aboard MV Thyra Torm on charter to K-line coming from Yokohama to Durban, then later in life as I was chairman of the Martin Bencher Group and finally now, I return as the Editor-In-Chief of Project Cargo Weekly.
It’s a beautiful country indeed, which although having been colonised, has incredible potential if properly managed. This time I will make sure to visit the Cape of Good Hope. I fly with Emirates and have a stopover in Dubai on the way, so I have arranged meetings with contacts in Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and locally in Dubai.
On trips such as these, I always try to book myself in at a central and high-quality location, which makes it acceptable for people to meet me instead of me having to go to their premises. This method, if properly executed, allows me to have about five meetings a day and enables me to help some of the people I meet to also meet each other. In other words: true networking. Tiresome, of course, but efficient.
I have met many people who have travelled the world, even lived years abroad, but still haven’t managed to see or learn anything because they stuck to their compounds and only surrounded themselves with their own people, perhaps those people who only say ‘yes all the time. Comfortable of course, but hardly enlightening in life.
In today’s newsletter, we introduce the first edition under the new subscription model. I hope that you will find it worthwhile and not cumbersome to sign up long-term. We first interview gentleman from a Hamburg-based German shipbroker called HBB. They have a lot of breakbulk experience worldwide. We then visit the Lion City, a.k.a. Singapore, and interview China Navigation, which has a very long history in the region. Finally, we turn to a software provider called Wisetech and hopefully you will find their interesting information to be wise; none of us can run away from digitization, the question is only how to find the balance of actual know-how, combined with a sufficient degree of modernisation. We, of course, provide our shipping news, trade intelligence and wise words free for you to peruse.
Don’t forget to contact me directly if you have questions, comments or suggestions.
Until next week, I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
HBB – Hanseatic BreakBulk GmbH – Hamburg, Germany
Interview with
Mr. André Milschus
Founder and Managing Director
What can you offer the potential customer, who is in need of a reliable broker & consultant and do you work worldwide?
I always used to say, if you want to sell logistics services around the world, you must have first-hand experience! That means I do operate worldwide but try to focus on countries and areas where I have spent time working or have lived.
My team and I are considered brokers+ service providers for our customers. We do not work like traditional agents or brokers do. Each of our customers receives chief medical treatment for their inquiries, a result of our small company size but a high degree of experience and specialization of our team. Our customers are carriers, forwarders as well as large international construction and offshore companies. They use HBB because they consider us a…
Interview: The China Navigation Company (CNCo)
First, tell us about the ownership of Swire Navigation and a bit about the history of the group in shipping?
The China Navigation Company (CNCo) enjoys a rich heritage; it was founded in 1872 where it operated Mississippi-style paddle-steamers on China’s Yangtze River. As the shipping arm and oldest operating entity of the Swire group, CNCo has grown in tandem with the global economy. Today, it is headquartered in Singapore. It owns and manages a sizeable deep-sea fleet of multi-purpose, container and bulk vessels and has an extensive network of liner, bulk, logistics and shipping agency businesses globally.
WiseTech Global – Sydney, Australia
Interview with
Mr. Martin Lee
Regional Sales Manager
CargoWise One is your flagship product, but there are many software options out there for logistics providers. What is different about CargoWise One?
We put productivity at the centre of everything. CargoWise One is a single-platform system, built for logistics service providers, that offers high levels of automation and visibility. This means you can achieve fewer errors, faster shipment processing, smooth customs clearance, better customer service and significant savings in operational costs. This is our point of difference. Everything within the software is designed to improve the productivity of logistics providers.
United Heavy Lift and Ocean7 Projects Open Joint Office in Norway
Hamburg. Two experienced, internationally renowned players in the market for heavy sea transport are joining forces: United Heavy Lift (UHL) and Ocean7 Projects (Ocean7) are opening a joint office in Bergen, Norway.
Both UHL and Ocean7 specialise in the transport of heavy, project and breakbulk cargo. Both companies have extensive heavy lift carrier fleets that complement each other very well.
FIATA World Congress 2019
Editor’s Note:
The FIATA worldwide conference is on end of the month in Cape Town. Its the place to be for freight forwarders worldwide. See here their nice presentation of this mega event and of course PCW will be there to cover it.
GAC Wins ShipTek Best Ship Agency Award for Second Consecutive Year
GAC has been named the best ship agent in the ShipTek Maritime Awards for the second year running. The awards, held in conjunction with ShipTek Maritime Conference, recognise companies that have made significant contributions to the maritime industry.
The award was accepted by Mikko Wieru, GAC’s Group Sales Director – East, who says: “This recognises the hard work of our people and the trust that we have meticulously built and nurtured with all our stakeholders throughout the years. We will continue to uphold that trust and serve our customers through constant upgrading and innovation.
Car Carrier Capsized, Crew Evacuated, Brunswick USA Update 4 Crew Alive!
Car carrier GOLDEN RAY developed heavy portside list and actually, capsized, at around 0630 UTC Sep 8, in the St. Simons Island Sound, Brunswick, USA, while leaving port, bound for Baltimore. According to USCG, all crew were evacuated, all are safe. All traffic in the area suspended.
The Coast Guard said there were 23 crew members and pilot on board. All but four crew members have been safely evacuated from the ship. Apparently, weather has nothing to do with this disaster.
Hapag-Lloyd Splits European Organisation Into North and South Regions
Hapag-Lloyd is splitting its European organisation in two with Northern and Southern regions. The world’s fifth-largest liner shipping company will be organised across six regions effective immediately with Northern and Southern Europe, and the existing regions of Asia, Middle East, North America and Latin America.
The new Southern Europe organisation will have its headquarters in the Italian port city of Genoa, aims to bolster Hapag-Lloyd’s competitive position in the Mediterranean region.
East Timor Tants to Tap Oil and Gas Near Australia, So Why is it Courting China?
Editor’s Note:
Although not directly shipping news, the trade and exploration after oil/gas will mean that something will need shipping sooner or later. This article from the small island state of East Timor is interesting with this in mind.
Geopolitical tremors were felt in the region when reports surfaced that East Timor’s state-owned energy company was considering a US$16 billion loan from China to develop an offshore oil and gas field.
Many saw it as the latest example of China’s growing diplomatic and economic clout in the 17-year-old nation, which lies just 500km off the north coast of Australia. Timor Gap was swift in denying the reports, which had claimed the Export-Import Bank of China would help finance its US$50 billion
Japan’s Narita Airport Selects ICM’s Self-Service Auto Bag drop Dnits
Japan’s Narita International Airport has awarded ICM Airport Technics a contract to deploy 72 self-service auto bag drop (ABD) units across four terminals. The installation of the self-service baggage solutions is expected to enhance passenger check-in efficiency and bag drop times ahead of next year’s Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
ICM Group CEO Richard Dinkelmann said: “ICM is delighted to have been appointed by Narita to bring our world-leading self-service solutions to improve the passenger experience and throughput in time for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.
Perdaman Chooses SynCOR™ Solution for World’s Largest Ammonia Plant
Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers (Perdaman) has signed a licensing and engineering contract for Haldor Topsoe A/S’s (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) SynCOR Ammonia solution for its A$4billion ammonia/urea plant in Karratha, Western Australia. With a planned capacity of 3,500 metric tons per day, the Perdaman plant will be the world’s largest single-line ammonia plant.
Stamicarbon has been chosen as urea licensor, and gas supply has been secured. The next milestone for the project will be financial close, which is expected by the end of March 2020.
Thyssenkrupp wins Contract to Supply Russian Bulk Coal Terminal
A Russian company has awarded a major supply contract to thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions to equip one of the country’s seaports with a new bulk coal handling system. Thyssenkrupp will supply two ship loaders, stackers, reclaimers and car dumpers, along with one combined stacker-reclaimer, several belt conveyors and auxiliary equipment.
The contract also includes engineering and procurement, as well as services for site erection and commissioning. The system will form the centrepiece of a new coal export terminal in the port of Lavna, near Murmansk on the western shore of Kola Bay.
Sunset On-board CC Georgia in the Tasman Sea Near Melbourne
The Port of Hamburg and Journey North on the River Elbe, Germany – 14th September, 2014
Editor’s Note:
The Port of Hamburg is one of the greatest in the world. See this video and be impressed, as not only does Hamburg have a large and well-run port, it is also a very pleasant city with lots of excellent restaurants. It’s also had special trade ties with China, Asia and even South America, for decades.
Editor’s Note:
As part of the Baltic Ports Organisation conference in Stockholm last week, we paid a visit to the new port of Norvik, Stockholm. Due to open next year, it is located some 65km south of the city in beautiful settings, with almost zero deviation from the main fairway in the Baltic Sea to the capital region of Stockholm. It boasts a draught of 16,5 meters and it’s bound to be a place where carriers like to place their business. Four giant STS cranes will be coming early next year to this Hutchison-run port.
