Dear Readers,
It is Thursday the 18th of February and PCW is back hopefully visible in your Inbox.
It is also 2 days since your editor turned 58.
In celebration, I took the train first via the port of Karlshamn, Sweden where I witnessed the arrival of a heavylift vessel loaded to the brim with wind turbine blades and also a giant breakbulk vessel loading sawn timber for the North American market.
After Karlshamn, I boarded the train again to Denmark where I arrived at my parents residence in Grenaa at 5pm on my birthday. Especially in view of my brothers untimely demise in Dec. 2020, it was the right thing to visit my parents, cheer them up, and enjoy the family time.
We may have enough of worldly goods but we never ever have enough time.
Time is precious. There is a good sequence from a movie called Papillon with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman in which Steve McQueen is dreaming. He tells the “court” that “I didn’t kill that pimp” to which the court replies: “Yes we know that, but your crime is the worst of all! “What?” he asks and the court tells him: “We accuse you of a wasted life!” to which he replies “GUILTY!”
So yes, spend your time wisely. Live a little daily beyond the proverbial office desk and treasure the moments… ALL of them… dearly.
There is increasing debate here in my native country of Denmark which is in total lockdown as to whether or not it actually works. Schools are closed. Companies increasingly go bust, especially for smaller traders and so on, whilst some are profiting handsomely on the pandemic. In other words, some things are out of whack. Vaccinations have begun, and results are promising, and let us hope that the cure does not become worse than the disease because that is what many now are starting to fear.
On the shipping front, we have some pretty interesting things in store for you today. First of all, we’ve got an interview with the well reputed Japanese shipowner, NYK and their bulk & projects division. We then remind you of an interview we had with a project freight forwarder in the UAE called Zuhal, before we finally round off the content of this week’s newsletter with a video interview with the Port of Grenaa/Denmark. They surely will convince you that small, active and agile is also the way forward when it comes to port business.
Topping it all off with shipping news, trade intel, wise words and featured video and picture of the week from my visit to Port of Karlshamn, I wish you all the best until next week!
I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
NYK Bulk & Projects – Antwerp, Belgium
Interview with
Mr. Kotaro Ichikawa
General Manager
Do you have regular liner or semiliner services? What trade lanes would you say are of main interest to you and that you cover currently?
Yes, we have “semiliner” services to SE Asia, India, Middle East, WC South US, North US & Europe, starting the transportation from the Far East / SE Asia. Thereafter, we take the return cargo to SE Asia/Far East on a spot-by-spot basis (or sometimes COA cargo), in order to maintain the semiliner service. Apart from that, we’re offering tramper service as well, depending on clients’ requests.
Zuhal Shipping & Logistics Dubai, U.A.E.
Interview with
Mr. Niroshana Hettiarachchi
Sales & Marketing Manager
There is a lot of competition in the UAE, in what way do you feel that your company is different?
Yes the competition is very high in the UAE. The biggest challenge is how to retain market share especially with very thin profit margins. One can say the profit margin is paper thin and most of the competitors in the UAE operate with the minimum assets and facilities under their belt. So obviously, companies who are rich in assets will always look for extraordinary measures to remain competitive in the market. With this in mind we always try to offer personalized services to our valued customers.
We have a very experienced and dedicated operations team who monitor each and every move of all shipments and update the customers regularly. Also, we have appointed key account holders to focus on their customer’s daily requirements and demands. We treat all shipments with high importance and I can say that we have achieved success in close communications and efficiency.
Port of Grenaa interviewed by PCW
Theis Gisselbæk, CCO at Port of Grenaa was interviewed by Bo H. Drewsen, Editor in Chief at Project Cargo Weekly. https://www.grenaahavn.dk
Maersk Posts Remarkable Returns, But Holds Off on Shipbuilding
Editor’s Note:
The shipping lines should pay for your lunch (for you as a customer) next time you meet them. They are really doing extremely well. For them, COVID-19 seems to have been a blessing, and together with a container crunch in China, it seems owning a ship nowadays is like having a gold nugget in hand. Interesting times indeed.
Maersk Group issued its annual report for 2020 on Wednesday, highlighting strong financial performance despite the challenges of the pandemic and new, conservative investment plans for greening its fleet.
TT Talk: Focus on Fires
Editor’s Note:
TT Club always has very informative newsletters about risks and what can happen.
Some may romanticise about camp fires and hot chocolate. All too often fires are in reality traumatising and devastating. None more so than those encountered through the global supply chain, exacerbated by the volumes and values at stake, and the lives that are lost in seeking to control them. Stakeholders – industry and governments – need to do better.
IMO Urges Action to Combat Piracy in Gulf of Guinea
Editor’s Note:
Finally, the IMO is sounding the alarm bell about the growing piracy taking place in the Gulf of Guinea. And we are talking 2021 not 1821….incredible!
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will convene a maritime security working group in response to the growing number of pirate attacks on ships in the Gulf of Guinea.
The working group is set to meet at the next session of the Maritime Safety Committee, MSC 103, scheduled to take place in May, to provide an opportunity for Member States and international organizations to discuss further collaboration and possible action to address the problem.
Tycoon’s Downfall Pushes Trapped Seafarers to Hunger Strike
Editor’s Note:
Seafarer abandonment has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to shipowners failing to cover the cost of a seafarer’s repatriation, failing in providing maintenance/support or otherwise unilaterally severing ties with its seafarers, including a failure to pay wages. See the following chart for where the situation is worst for seafarers currently.
Palmali seafarers on ships stranded in Italy to Turkey are owed more than $3.2 million in wages, according to the International Transport Workers’ Federation, the labor union that represents many ship workers. Their predicament is part of a startling trend that saw cases of abandoned ships more than double from 2019 to 2020, and so far, they are on pace to double again in 2021. Around the world, hundreds of ships, their cargo and crew are marooned, a logistical nightmare and humanitarian crisis worsened by ever-changing pandemic-era port restrictions.
Turboden Supplies an Orc System to Energy Development Corporation’s (EDC) for a 29MWe Geothermal Plant in Philippines
Turboden S.p.A., a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group Company and worldwide leader in Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology, has been selected as the supplier of a 29 MWe geothermal power plant to be installed at the Energy Development Corporation’s (EDC) Palayan Bayan expansion project. The plant is to be built at the Bacon-Manito geothermal facility located in Luzon Island, Philippines.
Chinese Battery Maker Plans $2.4B Factory in Germany
China’s SVolt Energy Technology plans to invest about 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in Germany to build its first factory in Europe as the battery maker seeks to benefit from surging electric-car demand in the region.
The plant will have the capacity to make as much as 24 gigawatt-hours of batteries to power between 300,000 and 500,000 electric cars annually
Thailand’s GULF to Acquire Big Majority of GMIM for Vietnam Energy Expansion
GULF has five power projects in Vietnam. Two solar projects are in operation while three wind projects will start operation this year. At the end of 2020, GULF operated installed capacity of 6.4 million kilowatts in total. It expects growth to hit 14.38 million kilowatts by 2027, according to the company’s quarterly teleconference in 2020.
Yokogawa Electric Wins Order for Work on Indonesian Geothermal Plant
Yokogawa said Monday its subsidiary, PT Yokogawa Indonesia, received the order for an undisclosed amount to provide the Lahendong plant with control systems and field instruments for four of the plant’s six generation units.
Saga Welco Vessel Alongside Port of Karlshamn
Editor’s Note:
Visiting the Port of Karlshamn, I witnessed the loading of some 55,000 cbm of sawn timber onboard a Saga Welco vessel which was alongside. The foreman told me that due to COVID-19, the Americans are doing more home refurbishments than ever before and that apparently, the timber was meant for the huge Home Depots and such like stores in the US. The lumber could, of course, also be used for a Mexican wall if Trump returns…?
Editor’s Note:
A selfie is pretty much ok as long as you are not selfish. There is a difference. Anyhow, visiting Monkey Island onboard the UHL FRONTIER in the Port of Karlshamn this week was an experience. And you can guess from the flag in which country.
