Dear Readers,
It is Thursday the 25th of August, and the last issue of this month is here.
Can’t believe where the time has gone, but generally, if you are having a good time and like what you do, well then time does pass quickly. Finally too, the children are now in school, and they seem happy as well to be back in their usual routine. Frankly speaking, the 2 and ½ month summer holidays here in Sweden is simply too long – for the kids at least. Parents look tired and worn out, and so far, I have met no one that wouldn’t like the kids to be in school a few weeks earlier.
When I took a walk today, I listened to a podcast which scared me a bit. It seems that beautification for many teenage girls or even older ladies is a huge business. Treatment with Botox, getting a Brazilian bottom by injecting fat from other parts of the body into the bottom with sometimes disastrous results and subsequent deaths in dubious clinics… I mean, what is going on with some of our youth? Why don’t we teach our children to be proud of who they are, to have self confidence and to stop believing the social media circus and the Kardashian image and instead focus on being themselves? Yes, not really a topic for a shipping newsletter but still, listening to two episodes on Swedish Radio today with a report from such surgery performed in Turkey (this time) really got me thinking, especially since I have 3 daughters of my own. Sometimes we as parents really have NO CLUE what our kids/teenagers are up to, right?
From the market, I heard that finally shipping rates for containers seem to be going down. No longer in the double digits, it is a development that we all have been looking forward to. I think perhaps it is time that owners now focus on actually providing proper customer service and not only an English-speaking person located in Poland, Estonia or India in order to save money when a customer from Scandinavia (for example) is calling.
It would also be a nice move for some owners to look over their claims handling and their decision-making process. Being a network chairman of some 240 project forwarders worldwide, I hear almost weekly about the poor service offered, sloppy handling, and robotic way of dealing with external customers. If it is not in the system or the computer is down, forget about even being able to talk to anyone in person.
But here is also the big reason why project and general freight forwarders will be needed: as long as there is no fully-working, one-stop-shop, door-to-door service based on only the resources of ONE shipping line, ultimately, shippers will be badly treated if they lay their eggs in only one basket. Therefore, making long-term contracts with one line only is a bit like peeing in the pants: it warms at first but it becomes cold pretty fast.
In PCW’s view, the turn of the tide is just around the corner and healthy competition is coming hopefully back with a vengeance. Having said that, forwarders too, of course, must up their game and stop benchmarking only. (Although I do realise that sometimes customers/shippers following the policy of “asking a minimum of 3 to 6 forwarders” creates this situation.)
In our newsletter today, we have three great interviews in place.
⇒ 1. TIBA Group in Spain ?? – strong in South America ?️ and North Africa ?️
⇒ 2. TT Club (a well-known insurance company in London) & ICHCA (International Cargo Handling) in a joint interview. Both organisations are highly respectable and although London ?? has many companies talking respectable English, but not always walking the nice talk..?. I do believe that both of these organisations have a lot of value to provide you with, whether you are owner, shipper, forwarder or just into shipping.
⇒ 3. Capital Logistics Shanghai ??, part of the SISAM Group, Italy ?? – we talk to their office in Shanghai, and they tell us what they can do in the Middle Kingdom ㊥.
We, of course, provide you with shipping news, trade intel, wise words and featured video and photo of the week.
Don’t forget to download our app which you can easily do and peruse during your coffee, drinks, or meal break!
Until next week, we remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
Video Interview
TIBA Group
Willy Boers, Corporate Global Network Manager at TIBA was interviewed by Bo H. Drewsen, Editor in Chief at PCW
Video Interview
ICHCA International & TT Club
Richard Steele, CEO at ICHCA and Mike Yarwood, Managing Director Loss Prevention at TT Club Mutual Insurance were interviewed by Bo H. Drewsen, Editor in Chief at PCW
Shanghai Capital Logistic Transport Co., Ltd. – Shanghai, China
Interview with
Mr. Danilo Sergi Alampi
General Manager & Director
First of all Danilo can you tell us about the history of Capital Logistic Transport and also a bit about who owns you?
Capital Logistic Transport was founded in 2000 by Sisam, a big Italian group active in freight forwarding, terminal management (the group manages the operation of Trieste Container Terminal in Italy) and as a shipping agency (Sisam is partner and agent of Evergreen Container Lines in Italy and several others in Eastern European countries).
The group has more than 1,000 employees working in 28 offices in Europe and China.
AntwerpXL Announces the 2022 Line-up
Editor’s Note:
Project Cargo Weekly will be at AXL this year with our own booth A2. Please come by to say hello to the chief editor!
Looking forward to see you. Further from the organisers as per below!
The AntwerpXL conference programme is the result of months of research, and we are proud to announce the 2022 line-up.
Sessions taking place over the two days include:
- Forecasting – Managing the needs of breakbulk and project cargo shippers in the current multipurpose shipping market
- Digitalisation – Breakbulk bottlenecks and digital vision
- Next-Gen – 40 Under 40: Developing an agile workforce
- Connections – Intermodal links, rail and barge
- Technology – Top applications, innovative technologies, and future-proof products
- Sustainability – The priority of a fight against climate change and a look towards future fuels
- Challenges & Opportunities – The future of the breakbulk and project cargo sector
COSCO Develops Tech to Transform Pulp Ship Into a Car Carrier
Editor’s Note:
Dont say that the chinese copy, well they do and plenty over the last few decades but they can also innovate themselves ! just look at this smart way of transporting cars using bulkships, so yes roro ships being fully booked, expensive and shall we say proud then why not find another solution as COSCO did!
In the unprecedented shipping markets witnessed during the pandemic, cargo types have migrated to all manner of alternate vessels, a new phenomenon which has seen boxes taken on bulk carriers, logs on newcastlemaxes and now cars in a pulp carrier.
Chinese Shippers Shun Russian Arctic Waters
Editor’s Note:
And more news on the Chinese front with COSCO Shipping now discontinuing their routing of cargo ships via the Northern Sea Route, NSR north of Russia. I guess there are chinks in the solidarity armour between the 2 socialist states after all… not all behavior can be condoned.
The far northern shipping route that stretches along Russia’s Arctic coast is almost ice-free and shipping in the area will soon reach this year’s peak.
Ice maps show open water across the lion’s share of the more than 5000 km long route that connects the Pacific with European Russia.
Get the PCW Mobile App
Editor’s Note:
Now this is a self serving message from me reminding you to DOWNLOAD OUR PCW app! it is easy, you can watch video interviews, listen to them as podcast instead whilst on the go or you can read the interviews at your leisure. Since there is a lot of shipping news in PCW its today under shipping news!
INZAG Procures Liebherr Mobile Crane For Ghanaian Construction Project
The German construction company, INZAG, has been awarded a contract for ‘Lot 1’ of the rehabilitation of the Eastern Corridor Road in Ghana
The rehabilitation of the road is one of the most important projects undertaken by the Ministry of Roads and Highways of Ghana. It is of central importance for the transport and economic development of the West African state. The 700 km road is an integral part of the North to South axis from the border with landlocked Burkina Faso to Tema.
Monadelphous: New Infrastructure Work at Oyu Tolgoi
The construction of surface infrastructure including two conveyors and an electrical substation for the underground development at the Rio Tinto-operated Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia features in $A100M of new work announced by Australian-based engineer Monadelphous.
Cansino Plans to Establish a Production Center in Mexico
CansinoBIO announced a plan to establish a vaccine production and distribution center in Mexico in collaboration with Drugmex. The laboratory said that with this it seeks to democratize vaccines for the Latin American population, which include Covid-19 vaccines in their intramuscular and inhalable versions, among others in its portfolio. The company transferred its single-use technology to Drugmex’s production plant in Queretaro.
Royal IHC and Karnafuly Ship Builders Ltd Sign Contracts For Design, Engineering & Equipment of Four CSDs
Royal IHC and Karnafuly Ship Builders Ltd (KSBL) in Bangladesh have signed contracts for the design, engineering and hardware of four cutter suction dredgers (CSDs). These four mono-pontoon custom-built CSDs (2x 700 mm and 2x 600 mm) will be built in Bangladesh by KSBL for Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA). In addition, Royal IHC will provide yard assistance for the installation, testing and commissioning of the equipment and the CSDs.
African Union Agenda 2063
Editor’s Note:
AGENDA 2063 is an interactive presentation made by the African Union. Africa is a fantastic continent and seems to be the place to be now and in the future – if they can get their AU together there is certainly hope. It also will mean a lot for shipping, because is there anywhere else you see growth…? Seems only Africa is left.
Editor’s Note:
From onboard mv Tian Jian of COSCO Shipping in Oskarshamn, a fantastic day and with this close up of a tower section loaded on deck you get an idea of the size of current wind turbine parts being transported around the world.
