Best of Breakbulk Magazine 2023

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A Land o most-read stories of the year The industry’s Oppor f tunity WOME BREAK N IN BU Read and download complete copies at breakbulk.com/page/breakbulk-magazine.com

FOX Lati Brasil n Am ’s M eric urilo C a’s T ald hriv ana o ing Pro n ject Mar ket

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By Simon West

OPPORTUNITY

FOX Brasil’s Murilo Caldana on Latin America’s Thriving Project Market

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Americas

E

xtolling the opportunities in Latin America’s thriving project market is something that comes easy to Murilo Caldana, project director at Brazil-based logistics specialist FOX Brasil and former president of The Heavy Lift Group.

“I’m always very excited talking about this region. We have the political issues here, of course, but there are so many projects to get done, so many developments going on,” Caldana told Breakbulk from his offices in São Paulo.

“Infrastructure I would say is number one. Then we have projects for oil and gas and all the support that needs – FPSOs, platforms, refineries; there’s a lot of investment there. We are quite active in ethanol plants and biomass, not only in Brazil but also Latin America, and we even export to the U.S. Pulp and paper is booming as well. Brazil is now the new hub for this industry.”

Renewable energy is another sure source of project work. Besides impressive growth in domestic installed capacity, Brazil has also emerged in recent times as a major supplier of machinery and equipment for the global energy sector.

In a recent move, FOX Brasil oversaw the delivery of oversized components for the Yacyreta hydroelectric project in Corrientes, northern Argentina. The plant, which has been generating power since 1994, was recently upgraded with 18 new excitation systems.

“We supported the cross-border overland transport of transformers, control panels, and assembly materials from multiple locations throughout Brazil to the Yacyreta job site, as well as the customs clearance of goods,” Caldana said.

From Trainee to Team Builder

Caldana began his logistics career 25 years ago as a trainee with Bosch Brasil. After a spell with Brazilian

“I’M ALWAYS VERY EXCITED TALKING ABOUT THIS REGION ... THERE ARE SO MANY PROJECTS TO GET DONE, SO MANY DEVELOPMENTS GOING ON”

FOX Brasil delivering units for the Yacyreta hydro project, Argentina. Credit: FOX Brasil

industrial company Wabco, the executive joined German logistics group Dachser, enjoying stints in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Kempten where the executive could put his German language skills – which he had learned at school – into good practice.

Following an assignment in Dachser’s Mexico City offices, Caldana returned to Brazil in 2010 to focus on project development before joining FOX Brasil two years later to launch its new project logistics division. His first task was masterminding a shipment of components from Brazil to a worldscale ethanol plant in Venezuela.

“It was a challenge for us because we had to build a team, to build

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everything from scratch because we didn’t have any tools. But the project was successfully delivered,” Caldana said. “And from then on, we started getting many projects in Brazil. Of course, we were competing with the big companies, but we also got respect. Because here we directly compete with deugro, DHL, Schenker and others. Nowadays, for sure, we are in the top ten – maybe the top five for projects.”

In 2014, FOX Brasil became a member of The Heavy Lift Group, or THLG, a worldwide network of companies involved in large-scale industrial project forwarding, crane operations, machinery installation

Americas

Caldana is currently training for El Cruce, a 100-kilometer trail run through the Andes mountains from Argentina to Chile. Credit: FOX Brasil

and rigging, vessel chartering, port operations, oversized road transport, engineering and barge operations.

A regular at THLG’s meetings, Caldana’s dynamism, vision and passion for breakbulk logistics were quickly spotted by the group’s “old guard,” and after a short stint as volunteer business development officer, he was invited to put his name forward for president – he secured the necessary votes, becoming the firstever Latin American to lead the group.

“I think my communication skills were an important factor in the decision. Latinos are very easy-going, very open – we like to bring people together. This was maybe the reason they chose me,” the executive said.

“But it wasn’t just about connecting people. My idea in the THLG was to build trust among our partners so we could work strategically together on worldwide projects. For example,

we have a project right now in Brazil for a nuclear power plant. We have a member company in Germany that is working with the supplier, we have a team in France that can handle the equipment, and we have here the plant in Brazil. We approach the customers as a group.”

Bringing in More Heavy-lift Experts

THLG’s membership during Caldana’s two-term mandate – which concluded in May – increased from 45 to 65 companies, a remarkable feat given that much of his tenure coincided with the pandemic that brought a large chunk of the global project market to a standstill.

The baton has now passed to his colleague Elisabeth Cosmatos, THLG’s first female president. Cosmatos, general manager of Greek transport and logistics firm Cosmatos Group, has been part of the THLG executive

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committee for more than six years, previously overseeing the group’s marketing and corporate image.

For Caldana, Cosmatos’ appointment is testament to THLG’s progressive values and its recognition of the integral role that women play in a still male-dominated industry.

“This is something new, for sure, but a sign of a new generation coming through. It’s a big change that I respect, and one that I like. I see (Cosmatos’ appointment) as very positive for all our members, showing that it doesn’t matter if you’re male or female – being professional is what counts.”

Given the demands of the job and a young family to support, Caldana may be forgiven for wanting to take things easier in his spare time, but no such luck. The executive – a fitness enthusiast – is currently training for El Cruce, a 100-kilometer trail run through the Andes mountains from Argentina to Chile. More than 2,000 participants from over 35 countries are expected to compete in the grueling three-day race in December.

“I’m training three days a week and the other two I’m at the gym to make sure my muscles are in shape. It’s already quite intense, and it’s going to get even more so. Last Sunday I woke up at 0600 hrs and did two hours and 40 minutes of training up and down the hills,” he said. “It gets tiring, for sure. But I’m focusing on my health – I’m 42 now, so I hope for another 40 or 50 years I can stay healthy. I try to be more relaxed and for me, sports and keeping fit is the best way.”

FOX Brasil will be exhibiting with GPLN at Breakbulk Americas, taking place on September 26-28 at the George R. Brown Conference Center in Houston, Texas.

Colombia-based Simon West is senior reporter for Breakbulk.

THE DESTINATION FOR NEW PROJECT CARGO BUSINESS

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Global Outlook 2024

PROJECTS DRIVE, Industry Anxious About People Pipeline for 2024 and Beyond

By Carly Fields

Credit: AAL Shipping

Positivity on the project outlook for 2024 in Breakbulk’s annual outlook feature is tempered by an increasing concern of a lack of talent to service future demand. Experts from different facets of the project cargo and breakbulk industry gave their insight on the key topics of sustainability, flexible working and future fuel choices, while highlighting their top concerns for tomorrow’s breakbulk world.

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Global Outlook 2024

BUT TALENT DEARTH What is your outlook for 2024?

Daniel Duus, global head of logistics, thyssenkrupp: “I expect 2024 will be another very challenging year in project logistics. We will continue to be intensively concerned with the topics of climate protection, inflation, shortage of skilled employees, digitalization, and global trouble spots.

The topic of supply chain resilience and risk assessments will also suddenly increase. In such an environment, it is even more important that outstanding networks are formed in project logistics in order to be able to develop, operate and complete plant engineering projects positively despite the unrest.

Furthermore, I see the increasing trend towards modularization of our plants, so supply chains will also change and the topic of transport engineering will become increasingly important.”

Fabio Belli, CEO, Fagioli: “We do about 30-35 percent of our business in North America, then we have about 15 percent of our business in the APAC region between Indonesia and Australia with the remaining, let’s say 50 percent, in the MEA region. The markets now that are going very well are Australia – which is booming for mining and liquefied natural gas – and North America, where we have a huge amount of investment.

Australia is booming in everything and the potential for projects is really good.

There are a lot of barriers – quarantine, fumigation, a lot of rules – so if you are there, you have a big advantage.”

Felix Schoeller, director, AAL Shipping: “I think generally, the outlook for projects is absolutely fantastic. I’m very positive. Where the freight rates will be is a different question. You can’t really compare it to

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last year and the year before – these were two exceptional years. Late last year we saw rates coming down very quickly once the container boom was over and we basically reached a “new normal” in quarter one this year. The rates have been fairly stable since. The areas that I’m most bullish about when it comes to project cargo are quite easy – it’s the Middle East and it is the U.S. Gulf. And, of course, Australia is our home market. We are the number one breakbulk carrier in Australia, where we see a lot of mining and renewable energy as well. India is interesting for me because that was my first new route that we developed.

There’s a lot of potential, but it remains to be seen whether companies move their sourcing and their procurement to India.”

Mark Hollenstein, president – South and Central America, deugro: “Looking at South America’s short-term outlook, we see the biggest excitement in activities related to the offshore oil and gas sector. This includes not only Brazil, the single biggest market on a global basis for subsea-related works,

Global Outlook 2024

“WHEN YOU’RE IN GLOBAL TRADE, YOU’RE INTERLINKING THE WORLD USING TECHNOLOGY.” - MIKE BHASKARAN, DP WORLD but also many other activities in and around Guyana and Suriname. Brazil itself is expecting an increase of 18 units in its floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) fleet from 2023 to 2027.

The nominated suppliers for those FPSOs are not only the historical players, but also new operators entering the South American FPSO market. In line with this increase in the FPSO fleet, we will see a massive increase in demand for works related to subsea installations. We have looked at the main cargo movements associated with these significant investments. Part of the shipping may not be directly to/from South America, but within Asia, or from worldwide origins to Asia, where the FPSOs and topside modules are being built.”

Mike Bhaskaran, group chief operating officer for digital technology, DP World: “I am very excited about the Far East, Africa and Latin America and the opportunities that we see in trading and new trade routes using technology. When you’re in global trade, you’re interlinking the world using technology.”

we’re investing in the tech space. Lithium and minerals mining is a really growing sector for us, not just because the sector itself is growing but because we haven’t had so much market share. So, we see big opportunity there. We continue to see the oil and gas space and LNG as real projects that we think we can play a part in. We’re working closely with our customers and our partners to see how we can move that forward. We see the Central American-Caribbean area expanding from an oil and gas perspective as well. Renewables is the one where we have invested the most as DHL, to be able to try and position ourselves for a lot of these projects that are coming up.

It’s still a space that I think we don’t do enough in as a company, and we really want to continue to make our mark in those sectors. We’ve put sector heads in place to really focus on those to try and understand what the customer wants and what they need and then use that as the platform for us to try and win work.”

What’s the most common concern you are hearing in the market today?

Dea Chincuanco, president Americas, dship Carriers: “Industry Ryan Foley, CEO trends, pain points, Industrial Projects, and sustainable DHL Global developments are Forwarding: typically top of mind “For us, the outlook for shippers, forwarders, and carriers. is very positive.

However, the underlying theme of these We’re not the biggest concerns always centers around how freight forwarder in to drive profitability and growth within terms of project logistics, but what we their respective organizations. One of the want to do is continue to grow. For the most prevalent concerns, widely shared various sectors that we’re working in among industry peers and competitors

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alike, revolves around the skills of the future. The dynamics of supply and demand inevitably impact all business activities – especially in logistics and the supply chain, expertise and specialized knowledge are critical to meeting complex requirements while navigating challenges such as weather, costs, and geopolitical events. In the project and breakbulk industry, all three parties involved are increasingly recognizing the importance of workforce sustainability.

This pertains not only to the need for younger professionals to enter the industry but also to acknowledging the invaluable contributions that women professionals can make to the workforce.”

Fabio Belli, CEO, Fagioli: “One of the main challenges we have is the personnel. You can’t find people. If you look to Australia, but also Italy, in the last few years we have lost 50 percent of the crane drivers. Another problem we have is to find engineers. We have to encourage a new generation to be proud to work as an engineer. No one wants to do engineering anymore because it’s difficult to take responsibility to design a bridge that could collapse. Honestly, I’m quite afraid of what will happen in the future, and I don’t know what the solution is. The fact is that we are moving to a bigger infrastructure moment everywhere in Europe because all the bridges were built after the Second World War. They are all collapsing. How can we replace all this infrastructure without the engineers? There are people of 75-80 years old that are still doing engineering because they like it, but they cannot be replaced. It is a very strange moment.”

Felix Schoeller, director, AAL Shipping: “Talent acquisition is a big topic for us. How do you train and retain the talent of the future? The project business we do is very niche and talented young people don’t necessarily know what we’re doing. Our business isn’t as popular as, say, going into consulting or going into banking, so I think we as an industry need to lobby hard at the universities and offer

Global Outlook 2024

Fagioli handles a bridge section in Italy.

Credit: Fagioli

good apprenticeships, traineeships, and corporate programs to make sure young people are interested to work in our industry. Another main concern when it comes to the project pipeline is space on the ships. We had a shipping crisis after the financial crisis in 2008 and since 2010 to now, there has been few new building of ships. At AAL, we have a young fleet, our ships are around 10 years old, but there’s also a lot of old tonnage, and there hasn’t been much fleet renewal. With all the projects coming in, there’s not that much vessel supply.

Space is limited and the market hasn’t seen massive new building programs.”

Mark Hollenstein, president – South and Central America, deugro: “Qualified human resources are a scarcity in our market. As the deugro organization does not historically expand through M&A, but through organic growth, we always seek out the most suited candidate to take on the challenge of

continuing our growth path. The deugro management trainee program, DMP (deugro’s Most Promising), was started 25 years ago by our current co-CEO, Klaus Strahmann, as a totally innovative concept. To date, we have several hundred candidates who have completed our two-year management trainee program.

Out of those, a third are still working for deugro and of those, more than 90 percent have assumed a managerial position within the organization. The DMP program was a true gamechanger that helped the organization to grow to where we are today. On a smaller and more local scale, we are also doing the same in South America, in Brazil. The Humboldt School offers a dual education program, in which deugro has been participating for 13 years. Each year, we offer at least one to two students an apprenticeship position. The individuals either go to the school in a block session for one and a half months, or work as an intern in one of deugro’s Brazil offices as a fully integrated

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team member. This permits them to gain early access to the work environment and, at the same time, gain knowledge in our area of expertise. Over the last 13 years, we have had 16 participants, out of which four have already joined the DMP program and more than seven are still working with us in the deugro organization.”

Ryan Foley, CEO, Industrial Projects, DHL Global Forwarding: “This is an industry that at some point will run out of people and we need to do everything we can to help bring people in – show them that it’s interesting. We run graduate programs at DHL – we’re a big company, we employ 700,000 people around the world and less than 0.1 percent of the graduates that come into the organization choose to be in project logistics. So how can we make this industry more attractive to people to get them in and come and work for us at DHL and be the future? I joined the company as a trainee on a training

Global Outlook 2024

program and have had a great experience – 20 years this year. We want to make sure that we’re offering those kinds of opportunities to people so that we can continue to feed for the future, because otherwise none of these projects will be able to happen. It’s all based around people; AI is great, and technology and digitization is great, but at the end of the day it’s going to need people to run the project, so we need to continue to invest in that. For me, that’s a key area for all of us and it should be cross borders, across carriers – everyone all focusing on the same thing because otherwise we won’t be able to keep the industry running.”

Is the shift to more flexible working arrangements sustainable in the long-term?

Credit: AAL Shipping

Dea Chincuanco, president Americas, dship Carriers: “The widespread adoption of flexible working arrangements was primarily triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. In

the logistics and supply chain industry, which comprises both blue-collar and white-collar professionals operating within one of the oldest industries, global trade, the historical norm has been onsite work. However, a significant shift has occurred. According to the Third Edition of McKinsey’s American Opportunity Survey from spring 2022, 58 percent of Americans had the opportunity to work from home at least one day a week, while 35 percent of respondents reported having the option to work from home five days a week. This study encompassed a wide range of job types across all sectors of the economy, including traditional “blue-collar” and “white-collar” professions. In the current landscape where the Covid-19 pandemic is no longer an unfamiliar or highly threatening factor, various industries, companies, and owners have introduced a spectrum of policies regarding on-site work, hybrid models, or remote work setups.

Ultimately, the decisive factors revolve around identifying specific segments

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of the workforce that organizations aim to engage alongside the strategic and cultural initiatives they choose to adopt.

Given the skills of the future and labor participation rates, the sustainability of flexible working arrangements is tied to the talent pool from which companies can draw the highest levels of efficiency and profitability from.”

Mark Hollenstein, president – South and Central America, deugro: “We believe that flexible working arrangements will be beneficiary in the long term and that they are sustainable going forward. We all agree that with the Covid restrictions, we were pushed into the home office, and we made the best out of it. It forced us to start working in different ways. The circumstances have changed a lot since then. However, it hasn’t changed the fact that individuals gain quality time with their families, or time to run errands, when they otherwise would be commuting to the office and back. For example, commuting to work

Credit: deugro

Global Outlook 2024

in megacities like São Paulo may easily take one and a half hours, each way. By providing flexible working arrangements, we attract team members who, at other workplaces, face stringent conditions based on traditional office policies. We have also responded to the post-Covid situation with the opening of a new office in Santos, providing a local workplace for our team instead of their commuting to São Paulo on a three/two basis.”

How can breakbulk companies balance increasing environmental responsibilities against profitability?

Dea Chincuanco, president Americas, dship Carriers: “Much like in other industries amidst the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the project logistics and supply chain sector has its own intricate ecosystem.

A notable technological advancement that has profoundly impacted global trade is the Internet of Things. In this context, achieving a delicate balance between meeting rising environmental responsibilities and ensuring profitability heavily depends on the purchasing behavior of consumers. This aspect of behavioral economics is particularly

conspicuous in lifestyle industry segments. Here, values and culture are highly visible, as a younger demographic of buyers places significant emphasis on B2C purchasing practices that prioritize environmentally conscious initiatives. These initiatives are more readily apparent and adaptable compared with traditional B2B transactions, where purchasing decisions may not always be transparent. Specifically for breakbulk companies, this balancing act becomes palpable, given the intricate trade-offs between short-term and long-term investments in resource management. The pressure to meet evolving sustainability and environmental standards while managing costs and striving for revenue growth is a significant challenge. Just like any new policy standard, efficiencies must keep pace to effectively handle the rising costs.”

Fabio Belli, CEO, Fagioli: “This is a real challenge. We have ESG certification - we’re one of the first in the sector – and we are all looking to the carbon footprint. But today, prices are not reflecting what we are doing to reduce this. We have to invest, but the risk is that you invest a lot, but the price remains exactly the same. This is the challenge we have… but we have to go in that direction.”

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What vessel fuel option will become the fuel of choice for MPVs in the future?

Felix Schoeller, director of AAL Shipping: “I can tell you that at AAL, the new building program that we’ve commissioned is dual fuel and methanol ready. That gives a multipurpose player flexibility – ports are not very predictable, so you need to have a technology which allows you to bunker in different ports.

There’s a lot of talk about ammonia, however this is potentially hazardous for the crew. Liquefied natural gas is not practical for multipurpose ships because we are running comparatively smaller ships, and it’s very expensive.

Hydrogen is simply not a technology that is available, or close to being available, so I believe methanol or dual-fuel ships with methanol are a very good technology to bridge the gap for the next few years, until hopefully there’s a consensus on the propulsion for merchant ships in the future. Of course, the innovation push has to come from the bigger shipping segments – from the container market.”

Carly Fields has reported on the shipping industry for the past 23 years, covering bunkers and broking and much in between.

OUTLOOK 2024 BREAKBULK SURVEY What’s ahead for the project cargo and breakbulk industry?

Who better to ask than shippers and exhibitors who participated in Breakbulk events this year? Here’s what they had to say on the general project outlook, countries with the most potential for project development, the direction of chartering rates, and much more.

1

2

(Survey based on 268 respondents) Yes

No

Abstain

Will the demand for proect cargo shipping increase in 2024?

78.36%

6.43%

15.20%

Will specialized project cargo vessel capacity grow next year?

43.86%

28.07%

28.07%

Do you expect to bid on more projects this year than last year?

70.18%

14.04%

15.79%

Will geopolitical factors have a bigger impact on projects in 2024? 71.93%

8.19%

19.88%

Is there a likelihood of new trade agreements or partnerships shaping economic activities in 2024?

52.05%

22.81%

25.15%

Is current contract pricing for future transport fair to all parties?

20.47%

43.27%

36.26%

Is friendshoring (manufacturing and sourcing components and raw materials within a group of allied countries) a good solution in this era of global upheaval?

51.46%

15.20%

33.33%

Which country has the most project potential?

USA

23%

Saudi Arabia

13%

India

11%

China

6%

Middle East

6%

UAE

5%

Africa

4%

Brazil

4%

Germany

4%

Mexico

4%

3

How many years until renewables investment exceeds that of oil & gas?

No more than 10 years

56%

10-20 years

27%

More than 20 years

16%

Comments: • It already has! See IEA World Energy Investment 2023 www.iea.org/reports • After 2035 (population must start to decrease) • Depends on many external factors, including geo-political agendas.

• Depends on who will become president in the U.S. in 2024.

• Difficult to ascertain with Eastern Europe situation–sooner rather than later.

• I do not see the current trend meeting the targets of 2050.

• Sometime in 2040s. The new generation will accelerate the investment.

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Global Outlook 2024

4

Will chartering rates be higher, lower or about the same as they are today?

51%

Higher

About the same

30%

Lower

18%

Comments: • Depending on geopolitical situation, we all hope lower but higher if inflation does not drop.

• Depending on how many carriers have suitable tonnage but presume for project cargo, rates will be competitive to secure the business.

• Higher because of more demand (especially in the wind energy sector) and capacity remaining much the same or even decreasing.

• I guess they will be higher due to new CO2 taxes • The wars should be finished, so the rates will be higher.

5

Assessing Technology

New technologies may change the way projects are executed but there are many variables that will affect their impact. Here we asked industry operators to estimate the amount of change they expect from seven well known technologies on a scale ranging from none to total game changer.

Autonomous Vehicles: These include self-driving trucks, ships and drones 38%

Game changer

7.21%

Some impact

23.42%

Game changer

6.31%

None 21.62% Minimal impact 20.72% Some impact

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)

44.14%

Game changer

13.51%

Some impact

24.32%

Game changer

7.21%

Some impact

33.33%

Game changer

13.51%

Some impact

26.13%

Game changer

2.70%

Some impact

32.43%

Game changer

16.22%

None 27.03% Minimal impact 31.53% Some impact

Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology None

27.03%

Minimal impact

43.24%

Internet of Things (IoT)

None

30.63%

Minimal impact

37.84%

Robotics and Automation None

22.52%

Minimal impact

30.63%

3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing None

32.43%

Minimal impact

38.74%

Artificial Intelligence (AI) None

22.52%

50 %

Minimal impact

28.83%

None

Minimal impact

Some impact

Game changer

Autonomous Vehicles

Blockchain and Ledger Technology

Internet of Things (IoT)

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)

40 30 20 10 0

Robotics and Automation

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3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Americas

BRAZIL EYES NEW Nation Looks to Nearly Double Crude Output by 2029

By Simon West

Region: Americas Problem: A multi-billion-dollar cash-for-contracts scandal in Brazil’s oil & gas sector threatened to derail project development of ‘pre-salt’ reserves Solution: Industry reforms, improved oil prices and a re-focus on core offshore reserves has stabilized the nation’s project outlook

FPSO Anna Nery.

Credit: Petrobras

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Americas

W OIL FRONTIERS B

razil’s massive pre-salt oil and gas boom is providing plenty of work for project logistics, from transporting flowlines and masterminding rig moves to dismantling decommissioned platforms and supporting the construction of new liquefied natural gas units.

The demand for floating production, storage and offloading, or FPSO, platforms has also called for significant breakbulk support. These colossal vessels measuring up to 330 meters long – three times the length of a football field – are deployed at offshore oilfields to produce and store crude until it can be offloaded onto tankers for distribution.

Although FPSOs stationed in the prolific Campos and Santos basins off Brazil’s southeast coast are often built in Asia where shipyards are more equipped to handle such large platforms, local content laws require at least some components and equipment to be sourced domestically. Logistics firms are tasked with shipping these parts to shipyards in Asia for assembly, and then transporting the completed vessels back to Brazil for pre-salt operations.

Petrobras is the dominant force in the development of Brazil’s pre-salt reserves – so-called because they are buried in the seabed beneath thick sheets of salt – and the world’s largest operator of FPSOs. The state-controlled energy company’s latest five-year strategic plan calls for the deployment of 18 new vessels by 2027.

Logistics Support

Sao Paulo-based freight forwarder FOX Brasil is currently providing logistics services to engineering company Toyo Setal, which is producing modules for Petrobras’s P-79 FPSO. The modules, which include units for the treatment and separation of crude oil, water and gas, are expected to be shipped to the Daewoo shipyard in South Korea later this year.

P-79, being built by a joint venture between Daewoo and Saipem, will have a capacity to produce 180,000 barrels per day, or b/d, of oil and 7.2 million cubic meters of gas. The vessel, which will also be equipped to store two million barrels, is expected to be deployed in the Buzios field – a large, ultra-deepwater oilfield in the Santos basin 200 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro – in 2025.

Decommissioning is another key area for breakbulk movers. Over the next five years, 26 platforms including eight FPSOs, 360 wells and 2,500 kilometers of risers and flowlines have been earmarked for decommissioning, with an additional 27 platforms slated to be dismantled between 2028 and 2030.

“If you look at the investments planned in the coming years, there will not only be possibilities for building these new FPSOs, but also decommissioning some of the old platforms. We’re now working on a decommissioning project that will end up being shipped abroad,” said Murilo Caldana, project director at FOX.

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The Port of Açu, one of Brazil’s most important offshore oil and gas hubs, also eyes opportunities in decommissioning. Açu, located in the north of Rio de Janeiro looking out on the Campos and Santos Basins, is the largest port in the Americas, boasting more than 130 square kilometers of land – more than twice the size of Manhattan.

The port boasts 10 private terminals including a multi-cargo terminal (T-MULT) capable of handling oversized oil and gas components such as risers, reels, Christmas trees for subsea operations, condensers and turbines.

The terminal’s total bonded area for storage tops 360,000 square meters.

Alongside a new 6,000-square-meter yard dedicated to breakbulk and project cargo, the terminal is also expanding its quay size from 340 meters to 500 meters, a project slated for completion by the end of 2024.

Such an expanse of land means Açu is well suited for offshore projects that require space for assembling components, carrying out rig and vessel maintenance and coldstacking platforms, as well as housing production facilities for flexible pipes and other infrastructure.

“There are some things we don’t do yet, but we see possibility, for example the decommissioning of older oil rigs.

A third of these rigs are more than 25 years old, so at some point they will have to be dismantled,” Maartje Driessens, international business manager at Açu, told Breakbulk.

Americas

Açu is the largest port in the Americas, with more than 130 square kilometers of land.

Credit: Port of Açu

FPSO Sepetiba.

Credit: SBM Offshore

“We’re not doing that yet because we’re waiting for the regulatory framework from the government, but it’s an area that could create new business for us. We’ve already done a learning mission to the Port of Dundee in the UK to understand how they deal with this type of activity and learn from their best practices.”

Exploring New Frontiers

Brazil’s pre-salt buildout over the last two decades has been impressive, with average oil output at the Campos and Santos basins soaring from 41,000 b/d in 2010 to 2.2 million

b/d in 2022 – about 73 percent of the country’s current nationwide production of some 3.0 million b/d.

A multi-billion-dollar cash-forcontracts scandal last decade – dubbed “Car Wash” – involving a handful of corrupt Petrobras executives and some of Brazil’s largest construction companies briefly threatened to derail the nation’s pre-salt drive, but a series of industry reforms, better oil prices and Petrobras’s focus on developing its core assets – particularly its offshore reserves – has re-energized the industry. By 2029, the government wants to increase

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crude output to 5.6 million b/d – a level that would transform the country into the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, up from ninth place today.

To lure the necessary investment and expand drilling, the energy ministry announced in March its Potencializa E&P Programme, which aims to channel resources into marginal commercial fields, mature basins with declining production rates and “new frontiers” that have yet to be fully explored, such as the equatorial margin, a more-than 560,000-squarekilometer deepwater area off Brazil’s north and northeastern coasts that includes the Foz do Amazonas, ParaMaranhao and Barreirinhas basins.

Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira described the equatorial margin as Brazil’s “new pre-salt,” a region with the potential to generate US$200 billion in state revenues if 10 billion barrels of oil were discovered and produced, he said.

Some major projects in the northeast are expected to be up and running soon, such as Petrobras’ Sergipe Deepwater Project, or SEAP, located in the Sergipe-Alagoas basin some 100 kilometers off the Brazilian coast. The energy giant earlier this year said it had begun the process for chartering two FPSOs for SEAP with production capacities of 120,000 b/d by 2026.

In many areas along the equatorial margin, such as in the Amazonas basin, activity has been limited to preliminary drilling carried out by Petrobras. Felipe Feres, a Rio de Janeiro-based partner in Brazilian law firm Mattos Filho and an expert in the country’s energy sector, said the government’s targets were achievable given that many of the big pre-salt fields in the Santos basin had yet to reach their peak production curve.

“Just with the current Santos basin pre-salt fields, we’re probably going to add at least a million or so barrels, without new frontiers,” he said. “But in the Campos and other mature basins, production has been declining. So, the problem that we’ll have in the midterm

Americas

is actually replacing declining reserves and production. It’s not so much reaching the 5 million-plus barrels – I think we can do it. But what happens next decade, from 2029 onwards, when pre-salt production will reach its peak and start declining, and we need to replace it? That’s where investments in these new frontiers will come in.”

Attracting Foreign Spend

Brazil has ramped up its efforts in recent years to draw foreign investment and expertise.

A stable political and regulatory context, good infrastructure, strong local expertise in deepwater development and robust domestic markets for oil products and natural gas have been decisive in enabling the development of pre-salt reserves.

Energy majors such as Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron have been lured to the region by a raft of industry-friendly reforms, including a new rule in 2018 scrapping Petrobras’ mandatory role as sole operator of pre-salt projects.

Feres said Brazil has always been a “safe haven” for investors but warned that the current administration’s new taxes on crude exports that applied until the end of June to existing contracts and an instruction to Petrobras to halt the sale of assets including smaller onshore and offshore oilfields could dampen confidence.

Measures to revamp the country’s tax system – currently being debated in Congress – that could lead to the scrapping of a tax break on imported E&P offshore equipment and machinery – dubbed “Repetro” – is also spooking investors.

“That benefit is absolutely key to attracting investments because it makes the import of E&P components and equipment that we don’t produce efficiently in Brazil cheaper,” Feres said. “Killing Repetro will obviously make exploration and production in Brazil more costly, meaning that some future projects might not be economically viable. Hopefully, the

BRAZIL: ‘POTENTIAL IS MASSIVE’ Logistics professionals speaking to Breakbulk were bullish about Brazil’s oil & gas prospects.

Marcelo Franceschetti, chief commercial officer at CET Logistics, a Rio de Janeiro-headquartered firm that focusses on oil and gas, said the country’s Potencializa E&P Programme was a “great development” that would generate employment in one of the country’s more impoverished regions.

Ana Josephina, commercial director at Salvador-based logistics firm Logtrade, added that breakbulkhandling ports in the northeast such as Suape in Pernambuco state and Mucuripe in Ceara state were wellequipped to support the buildout of offshore hydrocarbons.

Marcelo Urbano, Houston-based chartering director at UAL America, part of global shipping line Universal Africa Lines, said Brazil was “top of the company’s list” in Latin America.

Urbano, who has three decades of experience working in shipping and logistics in Brazil, is heading UAL’s expansion into South America.

UAL already regularly operates vessels to Guyana, carrying breakbulk and container cargo mainly for the oil

Potencializa E&P program will put the current administration back on track in attracting investments.”

Another major challenge for developers is complying with Brazil’s strict environmental laws.

In May, Brazil’s environmental regulator Ibama blocked Petrobras’ request to drill a deepwater well in the Amazon Basin, citing ecological concerns. Reuters quoted Petrobras as saying in a securities filing that it had fulfilled “every technical requirement from Ibama” for the project to be approved and was ready to refile its request.

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and gas industry. The carrier, which owns 10 vessels, operates another eight or nine and is planning to build another five, is in talks to set up regular contracts with clients in Brazil.

“Brazil, Guyana and Suriname followed by Mexico are our main destinations,” he said, pointing to Brazil’s oil and gas recovery after the Car Wash scandal that nearly brought Petrobras to its knees. “For us in shipping, there was a lot of business as companies pulled out of the country.

Two or three years of demobilizing rigs and all the equipment they normally use.

But it was negative for the country. I see now demand for equipment to be repositioned back to Brazil, and we’re receiving already an increase for drilling rigs – that tells me that (the sector) is back.”

The challenges are still there, Urbano said, citing the high taxation rates that Brazil would do well to address, as well as soaring logistical costs of operating in the Amazon basin, where prices for pilots, tugs, port services and other shipping services were “way above inflation.” But, he said, if Brazil can overcome those obstacles, “then the potential is massive.”

“It’s a huge problem – the operators need these licenses to be able to drill and confirm what seismic studies say.

Without that, it’s simply money spent for no good reason,” Feres said.

“People in the market think the equatorial basin has the same type of geological plays that have been discovered in Guyana and Suriname.

But we can only confirm once those drilling licenses are granted by Ibama, and up to now they’ve been denied.

That’s the main hurdle that we face.”

Colombia-based Simon West is senior reporter for Breakbulk.

Roll Group wants to increase its focus on U.S. projects.

Credit: Roll Group

“IT IS AN INTERESTING AND EXCITING TIME TO BE OPERATING IN THE PROJECT CARGO SECTOR. THERE IS SO MUCH HAPPENING AROUND THE WORLD.” are focused on creating a combined land and sea solution for our clients and servicing the localized needs.”

Talbot emphasized the advantages of engaging a single contractor from both logistical and installation standpoints, particularly in larger undertakings. “I’ve consistently upheld the value of partnerships. Nurturing connections with our clientele remains my paramount objective within the U.S. market. I actively engage with our clients; we seek to understand project challenges and obstacles and to problem-solve their requirements to foster meaningful relationships and deliver optimum solutions.”

Houston: Hotbed for Projects

Having relocated to Houston, Talbot said Roll Group USA was ideally placed to grow its footprint in the project sector. “Drawing a parallel between the scale of projects seen in other parts of the world, we see a healthy project market. Today, numerous undertakings are worth billions of

dollars, spanning different stages of design, procurement, and construction across the U.S. Our aspiration revolves around active participation in a multitude of these endeavors. Few places offer more promising prospects in project development than here.”

The lessons he has learned will serve him well in the booming U.S. project space. “In the U.S., time to market is important. There is a general demand to build a lot of projects in a relatively short space of time. Delivering to these timelines will require experience and knowledge. Every project and customer is different. Being successful in this business is about knowing how to plan and organize yourself. It is about getting the right information as early as possible to mitigate the numerous risks of large-scale projects,” he said. “Our role is to understand our customer requirements early to assist and support in the engineering phase to carry through to execution to maintain schedule and manage costs.”

According to Talbot, clients already see the value of having Roll Group

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on board. “Our bookings are already extending into 2025 and beyond as customers realize it will be a race to deliver the numerous planned projects.

Our customers also want to understand what options are available to them and how we can offer innovative solutions.

One aspect is having the right assets on the ground to meet project needs.

Being available to deliver and move the cargo in the specific windows of time it must be done in is also important.”

He sees planning as one of the most crucial elements for success in the project sector. “We operate in highly charged and pressurized environments with little room for error. There are many variables with breakbulk away from the modular cargo, as every piece differs. It is extremely challenging and, therefore, critical to plan ahead. You will always need to problem solve on the ground, but if you plan properly, you can mitigate enough of the risk so that when you get on-site, you can deal with just about anything that comes your way.”

Looking at sectors, Talbot said oil and gas remain two areas they will target in the U.S, alongside projects in the renewable and offshore wind space as part of the energy transition. “It is an interesting and exciting time to be operating in the project cargo sector.

There is so much happening, not only in the U.S. but around the world.”

For Talbot, there is nowhere he would rather be right now. He has come a long way since that initial move into the project sector. “I’ve been fortunate enough to contribute to projects and implement solutions that were once beyond my wildest imagination.

Along this path, I’ve encountered setbacks that have yielded invaluable lessons. This is part of the allure – the opportunity to dive into projects, extract knowledge, and ascend towards more ambitious horizons. Through this incremental progression, we elevate our industry, one project at a time.”

Liesl Venter is a transportation journalist based in South Africa.

CREDIT: BERTLING

CASE STUDY

BY MALCOLM RAMSAY

OVERCOMING AN AIR DRAFT CHALLENGE

S

Project Calls for Careful Calculations to Ensure Bridge Clearance

hipping high precision components across the world’s ocean is undoubtedly complex, but all too often the largest challenges in any project arise in the first few miles of transport, navigating infrastructure limitations and environmental obstacles.

Project cargo specialist Bertling Logistics recently met one such challenge, delivering a high-tech intervention tower through tight draft restrictions and tidal limits on the river Tees in the UK before onward shipment to Singapore.

This complex project required a tailor-made engineering solution and saw Bertling work closely with client FTAI Ocean and local partners to ensure seamless delivery of the advanced Smart Tower System, destined for FTAI Ocean’s flagship DP3 Well Intervention vessel, Pride.

“We were initially approached for the feasibility study in 2019 and invited to tender in 2020,” Stephanie Lüning, director of tendering and marketing 56 BREAKBULK MAGAZINE www.breakbulk.com

Regions: Europe, Asia Problem: Air draft limitations at the start of a month-long project cargo move threatened to stop it before it even started Solution: Calculations led engineers to establish a sixday window during neap tides to give the cargo one-meter clearance at Bertling Logistics, told Breakbulk, noting that an initial feasibility study quickly showed “that different lifting methods were required.” This is when Bertling Logistics’ in-house technical and engineering team in Middlesbrough came into play. Former technical director Mike Hetherington (now retired) and Chris Wightman, engineering director, started to study the logistical requirements for this challenging project.

The tower system was to be collected from Port Clarence on the river Tees but then had to be transported to a stowage point downstream at Tees docks. Although this was only a few kilometers, the cargo had to navigate the historic Tees Transporter Bridge and contend with the tidal nature of the river along this stretch.

“To find the best technical and commercial solution, Bertling Logistics performed a study for all possible shipment modes, including heavy-lift vessels, gearless vessels with shore/ floating cranes, and roll-on, roll-off vessels,” Wightman noted, adding that ultimately “there was only one stowage option which was jointly elaborated by us and Rolldock.”

RESTRICTED BY LIMITED DRAUGHT

Conveniently, the starting location at Port Clarence was close to Bertling Logistics’ home, as its heavy-lift and engineering office is based in ISSUE 2 2023

CASE STUDY

Middlesbrough. As a result, the team was very familiar with the area and quickly able to identify the potential challenges.

The tower system was developed by offshore technology supplier Osbit and fabricated by nearby manufacturing specialist Wilton Engineering Services in Port Clarence. Comprising 1,300 tonnes of equipment in total, the tower itself weighed 909 tonnes and was designed with a vertical racking system to reduce its footprint, improving well center access once finally installed and maximizing deck space.

Calling the system a “world-class piece of kit,” Osbit director Steve Binney highlighted the “fantastic supply chain” in the region which allowed the complex cargo to be delivered effectively.

Despite the closeness of the fabrication site to the dock however, the size and weight of the tower raised several issues for the team. Measuring 40 meters in length and approaching one kilotonne in weight meant that the limited draft alongside the yard and headroom restriction downstream at the Tees Transporter Bridge would potentially be problematic.

“Addressing these two issues: to pass under the bridge, the tower had to be stowed inside the hull of the heavy-lift vessel; and to mitigate the draft issue, the tower would need to be ‘lightered’ by barge across the river to alongside the heavy-lift vessel where much deeper draft was available at the Port of Middlesbrough,” Wightman said.

Covering more than 40 hectares on the opposite bank of the river Tees, Port of Middlesborough has steadily developed into a hub for multimodal logistics solutions in recent years, with owner and operator of the port AV Dawson expanding its strategic Chris Wightman investment in the site in late 2022.

Bertling Logistics

Having carefully studied the project, Bertling proposed a solution to jack the tower up to self-propelled modular trailer height using perpetual climbing jacks, load to barge, then transfer to the waiting heavy-lift vessel, creating a solution that avoided the need for any lifting, relying on roll-on operations only.

“Lifting was only used for smaller equipment, which was a minor part of the operation,” Lüning said, adding that this was aided by the fact that the selected vessel had an open dock hull arrangement, albeit it was width-restricted in the hold by the aft vessel crane.

The vessel chosen was the RollDock Sky, a heavy load carrier with a draft of 5.8 meters and 6,884 deadweight-tonnes. To ensure seamless operations, Bertling worked closely with RollDock and the port harbormaster to study tidal curves and calculate the prime time for loading.

Rik Hofsté, head of bridge at RollDock, commented on the close partnership with Bertling, noting that all the team “enjoyed our cooperation” and benefited from the “support of Bertling during the transport of the unit on our vessel.”

From the calculations prepared by the partners, the team were able to see that passage under the Transporter Bridge would be possible during neap tides but that there were only six days per calendar month where this would be feasible.

EXECUTION TIME

Utilizing four 500-tonne perpetual climbing jacks, the team then began the process of loading, relying on custom-designed jacking lugs retrofitted to the tower so that the SPMT could be inserted below.

Following stowage of general cargo, the tower was then loaded aboard a barge at Port Clarence using Mammoet SPMTs and conveyed across the river to the RollDock Sky in preparation for the journey downstream where further cargo was scheduled to be loaded.

The teams then completed final

The tower weighed 909 tonnes and was designed with a vertical racking system to reduce its footprint. CREDIT: BERTLING

sea fastening and loading of containerized cargo, keeping a close watch on the weather and tidal conditions to find the ideal window to progress.

With everything in place, the vessel set off in late October 2022, clearing the Tees Transporter Bridge with just over one meter clearance.

After docking downstream to load the remaining cargo, the vessel then set off on its 6,700-mile journey to Singapore. Due to the 40-meter height of the tower, however, close monitoring was still required as acceleration forces during the voyage posed the potential to damage the high-tech cargo.

“We relied on daily forecasts via the Met Office in the UK during UK operations,” Wightman said, adding that the Rolldock vessel utilized software for weather forecasting at sea and potential shelter scenarios.

From Middlesborough, the RollDock Sky sailed via the Suez Canal, Indian Ocean, and strait of Malacca, arriving in Singapore at the tail end of 2022. www.breakbulk.com

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CREDIT: BERTLING

Caption. CREDIT: AAL SHIPPING

“The intervention tower landed in PaxOcean Yard in Singapore after a long journey from Port Clarence with the RollDock Sky,” a spokesperson for RollDock commented.

SAFE ARRIVAL CELEBRATED

Having safely docked at PaxOcean Yard, the large cargo then had to be offloaded and again draft limitations required the team to work closely with local partners to ensure safe movement.

“During the roll-off in Singapore, some engineering challenges arose and were solved to ensure smooth rolloff,” Wightman noted, highlighting the additional survey work and ramp construction required to deal with limited draft at the receiving jetty and the resultant deployment of spacer barges to solve this problem.

With the cargo landed, the tower was then reloaded onto SPMT trailers and rolled out of the vessel one 58 BREAKBULK MAGAZINE www.breakbulk.com

“To find the best technical and commercial solution, Bertling Logistics performed a study for all possible shipment modes, including heavy-lift vessels, gearless vessels with shore/floating cranes, and roll-on, roll-off vessels” – Chris Wightman month and two days after it had started its journey. Archie Sena, senior hull engineer at PaxOcean, praised the teamwork that ensured the cargo was moved through the yard in a timely fashion, commenting that the team was “happy and proud” to be “involved in this roll-out activity.”

Established in 2007, PaxOcean owns and operates five shipyards located in Singapore, China and Indonesia. Its shipyard in Tuas, Singapore was established in 1983 and covers a 110,000 square meter site with three floating docks and berthing space of 1,600 meters.

Having successfully delivered the cargo to the client, installation of the tower was then able to commence aboard FTAI’s Pride. Hailing the delivery as a “milestone achievement,” FTAI now expects the tower to play a key role in its deep-sea intervention services as it extends its capabilities to water depths of 1,500 meters.

Headquartered in Singapore, FTAI Ocean provides vessel-based well intervention, well-enhancement, plug & abandonment and related subsea services for the oil and gas industry and its flagship vessel is at the heart of this work offering subsea riser-less package and topside handling systems to provide clients with a range of services for their intervention solutions.

An advanced DP3 vessel with 2,000 cubic meters of deck space, the Pride was built in Canada in 2014 and features a 250-ton active heave compensating crane, a 35-ton auxiliary crane, a 7.2m-by-7.2m moonpool, and 6,000 tons of cargo carrying capacity. BB Based in the UK, Malcolm Ramsay has a background in business analysis and technology writing, with an emphasis on transportation and ports.

ISSUE 2 2023

Profile

By Simon West

LEARNING FROM THE

LEGENDS

Bechtel’s Stephen “Spo” Spoljaric on His Two-Decade Career in Project Logistics

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Profile

“I FEEL QUITE LUCKY WITH SOME OF THE PEOPLE I’VE HAD A CHANCE TO INTERACT WITH. AND A LOT OF THESE CONNECTIONS CAME VIA BREAKBULK CONFERENCES”

S

tephen “Spo” Spoljaric’s introduction to logistics was, he said, “a bit of a curveball.”

Still in his first semester at New York City’s Fordham University, the freshman was leaving football practice one August morning when he bumped into a retired priest at his college who offered to help him get a summer job at a trucking firm back in his hometown of Harrisburg.

“As an economics major in the capital of the world, that wasn’t quite what I imagined,” Spoljaric said. “But I went to work for that company in Pennsylvania and fell in love with it the first year I was there.”

Since that chance meeting with the minister from the Bronx more than two decades ago, Spoljaric has carved out for himself a hugely successful career in project logistics, with early managerial stints at GE/Allyn and Alstom Power.

After joining Bechtel in 2012, the executive rose through the ranks quickly, culminating in his appointment four years ago as the engineering, construction and project management firm’s corporate manager of global logistics. Based at Bechtel’s offices in Houston, he oversees a 100-strong team of logistics professionals tasked with masterminding cargo movements for some of the world’s largest and most ambitious construction projects.

Spoljaric, who holds the position of Bechtel Distinguished Technical Specialist, the first for logistics in Bechtel’s 125-year history, is quick to acknowledge the grounding his old summer job in Harrisburg gave him.

“It really taught me the ropes,” he said. “My boss wouldn’t let me use the computer for the first two years. Everything had to be out in the yard, hands-on, assisting drivers to secure loads, figuring out how many straps they need. And then in the office, auditing freight invoices manually, learning how to look up in the old freight books what the rates should be, ordering

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permits by hand – it was all about understanding how things worked.

“Learning the basics from the ground up has really allowed me to bring practical engagement to more complex problems and gain appreciation for the details.”

The “Legends” of Logistics

Spoljaric, who last year was among 25 new members appointed by U.S. Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg to the Maritime Transportation System National Advisory Committee, is keen to point out others who, through their leadership style and groundbreaking approach to logistics, have influenced his career – “legends,” as he dubs them.

Among those he namechecks are Greg Gowans, Sandro Lepori and Phil Glatfelter at Alstom Power, David Hammerle and Dennis Mottola at Bechtel, Mike Izdebski at GE/Plug Power, Tony Vasil at the Port of Albany and Carl DeSisto at Stone & Webster.

“I feel quite lucky with some of the people I’ve had a chance to interact with. And a lot of these connections came via Breakbulk conferences,” Spoljaric said.

“Having close working relationships with these people, I think it made a difference for me and I know for a lot of others in our careers. Even now – although some are gone – if I have an opportunity, I try to pick their brains because we see cycles in our industry. Some of them have been through these cycles before and they recall how they dealt with them.”

Just as he has learned – and continues to learn – from others, Spoljaric is always ready to share his knowledge and experience with the newer generations coming through the ranks at Bechtel.

The executive stresses the “Holy Trinity” of skills new recruits should be looking to develop.

“Firstly, are they commercially aware – do they understand supply and demand? Secondly, are they technically capable – can they do

Profile

the math? And finally, can they communicate and explain these things in a simple, easy-to-understand way?

If you can do those three things, you’ll probably have a really good career in logistics and the potential to work in my role at some point.”

More than a third of his team have been with Bechtel for less than a year, meaning a good chunk of Spoljaric’s work focuses on training, tutoring and introducing his team members to the carriers and forwarders with whom the company enjoys close working relationships.

“We have won a lot of work lately, and as that work starts to pick up over the next year or two, we need to make sure those people are ready,” he said.

Bechtel’s Milestone Year

Since its inception in 1898, Bechtel has worked on more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries worldwide. The Hoover Dam in the U.S., the Channel Tunnel linking the UK and France and the Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia – the world’s largest industrial city – are some of its towering achievements.

Just this year, the constructor was selected to work alongside U.S. firm Westinghouse on the design, engineering and construction of Poland’s first large-scale nuclear power plant, while in the U.S., a Bechtel-led team destroyed the last munition in the country’s chemical weapons stockpile at the Blue Grass Chemical AgentDestruction Pilot Plant in Kentucky.

The symbolic disposal of the final projectile marks the end of the US’ commitment to eradicate all its chemical weapons before Sept. 30 this year, in line with the Chemical Weapons Convention pact ratified in 1997.

“At almost every major global turn in our history, as industry has evolved, our company has been there driving those changes,” Spoljaric said.

“Now we have energy transition, and that’s going to be major – new infrastructure, new pipelines, new

Spo, his wife Dawn and their children Lucianella, Serafina, Santino and Vincenzo enjoy some vacation time.

storage, new ships, new everything.

From the business side of it, we want to be out front as we have been at every other major industrial revolution.”

As projects become bigger and the critical equipment used to build them more complex, the work of those charged with managing logistics becomes ever more challenging.

In a bid to stay ahead of the curve, Bechtel has launched an “engineered logistics” concept designed to boost predictability in project execution and transportation planning.

The concept – which Spoljaric, who has a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Clemson University, cited as one of his proudest achievements at Bechtel – aims to deploy on a much wider scale advanced technologies such as 4D/5D simulation, virtual reality visualization tools, logistics concepts using magnet technology and drones to spot potential project pitfalls and prevent downtime.

The approach also gives weight to project safety and environmental footprint.

As Spoljaric puts it, “we’re not staying on the docks yelling, ‘where’s my truck!’ We live for a challenge – always looking for a better way. We’re much more sophisticated in how we engage with our suppliers, partners and our customers, and we really look to bring a more well-rounded approach to finding efficiency and optimization, and how we manage that.”

Spoljaric has also been at the forefront of an ongoing industry initiative to standardize the way that carbon

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emissions are recorded and reported.

The success of a similar guideline developed for the container sector has prompted EPCs, forwarders and carriers – in collaboration with nonprofit group Smart Freight Centre – to work together to devise a set of standards that will help breakbulk achieve its sustainability goals.

Several round table meetings and panel sessions at Breakbulk events – often headed by Spoljaric – have provided the industry with regular updates on the initiative.

Thinking back to his football-playing days, the executive recalled his old coach urging him and his teammates to play on the front foot rather than react to their opponents’ plays.

Such lessons could also be applied to business, the executive said.

“Our coach basically told us, ‘listen, we’re going to control the game – we are not going to react to how the other team wants us to react‘,” he said.

“Sustainability is a hot topic right now. We strive to be thought leaders and, in line with our enterprise priorities and our vision, values, and commitments, we are helping to guide the industry in the right direction.”

Spoljaric is a member of the Breakbulk Americas Advisory Board, a group of industry professionals brought together to help shape the program for this year’s Breakbulk event in Houston. Bechtel is a member of the Breakbulk Global Shipper Network.

Colombia-based Simon West is senior reporter for Breakbulk.

CREDIT: DSHIP

OUTLOOK

DREWRY: MPV MARKET TO STAY RESILIENT Maritime Consultancy Expects Heavy-lift Fleet Growth in 2023

BY DR FERENC PASZTOR

F

or the first time in some years, the total multipurpose vessel fleet recorded growth over the 12 months of 2022 and is likely to do so again this year. This is due to the extremely low demolition sales reported over 2022, which was one of the worst in terms of demolition candidates. This was fairly unsurprising given charter rates were reported at peak levels.

However, even with those rates, and the impending IMO regulations on emissions and carbon reductions, we had expected a few more vessels to head for the beaches.

52 BREAKBULK MAGAZINE www.breakbulk.com

As the charter market continues to decline over 2023, scrapyards empty and emission regulations become clearer, Drewry’s expectations for demolition candidates start to rise again to at least parity with 2019, even if most of these vessels are less than 10,000 deadweight-tonnes and not heavy-lift capable.

That said, the MPV and heavylift fleet has two distinct halves, as seen in Figure 1. Demolition candidates are expected to rise much more quickly for the non-heavy-lift capable fleet, whereas the majority of newbuilding orders are for larger heavy-lift vessels. This leads to fleet

growth of 1.2 percent for 2023 compared with 2022. The non-heavy-lift fleet, however, effectively stagnates, while heavy-lift capable vessels are expected to see a rise of 2.5 percent in deadweight terms.

Even with this positive outlook for fleet growth as 2022 drew to a close, the outlook for the multipurpose and heavy-lift fleet was significantly less positive than it had been at the same time in 2021.

At that point the first reports of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 were in the news but the global economy was on a positive growth trajectory and our outlook was cautiously optimistic.

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023

OUTLOOK

FAST FORWARD

What a difference a year makes.

The conflict in Ukraine coupled with continued (or recurrent) Covid-19 infections, particularly in China, increasing inflationary pressures and a rising debt burden in many developing countries have produced a much more subdued outlook for the maritime sector.

Last year started with charter rates in all three main dry cargo sectors at unprecedently high levels, peaking over the first quarter of 2022. At that point container rates were 900 percent higher than the second quarter of 2020 (the lowest point in the market over recent years), bulk carrier rates were 200 percent higher and MPV rates were almost 150 percent up. But from that point there was only one way for them to go.

From the peak at the beginning of the year charter rates in the container sector had lost almost 80 percent of their value by the end of November 2022, while handy bulk carriers had lost 50 percent. The MPV sector, however, did better – at least for the heavy-lift-capable sector – with long-term charter rates down just 10 percent from the peak.

The reasons behind this are largely to do with the demand for these vessels and the particular mix of cargoes that they can lift. The MPV sector benefitted for much of the year from the spill over cargo that was a by-product of supply chain issues.

As those issues have been unwound, project cargoes – from both the renewables and oil and gas sectors – have underpinned the loss in demand. Going forward in 2023, Drewry expects rates to continue this deteriorating trend as the competition for breakbulk and project cargo increases in an ever-weakening global economy. BB Dr Ferenc Pasztor is deputy head of research at Drewry Shipping Consultants. He has more than 12 years’ experience in academic research and shipping.

Figure 1: Fleet Development by Vessel Type 000dwt 1,000

Multipurpose (no gear & geared) fleet (right axis) Project carrier and heavy-lift fleet (right axis)

Fleet 000dwt 17,000

16,000

500

15,000 0 14,000 -500

13,000 2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Multipurpose (no gear & geared) deliveries Project carrier and heavy-lift deliveries Project carrier and heavy-lift demolitions Multipurpose (no gear & geared) demolitions Source: Drewry Maritime Research

Figure 2: Comparison of MPV, Dry Bulk and Container Charter Rate Trends* Index (Jan 2018 = 100) 800 Container (22,000dwt) 700 Handysize (28,000dwt) Multipurpose (18,000dwt) 600 500 400 300 200 100

Dec 20

Mar 21

Jun 21

Sep 21

Dec 21

Mar 22

*Indices are based on period charter rates for each sector

www.breakbulk.com

Jun 22

Sep 22

Source: Drewry Maritime Research

BREAKBULK MAGAZINE 53

Profile

“GRAND PLANS” FOR AMERICAS Roll Group USA’s Edward Talbot Extols the Allure of Projects

By Liesl Venter

T

here was nothing fancy or extraordinary about the advertisement that changed the course of Edward Talbot’s life. As an engineer working in his hometown of Burton-on-Trent in the UK, he had never considered delving into the intricate world of project cargo. “It was an opportunity for a job at ALE at their UK office. I had randomly come across it and, spur of the moment, decided to contact them to interview for the role,” he told Breakbulk.

That marked a turning point in the career of the now managing director of Roll Group USA, propelling him towards an entirely new trajectory. Coincidentally, ALE’s Middle East office was also actively seeking a candidate. In a peculiar twist, the Middle East team presented him with an unexpected opportunity even before the UK counterparts could contact him.

In 2007, Talbot relocated to Abu Dhabi with his mechanical engineering and business management degree from the University of Liverpool and a couple of years of experience as a project manager in the food and pharmaceutical sectors. “Within

six months, I lived in a camp in Qatar, working on this massive gas-to-liquids (GTL) project. Looking back, we were on the limit of our capability, yet we pulled it off and did an excellent job.”

Shell Pearl GTL stands out as one of the pinnacle points in Talbot’s career. “The main reason is that it set a path for operational and safety excellence which I have carried throughout my career. Pivot projects can shape an organization and raise the bar operationally for how contracts should manage their operations.”

As his first endeavor, Pearl GLT was laden with numerous invaluable lessons. “We were part of an expanding team, myself included, performing a larger project with a permanent set-up. We did not have the latest equipment available. We performed more than 1,000 heavy-lifts using what we had available,” he said.

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A Calling

Even though every day on that project personified everything that was challenging about project cargo, Talbot had found his calling.

“It was a difficult but rewarding experience,” he said. “The project was just huge from a size and scale perspective. We were building the world’s largest GTL plant.

It was a learning experience in heavy-lift, breakbulk and freight forwarding. It was baptism by fire.

I managed this project, and failure was not an option. Through sheer determination and commitment, we ended up doing an incredible job.”

It set the tone for the next 13 years that he would spend in the Middle East.

The proverbial project bug had bitten.

“I was truly taken with the project work. At the time, we had no real way of managing costs and scopes or

Profile

controlling schedules, so I developed a project management framework that ALE could use and apply to our business. Subsequently, I moved over to working solely on projects.

Heading up a project management and cost control team, my role ensured that our projects ran correctly, and I would take the lead on the most challenging and complex projects.

I was involved and ran several large and difficult projects in the region.”

In 2014, Talbot was appointed as a general manager of ALE’s head office in the Middle East, leading a team of more than 300 people out of its regional head office in Abu Dhabi, a role he fulfilled until late 2019.

“To a certain extent, my time in the Middle East had come to a natural end, and it was time to move on.”

He moved back into the engineering and manufacturing world, working as operations director for a process design and EPC company, running two manufacturing divisions in the UK. Working on continuous improvement, establishing robust procurement and QA/QC processes, and delivering some exciting energy transition projects was an excellent opportunity and a steppingstone to learn further and develop. However, with the world grappling with a global pandemic, his trajectory was set to shift yet again.

“With traveling curbed and so much happening worldwide, I opted to set up a project management and business development consultancy primarily working with clients in the offshore renewable and subsea cabling space assisting with operational issues.”

the large capital projects across the oil and gas and energy transition space that are on the table.”

Transitioning to Roll Group became an inevitable step. “The allure of the project sphere, in an exciting time where we can build a highly competent team to deliver large and complex projects on land and sea, was an opportunity I could not walk away from.”

As the newly appointed managing director of Roll Group USA, he is securely back in the project seat. “We have grand plans for our business here. We see the Americas as a key driver for the success and growth of the Group as a whole.”

Talbot described working with projects as “highly charged and pressurized environments with little room for error.”

Credit: Roll Group

Embracing New Horizons

Fast forward a year, and Talbot confronted another crossroads that would shape his career. “My affinity lies with projects—especially those with associated challenges requiring innovation and problem-solving to provide solution-driven engineering.

I feel I am best placed to assist the U.S. market in the race to deliver

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AT BREAKBULK AMERICAS… Project Outlook – Are We Ready?

Wednesday, Sept. 27 12:20pm - 1:10pm His first order of business is growing the U.S. office, establishing it as a solution-driven logistics provider specializing in heavy-lift and transportation projects. “Over the next period, we will increase our capacity, capability and asset base in the U.S., driving projects across the group. We

Asia

Loading operation of the C3 tower at Kuantan. Credit: deugro

IMPORTANCE OF PROPER

PRE-PLANNING Seminal Project Ten-plus Years in the Making

W

hen it comes to demonstrating the power of meticulous planning, Region: Asia global coordination, and innovative Problem: Move of 155 separate problem-solving in the breakbulk breakbulk shipments had to industry, few projects stand out like overcome remote working, under-strengthened quays, and the Long Son A1 – Olefins Plant Project rocketing rates in Vietnam. The scale and complexity of the undertaking, conducted amid Solution: Early involvement championed as accommodating an array of unpredictable challenges, daily schedule changes become including the Covid-19 pandemic, have the norm set new standards for what can be achieved in the sector.

280,000 freight tons of petrochemical For this project, freight forwarding equipment from over 35 seaports specialist deugro was tasked with and airports around the world to the timely shipment and delivery of

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By Malcolm Ramsay

the construction site on Long Son Island near Vũng Tàu, Vietnam.

This vast cargo included 178,300 freight tons of critical oversized and heavy-lift components, including a behemoth C3 tower, weighing a colossal 778.1 metric tons and stretching almost 100 meters in length. In total, 155 separate breakbulk shipments were delivered over the course of the project, utilizing 55 chartered heavy-lift vessels.

The successful completion of the project this year is the culmination of plans stretching back over a decade.

Asia

Benjamin Mutti

For any project as ambitious as the Long Son A1 Plant the preplanning process will be lengthy and, in this case, deugro began its first conversations almost a decade and a half ago. However, delays meant it was at a standstill for much of that time.

“The project started to gain momentum in 2017, after being on hold since 2009,” Benjamin Mutti, regional director, deugro Singapore & Malaysia, told Breakbulk. “deugro Singapore, together with deugro Vietnam, closely monitored the developments of the project, and in February 2018, deugro conducted an initial route survey for TechnipFMC on Long Son Island and the nearby port,” Mutti explained.

Being one of TechnipFMC’s approved project freight forwarders, deugro was strategically positioned and its experience, coupled with its well-established office setup in Vietnam, proved vital. By August 2018, TechnipFMC had clinched the award for the project, opening the way for preliminary budgetary inquiries and shipments.

With the wheels in motion, the main tender was released in early 2019, leading deugro Singapore to secure the offshore award and deugro Vietnam to receive the onshore award by Christmas time that year.

Close Coordination a Necessity

Given the magnitude of the petrochemical plant and the diverse array of origin countries for cargo,

a high degree of coordination was required from the start.

Components were required from over 15 countries, and this entailed an intricate dance of logistics and planning, with teams coordinating across multiple time zones.

“Ensuring the on-time shipment and delivery of over 1,400 breakbulk, container and air freight shipments was challenging,” Mutti noted. “And to ensure the required sequences of the construction site, timing, flexibility, and daily status reports demanded a high level of communication and coordination with all parties.”

Having finally got the project started at the tail-end of 2019, the teams then faced a massive curveball in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A few short months into the planning process the world was locked down, with widespread and ever-changing restrictions put in place at short notice, significantly impacting shipping and delivery schedules.

This necessitated frequent, sometimes daily, changes to the schedule, which had to be integrated into the project plan.

Yet through a combination of adaptability, clear communication, and swift decision-making, the team navigated these unanticipated waters in the early days of 2020.

In total, deugro Singapore, as the project control hub, worked closely with 16 deugro country organizations around the globe, connecting more than 50 deugro experts with client and subcontractors daily to ensure up-to-the-minute status updates.

Collaboration With Carrier Early in the project’s lifecycle, deugro and dteq teams identified the size of the largest components as challenges when transiting key chokepoints, with the hefty size and weight of the main cargo pieces, such as the 338-metricton C2 tower and the 600-metric-ton quench water tower, presenting significant logistical hurdles.

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“More than 70 comprehensive method statements had to be prepared for the safe movement of the cargo components across all interfaces,” Mutti said. “To ensure cargo movement, loading and stowage processes in accordance with the highest safety requirements, there were detailed route surveys, motion response analyses, ballasting and mooring calculations, ramp arrangements, lifting and rigging calculations, as well as stowage and sea-fastening designs.”

To streamline this process, deugro and Roll Group built on the close partnership already developed between the two firms on previous projects and began devising a solution that was both pioneering and safe, ensuring the successful navigation of the cargo between the vessel cranes. “deugro worked with the experienced teams from dteq Transport Engineering Solutions and Roll Group, whose experts conducted route surveys, identified obstacles and developed technical solutions during personal on-site visits in Malaysia and Vietnam over a period of several weeks,” Mutti said. “They prepared route surveys, designed lifting, rigging, stowage and cargo securing plans, calculated ramp arrangements and drafted loading and discharge plans.”

The initial plan was to use roll-on, roll-off operations for the larger pieces of cargo. However, the combined expertise of the partners led to the creation of a more efficient solution.

Instead, the teams redesigned the early lifting plans and found a way to safely lift the quench water tower and the C2 tower. This included the temporary removal of a crane boom support, a clever adaptation that made room for the large units and not only ensured the safety and integrity of the cargo, but also saved the client time and costs.

Robin Koenis, managing director Asia Pacific at Roll Group, highlighted the importance of clear timescales for successful execution, noting the need for sufficient time to fix vessels and equipment and to setup and align the

Asia

Maneuvering the nearly 100-meter C3 tower on the project construction jetty in Phu My Port, Vietnam. Credit: deugro

land and sea engineering scope. “The early involvement of the land and sea carrier to align fabrication supports and grillage and sea fastening on the ship, as well as the SPMT trailer configurations on both sides was vital,” he said.

Foreseeing the skyrocketing global freight rates, deugro also proactively contracted six semi-submersible, heavy-lift multipurpose cargo vessels, providing a guarantee of cargo space and some stability on project budget.

Mutti explained that the main challenges were “obstacles at the fabrication yard, tight turning radiuses, and inadequate ground-bearing capacities on the road and especially at the port – resulting in countless axles being added to distribute the load better. Therefore, additional trailers from the U.S. had to be shipped in to meet these exceptional requirements.”

Further preparations included the removal of lamp posts, the arrangement of permits and police Choregraphing Complexity escorts, levelling and compacting pinch-points, power and telephone With pre-planning out of the way, the cable lifting, strengthening of drains, next major stage of the operation was the pre-carriage of the largest breakbulk as well as trailer performance checks and daily equipment maintenance. components from the production yard This operation was made more of KNM Process Systems in the Gebeng difficult by the tight space at the dock industrial area, Kuantan, Malaysia. This and the team from Kuantan Port noted included the giant C3 tower, which had that “to position the cargo parallel to the to travel six kilometers to the nearby vessel, the ground team had to turn the Kuantan Port on Malaysia’s east coast. cargo 90-degrees in a very limited space.

“To roll the cargo onto the vessel Then they had to wait for hours until the was not an easy task. It took months sea tide was at the desired level to roll of planning and careful calculations by the cargo onto the vessel. The overall a team of professionals from Kuantan operation took 6 hours to complete.”

Port, Roll Group, Worldwide and To ensure the safety of this maneuver, KNM, among others,” a spokesperson the ground had been reinforced with for Kuantan Port explained. almost a hundred ramps and steel plates For the safe transportation of the placed to achieve a load spreading C3 tower from the production yard to sufficient to meet the port’s groundKuantan Port, a journey management bearing capacity of 3 metric tons per plan, including traffic and road square meter. Even with this precaution, diversion, was designed and approved the concrete curb at the jetty had to be by the port prior to the start of the removed and rebuilt, and then repaired operations. Safety analysis meetings after the operation was completed. were then held to ensure emergency “The biggest challenge was routes and access for emergency coordinating with the relevant vehicles and to inform the public about authorities to ensure smooth and waiting times and road closures.

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timely operations from fabrication yard to site, while adhering to strict Covid restrictions,” Koenis of Roll Group added.

Loading Operations Underway

After the arrival of the ocean vessels, the components were loaded aboard with additional sea-fastening requiring various welding and lashing work.

To safely secure the C3 tower on the turntables, additional “d” rings had to be welded to the trailer and the cargo to be able to secure it properly.

“The most challenging units were the 600-metric-ton quench water tower, which required two 36-axle lines to be driven alongside the vessel, and the C3 tower, which required two 48-axle lines,” Mutti said.

“Comprehensive method statements for the operations were based on detailed motion response analyses, ballasting and mooring calculations, ramp arrangements, lifting and rigging calculations, as well as stowage and sea-fastening designs.”

Prior to each loading, meetings and toolbox talks were held with the vessel’s master, the cargo superintendent, the marine warranty surveyor and the client’s representative, as well as all persons involved, to minimize any risks.

All units, except the C3 tower, were loaded by vessel crane in tandem lift operations at the main berth, although some units, such as the C2 tower and the quench water tower, caused additional challenges

“WHILE IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE AT FIRST, A PROJECT CAN BE MANAGED REMOTELY IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON THE GROUND”

Asia

Six kilometer journey of the C3 tower from the production yard to Kuantan Port. Credit: deugro

complicated as it reduced the need for as many steel plates and axle lines.

Despite this, there were still some obstacles. As Mutti described: “One of the biggest challenges was the turn from the jetty to the road at the job site, which was overcome through detailed planning and the correct use of axle lines… to safely roll off the C3 tower, several fenders had to be removed to allow the vessel to move closer to the jetty for positioning the ramp.”

Once cleared through customs, the cargo began its final journey along a 1-kilometer heavy haul road to the site’s dress-up area, utilizing 64 axle lines across self-propelled modular trailers and traditional trailers. The sheer size and weight of the C3 tower, alongside restrictions imposed by the Overcoming trailer setup and the terrain, demanded Discharge Hurdles thorough preparation and engineering.

After the secure arrival at the Phu “The area in and around one pipe rack My construction jetty in Vietnam, the on the construction site was extremely components began their discharge tight, so it took several meetings, site phase. This was a well-orchestrated process that utilized both roll-on, roll-off inspections and engineering sessions to identify a safe travel path,” Mutti said. and lift-on, lift-off operations. Notably, “The road around the pipe rack had to Phu My port’s ground-bearing capacity be compacted and levelled to ensure stood at an impressive 10 metric tons the turning radius was fully utilized.” per square meter, significantly higher As it was the rainy season by this than that of Kuantan Port, making the time, many areas were completely discharge process somewhat less since they nearly reached the vessel crane’s lifting capacity and the space was tight between the cranes to swing the cargo on board.

As Kuantan Port had never conducted a roll-on, roll-off operation before there was a steep learning curve for some staff, but meticulous preparation and clear communication ensured each operation proceeded without incident.

“The chance to handle such an unusual and delicate operation was a meaningful experience for the staff of Kuantan Port,” the port authority’s spokesperson said. “We are honored and glad to get everyone involved connected to this golden opportunity.”

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under water, and sand and soil had to be piled up. As a result, deugro’s teams arranged for pumps and drainage to remove the water and dry out the area. Despite these challenges, however, all components were safely delivered to the site, on time and in good order, even amid the challenges of Covid-19 restrictions.

Christophe Reveilloux, head of transport operations at Technip Energies, praised both deugro Singapore and deugro Vietnam for their professionalism, highlighting the hard work put in by all partners in getting this ambitious project over the line.

“While it seemed impossible at first, a project can be managed remotely if you have the right people on the ground,” Mutti concluded. “Early engagement with the right partners was the key to success. deugro brought the teams of TechnipFMC, deugro, dteq, and the heavy-lift partners together at an early stage, and this made it possible to engineer solutions around the many challenges we were facing and keep to the client’s project schedule.”

Based in the UK, Malcolm Ramsay has a background in business analysis and technology writing, with an emphasis on transportation and ports.

Profile

“A MULTITUDE OF OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD” Daan Koornneef, CEO Of Jumbo Maritime, on the Future for Jumbo and the Heavy-Lift Sector

By John Bensalhia

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Profile

D

aan Koornneef’s 30-plus years’ experience in the maritime industry is standing him in good stead as the current CEO of Jumbo Maritime. His CV lists executive level posts with the likes of Wijsmuller (to become Svitzer), Smit Lamnalco, IQIP and Resolve Marine.

On the announcement of his new appointment as Jumbo Maritime’s CEO back in December 2022, Koornneef commented: “Jumbo is a market leader through its pioneering technology and skilled and experienced teams and for being a reliable partner to all stakeholders. I am delighted and proud to join the Jumbo team and confident that we can take the company to a great future together!”

Koornneef’s maritime life began in 1986 when he started as a midshipman in the Netherlands Navy. After sailing as a deck officer on various types of navy vessels, Koornneef then became a diving and explosive ordinance disposal officer.

“Since then, I have always liked the combination of working with vessels in projects,” Koornneef said.

“In 1998, I joined Wijsmuller – which later became Svitzer after its takeover by APM – a towage and salvage company as general manager. And later, I became managing director of the salvage division. From 2005, I headed their oil and gas terminal operations division from Dubai.”

In 2008, Koornneef became CEO of Lamnalco, a company that specializes in worldwide oil & gas terminal and single point mooring operations, as well as services to floating production storage and offloaders, floating liquid natural gas units and floating storage regasification units. Later on, Lamnalco added Smit Terminals and PB Towage to the company.

The last position that Koornneef held before joining Jumbo was with an American salvage and special marine services company. “Here, we did some spectacular lifts and salvage projects. Very important to me, we also executed large cleanup projects as well as prevention of large quantities of waste getting in the oceans and beaches.”

He has also held various advisory and non-executive directorships – in particular, in the renewables service and manufacturing industry. He gives the example of IQIP, a specialist in offshore foundation technology.

Offering A Solution

When asked what attracted him to the role of Jumbo CEO, Koornneef explained that he likes sophisticated work vessels, with Jumbo in the top segment of heavy-lift, offering up to 3,000-tonne crane capacity, along with dynamic positioning 2 capabilities.

“Jumbo doesn’t sell transport – we offer a solution. We have experienced captains, project managers, crews and teams. We are not just a shipping company that sails vessels – we are much more than that. Jumbo is active in heavy-lift shipping, but also in transport of extraordinary cargoes and complex offshore installation projects.

This makes for a nice combination of two normally different disciplines.”

In fact, Koornneef has known Jumbo for many years: “I was actually with my boys on board of a new build vessel which had just been outfitted with Huisman cranes about 20 years ago and I have always kept an eye on the company.”

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AT BREAKBULK AMERICAS… Breakbulk Fleet Update Wednesday, Sept. 27 11:00am - 11:45am With Koornneef quickly settled into the role of CEO, he said that he is “unchanged in respect of seeing Jumbo as a fantastic company. Great vessels and an even better team.

“When I joined Jumbo, I had just left a very challenging period and the shipping market was at an all-time high. At the moment, the markets that we operate in are normalizing. We see cost control related downward trends in the renewables energy sector and threats of oversupply in shipping. Overall, I think both markets we operate in are sustainable.”

With the Jumbo-SAL-Alliance (JSA) and affiliate/partner companies such as Intermarine, Koornneef added that Jumbo can offer a wider and even more reliable service to its clients. “The JSA has also become a sizeable player that can offer competitive transport solutions for all cargoes. All in all, we are fully set to build for the future.”

In June 2023, it was announced that Koornneef had been appointed to the Board of the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners, Koninklijke Vereniging van Nederlandse Reders, or KVNR. Koornneef’s role as board member will include tasks such as helping to shape policies at the association, bringing together Dutch shipowners to present a united front and promoting their interests at a national, European and also global level. The mission of the KVNR is to make sure that Dutch shipowners can operate on a global basis while safely navigating with clean ships run by skilled teams.

Profile

Koornneef sees ocean freight rates normalizing. Credit: Jumbo Shipping

Journeying Ahead

Turning to trends in the heavylift shipping industry, Koornneef explained that most companies are looking to build replacement tonnage for ageing vessels, but not so much to grow their fleet overall.

The only growth wave expected is in Chinese-built deck carriers.

“Rates are normalizing but are still good and they will remain good if supply and demand is carefully managed by all players,” he added. “We see more clients – in particular in the renewables sector – that are looking for project-based contracts with multiple journeys, vessels and type of cargoes. This way, more sustainable cost projections and reliability are offered, and the attention is more focused on the long-term partnership, compared to single voyage contracts.”

However, Koornneef acknowledged that there are challenges that need to be faced in the heavy-lift shipping industry – the biggest one of those being sustainability.

“How do we deal with legislation and targets set by politicians that have never seen a vessel from nearby or understand how the market works?” asked Koornneef rhetorically. “How do we invest in newbuilds when we

have to use alternative fuels and technologies that are not even available right now? Which fuel, which engines do you use in your newbuild vessel that is going to last for 30 years?

“The segment is not comparable to container lines that sail fixed routes, and go to more developed ports with their own alternative fuel bunker stations. We can’t write off a vessel or propulsion investment within 10 years.

Our cargoes are not containers where you can charge a uniform CO2 tax surplus per unit, it is much more complicated.”

Continuing Investment and Development

Koornneef added that since there are no viable solutions now or even possibly within 10 years, the outcome will be a higher level of tax, which in turn, will drive up costs and reduce profit margins.

“Next to that, these same container lines have a large number of newbuilds on order, interest is high, and so is inflation – which all adds up to more of a challenge to keep costs manageable.

Contrary to what is needed, efficiencyrelated technological improvements will hence be less in the sector.”

With the challenges in mind, Koornneef cited the JSA initiative

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to launch the Orca newbuild as “a bold initiative against the odds.”

The four-strong Orca newbuilding series officially marked its first steel cutting on February 22, 2023. With the first newbuild project (entitled W2231) under way, the due date for the first vessel is July 2024.

“We believe in the initiative, and we will continue to develop,” Koornneef said.

Continuing to secure its rightful place in the heavy-lift sector, Jumbo Maritime’s future looks healthy. “We will continue to invest in people, knowledge and specialized, modernized vessels,” Koornneef said. “We expect that due to geopolitical reasons, we will see not only an energy transition but also a relocation of industrial activities, and new areas to harvest raw and processed materials. In other words, a continued need for heavy-lift transport and installation services. We will continue to be there for our clients.

“Jumbo has been a pioneer in heavy-lift transport and is still a market leader; I am proud to contribute to that heritage.”

John Bensalhia is a freelance writer and author with 25 years’ experience of writing for a wide range of publications and websites.

Europe Rotra Vente delivering the first wind turbine parts for the Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind farms. Credit: deugro

PATH TO SUSTAINABLE PROJECT LOGISTICS Insights from deugro Leaders on Balanced Sustainability

I

n a world increasingly aware of its ecological footprint, the term “sustainability” has become a ubiquitous buzzword. However, its interpretation varies widely among industries and businesses. Within project logistics, where the movement of goods is a crucial economic activity, deugro, a global logistics company, is taking strides to define and implement sustainability in a comprehensive manner.

“Sustainability is the buzzword. But what does it actually mean? Everyone’s using it slightly differently,” said Daniel Arndt, head of global shared service center/quality/marketing and communication at deugro. He breaks down what sustainability means to deugro into distinct dimensions.

“We look at it from an environmental sustainability perspective, breaking it down into different areas,” he explained. “The environmental part covers office setups, emissions, energy consumption, etc. Then we recently

also established a CSR function within the business. That covers the human factor in sustainability, as well as the financial parts too.”

This holistic approach reflects deugro’s understanding that sustainability encompasses not only environmental concerns but also the well-being of people and the fiscal health of the organization.

Sustainability as a Business Imperative

Christian Schulz, regional sales director – Europe at deugro, highlighted that sustainability is not an option but a necessity for their business.

“Sustainability for us is without alternative. It’s vital for our success because we contribute to our clients’ success in meeting climate targets.”

Schulz added that sustainability is not just a theoretical concept for deugro – it’s ingrained in their operations.

“We have a lot of initiatives happening,” Schulz noted. “For instance,

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By Carly Fields

CO2 reporting and calculation tools, which we offer by default as part of our supply chain offerings. We also have a lot of initiatives with offsetting.”

Partnering with EcoTransIT, deugro has set what Schulz described as an industry benchmark, enabling automated emissions calculations for sea and air freight at a shipment level.

“It’s much more mature than it used to be a year or two years ago, so we’re really setting industry standards on how to calculate the CO2 Daniel Arndt

Europe

emissions,” he said. The proactive approach gives customers visibility into emissions and empowers them to make informed choices.

Asserting deugro’s role as an industry front-runner, Schulz said: “In deugro we are used to being in the spotlight.

Many companies compare themselves to us because we are usually one of the front-runners.” This status comes with a responsibility to influence positive change. Schulz underscored the company’s ability to provide alternative solutions that align with clients’ supply chain needs, ultimately reducing their carbon footprint.

“The bottom line is without meeting sustainability requirements, we won’t be considered going forward,” Schulz said.

As the demand for sustainable solutions rises, deugro’s commitment becomes even more critical to secure its position as a preferred logistics partner.

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FROM OUR DEEPEST ROOTS OF SMÅLAND...

Designing the Future of Logistics

Christian Schulz

The company’s innovative spirit is highlighted by an initiative designing customized offshore wind supply vessels in partnership with Amasus and Siemens Gamesa. “This will set the scene for the new normal going forward,” Schulz said. “Our clients in particular expect innovative solutions which will contribute to reaching the COP26 goals.” This will, deugro said, set the benchmark for sustainable heavy-lift logistics, showcasing deugro’s commitment to shaping a greener future.

While deugro is driving sustainability, both Arndt and Schulz emphasized that the journey isn’t one traveled alone.

“It’s all our duty in the end to make our contribution, but in the end, it needs to be also driven by governments and international institutions,” Schulz said.

2023

.. OUR HERITAGE IS DILIGENCE AND THOROUGHNESS

ELME was founded in 1974. As the leading independent manufacturer of spreaders, we always aim to be at the forefront of development.

818 INNOVATION WTP is one of several examples that we are true to our roots.

Visit us at Breakbulk, September 26-28, at stand M21.

98 Breakbulk Magazine

Issue 5 2023

breakbulk.com

The pair stressed the importance of collective effort and setting industry standards that align with a sustainable future, acknowledging that it is “our duty” to find solutions and to offer different options to deugro’s clients.

Carly Fields has reported on the shipping industry for the past 23 years, covering bunkers and broking and much in between.

2073

WE ARE IN TUNE WITH WHAT THE FUTURE WILL PRESENT