The Friday Flyer - October 18th 2013

A straw poll of a number of US-based project cargo forwarders suggests that the impact of the shutdown has not been significant, but there could still be delays in the supply chain as staff return to work.

One current expression that has been making the rounds of media interviews has been the view that all Capitol Hill has done is 'kick the can down the road' and the crisis will re-occur in February, as the budgetary issues that fiercely divide Republicans and Democrats have not been resolved. So it sounds like it will be a case of déjà vu all over again in four months.

It's jolly boating weather for Royal Boskalis Westminster as it divests itself of the Dockwise Yacht Transport (DYT) to Sevenstar Yacht Transport, part of the Spliethoff Group. Having bought Dockwise last year, Boskalis pocketed a handy USD40 million for DYT assets, including two dedicated semi-submersible yacht transport vessels (Super Servant 4 and Yacht Express).

HLPFI is on the move. From November 1st, 2013 the operational headquarters, mail and visiting address for HeavyliftPFI Ltd will be:

FLINT Research Institute
132 Heathfield Road
Keston
Kent
BR2 6PA
United Kingdom

Telephone numbers and email addresses will remain unchanged. Please adjust your address books accordingly.

This week's Friday Flyer is sponsored by Crowley Solutions, a project management organization that offers turn-key solutions for clients with marine infrastructure, offshore construction and marine cargo and logistics projects. Crowley provides project management, marine engineering, heavy lift barge transportation, ocean towing, marine project logistics, DP2 tugs to 150 tonnes and barges to 400 ft x 130 ft.

In the corporate world

Industrial Training International (ITI) has released its 2014 training centre catalogue, featuring more course dates than any other calendar year to date.

Rickmers-Linie has appointed Marmedsa Noatum Shipping Agency as its sales agent in France.

The first Boeing 747-8F freighter to land at Hahn Airport, Germany was a recent charter by Air Charter Service (ACS) to handle a cargo to Brazil.

Capacity developments

Shuttlelift is targeting the energy industry with its rubber-tyred, mobile gantry cranes.

A.M. Kran Wind GmbH has purchased three of Nooteboom's latest three-axle Super Wing Carriers to extend its activities in the wind energy industry.

HeavyLift@Sea has added a second vessel design to its portfolio with the development of the MPV 500 concept based on the HLV 1600 design concept introduced at the start of 2013.

Following the news of the arrival of the fourth and final new build into MACS Maritime Carrier Shipping's fleet, sister company GAL has confirmed that two of the vessels replaced by the new builds are now operational in its services between the USA and Southern Africa.

Notable shipments

CNC Freight Services transported materials for the Diyarbakir project in Turkmenistan from Malaysia to the Turkmenbashi port where DGT Logistics Turkmenistan handled the 'last mile' to the job site.

InterMax Logistics Solution arranged the shipment of equipment from Dalian to Singapore for Diesel Marine Dalian in its first offshore marine project.

Vasco Navarra de Navegación has shipped a dismantled crane from Aviles, Spain to the port of Limón, Costa Rica in order to undertake erection jobs at a wind park in the country.

Donbasstransitservice Ltd has handled the transshipment of three 156-tonne Hyundai power transformers in the port of Mariupol, Ukraine using a floating crane.

ZIM's special cargo team has handled the shipment of a 100-tonne, 28 m long yacht from Asia to the Port of Savannah, Georgia, making use of the latter's new barge crane, the Savannah Giant.

Blue Water Shipping and Lindø Industrial Park will work together to transport two 2,000-tonne bridge spans to Odense, Denmark for the Odins Bro bridge across the Odense Canal. Meanwhile, SBM Offshore has chosen Blue Water Shipping as the logistics provider for two FPSO projects, the largest contracts in SBM's history.

Laninco has moved a total of 2,800 tonnes of cargo for a power plant, from the port of Caldera to Las Pailas in the Guanacaste Province of Costa Rica.

Barneveldse Krane Verhuur (BKV) has used its new Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 all terrain crane to erect a wind turbine prototype at the Ecofys test site in Lelystad, for its client Lagerwey Wind.

People and places

FP Group's executive director, Charles Whiteaway has stepped down after nearly two decades with the company he helped to found in the 1990s.

John F. Reinhart is to retire as president and ceo of Maersk Line at the end of January 2014.

Hill Dickinson has promoted Kamal Mukhi from its commodities team to the position of legal director.

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics has appointed Anthony Quinn as its new senior vice president, head of global business development, based in the UK and Germany.

18-year industry veteran Mark Isikson is now head of Industrial Projects, Sub-Saharan Africa for DHL Global Forwarding (DGF). He will be based in Johannesburg.

Salammbo Group's Libya and Tunisia branches have joined the XLProjects Network.

Prima SA Transport and Trading, based in Chiasso, Switzerland, has joined the Global Project Logistics Network (GPLN).

All about Evie

Evie notes a report in South African magazine, FTW, about a red-faced misunderstanding at Durban port which saw calls for a security manager to resign after he refused entry to a husband-and-wife abnormal load escort team, accusing the husband of trying to smuggle in a lady of the night. Still, Evie has some sympathy for the security manager. The couple's business is called 'Escorts For Africa' after all. Perhaps it's time for a name change.

Getting social

Heavy Lift & Project Forwarding International is upping its game in the social media arena.

Our well established LinkedIn group complements the print and online editions of HLPFI and offers you the opportunity to discuss key issues and network with your peers and a wide cross-section of industry experts. Join the discussion here.

Our Twitter feed @HeavyLiftPFI is now being populated with several tweets every day and we now have a page on Facebook where news will also be posted daily. If you use Facebook, search for HLPFI and like our page.