Dear Readers,
It is April 15th and PCW is back with our monthly newsletter.
We have 5 solid interviews in store for you today, and I hope you will find them all interesting.
Before we get there though, I must say that since our March publishing, the world has certainly taken a major turn for the “worse” so to speak. The war in Ukraine is still on, the ceasefire in Gaza has been broken, and Trump has instated massive tariffs on most of the world only to pause the tariffs for 90 days a couple of days ago after which the EU did the same.
The only country hit hard for now seems to be China. It will no doubt be a problem for both countries. However, since one country exports a lot more than it imports from the other, it would stand to reason that China would be the loser or rather the normal hardworking Chinese on the factory floor will be out of a job.
As with all trade wars there are seldom winners. More often than not the decision makers already have a cushy job and a major pension in store whilst the workers pay the price. It is always easy to take decisions when you are not hit yourself. And what is in store for the EU which are unable to innovate, develop and produce much nowadays when we have to pay up to 5% of GDP for our own defence (long overdue if you ask me)? Something will have to give. The tax collectors will be busy, fees will increase and the seniors who are in care homes might only get a shower now once a week all in the name of savings and efficiency.
We have lived under the US umbrella for so long that we, in Denmark for example, cannot field a regiment of say 600 soldiers in one go (or so the report from my home country stated). Seems we have gun boats that cannot shoot, for instance, and I recall years ago there was a joke that if the Russians attacked, we should have a tape recorder at the border urging them only to attack on weekdays as defence in the weekends were off. We have even woken up to the fact that Greenland means something. Here I must credit our government with a solid stance against the whims of Trump 2.0 (updating 😀).
To be a journalist nowadays can’t be easy as things change rapidly, but at least we do have values in the West to fight for, including freedom of the press. I just finished a book called “Patriot” by Aleksej Navalnyj. In Russia, there seems to be little freedom of the press, but they certainly compensate for that by “freedom of” corruption from top to bottom. If true, it paints a depressing picture. It would be worthwhile for you to read this book. I also finished the book by Angela Merkel (Freedom), and it was enlightening to read the story of “Wir schaffen das” Angela.
Here’s what these books look like:
Reading remains a pleasure for me, and although I have in years “forgotten” about reading and instead focused on screens whether tablet or mobile, I am happy to have found this wonderful way of “traveling” in the mind again. Of course, my regular trips on cargo vessels—with the next one planned from Europe to Japan or Japan to Europe in May-mean that I will be able to focus on reading again. I am leaving now for another RTW (round the world) trip on the 20th of April, ending up in The Netherlands on May 12th where I have been invited to attend the CLC Projects & Cross Ocean networking luncheon onboard a ship in downtown Rotterdam.
Now to the business and interviews at hand. As mentioned above, we’ve got some nice interviews again this month for you and you will find:
1. LOGISYN ADVISORS – specializing in mergers & acquisitions worldwide.
2. CSTT-AO – a company based in Dakar, Senegal but with many offices in Africa.
3. HIAP WOON SHIPPING – based in Singapore.
4. GULF AGENCY COMPANY (GAC) – located in Sweden.
5. KELICOR LOGISTICS SOLUTIONS – based in Canada.
I trust that all of these interviews will shed some light on what these people do for a living and perhaps it will be interesting for you to read or listen to them.
We certainly provide you with shipping news, trade intelligence, featured picture and video of the week as well as wise words. I also recommend that you download our ad-free APP of PCW on Google play or in the APP store, so you can read or listen on the go.
We will be back on the 15th of May just after Breakbulk Rotterdam. Until then, I wish all readers, listeners and interested parties a wonderful time. Remember to live a little every day, and we should bear in mind that we never know what is around the corner!
Until mid-May, I remain,
With best regards,
Yours sincerely,
Bo H. Drewsen
bo.drewsen@projectcargo-weekly.com
Video Interview
Logisyn Advisors
Interview with Mr. Mikael Olesen, Managing Director at Logisyn M&A Chicago, USA.
Video Interview
CSTT-AO
Interview with Mr. Joaquin Gomez Yanci, CEO of CSTT-AO, Dakar, Senegal.
Video Interview
GAC
Interview with Mr. Marcus Larsson, Project Manager at GAC.
Hiap Woon Shipping – Singapore
Interview with
Mr. Edwin Oh
Head of Ocean Freight
Could you tell our readers a little about the history and current ownership of Hiap Woon Shipping?
Hiap Woon Shipping was established in 1984 in Singapore, an offshoot of a Taiwanese breakbulk carrier dating further back to the 1960s.
Kelicor Logistics Solutions – Canada
Interview with
Mr. Colin Katz
Managing Director
First of all Colin, what can you tell our readers about the history and current ownership of Kelicor Logistics Solutions Inc.?
I emigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia (BC) back in 2001 from my native South Africa. After my arrival into Canada, I was fortunate enough to obtain employment with a large multinational freight forwarder. I spent the next sixteen years “learning the ropes”. When this multinational was gobbled up by another, even (now) larger company back in 2016, I decided the time was ripe to strike out on my own.
Which sectors are suffering the most from tariffs?
Editor’s Note:
Noone seems able to escape the arbitrary customs duties that Mr. Trump now has imposed on most of the world. Some are fair we believe and some are unfair perhaps it is a matter of knowing from geography where the country is located, geography was never a strongpoint in American schools🙂.
Donald Trump’s 10% tariffs across all countries came into effect Saturday, with stock markets in Asia taking another battering today. Wednesday will see the much higher so-called reciprocal US tariffs come into effect with listed shipping companies facing up to the realities of an impending global trade war.
Networking Lunch in Rotterdam
Editor’s Note:
The highly recommended freight forwarding networks of CLC Projects & Cross Ocean invited the undersigned to join their lunch at a restaurant ship in Rotterdam just prior to Breakbulk. Happy to attend this sought after event as editor.
Trump slaps bizarre tariffs on Arctic islands with almost no export
Editor’s Note:
Latest from the Barents Observer which also confirms our comment about some of the customs barriers imposed by the US being ridiculous…. apart from that a very informative newsletter of the Nordic region and Arctic particularly now when Greenland is in play and in the sights of the US president.
Coal was traditionally the largest export product the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard could offer. Not any more. The Russian coal mine in Barentsburg can hardly produce enough to keep the local power plant running, the rest is shipped to Murmansk.
Port of Brunswick sets auto, machinery record
Editor’s Note:
Before trade ceases best we publish something from a US port an impressive record for them. Shipbuilding is another matter in the US no records there…
The Port of Brunswick, now the nation’s busiest for vehicles and heavy equipment, handled an all-time record of 91,360 units of Roll-on/Roll-off cargo in March, up 18 percent or 14,125 units compared to the same month last year.
L&T wins new EPC orders for power transmission lines, substations
Larsen & Toubro, an Indian multinational EPC player, announced its power transmission & distribution vertical has won large orders in India and abroad.
Acciona closes $453 million green finance deal for Aldoga solar farm
Spanish developer ACCIONA Energía has closed a $453 million (USD 284 million) syndicated green loan for the construction and operation of its 480 MWp Aldoga Solar Farm located 20 kilometres northwest of Gladstone, and 560 kilometres north of Brisbane, Queensland.
Sulzer, Hyme Energy to commercialize novel molten salt energy storage
Danish thermal energy storage developer Hyme Energy and Switzerland-based fluid engineering specialist Sulzer have joined hands to pave the way for the commercialization of their novel molten salt energy storage solution, a green alternative for industrial heat generation.
Peregrine Energy secures US$168 million for 150MW BESS
Developer Peregrine Energy Solutions has secured US$168 million for a 150MW battery energy storage system (BESS) currently under construction.
Visit to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) of Chile
Editor’s Note:
Was very lucky when visiting Easter Island in the Pacific from 21-28 of March. Not only was the weather fantastic but there was also the monthly cargo vessel offshore unloading cargo from the continent (Chile) to the islanders. How lucky can one get being there exactly for the few days that this Danish built (Sakskobing) coaster was around…
Editor’s Note:
Easter Island is one of the most remotely located yet still inhabited islands in the world. Stayed there for a week in March, wonderful by all accounts and luckily not yet spoilt by mass tourism or money laundering schemes…
