Dear Readers,
It is Thursday the 20th of September and besides being close to the weekend it is also time for Project Cargo Weekly. A trade war between the two biggest trading nations in the world is brewing and it will no-doubt influence shipping.
One thing that comes to mind besides having a strong navy, the US has no (shall we say) real shipping fleet of its own. Sealand is gone, APL was sold off first to Singapore and then to French-owned CMA CGM, so pretty much all foreign trade in/out of the US is seaborne by someone else.
That may not be a problem but, taking into consideration the Chinese tendency to base policy decisions on 5, 10 and 20-year plans and the successful development of their maritime arm COSCO and the inauguration of the ‘Iron Silk Road’, clearly they have the upper hand in terms of international trade logistics.
So yes, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out when two such proud nations increase the intensity of their twittering.
One thing I can say when looking around my house here is that I believe I can live without my Apple laptop and phone, proudly designed in the US.
I can even replace the bourbon and the Harley in the garage, but I will have more trouble living without Chinese made goods.
On another note regarding China’s relationship with the West it is interesting to see how the talk about human rights always seems to die down in the face of another contract being awarded. So much for having a backbone.
Lest I forget, of course, the wife, who was ‘made’ in China but entered Sweden before the quota was full in Europe 🙂
Today in our business interviews we make a trip to speak to a productive project freight forwarder from Uruguay, a country with wonderful steaks and red wine.
We then head to the European based headquarters of a Korean Ro/Ro carrier who ship rolling stock, cars and high & heavy loads.
Finally, we travel to a port city in Belgium, a country that I hear houses the world’s best French food. We interview a major terminal operator in Antwerp offering their versatile services for any cargoes to/from Antwerp and beyond in Europe
On top of that, we have an interview with a retired shipping-man, Mr. Poul Holmboe of Aarhus, Denmark. He shares with us a few photos of how break bulk cargoes were loaded in the past.
Also, don’t miss out on taking a look at the videos we have in store for you this week. We wrap it up with the usual wise words to which we should all pay heed.
Finally, for exposure to our more than 70,000 receivers worldwide, consider our media kit, which you can find here.
PCW is, as you know by now, not an Ikea catalog of advertising, nor do we want to be.
Until next week, I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
Greenlog – Uruguay
Interview with
Mr. Pierluigi Spagnolo
Director
When did you start your career in shipping Pierluigi? What made you choose shipping business as your career?
I’m Italian but I started to work in logistics with an Italian company in Mexico in 2012, were I worked for two years. I started there because after finishing my studies in International Relations I wanted to work in something related to foreign business and trading. I worked for the same company in Colombia also and now I’ve been working in Uruguay for three years where, together with Mario and Patricia, we opened Greenlog.
EUKOR Car Carriers Inc. – Hamburg, Germany
Interview with
Mr. Ulrik Sorensen
Commercial Manager
Tell us about the EUKOR RoRo service from Europe to Asia.
EUKOR has various services/trades depending on which market in Asia one is looking for. For certain countries such as China and Korea we have at least a weekly sailing from Sweden, Germany, Belgium and the UK. For Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore we have a bi-weekly service. Certain countries such as Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand are serviced via transshipment in Singapore.
Katoen Natie Terminals N.V – Belgium
Interview with
Mr. Philippe Fierens
Commercial Director
Can you tell us a bit about the history of Katoen Natie Terminals?
Katoen Natie’s origin goes back to 1854 and can be found in Antwerp. “Katoen” stands for Cotton and the initial activities were related to storage, weighing and controlling quality prior to distribution. In 1986, Katoen Natie purchased Seaport terminals, an important stevedoring company. This was followed by the acquisition of fifteen other companies, opening the doors to Katoen Natie Terminals as we call them now.
Shipping Profile – Mr. Poul Holmboe
Aarhus Denmark
Poul could you please tell us about your background in shipping?
By a very lucky coincidence, after I left school in 1967, I did my apprenticeship with Carl V.D. Hude’s Succr. in Aarhus. It was a minor shipping company acting as agent for most of the British and Dutch shipping lines (Elder Dempster, Blue Funnel, KNSM, Nedlloyd). We had a regular feeder every Thursday from Aarhus to Amsterdam, loading Danish pork luncheon meat, salted pigs feet to West Africa and frozen chickens in insulated containers to the West Indies.
43.5m Long Trams Discharged in Brisbane with Extended Rolltrailer Concept
The railcars were loaded on a special truck trailer at the factory in Austria and driven directly on board Höegh Traveller in Bremerhaven. On board the vessel, the trams were pulled from the 50 metre long truck trailer to the extended rolltrailer concept. Breaking a record, this was the first time a tram of this size has been loaded in one piece on a RoRo vessel. The railcars were successfully discharged in Brisbane following their six-week, 14 000 nautical mile sea journey.
https://www.hoeghautoliners.com/
Powerplant in Chihuahua
The cargo transported on the video is a 110 MW Power Plant and in total 12 20V34 SG Gensets at 140 tons each. Furthermore, 189 containers were transported from different locations in Europe.
Educational Video
Editor’s Note:
In shipping as in life, learning never stops. What is the plimsoll mark that you see on ships? This video explains it.
