Dear Readers,
It is Thursday the 4th of March, and the first issue of the month is here since it is Thursday.
This week, the kids had their school vacation, and I needed to act as a father but still combine it with business. So, I bundled them up in the car and took a road trip with the 2 boys (daughter stayed at home with the dragon?). We drove first to Kalmar, some 450 km (280 mi) south of Stockholm, and then further along the east coast to Karlshamn where a vessel chartered by DSV was about to arrive to discharge more blades for wind turbines. This also meant that the 2 boys had to wear safety vests and helmets in order to follow their father into port to take a few pictures.
For me, it was a great time to be alone with the boys, and thankfully, we had internet in abundance. So when I needed peace and quiet in order to focus on driving, it was turned on and YouTube was allowed. One boy was watching Slenderman; one boy was looking into how deep the lakes were that we were passing enroute, and I was listening to news, mainly of the usual scandalous and incompetent nature of some of our politicians. So all in all a great trip. To share with you a bit of the scenery (we were lucky with the weather indeed) see here: 1. selected pictures from the trip. 2. a video from Swedish east coast city of Kalmar.
I returned from Karlshamn with 2 stops enroute for some 20-30 min in order to be online via Zoom and chair a couple of network meetings (www.clcprojects.com) and (www.cross-ocean.com) before continuing.
I loath to admit it, but it is incredible that you can have a work holiday with your kids, manage to have a few stops during your long drive, and still be part of business meetings with members of the networks scattered worldwide. So yes, hallelujah indeed to technology and the internet!
The total distance driven from Monday to Wednesday was some 1100 km, and it was even good for the wife and myself—sometimes we need to remember to miss each other, otherwise we take things for granted?.
On the business front, we’ve got some interesting interviews in store for you. We start off by talking to a project freight forwarder called Allround Forwarding Midwest, located in Cleveland, USA. Although not the most well-known of cities in the US, they seem to have attracted a highly competent project logistics provider.
We then remind you of an interview we had previously with a country known for “Play it again Sam” (at least for the older generation like me), i.e., from the classic movie Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart, so I mean Morocco where Planet Comtrans tells us what they can do in this beautiful country.
Finally, we serve you a video interview featuring the now huge, Danish owned company called DSV—which incredibly enough started only in 1976 with some truckers finding each other and now boasts 55,000 staff members worldwide!
We provide you with shipping news, trade intelligence, featured video and photo of the week, and of course, with our usually well-chosen wise words.
Until next week, we remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
Allround Forwarding Midwest – Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Interview with
Mr. Janko Wille
President
First off, Janko when did you start the company Allround, and tell us why Cleveland for those who are not familiar with its location in the US Midwest?
As a German native, I started my career in the US in 2010 when I was sent over to run the newly-acquired US branch for a mid-sized German freight forwarder. I had taken the position in Cleveland, Ohio and put down roots after a few years in the Midwest. Allround Forwarding Co. in New York City was my customer at the time, and after a management change at my current position, Allround’s owner, Hatto Dachgruber offered me an opportunity to jump ships and join the Allround team. So, I decided to move to the Big Apple, but whenever my wife and I came back to the Midwest for work or visiting friends, it felt like coming home again. Ultimately, we decided to move back to Ohio where I had opened the Cleveland office for Allround in the meanwhile. For sure not a hotspot to be honest, but here is where I got my first impressions of the United States and the place I now call home.
Planet ComTrans – Morocco
Interview with
Capt. Yahya Samer
General Manager
Can you tell us about the history and ownership of Planet ComTrans?
Planet ComTrans is a Moroccan company, active in project cargo, freight forwarding, contract logistics and ship agency.
The team has a proven track record in project management and come highly recommended from end customers for the service quality. Most important is the care that the team show at different hierarchical levels and at different stages of the job, such as freight and chartering solutions, stevedoring, lifting, trucking and customs, with the sole purpose of providing both a good image and service.
Our expertise is the result of having caring and diligent teams with previous experiences in mega-project management, representing some of the world’s most major container and project shipping lines.
DSV – Aarhus, Denmark
Sune Thorleifsson, Director, Global Sea Chartering at DSV interviewed by Bo H. Drewsen
www.dsv.com
Libya: How the US And Turkey Agreed to Share a Captured Russian Defence System
Editor’s Note:
Africa being a huge continent, no one can know everything all the time, but following events from around the continent is important ALSO for people involved in shipping. I have found TheAfricaReport quite informative, and it could be one among others to follow.
Rebels get their hands on a Russian missile defence system in Libya, which is in the midst of a civil war that is also a proxy battle between Turkey and Russia.
World Shipping Council Strengthens its Organisation in Asia and the USA
Editor’s Note:
The WSC, which consists mainly of container ship owners at the moment, for sure got lobster for the main course. The freight revenues they are getting nowadays (greatly due to the pandemic) should warrant them not only to enjoy the lobster and pay off their debts, but frankly, to relax, as times for them have seldom been better income-wise. Business cycles are like that—boom/bust/boom. Good to know that they are opening new offices.
Wei Jun will lead Public Affairs in Asia. He will work closely with the Communications Director to develop and implement the WSC communications strategy throughout Asia. Wei Jun has a solid public policy background with focus on environmental, innovation and labour issues, most recently working for the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore where he, among other, represented Singapore at the IMO and the ILO.
Hapag-Lloyd Opens New Office in Kenya
Editor’s Note:
Hapag Lloyd, which also is a Preferred Service Provider to the Cross Ocean and CLC Projects networks, is developing in East Africa.
Today, Hapag-Lloyd opens a new office in Kenya. With its extended footprint in East Africa, Hapag-Lloyd will significantly grow its activities in and for Africa. While the main business will be managed from the port city of Mombasa, we will also be represented with in an office in the country’s capital Nairobi.
NGO Accused of Taking on Maersk Etienne’s Rescued Migrants for Pay
Editor’s Note:
Yes, the NGO’s plying the Mediterrenean seas—looking for refugees to bring from Libya to Italy in the name of “humanity”—have been running their “liner services” for some years now with disastrous consequences, enticing people to keep flocking to Libyan shores in hopes of arriving in Europe. In fact, in helping the people smugglers by providing pick up from the territorial borders outside Libya’s coast, the NGO’s are surely part of the problem NOT the solution. If this article is true, they’ve got even more to answer for.
Prosecutors in the Sicilian city of Ragusa have accused an NGO rescue vessel operator of receiving money in exchange for taking 27 rescued migrants off of a Maersk product tanker last year.
Amorada Mall, Part of Amorada Mixed-use Project in Egypt, Launched
The construction of the 2,300 square meters Amorada Mall, which is the commercial component of the Amorada mixed-use project in New Cairo, Egypt, has been launched.
This is according to the project’s developer, Afaaq Construction and Real Estate Investment, an Egyptian company involved in construction works, engineering consultancy, real estate investment, finishes, and construction material supply activities.
SVOLT Begins Cobalt-free Cathode Materials Production
Chinese battery producer, SVOLT, announced that they had successfully completed the first batch production (10t level) of the cobalt-free cathode materials at its Changzhou plant, located in East China’s Jiangsu province. In 2020, SVOLT confirmed that serial production of its cobalt-free batteries is scheduled to start in June 2021.
LG Display to Invest Additional $750M for its Vietnamese Plant
LG Display, a major display panel maker in South Korea, will make an additional $750 million investment in its plant in Vietnam, media reports said on Monday, as the company eyes expanding OLED panel productions.
Nouveau Monde to Commission Coated Spherical Graphite Plant in Q1 2022
Nouveau Monde Graphite has announced completion of a detailed engineering study on its planned coated spherical graphite processing facility in Canada and has started to procure equipment. It plans first commissioning of the plant in Q1 2022 with an initial 2ktpy of capacity, with the potential for “significant expansion” in Phase 2. The company has been provided a grant by the Québec Government to partly fund the project, which will supply the added value graphite product to the lithium-ion battery industry for use as an anode material.
Beautiful Day at Port of Kalrshamn
Editor’s Note:
March 02 in the Port of Karlshamn was a fantastic day, and having the chance to visit the port even with 2 sons in tow due to the school holidays was indeed an experience also for them. Thanks a lot to the port for this, and also feel free to enjoy this footage, evidencing yet another DSV project handled in a Swedish port. Thanks also to www.tsaagency.se for looking after the vessel locally.
Editor’s Note:
Learning by doing instead of endless studying is perhaps the way forward. But don’t tell the business people selling their degrees from various universities that (big business nowadays). Here 2 “trainee stevedores”, in port for the first time, watch a breakbulk vessel discharging wind turbine blades. I recall being onboard mv Thyra Torm at the age of 5, and it did make an impression. So I continue the tradition ?.
