Breakbulk Magazine Issue 6 2022

WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING

Höegh Autoliners is a global leader in deep sea RoRo transportation services To transport wider, longer and higher breakbulk and project cargo, we have developed specialised handling equipment to ensure your cargo's smooth and safe transportation With over 90 years of experience from shipping, we can safely say that we know what we're doing, and we do it well.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

15 OUTLOOK INTO THE UNKNOWN

Regulations and Rising Costs Set the Stage for 2023

16 CARBON COUNTING NOT ONLY FOR CARRIERS

Incoming Regulations Will Impact Ocean Services

17 PEOPLE STILL MAKE PROJECTS TICK

Industry Must Double Down on Recruitment

18 DEMANDS FOR MORE IN LESS TIME

EPCs Face Up to Challenging Requests

33 OPPORTUNITIES 34 MENA’S GREEN ENERGY BOOM

Middle East and Africa Poised for Rapid Renewables Growth

38 RISING TO THE COMPLEXITY CHALLENGE

Middle East Ports Invest to Serve Industry

41 JOINED-UP THINKING AND TECH BENEFITS

DSV’s Mohammad Jaber Wants More Coordination and Collaboration

44 DRIVING INDIA’S MODAL SHIFT

Supporting Project Cargo Moves via Rail

Pictured on the front cover, clockwise from top left: Axel Kaldschmidt, Amnon Ehrlich, Reza Fazlollahi, and Fayçal Boumerkhoufa.

19 ENERGY TRILEMMA SUPPORTS PROJECT GROWTH

Academia Ready to Aid Rebound

20 TIGHT TRANSPORTATION MARKET TO CONTINUE

Securing Space Not Getting Any Easier

21CARRIER OPTIMISM FOR 2023

High Demand and Tight Tonnage to Continue

22 AIR CARGO CAPACITY CRUNCH

48 AFRICA’S FUEL AGNOSTIC PATH

Renewables and Fossil Fuels in the Energy Mix

52 ENERGY UPDATE US WIDENS WIND REMIT

Progress Toward Gulf of Mexico Offshore Wind

56 CASE STUDY THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTINGENCY PLANNING

Water Restrictions Prompt Project Switch

Mark

Breakbulk Middle East

February,

World Trade Centre, UAE

Breakbulk Europe

June,

Ahoy, Netherlands

Breakbulk Americas

September,

R. Brown Convention Center, Texas, USA

Aircraft Discontinuations, Geopolitical

25 AN-225 MRIYA: NO OTHER NAME CARRIES MORE WEIGHT

Antonov’s ‘Dream’ Aircraft a Source

Ukrainian Pride

26 BY THE NUMBERS

Breakbulk Checks Out Some of the Largest

Market

28 DRONES COME OF AGE

Airbus UAS Technology Offers

29 SOURCING STRATEGIES HIT FROM ALL SIDES

Need for Flexibility from

and EPCs

59 THOUGHT LEADER RIGGING MATTERS

Invest in the Best for High Risk Moves

62 BREAKBULK AMERICAS REVIEW

74 HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR BREAKBULK TRAVELERS

Also

issue

RELIEF, REALISM AND THE WAY FORWARD

Welcome to the last issue of 2022 and what a year it has been. Breakbulk Events & Media held its three events all in the same year, something we couldn’t do since 2019 because of the pandemic. Like riding a bicycle, our teams regrouped and set their sights on delivering purposeful, engaging events.

Throughout the planning process this is what kept me up at night: Had the industry mastered a new normal of remote relationships that would devalue faceto-face? The proof was in the results. All three events, Breakbulk Middle East, Breakbulk Europe, and Breakbulk Americas posted similar attendance numbers to their 2019 pre-pandemic editions.

So, it is with renewed and reinforced value for networking that we look ahead to the 2023 Breakbulk events and media products.

This edition of Breakbulk magazine sets the foundation for what’s ahead. Our main Outlook feature package examines the future in three ways.

First, members of Breakbulk’s Editorial Board present their key forecasts for their sectors in ‘Into the Unknown: Regulations and Rising Costs Set the Stage for 2023’ on Page 15. Despite continuing challenges such as a tight multipurpose vessel market, widening talent gap, an economic pinch and a volatile geopolitical landscape, the project market looks promising. “The opportunities for another busy and productive year seem to be in our futures,” says Jake Swanson at DHL Industrial Projects.

Piggybacking on an eye-opening session around the air cargo crunch at Breakbulk Americas, the second

Outlook feature includes a deep dive into the shortage of planes, what it means for the project sector, and most importantly, what solutions are underway or could be considered with the right support. Start reading on Page 22.

The collaboration between the panelists (pictured on the cover) from CargoLive Logistics, DB Schenker, Antonov Airlines, and Airbus didn’t end at Breakbulk Americas—Fayçal Boumerkhoufa from CargoLive Logistics will continue the discussion at Breakbulk Middle East and Breakbulk Europe as he builds a working group to tackle solutions. Interested? Contact him at faycal. boumerkhoufa@cargolivelogistics. com .

The third Outlook story looks at sourcing trends, a topic that will affect most of the project supply chain. “Up to three years ago, supplier selection was essentially driven by pricing and the risks to execution were managed through contractual terms,” Luke Mace at GEODIS says. “However, events of the past three years have proved that contracts were not a foolproof risk avoidance solution and that prices should only be one part of the equation.” For the full equation, read ‘Sourcing Strategies Hit From All Sides’ on Page 29.

Networking is the primary purpose of Breakbulk and naming project opportunities runs a close second. Inside you’ll find reporting on projects in the pipeline across many geographies including the Middle East, Africa, and India with insight into which sectors hold the most potential.

As we’ve learned, no person is an island; similarly, no Breakbulk story stands alone. Our editors and content team work closely to develop editorial and event programming that evolves with the market. It may be a press release from a customer posted to our news site that supplies the catalyst for a feature story and a complementary event session series.

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Leslie Meredith / +1 (801) 201-5971 Leslie.Meredith@breakbulk.com

NEWS EDITOR Carly Fields carly.fields@hyve.group

SENIOR REPORTER Simon West simon.west@hyve.group

DESIGNER Mark Clubb

REPORTERS

Felicity Landon Lori Musser Malcolm Ramsay Thomas Timlen Liesl Venter Doug Webster

BREAKBULK EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

John Amos, emeritus Amos Logistics Dennis Devlin Maersk

Dharmendra Gangrade Larsen & Toubro Limited

Margaret Kidd University of Houston Anders Maul Blue Water Shipping

Dennis Mottola, emeritus Global Logistics Consultant Sarah Schlüter Hapag-Lloyd

Stephen “Spo” Spoljaric Bechtel Corp Roger Strevens Wallenius Wilhelmsen Jake Swanson DHL Industrial Projects

Ulrich Ulrichs BBC Chartering Johan-Paul Verschuure Rebel Group Grant Wattman Combi Lift Americas

PORTFOLIO DIRECTOR

Nick Davison nick.davison@hyve.group

MARKETING & MEDIA DIRECTOR Leslie Meredith leslie.meredith@hyve.group

To advertise in Breakbulk Media products, visit: http://breakbulk.com/page/advertise

SUBSCRIPTIONS

To subscribe, go to http://breakbulk.com/page/ subscribe-breakbulk-magazine, or email: gary.burrows@hyve.group

A publication of Hyve Group plc. The Studios, 2 Kingdom Street Paddington, London W2 6JG, UK

Leslie Meredith

UpFront

The ultra-high ice-class (PC-3) deck cargo vessel AUDAX delivered one 11,000-tonne module after a first-ever east-west winter transit of the Northern Sea Route, loading at Tianjin, China, and discharge at Murmansk.

The next Education Day for maritime, engineering and logistics students will be held on Tuesday, 14 February as part of Break bulk Middle East 2023 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. This is a half-day program offering an introduction to careers in proj ect cargo and related fields by working executives. It is free to attend. For more information, visit middleeast.breakbulk.com

Breakbulk Middle East’s Education Day students with Dr. Aysha Al Busmait. CREDIT: BREAKBULK EVENTS

NEXT GENERATION

Be Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Bechtel’s Salma Ghazal’s Unique Perspectives on Education and the Workplace

By Doug Webster

When you talk with Salma Ghazal, logistics specialist with Houston-headquartered Bechtel Corporation, there is a sense that the next generation of skilled workers in the project logistics sector are among the best trained yet for the challenges that lie ahead in this dynamic industry.

Ghazal graduated from the University of Houston’s Supply Chain and Logistics Technology program early in 2022. As a recent graduate and newly employed, she has unique perspectives on both. Her interest in the field, she said, stemmed from global events post-Covid.

“I was interested in a career that would give me hands-on experience and be challenging – something that would help me learn and grow.”

Ghazal spent much of her youth in Jordan where her father worked, but the family moved to Texas in 2017. “I wanted to go to school closer to home, so I chose the University of Houston. My interest in the supply chain drew me to their logistics program.

“One thing I really valued was the internships I got during my time at school. I started out as a buyer for Saudi Aramco and then as an operations analyst for a Canadian trucking firm. I learned a lot from both and went into logistics really knowing it was where I wanted to be.

“Looking back at my experiences as a student and an intern, I would encourage companies offering internships to really challenge students. Give them more responsibility and get to know their capabilities. It is valuable to both the company and the students.

“As a former intern and student, now in the workplace for my first few months, I would offer this advice to students: As an intern, ask for work and tasks. Don’t be stagnant. This is a real learning opportunity. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Challenge yourself because the more you ask, the more you know. You won’t get this chance again.”

Ghazal urges professors to emphasize why students should focus on sectors that might not seem important at first glance. “Learn vessel types, learn Incoterms, learn weights and dimensions. I use these every day in my work at Bechtel. Students may wonder ‘why do I need to learn this’, so instructors need to emphasize their importance in the workplace.”

In a Breakbulk Studios interview with Leslie Meredith, Ghazal spoke about her path to working at Bechtel. “I talked with company representatives at a networking event and I really felt comfortable. I wanted a position that would value me and my career development. I have already been assigned to a project for the company.

“Bechtel has a great program called MARC, which stands for Men Advocating Real Change. It emphasizes inclusion and diversity in the workplace and that is reflected in the respect we all are shown as team members.

“I got a lot out of the University of Houston program,” she said. “Margaret Kidd and her faculty really go the extra mile to mentor their students. They treat us as adults. They help set up valuable internships. They take us to shows like Breakbulk and to meetings of industry groups like supply chain management. As a graduate, they are genuinely interested in how I am doing and seek my feedback on ways they can upgrade their courses to reflect the needs of industry today.”

“Looking back at my experiences as a student and an intern, I would encourage companies offering internships to really challenge students. Give them more responsibility and get to know their capabilities. It is valuable to both the company and the students.”

Salma Ghazal

Highlighting Recent Industry Hires and Promotions MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Al Faris

After 11 years focus ing on Iraq and the Middle East, Alberto Pittaluga said to Breakbulk he was seeking a “refreshing chal lenge in a different geographical loca tion,” with the executive set to leave his role at the end of the year as general manager of Al Faris’s operations in Iraq.

Following an 8-year stint at ALE, Pit taluga joined Dubai-based heavy-lift specialist Al Faris in March 2020, over seeing the launch of the company’s Iraq division in early 2021. Al Faris has established itself as one of the leading logistics players in Iraq, supporting the buildout of oil and gas and power gen eration projects from its base close to Basra.

CMA CGM Air Cargo

Guillaume Lathelize has been named as the new head of CMA CGM’s air freight division, CMA CGM Air Cargo, taking over from Olivier Casa nova.

Lathelize has been with CMA CGM for more than 15 years, holding several roles including vice president of short sea lines and, most recently, vice president of global com mercial. Prior to that, the executive spent nearly a decade with Bolloré Transport and Logistics.

CMA CGM Air Cargo was launched in March 2021 and is based out of Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

Crowley

Meaghan Atkinson has been promoted to vice president of sustainability at U.S.-based maritime and logistics com pany, Crowley. The executive will lead

Crowley’s sustain ability journey, and drive action to decarbonize across the company’s operations and value chain to reach net-zero by 2050.

In her prior role as director of sustainability and regulatory affairs, Atkinson spearheaded the creation of Crowley’s first greenhouse gas inventory and played an integral role in publishing the company’s first-ever sustainability report. Before joining Crowley, Atkinson spent more than 15 years managing sustainability programs for organizations including CSX Corporation and the State of Florida Department of Military Affairs.

De los Santos had been with the familyrun, heavy transport specialist for more than 15 years, serving as CEO for the last seven. “There are so many memories, so many friends inside and outside the company to be thankful for. Today, I only have gratitude.”

UTC Overseas

Michael Kaemerow has joined interna tional transportation and logistics special ist UTC Overseas as a Houston-based project director.

Ports America

Ports America, the largest marine terminal operator and stevedore in the U.S., has announced the appointment of Matthew Leech as president and CEO, effective Novem ber 2022. Leech will succeed Mark Montgomery, who will retire as CEO but continue in an advisory role.

Leech boasts more than 25 years of experience in the maritime industry, pre viously serving as CEO and managing director for the Americas at DP World. The executive was also vice president, operations and development, at CSX World Terminals.

Tradelossa

Rafael de los Santos said he was begin ning a “new period” in his professional life after announc ing his departure as CEO of Mexicobased Tradelossa.

During a career that has seen stints at Bertling Logistics and deugro USA, Kaemerow has overseen the transport and logistics of products from some of the world’s largest EPCs involved in global infrastructure, mining and petro chemical equipment, including Bechtel, Fluor, KBR, Halliburton, JGC, Technip and McDermott.

The executive began his new role at UTC in September.

Meanwhile, UTC Overseas has named Diana Davila as new senior vice president of U.S. operations.

Davila, who has more than 30 years’ experience in trans port and logistics, joined UTC in July 2016, firstly as director of projects, then Houston branch manager.

The executive is founder of Women in Logistics Leadership, a Houston-based group that supports female logistics pro fessionals seeking leadership roles. She is a “tireless advocate” for diversity and inclusion, UTC said.

Michael Kaemerow

Alberto Pittaluga

Diana Davila

Guillaume Lathelize

Meaghan Atkinson

Matthew Leech

Rafael de los Santos

THOUGHT LEADER

Collaboration Key to Reducing Costs

How Shippers Can Work Together to Manage Their Spend

By Vinit Pednekar

A slowdown in exploration and production activity due to demand deficit and government regulations to reduce carbon emissions has had a huge impact on the oil and gas industry, with oilfield services companies under constant pressure to deliver at a lower cost.

Given the complex nature of their operations, as well as geographical and regulatory complexities, the importance of logistics for these companies cannot be overstated. Timely delivery of equipment and resources is necessary to carry out seamless operations.

Logistics cost inflation remains high and international freight is the main contributor, with increases in spending sometimes reaching 30 percent. Taking drilling tools as a specific example, oilfield services companies are exposed to high logistics spend in sending these tools to operations.

Conversely, low capital investments due to demand uncertainty and shortage of electronic components from original equipment manufacturers have caused manufacturing delays, leading to reduced equipment fleet size and a shortage of these high-profile tools.

The result: an exponential increase in urgent shipments.

Transport and mobilization spend is one of the key financial cost lines, driven mainly by international freight that accounts for about 20 percent of this total. Most of the low hanging fruit to manage this spend, such as securing contracted rates, bidding platforms and long-term agreements with carriers, are already in place.

Going forward, finding such internal costsaving opportunities is difficult, which is why we must urgently start exploring the external synergies which exist in our industry.

The benefits of cargo consolidation, such as lower spend and resource optimization, are well acknowledged. With this in mind, we are planning to work with other shippers to form a consortium to consolidate cargo, optimize charter flight capacity and reduce carbon footprint.

The success of the concept is dependent on active collaboration among global shippers, but the aim is to

reduce spend and avoid additional costs by deploying technology to plan consolidation, route optimize and ride share.

Vinit Pednekar is an expert in global supply chain logistics, with 15 years’ experience working for Schlumberger, one of the world’s largest oilfield services companies in the Middle East, Asia, eastern Canada, the Caribbean and the U.S. To find out more about his company’s plans, contact Vinit at vinit.siib@gmail.com. Schlumberger is also a member of the Breakbulk Global Shipper Network, a worldwide network of shippers involved in the engineering, manufacturing and production of project cargo.

Oilfield services companies spend high on logistics, yet capital investment is low.

CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

In for the Long Haul

By Lori Musser

The breakbulk and project cargo industries need more success stories like Itoro Ibanga’s. He went from transportation student to logistics industry executive in four short years.

The rate of attrition in this supply chain sector is sky high. The executive workforce and skilled labor are both aging out at an alarming rate. To play a role in helping to bridge the gap, Breakbulk Events & Media created Education Day.

Jerry Nagel Education Day, now in its 12th year, provides an introduction to the project cargo and breakbulk industry for students and newcomers. It is designed to attract the next generation of leaders through executive-led instruction and networking. It has become integral to the annual Breakbulk Americas event in Houston, and it is where Ibanga found his muse.

“Everything for me started when, for the very first time, I was able to attend a Breakbulk conference – the Breakbulk Americas conference back in 2019 when I was a student,” Ibanga said.

Getting to see different industry segments, from barging to air freight to ocean trucking, was an important trigger. It helped the student zero in on a sector that offered options.

Since then, Ibanga has carefully crafted his journey to build breadth of experience. In addition to a Port Houston internship, he has worked for a carrier, Mediterranean Shipping Company, a forwarder, Fracht, and now a shipper, Air Liquide USA.

It is easier to climb the ranks quickly when you have taken the time to develop credentials to dovetail with an industry – Ibanga’s include a Master’s degree in Transportation Planning and Management specializing in Maritime Transportation at Texas Southern University – and when you have carefully developed a network of associates to champion you and help build your value in the workplace.

He is now in a position to give back and help cultivate more talent for the industry. His advice to students is, “network, ask questions, have informative interviews and familiarize yourself with the industry, find mentors, and make sure you get a quality internship.”

It is never too soon to start, especially with networking. “There are different associations, different initiatives. Get a mentor that will help guide you through your career. Stay current with industry affairs, and know the terrain. Start to get to know different companies, different segments. Start volunteering,” Ibanga said.

The global supply chain workforce issues of the last few years have forced many breakbulk and project cargo companies to look to career path stories like Ibanga’s, as they seek to secure a talent pipeline.

Ibanga’s words of wisdom for industry employers are to look to what attracts young talent. New graduates today are likely to embrace and value corporate sustainability, digitization, technologies like drones and autonomous assets and remote workspace.

Young people can bring a lot to the table for companies as they delve into emerging industry advancements and technologies. “Those are the challenges of businesses today and we need young people to address them,” Ibanga said.

“Get a mentor that will help guide you through your career. Stay current with industry affairs, and know the terrain. Start to get to know different companies, different segments. Start volunteering.”

Itoro Ibanga: New Talent Success Story for Breakbulk Industry

Itoro Ibanga

TO ONE

A Gift for Supply Chains

By Lori Musser

A self-prioritizing email system is the stuff dreams are made of.

A little help escaping the low priorities, or shifting an email to the most appropriate responder, or calling one’s attention to the one action item that absolutely must be addressed before a meeting or a flight, would truly help change anyone’s work life.

For supply chain executives, whose emails border on allconsuming, a smart email platform may offer extraordinary benefits. SEDNA is such a system, according to Cynthia Worley.

The vice president of strategic accounts at SEDNA calls herself a ‘Cheerleader for Change,’ one that introduces value to the supply chain industry and its sometimesdisjointed communications and always overflowing inboxes.

Integrating a company’s existing business systems with the SEDNA application allows messages to be automatically tagged and context added, enabling seamless collaboration in real time, according to company literature.

Worley said that supporting, accelerating and amplifying the digitalization of leading supply chain companies by fixing the fundamental flaws in the building block of business communication – email – is her main task.

SEDNA’s mission is to return one billion hours to industry.

Each day, executives and staffers see a list of emails. “How do we know what’s important or what’s not, besides opening, closing or deleting each one?” asked Worley during Breakbulk Americas 2022 in Houston.

“SEDNA takes that guessing game out. We automatically categorize every email that comes in and we use that categorization to drive accountability. So, each email

actually goes in front of the set of eyes that needs to action that email. It’s incredible,” Worley said.

Email technologies can reduce risk. They can simplify communications and bring visibility to business-critical information by routing important communications to the right person at the right time. The icing on the cake is that SEDNA can store emails for the long term, without manual effort, in a central repository.

“I have worked in shipping and trade for 20 years, and I understand the challenges. But many of these challenges can now be solved,” Worley said.

She said the SEDNA email platform offers an edge to the supply chain.

“The thing about technology is if you want to survive, you cannot stop. Innovation means you are always trying to be at the next level, at the next forefront of what is happening,” Worley said, noting that the fragmentation of work and the new integration of work-life and homelife pushes everyone to rely more on the tools we have in place to keep us on the right track.

Those tools and technologies need to be better than ever to improve operations and not make the workforce a slave to archaic functions. “There is a balance to be struck,” Worley said.

“SEDNA takes that guessing game out. We automatically categorize every email that comes in and we use that categorization to drive account ability. So, each email actually goes in front of the set of eyes that needs to action that email. It’s incredible.”

Cynthia Worley Outlines an Email Platform That Returns Hours to Industry

Cynthia Worley

ONE TO ONE

Maersk Project Logistics: A Force to be Reckoned With

By Simon West

A.P. Moller-Maersk’s proposed acquisition of Martin Bencher Group and the launch of a new project logistics unit will constitute “a force to be reckoned with”, said Lana Warren, regional head of special project logistics at the Denmarkbased shipping giant.

Maersk announced in August it had reached a deal to buy the Aarhus-headquartered project forwarder in a bid to strengthen its project logistics handling capacity. The agreement, worth US$61 million, is expected to close in next year’s first quarter.

At the same time the deal was announced, the company also unveiled plans to launch Maersk Project Logistics, a new product that would focus on solution design, special cargo transportation and project management services.

Maersk Project Logistics is set to be officially unveiled on 1 January.

“The acquisition of Martin Bencher was a perfect fit, bringing in people who had that skillset we were really looking for, to stretch our project reach, and then to officially proclaim it as a product. They have an excellent reputation, and putting their team together with who we already have, we believe we have got a force to be reckoned with in the project world,” Warren said.

“Maersk has a very large team that will collectively work to ensure a great transition for everyone. We want to make sure everyone stays together as a group, to help develop this camaraderie between our teams, and to build a unit that everyone is going to be really excited to be part of.”

Until now, the company, which has historically offered container yard-to-yard, or CY-CY services, has been carrying out project logistics on a regional basis – mainly Europe and North America – and mostly linked to contracts that were already in place.

According to Warren, Maersk Project Logistics will have a more global reach, with an aligned strategy in place across all regions. A global team at headquarters will support development and will include positions such as heads of growth enablement, solution design and engineering.

The new unit is also set to benefit from its status as a Maersk “product”, Warren said.

“It becomes a line on the P&L, a measurable offer that we are looking at. It comes with a commitment to investment, to say, what does it take to really make this a very efficient, effective solution that customers will benefit from?”

With the post-pandemic project market expected to surge in the coming years, the new unit, which will boast a workforce of “a few hundred”, can look forward to plenty of cargocarrying opportunities.

“We see incredible potential there. I believe part of what we also see is that during Covid, especially in North America, you had real growth in the retail sectors. That has freed up money for capital to invest in other infrastructure and the things that lead to the type of project work we want to engage in. We think we have a very strong market ahead.”

Lana Warren Speaks to Breakbulk About Danish Firm’s New Product

“Maersk has a very large team that will collectively work to ensure a great transition for everyone. We want to make sure everyone stays together as a group, to help develop this camaraderie between our teams, and to build a unit that everyone is going to be really excited to be part of.”

Lana Warren

Meet Jessica Dawnay, Breakbulk Europe’s New Event Director EUROPE EVENT UPDATE

Q: You’re no stranger to the event business. Tell us about your experience prior to taking on this new role.

A: I was lucky to join the events industry 18 years ago, the past 13 years have been within the Retail Trade industry working on Spring & Autumn Fairs, the UK’s largest gift and home retail events. These heritage brands support over 3,000 exhibitors with 30,000 visitors attending over two editions per year, predominantly UK-based and serving the UK retail market.

Q: What intrigues you about Breakbulk events and the project cargo industry in general?

A: was blown away by the event, the Breakbulk community, the buzz in the halls, the enthusiasm within the market to connect face-to-face and build relationships. The last two years have been extremely difficult for the events industry. Getting back to meeting and building relationships in person is something I revel in. After speaking with some of the customers and listening to the Main Stage sessions, I understand how Breakbulk is fuelling the global project cargo revolution and I’m excited to be a part of it. Rotterdam, here I come!

Q: Outside of work, how do you enjoy your time?

A: I love to travel, attend music events, and spend quality time with friends and family. We recently had our first family holiday which was a true experience, made even more special with twin girls, the newest additions to our family. They just turned a year old!

Q: As a mom, what advice do you have for working mothers?

A: It’s not easy, but it’s very rewarding. While all mothers and families are different, for me it was important to return to work as I am continuously learning at Hyve which is a key driver for me. I love the work/life balance we have. It’s very important to be honest with yourself and your employer on how you are finding things

Jessica Dawnay

MIDDLE EAST EVENT UPDATE

Breakbulk Middle East Heading Back to Dubai in 2023

Breakbulk Middle East, the region’s largest gathering of breakbulk and project cargo professionals, is heading back to the World Trade Center in Dubai on 13-14 February 2023.

The event, sponsored by Dubai-based global port operator DP World, will once again bring together key decision makers, government officials, top-ranking executives and some of the world’s biggest EPCs to discuss the latest opportunities and challenges facing the industry.

Breakbulk Middle East is expected to attract more than 2,000 companies from over 55 countries, and will feature some of the biggest names in the business including CMA CGM, HapagLloyd, MSC, Abu Dhabi Ports, Al Faris, Mammoet, MICCO Logistics, AAL Shipping, Air Charter Service, AASTS, BBC Char tering, Fagioli, Goldhofer and Haraket.

“The UAE plays a vital role in strengthening the capabilities of the trade and logistics sector around the world. A key contribu tor to the sector’s success is its breakbulk and project cargo segment, which has grown from strength to strength over the years,” said H.E. Eng. Suhail Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure.

“The breakbulk and project cargo sector has proven to be a major factor in driving the progress of the UAE’s economy. Our association with Breakbulk Middle East will thus play an integral role in highlighting the importance of the sector and reaffirming our role as the leading smart trade enabler,” said Abdulla Bin Damithan, CEO & Managing Director DP World UAE & Jafza.

Breakbulk Events & Media is particularly thrilled to welcome to next year’s conference so many first-time exhibitors represent ing countries from all over the world, including the UAE, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UK, the US, Cameroon, Tunisia, Denmark, Germany, Georgia, Spain and Turkey.

“Since inception, our sole purpose is to unite the industry and help them find solutions and develop strategies that will strengthen the UAE’s status as a global trade hub,” said Ben Blamire, event director at Breakbulk Middle East. “Through our 2023 edition we will work towards achieving this goal by initiat ing discussions on a wide range of topics and trends concerning the sector.”

Leslie Meredith, marketing director at Breakbulk Events & Media, said Breakbulk Middle East had always been at the forefront of showcasing the latest products and services in the industry.

“Apart from our trademark events – Education Day and Women in Breakbulk – this year we are looking at spotlighting technol ogy and sustainability to a great extent. Our ultimate aim is to aid the UAE’s and the region’s economy, helping it grow from strength to strength.”

Breakbulk Middle East 2023 will take place on 3-14 February 2023 at the Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai. For more information, visit: https://middleeast.breakbulk.com/Book-a-Stand

New Exhibitors to Breakbulk Middle East 2023

Event Expected to Attract More Than 2,000 Companies from Over 55 Countries

INTO THE UNKNOWN

Regulations and Rising Costs Set the Stage for 2023

As the year turns, project cargo and breakbulk movers find themselves stuck between the rock of regulation and the hard place of inflation. The deep-rooted International Maritime Organization rules coming into force might seemingly apply only to shipping lines, but achieving compliance will not be possible without collaboration with shippers and other parts of the supply chain.

In 2023, a small respite is expected from the crippling shortage of suitable transport options for project and breakbulk cargoes in 2022, but shippers should take note that we are not out of the low-supply woods yet. Freight rates are expected to ease, but not to the below-breakeven level seen before the pandemic. Those environmental regs can shoulder the blame for the continuation of a tight market: without certainty on fuels and emissions, asset operators are understandably reluctant to invest in new tonnage. And without that, options for transportation are limited.

Rising costs, meanwhile, are eating into everyone’s bottom line. An increase in nearshoring could well become a necessity, rather than a choice in 2023. Engineering, procurement and construction companies are feeling the squeeze with clients demanding cuts in lead times so they can realize returns on investment faster.

Then there is the talent gap to factor in, which is widening year-on-year. More investment is needed to lure skilled workers into the industry; then comes the challenge of keeping them. Academia stands ready to assist and industry needs to find ways of working more closely with specialist logistics institutions.

Over the following pages, B reakbulk’s Advisory Board speak to these issues and more, outlining their views for 2023 and beyond.

BY CARLY FIELDS

Environmental challenges and opportunities for breakbulk and project cargo in 2023

Roger Strevens, Wallenius Wilhelmsen

IN THIS SECTION

Forwarding challenges and opportunities for 2023

Jake Swanson, DHL Industrial Projects

EPC challenges and opportunities for 2023

Dharmendra Gangrade, Larsen & Toubro Limited

Breakbulk and project cargo industry support from and for academia in 2023

Margaret Kidd, University of Houston Challenges facing the MPV market

Dennis Devlin, Maersk

Ulrich Ulrichs, BBC Chartering

CARBON COUNTING NOT ONLY FOR CARRIERS

Incoming Regulations Will Impact Ocean Services

On Jan. 1, 2023, efforts to reduce the CO 2 emissions of the global shipping industry will shift up another gear with the introduction of the Carbon Intensity Indicator, or CII, by the International Maritime Orga nization, the global regulator. CII is the most impactful climate regulation in shipping to date, with far-reaching implications for both carriers and ship pers.

The CII regulation is intended to improve the carbon intensity of indi vidual vessels. To simplify a lot, the core of CII essentially boils down to comparing the amount of CO 2 per nau tical mile with other vessels of the same type. Vessels will gain CII ratings from A to E based on data reported for the previous year.

CII ratings are affected by multiple factors, some which are under the con trol of shipping companies, like speed and fuels used, and others, like pan demics and recessions, which are not. In addition to being outside the control of shipping companies, external factors are often not possible to predict.

As a vessel rating measure, CII has some peculiar aspects. For example, a vessel that sails around for a year with little or no cargo will get a better rat ing than if it sailed the same amount full laden.

Another aspect to note is that CII

applies to individual vessels while most shipping lines take a fleet optimization perspective.

CII FROM A SHIPPER’S PERSPECTIVE

As any of its stakeholders will know, the shipping industry is no stranger to environmental regulation. What makes CII different is that it brings with it the possibility of changes to ocean freight services, in addition to compliance costs.

Service changes can include longer transit times and fewer ports called. The actual changes that will be made will be highly case-specific and can change over time as CII itself changes. In general, although the impact on services may be mild initially, they

Measures to Influence CII Ratings

Mechanical: these are equipment installations or modifications to existing ships that improve technical efficiency. Examples include bulbous bow changes and propeller polishing.

Operational: a very broad field of measures that can be subdivided into technical initiatives, like weather routing and hull-fouling management, and trade initiatives, like reducing speed or the number of ports called.

BY ROGER STREVENS

should be expected to become more pronounced.

The best advice to shippers is to engage with their carriers early and plan for CII together. As the effects of CII, and other forthcoming envi ronmental regulations, become more noticeable it would also be advisable to shift towards a partnership model with carriers in favor of a short-term trans actional approach.

At Wallenius Wilhelmsen we know from experience, like IMO sulphur 2020, that seeking engagement leads to value creation for all parties, therefore we’re pleased to extend an invitation to our customers to let us take you through CII too.

Roger Strevens is vice president of global sustainability at Wallenius Wilhelmsen.

Alternative fuels: using fuels that have a reduced carbon footprint can improve CII ratings. Many biofuel and synthetic fuel products are in this category, however they come at a high-cost premium relative to conventional fuels.

Carriers and shippers will need to act together to meet the CII’s requirements.

CREDIT: WALLENIUS WILHELMSEN

PEOPLE STILL MAKE PROJECTS TICK

Industry Must Double Down on Recruitment

As we look toward another year and ask ourselves what we can expect for project logistics in 2023, what stands out the most to me is the importance of having the right people and the right team in place.

Considering the amount of large project opportunities that were bid on during the second half of 2022, the opportunities for another busy and productive year seem to be in our futures. Whether it be new liquefied natural gas facility construction, mining facilities, renewable and O&G turnaround projects, technology fabrication centers or resupply oppor tunities, 2023 already appears to be full of opportunity and activity.

It also appears that much of the supply chain issues that we have been dealing with over that last several years – including price volatility, con gestion and reliability – have started to stabilize, which hopefully will also encourage additional projects to come forward that might otherwise have been less likely to be executed during the previous uncertain conditions.

The question that I frequently ask myself is: Do we have the right team in place to handle the work that we currently have in place and what people are we lacking? Beside commercial considerations, the team that you have in place is arguably the most important factor when decid ing which service providers will be involved in project execution. Additionally, developing and having the right team in place is critical for executing operations in a safe and efficient manner.

As 2022 evolved to become a very successful and active year in projects, often the challenge was to keep up with growing opportunities and have

BY JAKE SWANSON

will always be the foundation of proj ect execution.

the right people in the right position to handle the increased operations. As organizations look toward strength ening their teams and growth, it becomes a race toward attracting the right talent, placing them and then training and preparing them for what is up ahead. In our industry, people

This challenge becomes more diffi cult as the general shortage of qualified and experienced professionals in the project sector continues to grow, as well as the age gap in the industry becomes more pronounced. Of course, there are initiatives that are taking place within certain organizations, including Education Day at Breakbulk events and internship programs with industry organizations such as the U.S. Exporters Competitive Maritime Council. However, ultimately it will be up to organizations to invest in their current workforce, recruit new people and invest in their organizational structure.

Jake Swanson is regional vice president, Americas operations at DHL Industrial Projects.

Challenge of resourcing continues to bite. CREDIT: DHL INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS

DEMANDS FOR MORE IN LESS TIME

EPCs Face Up to Challenging Requests

BY DHARMENDRA GANGRADE

Today, engineering, procure ment and construction companies face major chal lenges not only from external factors such as geopolitical and the rising cost of equipment, but also from internal factors such as modularization and compressed schedules.

EPC clients are increasingly shifting towards more and more modulariza tion thereby increasing the weight and dimension of a single piece that becomes more challenging to transport and maneuver on existing roads, lead ing to possible delays.

To fulfill a move to modularization to execute complex projects, associated logistics service providers are expected to invest in higher capacity axles, selfpropelled modular trailers and other equipment to meet requirements.

At the same time, EPC clients are challenging that projects of a similar size and type that used to be executed in 28-30 months are completed in a shorter period, in some cases demand ing a reduction of up to eight months, so that they can start to realize their ROI earlier.

Add to this a continued shortage of skilled and talented resources to anticipate and manage the challenges associated with transportation of heavy cargo.

So, there are more projects to be executed than the available required resources can manage. And with moveable project locations it is very difficult to relocate the talented resource in accordance with a project’s location.

Based on the current pipeline, I expect the project hotspots in 2023 to be in the Middle East and India, so resource will be needed in these locations in the years ahead.

In terms of structure of the sector, while I do not foresee any consolidation of EPCs over the coming 2-3 years, I do expect to see some more strategic joint ventures created to cater to niche segments. One example would be NT Energies, a new joint venture between Technip Energies and Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Co. Its purpose is to focus on the Middle East and North Africa region to provide added value in blue and green hydrogen, carbon capture, waste-to-energy, and biorefining. Joint ventures such as these are expected to be established for a limited period to meet growing demand and to stay ahead of the curve.

Dharmendra Gangrade is head of the logistics management center at Larsen & Toubro Limited.

“There are more projects to be executed than the available required resources can manage”

ENERGY TRILEMMA SUPPORTS PROJECT GROWTH

Academia Ready to Aid Rebound BY MARGARET KIDD

The intensifying ‘winter of discontent’ is an emerg ing challenge globally with tight energy and commodity markets, striking labor, slower indus trial output and consumer spending, historically high inflation and cost of living, and a geopolitical realignment operationalized by the Russian war on Ukraine. All magnified during a period of energy transition.

While Europe might face potential rolling blackouts and fuel rationing this winter based on their energy poli cies and historic overdependence on Russia, and China appears resolute in continuing its zero-Covid policy, a bright spot does exist for breakbulk and project cargo as energy security drives capital expenditure budgets through 2030.

The energy trilemma of afford ability, security, and sustainability remains at the forefront for capi tal expenditure spending with the breakbulk and project cargo sector benefiting from current and planned projects. S&P Global indicated in March 2022 that global energy sector capital expenditure was over US$1.5 trillion in 2021 and poised for a strong rebound.

The rebound in energy sector capital expenditure is further sup ported by market intelligence from the Energy Industries Council, based on estimated capital expenditure on announced developments to be commissioned by 2030, with the U.S., Brazil, India, and Australia being leading locations for mature hydrocarbons and power, mature renewables and cleantech and energy transition projects, respectively.

Academia can support and meet the challenge of both energy transi tion and growth of global capital

projects in 2023 with industry-funded research and workforce development for 21st-century job skills. Currently, the STEM Supply Chain & Logistics Technology (SCLT) Bachelor’s and Master’s degree plan at University of Houston (UH), along with non-credit professional development certifi cations in supply chain, logistics, imports/exports, and chartering, are doing exactly that.

Timely research initiatives driven

by faculty members Dr. Sasha Dong and Dr. Zheyong Bian in supply chain resiliency and circular plastics, as well as the textbook launch of ‘Proj ect Logistics’ authored by Marco Poisler, chief operating officer of global energy and capital projects at UTC Overseas and adjunct professor SCLT, in collaboration with Richard Knoll, provide a framework for sup porting industry needs.

There remains a need for training on the ground where capital projects are occurring to build capacity. A unique window of opportunity exists to assist the less developed world, middle income countries, and trans shipment load centers, such as the Middle East, in building capacity for the workforce of the future. The SCLT program at UH is purposefully positioned to support this opportu nity in 2023.

Margaret Kidd is program director, supply chain & logistics technology at the University of Houston.

There remains a need for training on the ground where capital projects are occurring to build capacity.

CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

TIGHT TRANSPORTATION MARKET TO CONTINUE

Securing Space Not Getting Any Easier

Entering 2023, we see a very different project logistics mar ket than the market of several years ago, and one which is still changing. This brings both chal lenges and opportunities.

The very tight container market seems to be loosening up a bit, and this will help project shippers and for warders in many ways, especially for shipments from Asia.

That said, on the breakbulk side, we are working in an environment with significantly less regularly sched uled liner breakbulk services than five or so years ago. The demise of some of the breakbulk liner carriers means the loss also of a significant base of regularly scheduled services. Gone are the days when it was easy to book small (less than 1,500 freight tonnes) cargoes from port to port in major trade lanes like Shanghai to Houston or Antwerp to Singapore, as well as to and from Mediterranean origins and destinations.

Yes, there are still some good breakbulk liner services in the market as well as some reliable and frequent roll-on, roll-off services, all of which can support many breakbulk ship ments. But there are far less regularly

BY DENNIS DEVLIN

scheduled breakbulk services than there were some years ago. And space is far tighter now too.

Due to a lack of new breakbulk/ multipurpose ship building and the increasing use of the fleet for wind energy projects, space on breakbulk and heavy-lift tonnage will remain tight. And although rates may fall a bit, they won’t likely fall to the levels we saw before the pandemic, levels at which carriers were losing money.

FORWARD BOOKING ISSUES

For larger volume breakbulk and heavy-lift shipments, the challenges are different. While shippers and for warders may have inducement volumes with which to work, thus not needing to rely on liner services, the challenges will be booking far enough in advance to confirm the space. This will be espe cially true for super-heavy-lifts. Gone are the days of booking a month or so before the anticipated shipment date. In today’s market, carriers are book ing cargoes many months in advance. Project cargo shippers and forwarders must work closely with carriers far in advance to ensure space. Planning and some flexibility are vital.

Other challenges will increas ingly involve regulatory compliance. For example, in the U.S., in light of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, signed into law on December 23, 2021, imports from China involve a far higher risk than before, especially for machinery and equipment with many parts and components, some of which might introduce the risk of non-compliance if one does not know where the parts were manufactured. Many project shippers will require detailed consulting services to meet this challenge, or they risk serious pen alties and delays.

The project cargo market will continue to grow. Wind farms both on and offshore, mining projects, lique fied natural gas, chemical plants, and other projects will continue to be built. It remains a very interesting time to be working in the field of project logistics and transportation. But it is a sig nificantly different market today than some years ago.

Dennis Devlin is senior director strategic programs at Maersk Project Logistics.

No quick solution to a lack of ship supply.

SHUTTERSTOCK

OUTLOOK

CARRIER OPTIMISM FOR 2023

High Demand and Tight Tonnage to Continue BY ULRICH ULRICHS

We look rather optimisti cally into 2023. Despite current downward trends in the container sector, there are good reasons for a healthy mid- to long-term outlook for the multipurpose and heavy-lift sec tor, driven by the demand for energy and renewables, and other industrial projects.

There is no significant new building activity for multipurpose tonnage, and the fleet continues to age. This, coupled with a high level of demand with large parts of the multipurpose fleet already being occupied with projects over the next few years, means that it will become more difficult for shippers to find suitable multipurpose tonnage to pick up their projects.

Meanwhile, delays in supply chains, disruptions in port operations and the issue of crew change remain challenges for our industry, which must be overcome.

Regarding regulations, as of Jan. 1, 2023 the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) enters into force requiring existing ships to implement technical measures for the limitation of their CO 2 emissions. Additionally, the Carbon Intensity Indicator comes into force, limiting the CO 2 emissions resulting from the operating profile of the vessel. Ves sels that fall under these regulations will have to comply from their first annual class survey on or after Jan. 1, 2023, resulting in measures such as main engine power limitation or speed reductions, for example. Also, CO 2 emission pricing will soon have its impact on costs attached to ocean transportation.

The pandemic has changed the work environment and has shown

our capability to maintain our busi ness operations even in times of lockdowns. Our IT infrastructure

and setup was already able to cope with it when most of us shifted to work from home. Flexibility is key and we continue this path to ensure that in case it is needed; we are basi cally able to work from anywhere. This has become a decisive factor for the continuity of our business and adds to the need to further optimize and digitalize processes in our sector.

Finally, we also must make sure we have skilled and experienced staff that are capable of taking on the challenges our clients present to us with their cargoes. BB

Ulrich Ulrichs is CEO of BBC Chartering.

BBC expects a healthy mid- to long-term outlook for MPVs.

CREDIT: BBC CHARTERING

“There is a high level of demand with large parts of the multipurpose fleet already being occupied with projects over the next few years, meaning that it will become more difficult for shippers to find suitable multipurpose tonnage to pick up their projects.”

BY SIMON WEST

Boeing’s decision to dis continue its 747 freighter has triggered more con cern among shippers and forwarders, as the industry faces a growing challenge when it comes to accessing aircraft and specialized equipment for moving breakbulk and project cargo.

Originally designed to transport missiles and other military hardware, the B747-F’s nose-loading capability – which allows out-of-gauge com ponents to be shipped in one piece without the need for disassembling – has been an integral part of the sec tor’s air freight arsenal for decades.

Robert Reed, director of supply chain at Nabors, a Houston-head quartered oilfield services specialist that owns and operates one of the world’s larg est land-based drilling rig fleets, said the B747-F’s discontinuation had given the industry “food for thought.”

Nabors typi cally uses the aircraft on an ad-hoc basis to transport drilling equipment and rig components when the most critical part of the supply chain equa tion becomes the compression of time, Reed told Breakbulk

“Our most recent example was moving part of a drilling rig mast to the Middle East. It was too long to be loaded through a 777 side-door loader, so a 747 nose-loader was required,” Reed said.

Air cargo plays a pivotal role in delivering equipment and supplies for projects. Air freight is often used for emergency replacements or when shipments are on very tight deadlines.

IMPACT OF WAR

While the impact of the B747-F’s discontinuation may not be felt for some years, recent geopolitical events

have had a more immediate bearing on the availability of aircraft to transport oversized cargo.

The conflict in Ukraine has seen the operations of Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Group – one of the major players in the market – severely curtailed. Although the carrier can still work on certain humanitarian operations, it has been banned from commercial flights to the U.S., Canada, Europe and other major markets.

Volga-Dnepr, alongside its sub sidiaries AirBridge Cargo and the British-flagged CargoLogic Air, was one of the market’s main suppliers of combined wide-body, heavy-lift air craft such as the B747-F, the Ilyushin IL76TD-90VD and the Antonov AN124-100.

For project cargo, the AN124-100 represents the most critical shortage. Developed in the 1970s for strategic government purposes, the AN124-100 is commonly used to transport up to 100 tonnes of heavy and oversized cargo such as transformers, turbines, satellites, oil and gas components, industrial machinery, aircraft parts, helicopters, trains and yachts.

For shippers and forwarders, it is a unique aircraft, and one of the few models with a payload capacity to transport extraheavy components.

“It is a mas sive impact,” said Fayçal Boumerkhoufa, vice president of integrated project

solutions at CargoLive Logistics. “Take twelve AN124-100s with an average of between 80 and 100 tonnes active payload, and that is a serious amount of cargo that suddenly needs to find an alternative solution.”

“In terms of the capabilities for project cargo, it does change the land scape and the way that air transport solutions are planned and executed.”

The hostilities have also impacted Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines, who, ear lier this year, was forced to relocate to Leipzig in Germany. The carrier had been operating out of the Gostomel airbase close to capital city Kyiv.

Amnon Ehrlich, Antonov’s director of sales for North America aerospace, government and defense programs, said five of the company’s seven AN124s were still operating.

“At the time, when the war started, luckily, we had five aircraft that were outside of Ukraine,” Ehrlich said at Breakbulk Americas in Houston. “Those five aircraft are currently oper ating – two of them are for NATO or for SALIS (Strategic Airlift Interim Solution), the other three are opera tional for commercial use.

“But of course, there is the issue of maintenance. It is an aircraft that requires a significant amount of main tenance. So, there is always at least one to the side.”

ACCESSIBILITY AND COST QUANDARY

The market’s shrinking accessible fleet, which is pushing up costs for cus tomers, is the latest development in a rapidly evolving air freight market that has seen wide-body freighters increas ingly assigned on long-term contracts to commodity manufacturers and largescale forwarders.

As a result, air cargo capacity, according to Boumerkhoufa, has been “gobbled up.”

The emergence of twin-engine airplanes, whose operational costs are significantly cheaper compared with a model equipped with four engines, is a sign that aircraft manufacturers are catering towards different end-market needs, such as e-commerce and general cargo packaging.

Region: Global Problem: Challenge of securing air freight space for time critical project moves

Solution: Manufacturers are bringing in new capacity to fill supply gaps

Robert Reed

Nabors

Fayçal Boumerkhoufa

CargoLive Logistics

“As such we have the Boeing 777 freighter that is out on the market now as a replacement (for the 747),” Axel Kaldschmidt, vertical head for aero space, marine and defense at Schenker Americas, said at Breakbulk Americas. “It has the same tonnage as the 747, but no nose door. And that nose door for project cargo is a huge influencer, particularly when it comes to rapid movement.”

Environmental regulations coming into play in the next few years will see older generations of the 747 taken out of the market, tightening availability fur ther, the executive said.

AIRBUS COMES TO THE RESCUE

Repurposed aircraft entering the market could offer customers some respite.

European aircraft maker Airbus, for example, is getting ready to launch more of its A300-platform Beluga ST widebodies for ad-hoc charters. Five STs are being refurbished for heavy cargo operations after Airbus announced the aircraft would be replaced by six brand-new A330 Beluga XLs, used to ship Airbus aircraft sections to different Airbus sites in Europe.

“Knowing the Beluga ST fleet can still fly for another 20 years or more, we thought, OK,

let us give them a second life,” said Reza Fazlollahi, business development and commercial director at Airbus Beluga.

“We spoke with freight forward ing companies and brokers all over the world to understand the needs and the challenges the oversized air cargo market was facing. And we quickly understood that there was a need for capacity.”

The ST has a customer payload capacity of 40 tonnes, and while less than that of a 747 or an AN124-100, its unique dimensions – including an inside height of 6.7 meters – means the aircraft is ideal for carrying oversized cargo for industries such as oil and gas, aerospace and construction.

A first Beluga ST is already in opera tion, with a second slated to start flying early next year. “The third will join at the end of next year, and a fourth one in 2024. And the fifth one either at the end of 2024 or beginning of 2025,” Fazlol lahi said.

The development, meanwhile, of two loading techniques for over-dimensional freight will allow the Beluga ST to han dle different types of cargo.

The first technique is an outboard platform, a 5-metre-high lifting device that will be positioned in advance of an aircraft’s arrival and deployed alongside a crane to offload cargo. The platform can be assembled and disassembled in one day and easily transported in stan dard 20-foot containers.

Up to 20 platforms positioned at strategic airport locations will be avail able by the end of 2023. “The precise locations are not known yet,” Fazlollahi said. “But we see high demand from

Nose-loading capability allows out-of-gauge components to be shipped in one piece without the need for disassembling.

and to North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Asia-Pacific and the Indian Subcontinent. We also see some needs for the military market in some African regions.”

A second lifting function expected to begin operations next year is an onboard cargo loader, designed to fly inside the Beluga. The loader, which boasts a payload capacity of 20 tonnes, will be deployed for more urgent missions, allowing the carrier to be even more autonomous and reactive, the executive said.

FUTURE BUILDOUT CHALLENGES

For manufacturers, the cost of build ing new aircraft, or reshaping existing ones, is crucial.

“Anything is possible with the right money and time and investment,” Kald schmidt said. “If you look at the 747 passenger aircraft, you can convert it into a freighter, but only with the side door. In order to do a nose door, it is a structural change, then your costs start getting very prohibitive.”

Project cargo owners themselves may be forced to adapt.

The diminishing pool of available cargo aircraft could result, for example, in more modularization, whereby proj ects are disassembled prior to shipping, then reassembled once delivered to the job site.

“Modularization will provide more opportunity to compress the delivery time for critical material by using air freight in a world without a 747 noseloader,” Reed said. “Even if a project is planned for ocean shipping, supply chain disruptions occur, and air freight needs to be utilized.”

For Boumerkhoufa, there is no quick solution: “Building aircraft, or refur bishing aircraft – these are gargantuan tasks,” he said.

“I am not saying it cannot be done under the right circumstances. If the right funding and attention is there, things do happen. But for now, the way everything is laid out, how the market and the world are moving – we face a big challenge.”

BB

Colombia-based Simon West is senior reporter for Breakbulk.

CREDIT: ANTONOV AIRLINES

Reza Fazlollahi

Airbus Beluga

AN-225 MRIYA : NO OTHER NAME CARRIES MORE WEIGHT

The AN-225 Mriya was designed by Antonov 40 years ago for the Soviet space shuttle program, making its first flight in December 1988. Commercial operations began in 2001.

Only one AN-225 was ever built to completion.

Mriya , which means “dream” in Ukrainian, had a capacity to transport up to 250 tonnes of cargo – nearly double that of the Boeing 747-8 freighter.

Its wingspan measured 88.4 meters – almost the length of a Premier League football pitch.

It was the only aircraft in the world that featured six turbofan engines, each

capable of churning out a staggering 51,590 pounds of thrust.

Mriya was used to transport superheavy components that no other aircraft could, such as large turbines, satellites, generators and helicopters.

On June 10, 2004, the AN-225 carried the longest cargo item in the history of air transport: two wind turbine blades, each more than 42 meters long, were transported from China to Denmark.

Mriya was also called on to deliver urgent medical supplies during the pandemic.

It has 242 world records to its name and is the inspiration for Antonov Airlines’ slogan: “No other name carries more weight.”

The AN-225 was among several aircraft destroyed during fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops for control of Hostomel airbase in Kyiv. The airplane had been undergoing maintenance at the time of the February attack.

Demonstrating the national pride for Mriya , Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in May 2022, “We will build a second AN-225 Mriya .”

Antonov’s ‘Dream’ Aircraft a Source of Ukrainian Pride

“Mriya was the pride and joy of the nation.”

– Amnon Ehrlich, director sales, North America Aerospace, Government and Defense Programs, Antonov Airlines

OUTLOOK AIR TRANSPORT

BY THE NUMBERS

As Airfreight Capacity Tightens, Breakbulk Checks Out Some of the Largest Cargo Aircraft on the Market

BOEING 747-8F

Maximum capacity 139 tonnes Range 8,130 km

BOEING 747-400F Maximum capacity 120 tonnes Range 7,169 km

Advantages: nose-loading to transport longer cargo without need to disassemble. oil & gas, power, aerospace

ILYUSHIN IL76TD-90VD

Maximum capacity 48 tonnesCapability of onboardcrane system 11 tonnesRange 4,600 km

Advantages: rear loading with on boardgantry crane for lifting cargo from trailersup to 11 metric tonnes. Equipped with aramp for rolling stock.Sectors: oil & gas, defence, automotiveand industrial

Number of Aircraft in Service by Type

104 Boeing 747-8 Freighter: since first delivery in 2011 126 Boeing 747-400F: since first delivery in 1994

AN-124-100

Maximum capacity 120 tonnes Maximum single lift with internal cranes 20 tonnes Range 4,650 km

AN-124-150 Maximum capacity 150 tonnes Maximum single lift with internal cranes 20 tonnes

Advantages: Front and rear end loading. Equipped with onboard gantry crane capable of lifting 20 tonne pieces with extension system up to 30 tonnes. A collapsible front ramp with extension capable of winching in extra-heavy single piece loads up to 80 tonnes. Sectors: oil & gas, power, aerospace, energy and government industry

Ilyushin IL76TD-90VD: Exact number unknown

6 AN124-100: Antonov Airlines has five, Maximus Air in Abu Dhabi has one, Volga-Dnepr has 12, (but their operations are severely curtailed because of sanctions)

0 AN-225: Destroyed in the early part of the war in the Ukraine

1 Airbus Beluga ST: Another 4 to be launched in the next 2 years

Sources: Antonov Airlines, Boeing, DB Schenker

MRIYA

single lift with

with 200 tonne payload 4,500

Advantages: capacity to ship extralarge and oversize pieces (oversize only lengthwise as the AN225 has the same diameter as the AN124. The differences are: no rear-end loading, length and uplift capability is different)

air cargo is expected to grow by 3.7%

the

BELUGA ST

capacity

tonnesRange

km

Advantages: Features one of the mostvoluminous cargo holds of any civil ormilitary aircraft flying today, with an insideheight of 6.7 meters. Ideal for transportingaircraft engines, helicopters, big industrymachineries – any over dimensional lightweight single piece cargo.Sectors: oil & gas, power, aerospace,construction, energy and governmentindustry segments

cargo loader (beginning operations in 2023) with payload capacity of 20 tonnes

OUTLOOK AIR TRANSPORT

DRONES COME OF AGE

BY LIESL VENTER

Unmanned Aerial Systems, or UAS, could potentially transform project logistics thanks to the wide range of applications, according to Oliver Nuffer, sales and business develop ment manager at Airbus.

Leading a discussion on UAS applications at Africa Oil Week held in Cape Town, South Africa, Nuffer told attendees that over the past few decades tremendous improvements had been made to drones in terms of structure, working methodology, fly ing features and navigation control.

“UAS are no longer just the domain of the military where we have seen extensive use for years already. They are increasingly being used by government institutions, particularly for operations where monitoring and surveillance are required 24/7, such as at border posts,” Nuffer said. “It is, however, in commercial use that there are really exciting developments, especially in a sector such as oil and gas.”

He said in operations where long-term capital investments into air capacity were not appropriate for business models, the use of drones makes more and more sense. “Also, if there is lack of infrastructure and/ or expertise to support one’s own operations or the need to fly in nonsegregated airspace, then the use of a UAS is optimal.”

Drones could be particularly use ful in the robust African environment where the lack of infrastructure and accessibility often impacts logistics.

‘ASSETS IN THE AIR’

While standard drones are avail able, Airbus also delivers bespoke solutions to customers, meeting very specific needs. “The ability to deliver flexible, adaptable and scalable solu tions to the project sector is one of the benefits we offer. Over and above the drone, we also include a service contract as well as integrated logistics support.”

Nuffer said what made them ideal for Africa was that they do not require an airport or any kind of cargo-related infrastructure, making them assets in the air.

“However, there are still challenges when it comes to UAS operations and services particularly around legisla tion, regulation and certification in various jurisdictions. Drones have to be fully integrated into the civil airspace,” he said. “This means the drone is treated like an equal airspace attendee issued with a call sign and receiving flight orders.”

Drones could be used for a wide variety of applications in the oil and gas upstream, midstream and downstream sectors, Nuffer added. “Upstream there is huge potential in exploration and production as well as

during operations and in the service and repair of rigs.”

Other potential applications are in the transportation of cargo, storage and distribution. “From project and risk management to mapping and fore casting, aerial photography to safety and security, there is a wide range of tasks that drones could be assisting with on sites.”

He said they could be well pur posed to survey or detect any leaks on a pipeline or inspect offshore facilities for problems.

With vertical take-off and landing and payloads now up to 100 kilograms and flying times of between six to 10 hours, it was also becoming easier to incorporate drones into operations.

“The oil and gas sector is at the forefront of adaptation of UAS as the industry has proven to be receptive to technology and likely to rely on service providers,” he said. “More so, the shutdown of oil and gas assets is expensive and considerable cost sav ings can be made by using drones for inspections, ensuring early detection and less likelihood of a shutdown. In many areas, particularly in Africa, the use of manned assets such as heli copters are also very expensive which makes the use of a UAS ideal.” BB

Liesl Venter is a transportation jour nalist based in South Africa.

Airbus UAS Technology Offers Massive Project Potential

SOURCING STRATEGIES HIT FROM ALL SIDES

Need for Flexibility from Shippers and EPCs

From general market trends to major global upheavals – engineering, procurement and construction companies and shippers have always had to monitor and anticipate developments and adjust their sourcing strategies accordingly. Continuing Covid-19 lockdowns, war in Ukraine and infla tion are just some of the factors forcing shippers to rethink sourcing decisions in 2022. The need for extreme flexibil ity and responsiveness is obvious – and that’s before we even consider climate change and the drive for sustainable, ecofriendly policies.

The lock down-induced rush for consumer goods, leading to container and capacity crunches, saw products moved out of con tainers and back

to breakbulk, leading to other new pressures.

What now? “Some shippers have, over the past 12 to 18 months, defi nitely changed their strategies – hence the movement of some cargoes out of containers and into breakbulk stow age options,” said Susan Oatway, Drewry’s senior analyst for multipur pose and breakbulk shipping. “At the beginning of the capacity crunch, we also saw an increase in actual contain ers being shipped by MPV. The latter has almost returned to normal, we believe, but the so-called ‘spill-over’ cargoes are still in breakbulk – I would

expect to see some of those returning to containerized mode over the next 12 months.”

The main change in all of this is the potential for near-sourcing, Oat way said: “We haven’t yet seen a big shift but we expect that it will be a trend next year – we are keeping an eye on the automatic identification system data.”

During Drewry’s recent multipur pose and heavy-lift shipping market outlook webinar, she said that having rebounded strongly over 2021, the growth in the MPV market share will slow this year and into 2023.

The “desperate search for space” that led to cargoes coming out of con tainers to MPV/breakbulk shipping has already begun to slow and will continue to do so into next year, she said.

“We expect period charter rates to continue to weaken into 2023 but we expect the rate of decline to slow. That is a function of the market share being eroded, increasing competition and capacity increasing.” Having said that,

BY FELICITY LANDON

CREDIT: PORT OF AVEIRO

Region: Global Problem: Worldwide disruption is throwing traditional sourcing strategies out of the window Solution: Flexibility and responsiveness needed to diverge from traditional sourcing approaches

Susan Oatway

Drewry

The push for sustainability is impacting shippers’ buying and sourcing decisions, particularly as companies commit to ambitious Envi ronmental, Social and Governance policies and embrace at least some of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The pressure is building, from consumers upwards and via stringent requirements from financiers.

The BMW Group has said that ensuring compliance with environmen tal and social standards in the supplier network is its ‘declared aim’, including respect for human rights and sustain able extraction of raw materials.

“Creating transparency around dynamic, and often sprawling, sup ply chains and making goods flows traceable is the most important requirement for this,” said a spokes person. “To this end, we are constantly expanding our close cooperation with our partners in the supplier network.”

BMW said it sources components, materials and other services from more than 32,000 production and delivery locations worldwide. “The social and environmental due diligence obliga tions associated with this are set out for our suppliers in our contractually binding sustainability standards.”

A “multi-stage due diligence pro cess” anchors its responsibility for the supplier network in all relevant areas of the BMW Group.

All shippers will, in the end, have to go far further than just ‘being seen to be green’. An example of where this is heading can be found in the recently implemented Danish Market ing Practices Act, which states that if

you want to make claims about being environmentally friendly, then you must be able to prove them – and the claim must be based on a lifecycle analysis of your products, i.e. not by cherry-picking just one element of the supply chain.

Marketing must not be mislead ing and factual information must be substantiated, the Danish Consumer Ombudsman has emphasized.

Coming up behind, the EU is finalizing its Product Environmental Footprint, a scientific, standardized way of documenting a product’s foot print – it is being designed to tackle greenwashing and false sustainability claims.

Commenting on the Danish legisla tion, Rasmus Elsborg-Jensen, CEO of Copenhagen-based consultancy and software company ReFlow, said: “For shipowners and all in the maritime supply chain, this is not something we can just isolate to Denmark – or you would have to have separate market ing operations and social media. This is a legal requirement and if compa nies do not live up to these guidelines, they can be held financially liable.”

There is often a gap between ‘wanting to be seen’ to do the right thing and ‘actually doing’ the right thing when it comes to environmental considerations, he said.

“A lot of big manufacturers found a very refined way of producing the best quality at the lowest cost. Now they need to add another element called environment. It is the third leg on the chair, and it is going to change things a lot.”

Drewry expected rates to remain above pre-pandemic levels “even as they are weakening.”

Considering the key risks to fore casts and outlook, Oatway noted: “There is little to any upside to our base case scenario. Any upside would rest on some fairly dramatic geopoliti cal events. Unfortunately, it is far easier to see downside likely impacts.”

Among these, she listed increas ing inflationary and price worries and reduced consumer confidence, as well as a worsening global economic posi tion – China lockdowns and conflict in Ukraine continuing.

However, she believes that the short-term is still positive for both car riers and shippers, especially thanks to better relationships between the two sides.

A VARIED RESPONSE

Luke Mace, senior vice presi dent – projects at GEODIS, noted that the priori ties of customers that are seeking Geodis’s sourc ing analysis and advice vary drastically. “For some right now it’s all about our sustainability program; for oth ers, it’s guaranteed space allocations, while others prioritize contingency planning around seasonal weather,” he said. “Each project has its own unique requirements and the earlier you as the logistics provider can start work ing on a project, the better advice you can provide to the key stakeholders. It sounds very basic, but early engage ment is probably the most important recipe for success.”

Mace said that a key change over the course of the past three years, which has impacted contract execu tion, has been how customers have managed their sourcing. “Up to three years ago, and for the majority of the past 15 years, supplier selection was essentially driven by pricing and the risks to execution were managed

MARRYING SOURCING AND SUSTAINABILITY

Luke Mace

GEODIS

OUTLOOK

through contractual terms. However, events of the past three years have proved that contracts were not a foolproof risk avoidance solution and that prices should only be one part of the equation,” he said.

“We now see customers focusing their sourcing strategy on capabilities, resiliency, agility and recovery capac ity.”

GEODIS also sees customers being less aggressive in pushing the full extent of the risk and liability to the service provider/supplier and more open to price revisions options being inserted in contracts, Mace noted. “We seem to be walking back towards a more collaborative way on operating with a risk/reward sharing philoso phy.”

Risks and uncertainties remain high for global supply chain opera tions, said the authors of a new report to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) trade and development commission 13th session, scheduled for the end of November.

“Long-term trends to shorten sup ply chains and to diversify suppliers will have a bearing on global value chains and the geography of trade,” said the report. “In particular, trade

over longer distances is expected to be negatively affected by rising transport costs, logistics disruptions and geopo litical frictions.”

Traders and policymakers will need to prepare for a future where shipping may be more costly and volatile than in the past, warned the UNCTAD authors. “The supply chain crisis and a number of other warning bells, such as the temporary closure of the Suez Canal and the war in Ukraine, com bined with more volatility and less schedule reliability, call for shippers as well as governments to invest in the resilience of logistics operations.”

The shipping industry and its cli ents also have to prepare for the energy transition in maritime transport, which is necessary if the industry is to achieve its goal of significantly reduc ing greenhouse gas emissions, said the report, and this transition goes handin-hand with uncertainty about future fuels, vessel types and impacts on ship ping services and networks.

SLOW SPEED AHEAD

Drewry has been number-crunching regarding the impact of decarboniza tion and the International Maritime Organization’s new requirements on MPV fleet supply, Oatway said.

Research including work with AIS and discussions with carriers has made clear that most of the vessels in the fleet are operating at well below their design speed, she said. “So only a small number will be affected by the new rules – ships that aren’t already operating below their design speeds. This sector is not a leader with regards to environmental technologies. A lot of the ships are still tramp; finding those [future] fuel sources is very difficult if you are going to a lot of different places.”

So rather than a rush for newbuild ing MPVs and heavy-lift/project cargo vessels with new fuel options, she pre dicted “it is going to be slower speeds as opposed to demolition, in the first instance.”

Meanwhile, Drewry has noted a change in forward booking pat terns in the MPV sector. “In summer 2021, carriers were booked six to nine months ahead and there was very little spot market activity. Now carriers are maybe six to eight weeks ahead, so the spot market has come back. Full capacity is definitely there, and that is one of the reasons the rates are falling, because there is capacity in the sector.”

The UNCTAD report said that long-term maritime logistics trends would take time to materialize. “Dis cussion is taking place on reshoring and near-shoring, yet there is so far little data-based evidence to indicate systemic changes in the arrangement of global production. On the contrary, the early success in the economies of East Asia in mitigating the economic effects of the pandemic may have resulted in increased reliance, in global value chains, on manufacturing pro duction originating from East Asia.”

A recent study of the electronics and machinery sector also suggested that overall Asian supply chains remained little changed, albeit with a shift from China to other Asian coun tries as production costs in China are increasing, said the report. BB

Felicity Landon is an award-winning freelance journalist specializing in the ports, shipping, transport and logistics sectors.

“We seem to be walking back towards a more collaborative way on operating with a risk/reward sharing philosophy.”

– Luke Mace, GEODIS

Drewry expects near-sourcing to be a trend next year. CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

RoRo by

OPPORTUNITY

MENA’S GREEN ENERGY BOOM

Middle East and Africa Poised for Rapid Renewables Growth

BY SIMON WEST

In a nation known more for its giant oil and gas projects, Iraq’s bid to raise the share of renewables in its energy mix to 33 percent by the end of the decade could provide breakbulk and project cargo with a fresh stream of transport opportunities.

According to the country’s oil min istry, deals inked with international developers such as France’s TotalEner gies, Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and Abu Dhabi-based Masdar will help Iraq expand its solar capacity to 12 gigawatts, or GW, by 2030, a target that calls for some major construction activity.

The deal with Total, for example, signed off with the Iraqi government in

September 2021, would see the French firm build and operate a 1 GW solar photovoltaic, or PV, plant in oil-rich Basra, part of a wider US$27 billion agreement to install a series of oil, gas and green energy projects in southern Iraq to improve the nation’s power supply.

Work on the PV facility, which would require specialist logistics sup port to move heavy components such as transformers, solar panels, trackers and steel structures, is expected to begin in 2023, with start-up slated for 2025.

“Iraq is proudly considered as one of the first countries to use solar energy as an alternative source of power. In the seventies, residential complexes pow ered by solar energy were built on Abu Nawas Street, adjacent to the Tigris River in Baghdad,” said Omar Alnahi, chief executive of Iraq-based breakbulk mover, Al-Rashed United Shipping Services.

“Today, solar energy is the most fea sible source of power for Iraq to invest in, given the country’s bright weather

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

Regions: Middle East, Africa

Problem: How to harness potential of renewables projects across the MENA belt

Solution: Focus on safety, security, and early involvement

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

throughout the year. Solar farms can be built especially in the western desert of Anbar Governorate, as well as in Basra, making it possible for Iraq to become one of the world’s solar power capitals.”

SECURITY AND SAFETY FACTORS

Alberto Pittaluga, general man ager in Iraq for Dubai-based heavy transport specialist Al Faris, said the country had “great potential,” despite a sometimes-volatile working envi ronment. Iraq is slowly rebuilding its economy and restoring stability after decades of conflict, most recently with hardline militants fighting for Islamic State.

Al Faris has been operating out of Khor Al Zubair, a port city close to

Basra, since early 2021, carrying cargo mainly for oil and gas installations and power generation projects.

“The main challenge in Iraq is not the execution of the job when it comes to heavy transportation or heavy-lift,” Pittaluga said. “It is the pre-arrangement and the mobilization of resources, as you have to deal with a number of factors such as security and safety. And of course, the infra structure is very obsolete because it was destroyed during the wars, so you also face challenges when you select the right routing to deliver the cargo.

But he continues to see “great potential” in Iraq. “That is the reason why I have been working here since 2011, when I [left] ALE. Even though the country has suffered and gone through a lot of destruction in the last decades, you still have prime clients there – international oil companies like Shell, Eni, ExxonMobil, BP. So, the standards are really high – much higher than any other Middle East country that I have worked in.”

RENEWABLE CAPACITY TO SURGE

Iraq is just one of many states throughout the Middle East and North Africa, or MENA, region that have unveiled ambitious plans to diversify their economies and expand green energy production.

A recent report from Global Energy Monitor, or GEM, showed Arabicspeaking countries in the MENA region are on track to boost their utility-scale renewable capacity by an incredible 500 percent by 2030. More than 49.5 GW of prospective solar projects and 11.3 GW of wind projects are slated to come online by the end of the decade, as well as a giant 12.5 GW solar plant in Oman that is projected to start operations by 2038.

Iraq is number five on the San Francisco-based organization’s list of regional leaders in terms of prospec tive capacity additions, behind Oman, Morocco, Algeria and Kuwait. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Western Sahara and Tunisia make up the top ten.

The scale of the buildout in some countries demonstrates a “marked shift” away from fossil fuel power, GEM said. The 39.7 GW of solar and wind energy projects planned by the report’s three top performing countries in the region – Oman, Morocco and Algeria – is almost four times their pro spective new gas-fired capacity.

“Middle East and North Africa have always had tremendous potential for wind and solar development, but to see these countries shunning fossil fuel gas in favor of renewables, and at this scale, is stunning,” said GEM’s global solar power tracker lead, Kasandra O’Malia.

According to the report, the region has always enjoyed great potential for wind and solar development, with wind farms emerging in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt in 2000 followed by utilityscale solar plants in the UAE and Saudi Arabia towards the end of the decade.

More recent development, accord ing to O’Malia, is being driven by green hydrogen and large-scale plans for transcontinental green energy export. As such, many of the region’s new capacity additions are so-called mega projects.

“A number of those top countries are bringing in tens of gigawatts of renewables in support of hydrogen, and in particular, green hydrogen. They want to set up facilities that use wind and solar power and to use the resul tant electricity for electrolysis to split water into hydrogen,” O’Malia told Breakbulk

“The demand for hydrogen is increasing very rapidly with the energy transition. You see big industries like steel and cement wanting to transi tion into using hydrogen rather than traditional coal-blast furnaces, for example.”

OMAN OFFERS POTENTIAL

O’Malia pointed to Oman, which tops GEM’s list with 15.3 GW worth of utility-scale solar projects announced, in development or under construction. With arid landscapes and basking sunshine ideal for largescale solar buildout, renewable energy

Sharaf Shipping handles project cargo for renewable projects. CREDIT: SHARAF SHIPPING.

OPPORTUNITY

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

expansion in Oman is being driven by what is being billed as the largest renewable fuels production facility in the Middle East.

The US$30 billion green hydrogen venture, developed by a consortium comprising Omani staterun energy company OQ, global green fuels company InterContinen tal Energy and Kuwaiti clean tech investor EnerTech, will see thou sands of wind turbines and solar panels deployed in stages across a 6,500-square-kilometer tract of land in the sprawling, southernmost gov ernorates of Al Wusta and Dhofar.

That would power water desali nation and electrolysis plants to produce 1.8 million tonnes per year of zero-carbon green hydrogen that could be used as feedstock for up to 10 million tonnes per year of green ammonia.

“Oman, like most of the MENA region, has very good natural

resources for renewables. Alongside this, the government has a stated vision for the future that involves diversifying their current assets and anticipating a global shift away from oil and gas,” O’Malia said.

Kuwait, perhaps a surprise inclu sion in GEM’s top five countries, is aiming to generate 15 percent of its energy output from renewable sources by 2030, part of a longer-term plan to pivot the economy towards more sustainable sectors.

A number of projects in the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC, nation, whose oil sector still accounts for 90 percent of its revenues, are starting to take shape.

Surya Chandra, line manager at Sharaf Shipping, a logistics company with offices close to Kuwait City, pointed to the Shagaya renewable energy project , a world-scale solar and wind initiative being developed by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific

Research, as particularly interesting for breakbulk and heavy-lift.

The four-phase project, located 100 kilometers west of Kuwait City, is expected to account for 3.2 GW of the nearly 9.7 GW of the emirate’s prospective utility-scale wind and solar projects to be built by 2030. As part of the first stage, a 50 megawatt, or MW, concentrated solar plant was commissioned in late 2018.

Dubai-based Sharaf Shipping transported components for the facil ity before the pandemic.

According to GEM, the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects, or KAPP, is also mulling a US$3.5 billion proposal for a 5 GW solar complex in northern Kuwait from a group of unnamed private investors.

“A lot of renewable projects in Kuwait are going to take off over the next decade, and there will be huge demand for renewable energy logistics in this region,” Chandra said.

Iraq-based breakbulk mover, Al-Rashed United Shipping Services is excited by renewables potential.

CREDIT: AL-RASHED UNITED SHIPPING SERVICES

“The Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa are the fastest-growing economies in terms of scale and speed.And, therefore, they are certainly more attractive in terms of places to invest and the readiness to invest into sustainable energies.”

– Amadou Diallo, CEO Middle East & Africa, DHL Global Forwarding

OPPORTUNITY MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

DRIVING THE SUSTAINABILITY AGENDA

Elsewhere in MENA, economic powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the UAE have embarked on aggressive strategies to shake up their oil-depen dent economies. The UAE is home to one of the world’s largest single-site solar projects – Noor Abu Dhabi. The 1.2 GW facility in the emirate of Abu Dhabi began commercial operations in 2019.

“I see Saudi driving a very hardcore sustainability agenda, for example when it comes to building Neom,” said Amadou Diallo, CEO, MEA, at DHL Global Forwarding, referring to Saudi’s US$500 billion “smart city” on the Red Sea coast that will house wind, solar and green hydrogen plants, as well as ports, desalination facilities, sports stadiums and a 170-kilometer metro line dubbed The Line.

“You have a trend that is acceler ating in terms of competition in the GCC, where each of the countries is trying to become more sustainable and drive opportunities in the sector. This will end up making those countries more attractive.”

Morocco and Algeria, meanwhile, are at the vanguard of renewable energy development in Arabic-speaking

Africa, with 14.4 GW and 10.0 GW of utility-scale solar and wind capacity, respectively, in the pipeline.

Morocco, number two on GEM’s list, is targeting more than half of its power needs from renewable sources by the end of the decade, with plans to add 8.8 GW of wind and solar capac ity between 2018 and 2030. By late 2021, the country had already brought online more than 4 GW of capacity, with renewables accounting for 37 percent of its energy mix, up from 35 percent in 2019.

Algeria, meanwhile, is planning to grow its utility-scale wind and solar capacity by more than twentyfold by 2030, GEM said. Algeria has the greatest potential for wind power of any African nation, the research group said, quoting a study from the World Bank’s International Finance Corpora tion.

“Much of this new renewable capacity will facilitate a transition away from domestically produced gas. The country also benefits from its proximity to potential renewables export markets in Europe and subSaharan Africa,” GEM said.

Development is being supported by robust economies throughout the MENA region, which are forecast to

expand by 5 percent this year, up from 4.1 percent in 2021, according to latest figures from the International Mon etary Fund.

“The Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa are the fastest-growing econo mies in terms of scale and speed,” DHL Global Forwarding’s Diallo said. “And, therefore, they are certainly more attractive in terms of places to invest and the readiness to invest into sustainable energies.”

Colombia-based Simon West is senior reporter for Breakbulk.

ETHIOPIA’S ‘STAND OUT’ POTENTIAL

Eyeing the region’s potential, DHL Global Forwarding is expanding its North Africa cluster, which will include Morocco from 2023. The company opened its first office in Algeria’s capi tal city Algiers in late 2021.

According to Amadou Diallo, CEO of MEA at the forwarder, even some of the smaller econo mies in the Arabic-speak ing region have an opportunity to grow renew able energy capacities. The executive pointed to Ethi opia as one of Africa’s standout “green” nations.

The U.S. International Trade Asso ciation said the East African country has the potential to generate more than 60 GW of power from hydro, wind, solar and geothermal sources.

“Both the Middle East and Africa have a real chance because there is no old infrastructure that needs to be replaced. There is no disruption to an old system, it is rather building up new systems, and building up to sustain able systems so that they can provide all the energy that is needed for the population,” Diallo said. BB

Amadou Diallo DHL

Each GCC country is trying to become more sustainable which is driving opportunities in the sector.

CREDIT: AL-RASHED UNITED SHIPPING SERVICES

RISING TO THE COMPLEXITY CHALLENGE

BY FELICITY LANDON

Ports in the Middle East took four out of the top five places in the 2021 Container Port Performance Index published by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence earlier this year.

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Port took top spot, with Salalah in Oman, Hamad in Qatar and Khalifa in Abu Dhabi also in the top five.

Containers, of course, generally take the headlines – but across the Middle East, ports and terminals are

handling increasingly complex and challenging project and breakbulk cargoes, with demand growing as nations embark on huge infrastruc ture investment projects.

King Abdullah Port, or KAP, continues to act as a ‘value-centric’ enabler within Saudi Arabia’s sea freight logistics and cargo shipping network and prioritizes infrastruc ture development in its operational strategy, said head of marketing Khaled Shalha. The port was recently named ‘Best Bulk & General Cargo Terminal’ at the International

Finance Transportation Awards, he noted, “a strong testimony to its rep utation as one of the fastest-growing seaports worldwide.”

“King Abdullah Port’s state-ofthe-art technologies, large cranes and highly skilled staff have helped the port to handle huge volumes of cargo for the megaprojects currently under way in the Kingdom,” he said. “The influx of investment in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil sectors, driven by the import and export needs of the country’s 35 million citizens and residents, give leeway for KAP to accrue invest ments and help guide the flow of products domestically and through out the MENA and East African regions.”

Middle East Ports Invest to Serve Industry

MIDDLE

Region: Middle East Problem: Growth and diversity of projects test the mettle of the region’s port

Solution: Terminals are expanding to meet surge in infrastructure projects

One of the largest project cargoes handled through Jebel Ali: four mega polyethylene reactors, carried by CMA CGM to Port of Rotterdam.

CREDIT: GOVERNMENT OF DUBAI MEDIA CENTRE

OPPORTUNITY MIDDLE EAST

The port’s location makes it an important player in largescale public and private developments across KSA, he said. It has 18 meter-deep water berths, uses some of the world’s most advanced mobile cranes, and has the ability to expand and develop logis tics solutions within its 17.4 square kilometer area, while its one million square meter Bonded and Re Export Zone offers lower fees and streamlined cashflow to incentivize new con tracts. “The port maintains ongoing collaboration with multinational orga nizations, including MSC, Maersk, Almarai and others, to offer efficient and effective logistics solutions on premises that ensure smooth and effi cient trade flow,” Shalha said.

This year, multinational dairy and food manufacturer Almarai opened a new automated facility that makes KAP the base of its operations in KSA and the region. The facility consists of two chain conveyor unloaders with a discharge capacity of 600 tons per hour each, along with six 20,000-ton capacity silos for corn and a 50,000ton capacity warehouse for the storage of bulk soya.

This year has also seen the open ing of the Maersk Integrated Logistics Hub at the port, a 100,000 square meter non-bonded warehouse covering the logistics requirements for KSA’s petrochemical exporters.

“As Saudi Arabia continues to grow momentously and diversify its economy into non-oil sectors, KAP remains a key enabler of the domestic ambitions laid out in the Vision 2030 strategic framework,” Shalha said.

SUPPORTING THE ENERGY TRANSITION

Shipping and logistics companies worldwide require innovative think ing and solutions to overcome energy conservation challenges, Shalha emphasized, giving as an example KAP’s handling of 3,200 tons of general cargo for the Petro Rabigh petrochemical expansion project. Steamers, splitter condensers, heat pump desuperheaters and debutanizer reboilers were handled during the two-phase operation. “This required

very accurate handling and transport techniques. The port cooperated with several large multinational compa nies to help transport the cargo from outside Saudi Arabia, through King Abdullah Port and on to the Petro Rabigh Project.”

The port also recently launched the ‘MSC Indus 2’ initiative with MSC, to support KSA’s export mar ket, facilitating trade between North America and the Indian subcontinent. MSC Saudi recently handled two breakbulk shipments from the port to Rio De Janeiro.

The port is seeing an upward trend in out-of-gauge cargo and there are several large cargo projects in the pipeline, Shalha added, and it contin ues to upscale to meet the market’s requirements.

“Enhancing the country’s logistics capabilities and further developing its ports sector are among the ongoing top priorities for Saudi Arabia in line with the objectives of Vision 2030 and the National Transport and Logistics Strategy to transform the Kingdom into a global transport and logistics hub.”

Pointing to the strong emphasis that KSA’s leadership puts on bolster ing the nation’s maritime assets and competence, he said this signified that the port sector and KAP will see substantial investment in the coming years.

“KAP is near King Abdullah Economic City’s Industrial Valley, which is home to more than 100 multinational and Saudi companies. Because of its location, the port can offer direct, uninterrupted access to the main highways linking it to Mecca and Madinah, in addition to Jeddah, the main trade center in the Kingdom. King Abdullah Port is also easily accessible to the industrial cities of Rabigh and Yanbu, which experience remarkable trade in the petrochemi cal industry.” In addition, the port provides access to the upcoming Saudi Railway Landbridge, one of the larg est projects in the region that will connect the west shores of Saudi Ara bia with the east shores through the capital city, Riyadh.

“King Abdullah Port continues to actively contribute to Saudi Arabia’s efforts to boost the volume of non-oil exports and transform the Kingdom into a global logistics hub,” Shalha said.

BREAKBULK BOUNCE BACK

DP World signed an agreement in June with Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) to build a “state-of-the-art, port-centric logistics park” at Jed dah Islamic Port. It also signed a new concession agreement in April 2020 to continue operating and managing the South Container Terminal at the port for the next 30 years, committing to invest more than US$800 million to expand and modernize the terminal.

“The overhaul project, which will take place over four phases and is set to be completed by 2024, will see infrastructural upgrades, including the broadening of draft depth and quay, and the installation of advanced equip ment and technologies, automation and digitalization programs, in addition to decarbonization initiatives. Discussions on breakbulk facilities are ongoing,” said a spokesperson.

He noted: “The breakbulk industry has always played a vital role in cargo movement across countries and bor ders. Post pandemic, it is bouncing back stronger than expected. We see a lot of opportunities coming in for the sector.”

The UAE government’s focus on investments in domestic infrastructure to support renewable energy sector projects is gathering speed, resulting in the revival of the breakbulk sector, said the spokesperson.

“Jebel Ali Port has been a gateway for Dubai’s expansion and legacy proj ects such as Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, the New Maktoum Airport, EXPO 2020 Dubai and many more in the future.”

‘OUTSTANDING’ PERFORMANCE LAUDED

Last year, Jebel Ali had an “out standing year” for non-container performance, including handling 3.9 million tonnes of breakbulk.

“Big retailers shifted their trade from containers to breakbulk to main tain their operations and cash flow.

OPPORTUNITY MIDDLE EAST

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP

DP World’s partnership with gov ernment authorities and its reduction in manual processes have been cru cial, he added.

“Jebel Ali is a perfect example of the collaboration and digitiza tion needed to prevent supply chain disruption. It can happen anytime. Today it’s the pandemic, tomorrow it could be something else. The early adoption of digitization at Jebel Ali Port enabled us to handle medical and essential goods seamlessly when the world went into shutdown mode.”

Digital solutions give greater flex ibility to cargo owners as to how they move their products from factory to the project site or a customer’s door, he added.

“Our initiatives to create online platforms from SeaRates to CARGOES that connect various stakeholders in the entire supply chain with real-time visibility of tracking shipments have proven very effective during these times. Our recent launch of CARGOES Customs is another step that will assist cus toms authorities of various countries to automate their end-to-end clear ance process.”

This trend is expected to continue until the normalization of the global market, which may take another two years.”

Last year saw one of the largest project cargoes handled through Jebel Ali: four mega polyethylene reactors, the largest weighing 227 tons, on route to Rotterdam, carried by CMA CGM.

The shipment, totaling 839 tons of cargo and measuring 35 meters in length, 7 meters in height, and 7 meters in width, occupied 424 twentyequivalent-unit slots. Handled with the help of a floating crane from Dry docks World, it was loaded on two consecutive sailings.

“DP World also accommodated and attracted new cargo by driving business more efficiently across its gateways in the UAE, be it Jebel Ali Port, Mina Hamriya or Deira Wharf age,” said the spokesperson. “Our breakbulk volumes rebounded back to historic times, averaging growth of 20-30 percent against past years,

which adds up to 9 million metric tonnes of breakbulk cargo across our portfolio in the UAE.”

Looking ahead, he said the break bulk and project cargo industry is set to play a significant role in making alternative energy projects become a reality, with governments adopting policies to make renewables a prior ity and meet targets to reduce global warming.

DP World’s marine services businesses, such as P&O Maritime Logistics, are deploying specialist multi-carrying vessels, or MCVs, to the region; three MCVs will be work ing with Mammoet, which is working with the Red Sea Development Company to transport and install the Sheybarah Island Resort villas in KSA. “We will be transporting the pod villas for the sustainable hotel, which is embracing an eco-friendly design that preserves and enhances the biodiversity and the environment of its surrounding natural habitat,” said the DP World spokesperson.

At Sohar Port and Freezone, developments this year have included a lease agreement with Integrated Solutions Plant and Land Services to establish a OMR2.2 million (US$5.7 million) liquid fertilizer plant, with the potential for further expansion, and a lease agreement with Sohar Steel Rolling, which is investing OMR7 million (US$18.1 million) in the construction of a steel rod manu facturing unit.

In June, Sohar Port and Freezone signed an agreement with general cargo terminal operator C. Steinweg Oman to expand its storage area by 27 hectares in anticipation of further growth in demand for minerals as well as for supporting the develop ment of mega projects across the region. BB

Felicity Landon is an award-winning freelance journalist specializing in the ports, shipping, transport and logistics sectors.

King Abdullah Port acts as a ‘value-centric’ enabler within Saudi Arabia’s sea freight logistics and cargo shipping network.

CREDIT: KING ABDULLAH PORT

JOINED-UP THINKING AND TECH BENEFITS

DSV’s Mohammad Jaber Wants More Coordination and Collaboration

BY FELICITY LANDON

The past 15 years have seen a large amount of development and expansion in port infrastructure across the Middle East region, from King Abdullah Port in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Khalifa and Mugharraq ports in Abu Dhabi and DP World’s capacity expansions. These developments have catered for some of the needs relating to project and breakbulk cargoes, Mohammad Jaber, COO of DSV Abu Dhabi, tells Breakbulk – but something else is needed.

“There needs to be more coordina tion on planning and infrastructure projects. Looking at project cargo movements today, there is a higher degree and acceleration of build ing modules where you need higher weight-bearing capacity in the ports and deeper drafts. You might also need the ability to connect with the onshore part,” he said.

The infrastructure of the ports has to evolve to be able to cope with such cargoes much faster, he said, and ports also need to cooperate more across borders.

However, the major issue high lighted by Jaber is the development of railway infrastructure in the region.

More and better rail infrastructure could be a positive when it comes to moving smaller modules by rail. How ever, there are downsides to improved rail infrastructure.

“These railways are being imple mented in a way that has also reduced the limit of loads that can be trans ported by road because of tunnels under and bridges over,” he said. “So certain projects, especially if onshore, will continue to be limited on modules because of the railway infrastructure.”

Overhead power cables also pres ent problems in the region, he said. “So, these two elements must be looked at when it comes to other infra structure projects. Consider the port capabilities and the railway, power lines, bridges, and so on, that can limit the envelope for transport. Otherwise, a bigger port can receive bigger items, but those items then cannot move any where.

“When moving heavy-lift items, if there is a railway crossing there will be

weight limits when crossing a bridge, or an air draft to consider if there is a tunnel. So, it is about planning cross ing points; load and air draft must be considered. All of this is needed to avoid paying massive costs for modifi cations.”

BENEFITTING FROM TECHNOLOGY

There are other items on Jaber’s ‘wish list’, including the implementa tion of technology to allow the market to obtain services at lower costs. “Inflation is coming, but you can mitigate it by improving productivity through automation, robotics, and higher-tech elements. That will greatly help the whole market to sustain the economy in the right way.

“Another element I think is quite important is that all the ports of a region must look to how integra tion can be achieved, through one ecosystem across the region. That is important to support economies.

PROFILE

Think also how these ports can get connected to the railways to move project cargo. Even if it is breakbulk in containers, where is the capability to move by rail?”

The Middle East region, meanwhile, is growing fast on the sustainability and clean energy fronts, Jaber said. “We see Abu Dhabi has nuclear power now, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is planning for nuclear power, and there are talks in Egypt about it too. We are talking a lot about wind generation and a lot of solar as well – our region is rich with sun for long days. We have the opportunity to benefit from the sunlight, but also heat to generate more power that is more sustainable. On all governments’ agendas in the next 30 years is plan ning for transition into clean energy.”

That, however, doesn’t eliminate oil and gas, he said: “Gas is still much lower in emissions than other fossil fuel resources and you cannot cover the demands 100 percent at present with renewables.”

Low-carbon developments include a focus on power storage: “Whenever you generate, you need to look at how to store in batteries and other forms like molten salt technologies. Going forward, we see that work will be more and more around sustainable

energy resources. We see what’s hap pening with climate change and this is a must for sustainability.”

DSV recognizes that the cargo will change – “we will see more power plants, more solar moving and also more wind turbines” – but also recog nizes its own responsibility, Jaber said.

“We are using high-tech trucks with less consumption and double productivity. We are moving into 100 percent electric trucks. We are look ing for initiatives in solar panels on our working sites and on our massive warehouses. Also, we are looking at how to deliver the same cargo with fewer kilometers and over fewer hours by using augmented reality and our software to optimize routing.”

PATH TO SUSTAINABILITY

Jaber joined Agility Abu Dhabi in 2006, managing several internal operational departments, and was appointed COO in 2011. In 2014 he also assumed responsibility for leading Agility’s regional project logistics arm in the Middle East and Africa, as vice president for project logistics.

Since the acquisition by DSV, Jaber has been DSV Abu Dhabi COO and managing director for air and sea. The acquisition of Agility by DSV cre ated the third largest forwarder in the

world, and the Middle East is a clear growth region for the group, he said.

“DSV is very much driven by sus tainability, efficiency and productivity, so our systems and software are pro viding us with a very clear path for future operations. We are delivering our experience based on clear KPIs and we are increasing the number of people whenever it is needed, as per company policy and KPIs agreed with our clients.

“Our region is seeing a new, very accelerated cycle of projects. Abu Dhabi has announced more than ten mega projects and there are massive developments planned and under way in Saudi. And there are many other projects relating to solar, wind or oil and gas. This region will see a lot of breakbulk and oversize cargo coming in over the next five years. That needs very good planning by ports, forward ers and asset owners to be able to quote for these requirements.

“A lot of these projects need off shore capability, especially offshore drilling and projects in the islands, where you need to be able to cope with requirements for supply vessels and marine assets.”

He would like to see ports cooper ating across borders, and the ability to connect port-to-port via rail.

“This region will see a lot of breakbulk and oversize cargo coming in over the next five years. That needs very good planning by ports, forwarders and asset owners to be able to quote for these requirements.”

– Mohammad Jaber, DSV

PROFILE

“At DSV, we are studying the demand coming up and what could be the trade lanes we need to focus on to be able to address these demands in Saudi, UAE, Oman, etc., with so many investment announcements. We believe the market here will be looking to who has the capacity to be able to handle all these projects at the accelerated rhythm that the countries plan for.”

DSV is building up and focusing on how it can put a technological edge into its operations “and the ability to have a giant increase in our capacity through technologies and integra tions,” Jaber said.

“We are focusing on a lot of hightech implementation, so that we also maintain our competitive approach.”

For example, in Abu Dhabi DSV is using higher-tech, more sustain able trucks which consume less fuel and have lower emissions. “This is supporting our sustainability beliefs because part of our board discussion every time is how to improve sustain ability.”

INTEGRATION IS KEY

Software is also a major focus, specifically “how we are using IT platforms and how to integrate those with the clients and create our own technological edge,” Jaber said. When

the customer’s and DSV’s systems talk to each other there is much less human interface for the management of very complex projects and large volumes. “This gives visibility and helps to manage risk rather than man age emergencies. We are able to view historical data and forecast how a situation will develop. So, we reduce communication frequency, help our customers to maintain cost and man age their risk, and help ourselves to do the business with the right number of resources.”

Meanwhile, artificial intelligence, linked with traffic and weather infor mation, helps with route mapping, allowing DSV to “anticipate and plan our day in a much better way using the data.” The aim is to use data and AI not to trigger exceptions but to prevent exceptions, he added – “mov ing from reactive to very proactive.”

“With our systems and software, you can optimize solutions when you have masses of project cargo to consolidate. You can look at how you manage vessel speed with the required date of arrival and fuel consumption; you can use software to be able to tell the customer, ‘move half of your bulk cargo in ten shipments, or, if you con solidate into five shipments, you save this much money and reduce CO 2 .’ It

is about visibility and the ability to forward plan to optimize your costs, increase efficiency and increase fulfil ment levels.”

Yes, shipping has its reputation as a conservative industry, but Jaber sweeps that idea aside. “Survival is not any more about the fittest but about the fastest in adaptation,” he said. “Today, everything is moving into technology, data, IoT, AI, the metaverse; just imagine, today you can do a survey of cargo on a vessel, not by putting five people on board but by using a drone with a surveyor perhaps in another country, thou sands of miles away. For us, it is how we can implement and adopt and understand the benefits that technol ogy can bring to us, and how we can manage the risks.

“If we approach breakbulk and project cargo operations with the ‘old mentality’, we will disappear. We have to be up to speed in adapting technology to help us to manage risk, not emergencies. We must be working on a sustainable platform.” BB

Felicity Landon is an award-winning freelance journalist specializing in the ports, shipping, transport and logistics sectors.

CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

OPPORTUNITY INDIA

DRIVING INDIA’S MODAL SHIFT

Supporting Project Cargo Moves via Rail

BY THOMAS TIMLEN

Approval of a US$245 million World Bank loan to support India’s efforts to modernize rail freight and logistics infrastructure proves the region’s appetite for shifting project and breakbulk cargoes from road to rail where possible.

Providers of project cargo transportation services regularly face challenges along India’s road network, where uneven surfaces, potholes (worsened by heavy rains

Region: Asia

Problem: Underfunding in India’s rail freight sector has stunted project moves

Solution: World Bank invest ment will propel modernization of the nation’s rail infrastruc ture and comes with a bonus: reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when compared to road transport

and insufficient drainage), toll plazas, road construction works, and height limitations – all exacerbated by traffic congestion – impede the smooth movement of freight.

The alternative mode of transport that naturally avoids such obstacles is rail. As attractive as this alternative is, however, positive news relating to India’s railways is not frequently reported. It is more common to learn of the recurring mishaps along the country’s rail corridors in the form of derailments and collisions, and rail workers meeting an untimely tragic

demise in the path of oncoming trains. These incidents involving loss of life and damage to equipment illustrate an urgent need for modernization and expansion of the rail network.

Adding to the urgency of improving India’s railway network is the global effort to address climate change. Applying strategies that have been initiated in other parts of the world aimed at shifting the transportation of goods from road haulage to rail is seen as a solution for India that will result in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions gained from the efficiencies provided by rail transport.

Fortunately, recent developments including new funding obtained from the World Bank and other initiatives taken at the national level appear to be enhancing the prospects of putting such strategies into practice.

FUNDING SHOT IN THE ARM

India’s Ministry of Coal is presently pursuing thirteen railway projects under the National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity, also known as the ‘PM-Gati Shakti’. With protecting the environment as the driver, the ministry is shifting

the transport of coal from road to rail by enhancing rail capacity through planned construction of new broad gauge rail lines in greenfield coal-bearing areas and extending the rail links to newer loading points. The projects aim to develop multimodal connectivity and facilitate the movement of coal with rapid logistics and wider connectivity to all commercial mines.

Newly acquired funding from the World Bank will support plans. A US$245 million loan that was approved by the World Bank in June will be directed at supporting the country’s Rail Logistics project with the aim of assisting India to shift more traffic from road to rail, making transport – both freight and passenger – more efficient and reduce millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) each year. The project also seeks to incentivize more private sector investment in the railway sector.

Potential opportunities for transporters of project cargo and heavy-lift equipment could initially be realized in connection with the works related to the railway expansion itself, as equipment and materials will have

to be transported to the multiple project sites. Once the lines are completed and operational, efficiencies in project cargo transportation can be realized as such consignments make the switch, where possible, from road haulage to rail transport.

The rail network set for expansion is already significant. Indian Railways (IR) is the fourth-largest rail network in the world having transported 1.2 billion tons of freight in the fiscal year ending March 2020. Despite this, 71 percent of India’s freight is still transported by road, and only 17 percent is transported by rail. Capacity constraints of IR have limited the volumes and reduced the speed and reliability of shipments. As a result, IR has been losing market share to trucks over the years; in 2017-2018, its market share was 32 percent, down from 52 percent a decade earlier.

Road freight is the largest contributor to GHG emissions, accounting for about 95 percent of emissions of the freight sector. Trucks also accounted for about 12.3 percent of road accidents and 15.8 percent of total road transport-related deaths in 2018. Rail emits about one-fifth of

The World Bank Rail Logistics program will invest in new Indian capacity and infrastructure. CREDIT: WORLD BANK

OPPORTUNITY INDIA

trucks’ GHG emissions, and with IR planning to become a net-zero carbon emitter by 2030, it has the potential to eliminate 7.5 million tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases each year.

STRATEGIC MODAL SHIFT

To achieve the net-zero goal, IR has developed a long-term strategic plan, the National Rail Plan, or NRP, that aims to build capacity ahead of demand to enable an increase in rail modal share. The NRP estimates that rail share can be increased to 45 percent by 2050 by adding capacity and reducing transit times and costs. The NRP has identified future projects with clear implementation timelines, including: creation of three new dedicated freight corridors, namely East Coast, East-West and NorthSouth (6,600 km by 2030, 8,500 km by 2050); creation of 3,000 km of high-speed corridors by 2030 and 8,000 km by 2050; upgrades along the highly dense/utilized networks; enhancing inter-modal linkages, especially with ports and industrial corridors; and developing terminal

infrastructure, with 50 cluster stations to be developed as multimodal terminals.

Meanwhile, rail infrastructure development is also being prioritized under India’s National Infrastructure Pipeline, or NIP, 2020-2025. The NIP has identified 682 investment opportunities for private sector and including public-private partnerships across three railway subsectors (track, rolling stock, and terminals), with investment needs of US$224.7 billion over the next five years. These include 609 rail track projects valued at US$174.9 billion, 40 rolling stock projects valued at US$47.3 billion, and 33 terminal projects valued at US$2.5 billion.

The direct recipient of the World Bank loan is Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited, or DFCCIL. As part of a long-term effort, DFCCIL is making significant efforts to decongest the already saturated road network and further promote the shifting of freight transport to more efficient rail transport. This shift is expected to offer significant reduction of GHG

emissions in transport sector in India. One study conducted by Ernst & Young estimated that initiatives aimed at expanding dedicated freight corridors can save more than 450 million tons of CO 2 during the first 30 years of operations.

“While reducing greenhouse gases, the new DFCCIL project will also benefit millions of rail passengers in India as railway lines get decongested with freight moving to dedicated lines,” said Hideki Mori, the World Bank’s operations manager and acting country director for India. “Integrating railways with the wider logistics ecosystem is also key to reducing India’s high logistics costs, which are much higher than in developed nations. This will make Indian firms more competitive.”

Hideki Mori World Bank

New rail connections will benefit project freight moves.

“Integrating railways with the wider logistics ecosystem is also key to reducing India’s high logistics costs, which are much higher than in developed nations. This will make Indian firms more competitive.”

– Hideki Mori, World Bank

World Bank research shows that logistics cost in India represents about 13.5 percent of GDP, much higher than developed nations where the cost ranges from 8 to 10 percent. Furthermore, most of the freight in India is bulk commodities with long average leads, traffic that is suited to lower cost rail transport.

SUPPORTING LOGISTICS GROWTH

The World Bank clearly recognizes that India’s economic growth depends on its logistics sector, which has a current market size of US$150.1 billion. A study by the National Institution for Transforming India Aayog indicates that India generates about 4.6 billion tons of freight annually, resulting in a transportation demand of over 3 trillion ton-kilometers at the cost of US$124 billion.

The World Bank’s Rail Logistics project will strengthen India’s multi modal transport hubs and terminals, by improving rail links with ports and inland gateways, and building firstand last-mile connectivity to railways.

The new Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor-3, or EDFC, also supported by the World Bank, is already helping faster and more efficient movement of raw materials and finished goods between the north and eastern parts of India. The Rail Logistics project

will connect several other such infrastructure projects and bring in private sector efficiency to augment rail capacity, create and manage intermodal terminals, and improve service quality and value-added services through private train and terminal operators.

A major focus of the project will be on harnessing commercial financing by engaging the private sector and developing customeroriented approaches. The project will also support institutional capacity strengthening DFCCIL as a commercial organization and equip it to provide multimodal logistics services.

“India is increasingly focused on multimodal transport, particularly with railways as the central pillar of efficient logistics in the freight transport segment,” said Saroj Ayush, one of the World Bank task team leaders for the project. “The project will help leverage private sector efficiency for integrating rail transportation into cargo supply chains.”

OPPORTUNITY INDIA

In addition to addressing decongestion of the roads and protecting the environment, there is also a corporate social responsibility aspect to the endeavor. Benefiting society in general, the project places special emphasis on tackling gender-based violence and will support regular awareness drives for the community on the issue. It will also undertake activities to systematically improve women’s entry and transition in the railways sector, including improving women’s presence in technical job roles; creating safe workplace environments for contracted women employees and non-contracted women workers; and prioritizing childcare for noncontracted women workers at construction sites.

With such investments and related initiatives well underway, there are multiple benefits on the horizon for the environment, for India’s economy, and for stakeholders in the project cargo transportation sector. BB

Thomas Timlen is a Singaporebased analyst, researcher, writer and spokesperson with 31 years of experience addressing the regulatory and operational issues that impact all sectors of the maritime industry.

Saroj Ayush World Bank

India’s rail infrastructure suffers from underinvestment.

CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

AFRICA

AFRICA’S FUEL AGNOSTIC PATH

Renewables and Fossil Fuels in the Energy Mix

Africans are planning to do it for themselves; that was the assertive stance taken by African governments and role players at this year’s Africa Oil Week, which returned to the continent after a hiatus of several years.

It’s a position, however, that is already meeting opposition as it speaks to Africa’s intent of no longer being dic tated to on the energy transition and its

Region: Africa

Problem: Western energytransition agenda does not consider the nuances of Africa’s needs

Solution: The continent is forging its own multi-fuel path, with fossil fuels still firmly in the mix

BY LIESL VENTER

refusal to follow a western energy-transi tion agenda that African leaders say does not apply to the continent.

“It’s important for us to come together as Africans to discuss and solid ify what is best for us among ourselves

so that we can move forward,” said Rashid Ali Abdallah, executive direc tor for the African Union (AU) Africa Energy Commission.

While Africa’s new-found voice on how it will approach the energy transi tion is riling environmentalists and other lobby groups, it’s good news for the project sector – work is on the way.

Highlighting the dire need for energy on the continent amid ongoing calls for countries to transition away from fossil fuels, Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for infrastructure and energy at the AU Commission said now was not the time for African countries “to pick and choose what resources” they were going to use going forward.

She highlighted the dire impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on the conti nent. “At least 30 more million people have succumbed to energy poverty due to the pandemic. Access to energy in Africa has slowed down since 2020. Now, more than half of the continent

Rashid Ali Abdallah African Union Africa Energy Commission

Dr Amani Abou-Zeid African Union Commission

OPPORTUNITY AFRICA

does not have access to modern energy, specifically electricity, while close to a billion people don’t have access to clean cooking and rely on elementary means such as coal or wood to make food,” Abou-Zeid said. “Along with this, Africa’s economic growth rates have slowed down. Many of the devel opmental gains of the past two decades have been lost.”

This, she said, needed to change. Africa needed every weapon in its arse nal to fight the growing energy poverty and expediting energy projects was a priority. “Practically it means that the continent has to utilize all forms of its abundant and untapped energy resources to meet its energy needs. Esti mates are that we need to quadruple the current efforts if Africa is to meet its energy goals.”

Considering that the continent at present contributes less than 4 percent to global emissions, ongoing calls to abandon fossil fuels could hardly be applied to Africa, she said. “Even if we use all available resources on this con tinent, including fossil fuels, to deliver energy to Africans we will still not exceed 3.5 percent of global emissions.” Abou-Zeid said this was a figure worth remembering before anyone started lecturing or preaching to Africa about emissions and what resources it could or could not use.

MORE PROJECTS NEEDED

The old adage, when the world sneezes, Africa gets the cold has held true for the past few years. The ongo ing pandemic saw many projects being stalled or shelved. Ongoing global economic uncer tainty has not helped either.

According to Obo Idornigie, vice president, Sub-Saharan Africa at Welli gence Energy Analytic, the project sector has remained slow for longer than expected.

“It really has not picked up,” he told Breakbulk. “We are expecting to see more final investment decisions (FIDs) this year than has been the norm over the past few years. There will, however, not be any big FID announcements anytime soon.”

Logistics operators are, however, slightly more optimistic about the outlook for the sector with talk at the conference that a renewed focus on oil and gas might see projects take off again.

“The logistics sector is well placed to deliver the necessary support and services to the oil and gas sector,” said Howie Frylinck, a project management specialist for Pentagon Freight Services and moderator of a panel discussing what oil and gas could offer economies.

He said oil and gas projects were expected to pick up in the next few years as the continent needs to address its energy crisis sooner rather than later. With over 600 million people in Africa with no access to power, it is also not just oil and gas projects that are needed; so too are more renewables projects – a sector that is increasingly gaining ground in Africa with solar, wind and hydro projects on the increase.

South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Man tashe, said Africa’s stance on the energy transition was not an argument about the reality of climate change, but rather a move to developing hydrocarbons safely with strong carbon management strategies in place. Renewable projects, he said, would increase, but the conti nent would not just walk away from its resources completely to rely on renew able energy.

According to Simon Flowers, chairman and chief analyst at Wood Mackenzie, supply tightness has been seen around the world. Policies and corporate strate gies have restricted oil and gas supply, but demand for oil and gas projects remains.

“The world needs more oil and it needs more gas,” he said. “It also needs effective crisis management skills and a coordinated policy to deliver the energy trilemma – security, affordability and sustainability.”

GAS GAINING GROUND

With the major oil companies focused on transitioning their portfo lios to gas it is not surprising that this is a sector that is fast gaining traction on the continent.

“The very big projects are still the domain of the big players,” Welligence Energy Analytic’s Idornigie said. “We are seeing them focus more on projects that can be delivered on time, have short cycles and meet the budget. In other words, if the cost is right and the carbon emission footprint low these players are going to be interested.”

He said no discussion around gas could be done without mentioning Mozambique. It is here that TotalEner gies is constructing a US$20 billion onshore liquefied natural gas, or LNG, plant. Situated in the northern province of Cabo Delgado it is expected to have a production capacity of 12.8 million tonnes of LNG per year once com pleted.

Construction, however, came to a grinding halt when fighters linked to Islamic State led several attacks close to the site in 2021, resulting in TotalEner gies declaring force majeure.

Indications from Mozambican Vice Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, António Saíde, at the confer ence, however, is that the project will pick up again early in 2023 when con struction is expected to resume.

Other Mozambican projects worth mentioning are Eni’s Coral South proj ect which includes a floating LNG plant and has capacity of around 3.4 million tonnes of LNG per year. Rovuma LNG , meanwhile, will see the construction of two LNG liquefaction trains which will each produce 7.6 million tonnes of LNG per year, he said.

“The reserves in Mozambique are so huge that it does not matter which project one is talking about as they are all important,” said Luca Vignati, Eni upstream director.

Obo Idornigie

Welligence Energy Analytic

Simon Flowers

Wood Mackenzie

OPPORTUNITY AFRICA

“Such a portfolio can easily be relocated as and when opportunities come up or change,” he said.

EAST LOOKING UP

According to Ruth Nankabirwa, Minister of Energy and Mineral Devel opment in Uganda, projects in the East of Africa are also expected to pick up. “We have announced our third oil block licensing round, that will start next year,” she said, indicating that the petro leum sector will be expanded in a bid to grow the economy. The country has confirmed reserves of 6.5 billion barrels of oil, of which at least 2.2 billion are recoverable.

With Coral South expected to start production before the end of the year, it currently has all eyes on it. Logistics companies have returned to the north of the country as activity picks up despite the security risks that continue.

HEADING WEST

Mauritania and Senegal are home to a number of projects expected to kick off in 2023. It is here where the US$4.8 billion Greater Tortue Ahmeyim, or GTA , offshore LNG project is being closely watched by experts.

According to project leaders BP and Kosmos Energy, the first gas is targeted for late next year and the first LNG cargo for 2024. With an expected out put of 2.5 million tons per annum, it is fast projecting the two countries onto the world stage.

Senegal is also upping its game in the oil sector with its Sangomar project having past the halfway mark recently. Involving some 250 million barrels of recoverable reserves the field contains both oil and gas. It will be the country’s first offshore oil development. A float ing production storage and offloading unit will be permanently moored for the project and is expected to have the capacity to process 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day and 130 million stan dard cubic feet of gas per day.

“The project will need to get a supply base sorted out onshore and is

going to need a lot of logistics support,” Idornigie said.

Possibly one of the most exciting projects to look out for are those in the Baleine field in Cote D’Ivoire with the potential estimated at over 2 billion bar rels of oil in place and approximately 2.4 trillion cubic feet of associated gas, with potential upside.

Having been significantly fasttracked, Baleine will be the first net-zero development in Africa and is on track to start in 2023.

Of course, when it comes to oil and gas it would be sacrilege to not write about Angola which continues to hold major project potential. According to Idornigie, the country holds interesting scope for the project sector, especially outside the small brownfield projects with several tangible mid-size projects in the pipeline.

Ongoing discoveries are being made, the latest being the Ndungu prospect which has an estimated 250 million bar rels of light oil in place.

In the Republic of the Congo, the Tango floating LNG will begin the activity in the second half of 2023 with a treatment capacity of approximately 3 million standard cubic meters/day and an LNG production capacity of approxi mately 600,000 tons per year.

According to Eni’s Vignati, the strat egy for many of the majors at present is to develop a range of LNG projects.

In Tanzania, a long-awaited LNG liquefaction plant is starting to see movement with construction imminent. Considered a mega project, it was an important development for the coun try, said Kelvin Koba of the Tanzania Petroleum Development Company. With capacity to produce 10 million tons of LNG per year the country expects to see major potential for infrastructure invest ment including pipelines and natural gas processing plants.

The country has proven gas reserves of 57 trillion cubic feet and several other projects are also on the cards such as the Mazi Bay gas project where drill ing exploration is underway, the West Songoshongo project that will see seis mic studies start soon, and the Eyasi Wembere project in the eastern part of the country is also gearing up to do its seismic studies, Koba said.

According to Wood Mackenzie’s Flowers, ongoing new discoveries are further feeding into a “healthy pipeline of projects for Africa.”

“The investment is increasingly more diversified across the continent particu larly focused on deepwater and LNG. Governments should be motivated to make sure investments come their way now. Streamlining processes to cut bureaucratic red tape, enabling the sup ply chain and incentivizing investors should be a priority at present,” he said.

Liesl Venter is a transportation jour nalist based in South Africa. Africa Oil Week is a complementary event to the Breakbulk series, all of which are organized by Hyve.

Eni said the strategy for many of the majors in Africa is to develop a range of LNG projects.

CREDIT: ENI

OPPORTUNITY AFRICA

AFRICA’S GREEN HYDROGEN AMBITIONS

Decarbonizing the world without Africa’s sought-after green hydrogen will be extremely difficult – if not impos sible – putting the continent at the forefront of the energy transition.

According to Benoit Garrivier, transitional power CEO at Chariot, a provider of cleaner energy across the African continent, African hydrogen offers “immense opportunity” to change the energy mix, becoming a major contributor of cleaner energy to help overcome the widespread global energy challenges.

In a session at the annual Africa Oil Week – a Hyve-organized sister event to Breakbulk held in Cape Town in October, Garrivier said there was much potential for Africa to become a leader in the production and export of hydro gen, especially in light of progress being made in the sector.

“The demand for hydrogen is expected to rapidly grow in the coming years. Estimates are that green hydro gen demand will be over 500 metric tonnes by 2050. Sun-rich Africa offers a cost-competitive option not only for green but also blue hydrogen making it one of the hotspots in the world at present. Location is what makes green hydrogen competitive, and Africa has one of the best in this regard,” he said.

Garrivier highlighted the unique ness of Africa’s situation – a continent expected to transition to clean energy despite its low level of contribution and the dire need for electricity. “Hydrogen can be a game-changer for Africa as it is an opportunity not only to transi tion but also to meet domestic energy needs.”

Comparing hydrogen to a Swiss army knife, he said it was a must-have in anyone’s pocket thanks to its multiple uses. It would also play a central role in helping the world reach net-zero emis sions as it offered the clearest and most competitive pathway to carbon emis sions reductions.

“Hydrogen only requires ingre dients such as solar and wind power, land, desalinated water and proximity to markets. Not all the regions around

the world have the same natural capital, but in Africa, the availability of low-cost renewable energy will drive the cost of hydrogen down thanks to the high wind power density and the excellent solar potential on the continent.”

TRANSITIONING TO HYDROGEN

Chariot said Garrivier, having identified Africa’s potential, is actively investing in hydrogen projects in Africa. The company has transitioned its oil portfolio to gas, green hydrogen and renewable projects with a particular focus on Africa.

“In Mauritania, a country exception ally well-placed for green hydrogen production thanks to its solar and wind resources, we have completed a pre-feasibility study on a US$70 billion project known as Project Nour,” he said.

Forecast to produce some of the cheapest hydrogen in the world, this 10GW green hydrogen project is spread over an onshore and offshore area of about 14,400 square kilometers, producing power from solar and wind resources for electrolysis to produce green hydrogen.

“Nour could become one of the largest projects globally by 2030,” he said, indicating it offered a real

opportunity for other projects as infra structures such as the power grid, water supply and port would need significant strengthening.

While green hydrogen is still con sidered in its infancy in Africa, Garrivier said it was gaining track and interest was rising.

Countries that have announced their hydrogen intention include Namibia which is planning an estimated US$9.4 billion green hydrogen project and Egypt which is targeting a total production output of 480,000 tons through an agreement with the United Arab Emirates, along with another 300,000 tons of green hydrogen in a waste-to-hydrogen facility, in partner ship with Germany.

According to Garrivier, hydrogen puts Africa at the forefront of the energy transition.

“Yes, there will still be challenges like transportation that we expect will be difficult for at least the next ten years. Governments, however, need to take action now and start creating the environments to make hydrogen proj ects not only possible but easy.”

He said this included developing strong frameworks for hydrogen pro duction as well as policy and legislation that deliver stable operating environ ments. BB

Hydrogen is described as a game-changer for Africa. CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

Continent Well Placed to Serve Energy Transition

By Liesl Venter

BY LORI MUSSER

UPDATE

US WIDENS WIND REMIT

Offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Mexico is on the radar. As U.S. east coast offshore wind farms are finally emerging, heads have turned toward the massive geography and unique challenges of the Gulf.

The National Renewable Energy Lab, or NREL, has identified advan tages for offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Mexico, including shallower waters and smaller waves, however, developments will have to accom modate typically gentler winds, occasional hurricanes, and weaker soil structure.

In its 2020 report, ‘Offshore Wind in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico: Regional Economic Modeling & Site-Specific Analyses,’ NREL selected six viable study areas from the 30-million-acre Gulf ‘call’ area. It also prepared a draft environmental assessment. There are now two draft wind-energy areas, or WEAs, on the drawing table.

John Filostrat is with the Office of Communications for Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM. He said the first draft WEA is located approximately 24 nautical miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas, covers a total of 546,645 acres, and has the potential to power 2.3 million homes with clean wind energy. The second draft WEA is located approximately 56 nautical miles off the coast of Lake Charles, Louisiana, covers a total of 188,023 acres, and has the potential to power 799,000 homes.

Public comments on the draft WEAs closed Sept. 2, 2022. BOEM received 107 comments. As a next step, “BOEM will be issuing final wind energy areas and then a Pro posed Sale Notice later this year. We plan to hold a wind auction in the summer of 2023,” Filostrat said to Breakbulk

LOFTY FEDERAL GOALS

A speedy process, as well as a vigorous supply chain and talented workforce, some innovation and creativity, and a lot of investment and government support, are all neces sary if industry is to create 30 GW of offshore wind power by 2030, as the Biden Administration has targeted.

In preparation, the federal govern ment has beefed up BOEM to better oversee federal leases and permits for offshore wind farms, as well as the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, which fosters interagency coordination, and the Wind Energy Technologies Office, to accelerate research and development.

In addition, the new Inflation Reduc tion Act includes financial incentives and tax credits to incentivize invest ment in offshore wind projects, and in manufacturing of wind infrastructure and components such as support and installation vessels, to help develop the domestic supply chain.

According to a June 23, 2022 White House update, the Biden Administration has already: approved the nation’s first two commercialscale offshore wind projects ( Vineyard Wind and South Fork Wind , both now under construc tion); announced an ambitious leasing strategy to hold up to seven offshore wind auctions by 2025 (including areas in Gulf of Maine, New York Bight, Central Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico, as well as offshore the Caro linas, California, and Oregon); held a record-breaking wind lease sale in the New York Bight, bringing in US$4.37 billion in winning bids; and introduced initiatives to deliver ben efits to underserved communities and leverage union jobs and supply chain development, while accelerating wind development.

ROLE OF OIL & GAS

Many of the vagaries associated with energy operations in the Gulf have been encountered and tamed by offshore oil and gas and its supply chain partners. Expanding into off shore wind may be a viable transition for many.

Walt Musial, who leads NREL’s

Progress Toward Gulf of Mexico Offshore Wind

Region: Americas Problem: National renewables targets cannot be met by U.S. east coast offshore wind alone Solution: U.S. Gulf wind potential ready and waiting to be tapped

offshore wind energy research plat form, commented, when NREL’s economic modeling report was released: “As we seek to diversify the U.S. energy supply using ocean renew able resources, we are finding that the existing oil and gas industries in the Gulf are able to leverage their vast ocean-based capabilities to expand their businesses and capitalize on these new energy opportunities.”

Stig Kirkegaard is area head of key clients for A.P. Moller – Maersk. He said to Breakbulk: “The Gulf is better suited, from a logistics point of view. Key infrastructure, based on the his torical oil and gas exposure is already in place. On the east coast, the U.S. will need to build this infrastructure before being able to fulfill the needs.”

Robert G. Wellner, executive direc tor of supply chain specialist Liberty Green Logistics One, agreed that infrastructure required to support off shore wind construction and operation is more prevalent in the U.S. Gulf. He noted: “There are certainly advantages to having a developed parallel indus try,” including waterfront facilities,

industrial facilities required to fabri cate, local supply chains, vessels and workforce.

For example, existing industrial fabricators and service vessel builders might be able to rework their processes to produce offshore wind monopiles and feeder vessels. There may be pat ents, intellectual property, and talent too, that can aid in fast-tracking off shore wind development in the Gulf.

Wellner indicated that, in the Gulf of Mexico, support vessels may be ready for deployment on an offshore wind farm without an added mobiliza tion cost.

He added: “Shipyards and large steel structural fabrication facilities are readily available. Experienced ser vice providers and lessons learned will play a major factor,” in the advance ment of the offshore wind industry.

One of the biggest challenges in the Gulf, according to Kirkegaard, is lim ited availability of installation vessel capacity. He sees a need for substantial investment to correct this situation, and to build out additional capacity at ports.

Other potential challenges may stem from conflicts with oil and gas majors. According to Wellner, “[Gulf] states may not be as supportive of renewable energy as east coast states. Because offshore wind supply chain costs will be tied to oil and gas supply chain market fluctuations, and because electricity is less expensive in Gulf coast states than in the Northeast, public and political support of Gulf coast wind projects will be essential.”

A PORT PERSPECTIVE

The Port of Lake Charles, Louisi ana, is no stranger to wind power, having handled hundreds of blades and tower sec tions. Executive Director Richert L. Self said to Breakbulk: “An offshore wind facility could be ideally situated at the Port of Lake Charles’ Industrial

Richert Self

Port of Lake Charles

Option I

Option M

Lake Charles

Gulf of Mexico

Source: BOEM

Port Arthur

OrangeBeaumont

Houston

Texas City Freeport

Galveston

Two wind-energy areas in the Gulf of Mexico have been proposed by BOEM.

CREDIT: BOEM

UPDATE

Canal.” The site is 22 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and 58 nautical miles from a BOEM-designated wind area in the Gulf. It comes complete with 40-foot depth, a 1,400-foot turning basin, and 60 acres of available land with rail access.

Self said a feasibility study by Mof fatt & Nichol identified potential for both a marshalling port and a wind manufacturing facility at the largescale site.

He added: “Wind power develop ment would diversify the Port of Lake Charles’ longtime energy mix sur rounding the cargo and shipping needs of oil, gas and LNG. We’re already known as ‘America’s Energy Corridor,’ and we have the capacity and capabil ity to serve wind power as well.”

Many ports along the Gulf coast do not have a heavy container pres ence and have not faced the supply chain issues and delays encountered by leading east and west coast container ports.

Deep-water access so close to a BOEM wind area has helped gener ate some buzz for the Port of Lake Charles. “Existing offshore wind developers and potential offshore wind operators have already expressed interest – because of our track record on energy, our infrastructure and our ideal site availability.”

REVAMPING SUPPLY CHAIN

At the Breakbulk Americas 2022 offshore wind panel discussion in Houston in Sept., panelists noted the reliance, to date, of the emerging U.S. wind industry on European and other global component fabricators and supply chain participants. A.P. Moller – Maersk’s Kirkegaard said that while that reliance may continue for some elements, it makes sense for the U.S. to focus on building the larger components at home, to more easily meet sometimes stringent local content requirements.

Despite their long-term rela tionships with European and other global suppliers, the predominantly European-led development teams for America’s first offshore wind farms have been able to tap Gulf coast manufacturers with strong oil and gas expertise. They may be Ameri ca’s best and speediest solution for competency and scale economies in fabrication and supply chain. Unfortunately, Buy American may not be enough. Northeastern states will want to keep as many off shore wind jobs as possible close to home.

In general, the offshore wind industry requires larger laydown areas for offshore wind compo nents such as nacelles, blades and

monopiles than for their onshore equivalents. And the industry’s water carriage is complicated by the Jones Act cabotage laws, which typically require the use of U.S.-built/owned/ crewed vessels for offshore wind installation and supply.

In addition to bringing wind energy ashore, the Gulf of Mexico has other potential offshore wind applications. For example, industry analysts suggest small turbines can be used for repositioning captured carbon into depleted under-the-sea bed offshore oil and gas formations, or for powering equipment to con vert desalinated water into green hydrogen, to be piped back to shore using existing oil and gas infrastruc ture.

The Gulf of Mexico’s future in offshore wind energy is bright, but it is a horse of a different color. The region’s offshore oil and gas back ground is a key differentiator, one already benefiting east coast offshore wind developments. That same back ground will provide even greater opportunities, and a few challenges, as the Gulf region develops its own unique offshore wind market. BB

Based in the U.S., Lori Musser is a veteran shipping industry writer.

CREDIT: PORT OF LAKE CHARLES

“Wind power development would diversify the Port of Lake Charles’ longtime energy mix surrounding the cargo and shipping needs of oil, gas and LNG. We’re already known as ‘America’s Energy Corridor,’ and we have the capacity and capability to serve wind power as well” – Richert Self

Balancer

Mobile

STUDY

Each tank measured almost 50 meters in length and weighed more than 200 tonnes.

BY MALCOLM RAMSAY

Water Restrictions

IMPORTANCE OF CONTINGENCY PLANNING

Prompt Project Switch

A s the energy transition accel erates, liquefied natural gas, or LNG, has emerged as a winner, with demand for the fuel growing rapidly in recent years. Meeting this demand has required major new infrastructure, from sprawl ing liquefication plants to giant storage facilities. Project logistics specialist deugro recently assisted in a major breakbulk move to support this industry when it delivered four outsized LNG tanks from the Czech Republic to the Caribbean.

The complex project involved maneuvering tanks that measured almost 50 meters in length and weighed more than 200 tonnes each.

Jens Klie, vice president at deugro USA, told Breakbulk that constant coordination with the client through out all stages of the project was vital for success, noting that “partnering up, communicating closely with our client, dteq and all subcontractors” led to suc cessful execution of the project and that the group’s “longstanding experience of almost 100 years” proved invaluable in meeting many of the unique challenges posed by this move.

Regions: Americas, Europe

Problem: Planning a project move when the elements are against you

Solution: Collaborate to develop alternative schedules to keep the project on track

METICULOUS PREPARATION

The first challenge in this project was delivering the cargo from the land-locked Czech Republic to a suit able port for transfer to ocean vessel. The client required delivery from the manufacturer’s yard in Decin, near the border of the Czech Republic and Germany, but this was around 500 kilometers from the coast and road transport was deemed too expensive. To complicate matters, each indi vidual tank weighed 225.4 tonnes and measured 48.93 meters in length, 5.8 meters in width, and 6 meters in height.

Prior to commencing any loading, deugro conducted in-depth pre-plan ning to identify risk factors that might affect transit times, loading or cargo securing operations. Through this pro cess, the team identified a route from the manufacturer’s facility by road to the nearby Port of Rozbelesy and from there by barge to the Port of Hamburg, where it would be transferred to ocean vessel.

“As per the client’s requirements, detailed method statements had to be prepared for all transportation aspects, such as for the road transportation from the production facility to the Port of Rozbelesy, Decin, Czech Republic, including all of the barge loading and cargo securing operations. dteq was chosen because of its economic offer and its long track record in such proj ects and operations,” Klie said.

Having chosen a route, deugro next selected local logistics expert Universal Transport to transport the LNG stor age tanks from the factory to the Port of Rozbelesy. Petr Nálevka, project manager at Universal Transport, over saw this stage, delivering the tanks on the three-kilometer journey from the manufacturer’s premises through Decin’s city center.

Two 2x4-axle prime movers and a specialist 22-axle Goldhofer hydraulic platform trailer configura tion, separated in two 11-axle units, each equipped with a turntable, were chosen for this move, with each tank transported at walking speed, at a maximum of 5 kilometers per hour.

Despite the relatively short length of this leg, it still required extensive pre-planning because roads had to be completely closed off by traffic police, street lamps and road furniture had to be dismantled, and overhead wires adjusted to accommodate the size of the loaded trailer convoy.

“The biggest challenge to prepare and execute was the transport across Decin’s narrow streets,” Nálevka told Breakbulk. “The excellent cooperation with deugro enabled us to perform this defiant project [and it was] a smooth success.”

Headquartered in Paderborn in western Germany, Universal Transport is a solutions supplier for heavy load logistics worldwide. Employing more than 700 employees across Europe the firm has a strong presence in the Czech Republic.

FLEXIBLE RESPONSE

With the transport originally planned to take place in December 2020, the first issue encountered by the team was that the water level of the Elbe River was too low for barge trans port, with only 90 centimeters instead of the required 1.90 meters.

“A quick contingency solution had to be developed to transport the LNG tanks from the manufacturer’s premises so that the movement would not inter rupt the ongoing production processes at the Decin fabrication plant,” Klie explained.

As a result, deugro arranged for three of the LNG storage tanks to be self-loaded with modular hydraulic trailers from the external storage area of the factory, where they were safely positioned on elephant legs during the manufacturing process. This solu tion was in line with the alternative schedule that deugro developed in close cooperation with all parties involved and thanks to the resourcefulness of the team, the cargo was stored securely until the water levels recovered.

With approval in place to proceed, barge loading operations began directly onto four barges, one for each tank, with Universal Transport and deugro overseeing transfer to the waiting

CASE STUDY

barges using a Liebherr LTM 1500-8.1 and a Liebherr LR 1750 crane.

Founded in 1924 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, deugro provides spe cialist freight forwarding and project logistics with a focus on turnkey indus trial projects. After almost 100 years, the firm remains family-owned and has grown to a network of more than 70 company-owned offices in over 40 countries. The group provides ocean and inland waterway freight services, road and rail transportation as well as air freight.

With the cargo secured in place, the four river barges were linked together and then pushed by a tugboat in twos, ready for their voyage to the Port of Hamburg. This journey of over 536 kilometers, took eight days in total and the four tanks arrived in Hamburg safely and on time.

SEAMLESS TRANSFER

Upon arrival in Hamburg, the cargo was then ready for direct transshipment to a multipurpose heavy-lift vessel, a complex move given the size of each tank. This stage of the project was overseen by dteq Transport Engineering Solutions, a subsidiary of the deugro group with specialist experience in marine engineering.

“Operation-specific toolbox talks with all parties involved is mandatory, in order to clearly define the different steps of the operation, the responsibili ties and the line of communication to reduce the potential risks for such operations to a minimum,” Felix Kok, regional head of transport engineering EMEA, dteq Transport Engineering Solutions, explained.

Headquartered in Bremen in the north of Germany, dteq Transport Engineering Solutions was founded in 2016 by Thomas C. Press, the owner and CEO of the deugro group and remains part of the family company. Alongside marine engineering solu tions, dteq also provides port captain, surveying and supervision services, and project consulting services.

As per the contractual agreement, a U.S.-flagged vessel had to be selected and used for the ocean voyage.

CASE STUDY

Therefore, deugro chose Ocean Giant from the carrier U.S. Ocean – a heavy-lift, box-hold multipurpose ‘tweendecker vessel with two 400tonne cranes with a combined lifting capacity of 800 metric tons, ideally suited for the loading and unloading operations.

“To ensure the safety of all parties involved and trouble-free operations, especially in times of Covid-19, deugro prepared comprehensive risk assess ments and work instructions. These were monitored and communicated daily with all parties involved. Fur thermore, meetings and toolbox talks were held with all persons involved before all critical operations to mini mize risks,” Klie said, with the ocean carrier and the port captain closely involved in preparing lifting, rigging and stowage plans.

The complex loading process was also highly dependent on weather conditions and Klie noted that “if the weather worsened, the lifting opera tion would have been stopped.” To ensure that all partners were in agree ment on the operational limits for this move, the teams set maximum environmental conditions of 20 knots wind speed (approx. 10 m/s), 0.5 meter

significant wave height, 0.0 meters swell height, and one knot (approx. 0.5 m/s) current speed.

“The challenging part was the direct transshipment from the barge onto the vessel, as handling cargo from a floating object onto a floating object is always a critical operation. Strong weather conditions like wind as well as the current of the river, which usually keeps any floating object in slight motion, can result in swing ing cargo when initially lifted,” Eva Klepping, transport engineer, dteq Transport Engineering Solutions, explained.

TIME IS RIGHT

With the right weather conditions in place, the four tanks were then loaded in tandem lift using the vessel’s onboard cranes. Two of the LNG tanks were loaded under deck and the other two were positioned on the weather deck.

“After two days of loading, the cargo securing was safely and success fully completed, and the vessel was ready to set sail for the 17-day ocean voyage to its destination in the Carib bean Sea,” a spokesperson for the Port of Hamburg said.

Upon arrival in the Caribbean, the Ocean Giant successfully docked, ready to transfer its cargo for onward transport by road. Method statements had already been prepared by carrier U.S. Ocean for discharge operations from the ocean vessel to the barge at the port of destination, and these were complete without issue.

“All four tanks were discharged directly onto barge by the vessel’s own two 400-tonne combinable cranes,” Klie said.

From there, the components were delivered to their final destination where they will play a vital part in infrastructure to support the devel opment of the LNG industry. Long underdeveloped, the Caribbean has seen surging investor interest in recent years due to its proximity to regional LNG suppliers and the U.S. Gulf Coast and the tanks will now help accelerate the uptake of low carbon fuels in the global energy transition.

BB

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

The tanks were loaded in tandem lift using the vessel’s on-board cranes.

CREDIT: deugro

LEADER

Invest in the Best for High Risk Moves Rigging Matters

Iremember once at a conference in Amsterdam hosted by KHL, I had breakfast with the then-CEO of one of the largest companies in our industry: Mammoet. We talked about many subjects and it was only with hindsight that I realized the importance of our conversation.

He told me one of the biggest and best kept secrets in our industry: “We are in the business of managing risk,” he said. “Our customers pay us for decreasing their risk at the best price they can get.”

That conversation happened seven years ago and I still remember his words very clearly. He was right; we get jobs not because we are the cheapest or the fastest – or the prettiest. We get our work because a customer is willing to take the risk and assign us a job for the best possible price they can get.

Another good friend once told me: “In a project you can always solve a prob lem if you have enough time, or enough money. If you do not have either of those, then you are in big trouble.” That is another great phrase to remember.

When thinking about rigging in the projects sector, we tend to believe that the job is almost done. These are cargoes perhaps 1,000,000 lbs. in weight that have moved for hundreds of miles. If anything could go wrong, isn’t it more likely to happen on the longer transpor tation part of the move rather than the comparatively shorter rigging part? No! While I do not have data to support this view, I am pretty sure that statistically speaking rigging is much more risky than transportation. In the rigging phase you have your customer’s valuable cargo liter ally up in the air, sometimes for hours at a time until it can be safely placed on its foundation.

UP IN THE AIR

In the aerospace industry, take-off and landing are known to be the critical phases where statistically the chances of

a problem are higher. Once in the air, the plane is in a “constant” environment with fewer unknowns. During take-off and landing, planes are vulnerable to strong winds, birds, drones, and more.

The same is true in our industry: hence, the rigging phase is without doubt the part where we are most vulnerable to accidents.

I’ll admit that today I am surprised how expensive gantry cranes are. As a finance guy, I have a hard time justifying new investments like this to our Board. However, when you see the value of the whole project, this type of investment is absolutely necessary for the success ful and safe execution of the project. Nothing should be more important than safety, absolutely nothing.

That said, having the best, state-ofthe-art rigging equipment is worthless if you do not have the right crew and the right engineering plan to handle a multimillion-dollar piece. You must have the best crew and the best engineering department your money can pay for.

With the safest gantry crane, a highly trained crew, and an excellent engi neering department the customer can justifiably trust you to take good care of their valuable cargo.

In short, if money is not a problem, invest in new equipment, hire the best crew, and support state of the art engi neering. If you have limited cash, invest the time in getting the best equipment, develop and train your own crew, and create the best engineering department possible.

With these building blocks securing project work will be easy. The hard part will be managing all the work you likely will get, but that’s not such a bad prob lem to have. BB

BY RAFAEL DE LOS SANTOS

Rafael de los Santos is a board member of the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association (SC&RA).

PHOTO

GREEN SCENE & WATER VIEWS PHOTO CONTEST 2022

Breakbulk’s fall 2022 photo contest offered a double theme: Green Scene that reflected the industry’s drive toward sustainability or simply nature’s backdrop and Water Views showing maritime transports. From 25 entries, all of which were on display at Breakbulk Americas, here are our editors’ top five.

WINNER Curtin Maritime

Green Scene: On the wire, bound for sea. Courtesy of Yale Fogarty. Yaquina Bay Bridge, Oregon, U.S.

Water Views: 3 million-pound crane loaded using 48 lines of Goldhofer PST/SLE Manitowoc, Wisconsin, U.S.

Carver Companies

Green Scene: Coeymans Marine Towing (Carver) transporting the PSEG Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) SeaPort Manatee, Florida, U.S.

PHOTO CONTEST

dship Carriers

Green Scene: Ronnie — one of the latest-generation eco-friendly F-500 type vessels Hamburg, Germany

Terex

Water Views: Rough terrain and beautiful waters surrounded by snowy mountains Antarctica

Oxbo Mega Transport Solutions

HEARD AT BREAKBULK AMERICAS 2022

It was fantastic to see our amazing community gathered again. Visitors were up by 38 percent from 2019 and this is what some of the participants had to say...

“It has been a great turnout. It’s necessary for us to get together as an industry like this, as face-to-face is essential for relationship-building and reconnecting again.”

Dea Chincuanco, Assistant Vice President Commercial and Chartering, dship Carriers

“The conference has been great, excellent. There are a lot of industry people here, a lot of networking to be done. I highly recommend it.”

Russell Williams, Director, Tradepoint Atlantic

“With over 30 years in this business, Breakbulk is a great place to remind long-time contacts and colleagues, ‘I’m still here.’ And it’s the place you find those 10 to 15 new contacts you didn’t know existed.”

Robert Lugo, Jr., Heavy Haul and Energy Projects, Conceptum Logistics

BREAKBULK AMERICAS REVIEW

“Breakbulk was always important because it gave me a chance to connect with suppliers and keep track of new innovations in the industry. But this time it’s special because I’ve been given the chance to present a “Lunch and Learn” session in the BGSN Lounge on the collaboration opportunities which exist while managing air cargo charters.”

Vinit Pednekar, Supply Chain Manager, Schlumberger

→→

“Breakbulk is very important to Barnhart. It enables us to get valuable facetime with our customers, get feedback and spot industry trends and the services our customers need both today and in the future.”

Erica Harris, Heavy-Haul Manager, Barnhart Crane & Rigging

→→

“For us, Breakbulk is a great way to connect with the people who need our services. This is really a “target-rich” environment – a space where we can get a tremendous amount of important work done in a very concentrated time period.”

Aaron Katrancha, Director of Sales, Breakbulk/RoRo and Inland Terminals, Port of Virginia

→→

“For folks in the logistics business, Breakbulk is the mecca for networking and for strengthening relationships with customers who you often deal with via phone and email.”

Tania Smith, Logistics Director, S&B Engineers and Constructors

Breakbulk Americas 2022: A Roaring Success

Visitors at the 3-Day Conference in Houston Rise 38 Percent

Breakbulk Americas 2022 has been hailed a major success after nearly 4,800 industry professionals from across the supply chain came together for the three day event at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

The conference on Sept. 27-29 saw visitors through the door rise by 38 percent compared with 2019, while the number of companies represented at the region’s largest gathering of breakbulk and project cargo specialists reached 2,240, up by 37 percent.

The George R. Brown Center’s gargantuan exhibition floor hosted 247 exhibitors, including shippers, equipment manufacturers, carriers, forwarders, tech companies, heavylift specialists and ports and terminal operators.

“It is a packed conference, that is for sure,” said Anders Hyrup, president of Jumbo-SAL Alliance USA, during the event. “Networking-wise, it is always the highlight for the Americas, and we are very happy to attend again.”

Delegates from 59 countries were present, with those from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany and Brazil leading the charge. Some 20 percent of attendees worked in the freight for warding sector, with 17 and 16 percent represented maritime transport and road transport, respectively.

“One of the things about Breakbulk is looking forward to seeing old col leagues, but it is also a chance to find out what’s coming up in the industry – what is new, what is fresh. I need to hear what other people have to say, and this is a venue where people who come here know their business,” said Lana Warren, regional head of special logistics at Maersk.

FULL ROSTER OF SPEAKERS

The main stage once again played host to a series of informative and inspiring panel sessions featuring

more than 50 expert speakers debat ing the industry’s hottest topics, from U.S. offshore wind and Latin American power generation to air cargo capac ity and the widening talent gap.

Delegates were treated to an engaging talk by a bona fide Hol lywood star: John Ratzenberger, actor from the TV show Cheers, who mounted a passionate defense of the skilled tradesmen and women who form the backbone of U.S. industry.

The Breakbulk Global Shipper Net work lounge, the event’s go-to place for shippers involved in the engineer ing, manufacturing and production of industrial projects and cargo, also held a series of more intimate and conversation-based sessions.

The BGSN lounge this year wel comed representatives from 135 companies.

“What is discussed at Breakbulk today is what we will be dealing with in the months and years ahead in our industry,” Fluor’s Cyril Varghese said.

More than 120 participants at the Women in Breakbulk Breakfast, meanwhile, were treated to rousing

BY SIMON WEST

Breakbulk Events & Media is also a passionate supporter of students and young professionals around the world. Breakbulk’s long-running Jerry Nagel Education Day, designed to attract the next generation of leaders through executive-led instruction and networking, this year welcomed more than 100 students from 14 different U.S. institutions.

In his opening remarks to officially welcome delegates, Ryan Foley, CEO of DHL Industrial Projects, summed up the importance of the conference. “We use this event to connect, to talk to people and really use it as an opportunity to grow together. For us, it is all about the people.” BB

Breakbulk Americas 2023 will return to the George R. Convention Center in Houston on Sept. 26-28, 2023.

speeches from Bechtel’s Audrey Murillo and dship Carrier’s Dea Chincuanco. The breakfast, sponsored by dship Carriers, once again underscored Breakbulk’s commitment to supporting female professionals in a traditionally male-dominated sector.

dship Carrier’s Dea Chincuanco. CREDIT: HYVE GROUP

It Takes a Village to Elevate Women in Breakbulk

Audrey Murillo Makes Impassioned Plea at Diversity Event

BY SIMON WEST

It is time to build your village. That was the key takeaway at the Women in Breakbulk Breakfast at Breakbulk Americas, sponsored by dship Carriers.

Audrey Murillo, senior estima tor for Bechtel’s manufacturing and technology business unit, spoke to an audience of highly motivated female professionals about making inroads into equality, diversity and inclusion in the traditionally male-dominated world of industrial cargo movement.

“I’m going to start with some bad news because that is kind of how I roll,” Murillo told the room at the Marriot Marquis Hotel. “There are still some pretty big discrepancies in our industry in terms of diversity and culture.”

Despite women comprising only 25 percent of the industry’s workforce, Murillo said: “There is some hope. At Bechtel, we have a Men Advocating Real Change program.” This initia tive has introduced more male allies. “There is a shift happening today.”

Murillo also reflected on a per sonal epiphany. After 15 years in a male-dominated environment, and despite a can-do attitude, hard work was not proving to be enough. She forced herself to look at why.

“A good job is where it starts but you have to have the right people see it. I realized it was all about network. That word makes me cringe, but it is not going to go away. It takes a village to [build] your career.”

She outlined the players in a career development village: peers, or the ones who tell it like it is; mentors, either formal corporate mentors or others with the right leadership skills and networks; sponsors, or those who sit at the table when decisions, bonuses, and opportunities are being

discussed; and coaches and thera pists, or people who challenge you to work hard, help you and cheerlead for you.

Women working hard to rise in the ranks need all these villagers to suc ceed, Murillo said.

NETWORKING AND MENTORING

Suggestions were put forward during the Breakfast Q&A session on how women and other minorities can accelerate their career advancement, such as sharing networking oppor tunities via association membership, LinkedIn and other tools. They encour aged each other to “get out of your comfort zone” and build relationships.

Leslie Meredith, marketing and media director for Breakbulk Events & Media, said the timing of the Women in Breakbulk Breakfast, at the outset of Breakbulk Americas 2022, was no coincidence.

It was planned to support women delegates in getting maximum value from the conference. Audience

members concurred that Breakbulk Americas 2022 was a great opportu nity to build networks and leverage relationships.

Dea Chincuanco, assistant vice president of commercial and charter ing at dship Carriers, said: “We all know that to be in this industry for as long as we have been here is tough, but we are tougher.”

She encouraged women dele gates to build a community and help others along in the journey.

Murillo offered up a call to action, challenging her fellow female profes sionals to become a mentor. “You can help. To those of you who sit at the table and get to make decisions, become a sponsor. Use your voice to help those who have been over looked, to amplify their voice.” BB

To find out more about joining our Women in Breakbulk networking platform, go to https://breakbulk. com/page/women-in-breakbulk. To view interviews with the speakers go to https://youtu.be/N_0iURjAMys and https://youtu.be/N6f4JAPfM3I.

Carbon Taxes Constitute a “Big Unknown”

New Rules Temper Industry’s Cautious Optimism BY SIMON WEST

A new set of carbon taxes coming into force next year pose a major chal lenge for the industry, panelists at an industry outlook session said at Break bulk Americas 2022.

The new IMO and EU rules aimed at decarbonizing shipping have ship pers, forwarders and carriers working overdrive to figure out the impact on existing contracts and how they reshape future contracts.

“We have a lot of questions about the EU emissions standards that are going to be starting just two months from now,” said panelist Anders Hyrup, president of Jumbo-SAL-Alliance USA.

“Shipowners are being taxed based on emissions. How are we to bill that to our clients, especially if we have multiple cargoes on our ships. Who exactly is going to pay for what? It seems everybody agrees that there is no agreement.”

“But it goes into effect from Jan. 1 and the shipowners will be billed and somehow we have to find a solution for the entire industry. The only thing that is a known is that ultimately it is the con sumers who will have to pay for this.”

Steve Hill, director of global opera tions – logistics and trade compliance at McDermott and session moderator,

described the new taxes as one of the industry’s “big unknowns,” and asked panelists how the industry planned to adjust.

“The big concern right now is how to handle these taxes and the CII and what we are going to do with that,” said Michael Lund, deputy secretary general of shipowner association BIMCO. “And we are investing a lot of resources into cracking that.”

The panelists also provided del egates with an overview of current market conditions.

The pandemic, the Suez Canal incident, labor shortages and strikes, fuel escalation and conflict in Ukraine have upended global supply chains in a short space of time.

The project industry meanwhile has been contending with sky-high freight rates, with little consensus on when they will return to ‘normal’. Capacities have been at a premium, with little room for maneuver.

“Because the supply chain has been so stretched, the impact of any little disruption is magnified more and more,” said Ben Collins, global project cargo manager at MSC. “What makes it so complicated is that it is not because of one factor.”

Referring to rates, Torben Waalkes, vice president, global head of marine chartering at DHL Industrial Projects, was confident the industry would have to adjust a “new normal.”

“There will be a new normal for sure. Will it be on a higher or lower level? From our perspective, we would say we hope it is on a fair level where shippers, carriers and forwarders are on a certain level where we can all survive.”

Still, panelists were optimistic for the near-future, despite the geo-politi cal uncertainties.

“We are as an industry in a very good place,” said Felix Schoeller, com mercial director at AAL Shipping. “The industry has recovered and there is a lot of demand for cargoes.

“If the industry wants to master the challenges that are ahead, then it has to work together. And that goes through the whole value chain - ship per, logistics companies, maritime operators and regulatory bodies.”

Dea Chincuanco, assistant vice president commercial and chartering at dship Carriers, also said key was collaboration throughout the supply chain.

“We compete with each other, but we can do this in an amicable way. With what is in front of us, we really have to put the problem-solving cap on.”

Hill finally asked panelists for a word of advice for shippers. The con sensus was to book well in advance to mitigate the risk posed by supply chain disruption.

“You need to talk to your carriers much earlier. Do not assume you will find a vessel two weeks before a ship ment,” Anders said. BB

Check out our interviews with the session panelists: https://youtu. be/hf04ukPKu9U; https://youtu. be/49hfaYgdR98.

Mounting The Case for Blue-Collar Values

Actor John Ratzenberger Champions American Industry and Skilled Labor

BY SIMON WEST

The stalwarts are disappearing in the U.S., and we need them back. We need Americans brought up with chores and responsibilities, who have learned to fix what is broken. We need to give kids time to learn and take risks. If we do, we will be able to rebuild our workforces, strengthen U.S. manufacturing and industry and regain the way of life that made America.

That was the message from John Ratzenberger – best known as Cliff Claven in the long-running U.S. tele vision series, Cheers – when he took the podium at Breakbulk Americas 2022 in Houston.

The multi-Emmy-nominated actor, producer, entrepreneur and activist put forward his case for U.S. manufacturing, skilled labor and the return of common sense.

According to the Hollywood star, in the U.S. today, we are doing a disservice to children by hovering, taking away opportunities to learn about carpentry and mechanics and similar skills, and by rewarding people for just showing up without learning or accomplishing anything.

He recounted growing up in a blue-collar area along the water in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he “felt the cavitation of big boats coming in” to port. He understood the fundamental importance of heavy industry at the age of six or seven.

He was surrounded by people who had trade skills and “knew how to do things,” while his mother worked as a safety inspector at Remington Arms and his father was a truck driver, jobs that should demand huge respect.

He said tools teach common sense and lamented the demise of

trade skill education at schools.

His message speaks to bridging the talent gap, another hot topic at this year’s conference.

In the breakbulk and project industries, where the workforce is declining and skilled up-and-comers are few and far between, his mes sage resonated. To fix supply chain troubles in the U.S. may very well require a new way of educating even the youngest of children.

Ratzenberger worked as a carpen ter, house framer, archery instructor and fishing boat deckhand before he became an actor. He said he could not have been prouder than when one of his children chose to become a plumber.

Bemoaning parents who are ashamed of kids that want to work with their hands, he acknowledged

there is nothing wrong with working in an office, as long as those people are well-rounded individuals and recognize that jobs like excavator operators and brick layers are part of the tapestry that built their culture. He said these jobs deserve dignity and respect. Ultimately, that may be the solution to many of today’s indus trial and supply chain woes.

Blue collar jobs are not beneath the breakbulk and project cargo industries. They are the jobs that make the infrastructure, crew the boats, fly the planes, run everything mechanical – affecting every single thing we do. That is the “ethos of our country,” Ratzenberger said. BB

View John’s post-session interview with Breakbulk’s Leslie Meredith: https://youtu.be/X02pQ CIazpU .

John Ratzenberger. CREDIT: HYVE GROUP

Breakbulk Events & Media’s biweekly BreakbulkONE newsletter keeps the industry connected between issues of Breakbulk. Here’s a look back at some of the exceptional transports by land, sea and air published in BreakbulkONE from January through November.

January: Sarens Handles World’s Largest-Diameter Vacuum Chamber

Belgium-based heavy-lift specialist Sarens transported the world’s largest-diameter vacuum chamber for U.S. space technology company

SpinLaunch. The sci-fi looking, 1,000-tonne steel unit was handled at the tech company’s test facilities in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

February: Schares Shifts 430-Tonne Bridge

German crane and heavy haulage specialist Autokrane Schares moved a massive 430-tonne bridge using one of module manufacturer Cometto’s 24-axle-line self-propelled modular trailers.

May: AAL Transports Turbines for Queensland Wind Project

AAL Shipping transported nearly 375,000 tonnes of project cargo, including 43 Vestas V150-4.2 MW wind turbines for the new 181-MW Dulacca wind energy project in Queensland, northeast Australia.

March: Bolloré Shifts Cargo for Songo Songo Gas Project Bolloré Logistics delivered project cargo weighing 5,000 freight tonnes for a natural gas project on Songo Songo Island off Tanzania’s southeast coast.

April: Allelys Doubles Down on Complex Reactor Move

Allelys used two of its specialist girder frames to transport a 150-tonne reactor and a 195-tonne transformer to an electrical substation in southeast England, the first-ever double girder frame convoy deployed on UK roads.

BREAKBULKONE

June: Mammoet Deploys ‘Floating Crane’ for Saudi Bridge Installation

Netherlands-based Mammoet deployed its mobile floating crane concept to help install a 1.2-kilometer bridge on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. The heavylift specialist set the MTC-15 crane on a barge to create a 500-tonne capacity containerized sheerleg to transport and maneuver into place 60 bridge-beam and edge-beam sections, each weighing 400 tonnes.

Port Tampa Bay in Florida handled a batch of 40-tonne dragline buckets for phosphate fertilizer producer, the Mosaic Company. The move was supported by Maersk, Ports America, and Kentucky-based Edwards Moving and Rigging.

November: Goodrich Uses AN124s For Kazakh Oil Plant Delivery

Mumbai-based project cargo specialist Goodrich Maritime used two Antonov AN124-100 heavy cargo aircraft to transport six power generation units from the U.S. East Coast to Istanbul. The cargo, which weighed a combined 240 tonnes, was then trucked 2,600 kilometers through Georgia and Azerbaijan to an oil-production plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan.

Jumbo Offshore transported and installed a so-called torpedo pile mooring system for a FPSO vessel at Brazil’s pre-salt Mero field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro using just one installation vessel.

July: deugro Ships Huge LNG Tanks to Caribbean deugro deployed trailers, barges and a multi purpose vessel to deliver four hulking LNG storage tanks from a manufacturing yard in Decin in the Czech Republic via the Port of Hamburg to a construction site in the Caribbean Sea.

August: Port Tampa Bay Handles Giant Dragline Buckets

September: Jumbo Offshore Installs “Torpedo” Mooring System in Brazil

October: Almajdouie Delivers Goliath Cranes to Saudi Shipyard Saudi-based heavy-lift specialist Almajdouie Logistics overcame some tricky challenges during the transport of four Goliath cranes from the Port of Daebul in South Korea to the King Salman Global Maritime Industries Complex on the kingdom’s east coast.

BREAKBULKONE

CEVA LOGISTICS LAUNCHES NEW BASE IN BAHRAIN

France-Based Firm to Take on Projects “Across the Spectrum”

Ceva Logistics, a unit of French shipping and logistics group CMA CGM, has expanded its footprint in the Middle East after launching a base in Bahrain.

A new office in capital city Manama offers a full range of air, ocean, ground and contract logistics services, spurring growth in key industries and regional markets, Ceva said in a filing.

The Marseille-headquartered com pany, whose revenues in the Middle East grew by 30 percent last year, already has a direct regional presence with offices in the UAE, Qatar and Oman.

Axel Herzhauser, regional manag ing director for Middle East and Africa at Ceva, told Breakbulk the company was ready to take on projects “across the spectrum.”

“Bahrain’s aspirations to be a glob ally competitive economy will certainly provide opportunities for us to use our logistics capabilities to support eco nomic growth.”

Economic activity in Bahrain, the smallest nation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with a population of just 1.5 million, of which half are expats, is driven by crude oil, which accounts for about 70 percent of government rev enues.

A huge offshore oilfield discovered in early 2018 off the west coast at Khalij Al-Bahrain could provide project logistics with a long-term source of cargo-carrying contracts. The reservoir holds an estimated 80 billion barrels of shale oil, dwarfing Bahrain’s current proven reserves of just 125 million bar rels.

Drilling for the first production wells at Khalij Al-Bahrain was expected to start at the end of 2022, the government said last year.

The island state, whose economy is expected to expand 3.3 percent this year and 2.9 percent in 2023, also unveiled late last year a US$30 billion strategic projects plan to beef up infrastructure, create jobs and boost economic growth.

The plans call for the construction of more than 20 major projects, including the Bahrain Metro, a 109-kilometer fully automated urban transit system, and the 25-kilometer, four-lane King Hamad Causeway linking Bahrain with Saudi Arabia.

“With the projects planned already in Bahrain, the opportunities around infrastructure are certainly noteworthy,” Herzhauser said. BBONE

AAL SALVAGES SUNKEN TUGS IN TASMANIA

AAL Shipping has deployed one of its ‘mega-size’ multipurpose vessels to lift and remove a pair of sunken tugs from the Mersey River in Devonport, northern Tasmania.

The 31,000 deadweight-tonnes A-Class AAL Melbourne, more accus tomed to transporting unwieldy components on the carrier’s long standing Asia to Australia East Coast Liner Service, was sent to salvage the two boats after they sank in January following a collision with a cement carrier.

The recovery was planned over several months, AAL said, and involved working closely with other stakeholders including New South Wales-based marine salvage spe cialist United Salvage, port operator TasPorts and cargo insurers.

Chris Yabsley, chartering manager at AAL Australia, said United Salvage, hired to remove the tugs, originally planned to use a floating crane and

barge to carry out the operation.

“However, once we demonstrated that our A-Class vessel could not only recover the tugs but also transport them back up the East Coast for deliv ery to Brisbane, it was clear that AAL would be the perfect partner,” Yabsley said.

The first tug – the 420-tonne York Cove – was hoisted out of the water in early August using the AAL Melbourne’s two port-mounted cranes working in tandem. Two large holes were cut into the hull to allow water and sediment to drain.

The second tug – the 455-tonne Campbell Cove – was recovered and loaded onto the MPV a few days later.

Both tugs were securely lashed to the weather deck for their onward voyage to Brisbane.

“Lifting took time as the tugs weighed significantly more than expected, due to trapped water and fuel,” said Nicola Pacifico, head of

transport engineering at AAL.

“Working throughout the evening on the second tug, the full weight of the tug stayed on our ship’s cranes overnight, awaiting the salvage com pany to pump out whatever was still trapped inside her.”

TasPorts CEO Anthony Donald quoted insurers and salvors as saying it was one of the most complex sal vage activities they had undertaken.

“We not only had the significant challenge of tide and weather, but also the natural eddies in the area and potential marine pollution,” said the executive, who estimated that more than 100 people worked on the proj ect.

The removal of the sunken tugs allowed Devonport to return to normal operations.

Singapore-headquartered AAL owns a fleet of 24 vessels of vari ous classes with a combined total of 688,200 deadweight-tonnes.

FLUOR REPORTS FIRST COPPER AT QUELLAVECO MINE

Texas-Based Constructor Secured EPCM Contract from Anglo American

Fluor has announced first produc tion of copper concentrate at Anglo American’s US$5.5 billion Quellaveco mining project in the mountainous Moquegua region of southern Peru.

Texas-headquartered Fluor received full notice in 2018 to proceed with the engineering, procurement and con struction management of Quellaveco, which contains one of the largest unde veloped copper deposits in the world.

The company has been involved in the project since 2012.

The first yield of the “red metal” marks the start of testing the processing plant with ore and ramping up activities towards commercial operations.

“This is a major milestone for Anglo American and its partner Mitsubishi Corporation as the project nears completion ahead of receiving final regulatory clearance for commercial operations to begin,” said Tony Morgan, president of Fluor’s mining and metals business.

“The project was delivered on time and on budget during a global pan demic through the commitment and collaboration of many companies.”

LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES

A spokesperson for Fluor told Breakbulk the project had faced multiple logistical challenges during its execution, including a lack of infra structure at the Port of Ilo in southern Peru – the project’s main port of entry – and heavy swell throughout the year.

Delivery of components including heavy breakbulk items was coordi nated between two transport towers – one at Ilo and another in Moquegua at the foot of the jobsite.

“Our logistics team worked directly with the construction team in charge of the internal routes design, so the internal routes took into account heavy haul transportation and spe cialized trailer configurations, such as turning radiuses, inclines and rest areas,” the spokesperson said.

“The jobsite also included areas of delivery with altitudes close to 5,000 meters above sea level. A team within the control tower group was in charge of monitoring this high moun tain route, with adequate controls and patrols along the way.”

A SUSTAINABLE PROJECT

Peru is the world’s second-largest copper producer after Chile, while also ranking among the top global producers of silver, gold, zinc, tin, lead and molybdenum. Mining accounts for about 10 percent of the country’s GDP, 60 percent of export income and a sizeable chunk of its breakbulk demand.

At full capacity, Quellaveco is expected to process 127,500 tonnes per day of ore through crushing, grinding and floatation technology to produce 300,000 tonnes of copper equivalent on average in the first ten years of operations.

According to Fluor, the open pit mine will increase Peru’s copper out put by about 10 percent.

Quellaveco is expected to reach design capacity in mid-2023, accord ing to Anglo American.

Fluor is a member of the Break bulk Global Shipper Network, a worldwide network of shippers involved in the engineering, manu facturing and production of project cargo. BBONE

MSC REROUTES VESSELS TO PROTECT BLUE WHALES

Carrier Adjusts Course to Avoid Endangered Species

MSC, one of the world’s largest container lines, has adjusted its ship ping route off the southern coast of Sri Lanka to avoid potential collisions with endangered blue whales.

Geneva-based MSC began to reroute its vessels in mid-2022 fol lowing guidance from scientists, local universities and international wildlife protection agencies, including the International Fund for Animal Welfare, or IFAW.

The area off Sri Lanka’s southern coast is one of the world’s busi est shipping lanes, with the port of Colombo a major transshipment hub for global trade.

The region is also where the

majority of the northern Indian Ocean blue whale population is known to congregate, the IFAW said.

The new course some 15 nauti cal miles south of the current traffic separation scheme for commercial shipping could reduce the strike risk to blue whales by up to 95 percent, simulations have shown.

Westbound and eastbound ship traffic is now limited to certain lati tudes, while smaller feeder ships in the region have been instructed to reduce speeds to less than 10 knots.

“We believe that the commercial shipping sector has an important role to play in protecting cetaceans, spe cifically in helping to reduce the risk

of ship collisions with whales,” said Stefania Lallai, vice president of sus tainability at MSC.

“MSC is proud to rank at or near the top of whale safety shipping rankings. However, we are not at all complacent. We believe that rais ing awareness of these issues and encouraging collaboration between industry, scientific bodies, civil society and governments is essential as we strive collectively to do more to mini mize the risk of ship strikes.”

The carrier said it was urging all other ship operators to consider choosing a more southerly route past Sri Lanka to avoid designated ceta cean habitats. BBONE

HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR BREAKBULK TRAVELERS

Here are six great travel gifts for any project cargo and breakbulk professional.

Selected by Kinsey Chenault, Marketing Coordinator for Breakbulk Events & Media

Mammoet Waterproof Backpack II

€ 49,95

Perfect on a jobsite or just spending time outdoors. www.store.mammoet.com

JetKids by Stokke

$229

The perfect suitcase for little adventurers!

www.stokke.com

iPad (10th Gen)

Starting at $449

The sleek new 10th generation iPad is a faster and more colorful tablet than ever before www.apple.com

Kodak PIXPRO WPZ2 – Action Camera

$159

This rugged design is shockproof, dustproof, and waterproof. www.kodakpixpro.com

Puma Accelerator Duffel Bag

$45

This heavy-duty bag is ready to keep up with your adventures no matter where they take you. www.puma.com

nimble CHAMP Portable Charger $59.95

Smaller than a deck of playing cards, this little charger packs a punch! Designed with 18W power delivery for fast-charge compatibility. www.gonimble.com

HOLY HYSTER, IT’S ELECTRIC

Hyster has a legacy of thinking big and turning our insight into industry breakthroughs. Our new Hyster ® Zero Emissions Container Handlers utilize hydrogen fuel-cell technology and integrated lithium-ion power to help lower emissions, fuel consumption and maintenance costs while delivering the ICE-like performance and efficiency your operation needs to tackle tough tasks.