The Friday Flyer - September 20th 2013

Professor Marcy-Maria Burns promises to highlight the factors that will be setting the heavy lift shipping industry agenda over the next few years.

Whatever reservations the industry still faces today, one thing is certain: many of the issues that shaped the market at the turn of the century are gone. New markets, new trade lanes, new centres of manufacturing, have re-written many of the rules that shaped the industry in 2000.

HLPFI is looking forward to catching up with friends and contacts in New Orleans next week and making some new ones.

Recent news indicates that serious money is being put to good use for investment in new heavy lift shipping capacity. This week Chipolbrok contracted with Shanghai Shipyard for a series of heavy lift ships. This followed last week's news that BigRoll Shipping has contracted COSCO Dalian Shipyard to build two MC Class module carriers. Meanwhile, the official steel cutting ceremony has taken place in Shanghai for the first of Atlantic Container Line's five G4 container / ro-ro carriers (CONRO).

Increasingly large fleets are also being created by business moves: This week, TPI Megaline announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with CJ Korea Express, which creates a combined fleet of seven ships.

We hesitate to dub this a new dawn for the industry but suggest it marks a sign of increasing confidence. One thing we cannot fail to notice is how important China is to this expansion.

Meanwhile, earlier today the IMO agreed a draft amendment making container-weighing verification mandatory.

The IMO Sub-Committee on Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and Containers accepted the compromise proposals by shipping firms and governments to provide for two independent methods for the verification of container weights.

The draft amendments  will now be submitted to the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) for approval with a view to subsequent adoption.

The European Shippers Council expressed its disappointment and said: "These measures to enter into force in July 2016 - if approved in 2014 - will only add to extra costs and administrative burden to shippers around the world with consequences to global supply chains."

This week's Friday Flyer is sponsored by Omega Morgan - http://www.toughguyswanted.com/careers/

 

In the corporate world

The UK P&I Club has revised and reissued the four booklets in its 'Book it Right and Pack it Tight' series (pictured second right), available in both English and Chinese.

ICHCA international will be hosting a practical seminar on the new IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTUs) in London on October 22.

Oregon-based OIA Global is now majority owner of Bellville International Ltd, headquartered in London, UK while Bennett Motor Express has completed the asset purchase of Ohio-based Ace Doran Hauling & Rigging.
    


Capacity developments

Rothmund has extended its rental fleet with the delivery of a Terex AC 100, an AC 140 Compact and an AC 250-1 all-terrain crane (pictured top right).

Chipolbrok has inked a deal with Shanghai Shipyard for a series of 32,000 dwt MPP ships, due to enter service from the end of 2015.

Wagenborg Nedlift has invested in a new 130-tonne Grove GMK5130-2 crane (pictured second right) while Scheuerle has picked up a multi-million dollar deal from Roll-Lift for 400 axle lines of self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT).
    


Notable shipments

Four of Crowley Maritime Corporation's ocean class tugboats delivered the offshore oil production and drilling platform (pictured right), Olympus, from Ingleside, Texas, to a location in the US Gulf of Mexico while China-based City Union Logistics has handled a project with a total volume of 2,000 cu m for China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

V Alexander has organised the delivery of a further three ESPREE reactors from the German inland port of Dresden to Belgium for a polypropylene-plant-project at the same time that Multitrade Spain has arranged the transportation of about 50 railway wagons from Bilbao, Spain to San Antonio, Chile.

Liburnia Maritime Agency is claiming a record Croatian heavy lift performance following the recent lift and transport of two new build asphalt barges (pictured second right) from Rijeka to Colombia, as BigLift Shipping's Happy Dynamic was contracted by Subsea 7 to reposition a subsea winch and its associated equipment from Rio de Janeiro to Sonils' base in the Angolan port of Luanda.
   

Network news

The Trade Logistics Group of Companies has joined the Pacific Power Logistics Network (PPL) in Slovenia.
    

People and places

Georges Azevedo (pictured right) is now chief financial officer (CFO) at Geodis Wilson and board member in the freight forwarding division of Geodis.

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) has appointed Guy Lear (pictured second right) as general manager for the UK, replacing Tom Wilson who has been promoted to a key role within the company.

Inke Onnen-Lübben is to become the new chief executive of the Seaports of Niedersachsen GmbH, replacing Andreas Bullwinkel who is heading to Wilhelmshaven Container Terminal.

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) has opened an office in Geraldton, Western Australia while HHLA Logistics has consolidated its project and heavy lift logistics at a site next to the Übersee-Zentrum, in Hamburg.

BMT Group Ltd has opened a new central London office.
    


All about Evie

The girl loves any excuse for an anniversary celebration so news that Allseas Global Logistics has launched a new website on its 10th birthday was music to her ears. She notes the eye-catching new design.

Evie also congratulates BBC Chartering for its role in the rescue of more than 300 Syrian refugees found in fishing boats off the Sicilian coast of Italy. 134 Syrian men were taken on board BBC Iceland, proceeding to the port of Pozzalo, Sicily, where the refugees were safely transferred.
   

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 now 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, check out HLPFI and like our page.
   


Career opportunities

Recruiting the right person can be a costly business. Agency fees can be prohibitively high and going through countless irrelevant applications can be very time consuming. Why not advertise your employment vacancy on our website?

If you have a job vacancy to fill contact us today via ian@heavyliftpfi.com or on +44 (0) 1689 860660.

With work complete on Issue 34, copies are now in the mail and should be hitting your desks by the end of the month. Work has started on issue 35, our November/December 2013 issue, which will include country reports on Austria & Switzerland, France, Denmark and the Nordic Countries, as well as South Africa; plus a review of project cargo logistics within the non-renewable energies sector; an industry focus on inland waterways; an operational review of cargo warranty surveying; a focus on equipment hire companies, plus our regular articles on law, insurance and safety; and letters from our regional correspondents. It will also include our annual supplement on the Caspian States and Central Asia. To discuss possible editorial contributions, or book advertising, contact Ian Matheson on +44 (0) 1689 857631 or ian@heavyliftpfi.com for more information.