Dear Readers,
It is Thursday, the 20th of February, and we are here again. During the past few days, I was fortunate enough to have a visitor from Austria. In fact, it was my daughter, now 18, who paid me a visit here in Stockholm, and we had a lengthy discussion about which university she wanted to go to. After a couple of days here, we visited Grenaa, Denmark to say hello to her grandparents, and we enjoyed some great hours together as families do.
It reminded me again that I have generally spent too little time with both my family and my children over the years. In some ways, I have a problem in understanding that that little girl is now 18 and has the right to move through life on her own; that my father is 83; my mum is 77—not to mention that I am 57.
I think it is the same for many of us: once we stop and give ourselves time to think and contemplate, we find that time has passed quickly, and the older you get the quicker it goes. The clock is relentless in moving forward, and there is no stopping it.
With age comes problems of various kinds but also more peace and calmness. Normally, you tend to struggle like hell during your life just to make ends meet, earn money, and provide for everyone. Then, when you finally have time to start enjoying some of the fruits yourself, you are either too tired or already burned out from overwork or stress .
I suppose the lesson is to live a little every day and not always wait until you reach the rainbow that you will never quite get to. Easier said than done, of course, but one thing is for sure—I am extremely good at telling others how to solve their problems, but I often cannot solve my own…sound familiar to you?
Another lesson is one I learned from my parents: respect tradition but never become a slave to it. I am teaching my children the same.
That means although we don’t spend a large amount of time together as a family, it is the quality of the time that we do share which is vital. For example, we can celebrate Christmas anytime—not necessarily on December 25—because whenever we meet as a family, it’s a celebration of life. It doesn’t have to be a specific date.
This leads me to my next thought. Hypocrisy is ripe nowadays with regard to honoring people. For example, we seem to find time to salute people when they are no longer here, when they have passed on, instead of spending time visiting them when they are actually here among us.
In my opinion, ‘something ain’t right.’ I am sure you know what I mean.
I am back in Stockholm now and have got a couple of days before jetting off to the Middle East, US, and Portugal to make that living I mentioned above.
On the political front, I, strangely enough, don’t have any shrewd observations to make this week. I guess there is not always something to comment on, and I also must be careful not to become another CNN with the same news repeating every 30 minutes for days at a time.
On the business front, I start off with a visit to the island nation of Mauritius, a place with wonderful beaches. They have aspirations to become a hub in the Indian Ocean for air freight to/from Asia and Africa. Talking to MC Easy Freight (based in Mauritius) gives us food for thought.
I didn’t manage to find a taco restaurant in Mauritius, so I decided to visit the land of tacos, the Gulf and Pacific coasts, and beautiful women. In other words, Mexico. We hear from Kensa Logistics (located in Mexico) about the challenges facing this populous and developing country located just south of another great ‘would be’ wall and north of smaller nations belonging to the South American continent.
We finish off business this week by reminding you of an interview I had with Savar Corporation in Peru—a country with some of the best food I have ever tasted and with a history to match.
Hope you will enjoy the interviews, take note of them, and actually contact the interviewees to develop your business with them. Feel free to do so and feel free also to place a banner ad with us!
We conclude this week’s newsletter with the usual import/export trade intel, shipping news, videos, pictures, and wise words.
Until next Thursday, I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
MC Easy Freight — Mauritius
Interview with
Mr. Curtis Barbier
Agent Network Director
First of all, Curtis, tell us about the history of your company. Who owns it? What is your main business? What made you choose the name MC Easy Freight?
MC Easy Freight was launched on 31st July 2000 and stands out today as one of the leading, full-fledged freight & logistics providers. Over the years, we have established and nurtured a vast and reliable network of professional partners all over the world, thus providing a fully integrated supply chain for inbound, outbound, and cross-trade cargo.
Licensed by the Mauritius Revenue Authority customs department as a Freight Forwarder and FIATA member, we sit on the Administrative Committee of the Mauritius Association of Professional Freight Forwarders.
Kensa Logistics — Mexico City, Mexico
Interview with
Mr. Justin Facey
CEO
First of all, Justin, please tell us about the history of Kensa Logistics. When did you start the company, who owns it, and tell us about your office location and network in Mexico?
Kensa is an accumulation of my nearly 30 years in shipping, freight forwarding, project cargo, and logistics. Although I just opened Kensa 2 years ago (2018) together with a silent partner, both myself and all the management have many years experience in these fields, especially in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean where over the years I have opened more than 15 companies (which continue to be active). Finally, I decided it was time to put so many years of experience to the test and do something a little different and a lot more personal.
Savar Corporacion Logistica – A Peruvian Project Forwarder
Interview with
Ms. Sara Kuoman
Director of Logistics
Tell us about the Peruvian economy and shipping in Peru.
Peru has one of the strongest economies in Latin America. Since last year Chinese don’t need a visa to visit Peru, so there are many Chinese investors arriving. Peru is part of APEC, which makes for better business between China and Peru. Moreover, one-quarter of the Peruvian population has Asian ancestry; including me. My great grandfather was from China.
Inland Shipping Collaboration Between Ports of Stockholm and Mälarhamnar
Editor’s Note:
Stockholm region is expanding rapidly not only with new STS cranes coming from China to port of Norrvik but also now with more inland arrangements.
Ports of Stockholm and Mälarhamnar have joined forces to facilitate sustainable transport and inland shipping between Stockholm Norvik Port and the strategically located Mälarhamnar ports in Västerås and Köping. The collaboration expands the offerings at the ports and will provide good preconditions for barge traffic, similar to that seen on European rivers.
Bougainvilleans Rescued After Drifting for 32 Days at Sea
Editor’s Note:
The time for miracles hasnt passed completely. Getting lost on the ocean is entirely possible for days and weeks but luckily for these seafarers at least some survived.
Four out of 12 people from Buka in Bougainville have been rescued by a fishing boat after their boat capsized and drifted at sea since December 2019. On arrival on Saturday at the Solomon Islands International Ports, the survivors were then transported immediately to the National Referral Hospital (NRH) for medical attention following the terrible sea ordeal. From observations at the hospital, the four survivors are so very weak and lost weights as they were medically checked by the nurses at the NRH.
AAL Successfully Delivers Superyacht Hull to Western Australia
Editor’s Note:
AAL seems to be taking up a lot of slack nowadays with the demise of Rickmers Line/Zeamarine. Not only starting their new Europe/Middle East/Asia service regularly but also taking other projects into what was their home ground for years, Australia.
AAL recently transported an 85.3m (240t) all-aluminium yacht hull from Humen in South China to Henderson in Western Australia, aboard the 19,000 dwt S-Class MPV the AAL Dampier.
Collett & Sons Adds Enerpac JS-125 to their Heavy Lifting Services
Editor’s Note:
There is not much shipping left in the UK but still there are a few haulers that are active and keep on developing, it seems Collett & Sons is one of them. Lets hope that after Brexit the UK becomes a gigantic Singapore, which will mean a huge demand for shipping to/from and around the UK.
Ritchie Bros. Sells US$27+ Million of Equipment at its Largest Tipton Auction Ever
A record 5,850+ people from 43 countries registered to bid in the unreserved public auction, including 4,350+ people registering to bid online. U.S. buyers purchased approximately 95 percent of the equipment, with the top three state buyers being California , Texas , and Ohio , while international buyers from such countries as Thailand , Ukraine , and the United Kingdom purchased five percent of the equipment. Online buyers purchased 53 percent of the assets.
UK’s Addfield to Construct Clinical Waste-to-Energy Facility in Kuwait
UK-based manufacturer Addfield Environmental Systems are beginning to gather a team in preparation for the construction of a clinical waste-to-energy facility in Kuwait. Construction of the project will begin in February 2020 at the firm’s headquarters in Staffordshire, UK, and will be completed on-site in Kuwait later this year.
OTTO Motors Expands in Japan
OTTO Motors, the industrial division of Clearpath Robotics Inc., announced its entrance into the Japanese market. The move marks Ontario-based OTTO’s first expansion outside North America. OTTO Motors produces self-driving vehicles that move materials within manufacturing and warehousing facilities.
OTTO is partnering with Altech, a specialized trading company that imports advanced machinery and equipment from Europe and the United States to support Japanese industrial companies. The companies announced their partnership at RoboDEX2020, an annual robot development and application expo being held in Tokyo.
Alumina Manufacturer Moves to Queensland
Alpha HPA, a $200 million advanced manufacturing business, will base its operations in Gladstone, Queensland, Queensland’s Minister for Manufacturing Cameron Dick announced on Tuesday. The company has also signed an MoU with Orica.
After considering two potential sites in Newcastle, New South Wales and Kwinana, Western Australia, Alpha HPA decided on Gladstone as the site for their high purity alumina industrial plant.
A.R.T. Logistics Transported a Ball Mill from Tongxiang, China to North Kazakhstan
The project included several items up to 6 meters wide that caused challenges at checkpoints.
Watch the video of the transport of a drum (the main body of a ball mill) with a diameter of 4.9 meters, weighing 50 tons. The drum was transported using a unique trailer, itself weighing 60 tons making the entire road train weigh 110 tons.
A.R.T. Logistics http://art-businessgroup.com/
(member of CLC Projects Network: https://clcprojects.com/)
Ghost Ship from Africa Washes up on Irish Shore after Storm Dennis
Editor’s Note:
A ghost ship that has been roaming the Atlantic for a long time finally ran around in Ireland. See the incredible story here.
Editor’s Note:
When you buy a condo or book a room you always hope it will be a room with a view. Here is a room with a view taken from the editors condo in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia a place where the CLC Projects Network will have their annual conference in November, 2020.
