Dear Readers,
It is Thursday the 26th of March and the last Thursday before we enter the month of April. April is normally, at least here in Sweden, a month of more happiness than January, February, or March, simply because spring is in the air.
Yes, spring is slowly entering the air now, but so is an enemy that we have problems facing, and that enemy is the Covid19 virus. Currently, there is no newspaper, news outlet, or TV program that more or less doesn’t start with updating the numbers of infected persons and deceased, compared to the day before. Irrespective of whether it is a matter of overwhelmingly older people with some underlying medical problems or not, it is a sinister time that we are facing on a global scale.
It is indeed strange times, and you feel somehow that you are part of a movie in the sense that all the things you took for granted previously have vanished more or less before your eyes, and you are confined to the same place until the authorities tell you to go ahead and mingle again. I have never experienced anything like it, and thinking of the generation after me who most certainly never faced any hardship, for them, it must be mind boggling and scary to say the least.
Here in Sweden, we place our faith in the experts and less in the politicians. Time will judge them both harshly once the smoke clears from this pandemic. Loss of life, loss of livelihood, and loss of optimism for the future will take months, if not years, to heal, and it will bring out both the best and the worst in us all I have no doubt.
Wherever you are and whomever you are with, PCW wishes you and yours a healthy life, with safety and happiness, whilst we mourn those the world has lost. Let us see the lesson learned after this is over, and perhaps we may rethink a lot of what we are doing overall in both life and in business.
Life goes on, and I would like to share something positive with you from the past week. In spite of the above, the world is still turning, and last week while downtown, I met a very friendly guy at the Stockholm pier. He was looking into a screen and being fully focused. I asked him jokingly if he was watching a pornographic movie, to which we both laughed, and he told me, “No, I am operating a drone!”
I was alongside the pier because the Chinese heavylift vessel, Zhen Hua 33 had delivered a bridge section of 3500 tons to the Swedish capital. This gentleman and I got along, and since I am a non-technical or electronics type of guy, I was keen to see the kind of footage that can be made using a drone. Whilst it is perhaps not new, it is amazing to see project cargo being delivered from “above”.
The gentleman and I had good chemistry from the start, and since I was also going to attend the Zhen Hua 32 only a few days later with two, giant, ship-to-shore cranes arriving in Stockholm, I asked this local Swede, Micke Andersson if he would join me and film that event also (COSCO Shipping, Sweden quickly agreed, too). Micke readily agreed, and the result, which I believe is VERY worthwhile looking at, is here :
Footage of the discharge of Zhen Hua 33 with 1×3500 ton 145×45 m piece for Slussen Golden Bridge in Stockholm
Footage of the discharge of Zhen Hua 32 with 2 STS cranes and 8 straddle carriers for Norrvik Port/Stockholm
Enjoy this amidst all the news of gloom and doom, and be impressed. Feel free to contact Micke Andersson at: hello@bydrone.se / Mob: +46704057158 / www.bydrone.se
It turned out that Micke is, by profession, a professional DJ. If he has a similar high level of skills being a DJ as he does at his drone hobby, I will certainly invite him to be the DJ at the enormous party I am going to host once Covid19 is in the past! And just for the record, there is no kickback agreement. I simply liked the guy and his work, so if you have a drone job, you want to contact him, no matter where the work will take place. Networking can be great, and luckily, that is most of the time!
Now to the business section of my editorial because although I cannot travel and I am confined to working from home, so much of our lives is on online. Thus, I have managed to secure two fresh interviews for you, and one from the archives.
We start off in our neighbouring country – the land of an incomprehensible language and 70,000 lakes, but with excellent seafood, and fewer talkative guys – Finland. I spoke with Scan Global Logistics in Finland who are a strong player locally, and through its global reach, is able to find solutions for both project and general cargo.
We then turned our focus eastwards to a land of beautiful women, excellent food, and an Asian tiger, with a resilient population that beat the western powers several times. That country is Vietnam.
Logistics provider, BP Logistics J.S.C. told us about what they do in Vietnam, and having dealt with them just recently in business, I can verify their claim of being efficient and trustworthy.
We round off our interviews this week with one from the archives of PCW, and this leads us to the land of curry and the quote “no problem, sir” but also a land of beauty and extremes—India. Neptune Container Line tells us a story about logistics in their country. We finalise the newsletter with shipping news, trade intel wise words, and our usual, featured picture and video of the week.
Until next Thursday, I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
Scan Global Logistics (Finland) Oy
Interview with
J-P Nuutinen
Country and Commercial Manager
Can you tell us about your team in Scan Global Logistics in Finland? What is your main business normally? Do you have experience in handling project cargoes as well?
Our office is located close to the Helsinki-Vantaa (HEL) airport and about 15 minutes from the Helsinki (FIHEL) seaport. Our staff consists of 13 highly skilled persons in the air, sea, and sales departments.
We are quite export-driven as the manufacturing industry in Finland produces over one-third of the GDP and foreign trade. Since we are an IATA licensed company our scope of business covers everything from small, often very urgent, airfreight shipments to heavy lifts and OOG cargo projects.
The importance of rail cargo between Nordic countries and China is steadily increasing. In addition to all of this, many of our customers use our services for cross trade shipments. It is usual for any larger project that we coordinate to gather the cargo from the Nordic countries, Baltics, and some from the European continent for the actual vessel loading.
BP Logistics J.S.C. – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Interview with
Ms M.T. Binh
CEO
How is the economic situation in Vietnam at the moment? There used to be a few state shipping companies in Vietnam such as Vinatrans and Vietfracht. Do they still exist, and if so, do they play a role at all in Vietnam today?
Here is the Vietnamese economy through my eyes: We are confident in the development of our country. We have more and more advantages to attract FDI. Many factories have been moved from China to Vietnam. The domestic Economy is also developing. I believe that we are on the right way!
Vinatrans and Vietfracht were the 1st state-owned forwarders of Vietnam. They still exist but do not play a big role any more since the Vietnamese government opened the sector to private national and foreign forwarders. They are not our competitors because we have different sections of clients.
Neptune Container Line & Logistics Pvt. Ltd. – Mumbai, India
Interview with
Mr. Walter George
CEO
Walter, please tell us about the establishment and history of Neptune. What is your main line of business in shipping & logistics?
Neptune was conceptualized and created in 1990 by the two brothers Dilip Ahuja and Sanjay Ahuja, when they were running a freight broking company started by their father Mr. Vashdev Ahuja called Vashusons. Vashusons still continues to run as one the leading freight brokers, handling mainly agricultural commodities in breakbulk and containers, including reefers.
Neptune started with consolidation and went on to add multiple activities like 3PL, buyers consolidation, special cargo handling, SOC box operation and container trading (being the buying and selling of containers)…
Swire Shipping Deploys Next-gen, Purpose-built Vessel; MV Changsha on SEA to PNG & Solomon Islands Service
Editor’s Note:
The reputable shipping company, Swire, has received new tonnage for their Pacific Islands service. Not every day that a vessel is named Changsha which is an inland city in the province not far from where the late chairman Mao was born.
TT Club Advises Transport Operators on their Liabilities as a Consequence of the Coronavirus
Editor’s Note:
In these corona virus times it seems prudent to know about liabilities, and so-on, concerning the impact on shipping and supply chains. Here is an interesting article from the renowned TT Club in London.
The ongoing disruption to freight transport services and global supply chains resulting from the coronavirus are significant and will continue to evolve on a daily basis. In addition to the heightening challenges transport operators are facing in moving their customers goods to and from China, insurance provider, TT Club is advising on the potential unforeseen exposures that may also accrue.
Coronavirus May Lead to ‘Largest Decline in Shipping Volumes in Living Memory’
Editor’s Note:
From our colleagues at Loadstar an article about the staggering impact on shipping caused by the global pandemic that we are now facing. I think we as customers to the shippinglines should reduce our request for ever cheaper rates at least for a while whilst the owners should take a break from building ever bigger ships too.
As the retail industry across Europe and North America begins to effectively shut down as governments enforce widespread social lockdown, there are increasing warnings that the container shipping industry is set to see some of the largest declines in volumes in living memory.
According to liner analyst SeaIntelligence Consulting, the possibility of a 10% decline in global container shipments – which would equate to 17m teu carried by the world’s box shipping fleet and some 80 teu handled in global container ports – has “unfortunately moved closer to reality”
Lashing & Securing Software Offers Special Tool “Request for Review” to Share Your Plan Remotely
Editor’s Note:
Editors note: Besides cheese, tulips and fishermen from URK the Dutch are generally good at shipping. And they have know-how on lashing and securing.
A measure against the rapidly-spreading disease COVID-19 has caused millions of people around the world to remain at home and to work remotely as much as possible.
During these difficult times, Videck supports you in your engineering needs and can be used on all computers with an internet connection, either you work from home or at the office.
Honeywell Ramps Up Face Mask Production in Rhode Island, Hires 500
The company said its safety products plant in Smithfield, Rhode Island, plans to quickly add another manufacturing line, which would provide the capacity to make millions of the N95 masks needed by healthcare workers treating the growing number of patients affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Recruiting, hiring, and training at the plant, which also makes safety glasses, would begin “immediately,” officials said.
TBEA Orders 50 MW of Vestas Turbines for Wind Project in China
Chinese power transformers maker TBEA Co Ltd (SHA:600089) has placed an order for 50 MW of wind turbines from Vestas Wind Systems A/S (CPH:VWS).
The turbines will be shipped to the Chinese eastern province of Shandong for TBEA’s Wanghaotun wind project, the Danish manufacturer said today.
JLG Takes Action on COVID-19
JLG is suspending production in Northern America and Europe, while ramping up manufacturing in China. The company said it plans to shut down manufacturing operations in the US and Mexico from 30 March to April 10 April, with plans to reopen 13 April. In France, the manufacturer’s operations will discontinue until 6 April.
Its manufacturing plant in China, however, is in full operation and is increasing production to meet global capacity targets.
China’s Factories Work 24/7 to Build Ventilators for Milan, New York
About a 40-minute drive to the east of China’s capital, Beijing Aeonmed Co. has been working around the clock since Jan. 20.
After meeting the country’s needs two weeks ago, its factory lines have been working flat out on orders from overseas for its lifesaving ventilators. With three shifts and even research and development staff on the production line, the company’s machines have been going non-stop.
“There’s literally no country in the world that doesn’t want to buy a ventilator from China right now.” said Li Kai, director of Beijing Aeonmed, “We have tens of thousands of orders waiting. The issue is how fast we can make them.”
Farewell ‘Orange Roughy’
Editor’s Note:
A farewell here to an Australian icebreaker – icebreakers you normally associate with Finland, Russia or Canada but hardly Australia. Still, down under after Australia the next stop is indeed Antarctica.
Editor’s Note:
From project forwarder Hitpound, Xian – an open loop scrubber system being shipped onboard mv Dong Xiang from Shanghai to Singapore.
