Dear Readers,
It is the 1st of April; it is Thursday, and we are here with the latest issue of Project Cargo Weekly. Generally, it is called April Fools day,. Yet, I don’t dare tell that to the wife as it is also her birthday. Tomorrow, the 2nd of April, is my ex wife’s birthday, it pays off to have the dates straight in my head, so any flowers aren’t sent to the wrong receiver ?.
This past week has seen me again hitting the road here in Sweden, mainly a combination of compensating for being unable to travel due to COVID but also in order to visit various ports, see ships in port, and take some pictures which more often than not give an idea of the nature which also surrounds these ports. Sweden really does have many nice and beautifully located ports. First, I visited a bulk carrier arriving at the Port of Oxelösund about 130 km south of the capital Stockholm. It had arrived with 50,000 tons of coal from Alabama (sorry green fanatics…? ). View the photos here.
Then two days later, I drove 550 km to the small port of Köpmanholmen nearby to Örnsköldsvik (and the birthplace of Hägglunds Cranes) where a small coaster loaded with a few tower sections about 36m long, 60 tons each arrived from being transshipped at the Danish port of Grenaa. Here I have two links for you. This first photo album shows the nature up there, then this second photo album shows the shipment itself and the impressive size of the tower sections being discharged to waiting trailers for inland transport. All of the pictures and videos were taken virtually from the bed and breakfast called Kajkanten where the owner and his wife have now become friends of mine as I visited there several times.
It seems that the wind turbine project cargoes arriving will continue both this year and next as Sweden invests massively in wind turbine parks in the country. Several shipowners have been involved as well as capable project freight forwarders and inland hauliers, all to make it go smoothly via such small ports and, lest not forget, often in difficult wintertime conditions.
I took my 7-year-old out of school for a couple of days, so that he could join me on the trip north and see something other than books and his iPad.
Returning to Stockholm for a night’s sleep, the next day I visited the Port of Sodertalje/Stockholm gateway as they were receiving a new mobile crane that arrived from Liebherr Rostock, again via Port of Grenaa, as they had a mobile crane to be discharged there too for use in their port. Those pictures and video you will find further below under the featured video and picture(s) of the week. And as every Oscar winner always says after getting their trophy, special thanks to…..not mum and dad but to the shipping agents, shipowners, project forwarders and local port authorities making these visits possible.
Outside in the big world, the main topic has, of course, been the grounded Ever Given and again this week the successful refloating. At some point, my WhatsApp kept on beeping as several jokes arrived from around the world depicting the vessel lodged in the canal. Indeed a serious matter though and again a reminder of aa/ the value of shipping to all of us, perhaps now Joe and Joanna public understand what shipping is, and bb/ the value, as ever, of the international seafarer who not only now but also since the pandemic hit has been severely and adversely affected by crew change difficulties, leading to horrendously long stays onboard. I hope the shipowners worldwide take responsibility and treat them well, and that shippers take note and vote with their feet by removing their cargo if they don’t!
Corona, of course, features in the news, but for some strange reason, business is still on-going as ever before in many places. Housing markets are hot. Stimulus packages are rolled out, and the printing presses of the governments’ federal banks never stand still. Who knows if a major correction (as the financial jargon goes) is coming, but I fear that as the inequality spreads, the rich will continue to get richer and the middle class will be ever disappearing, so no news there….for this editor, something is out of whack when watching the poverty of children in the UK in 2021 (on YouTube, see here) Surely, it cannot be that all of the parents are “lazy”. Perhaps it is just a matter of jobs not paying a live-able wage. Well, I leave it to people smarter than me to sort this one out.
Businesswise, today, since I have mentioned both The Port of Grenaa – Denmark and The Port of Södertälje – Sweden, it is befitting that I remind you below about interviews we had with both ports who are capable in their own right to handle, process, and take care of project and related cargoes. However, before that, I draw your attention to an interview I had online with the Croatian owned company Liburnia Maritime in the proud port of Rijeka. They are now opening an office in the Czech Republic as they see the East Block developing and in need of more chartering options, so that is an interesting one to watch.
Shipping news is there, of course, along with trade intelligence, wise words, and featured video and pictures of the week.
Do enjoy, and don’t forget to have a very happy Easter for those of you into that, and see you in a week’s time.
Until next week, we remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
Video Interview:
Liburnia Projects & Chartering
Czech Republic & Slovakia
Petronela Galambošova, Managing Director at Liburnia Projects & Chartering – Czech Republic and Borna Petrovic, Commercial Manager at Liburnia Maritime Agency interviewed by Bo H. Drewsen, Editor in Chief at Project Cargo Weekly. www.liburniamar.hr
Video Interview:
Port of Grenaa
Theis Gisselbæk, CCO at Port of Grenaa was interviewed by Bo H. Drewsen, Editor in Chief at Project Cargo Weekly. www.grenaahavn.dk
Video Interview:
Port of Södertälje
Per Fredman, VP Sales and Marketing, member of the management team at Port of Södertälje interviewed by Bo H. Drewsen, Editor in Chief at Project Cargo Weekly. www.soeport.se
April Update of Our Toepfer Multipurpose Shipping Index (TMI)
Editor’s Note:
The shipping market is booming – big time. So too is the rate to charter tonnage. Below you will see the MTI index from Toepfer, and there is a serious increase in changes from before to now as you can see.
TMI result: USD 8,092
y-o-y change: + 17.92 pct
m-o-m change: + 7.61 pct
3-yr CAGR: + 4.04 pct
The demand for cargo space is booming and so are the cargo enquiries for the next months. Large operators try to keep the tonnage they have and to add up more, causing only very few vessels to appear on the spot market. Small operators who did not secure tonnage in the recent weaker times, have to pay high premiums to secure the ships they need to fulfil their obligations.
UECC – From Waste to WOW
Editor’s Note:
Green is green as long as it’s not Evergreen and across the “road” —referencing Ever Given in the Suez. Here the latest in the “green” evolution from UECC, a regional European ro-ro carrier of cars, construction and high & heavy equipment.
“It’s rubbish,” says Daniel Gent, Energy & Sustainability Manager at UECC. “Stuff like used cooking oil from deep fat fryers – organic matter that would otherwise be thrown away. That waste can be turned into a golden opportunity for the transport sector, particularly for shipping.
“It can lead us into a cleaner tomorrow today, without continually waiting around for the next big thing or making huge investments in modifying existing assets.”
Gent is discussing biofuels.
Antonov Airlines Transports Urgent Mining Equipment from Australia To Brazil
Editor’s Note:
Airfreight projects are also a kind of “shipping”, and among the best in heavy haul by air, you will find the famous brand name Antonov Airlines. Their latest heavy transport is portrayed here, moving mining equipment worldwide. I was on board an AN 124-100 years ago, and it was indeed an impressive experience. I think they were originally built for moving tanks, but they seem ideal for cargo, too.
Antonov Airlines has safely moved 370 tonnes of new machinery parts on three AN-124 flights to a mine in Brazil from Australia in time to keep work at the plant going.
Antonov’s loadplanning engineers designed tailored frames to carry two of the pieces of equipment. The cargo was loaded and unloaded using Antonov’s in-house engineering solutions for the oversized project cargoes.
The flights, chartered by Chapman Freeborn, made a number of technical stops because of the total weight of the cargo, as well as COVID-19 restrictions for crew rest at the airports on the route.
Rapid COVID-19 tests were conducted during each 14-hour rest window prior to the next leg of the flight being cleared.
The Mozambique Channel is the Next Security Hotspot
Editor’s Note:
It has escaped no one that there is a massive gas find in the north of Mozambique. However, there is also a massive influx of Islamists in the area, so what it means for shipping remains to be seen. Yet, no doubt, we haven’t heard the latest about this. Here an interesting article about that part of East Africa that we seldom perhaps think about.
The waters off Mozambique are becoming a major new security hotspot in the Indian Ocean. An Islamist insurrection in northern Mozambique that the government seems powerless to suppress has also increasingly led to disruption in the Mozambique Channel, a key global shipping route. The Quad countries and European partners must help contain the problem before other actors step into a regional vacuum.
Galadari Appointed Genie Distributor in UAE
Galadari Trucks & Heavy Equipment (GTHE) has been appointed as the authorised distributor for Genie boom lifts and scissor lifts in the UAE. GTHE, a subsidiary of Galadari Brothers, will focus on the growth areas
of infrastructure, construction and maintenance, where aerial platforms are seeing increasing demand.
FPSO Anita Garibaldi is to have a TMC Large Marine Compressed Air System Installed
The compressed air system will consist of large capacity service and instrument air compressors with associated air dryers and filters. Once completed, FPSO Anita Garibaldi will have an oil storage capacity
of 1 million bbl and an oil processing capacity of 80,000 bpd. It will be installed at the Marlim field in the Campos basin, 150 km offshore Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. TMC has not disclosed the value of the contract.
Aktül Kagit Üretim Pazarlama Orders a New Tissue Line From Valmet
Turkey’s Aktül Kagit Üretim Pazarlama has ordered a new tissue line from Valmet, including stock preparation, automation system and a Focus rewinder, reports the supplier on its website. The new Advantage DCT 200 tissue line will be installed at the company’s mill in Pamukova, Sakarya Province, in Turkey. The start-up is planned for the second quarter 2022.
ASM Sets Cap for A$106m Capital Raise
Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) has unveiled plans for a A$106-million capital raise to fund key workstreams for its Korean metals plant and front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies for its Dubbo critical minerals project, in New South Wales.
A Liebherr Mobile Crane Rolling-off of a Landing Craft at Port of Sodertalje
Editor’s Note:
Port of Sodertalje / Stockholm Gateway received their new mobile crane from Liebherr in Rostock. Watch the arrival in port here…
www.soeport.se
Editor’s Note:
A nice collage of pictures depicting the arrival of a new, high capacity, mobile crane for the Port of Sodertalje / Stockholm Gateway.
www.soeport.se
