Dear Readers,
It is Thursday the 28th of April, and in just a few more days, 4 months of the year 2022 has already passed us by.
This past week, I was irritated by a number of things. First I tried to get hold of my bank by phone. Not possible or “just now there is a very long queue and your number is 18” and “your call will be monitored for education and quality purposes”. Then, I called up my insurance company — as you and your kids grow older you decide to adjust things relating to insurance, property, etc. Same story here. What I cannot fathom in this modern age with fast internet and generally “smart solutions” to almost everything is WHY can’t you get hold of a real person to talk to? Are the companies so keen on saving on staff and just looking at their bottom line, so they prefer to let people fend for themselves rather than providing them with a proper personal customer service? What about the generation (that I belong to) that was not privy to the internet age and the day of Apps — who cares for them? Banks are becoming like embassies around the world: open only 11:00 – 14:00 except Thursdays and Fridays when they close at noon… or something similar!
I believe the situation is the same with some shipping companies. We are drowning in “smart solutions”. I believe strongly in having a tactic whereby you can both sort it out online AND you simultaneously have a proper and well-functioning personal customer service division with real people (not bots) that you can speak to. It really isn’t rocket science is it, or are we so dumb and gullible that we let ourselves be controlled completely by the internet? I am sure any would-be attacker has already figured out that if they disable the internet, the western world for sure will grind to a halt.
Phasing out cash payments is also a stupid idea. At least continue to have it as a back up so that when the “system” is down, there is still a way to go shopping. It happened not long ago for a huge daily necessity chain here in Sweden named COOP. Their system was either hacked or just broke down… and what consequences indeed.
Don’t get me wrong. I am an avid user of the internet, and I am from Generation teleX and the huge fax machine that prevailed in the late seventies. So I know how efficient we now are, but why must it be black or white? Can’t we have a healthy mix? In my opinion we are making ourselves way too vulnerable. In many ways, we are serviced by human robots staring at screens, and if the system doesn’t compute the customer service representatives become like headless chickens.
On another note and on the issue of banks & money, I came across a very interesting video from the Financial Times about why London has become Moscow by the Thames or Londongrad. I think you will find it interesting for as much as BOJO’s rhetoric claims to be wanting to clamp down on illicit gains primarily by Russian oligarchs, still NOT much has happened.
This week, we have come up with very interesting interviews for you. Stackable containers: now wouldn’t that be a dream if it really could work and save you those millions in empty positioning costs not to mention the environmental impact more handlings results in? So we start off by talking to a company called STAXXON based in the US. They have a very interesting product soon to be launched in the market after rigorous testing.
We then visit the country of the Nile and the pyramids and the world famous Suez Canal (or Marlboro Canal as it was called in the past). Talking to NOSCO in Cairo we get a good idea about what they can do in this quickly developing country.
We finally speak to a shipping line that has made it abundantly clear that they are FREIGHT FORWARDER FRIENDLY and that is HAPAG LLOYD. Hapag has gone from strength to strength in the last few years and seems to have a stellar reputation overall.
Finishing off as usual with shipping news, trade intelligence and wise words, we of course hope that you will join us also next week and in the meantime we remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
Video Interview
Staxxon, LLC
Santtu Seppala, Chief Strategy Officer at Staxxon, LLC was interviewed by Bo H. Drewsen, Editor in Chief at PCW
NOSCO – Cairo, Egypt
Interview with
Mrs. Doaa Elhady
Business Development Manager
First of all, Doaa can you tell us about the history of NOSCO? Who are the owners?
NOSCO is a shareholding company which was established in 1976 with the idea of providing services in the Egyptian trucking industry, especially the heavy haul industry. Throughout years of experience & with the competency of our team, we have managed to expand the services we provide to our clients so as to fulfill most of their needs in the logistics industry, whether in customs clearance, transportation of general cargo & container shipments, warehousing, packaging, freight forwarding, shipping agency, port handling operations, etc.
Video Interview
Hapag Lloyd – Global Special Cargo
David Piel of Hapag Lloyd / Global Special Cargo / Hamburg was interviewed by Bo H. Drewsen, Editor in Chief at PCW
Swire Shipping Launches Market-fastest, 18-day Port-to-port Service with New Ho Chi Minh City-Seattle Route
Editor’s Note:
Swire Shipping, the renowned tycoon company established in Asia many years ago now claims to have the fastest transpacific service from Vietnam to USWC. They have linked up with a big NVOCC for what seems to be a longterm high volume contract!
Swire Shipping Pte Ltd, a leading operator of liner shipping services in the Asia-Pacific and around the globe, today announced it has launched the market’s fastest port-to-port service with a transit time of between 16 and 18 days for voyages between Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam to Seattle in Washington. Launched exclusively in partnership with UWL, a top 20 American-owned NVOCC and leading provider of global 3PL services, this express service will offer both speed and predictability for customers who need guaranteed allocations and expedient transit times.
Finland Inches Closer to NATO after Parliament Expresses Support for Military Alignment
Editor’s Note:
The latest from Arctic Today with a focus on the likely membership of NATO for both Finland and perhaps also Sweden. Russia accomplished next to nothing so far in their invasion of Ukraine except making the world outside stand closely together and make the opinion swing completely in both Finland and Sweden towards pro NATO.
Finland inched closer to joining NATO after its major parliamentary groups expressed support for some form of a military alliance as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Social Democrats stopped short of mentioning NATO in their addresses but nevertheless voiced support for an idea of a military alliance.
A Transport Crisis Looms in the Russian Arctic
Editor’s Note:
Seems the Northern Sea Route is also in trouble now thanks to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There will be longterm and major repercussions indeed.
Sanctions placed on Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine could have a significant impact on transportation links in Russia’s Arctic
“As a result of the actions by unfriendly countries, a series of transport and logistics chains have been broken,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said a meeting on Arctic developments earlier this month.
“Undoubtably, this creates certain difficulties in the current situation,” he admitted, but immediately added that “we have all resources and opportunities to quickly find alternative solutions.”
Port Congestion Grows as China’s Capital Braces for Shanghai Syndrome
Editor’s Note:
A good article here from our colleagues at Splash magazine and it was confirmed today when the wife spoke to her family near Beijing, seems panic is setting in to hoard food in case Beijing will face a similar Shanghai style lockdown…. who knows when or where this will end.
Familiar scenes of supermarket stampedes are emerging from the Chinese capital as mass testing gets underway in Beijing, the latest mega city to face the tough wrath of the country’s dogged zero-Covid policy.
Port and hinterland snarl-ups across the world’s most populous nation are wreaking havoc for manufacturers and logisticians alike.
April Group Invests in New Paperboard Packaging Mill in Indonesia
Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL Group) has strengthened its commitment to supporting the growth of the green economy in Indonesia. The company is set to expand its product portfolio in the downstream sector by investing IDR33.4 trillion in a sustainable paperboard production facility.
Aerospace Parts Manufacturer Orders Vacuum Furnace
A manufacturer based in China ordered a horizontal vacuum furnace from SECO/WARWICK. It will help produce highly specialized cast parts used in the aerospace industry. The furnace, which has a graphite chamber and gas quenching system, has a heating zone measuring 59 x 59 x 70 inches (1,500 x 1,500 x 1,800 mm) and can handle loads of precision cast parts up to 6,615 pounds (3,000 kg). The furnace is scheduled for delivery in
June.
Manufacturer of Aerospace Parts Installs Forming Press
A high-pressure fluid cell press from Quintus Technologies will boost efficiencies and lower production costs for Thailand’s Jinpao Precision Industry, a manufacturer of structural sheet metal and machined parts. The Flexform press will be used for forming aerospace parts for airplanes and helicopters.
Flemish Biscuit Maker Lotus Invests in Third South African Factory
Lotus, Belgium-headquartered biscuit maker, has commenced construction of its third factory in South Africa.
The company opened its first plant in the country in 2019 and the second one followed in 2021 with the third expected to be completed by August 2023.
Passing through the Sunda Strait coming from Port Klang going to Fremantle
Editor’s Note:
Passing the Sunda Strait in Indonesia enroute from Port Kelang to Fremantle. Nice experience indeed onboard mv CMA CGM Georgia.
Editor’s Note:
What is not to like about this picture? mv NOWOWIEJSKI of Chipolbrok alongside in the Hutchison Port of Stockholm/Norvik
