Dear Readers,
It is the last day of the month of June. It happens to be a Thursday which also means that Project Cargo Weekly is here again.
In my editorials, I often lament about how quickly time passes, and today is no exception. Already 6 months of the year has passed, and all of us in shipping are generally looking into an uncertain autumn and winter with rising interest rates and an invasion of an independent country in the heart of Europe whilst the rest of Europe goes about their business as usual. It is indeed a kind of a weird situation. Silence before the storm perhaps? I am not a prophet of doom, but it does seem to me that a major correction is underway, and the era of cheap loans and massive credits and debts without limit for consumption are coming to an end.
Perhaps a major clean up is just what the doctor ordered, and whilst the war in Ukraine is ongoing, we still keep on helping to finance it by buying Russian oil & gas. There ought to be considerable embarrassment in the politically correct circles of Europe, and it does seem that neither Ms. Merkel nor Mr. Schroder (or are they Dr. … now ?) have said much publicly in recent months, small wonder…!
Scandinavia was hit by another tragedy last week when a fundamentalist shot indiscriminately into a crowd at a gay bar in Oslo. The police in one of their usual statements (we always hear the same in Sweden, Germany, France, etc.) said that the fundamentalist HAD been arrested before for violent acts, he WAS on their radar. So what was he doing out and about if he WAS on their radar?
Our open societies are vulnerable, but we make ourselves more vulnerable because we are naive in the extreme in the belief that fundamentalists can be “turned around”. Psychologists, “treatment vendors”, and other do-gooders (especially people from the left-leaning segment of politics) always have the right explanation. It goes like this: We must do more for the children growing up; we must provide more social workers to support the families; and we must do something about their job opportunities. Have you heard this song before? There is never anything about what duty the perpetrators and/or their families have, especially after being granted a free haven in our open countries as opposed to the dictatorships they have escaped. Why “escape” to another country if you want to live like at home in the first place? Try to speak about the elephant in the room, and you are immediately labelled a racist. Few, if any, speak about the racism towards the original inhabitants shown by some of the “refugees”. Racism in Western media is always the big, bad white guy offending and mistreating a person who is different.
There is a saying: “The water tastes good, but who dug the well?”. What I mean to say about this is that it is my belief that all of us in business need to backtrack and think over the following: “Was it really me who won this project? Was I the only one responsible for the success?” For the most part, we as human beings tend to take all or most of the credit for what we as individuals have achieved whilst forgetting that actually, we received the initial help, hint or support leading to our success from someone else.
I have tried to live according to a simple mantra which is: “Be proud but NOT arrogant; Be humble but NOT crawling.” I believe that mantra encapsulates very well the ideal businessman, and when I meet business people from around the world, many of them successful in their own right, I always ask the question: “Are you successful OR do you just happen to work in a place where the market has taken off?” It is easy to forget and become spellbound when the going is good. Remember that real friends are the ones who are there for you when there is a downturn. That says a lot more than the opposite.
PCW shall be taking a backseat during the month of July, and I shall be languishing in my native country of Denmark during the whole month, only interrupted by a trip to Italy where my oldest son is celebrating his wedding party which finally now is on post Covid. It will be a good time to recharge the batteries, relax at the beach, and speak my own language—no matter how many years you have been away (for me since 1986), you cannot hide your origin, and the older you get, the more you will look for the past. Perhaps it’s age creeping up.
So before I give you a synopsis of what we’ve got in store for you today, let me remind you to look at the following (which you may enjoy at will during the July summer break):
As for today’s issue, we’ve got 3 excellent video interviews in store. Starting off with a major and very important organisation for the shipping industry, we speak to BIMCO in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is worthwhile to be a member of BIMCO as they also offer competent legal advice if requested, it may save you some lawyer fees in the worst case!
We then speak to WCS Consultancy, a new entity under DP World/WCS, and they offer interesting insights into what they can do for ports and terminals worldwide. Most impressive to note is that the interviewee has worked in the Comoros Islands, The Falklands, and Iraq…!
Finally, we speak to another company based in the UAE, i.e., GAC – Gulf Agency Company which has Swedish roots and like a modern day IKEA in shipping has grown immensely in recent decades.
We, of course, provide you with shipping news, trade intel, a featured photo & video plus wise words.
I also have a quick reminder that our first issue of PROJECT CARGO WEEKLY after the summer break will be published on August 4th, 2022.
Wishing you good health and happiness and I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
Video Interview
BIMCO – The Practical Voice of Shipping
Erik Jensby, Head of Business Development & Membership at BIMCO was interviewed by Bo H. Drewsen, Editor in Chief at PCW.
Video Interview
WCS Consultancy
Stewart Lawton, General Manager WCS Consulting – DP World was interviewed by Bo H. Drewsen, Editor in Chief at Project Cargo Weekly.
Video Interview
GAC – Dubai, U.A.E.
Sudesh Chaturvedi, General Manager of Projects & Energy at GAC (Gulf Agency Company) – Dubai, U.A.E. was interviewed by Bo H. Drewsen, Editor in Chief at PCW.
World Shipping Council Containers Lost at Sea Report 2022 Update published
Editor’s Note:
Man lost at sea can happen but so can “containers lost at sea”…. here latest from World Shipping Council. One might say that the main shippinglines for containers are doing pretty well compared to the amount of containers they actually do carry worldwide! About their customer service currently now that is certainly lost at sea for most of them at the moment……improve please!!
International liner carriers’ onshore staff and crews managed 6300 ships, successfully delivering vital supplies worth $7 trillion to the people of the world, in approximately 241 million containers. The World Shipping Council (WSC) Containers Lost at Sea Report covering 2020-2021 shows that containers lost overboard represent less than one thousandth of 1% (0.001%). However, the past two years have seen a worrying break in the downward trend for losses, with the average number of containers lost at sea per year since the start of the survey increasing by 18% to 1,629.
Ports of Stockholm Opens New Quay at Frihamnen Port
Editor’s Note:
Some nice news from the port of Stockholm – a new quay has been built to accommodate the massive passenger ships now coming more and more, in-particular because no-one wants to go to Russia (St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad etc), and no wonder!
The new quay at Frihamnen Port in Stockholm opened on 21st June. The site was previously the location of the container terminal, which moved in 2020 to the newly built freight port, Stockholm Norvik Port. The move of the container terminal provided new opportunities for the container business to develop, but also opened up space for a brand-new cruise quay in the heart of Stockholm.
Another Strike at Major German Ports as Pay Negotiations Break Down Again
Editor’s Note:
Strike in Germany again and also here in Scandinavia a looming strike from the pilots in the SAS Airline. What do they care that the airline is bleeding big time heaven forbid that they must do a bit more work and be a bit more flexible….unions are good but too many unions are no good and they have plagued not only the airline but also other industries for years.
As the RMT union leads UK rail workers in their second day of walkouts, new industrial action is also under way at German ports.
Negotiations in Bremen between German trade union ver.di and the Central Association of German Seaport Companies (ZDS) broke down.
“The DRC can be the Saudi Arabia of the Electric Vehicle industry!” – Jeannine Mabunda Lioko
Editor’s Note:
Shipping news? No, not directly but still interesting following what happens in DRCongo and if Africa insight is right there will be a LOT of shipping to/from Congo coming…
We are sitting around a café table in a wharf on Cape Town’s waterfront, a few hundred metres from the Mining Indaba, where thousands of engineers, bankers and assorted geeks are crowding into the city’s conference centre, breaking cover after two years of pandemic prohibition.
Renault & Minth to Build Battery Factory in France
Renault, together with automotive supplier Minth, is planning a joint venture based in France for the production of battery housings for future electric models. The joint venture, which is expected to be established by early 2023, will assemble the battery cases at Renault’s Ruitz plant.
Dutch-Based ASML Expands Wilton, Connecticut, Operations
Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML plans to expand its facility in Wilton, Connecticut. The project is expected to create 1,000 new jobs over the next two years.
US$ 40M Approved for Construction of Awandjelo Solar Power Plant in Togo
Close to US$ 40M was approved by the West African Development Bank (BOAD), an international Multilateral Development Bank established to serve the nations of Francophone and Lusophone West Africa, for the construction of a 42MWp Awandjelo solar power plant in northern Togo.
Ambri Selected by Earth & Wire for 300-MW, 1,200-MWh Long-Duration Energy Storage Project in South Africa
Ambri, provider of long-duration energy storage, today announced that Earth & Wire, South Africa’s independent renewable energy retail brand, placed an order for Ambri’s Liquid Metal™ battery system to serve a 300-MW, 1,200-MWh combined wind- and solar-powered generation site in the Eastern Cape. To date, this is the largest battery energy storage system to be deployed in South Africa.
Windturbine Tower Sections Arriving Port of Kopmanholmen, Sweden Onboard UHL Focus from Vietnam
Editor’s Note:
Soon to be 2 years ago I visited the port of Kopmanholmen where one of several project cargo vessels were arriving with windturbine tower sections from Asia. This time it was well renowned United Heavylift which had their UHL FOCUS coming from Vietnam to this mini port on the Swedish East Coast.
Editor’s Note:
An extremely heavy project was successfully executed by Martin Bencher Sweden, who was nominated to perform the heaviest transport on Swedish roads to date. The convoy had a total weight of 762 tons and was 5,5 meters wide and 105 meters long.
