The Friday Flyer - February 21st 2014

This week the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a report that warned of some of the financial problems arising from emerging markets, and advised that monetary policy has to be tightened in places where inflation is still high or policy credibility has been thrown into question.

Many emerging market economies have been faced with widespread investor pessimism, with some concerned over the ability of particular countries' authorities to control the political and economic turmoil with which they are plagued.

While the IMF observed the harmful rise of inflation in developing countries - focusing on Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey and South Africa - it also suggested that Europe is at risk of suffering from the opposite problem: deflation.

Economies of many European countries remain very weak and it has been proposed that if government officials and central bankers do not attempt to bolster the economy, Europe could be facing the kind of downward spiral which has haunted Japan for the past 15 years.
This week's Friday Flyer is sponsored by EGYTRANS, which specialises in logistical solutions for large projects including transport of sensitive equipment and packages of exceptional weight or dimensions.

In the corporate world
Despite a year-on-year fall of 7 percent in cargo volumes, the individual business areas of Seaports of Niedersachsen's ports - such as the handling of wind energy components, forest products and automobiles - have seen positive developments.

Toll Group's revenue for the six months ended December 31, 2013 was in line with the year before at AUD4.5 billion (USD4.05 billion).

Air Charter Service (ACS) completed almost 7,500 charter contracts in its financial year that ended January 31, 2014 - a year-on-year improvement of 14 percent.

ALP Maritime Services bv has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Teekay Offshore Partners lp (Teekay Offshore).
    
Capacity developments
The jack-up vessel, Aeolus, which was constructed at the Sietas shipyard for Dutch engineering company Van Oord, has left the shipyard.

The Port of Longview has revealed that it plans to invest in the port's first mobile harbour crane in 2014, as well as continue the redevelopment of the idle Berth 4.

UTC Overseas Inc. has commissioned a custom-designed railcar for handling project cargoes, with a 12.2 m long depressed centre-deck and 400-tonne load capacity.

Chipolbrok has signed a contract with Shanghai Shipyard for the construction of four 32,000 dwt heavy lift vessels, scheduled for delivery in 2015 and 2016.

Tianjie Heavy Industries delivered two 450-tonne straddle carriers, one 150-tonne and two 450-tonne marine hoists, as well as 32 axle lines of modular trailer and four sets of 12 m spacers.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) has added a twice monthly call at Santander to its Europe-Oceania service.

The multipurpose vessel Reggeborg (pictured bottom right) has been delivered to Wagenborg Shipping.

Kässbohrer has introduced its new low-bed series with hydraulic steering at the company's production facility in Goch, Germany.
  
Shipments of the week
Tradelossa transported a 216-tonne quench tower and 395-tonne water tank over a distance of 10 km on double axle lines of SPMTs for an oil and gas project in Veracruz.

Belgium's Maxtrans NV moved a 400-tonne liquid gas tank on Faymonville S-module axle lines from its manufacturing site in Genk to the nearest quay for subsequent transport downriver to Antwerp.

Integrated Logistics Company transported a 1,600-tonne capacity Terex CC 8800-1 crawler crane 1,250 km to the Yanbu Export Refinery in Saudi Arabia, so that it could help lift and position and 771-tonne hydrotreating reactor at the plant.

Landfall Marine Contractors chartered the heavy lift vessel, Jumbo Spirit, to transport 24 MPS container-pontoons and a 300-tonne jack-up barge to Ghana.

Coscol set its own single lifting record when it loaded two 566-tonne liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanks on its heavy lift vessel DA AN at the Jiangyin Port in China.

Blue Water Shipping's Tbilisi office handled three complex projects in Georgia, including the transportation of a dismantled onshore drilling rig with a total weight of 1,525 tonnes.

Schenker of Canada and Schenker USA together executed a complex project shipment, delivering a USD6.5 million Eurocopter Super Puma helicopter from Langley in British Columbia to Lima, Peru.

Other notable projects reported by HLPFI this week can be seen on the archive news area of our website.

Got some project news of your own? Send it in to editorial@heavyliftpfi.com
    
On the move
In France, the Marseilles Fos port authority has appointed Jean-Marc Forneri as chairman, Delphine Andre as deputy chair, and Christine Cabau Woehrel as chief executive officer of the port's executive board; while Jean-Philippe Laille has been re-elected president of the Council of Development for HAROPA's Port of Rouen. In Spain, commercial director of Altius Projects, Enrique Rodriguez, is retiring from the company and being replaced by Salvador Corrales, former commercial director at ALE Heavy Lift Iberica. In Brazil, Hansa Heavy Lift has established a new office in Sao Paulo that will be headed up by Gilberto Lima, who joins the company from Wasa Projects and Logistics Ltd. Universal Transport Michels GmbH & Co. KG. has opened a new office in Bremen and appointed Heike Meyer as its branch manager.

Network news
The XLProjects (XLP) network has welcomed Atlas Offshore Operations Ltd as a representative in Cyrpus, and Msharib Shipping and Logistics representing Pakistan, while Sao Paulo's Fox Cargo do Brasil has joined the Global Project Logistics Network (GPLN). Project Partners has added Captain's Freight Services LLC from the UAE to its roster, while Dalian Golden Trans International Shipping Co. Ltd has joined the CLC Projects network. Quality Cargo Networks (QCN) has launched a streamlined marketing concept, featuring new website designs, for the three companies that it umbrellas: Worldwide Project Consortium (WWPC), Cargo Equipment Experts (CEE) and Priority Cargo Network.

All about Evie
Evie is left wondering whether any Friday Flyer reader has the telephone number of WhatsApp co-founders Jan Koum or Brian Acton after this week's announcement that Facebook is purchasing the messaging giant for GBP16 billion in cash and stock.

Acton was turned down for a job by Facebook less than four years ago, and the latest deal is quite extraordinary given that WhatsApp has yet to generate any significant revenue.