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Breakbulk Events & Media’s biweekly BreakbulkONE newsletter keeps the industry connected between issues of Breakbulk. Here’s a selection of recent subscriber favorites.
HANSA MAYER, ROLIPROJECTS FORM PARTNERSHIP
Logistics providers Hansa Meyer Global Transport and RoliProjects have formed a new joint venture based in Houston, Texas.
Hansa Meyer RoliProjects will serve the North American project logistics markets and their related cargo owners, EPC operators and suppliers, the companies said in a statement.
Germany-based Hansa Meyer Global Transport, with its network of 22 subsidiaries, has been a legal entity in the U.S. since 2010, but sold its shares in its operational and asset-based companies in 2021.
RoliProjects is a trademark of international project cargo handler, Rohde & Liesenfeld.
“We feel thrilled about our strategy to combine our groups know-how, capacity and contacts and to set up a brand-new company in Houston, the heart of the U.S. industrial project market, and to combine our forces,” said Jan-Dirk Schuisdziara, managing shareholder at Hansa Meyer Global.
Business development at the JV will be overseen by Julie Shafer, who has previously worked for GE Transport, Geodis and Rohde & Liesenfeld. BBONE
Hansa Meyer making hard turns look easy from Texas to New Mexico.
CREDIT: HMG
MAERSK CLINCHES DEAL FOR SENATOR INTERNATIONAL
US$644 Million Deal Boosts Firm’s Air Freight Capacity
A.P. Moller - Maersk has completed the purchase of freight forwarder Senator International, as the Danish shipping firm seeks to strengthen its air transport capacity.
The value of the purchase on a post-IFRS 16 basis was about US$644 million, Maersk said. The carrier had announced its intention to buy the forwarder in November.
Senator, founded almost 40 years ago in Hamburg, focuses on air and sea freight as well as on logistics, packaging and customs handling. Its services include project forwarding and heavy and special haulage.
The forwarder’s air freight operations accounted for about 65 percent of its revenue in 2020.
“As a global provider of integrated logistics, we are improving our ability to provide end-to-end solutions to our customers,” said Vincent Clerc, CEO of ocean and logistics at Maersk. “With Senator on board, we are ramping up our air freight capacity, network, and know-how significantly to cater even better for our customers.”
Maersk in April launched an air freight division, Maersk Air Cargo.
The carrier aims to have one-third of the annual air tonnage carried within its own controlled freight network, which it will do through a combination of owned and leased aircraft. The remaining capacity will be provided by strategic commercial carriers and charter flight operators, it said.
Maersk will use Denmark’s secondlargest airport, Billund, as its European air freight hub. BBONE
Air freight represented about 65 percent of Senator International’s revenue in 2020.
CREDIT: SENATOR
BREAKBULKONE
UTC EXPANDS OPERATIONS IN GUYANA
Teams Up with Guyana Shore Base to Support Offshore Buildout
UTC Overseas has expanded its logistics operations in Guyana after teaming up with the South American country’s largest shore-based contractor.
The new joint venture with Guyana Shore Base Inc. provides operators project forwarding, warehousing, distribution and shore-based services, along with air, ocean and land transportation and customs clearance, Houston-based UTC said.
GYSBI’s 130-acre supply base on the Demerara River, close to capital city Georgetown, provides shorebased management and logistics services for energy major ExxonMobil and other oil and gas operators in the region.
UTC said the venture will give customers “boots-on-the-ground” local knowledge alongside a strong global network with expertise in turnkey, greenfield and large-scale energy projects.
“UTC’s reputation in the oil and gas market will open doors with existing and prospective customers,” said Steve Ross-Munro, UTC’s regional director in charge of business development.
“Working with our extensive office network and partnering with GYSBI, we will collaborate to expand opportunities with customers worldwide, relying on the trusted experience and knowledge base that has driven both companies’ success,” he added.
In less than a decade, Guyana has emerged as one of the world’s most exciting hot spots for offshore crude oil exploration, with estimated recoverable resources of more than 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
A string of major offshore discoveries led by ExxonMobil could see the former British colony, with its population of just 790,000, becoming the world’s top per capita oil producer by the end of the decade.
ExxonMobil, alongside partners Hess and CNOOC, expects to be producing more than 800,000 barrels of oil and gas per day from the 6.6-million-acre Stabroek block by 2025.
Stirred by ExxonMobil’s success and the prospect of lower production costs as local infrastructure and expertise develops, other operators are entering the market, including Spain’s Repsol, UK-based Tullow Oil and Canada’s CGX Energy.
“Guyana is a rapidly growing market, and joining with UTC is a natural progression for GYSBI to expand our service offering to our large existing client base,” said Sean Hill, general manager at GYSBI.
“Our clients can now leave the full international and domestic transport headaches to us, allowing them to focus on delivering service quality to their clients offshore.”
BBONE
UNITED HEAVY LIFT BEEFS UP ECO-LIFTER SERIES
Newbuild Orders Raise F900 Fleet to 19 Vessels
Germany-based project cargo specialist United Heavy Lift has ordered two more F900 Eco-Lifter vessels, raising the total number in its fleet to 19.
The vessels, which have a lifting capacity of 900 tonnes each, will be built at the CSSC Hudong shipyard in Shanghai, and delivered in 2023 and 2024.
The newbuilds feature high and low-pressure selective catalytic reduction catalysts to meet IMO Tier III requirements, and claim a carbon footprint 30-50 percent less compared to the existing heavy-lift fleet in the market.
“One of our goals is to reduce emissions from our own operations and help our clients achieve their decarbonization goals,” said Andreas Rolner, managing director of UHL.
“We are phasing out all UHL 800 P-type vessels and replacing them with fuel-efficient modern tonnage. Our vision is to become a sustainability leader in the heavy-lift industry.”
The carrier took delivery of its first F900 vessel in 2019. Vessel number 17 in the series, UHL Felicity, was delivered in May. The UHL Felicity is set to make its maiden voyage from South Korea to Indonesia via Japan and Vietnam, the carrier said.
Headquartered in Hamburg, UHL is part of United Shipping Group. BBONE
BREAKBULK EUROPE
Standardization Sought for Wind Turbine Blades
Transporters See Disconnect Between Capacity, Affordability
BY MICHAEL KING
Standardization of wind turbine blade sizes and more collaboration between OEMs and logistics stakeholders will be critical if the current disconnect between transport capacity and affordability and the shipping needs of manufacturers is to be bridged, delegates at Breakbulk Europe heard.
In a session which focused on wind power, delegates heard that war in Ukraine and soaring energy costs were expected to drive renewable energy demand for the next decade, with wind power assuming vital importance for many countries.
However, escalating logistics costs and the short shelf-life of customized transport solutions are inflating the delivered cost of wind turbines, as well as making it difficult for equipment providers to finance investments.
Antonio Lázaro, director, global outbound logistic & transport solution CoE, LM Wind Power, said wind turbine sizes had increased exponentially in recent years and this “rate race” among OEMs was now sucking in transport companies “who need to match these investments even though their investment will be obsolete a few years later.”
He added: “Every seven years our blades grow by 10 meters on average. This means factories need to get bigger, factory equipment needs to get bigger and transportation equipment needs to be changed every 5-6 years. This is an outrageous investment effort that our industry has to make, and the transport industry has to make.”
Asked by moderator Thomas Sender Mehl, director, global sales & operations planning and supply chain excellence, KK Wind Solutions, how crane providers were affected by the upsizing race in the wind power supply chain, Andreas Ritschel, deputy sales director mobile harbor cranes, Liebherr-MCCtec Rostock GmbH, said it was not just about the weight that needed to be lifted.
Other factors, he explained, were also the unit’s outreach and, increasingly, whether ports could even safely operate the largest cranes, or use them for other cargoes.
“I remember a time when we thought a crane size of 120 tons or 140 tons would be the biggest crane that would be needed out in the market,” he added. “Then we had the next crane that could lift 200 tons. Then it was 300 tons; then 600 tons. If we now develop cranes for lifting 700 tons or 800 tons, we are not sure customers will even be able to use them for other cargoes.”
Rainer Sasse, CEO, Luxtrailers SARL, said for companies using a transport equipment leasing model, it was untenable to invest in equipment which did not have a long shelf-life. “We need to know what’s going to be needed in 5 or 7 or 10 years,” he added.
Morten Nielsen, product functional lead transport, Vestas, said more collaboration was “how we mature this industry.”
Pieter Jacobs, head of onshore wind at Mammoet, also said more collaboration between OEMs and logistics providers on design was required to enable transport providers to more effectively plan ahead. “Innovation costs money,” he added.
He called for more standardization across the wind turbine sector. “If we can standardize, that leaves more room for innovation to bring the industry together,” he added.
Panelists from left: Antonio Lázaro, LM Wind Power; Rainer Sasse, Luxtrailers SARL; Peter Jacobs, Mammoet; Morten Nielsen, Vestas; Andreas Ritschel, Liebherr-MCCtec Rostock Gmbh; and Thomas Sender Mehl, KK Wind Solutions, moderator.
“Financing a standardized transport system is much easier,” agreed Sasse. “The more specialized the system, the more specialized and complicated the financing gets.”
For his part, Lázaro said the wind turbine industry and its transport providers needed to reach agreement on how to move forwards.
The current model, whereby every new OEM design required transport providers to “reinvent the wheel” and invest in a new generation of equipment every few years was simply driving up the landed costs of wind turbines.
“There’s lots of potential in standardizing design, and then defining standard transportation systems,” he added. BB
Breakbulk Studios
See video interviews with session panelists:
Thomas Sender Mehl, KK Wind Solutions https://youtu.be/qiyvrkN8Pbw
Antonio Lázaro, LM Wind Power https://youtu.be/498vNcxS7Tg
Andrea Ritschel, Lieberr-MMCtec Rostock GmbH https://youtu.be/80hIq6Uorzc
BREAKBULK EUROPE
Carsten Wendt, of Wallenius Wilhelmsen, considered a panelist’s comment.
‘Little Fires’ Burn the MPV World
Commercial, Contracting Terms and Conditions Need ‘Game Changer’
BY CARLY FIELDS
“Little fires everywhere” are making the multipurpose world burn – that was the assessment of the current chaotic shipping market for breakbulk and project cargoes by a panel speaking at Breakbulk Europe.
Carsten Wendt, head of sales, high & heavy and breakbulk at Wallenius Willhelmsen, highlighted some of those “little fires” as lockdowns and Covid in China, physical disruption of vessels, labor shortages and the war in Ukraine.
Taking note of the anticipated direction of travel for the container sector, panelist Frank Mueller, general manager at AAL Shipping, said that there can be no talk of “normal” yet. “We have not seen a ‘normal’ in capacity or rates and we will not for a long time. Looking at container carriers, they are ordering new vessels and fixing at extremely high charter rates for 48 months out. That’s my indicator for when we can expect rates to come down.”
The audience heard that attempting to draw parallels with the peak of 2007 and the subsequent crash was a futile exercise. “There are many differences between now and 2008,” Ulrich Ulrichs, CEO of BBC Chartering, said. “In 2008, the fleet was young; today, the fleet is relatively old. There were a lot of ships on order in 2008; and now the orderbook is very small. Ship finance was not a problem in 2008; today ship finance is very difficult.”
There is also a major difference on the cargo side with the arrival of a major new commodity in the segment: renewables. “You have to appreciate these differences to set yourself in a new mental state going forward,” Ulrichs said.
He added that in previous years the logistics service provided by the industry in this market has been underappreciated. “It is a sophisticated service with engineering involved and expensive assets, yet it is cheap and readily available. Now, people are learning the lesson that it is not so cheap anymore and it is also not available anymore.”
AAL’s Mueller highlighted a “game-changer” that is set to rebalance the carrier/shipper dynamic, saying that the new normal will require a completely new set of commercial and contracting terms and conditions. “We need to start changing T&Cs in a carrier market,” he said. “Over the past 10-15 years [carriers] have become very accommodating with requests simply to get cargoes. All this is going to change again - it makes more sense to streamline and be fair to everyone. We need to see a change in T&Cs in long term projects to bring partnerships back again.” BB
Breakbulk Studios
See video interviews with session panelists:
Jason Williams, McDermott International Inc. https://youtu.be/YHEA2unI29w
Cartsten Wendt, Wallenius Wilhelmsen https://youtu.be/XAROEIJJntA
Frank Mueller, AAL Shipping https://youtu.be/5KE7ie_7B-w
BREAKBULK EUROPE
MPV Capacity Crunch as Congestion and Regulations Collide
BY CARLY FIELDS
Ship congestion caused by China’s zero Covid policy coupled with incoming environmental regulations are playing havoc with multipurpose ship supply, according to a panel at Breakbulk Europe.
Speaking as part of the Managing Rates and Capacity: What is ‘Normal’? session, Carsten Wendt, head of sales, high & heavy and breakbulk at Wallenius Willhelmsen, described the current ‘normal’ as “absolutely chaotic” and “a nightmare.”
He told the audience that the carrier is facing heavy delays all over the world because of Covid. “This is not going away. The biggest concern is not so much rates, it is how to deliver what you promised and not have vessels waiting in ports.”
He added that it is very difficult to perform and maintain schedule certainty, with costs piling up for delivering and picking up from ports. “This is creating friction and concerns.”
Wendt warned that the effects of the regional lockdowns in China will be felt throughout 2022 and probably into 2023. “If you think about the six-day Suez blockage from 2021, that took two to three months to sort. Just imagine what a six-week lockdown in Shanghai will mean.”
The Covid shutdowns have collided with the arrival of international environmental regulations addressing emissions from shipping. While the Ballast Water Management Convention is already in force, more regulations will come into force in 2023 and these will impact MPV fleet availability even further. The regulations will require ships to be taken out of service for two to three weeks for retrofitting. Added to which, regulations entering into force in 2023 will require MPVs to slow down to meet emissions key performance indicators which will further impact capacity. Speaking on the panel, Ulrich Ulrichs, CEO of BBC Chartering, said: “You have to meet these regulations so either you go slower, or scrap the vessel.”
He added that BBC had “a lot of” ships that needed to be docked for retrofitting to meet environmental regulations. “As far as we are concerned China is out for drydocking, so the ships all have to come to Europe,” he said. “That means we have a cluster of ships in Europe and we can’t spread around docking schedules.”
Ulrichs warned the audience to also keep an eye on brewing union-related labor issues on the U.S. West Coast as well. While they primarily affect containers, they will have an impact on other sectors, he said. “This could be a massive disaster for all trades.”
He stressed that this is not a ship supply issue, it is a capacity issue with the MPV fleet stuck in ports waiting out lockdowns.
“In the past, the risk of delays was always manageable,” Wendt concluded. “Now it is so volatile and it is not just one port, it is many, all over the world. It is uncontrollable.” BB
Panelists from left: Susan Oatway, Drewry; Ulrich Ulrichs, BBC Chartering, Frank Mueller, AAL Shipping; Carsten Wendt, Wallenius Wilhelmsen; and moderator Jason Williams, McDermott International Inc.
Roger Strevens of Wallenius Wilhelmsen makes a point to moderator Gina Panayiotou of the World Oceans Council, while Sören Werbeck of Hapag-Lloyd AG listens.
Support for Breakbulk’s Decarbonisation
Carriers ‘All in the Same Boat’ in Meeting Environmental Regulations
BY CARLY FIELDS
The environmental agenda in breakbulk and project cargo shipping cannot be achieved without productivity, innovation, constant constructive dialogue, carbon pricing, trust and reliability.
Those factors combined will support the industry in its decarbonization, according to a Environmentalism and Future Fuels within Breakbulk panel discussion at Breakbulk Europe 2022.
Roger Strevens, vice president of sustainability at Wallenius Wilhelmsen, said that no company can be “complacent and successful” in driving change, while Sören Werbeck, director of specials strategy & steering at Hapag-Lloyd AG, noted “we are all in the same boat” when it comes to meeting environmental regulations.
The panel discussed a range of fuels, including biofuels and electrofuels, concluding that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Strevens said it is hard to nail colors to the mast with one fuel in the deep-sea trades.
Werbeck reminded the audience that the life cycle of production needs to be included in considerations of which fuel to use and that there are still efficiency gains to be made. Bernard Van Haeringen, commercial manager of marine at GoodFuels, added that life cycle consideration is needed to be sure that a fair assessment can be made.
Reducing the number of voyages in ballast would help, added Leif Arne Strømmen, a partner at Peak Group.
Strevens noted that Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s target is to have all vessels full all the time. “That makes the most sense economically and also from an environmental perspective.” He added that while regulation is currently only looking at the fuel tank of the ship to the wake of the ship, full life cycle is “definitely coming.”
Strevens pointed out that the decision of which future fuel to bunker is not simply a technical one: “It’s operational in that is the fuel in the place you need it; it’s financial; then there’s a regulatory dimension; and finally, the fuel needs to be commercially viable. We need options, we can’t take anything off the table.”
Operators need to ask two key questions when considering which fuel to use. Firstly, is the fuel available and is it available where you bunker and secondly, is it more expensive than what you otherwise use. “If so, you need something to close that gap. Regulation is one option, demand is another,” Strevens said.
Van Haeringen described biofuels as a “great option” for making an impact right now. GoodFuels develops sustainable, scalable and affordable biofuels.
Strømmen said he was an advocate of carbon pricing to help support first movers and a proponent of hybrid solutions to ensure flexibility.
Regulators, meanwhile, now have a firm eye on shipping’s decarbonization, and while the International Maritime Organization has been criticized for its slow decisionmaking progress, the European Commission has “really set its sights on shipping,” Strevens said.
“There is an impatience in Europe at the pace of developments at the IMO.”
With all the change and uncertainty surrounding fuel choices for multipurpose operators, the industry faces a “very disruptive” journey, Van Haeringen said. “The choices that shipowners need to make, and the costs are super impactful.” Added to which, everything that is cheap and easy to fix has been done, Strevens said; “What’s left is difficult, destructive and dear.” BB
Breakbulk Studios
See video interviews with session panelists:
Gina Panayiotou, Oceans Arena https://youtu.be/6ioLLqfD7pw
Roger Strevens, Wallenius Wilhelmsen https://youtu.be/XAROEIJJntA
Sören Werbeck, Hapag-Lloyd https://youtu.be/j39-RZZYexs
BREAKBULK EUROPE
No Quick Fixes for Supply Chain Disruption
Decade-long Trade Tensions Laid Groundwork
BY CARLY FIELDS
The disruption plaguing the projects market today did not start with the war in Ukraine or with the pandemic, according to a panellist speaking at Breakbulk Europe.
Marie Louise GammelgaardLarsen, senior associate at Kaya Research and Advisory, said that today’s disruption has its roots in the trade tensions that surfaced last decade. That long lead-in means that there are no quick fixes to master today’s disruption.
“Right now, we need to do everything at the same time,” she said. “We are coming from 70 years of diversification and globalization and now we are seeing disruption.”
Additionally, the market cannot “magically” meet growing renewables demand overnight, she warned. “We have to be realistic. We have to have emergency planning and be ready to use means that are not green in the short term – and that includes coal and nuclear.”
Martyn Lawns, regional vice president European operations – industrial projects at DHL Global Forwarding, described the impact of the current disruption as a “nightmare” for DHL’s customers. “I look at the struggles of our customers – it’s the perfect storm at the moment, coming out of the pandemic, with the high oil price impacting supply chains further.”
Moderator Thomas Poulsen, managing partner and facilitator at Panticon, Wind Logistics Group, noted that the current supply chain disruptions have created the paradox of rising emissions in the short term, contrary to the theme of energy transition.
Meanwhile, Beata Bac, global category manager – warehousing and inbound logistics, Shell International, asked what a sustainable transition actually means, as the definition is key to the solution. “To me, it means sustainable business practices, reducing waste and boosting efficiencies. It is important to look at this through that perspective.”
Lawns encouraged the audience to get in early where there is an opportunity to influence logistics decisions. “There has been a tendency to think that logistics is the last part of the chain,” he said. “We are trying to bring the logistics requirement forward, as early as possible in the process.” Lawns added that the industry as a whole needs to be making fewer journeys, and not only from an economic point of view.
In a parting rallying cry, the panelists called on the audience to collaborate, beyond the verticals that they operate in, and to engage in conversations on the energy transition. “It takes everyone to participate in a complex environment – shippers, governments, EPCs and suppliers – to be able to deliver sustainability,” Bac said. BB
Panelists, from left: Moderator Thomas Poulsen Panticon; Wind Logistics Group; Marie Louise Gammelgård-Larsen, Kaya Research and Advisory; Martyn Lawns, DHL Global Forwarding Industrial Projects; and Beata Bac, Shell International.
Breakbulk Studios
See video interviews with session panelists: Marie Louise Gammelgaard Larsen, Kaya Research and Advisory https://youtu.be/j8IVnpQpK5o Martyn Lawns, DHL Global Forwarding https://youtu.be/qYNw4CbmwIU
BREAKBULK EUROPE
Unwinding What ‘Normal’ Will Look Like
Drewry’s Oatway Says Disruptions Continue to Cloud Outlook
BY MICHAEL KING
War in Europe, Covid-19 lockdowns and ongoing supply chain disruptions will continue to cloud the outlook for the multipurpose vessel, or MPV, sector in 2022, according to Susan Oatway, senior analyst, multipurpose and breakbulk shipping for Drewry Shipping Consultants.
Speaking at Breakbulk Europe 2022, she said Ukraine had “usurped” Covid at the top of the list of issues creating market uncertainty in the short to medium term.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might not have a clear impact on MPV trades, except perhaps in the short-sea Northern European market, but the impact on global confidence, rising commodity prices and the competing sectors has definitely caused the rate rises of the past 12-18 months to falter,” she said.
Drewry’s Multipurpose Time Charter Index, which tracks one-year period charter rates across a basket of vessels including breakbulk and project cargo ships was steady in April, halting the declines suffered in March.
This meant that in the year to April 2022 the Drewry index was up 40 percent, and had surged 88 percent since April 2020.
However, Drewry expects the index to soften throughout the year. “We had expected a slight softening [in April], but rates were held up by China’s Covid lockdowns and extended Easter holidays in Europe,” Oatway said.
“Going forward, we expect the weakening trend to return in May with the Index dropping, albeit by less than 0.5 percent to $11,120 per day.”
Aside from the gloomier outlook for the global economy, another negative for MPV operators is the anticipated reduction of container supply chain disruption later this year and in 2023.
“Much of the recovery we have seen over 2021 is more to do with the supply chain crunch in the competing sectors than it is with any significant volume increases,” Oatway said.
“The MPV sector has benefitted from the desperate search for space, which has resulted in cargoes that were previously containerized moving back onto breakbulk vessels. This effect is expected to weaken over the second half of 2022 and into 2023.”
Oatway also said the age of the MPV fleet was “concerning” and new IMO EXII [Energy Efficiency eXisting ship Index] regulations might impact vessel supply due to rising demolitions and slow steaming.
“Newbuildings are thin on the ground and yet there is a demand for a more eco-conscious fleet – but where is the funding for the next generation of multipurpose ships?” she asked.
For its part, the heavy-lift-capable fleet is growing, albeit very slowly. Oatway said: “Unlike the container sector, MPV operators rarely invest without purpose these days. So will renewable energy be the catalyst for that new investment?”
The upshot of so much uncertainty, according to Oatway, is a future in which defining ‘normal’ might be difficult. For MPV operators, much will depend on the strategies of shippers.
“I am often asked when will the market return to normal?” she said. “But I think the question should be what will ‘normal’ look like when the current issues have unwound?
“The strategy of shippers will be paramount – breakbulk moving back to containers? Project cargo in project carriers or ro-ro? How will these strategies change as container rates fall?
“All of these will have an impact on that ‘normal’,” she said. BB
Breakbulk Studios
See video interviews with session panelists:
Susan Oatway, Drewry https://youtu.be/6a_ixELnFqA
“The strategy of shippers will be paramount,” Drewry’s Susan Oatway remarked during her Breakbulk Europe presentation.
Participants at Philip Bacon’s chartering workshop included brokers, port agents, energy executives, carriers and cargo owners.
BREAKBULK EUROPE
The Lowdown on Chartering
Philip Bacon Leads Engaging Workshop at Breakbulk Europe
BY SIMON WEST
Breakbulk Europe 2022’s first day kicked off at the Rotterdam Ahoy with a workshop aimed at giving full-time chartering professionals as well as those who work with chartering contracts a clearer understanding of the practice’s principles and applications.
The instructor for the all-day session was Capt. Philip H. Bacon, vice president of operations at shipowning group Siem Shipping Inc., and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.
“For practitioners, the takeaway will hopefully be a panoramic – albeit brief – of the essentials relating to the other parts of the chain which they do not work in daily,” said Bacon, whose four-decade career has included extensive training in the commercial, management, contractual and legal aspects of shipping.
“As the term implies, in a chain there are links to other segments which one often knows little about. Many people dealing with breakbulk transportation are not maritime professionals, as they are on one of the ends of a chain.”
The workshop covered a number of key topics including major cargoes and trade routes, chartering terminology, shipping and market sector definitions, bills of lading and the advantages and limitations of shipbroker authority.
The session, which included two networking coffee breaks and lunch, also explored the profit and loss levers and rationale of breakbulk cargoes, key stakeholders in a chartering contract and demurrage and despatch across different sectors.
“For all, it is an opportunity to step back and rethink the basics of this segment of shipping. As the services are commercial, the contracting is essential,” Bacon said.
Among the dozen participants attending the workshop were brokers, port agents, energy executives, carriers and cargo owners.
Renate Verhoeven, purchasing manager at Rowood, a Netherlandsbased importer and wholesaler of timber and wood-based panels, said her company was considering shifting to breakbulk from containers as a way to improve supply.
“A lot has been covered in this workshop, right from the basics, so it has been really good. It is really teaching us a lot, giving us all the terms and everything you need to know. As cargo owners it is a great way to learn.”
Nima Yedegary, a freelancer working in project shipments, signed up to the session as a way to provide better services for his clients.
“Shipping changes on a daily basis, so it is important to understand what is happening in the market, and to have a forward-thinking approach. To provide better services you have to increase your knowledge.” BB
BREAKBULK EUROPE
Africa Ports Ready to Compete
Government-Private Capital Dialogue Key to Ensure Sustainability
BY SIMON WEST
African port development is accelerating at an exponential rate, creating a raft of new business opportunities for breakbulk and project cargo. But more transparency is required between local governments and private capital to ensure project success.
That was one of the key takeaways during Breakbulk Europe’s African Port Projects Update session, moderated by Lars Greiner, associate partner for Middle East and Africa at Hamburg Port Consulting.
Paul J Gallie, director of business development at AP Moller Capital and a speaker on the panel, told listeners that dialogue between governments and granting authorities on the one hand and the private sector on the other needed to start much earlier.
AP Moller Capital has deployed US$1 billion over the last three years into its Africa Infrastructure Fund, which comprises a number of investments in ports in West and East Africa.
“Discussion is absolutely key to avoid white elephant investments that unfortunately exist in Africa and around the world. In order for Africa to take full advantage of being able to develop these new green economies, we need to work together in a more sustainable way.”
Breakbulk Studios
See video interviews with session panelists:
Lars Greiner, Hamburg Port Consulting https://youtu.be/ErKuWTJDMDk
Capt. Paul Gallie, A.P. Moller Capital and AIF Ports & Logistics Management Ltd. https://youtu.be/o52YId-69dQ
Michael Wilfried, Port Authority of Kribi, addresses other panelists
The director pointed to the changing role of private capital, with environmental impact and job creation now top priorities.
“It is interesting to see how DFIs and lenders have changed their tune over the years. One of the first things they start looking at now is sustainable development goals and compliance. If they do not meet those then they will not even talk about financial returns and debt covenants.
“You have to have a sustainable project, it has to be community friendly, and that is the way it should be.”
Port projects in Africa are expected to rocket in the coming years, with panelists underlining the region’s massive potential.
The Port of Kribi, in southern Cameroon, about 50 kilometers from the border with Equatorial Guinea, is undergoing some major upgrades, including the expansion of its container terminal and work an onshore hydrocarbons facility.
Michael Wilfried, director at the Port Authority of Kribi, revealed plans to create Cameroon’s first free trade zone at Kribi, with ongoing discussions with partners to develop the first 500 hectares of the new industrial sector.
“We really want to create a hub for industrial and logistical operations in the region,” the director said. Adding that more work was needed to improve the connectivity between different markets in Africa to capitalize on investments.
Developments are also underway at Benin’s Port Cotonou, which has been under the management of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges since 2018. The port’s “makeover,” which calls for improvements to digitalization, transparency, training and infrastructure, is expected to take nine years.
The project will also see the construction of a new terminal for bulk and breakbulk operations.
Kristof Van Den Branden, the port’s commercial director, said that while the main focus was to create a world-class port facility, the expansion of green initiatives was high on the agenda.
“Port development goes handin-hand with solar energy and other renewable energies,” Van Den Branden said. “There are studies ongoing for wind energy, defining the right spot either onshore or offshore.”
He added: “Africa has not always had the best image unfortunately, and historically there have been reasons. But I think there is a whole change of mentality ongoing in a lot of African countries, and I think part of that is having companies like Port of Antwerp involved in these investment projects.” BB
BREAKBULK EUROPE
Sustainability: Record, Report and Reduce
Session Speakers Discuss Standards for the Industry
BY SIMON WEST
How can carriers and shippers work together to record and report their emissions and become more sustainable? That was a key question for panelists in Breakbulk Europe’s Sustainability Across the Supply Chain session, moderated by Stephen Spoljaric, corporate manager of global logistics at Bechtel Corporation.
The U.S.-based engineering, construction and procurement company, or EPC, has been advocating this year the three Rs: Record, Report and Reduce.
“Our belief is that if we cannot be good at recording, and understand how we are going to report, the reduction part is nice, but you cannot really gather any details from it,” Spoljaric said.
The enjoyable session, presented in a gameshow format whereby each participant rang a small bell to respond to a question – or, in the case of speaker Rick Bruinsma, senior project manager at Jumbo-SAL-Alliance, his daughter’s bicycle bell – looked at how breakbulk could learn from efforts in the container industry to produce standardized reporting guidelines for operators.
If containers can do it, why can’t breakbulk?
Asma Ouchan, business development manager at Smart Freight Centre, a non-profit organization focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from freight transportation, pointed to the challenge of bringing shippers and carriers together to exchange data.
“The methodology is there, however the alignment between shippers and carriers – that is the tricky part. Data exchange, that is the biggest issue,” Ouchan said.
Tim Killen, chief sales officer at deugro, said his company already uses online tools to understand, measure and report to customers information on emissions for different modes of transport, but admitted that, industrywide, the practice was still in its early stage.
“With our partners we have taken a big step forward, and I think it is going to progress in the next few years as well.”
Which entity should have responsibility for defining and drafting the first guidelines?
“There needs to be government involvement,” Killen said. “We signed up to the commitments of COP26 last year, and leaving it to industry on their own without government support, intervention and guidance I think would be not the right step.”
Henrik Andersson, head of sustainability at Höegh Autoliners, said the sector was on the right track, but it needed better access to carbon-neutral fuels and technology.
The moderator also asked if carbon offsetting and carbon credits were a positive development.
According to Bruinsma, a thin line exists between carbon offsetting and greenwashing, while Killen said that for it to work, there needs to be strict monitoring.
“It needs to be assessed, it needs to be audited and it needs to be qualified by a third party to ensure that the commitments and promises that were made in terms of offsetting and trading are actually delivered.” BB
Panelists Rick Bruinsma, Jumbo-SAL-Alliance, and Asma Ouchan, Smart Freight Centre.
Breakbulk Studios
See video interviews with session panelists:
Stephen Spoljaric, Bechtel Corporation https://youtu.be/1THxq59uCqk
Henrik Andersson, Höegh Autoliners AS https://youtu.be/iHtCyxX9vUk
Asma Ouchan, Smart Freight Centre https://youtu.be/q2QfYTbCu30
Rick Bruinsma, Jumbo-SAL-Alliance https://youtu.be/USDg_HopYWo
