This week's round up of news from the world of heavy lift and project forwarding.
This week, our thoughts have been with investors and businesses worried over a looming meltdown in some emerging markets. The Argentine Peso fell to a 12-year-old low last week and since then, central banks in countries such as Turkey, India and South Africa have been under huge pressure to shore up their currencies. It's unclear how long the turmoil could last, and how it could affect the wider global economy, but it must be of concern to companies who are banking on the potential of the BRICs and MINTs and other emerging markets.
This week's Friday Flyer is sponsored by DHL Industrial Projects, which aims to be the logistics partner of choice to the oil and gas, mining, power generation and construction industries. Its expertise in cargo scheduling and materials management means it can offer tailored solutions for unique outsize cargoes and heavy lifts.
In the corporate world
Trade through Belfast Harbour rose by 16 percent during 2013, with breakbulk tonnage up by a huge 57 percent to 425,000 tonnes, due to the harbour's new offshore wind terminal.
At Cargolux Airlines, following the resignation of Frank Reimen in 2012, Richard Forson has held the role of interim ceo, but the airline reports that the search for a new ceo has begun.
Air Charter Service (ACS) and Aeroscraft Corporation (Aeros) are set to establish a strategic partnership, which will see the two companies explore joint project cargo air freight and logistics services
Capacity developments
At sea, the RollDock Storm - the sister ship of RollDock Star - has been launched, as well as BigLift Shipping's Happy Star (pictured bottom right) which was launched by the Ouhua Shipyard in Zhousan. Wallenius Lines has taken up an option and ordered two post-Panamax vessels to be built in China for delivery in 2016. Meanwhile SCA Logistics is extending its ro-ro services to call at the Port of Oxelösund weekly.
Autokrane Schröder GmbH now has a new 200-tonne capacity Liebherr LTM 1200-5.1 mobile crane (pictured top right), while NMT Crane Hire has taken delivery of the first ever 220-tonne capacity Terex Explorer 5800 all terrain crane, and ALL Erection & Crane Rental Corp has added ten new Terex RT 231 rough terrain cranes to its fleet.
Elsewhere, SOHAR Port and Freezone is now the proud owner of three new post-Panamax ship-to-shore gantry cranes, deleivered by ZPMC and Huisman China has installed a 3,000-tonne capacity offshore mast crane (pictured second right) onboard EMAS AMC's Lewek Constellation.
Shipments of the week
Alexander Global Logistics transported two large absorbers (pictured top right), which weighed 47.15 tonnes and had the dimensions 7.12 m x 7.05 m x 4.21 m, from Berlin to Alexandria.
Brazil's Megatranz has mobilised axle lines of Scheuerle Intercombi trailers to transport a 456-tonne condensation tower (pictured second right) from the Aratú Navy Base to the Camaçari Petrochemical Complex for the BASF Acrylic complex.
Holleman Special Transport & Project Cargo was required to dismantle a number of electrical, railway and television wires when it transported six heavy gas diffusers (pictured bottom right), with the dimensions 5.8 m x 5.8 m x 4.9 m, from Romania to Belgium.
Other notable projects reported by HLPFI this week can be seen on the archive news area of our website.
On the move
C.H. Robinson has opened a new office in Innsbruck. Cargolux's senior vice president and chief operating officer, Peter van de Pas, is stepping down from the company on March 31, 2014. Crowley Maritime Corporation's Guatemala based liner and logistics teams have relocated into a new office space in Guatemala City. Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) has named retired US Navy Captain Michael Durnan (pictured right) as its senior vice president of remote and government services.
Network news
The Project Cargo Network (PCN) has welcomed Infinity Logistics FZE as a representative in Sharjah, UAE and MAC Logistic International Group as a representative in Brazil, while Denmark's SaCeMa Project Shipping and the UAE's Syon Logistics have joined the XLProjects (XLP) network. Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Abnormal Load Services (WWL ALS), has become the latest member of the Global Project Logistics Network (GPLN).
It has been a busy two weeks for CLC Projects with several new memberships. Joining the network's roster are: Bahhar Shipping in Syria and Lebanon; Logistics Link in Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya; Global Services Ltd in Cameroon; Baltic Freight Services UAB in Latvia and Lithuania; Groupe Imana in Cote d'Ivoire; Carmelo Caruana Ltd in Libya and Malta; Protos Shipping Ltd in Canada; Shipping Services Italia Inc in the US; and Shanghai Capital Logistics Transport Co. Ltd in China.
All about Evie
You have to hand it to Boeing, says Evie. The aircraft manufacturer's PR department is second to none when it comes to stunts and this week it has decked out a new 747-8 Freighter in the Seattle Seahawks livery to commemorate the team's National Football Conference Championship win and its appearance in Super Bowl XLVIII at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Boeing already sponsors the Seahawks, the American football team based at the company's spiritual home. The new plane is owned by Boeing and is currently being used for flight testing. Evie joins with Boeing and all Seahawks fans in wishing the team success on Sunday.
