News bulletin – tanks and logistics

NEWS BULLETIN

TANKS & LOGISTICS

SUTTONS BAGS BOC GIG

Suttons Tankers has won a five-year contract with BOC to provide inter-branch trunking services for the movement of full and empty gas cylinders across the UK. Suttons will invest in 30 new trucks to service the contract, which goes live in April 2021. Suttons will use an 80 per cent dedicated fleet model, with 20 per cent of capacity provided by its wider network. This will allow BOC to use additional trained drivers without over-committing on the core fleet, providing greater flexibility and classleading cost-to-serve metrics, Suttons says.

“We are delighted to announce this major contract win with BOC which is directly aligned to our growth strategy in the gas sector,” says Michael Cundy, managing director of Suttons Tankers. “We were able to be commercially competitive, while providing BOC with a compelling solution that met their requirements and was completely bespoke to their operation. This new business win also secures an extension on our other contracts with BOC, which is a credit to the Suttons employees who have been working on the propellant gas and pentanes contracts.” www.suttonsgroup.com

LNG BY TANK TO CHINA

Novatek Gas & Power Asia and Saibu Gas have completed their first trial delivery of LNG in tank containers to Tiger Gas for distribution in China. The LNG was delivered from the Hibiki container terminal in Japan to Shanghai in tanks owned by Tiger Gas.

“Together with our partners, we have successfully completed our first trial delivery of LNG in ISO containers to China,” says Lev Feodosyev, Novatek’s first deputy chairman of the Management Board. “It is forecasted that ISO containers of LNG will exponentially increase over the upcoming decades, allowing us to diversify our customer base by including small-scale LNG consumers and entering the downstream markets in China and Japan.”

Earlier this year Tiger Gas placed an order for up to ten ships designed specifically for the transport of tank containers carrying LNG, in anticipation of the start of a supply contract with Petronas in 2022. www.novatek.ru

KERRY NOW COTAC

Tank container depot specialist Kerry-ITS has agreed to a merger with the cotac Group and is now known as cotac ITS (Asia) Pte Ltd. Similarly, Kerry-ITS (Thailand) is now cotac ITS (Thailand) Ltd. The deal confirms cotac’s earlier announcement that it is nearly doubling in size by adding depots in Asia and North America. Kerry-ITS says the move will strengthen its position in Asia while improving the range and quality of its tank depot services.

As part of the transaction, William Loh, managing director, has stepped down but will remain in an advisory role for four years; his replacement is Sebastian Loh, who will work with the support of the cotac management in Germany.

Kerry-ITS has also announced that its Shanghai depot has discontinued operations. cotac-its.com

ITCO UPDATES ACC

The International Tank Container Organisation (ITCO) has published an updated fourth edition of its Acceptable Container Condition (ACC) inspection guidance document. This revision makes no substantive changes to the original fourth edition, published in 2017, but has made some editorial clarifications and aligns its design with other ITCO Technical Guidance documents.

The ACC Inspection Guidance is designed to help with the determination of the acceptable condition of a general-purpose tank container and when tank components need repair or replacement. It is meant to be used when tanks are inspected at the point when their control moved between one party and another. The redesigned document can be downloaded from the ITCO website. www.itco.org

GATX BUYS TRIFLEET

GATX Corp has acquired Trifleet Leasing Holding BV for some €175m cash. Netherlands-based Trifleet is the world’s fourth largest tank container lessor with a fleet of more

than 18,000 tank containers under its control. Its customers include tank container operators as well as producers in the chemicals, industrial and cryogenic gases, pharmaceuticals and food industries.

“Trifleet complements our existing railcar leasing business and shares GATX’s approach of striving for the highest levels of safety, quality, customer service and environmentally responsible performance,” says Brian A Kenney, president/CEO of GATX. “We are committed to strengthening Trifleet’s position in the tank container leasing market by leveraging GATX’s extensive global customer base and experience in managing long-lived, widely used transportation assets.” www.gatx.com

HOYER READY FOR ENERGY TRANSITION

The Hoyer Group has combined its Petrolog and Gaslog business units into one operation, the Contract Division, unifying contract logistics for gas and mineral oil supplies. “Combining the highly specialised areas will develop synergies, especially at the organisational structural level,” the company states. The new unit will have some 1,500 vehicles and around 3,500 employees at its disposal.

The former Petrolog business unit has operations in aircraft refuelling, bitumen logistics and the supply of fuels to service stations and commercial customers. Hoyer sees a growing demand in the supply of LNG, CNG and hydrogen as alternative fuels in this sector, indicating a need for the expertise already evident in the Gaslog unit.

“It not only enables us to develop synergies, but also already positions us to effectively and proactively meet the challenge of the energy transition in the next five to ten years – away from petrol and diesel and towards alternative fuels such as hydrogen and LNG,” says Allan Davison, who has taken over as director of the Contract Division.

The combination of its know-how in handling gases with its soundly based experience of digital, system-supported supplies to service stations will enable Hoyer to offer “forward-looking product inventory management and supply logistics” from a single source in the future, the company adds. Furthermore, bitumen logistics, aircraft refuelling and, in gas logistics, supplies to industrial customers will remain in their customary quality.

Mark Binns, who has worked in the Hoyer Group for 41 years and has headed the Petrolog business for more than 25 years, will move over to concentrate on developing the Sustainable Management area. www.hoyer-group.com

BROEKMAN BUILDS IN BELGIUM

Broekman Logistics has acquired the Belgian activities of freight forwarder Ipsen Logistics, further reinforcing its leading position in supply chain solutions in the Benelux countries. The acquisition will add to Broekman’s chemical warehousing in Antwerp, bringing a number of key accounts in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, industrial and heavy lift activities.

“We are looking forward to become a part of Broekman Logistics,” says Johan Proost, general manager of Ipsen Logistics. “Broekman Logistics has shown to be an ambitious player in the Belgian market, and we have full confidence and trust that with a smooth and swift integration with the existing forwarding and warehousing activities in the Antwerp region, we can utilise the synergies that will arise.”

“The acquisition should be seen in the light of building on strong global partnerships, optimising our Global Reach, and simultaneously strengthening our Personal Touch by expanding our local footprint in the Antwerp region,” adds Rik Pek, managing director of Broekman Logistics. “We welcome the expertise and experience of the employees of Ipsen Belgium into our organisation and wish them a warm welcome.” www.broekmanlogistics.com

INCREASING USE OF GASES FOR FUELS HAS PROMPTED