Dear Readers,
It is Thursday the 22nd of October, 2020, and we are here again.
In Stockholm where I am located, darkness is slowly setting in—and we are now talking about both “day” and night of course—and the hours with light in the day are getting shorter. On the one hand, it is depressing, and you kind of feel more tired all the time. On the other hand, it is also cozy because with lights, candles and using light not just for illumination but also for creating a nice atmosphere, it does have its compensations. Here are a few pictures from the neighbourhood at dusk where I live while taking a walk to refresh the mind.
But life is also such that nothing can last forever, whether good or bad, and if we always had sunshine, I doubt it would be appreciated as much. Thus, taking a walk, listening to nature, refreshing your mind and considering the small (or rather big) things in life makes your life better. My youngest son, now 7, keeps on talking about Lamborghini. Is it a family car? Can we buy one? Why not? And of course it’s a bit early days to try and tell him about the qualities in life other than worldly possessions. It is good that he is “hungry”, and that is the way it should be, but explaining it now—that’s a whole other ball of wax!
Income is needed for whatever we do, so when speaking about Lamborghini, please don’t forget to support projectcargo-weekly.com with banner ads in case you wish to be seen. The proceeds go to a worthy cause, i.e., making my son happy :-). Here is a media kit for those of you interested, and bear in mind I only allow 4 banner ads in each issue, so yes yours WILL be noticed! Before taking a road trip in Sweden I managed to have an online interview with the new chief of sales Mr. Oskar Orstadius of Hoegh Autolines, a most capable roro carrier also for high, heavy and project cargoes. ?? Watch the interview here.
I had another port visit this week in Gavle north of Stockholm. The BBC chartering vessel, mv BBC Livorno, arrived with some 20 wind turbine towers onboard. I left early to be there in time for the berthing alongside. Here are photos from the day. I also met with local agent www.tsaagency.se and had a nice talk with the Russian captain from Krasnodar and his mainly Ukrainian crew. Unlike in real life, there are no tensions here between Ukraine/Russia, and as usual, it is only the “stupid politicians” who engage in messing about.
Speaking of that region it seems that BELARUS is dealing heavy handedly with demonstrators, and it was only until recently that CYPRUS gave up their resistance to letting the paper tiger called THE EU put some sanctions in place. One cannot help but wonder whether it’s because of the billions of funds likely from Russia and Belarus in the bank accounts of Cyprus. And whilst on the subject, it now also has become evident that the Cypriot and Maltese passport schemes have attracted a lot of flies (as Deng Xiaoping famously said when opening Shenzhen to the outside world: “When you open, the window flies will enter.”) in the like of not only legitimate and wealthy immigrants but also other more opaque subjects. Let us see whether the passport scheme will perhaps be abolished…still have no fear, plenty of other countries with access to the EU have similar schemes. You just need to travel a bit further.
Less than 2 weeks to America votes, so let us see what is happening and if another stimulus package will be approved in the US. I don’t even think I have as many zeros on my calculator as there is debt nowadays in the US, but still they are strong and can do it. Let us hope they indeed choose what is right for them and for the world.
Shipping-wise this week, we start off with interviewing in fact a logistics provider located in the US of A. Located at a place famous for the Orioles and baseball amongst other things and situated on the eastern seaboard, the company THUNDERBOLT GLOBAL LOGISTICS tells us an interesting story about their capability and accomplishments. We then travel back to Europe and to a country famous for Baltic seaside, Chopin, horrifying KZ camps during the 2nd world war, and that place is Poland. Now a proud member of the EU and with generally hardworking people (many of which are outside Poland, too), we talk to SMART CARGO—a logistics provider who can help anyone in this big European country located and bordering to several other VIP countries. We finally travel to the residence of many ultra-rich—the country of yachts located in the MED, the place where both the real and imaginary Bond figure (Roger Moore) actually lived, and the place is MONACO. A nice Italian gentleman has taken up “refuge” there and tells us a story that chartering worldwide can indeed be done from Monaco, too, and with great success.
We finally wrap up this issue with shipping news, trade intelligence, wise words and featured picture/video of the week.
Enjoy, be safe, and wishing you well until next week,
I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
Thunderbolt Global Logistics – Baltimore, USA
Interview with
Mr. Jim Shapiro
Owner
There are a lot of logistics providers in the US and even more so on the East Coast. What makes you stand out?
Our approach is to make the experience of working with Thunderbolt an easy one. We want our clients and overseas partners to feel that it’s not difficult working with us. We have always had a flat organizational structure, so decisions can be made quickly. No red tape, no corporate B.S. We don’t need 6 signatures to get approval to do something. If it needs to get done, we get it done. We are a relationship-driven company. Personal relationships mean so much to us which is why I have traveled overseas a lot since we started the company.
We only have one office, but we have a national footprint due to our infrastructure. We have asset and non-asset based truckers that we work with all over the United States. We have warehouses that we work with in all ports and in most major cities in the interior of the country. We have great relationships with the terminal operators and port officials in most of the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. We try to be as creative as possible in finding solutions for our customers and overseas partners.
Smart Cargo Solutions – Warsaw, Poland
Interview with
Mr. Piotr Iwaniuk
CEO
You are a member of CLC Projects Network, I believe, and this means you have project cargo experience right? Could you provide us with a few examples of cargoes you have handled?
In our relatively short history, we managed to handle several projects and project-type movements—be it a ship crane from Gdansk to Brazil, which was about 62 tons in one piece, and was supposed to be moved by air charter, but finally, due to exorbitant costs, was moved via sea part charter, single inland movements within Poland and to other EU countries. We also managed to handle 2 large complete projects – one being a complex transportation of a complete greenhouse infrastructure from 10+ countries to a landlocked Kazakhstan, which was a huge challenge in terms of logistics as well as customs and documentation. The second one was the transportation of a complete infrastructure to build a bio-refinery in North Dakota in the USA – oversized and containerized shipments from different parts of the world – Poland, India, Brazil and several others. Here again, the challenge of coordination of logistics combined with cost cautiousness was huge, adding time sensitivity and irregular dimensions of oversized equipment.
Marine Chartering Services – Monaco
Interview with
Mr. Fulvio Carlini
Co-Owner
Who owns Marine Chartering Services and is Monaco a good place for shipping business?
Marine Chartering Services is owned by me and my wife Gabriella, who is a shipbroker as well. The company was created after a few months we moved here. As I said before, Monaco is a good place for shipping business, as it gives a lot of contacts because there are many ship owners based here, which means very good access to the industry. In Monaco, we also have conferences and meetings, which helps facilitate meeting people. Also let us not forget, Monaco is a place that people like and are willing to visit for one or more of the many events happening here.
Finnish Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2020
Transport Company Ville Silvasti Ltd, was awarded with the National Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2020. The company, with headoffice in Jyväskylä, was awarded in the Federation of Finnish Enterprises’ (Suomen Yrittäjät) union meeting on 17 October.
Universal Africa Lines Starts Direct Liner Service to East Africa
Editor’s Note:
UAL is now starting a direct service into East Africa. UAL are active in the market and have just recently opened a new office in Copenhagen which we also reported earlier. AFRICA seems to be more or less the last untapped market with potential for many shipowners….so rates no doubt will go down.
Universal Africa Lines is proud to announce it will start a direct service between NW Europe and East Africa. UAL has been running liner services to and from West Africa for over 35 years, and has now expanded it services to reach East Africa.
South Africa Remains a Top Hotspot for Cargo Crime
Editor’s Note:
Not that below is such a surprise, but still it pays off to keep alert about cargo crime and cargo safety at all times.
New report highlights country’s ongoing vulnerability to cargo theft as well as the trends during the first half of 2020. These include:
· Hijacking of vehicles in transit is the primary theft type
· Theft from facilities is on the rise
· Johannesburg and surrounding province remain chief region at risk
· An uptick in incidents of cargo theft in Eastern and Western Cape
· Food and beverages and medical supplies have seen an elevated number of thefts in Q2
Posidonia Web Forums Week
Editor’s Note:
POSIDONIA is among the biggest shipping expos in the world, and they have their webforum week which started yesterday, 21st of October. Perhaps interesting for you and still timely to see the program they’ve got if you wish to attend. Read more here in their newsletter.
Posidonia has partnered with leading international maritime media and policy organisations to produce a series of webinars in an initiative designed to provide a platform for the maritime community to debate the crucial issues and the many challenges it is currently facing.
Western Australia OKs Renewable Power Export Project
The Western Australia (WA) state government has approved development of a 15,000MW solar and wind project, which will export electricity to Indonesia and supply the WA iron ore sector.
GE, CTCI Score 6.5-GW Gas Power Contract Win in Taiwan
General Electric International Inc. (GE) and consortium partner Taiwanese engineering services firm CTCI have bagged a multi-billion-dollar engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for five combined cycle gas-fired power units in Taiwan.
Kom Ombo Solar PV Power Plant in Egypt to Receive Financial Support from EBRD
Kom Ombo solar PV plant developer, Acwa Power, is set to receive US$ 54M worth of financial support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The funds, which will be approved by the end of this month, will be used for the development of the 200 MWp clean energy project in Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt.
Indian Developer Plans 50 MW Solar Plant in Bangladesh
Hero Future Energies has proposed a 50 MW solar power plant in the Khulna district of southwestern Bangladesh which would involve the lowest solar power tariff offered to a non-publicly-procured grid scale solar project.
Project Cargo Arriving at Port of Gavle, Sweden
Editor’s Note:
Was in Port of Gavle, Sweden to see yet again/again another project cargo vessel arriving with renewable equipment. Was a great day in port, and that is what REAL shipping is all about, i.e., getting out of your office and your head out of the computer!
Editor’s Note:
Oil and gas are down price-wise at the moment with big consequences for oil dependent economies. Still impressive though to see drilling rigs not only up front but also here at LEGOLAND, DENMARK where models from different countries are built using only Lego bricks.
