The Friday Flyer - October 24th 2014

So what do you think about this week's ongoing decline in the OPEC Oil Basket price? The price slump from USD99.99 per barrel at the beginning of September 2014 to USD81.94 today, has seen suppliers having to cut prices, along with announcements about the likely impact on future investments.

Commentators feel that the slump is mainly due to demand projections being lowered, but we wonder if the difference between supply and demand means that we should base the future of the industry, and the likely impact on the logistics companies that rely upon it, on this particular slump.

This week's Friday Flyer is sponsored by Volga-Dnepr Group, your global partner in unique logistics solutions.

In business

Canadian Pacific Railway confirmed that exploratory talks held with CSX Corp about a possible merger have been terminated.

BBC Chartering plans to introduce a low sulphur surcharge in 2015 to offset additional costs incurred by switching to cleaner fuels in sulphur emission control areas.

Clearlake Capital Group completed the acquisition of AmQuip.

AirBridgeCargo Airlines carried a total of 290,735 tonnes of cargo in the first nine months of 2014, a 14 percent year-on-year increase.

Despite ongoing restructuring, Panalpina's gross profit and EBIT both increased 1 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2014.

The Port of Antwerp handled a freight volume of over 148 million tonnes during the first nine months of this year.

Capacity developments

ALE debuted the latest addition to its transportation fleet: the Trojan 8870 truck.

VT Halter Marine began construction on the first of two LNG-powered con-ro ships for Crowley Maritime Corporation.

The Port of Houston's Manchester Terminal was named BBC Chartering's new dedicated North American hub.

Liebherr developed an innovative concept for erecting its LR 1600/2 crawler crane with long wind power boom systems, using an LTR 1220 telescopic crawler as the counterweight.

The first steel was cut for BigRoll Shipping's new vessel BigRoll Bering at the COSCO Dalian Shipyard.

Cosco Shipping's 28,000 dwt multipurpose heavy lift vessel Da Liang was delivered to the carrier.

Shipment of the week

Sarens used a Terex CC 8800-1 crawler crane with its recently acquired Boom Booster kit to erect an Enercon E-126 wind turbine at the Windpark Noordoostpolder in the Netherlands. Sarens used 48 trucks to transport the crane, and another 28 vehicles to take the superlift counterweight to its destination. Once two assist cranes had erected the Enercon E-126's tower, the Terex crane lifted the last components to a height of 135 m. The 170-tonne nacelle was lifted to the required height using a working radius of 40 m; the 260-tonne generator using a working radius of 36.5 m; the 375-tonne hub using a working radius of 33 m; and the three fibreglass rotor blades, each weighing 40 tonnes, using a working radius of 23.5 m.

On the move

Tschudi Project Transports (TPT) will open a new office in Aarhus, Denmark on November 1, which will be headed up by former DSV manager in Horsens, Thomas-Peder Jensen. Slingmax Rigging Solutions appointed Gregory D'Elia as its new engineering manager.

Network and association developments

The Project Partners network enlisted new member in Hong Kong and China, Triple Eagle Container Line. The XLProjects (XLP) network welcomed KNT Cargo as a new member representing South Korea, while CLC Projects added Mexico's Navieros & Consignaciones to its roster. Spain's Merzcargo Forwarding joined the Pacific Power Logistics (PPL) network.

Capital projects and contracts

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All about Evie

Evie has been busy over the last couple of weeks, having spent the weekend before last at KOG Transport's worldwide meeting in Switzerland's beautiful Emmental valley.

Despite eating one too many meringues, she had a great time in the countryside and loved hearing from all of KOG's offices around the world.

This week Evie was also lucky enough to have been invited to the launch of ALE's latest addition to its transport fleet: the impressive new Trojan truck, which the company says signals a major breakthrough in capability, fuel efficiency and reliability.