Letter from the Editor

EDITOR’S LETTER

The tragic explosion in the port of Beirut on 4 August was, as we so often hear, “an accident waiting to happen”. Some 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, taken from a ship impounded in the port seven years ago – and later abandoned, along with its cargo, by the shipowner and cargo interests – exploded after a fire broke out. At the time of writing, the death toll is put at more than 200, with many thousands more injured.

The event also destroyed the port facilities – the main import hub for Lebanon – and the surrounding area, and damaged much of the city, still recovering from decades of war and terrorist activity. Alongside the human toll, the continuing destruction of what was once known as the ‘Paris of the Middle East’ is also a great loss to humanity.

The 4 August blast immediately reminds us of the similarly devastating explosion in the port of Tianjin, China in 2015, again caused by illegally stored ammonium nitrate, and also the 2013 explosion at the West Fertilizer plant in Texas. In all three cases, the incident began with a fire and the blast happened when firefighters were on scene; many were killed – including volunteer firefighters in the West Fertilizer incident.

But if the Beirut blast was an accident waiting to happen, how many other accidents are out there just a spark away from happening? Officials in Chennai, India are waking up to the hazards posed by ammonium nitrate in warehouses, stored there after being impounded by customs authorities. A similar situation exists in Aden in Yemen, where an estimated 4,900 tonnes of ammonium nitrate is alleged to have been sitting in containers at the port for three years.

All these are exceptional situations; the fact is, ammonium nitrate is stored in significant quantities in many ports and terminals around the world, as well as in manufacturing plants and warehouses and at end-user facilities. Ammonium nitrate, properly handled, is stable and has many uses, primarily in fertilisers and in mining explosives. That explosion hazard has also long been used by terrorists, including the Provisional IRA and the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh. As a result, in this security-conscious world, stocks of ammonium nitrate are – or at least should be – properly monitored.

If this were a transport-related incident, we can be sure that the regulators would be taking urgent action, putting in place strict provisions. Indeed, there are several UN entries covering the substance in its various forms, placing it in either Class 1, Division 5.1 or Class 9, depending on its purpose and the degree of hazard presented. Those regulations are observed in international transport and in many countries, not just in the developed world, for land transport.

But there is no comparable set of global regulations for the storage of dangerous goods. GHS contains provisions on classification and health and environmental hazards, as well as physical hazards, but does not specify how materials should be stored or handled. Quite often the details are left to local legislators – port authorities, fire departments, and so on – who may or may not have the expertise to set those rules. And to a large extent it relies on those actually doing the storage and handling to declare that they have goods on site. And, as we have seen, there are plenty of reasons for not making that declaration. Peter Mackay

CONTENTS

VOLUME 41 • NUMBER 08

UP FRONT Letter from the Editor 30 Years Ago View from the Porch Swing Learning by Training Business in crisis Covid’s impact on Suttons 01 04 06 11

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CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION Support service NACD members help the community 14 Meet the need DHL invests in pharma logistics 16 Wholly Toledo Brenntag opens Ohio location 18 Reach for the future Univar streamlines for success 20 News bulletin – chemical distribution 22

TANKS & LOGISTICS Drive through the crisis Bertschi shows the way Carry the can Twinstar innovates in chassis 24

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MIMU hits the spot Tank leasing the specialty way Follow the market Highway Transport adds depot 27

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Don’t give up on networking Digital Container Summit is coming 29 News bulletin – tanks and logistics 32 DIGITISATION Linking the 9,000 VTG adds more sensors Swiss on a roll Nexxiot pairs with Swisscom Port to port Join the dots with ePIcenter New in Barcelona BNEW’s insights on digitisation Something in the air CSafe hooks up with Cloudleaf 34

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STORAGE TERMINALS Gulf in class Building export capacity in the US 40 A career in storage Keith Jackson’s 34 years at Inter 42 Tread carefully Vopak navigates the pandemic 44 Bubble buster Blackmer gets rid of cavitation 46 News bulletin – storage terminals 48

TANKER SHIPPING Strong and stable Stolt-Nielsen sails on through Steam clean New ideas in ship propulsion Quiet rivers Kirby sees demand slip Raise the bar Schulte adds LNG training News bulletin – tanker shipping 50

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COURSES & CONFERENCES Training for reality

Editor–in–Chief Peter Mackay, dgsa Email: peter.mackay@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 7769 685 085 Campaigns Director Craig Vye Email: craig.vye@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4014

Commercial Director Ben Newall Email: ben.newall@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4036 Production Manager Binita Wilton Email: binita.wilton@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4041 IATA introduces CBT-A Remote control Online training from DGOT The new normal? Lion discusses online training Let’s meet real soon Labeline takes roadshow online Conference diary

SAFETY Incident Log 70

Chart a course NCB has ideas on container fires 72 Lessons learned CSB applauds Airgas for action 76

REGULATIONS Back on track PHMSA catches up with the world 78 Down to the wire CFATS reauthorisation passes 85 Bulk bargain Changes to US rail rules 86

BACK PAGE Not otherwise specified 88

NEXT MONTH The European Special Issue EPCA Annual Meeting preview Tanks and chemical logistics Sustainability in the supply chain Tanker shipping and tank storage

Managing Editor Stephen Mitchell Email: stephen.mitchell@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4045

Designer Jochen Viegener

Cargo Media Ltd Marlborough House 298 Regents Park Road London N3 2SZ ISSN 2059-5735 www.hcblive.com

HCB Monthly is published by Cargo Media Ltd. While the information and articles in HCB are published in good faith and every effort is made to check accuracy, readers should verify facts and statements directly with official sources before acting upon them, as the publisher can accept no responsibility in this respect.