HCB Magazine July 2020

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EXPERIENCE COUNTS LOOKING BACK AT 40 YEARS OF HCB AND THE INDUSTRY IT SERVES MAJOR ADVANCES IN DIGITISATION SUSTAINABILITY COMES TO TOWN SAFE ENTRY IN TANK CONTAINERS

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EDITOR’S LETTER

Those of us fortunate to have come of age in the 1970s may

It was around this time that Storck Verlag, which had

(if we try hard) remember a time when anything felt possible.

begun publishing Gefärhliche Ladung in the late 1950s

We had our own music to listen to, much of it unlike anything

to keep the German chemicals sector up to date with the

else heard before – reggae, glam, Krautrock and, perhaps

changing transport regulations, decided it would be a good

less successfully, prog rock. We also had colour TV and it was

idea to offer an English-language equivalent so that

a time when colour was everywhere, thanks in no small part

professionals who did not speak German could benefit from

to the efforts of the petrochemical industry in coming up with

the same service.

new synthetic fabrics and dyes.

That set the stage for Hazardous Cargo Bulletin (HCB),

This freedom of expression was only made possible by the

which was established towards the end of the decade and

struggles that many young people had gone through in the

sent out its very first issue in January 1980. This year, then,

1960s, protesting against governments that they saw as square

marks 40 years of continuous publication – extended now

and old-fashioned, holding them back from being themselves

to include online and electronic versions – and in this issue

or taking their part in a society they wanted to change.

we have reached out to some other organisations of a similar

Change was happening anyway, not least in the high-hazard

age to give us their views on how things have changed over

industries. But immense growth in chemical manufacturing

the past four decades and, perhaps, where we are going

and other process industries was coming at a cost to the

in the coming years.

environment and to the safety of personnel. After a succession

Trying to think about the future is still difficult: many of

of high-profile accidents, governments started to take action:

us are still working from home and not getting together

the 1970s saw the formation in the US of the Environmental

with our colleagues, except on one of the new meetings apps.

Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health

Conferences and training are increasingly going online during

Administration; the UK’s Health & Safety Executive started

the lockdown and one has to wonder whether we will ever get

work in 1974, and other European countries were putting

back to doing things the old way. If we don’t, I certainly won’t

similar agencies in place.

miss all the hours sitting in airports, but I will miss the chance

All this brought with it more regulation and industry had

to get out and hear directly from industry and regulators.

to adapt in order to comply. It is perhaps no coincidence that

But, as we keep hearing, today’s young generation are

several of the industry’s leading trade associations were also

apparently already geared up to working that way. They may

formed during what we might call the ‘long 1970s’ – the period

end up having the future to themselves, just like we wanted

from 1968 to 1980 – as industry became keenly aware that it

way back in the 1970s.

needed to have a voice in the development of new regulations.

Peter Mackay

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CONTENTS VOLUME 41

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UP FRONT Letter from the Editor 30 Years Ago Learning by Training How was it for you?

Labelmaster survey results 40TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL Golden years NACD hits 50 next year Fellow celebrants ILTA gets to 40 too Prime mover Seaco and the tank container business Change is a challenge Exis and its roots in HCB Who calls the tune?

TT Club and the role of insurers DIGITISATION All over the world IMT’s solar-powered solution On a mission Chemical Express rides the digital wave Get connected Implico links truck to terminal Keep on tracking Savvy extends connectivity Caps get smart Packwise ready to roll Get with the program ICHCA wants port harmonisation

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Right on time Gebrüder Weiss offers ETA TANKS & LOGISTICS Down the hatch ITCO advises on tank entry Over the hills Hupac ups traffic despite problems News bulletin – tanks and logistics

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Editor–in–Chief Peter Mackay, dgsa Email: peter.mackay@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 7769 685 085

STORAGE TERMINALS Dedicated to fuel Inter improves Gothenburg terminal Building resilience Oikos responds to diesel changes News bulletin – storage terminals SUSTAINABILITY Pulling together Antwerp cluster targets CO² reductions Deep in data Abbey finds the upside of lockdown Better get ready ABS looks at the future for fuels Flex those specs Stena Bulk reduces emissions again Green river Batteries for barges CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION Rebooting Responsible Care Fecc offers tools for implementation

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Empty quarter CBA survey reveals the worst News bulletin – chemical distribution

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COURSES & CONFERENCES Eyes in the skies DGOT offers online alternative Conference diary

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SAFETY Incident Log Master plan Labelmaster gets the data straighter News bulletin – safety

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REGULATIONS Testing, testing GHS experts stay in line

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BACK PAGE Not otherwise specified

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Campaigns Director Craig Vye Email: craig.vye@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4014

NEXT MONTH North America special issue -S torage terminals -L and transport - I nland waterways - Regulations

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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.

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30 YEARS AGO A LOOK BACK TO JULY 1990

While the bulk of this issue of HCB harks back to the magazine’s founding in 1980, here we take our regular look at what was going on thirty years ago – and there was plenty to talk about. As we noted last month, things were hotting up among the UN Experts, who had come to realise that the provisions relating to the transport of gases did not really provide the necessary level of hazard communication. An in-depth article from Graham Evans, a teacher and consultant in the realm of fire safety, discussed the different hazards posed by the various gases transported in cylinders and the fundamental approaches to ensuring their safety.

Elsewhere in the realm of regulations, the UK had decided to discontinue publication of the ‘Blue Book’, which contained the rules governing the transport of dangerous goods by sea. It had been overtaken by the development of the IMDG Code (many years previously, it must be said), which had in part been based on the Blue Book. Meanwhile, IMO was hopeful that it would be able to agree the long-awaited HNS Convention, whose entry into force is now even more long-awaited.

A look at the list of tank container operators in that issue shows the extent to which the business has grown in the past three decades.

The largest operator in 1990 was Hoyer, with just short of 3,800 units; ITCO’s fleet survey this year puts it in second place with 34,700 tanks.

Second then was Stolt Tank Containers, boasting a fleet of some 2,800 tanks; today it is the largest operator with a fleet numbering more than 40,000. Other big names in the 1990 list have disappeared: Trafpak and Transport Coulier, for instance. Others are still in the game, but not at such significant levels, for example VTG, Rinnen and Wim Vos. Among the tank container lessors, Eurotainer commanded the top spot, with 7,400 tanks under its wing (today it has 48,500). But we also noted the great upheaval that had taken place in the sector, with all four of the largest lessors having recently changed hands.

In particular, we remarked on Tiphook’s acquisition of the tank container assets of Sea Containers, the Trafpak tank operation and the UBH tank container manufacturing plant in the UK. Its leasing business came under the Tiphook Tank Rental banner, with the second largest fleet in the world at the time. The leaders were

The July 1990 issue majored on the tank container sector, where we noted that growth had been hampered by a slowdown in the increase in the level of demand from the chemical industry, after a rush to buy new tanks in 1989. It was noted at the time that owners and lessors had begun clearing out their old ‘first generation’ tanks, while focusing new construction on ‘specials’ for specific products (especially gases) and certain trade lanes.

also just about to be challenged by a new entrant: Transamerica Leasing (later TAL).

A small but significant item reported that the 1990 edition of the computerised Cefic Tremcards had become available from NCEC. At the time, this cost £750 plus VAT, with annual updates at £400.

Today these have been replaced by the ADR Instructions in Writing, available free of charge in all EU languages. Sounds like progress.

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LEARNING BY TRAINING

By Arend van Campen

THE NEW NORMAL SOCIETY

Gradually the world is returning to the New Normal. But what is that Normal, is it normal or abnormal? Does normal mean the same as before the Corona crisis, back to business as usual? Fritjof Capra, the famous physicist, said that only an dramatic event would change people’s behaviour, which has actually happened. Careless people were suddenly reminded that they too are mortals, but the issue is that fear of death replaced intelligence with reactionary measures that spelled misery for the most of us for the long term.

Whilst many people died from complications accelerated by the virus, billions more suddenly are facing immediate poverty because they are forbidden to work any longer and imprisoned in draconian lockdowns resulting in dehumanising effects.

The Central Bank in the Netherlands has issued a warning that unemployment could double and that economic restabilisation was not to be expected any time soon. So how can we go back to business as usual if the business is no longer there? The old financial paradigm is just not compatible with today’s economic and societal situation.

A new design is needed, not based on growth, which is the mantra central banks and corporations like to use, but balanced

It is no use to save path-dependent businesses like airlines, because when people are losing their jobs or international meetings can be done online, the usual frequent flyers won’t fly that much any more.

A rationalisation of economics is needed, not based on statistical prognosis but on reality, through real-time information feedback.

You know, it comes down to this: a new design of the economic system must be based on cybernetics, the science of communication and information. We can look at society, understand its complexity, see what is there and what is missing, ease dissent, and work according to the Law of Requisite Variety to create a resilient economy that is circular, self-maintaining and self-regulating.

I have been creating the criteria and conditions for such a design.

No, they are not utopic, but feasible. But who is able or willing to lead this inescapble paradigm shift? In our storage, handling, transporting and trading business of hazardous cargoes, we can start by looking at how nature sustains itself, and develop nonhazardous products, which will be a good starting point, hopefully copied by other sectors.

One thing is very clear, without innovative initiatives from within our industry there will be entropy. I am sure you have noticed that

business based on the carrying capacity of our planet. A new, sustainable design is needed, because only then we can avoid a next virus outbreak because, as a systems thinker, I can see a direct causal link between Corona and our old ways of doing business. We have to develop a basic income system for everyone, which is in my view the only way to avoid chaos, misery and war.

Now is the moment to do so.

this New Normal is the current state of disorder.

This is the latest in a series of articles by Arend van Campen, founder of TankTerminalTraining. More information on the company’s activities can be found at www.tankterminaltraining.com. Those interested in responding personally can contact him directly at arendvc@tankterminaltraining.com.

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HOW WAS IT FOR YOU? SURVEY RESULTS • LABELMASTER’S ANNUAL SURVEY THIS YEAR LOOKED CLOSELY AT HOW THE SUPPLY CHAIN HAS REACTED TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS. THERE ARE LESSONS TO BE LEARNED IN THIS STRANGEST of years, with supply chains in many markets under severe stress as they respond to rapid changes in demand patterns and trade flows, Labelmaster decided to change its annual DG Global Confidence survey to interrogate industry on how dangerous goods professionals are coping.

Organised in collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and HCB, as it has been for the past few years, the survey attracted input from 258 professionals from around the world.

Respondents were asked about the challenges that the Covid-19 crisis has presented them with, the difficulties they

have had in responding, and how they see the changes that they have had to make to their processes impacting their activities as the world emerges back to normal.

In some respects the results did not generate surprising results but they did reveal some insights into how certain gaps in current business practices have hindered rapid response to the challenges that the crisis has presented, and how these practices may have to change if industry is to be better positioned to deal with similar challenges in the future.

Given IATA’s global reach and broad membership, 70 per cent of the respondents to the survey worked in the air transport

business in some way; 20 per cent were primarily involved in road and rail transport, and 10 per cent in maritime transport.

Shippers and consignors represented 40 per cent of the respondents, with freight forwarders accounting for a further 23 per cent; another 31 per cent were airlines and ground service providers, with the remaining 6 per cent being warehousing and third-party logistics (3PL) companies.

VISIBILITY PROBLEMS The survey asked about the main challenges presented by the Covid-19 crisis. Top of the list, according to the respondents, has been the ability to secure transport assets: 37 per cent said they had found this “extremely challenging” and another 35 per cent “somewhat challenging”. Another major problem has been receiving and shipping goods on time, and many also reported problems in receiving complete and timely information from their partners up and down the supply chain.

These responses point to a lack of visibility along the supply chain, despite the widespread availability of systems and platforms to provide and share real-time data. Perhaps this will act as a wake-up call to those operators that have not yet begun to implement such solutions.

Similarly, there are neutral platforms available to put shippers and owners of transport assets together, which would help alleviate at least some of the problems that respondents have reported in terms of securing capacity.

Indeed, it is apparent from the survey results that respondents experienced fewer problems in tracking shipments across the supply chain (with only 13 per cent finding this extremely challenging) or in communicating with customers and suppliers. This suggests that, while telematics systems are being deployed, they have not yet been fully integrated into internal business management systems (such as SAP).

Furthermore, if all the partners in the dangerous goods supply chain are to work together more effectively, there is an urgent need for standardisation in the management of transport systems, which the current crisis has made even more apparent.

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BIGGEST CHALLENGES The survey also asked what areas of operation have been a particular challenge. Again, it is perhaps not too surprising that respondents found training to be the biggest issue: 31 per cent found training new employees on the regulations governing the transport of dangerous goods to be “extremely challenging” with another 37 per cent saying it has been “somewhat challenging”. Similarly, the recertification of existing employees has been extremely or somewhat challenging for nearly 70 per cent of those polled.

Various regulatory and enforcement agencies around the world have provided some relief from the recurrent training requirements during the pandemic crisis, although any new employees must still be trained. Without the possibility of face-toface training as a result of travel restrictions and social distancing requirements, it has fallen on virtual or online training to fill the gap. It has been apparent that some training providers have responded to this by developing new concepts that are capable of delivering effective initial training, although these have necessarily been far more sophisticated than existing off-theshelf modular online training courses.

There have even been tentative moves on the part of some authorities to approve online examinations, with live invigilation.

If this proves acceptable, then thoughts will inevitably turn to continuing with the approvals once the crisis eases. Will we all simply go back to traditional in-person, instructor-led training in the future? Cost considerations suggest that employers and trainers might be keen to hold on to the changes that have come with the crisis.

HELP AT HAND Survey respondents, who might have been glad of the temporary relief provided by their regulating authorities during the crisis, were

 THE RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS HAVE MADE THE USE OF COMPUTER-BASED COMMUNICATION AND LEARNING CRUCIAL IN RIDING OUT THE MASSIVE CHANGES WITHIN THE DG SUPPLY CHAIN

less happy with the help their competent authorities – themselves affected by the pandemic response measures, after all – were able to provide in terms of effectively communicating rules and restrictions to employees along the supply chain. Only 17 per cent of those polled said that the assistance that competent authorities provided was very helpful, and nearly 19 per cent said they were not helpful at all.

Conversely, organisations operating in the dangerous goods chain were much better at providing support and assistance to their dangerous goods personnel, with nearly 80 per cent saying they were very helpful or helpful. Respondents were also happy with the information offered by IATA and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

The survey also asked whether the volume and type of dangerous goods being handled had changed since the pandemic started.

Here there were differing responses, with some (22 per cent) handling more and 31 per cent handling less dangerous goods. In addition, 33 per cent said they were now handling different types of dangerous goods.

These comments mirror anecdotal reports

Perhaps just as interesting is the fact that 47 per cent of respondents reported no change in the volume of dangerous goods handled and 67 per cent said they had seen no change in the types of dangerous goods in their supply chains.

that certain sectors of the chemical industry – particularly those serving the automotive and construction sectors – have been hit hard by a collapse in demand, whereas other sectors, notably those serving the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, have witnessed an immense increase in demand.

the dangerous goods supply chain about the ways to respond to rapid changes and disruptions, so that they will be better prepared in the event of a recurrence.

The full results of the 2020 Labelmaster DG Confidence survey will be released soon at www.labelmaster.com.

LOOKING AHEAD The survey finished with a rather open question: how long do you think it will take before things get back to normal?

Interestingly, 19 per cent said things are already back to normal and another 15 per cent estimated it would take no longer than three months. Almost 50 per cent felt it would take between three and twelve months for supply chains to settle back down, while 4 per cent felt we will never return to a normal situation.

Given the widespread predictions of a ‘second spike’ in Covid-19 cases later this year and the potential for Covid-19 to reappear annually, in the same way as influenza, some of these estimations look rather optimistic. It should be hoped that the past few months have provided some lessons to DG professionals and others in

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GOLDEN YEARS DISTRIBUTION • NACD CELEBRATES ITS GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY NEXT YEAR. PRESIDENT/CEO ERIC R BYER LOOKS BACK AT SOME OF ITS SUCCESSES OVER THE PAST FIFTY YEARS THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of Chemical Distributors (NACD) is an international association based in Arlington, Virginia, US, with its membership comprising nearly 430 chemical distribution companies and their supply chain partners. NACD members represent more than 85 per cent of the chemical distribution capacity in the nation and generate 93 per cent of the industry’s gross revenue.

Our members, operating in nearly every US state through approximately 3,400 facilities, are responsible for more than 26,000 direct jobs in the US. Collectively, our industry as a whole is responsible for almost 137,000 direct and indirect jobs. Chemical distributors in the US are predominantly small regional businesses, many of which are family-owned and multigenerational – on average having 30 employees and operating under extremely low margins.

NACD’s members meet the highest standards in safety and performance through mandatory participation in NACD Responsible Distribution®, the association’s third-party-verified environmental, health, safety, and security

HCB MONTHLY | JULY 2020

programme. Through Responsible Distribution, they demonstrate their commitment to continuous improvement in every phase of chemical storage, handling, transportation, and disposal operations.

Owners and operators of NACD member companies have a personal stake in the safety and security of their employees, companies, and communities. They demonstrate this through their continuous improvement in performance under Responsible Distribution, relationships with employees, involvement in local communities — including participation in Local Emergency Planning Committees — and careful compliance with the numerous environmental, safety, and security regulations at the federal, state, and local levels.

distribution segment of the industry, and most specifically NACD members, plays an important role in the supply chain to facilitate the movement and repackaging of products to enable this to happen. The association’s membership annually generates nearly $33bn in sales, delivering products to 750,000 customers every 7.5 seconds while driving 411 million miles with private and third-party truck fleets. They deliver nearly 34 million US tons each year, with the average shipment valued at $7,800.

While NACD members’ economic impact is a key component of the US market, the measures they take through Responsible Distribution ensure their products are handled on-site and transported via road and rail with the highest levels of safety in mind. In 2018, the most recent data available, NACD members reported only one incident for every 8,900 shipments, a 16.4 per cent decline over the last eight years. On top of that, small firms average just one incident per $37m in net sales.

Large firms average even fewer, at just one incident for every $111m in net sales. These results show that even operations with minimal staff and resources are focused on safety.

ECONOMICS AND SAFETY

PROGRAMME ACCOMPLISHED As NACD looks to celebrate its 50th anniversary

NACD’s membership sells into a diverse array of market sectors, including agriculture, construction, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, oil and natural gas, paints and coatings, water treatment, and more.

In fact, the chemical industry touches 96 per cent of all commerce in the US. The chemical

as an association next year, and in recognition of HCB’s 40th anniversary as a publication dedicated to operational safety in the chemical supply chain, it’s important to highlight our evolution over those 50 years and mention some of our biggest accomplishments as an organisation.

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Formed in 1971, NACD was initially created to represent a specific part of the chemical industry – chemical distributors. For many years, our membership comprised only those companies that are classically chemical distribution companies.

Since then, we have significantly opened our membership to companies along the entire spectrum of the chemical industry. In fact, we now have four additional membership categories beyond ‘distributor members’, namely: Chemical Producer Affiliates, Chemical Handler Affiliates, Service Provider Affiliates, and Global Distribution Partners. Each of these represents a different subset of the chemical supply chain that are essential for chemical distribution companies to operate effectively.

This expansion enhanced our effectiveness in bringing together suppliers, customers and other vendors to tackle significant business issues and learn from each other on a host of operational, regulatory, and Responsible Distribution issues.

Along those lines, the creation of our yearly trade show and conference, which was originally known as OPSEM but is now called ChemEdge, has been a particular success. Shortly after NACD was founded, it quickly became clear that we needed a conference to bring together not just the C-suite individuals of our industry, but also middle management and operations professionals who conduct the vital nuts-andbolts work of distribution every day. We endeavoured to bring those people together to learn from each other’s successes and challenges and also provide subject matter experts from outside our membership to lead sessions on industry best practices.

We’ve since grown that event to three days of training, with parallel Responsible Distribution and Regulatory Affairs Workshops. Given the rich content we offer, we have been able to grow the attendance of ChemEdge to more than 400 people and approximately 70 exhibitors who showcase their products.

 NACD PRESIDENT/CEO ERIC R BYER (ABOVE): NACD MEMBERS ENSURE THEIR PRODUCTS ARE HANDLED AND TRANSPORTED VIA ROAD AND RAIL WITH THE HIGHESE LEVELS OF SAFETY IN MIND

The launch and subsequent improvement of Responsible Distribution over the years has also been a proud accomplishment of our association. When we started the programme in 1991, it was simply a document verification process every three years – we did no on-site inspections. By 1998, we realised we needed to make the programme more robust, so we adopted third-party on-site verifications, which allowed us to more easily identify areas where member companies could improve.

Following the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, we also instituted security elements throughout the programme’s Code of Management Practices to ensure our members were taking seriously the threat of terrorism and putting strategies in place to safeguard their products and facilities. And, we also now require our members to have 20 per cent of their facilities undergo the on-site verification process every three years – instead of just one facility – to make sure they’re implementing the programme across their company and within their corporate culture.

Lastly, we launched a number of educational programmes in recent years to give our members access to tools and resources to run their businesses more effectively and efficiently and to train the future leaders within chemical distribution. In 2013, we initiated our Emerging Leaders programme, in which participants go through a two-year course designed to educate them on management practices, enhancing productivity, problem solving, and more.

We also joined with Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business to offer a series of three-day or five-day executive certificate programmes. These training sessions include the Duke Leadership Program, the Duke Management Program, Business Negotiation Skills, and Advancing Women Leaders, among others. Beyond that, we increased the number of weekly webinars we offer on a broad range of topics to give businesses – particularly small businesses – access to information and

GOVERNMENT POLICY As the association has grown, so too have the regulatory and legislative issues impacting our membership. In reflection of those impacts on our industry, our association increased its presence in Washington, DC on compliance and business issues, and we have achieved some significant wins on the policy front.

In 1971, the same year NACD was formed, the US Congress passed a law known as the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which was designed to enable the still fairly new US Environmental Protection Agency to regulate thousands of chemicals on the market better.

Since then, the number of chemicals in commerce has exploded to upwards of 80,000.

It became clear in recent years that a better framework was needed to give both regulators and industry the ability to manage all those chemical products.

For the better part of a decade we, along

subject matter experts to grow and manage their companies.

And we created an online educational platform called NACD U that includes over 200 short 30-minute to one-hour courses on issues such as Responsible Distribution, transportation, safety, regulatory compliance, and much more.

with other industry stakeholders, advocated for an update to TSCA. In 2016, we finally accomplished that goal through the Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (LCSA), named after the late and long-time reform advocate US Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). Many of those reforms

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are still in the process of being implemented, and there have been unforeseen challenges for both the regulatory community and industry to apply those changes, but LCSA has still been an improvement over the old TSCA. On the security side, in 2006 we provided input to Congress and the US Department of Homeland Security to create the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) programme, which put in place regulatory requirements for companies handling or storing hazardous chemicals to thwart the threat of acts of terrorism. That programme has been reauthorized multiple times since then with chemical distributors’ full support.

Unfortunately, as of this writing, CFATS is set to expire 23 July 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 being an election year, and a number of other political issues, it has been

difficult to get the attention of Congress to pass long-term reauthorisation legislation that would give industry and regulators alike the certainty needed to make security investments at their companies and implement the regulatory requirements, respectively. Yet we remain hopeful that CFATS will continue – and if it does expire, we will work tirelessly to bring it back in some shape or form because a federal standard is critical to ensuring our country’s national security.

The association has also been successful in rolling back duplicative or unnecessarily onerous regulations, like the Risk Management Program changes put into place in the final days of the Obama administration, updates to the hours-of-service regulations for truck drivers, changes to the Process Safety Management regulatory regime, and even the US’s implementation of the Globally

Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).

Finally, NACD has also made significant inroads to advance our members’ best interests on trade policy. First and foremost, NACD successfully petitioned the Trump administration to exempt hundreds of chemical products from the Section 301 tariffs on imported Chinese goods. Many of those products can only be sourced from China and tariffs on them would have placed a significant financial burden on NACD member companies that regularly do business with Chinese firms.

In recent years, we have also successfully advocated for the reauthorisation of the Generalized System of Preferences and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill. These two programmes effectively reduce the tariff rates on thousands of goods that either cannot be sourced domestically or otherwise would put US businesses at a global disadvantage because of higher import duties. Taken together, our success in encouraging the Trump administration and Congress to reduce tariffs on thousands of products through these three policies has enabled NACD members to remain competitive in the global chemical market.

CLOSING THOUGHTS As you can see, NACD has been busy ever since its founding to provide networking opportunities, educational resources, a framework for EHS&S performance through NACD Responsible Distribution, and policy achievements to our membership to ensure they have the best possible business, regulatory, and educational environment to run their companies at peak levels.

We are proud of our accomplishments over the last 50 years, and we are confident that we will continue to push the bar ever higher for ourselves, our membership, and the broader chemical industry over the next half a century. www.nacd.com

 THE GROUND WORK FOR TODAY’S NACD WAS SET BY ITS ORIGINAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS IN 1971 (TOP) AND PARTICIPANTS IN THE FIRST RESPONSIBLE DISTRIBUTION PROGRAMME IN 1995 (BOTTOM)

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40TH ANNIVERSARY 11

companies be successful. The ILTA board of directors formed a new category of membership – originally ‘sustaining member’, later becoming ‘supplier member’ – to provide for greater engagement by these industry partners in the association.

That same year, the ILTA Annual Operating Conference and Trade Show was born.

CONGRATULATIONS, HCB, ON your 40th anniversary! We at the International Liquids Terminal Association (ILTA) are celebrating our own 40th anniversary – that of our annual operating conference and trade show, scheduled for 16 to 18 November in Houston this year.

ILTA itself was founded in 1974, the brainchild of four terminal executives: John L McDonald of Robertson Terminals in Houston; William Feldman of Lake-River Terminals in Berwyn, Illinois; GL ‘Jerry’ Spaeth of Bulk Terminals in Chicago; and David P Schofield of GATX Terminals in Chicago.

Following the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 and the

(OSHA) in 1971, many US industries faced growing regulatory compliance responsibilities throughout the 1970s. The terminal industry was among these. The four founders of the then Independent Liquid Terminal Association recognised that their sector lacked a dedicated association to advocate on their behalf on regulatory and legislative policy being formed in Washington. Unless they established such an organisation, the terminal industry would be absent in the formulation of new rules.

Thus, the association was created.

By 1980, ILTA had established itself as the voice of the terminal industry in Washington and recognised that it could provide even more value by also cultivating professional

RIGHT UP TO DATE Forty years later, ILTA’s annual event in Houston has become a must-attend event for terminal industry professionals. On 16 to 18 November this year, we look forward to bringing the industry together again. Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our attendees, speakers and exhibitors. We are working hard to reconfigure our conference and trade show with social distancing in mind.

We are also paying close attention to the recommendations of state and local health authorities. While ILTA 2020 will look and feel a little different during this new normal, we can certainly promise that our attendees will come away with new insights, deeper professional connections and memories of a great experience overall.

We know how important our annual event is to tank and terminal professionals and to the companies that provide them with products and services. We want our industry community to know that we, at ILTA, are here for them. We are proud of the contributions the industry makes to the world’s economy.

We are particularly proud that the industry operated safely and reliably during the challenging circumstances of this past spring. We know our challenges are not over, but we hope you can take some time to spend time with your peers at our event this year.

As we celebrate 40 years of bringing the

Occupational Health and Safety Administration

development opportunities for industry professionals, providing a forum for product demonstrations and creating a space to network. Achieving these goals was possible only through fostering greater participation by the broader community of product and service providers that help terminal

industry together at our annual operating conference and trade show, we congratulate HCB on your accomplishment of bringing world-class industry news to your subscribers.

We wish you another successful 40 years.

To learn more about this year’s ILTA conference and trade show, please visit www.ilta.org.

FELLOW CELEBRANTS STORAGE • ILTA PRESIDENT KATHRYN CLAY LOOKS BACK TO THE FIRST ILTA ANNUAL CONFERENCE FORTY YEARS AGO, AND HOW THE ASSOCIATION HAS CHANGED SINCE THEN

 ILTA PRESIDENT KATHRYN CLAY SAYS SHE IS PROUD THAT THE INDUSTRY HAS OPERATED SAFELY AND RELIABLY DURING THE CRISIS, BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN

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PRIME MOVER TANK CONTAINERS • SEACO WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TANK LESSORS AND IS STILL ONE OF THE LARGEST. THINGS HAVE CHANGED A LOT SINCE JIM SHERWOOD FIRST STARTED THE FIRM SEACO – FOUNDED AS Sea Containers - was one of the very first companies to lease shipping containers, established in 1965 by the late entrepreneur James B Sherwood.

Tank containers were an early part of Sea Containers’ diversified portfolio as a pioneering lessor and manufacturer of such equipment.

Constantly investing in a diversified and growing fleet of containers including dry vans, reefers and a wide variety of specials, Seaco has been able to generate significant

 SEACO HAS RECENTLY ADDED 20-FOOT REFRIGERATED TANKS FOR THE TRANSPORT AND STORAGE OF TEMPERATURE-SENSITIVE LIQUIDS

purchasing power, able to bring economies of scale to its customer offering while still maintaining the personalised approach to business that is so important for its tank container customers.

Today Seaco owns one of the largest fleets of standard and special tank containers in the world. This has meant that tank operators have been able to grow their vital contribution to cargo owners’ activities through access to high-value equipment without the need to invest large amounts of their own capital.

Seaco has also been a seeding ground for talent: many senior executives involved in the industry today gained their initial experience in Sea Containers House in London.

CONTINUE THE COMMITMENT Seaco is a strong believer in the further growth of the contribution the tank container makes to global trade. As more and more companies commit to Environmental and Social Governance – Seaco very much among them – the case for carrying foodstuffs and chemical products in tank containers will get more and more persuasive. Seaco is confident that we will see further ‘modal shift’; that is, more and more products will move into tank containers as an efficient, safe and above all long-lasting method of transportation.

Tank containers, when built to the right specification, will last twenty years or more – and then move to after-markets for storage or further transportation, often after refurbishment. They are therefore a great example of what is increasingly referred to as the ‘circular economy’ where resources are used time after time before being recycled.

Seaco also recognises that the industry must adapt in other ways as the world moves forward. It is watching developments on telematics with interest, offering tracking equipment as required by customers who need to track remotely the location and condition of valuable cargo.

Seaco has invested in an increasingly diverse range of tank containers in addition to the traditional T11 tanks, adding compartmented, refrigerated, electrically heated, baffled and lined tanks to the fleet.

Its fleet of gas tanks has grown from zero to well over 1,000 units in under four years.

It has pioneered an innovative design for the carriage of cement and other powders, which is proving particularly popular as the construction of wind farms increases.

Among many other special tank types, Seaco has just made its first investment in highly sought, and highly valuable, T75 tanks for the transport of cryogenic gases.

Most importantly, Seaco has developed its people, creating centres of excellence and knowledge for tank containers in the Americas, EMEA, Asia and Oceania, ensuring that global reach doesn’t compromise the ability to offer customers access both to local expertise and the product itself wherever they are needed. www.seacoglobal.com

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CHANGE IS A CHALLENGE SOFTWARE • EXIS TECHNOLOGIES HAS ITS ROOTS IN THE HCB OF THE 1980S. IT HAS GROWN THROUGH A PERIOD OF INNOVATION AND A MASSIVE CHANGE IN SCALE REWIND TO 1987 and please stay with this!

You need to ship 400 litres of Grignard solution from Hamburg to Singapore. You know it’s hazardous so you try the IMDG Code general index. Page 10122 tells you it is UN 1928, class 4.3, packing group I and a flammable liquid.

The schedule page is 4355-1. If it hadn’t been listed by name you would have looked in the UN Orange Book to see if it met any of the hazard class definitions, what the packing group was, and picked the appropriate generic or N.O.S. UN Number.

The schedule page tells you it is UN 1928, METHYLMAGNESIUM BROMIDE, IN ETHYL ETHER. The chemical formula is CH³MgBr, which is useful only to a chemist wanting to confirm the identity of it. It will be a colourless, yellowish liquid which decomposes violently in contact with water. Spillage will ignite spontaneously so helpfully it says to refuse shipment in damaged or leaking receptacles.

The packaging choices are listed on the schedule page itself rather than in a table used by many class 4.3 substances. You pick 1-litre

glass receptacles, each sealed in a metal can and then packed together in a 4D plywood box.

They are limited to 125 kg gross so you will need several of them. The DG declaration is completed and everything has been collected by the forwarding agent. This is LCL (less than container load) so the consolidator uses his IMDG Code to check compatibility with other items in the container, which is then booked with the carrier, whose DG department now checks the shipment against the IMDG Code, their own rules, segregation onboard and ship restrictions.

This process is pretty much the same as today but in 1987 it involved the use of books, telephone, telex and fax, the latest technology.

The ship is 2,000 teu and the whole movement takes a typical six weeks with too many hours of administration that is prone to error.

LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY This was the start point for Exis; an environment of long-established manual procedures and increasing DG incidents driving international implementation of the IMDG Code (for example the fire that destroyed the dry cargo ship Poona in Gothenburg in 1971, involving sodium chlorate and rapeseed oil).Information technology is developing and the arrival of commercial internet (or world wide web) is imminent. Some lines, notably Hapag Lloyd, have implemented in-house computerised DG systems, mostly replicating but speeding up their manual procedures. There is no industry-wide computer system or standards.

The first Exis products of the late 1980s and early 1990s were basic lookup tools for the international multimodal regulations, speeding up the booking process. They ran on customers’ servers and the early PCs, plus a clunky dial-up service. During the 1990s Exis focused on sea transport, building on its ‘Computerised IMDG Code’. Operators needed fast ‘yes/no’ answers to DG questions without laborious reference searches. This was the platform on which the Hazcheck family was built, tools for each link in the transport chain that simplified classification, packaging, segregation, stowage and documentation.

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While functionality and IT were developing rapidly, there was a reluctance to change tried and tested manual procedures, however cumbersome, slowing the uptake of computerised alternatives. The DG process was rarely understood by senior management unwilling to go against vested interests.

For each ‘go live’ day for a shipping line’s new DG booking system, the Exis team was on standby to field protests from consignors of rejected shipments that had been regularly but wrongly accepted up to that point. The lines needed to support their own customers in improving DG compliance. The relentless growth in traffic and vessel size, the increasing speed and sophistication of supply chains and the demands of manufacturing forced the pace. By the early 2000s Exis Hazcheck systems were being implemented by most of the major container lines, a share that has climbed to 80 per cent today.

COLLABORATE FOR SAFETY Another driving force was the need for the carriers to cooperate on misdeclared dangerous goods and harmonise their systems. Up to this point, most carriers operated their own protocols, making slot-sharing cumbersome and error-prone.

In 2011 the Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS) was launched, a major industry collaboration to reduce DG incidents at sea.

That mission has also led to the recent launch of Hazcheck Detect, an Exis cargo screening system to help detect misdeclared DG. Compared with a typical carrier’s daily transactions in the 1990s of a few hundred shipment checks, Hazcheck Detect is currently processing a typical 6,200 shipments per hour, computer-to-computer with no human intervention 24/7/365.

 OPPOSITE: THE FIRE ABOARD THE 15,266 TEU MAERSK HONAM IN MARCH 2018 LEAD TO THE DEATHS OF FIVE CREW AND SEVERE DAMAGE TO THE VESSEL ITSELF AND THE REST OF THE CARGO

Exis is now collaborating with major lines and organisations in developing similar solutions, notably with New York-based container inspection company National Cargo Bureau (NCB) on the development of Hazcheck Inspections, a web database and portal for planning, recording and analysing container inspections and the development of common inspection standards.

solutions driven by the group’s not-for-profit mission of safety of life and cargo at sea.

Ian Lennard, president of NCB, comments: “Exis has established itself over the last 40 years and now supplies Hazcheck validation (for declared DG cargo) to nine of the top ten container lines. The next chapter of the company has begun with the launch of Hazcheck Detect, which will help prevent

In April 2018 NCB acquired Exis Technologies, bringing together the leading supplier of systems for the safe management of dangerous goods with NCB’s high reputation and authority in the regulatory and loss prevention environment - and setting the stage for further exciting development of DG

undeclared or misdeclared DG being accepted and/or loaded on to vessels. This service complements NCB cargo inspections undeclared, misdeclared and poorly stowed dangerous goods cargoes represent a serious risk to life, property and the environment.” www.existec.com

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WHO CALLS THE TUNE?

IT IS SOBERING to reflect that not only do incidents involving dangerous goods continue to occur with unnerving frequency but that a considerable proportion of what goes wrong is entirely preventable. This should be all the more vexing in the context of the last 40 years, with the phenomenal changes in business practices, particularly the advent and widespread adoption of electronic records and communications.

TT Club, founded more than 50 years ago, is a specialist insurer of the risks arising from

At its core, insurance is about taking a share of risks that an individual or entity does not want or cannot afford to retain. Almost inevitably, cover is provided for defined risks generally within a range above an excess or deductible and subject to a financial limit. Assuming another’s risk is based on understanding, which requires full and frank disclosure to build and maintain trust.

HIDDEN COSTS Pondering these simple tenets should already

However, since TT’s mission includes making the industry it insures safer and more secure, it seeks to generate insights from incidents that it incurs. This is supplemented by publicly available information, which is delivered back to the industry in specific and general risk mitigation programmes, collaborating with other industry leaders to bring about change.

Allied to the fragmented and partial incident experience held by insurers, it is worth drawing the distinction between ‘insured’ and ‘economic’ losses. When any type of mishap occurs, there are a host of direct and indirect costs or overheads that an entity incurs, such as reputational damage, the need for emergency supplies, increased inspections, revised training and procedural introspection.

Perhaps the most intangible is the loss of management time, diverting them away from productive activity; at the lowest

all kinds of actors in the global supply chain, with particular emphasis on unitised transport.

As a result, TT is well placed to provide some perspectives on the ‘state of the nation’ and progress over the decades. Nevertheless, it is worth rehearsing some insurance theory and fallacies.

reveal the twin fallacies that insurers are both paymasters and holders of all types of relevant data – and that is before remembering that insurance itself is as fragmented a market as anything else seen in the supply chain. There is currently no complete, standardised and shared data matrix covering the risks in question.

level this might be mending counterparty relationships, but could equally be full-on crisis management, responding to investigative or enforcement agencies, handling media and much more. One study by the UK Health & Safety Executive reported that every £1 of insured costs ‘hid’ between

SAFETY • PEREGRINE STORRS-FOX, RISK MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR AT TT CLUB, LOOKS BACK ON THE ADVANCES MADE IN MARITIME SAFETY OVER THE PAST FOUR DECADES

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£8 and £36 of further uninsured costs; whatever the multiplier used, economic losses fall heavily on the entities involved.

Thus, while it is inevitable and instructive to draw on the litany of casualties and major incidents, every near miss and all attritional losses bear scrutiny. As the judge in one recent case explained, disasters are only infrequent due to a “lack of a similar perfect storm of events, and simple good fortune”.

As a result, all stakeholders are well advised to consider the potential implications of the least mishap to protect not simply their own activities but also take appropriate responsibility for others throughout the physical supply chain who may be impacted.

This knowledge of the manufacturer also become pivotal in the litigation following the more recent incident on MSC Flaminia in July 2012. In that case, the explicit awareness of the hazards presented by the commodity was found to have been compounded by a fatal management decision to override standard procedures. As it happened, a number of other failings prior to the container being loaded on board led to a classic rendering of Professor Reason’s ‘Swiss Cheese model’.

In essence, the argument goes that incidents always result from the conjunction of a number of issues or process failures, despite measures in place to control or prevent undesirable consequences.

NOTABLE EXAMPLES To take one example: the containership DG Harmony incurred an explosion and fire in November 1998, while en route from the US to Brazil. The fire burned for three days; the ship and almost all its cargo became total loss. It transpired that the consignment of calcium hypochlorite had been packed straight off the production line, while still warm, into 145-kg (300-pound) fibreboard drums stacked three high in the container.

The IMDG Code only recommended carriage away from sources of heat where temperatures exceeded 55°C. In fact, the ambient temperatures in the hold rarely exceeded 40°C, but the container still exploded.

It was found that the packing method (warm cargo in airtight drums) actually enhanced the risk of accelerating decomposition, even though it was in compliance with the (then) IMDG Code requirements. The manufacturer was held negligent by failing to research possible risks of this method of packing.

It was telling that the manufacturer not only had the best knowledge about the substance’s nature, but had also previously experienced shoreside fires.

THE PEOPLE PROBLEM It would be entirely possible to rattle off the listing of more major incidents and casualties that have monotonously punctuated the decades – and even increased in 2019 – attempting to draw conclusions from the subject commodities, faulty decisions, broken communication protocols or failed control mechanisms.

And lessons have been learned along the way, regulations have been adjusted – such as the IMDG Code becoming mandatory in 2004 or itself mandating training for all personnel involved in consigning dangerous goods – but the central problem unerringly returns to the human factor.

 PEREGRINE STORRS-FOX (RIGHT): INCIDENTS SUCH AS THE EXPLOSION ABOARD THE MSC FLAMINIA (OPPOSITE) ARE ENTIRELY PREVENTABLE BUT SADLY STILL OCCUR WITH UNNERVING FREQUENCY

There may be deliberate actions taken related to cutting costs or paperwork, or simply a lack of safety culture. Many such deliberate actions verge on or are actually criminal or fraudulent; column inches have been filled with such considerations in relation to the correct classification and declaration of goods. Increasingly sophisticated processes and technologies are being devised to consistently ‘smoke out’ such activity.

Hardly less culpable in the connected global village are actions that may not be deliberate, such as unsupervised activity of those who have less experience or have not yet demonstrated competence following training.

There will inevitably be pressures of time or volume. Granted, the rules can be hideously complex and open to broad and varied interpretation, and so enforcement around the world is inconsistent in application and penalty.

IT TO THE RESCUE Although avoiding human error is nigh impossible, it may be possible to reduce the likelihood of an error and prevent one triggering an event. In the supply chain process, arguably the most critical point is packing – most often done by those who have little knowledge of the entirety of the process and will not appreciate the differing physical and environmental stresses in play throughout the journey. In many instances, other actors throughout the supply chain will have to rely on what has been done at the outset. Sadly, both government and industry inspection regimes have repeatedly found that such reliance is too often misplaced on a lamentably small sample.

It may ultimately be that automation and digitisation will provide solace. Certainly, technology may well have passed a capability tipping point, with machine learning techniques enabling computers to interpret, manipulate, understand and challenge inputs and exchanges. Their ability to predict outcomes has far exceeded human capability in this regard. But never forget that computers also rely on – and even trust – humans, even though that is a marked improvement on simple good fortune. www.ttclub.com

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“Our brand-new CLT20-Ex monitors a tank container’s geographical location, its motion (shock and normal movement) and the temperature of the device,” Drenth explains. “The CLT20-Ex is solar powered, enabling unlimited data transfer and long-lasting operational reliability on tank containers, wagons and other assets that do not have their own power source.”

IN THE FUTURE, it will be possible to track a tank container every inch of its journey from the load point to the receiver, and to receive

That future is not so far away. Intermodal Telematics (IMT) has been working on the next iteration of its telematics solutions and

POWER UP It is that lack of an onboard power source that has been an issue for tank containers – and rail wagons and other unpowered transport assets. Without external power, telematics units and their associated communications systems and sensors need to rely on batteries. As a consequence, it has been difficult to produce systems that can provide real-time information: in order to conserve power, these units often communicate in discrete parcels of information transmitted every few hours.

IMT’s solution is to use solar panels, generating power that is held in a longlasting battery unit. This allows them to send information every five minutes, ensuring that tank operators and others in the supply chain are informed as soon as there is an anomaly in the transport or the cargo, and that receivers are kept up to date on the position of their consignment and its likely time of arrival.

When solar power is unavailable – if the tank is stacked in a yard, say, or stowed under deck on a ship – the battery has enough power to last for two to three months, easily enough to cover an international sea voyage.

To ensure connectivity wherever the tank is in the world, the CLT20-Ex is fitted with two modems, a Pentaband 2G/3G unit and a 4G/5G LTE-M, CAT M1 and NB-IoT

real-time information not just about its location but about the status of its load: its temperature, pressure, filling level, movement and more. Not only will it be possible but it will be affordable – and customers are going to expect to have that visibility all the way through the supply chain.

has recently introduced a solar-powered communication and location terminal, CLT20-Ex. “With the CLT20-Ex, IMT brings unlimited wireless data transfer to tank telematics, allowing for optimal accuracy,” says Dethmer Drenth, IMT’s founder and managing director (above).

modem. “We really present a distinctive solution,” Drenth says. “No other telematics provider offers this multi-modem capability.”

And, of course, the CLT20-Ex has ATEX IIC and IECEx certification, making it suitable for use with both dangerous and nondangerous goods.

ALL OVER THE WORLD TANK CONTAINERS • IMT’S LATEST HARDWARE LAUNCH TAKES TANK TELEMATICS ONTO A NEW LEVEL BUT, AS DETHMER DRENTH EXPLAINS, THERE IS PLENTY MORE TO COME

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FOCUS ON TANK CONTAINERS Development of the CLT20-Ex is a result of IMT’s core focus on the tank container sector, which marks it apart from some of its competitors, Drenth says. This is also reflected in its unique user portal, which is designed to offer the information that tank container operators and lessors need. Its algorithms and alarms are based on tank containers and the products they carry, up to and including cryogenic liquids, and are designed to fit with its clients’ own software systems.

Moreover, this focus has led it to develop 15 different sensors that can be fitted to tanks, depending on requirements, to track crucial indicators of each individual tank’s location and condition. As with all its hardware and software, these have been developed and are produced in-house – another differentiator: other telematics providers use third-party sensors, which, Drenth says, can push up costs.

Indeed, IMT maintains a team of 11 hardware engineers and 35 software specialists at its

 IMT HAS DEVELOPED SOLAR-POWERED HARDWARE THAT CAN ENSURE FULL VISIBILITY OF A TANK CONTAINER AND ITS CARGO FROM FILLING TO DISCHARGE, WHEREVER THE TANK IS IN THE WORLD

headquarters in Breda, the Netherlands. They take each concept from a blank page right up to production. “None of our competitors has that capability,” Drenth says.

That in-house expertise has been built up through close collaboration with the tank container industry, most especially with Hoyer, IMT’s initial and still largest client, though reports that Hoyer is a shareholder in IMT are incorrect. But that relationship is pointing towards the next extension of IMT’s capabilities: Hoyer has a large fleet of metal intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) that also need to be tracked and monitored. IMT also realises that chassis and other mobile assets are potential expansion areas.

WHAT’S TO COME There are further innovations in the pipeline.

One problem in deepsea maritime transport is connectivity for tank containers stowed below deck, which cannot access satellite communication. IMT is exploring the possibility of using in-ship connectivity, linking through the ship’s own satellite system. In that way, Drenth says, the units will always have connectivity. And they will have enough battery life to communicate during the sea voyage, sending alerts in the event of an anomaly in the cargo.

This is the sort of service that is increasingly being demanded of tank container operators:

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“The pull will come from receivers,” Drenth says. He compares the current situation unfavourably with the sort of quality and safety expected during the production process. Chemical manufacturers and other cargo generators are these days expected to meet ISO standards for quality, safety and environmental performance, but once the goods leave their premises those same standards cannot be assured. Only through constant monitoring can cargo receivers be confident that the goods will reach them in the state that they were in at the beginning of a journey.

Drenth notes that, at present, the drive for greater visibility through the supply chain derives from quality and safety considerations.

However, with the cost of sophisticated telematics systems having fallen dramatically – and likely to continue to do so – the benefits in terms of customer service and efficiency are coming to the fore. The potential impact on such considerations is immense, he says.

Ultimately, he expects all quality tank container operators and lessors, chemical manufacturers and shipping lines to be fully equipped with the highest standard of telematics capabilities. Those who fail to implement solutions like these will simply not get the business. www.intermodaltelematics.com

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ON A MISSION TANK CONTAINERS • CHEMICAL EXPRESS IS RIDING THE DIGITISATION WAVE, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE NEW TOOLS THAT ARE BEING DEVELOPED TO IMPROVE VISIBILITY THE TRANSPORT OF liquid chemicals in bulk is a very specialised field, with significant differences compared to other goods. This is largely to do with the constant technological and regulatory updates, particularly for those chemicals classified as dangerous, and for the increasingly innovative challenges that the market offers – electronic documentation, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), geofencing and the use of sensors, among others.

All these elements have contributed to a radical change in the type of service required from customers of their carriers; visibility

 ONBOARD SYSTEMS NOW PROVIDE FULL VISIBILITY OF CARGO AND TRANSPORT MOVEMENTS

in the whole supply chain has become essential in measuring tank container operators’ performance, as well as providing data on punctuality, accuracy of service and flexibility.

Chemical Express, in response to these developing requirements, has recently instigated a cooperation with its partners involved in fleet management control (Transics) and transport management software (Space Computer). As a result of this shared commitment, Chemical Express’s planners, using an estimated time of arrival (ETA) function linked to each driver’s ‘mission’, now have real-time information about a shipment’s status. In this way, it is possible to reduce the impact of unexpected events in each movement, allowing planners to find

alternative solutions and, similarly, to avoid late arrival, missed loadings or other problems.

This tool is available for Chemical Express’s drivers through a touch-screen onboard computer, which records all driver and truck information, as well as data from other sources, such as temperature sensors and document scanners, and allows the driver and the dispatcher to exchange information in real time.

By means of this ‘missions system’, every single part of the transport, including the first or last leg of an intermodal transport is constantly updated and monitored. Chemical Express is currently testing the tool with its main sub-contracts via a mobile app, with the aim of extending it to all sub-contractors in September.

INTO THE FUTURE The next step in the medium term is to extend usage of the app with additional functions to Chemical Express’s main customers. In this way it will be possible to share the information and, mostly, ensure transparent operations for customers – what the European Chemical Transport Association (ECTA) has termed ‘transport visibility’. For this reason, Chemical Express is looking with much interest in the new ECTA best practice guideline, Transport Visibility within Bulk Chemicals (HCB May 2020, page 34), and the app will work in accordance with these guidelines.

“We expect that technological innovation will radically change the transport sector, as is already happening in our daily life,” says Franceso Mattozzi, account manager at Chemical Express. “In the near future the e-ECD (electronic European cleaning document) will be used by stakeholders in the European petrochemical supply chain (chemicals producers, tank cleaning operators, tank storage operators and transport companies) to share data, offering advantages like more transparent cleaning cycles, fewer errors and reduced risk of contamination, as well as blockchainenabled platforms to allow all the parties involved to access in real time all the shipping data and documents.” www.chemicalexpress.it

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class-A technology and service to help boost its business.”

GET CONNECTED DIGITISATION • IN-PLANT TRUCK MOVEMENTS ARE ABOUT TO BECOME A WHOLE LOT MORE EFFICIENT THANKS TO TWO NEW APPS DEVELOPED BY IMPLICO WITH THE HELP OF SAP

IMPLICO, A LEADING software developer and consulting firm for the oil and gas industry, has received certification from SAP for its ‘Connected Truck’ and ‘Connected Depot’ apps, which were built on the SAP Cloud Platform through the ‘Co-Innovated with SAP’ programme.

The cloud-based micro-services provided by the apps offer tank terminal operators and their business partners significant benefits, Implico says, such as more efficient, secure and transparent truck handling from site entrance to exit.

The new apps are part of Supply Chain United (SCU), an across-the-board architecture of easy-to-use web services for all supply chain

 IMPLICO CEO TIM HOFFMEISTER (ABOVE) SAYS THE NEW APPS REPRESENT AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARDS A FULLY DIGITISED DOWNSTREAM SUPPLY CHAIN

processes with multiple participants. The co-innovation program with SAP enabled Implico to tap into a global expert network and use state-of-the-art technologies and platforms. The results are two best-of-breed solutions providing oil and gas companies – such as tank farms, refineries, fuel retail networks and logistics firms – with operational process excellence and further added value.

Tim Hoffmeister, CEO of Implico Group, is excited about the latest developments and the things to come: “With the ‘Connected Truck’ and ‘Connected Depot’ apps newly achieving SAP certification, we are taking an important step towards our vision of a fully digitised, intelligent downstream supply chain.

The increase in process optimisation for tank farms and carriers is immense. We are looking forward to offer our new ‘Supply Chain United’ technologies to the industry soon. Here, the label ‘Co-Innovated with SAP’ will help us a lot. After all, a company that opts for an SAP-certified product can be certain to receive

WHAT THEY DO The Connected Truck app links the driver directly with the dispatching and transport planning system. This enhances trip planning and reconciliation for bulk deliveries significantly, Implico says, and raises a wealth of new possibilities. The fetch-anddelivery process can become more efficient, transparent and safe for all parties involved.

The Connected Depot app addresses two crucial issues at tank farms with truck connections, namely queuing at the gate and traffic on site. Via the cloud-based functionality ‘Online Check-in’, it streamlines product loading in oil, gas and chemical terminals. The app keeps all partners in a loading or delivery operation up to date on all movements, allowing them to carry out key work steps before the truck has even arrived at the gate. This supports a seamless process from planning to execution, even in operations that involve several terminals or customers.

“To boost supply chain efficiency across complex business networks by increased collaboration based on standardised processes becomes an objective that companies are pursuing in the fuels secondary distribution domain,” says Jean-Marc Delbos, director of SAP’s oil and gas industry business unit.

“The ‘Connected Truck’ and ‘Connected Depot’ applications by Implico are prefiguring the evolution towards such business networks that will further develop in these times of fundamental transformation.”

The Co-Innovated with SAP programme is designed to help partners through the development lifecycle that culminates in a SAP-certified and tested solution against SAP product standards. It is an end-to-end program of guided services offered by the SAP Partner Innovation Lifecycle Services organisation that helps partners take their products to market in alignment with other SAP teams, providing guidance and support to help ensure a competitive solution in the marketplace.

The two apps are already implemented at pilot locations in Europe. Further information is available on the dedicated website www. supply-chain-united.com or on www.implico.com.

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KEEP ON TRACKING TELEMATICS •.TAKING SENSORS TO THE TRACKS AND THE SEAS IS THE NEXT STEP TOWARDS FULL SHIPMENT VISIBILITY, AS A SYSTEM PROVIDED FOR ANQORE

BY SAVVY DEMONSTRATES

OVER RECENT YEARS, the use of advanced telematics systems has been widely accepted across the truck fleet, providing real-time information for operators and their customers.

Taking this functionality over onto rail and maritime services has, though, been slow, with a number of technical hurdles to be overcome. Once containers head off onto the rails or out of port, it is difficult to keep track of their whereabouts and condition.

This was the problem facing Netherlandsbased chemical manufacturer AnQore (formerly DSM Acrylonitrile). In order to resolve

it, AnQore turned to SAVVY Telematic Systems and, since March, has adopted an integrated telematics system for all of its several hundred tank containers and tank wagons. As a result, it has optimised fleet efficiency and improved safety during the shipment of its products.

Like all chemical manufacturers, AnQore places great importance on delivering its products – in this case liquid acrylonitrile and acetonitrile – in full, on time and safely to its customers. This includes being in a position to provide customers with accurate information about the status of a shipment, its likely time

of delivery and its condition. That information is also required for inbound shipments and the return of empty tanks.

“Our customers have a few days’ buffer to unload the tank containers and wagons and ship them back,” explains Peter Kehrens, logistics purchasing and implementation manager at AnQore. “In the past we were only able to roughly estimate when the containers would arrive at our plant. That’s why it became clear that in order to allow our fleet to operate at optimum capacity, we would need a better overview.

“Modern sensory technology opens up a whole new realm of possibilities,” Kehrens adds. “For example, shipments can be monitored in real time and processes can be coordinated with customers and logistics partners more efficiently. So we went out to look for a telematics system. We found SAVVY Telematic Systems, a supplier that suits us well.”

BOXES ON THE TANKS To implement the solution, AnQore installed ATEX- and IECEx-certified CargoTracExR devices, developed by SAVVY, on all its tank containers and tank wagons. These small boxes, which can be installed in a few easy steps, contain robust and reliable high-tech electronics. In addition to sensors for location purposes and to measure a range of variables, they contain a long-lasting battery and a module for data communication.

These devices send encrypted data via the mobile network to SAVYY’s Synergy Enterprise private cloud-based platform, which in turn is connected via an interface to AnQore’s SAP system. The corresponding plan data for each new order – departure time, stops along the route, etc – are transmitted automatically

 A LONG-STANDING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANQORE AND SAVVY HELPED SMOOTHE THE PROCESS OF THE LATEST SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION

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from the SAP system to the SAVVY Synergy Portal. Using their account, employees log into SAVVY Synergy Enterprise. There, they can check the status of all transports in real time and can have them displayed on a map overview to see where a particular shipment is located at that particular moment.

In the event that incoming data from the telematics unit differs from the plan data, either in terms of a delay or a safety-related event, the SAVVY Portal sends an alarm notification by email. In this way, AnQore employees know immediately that something is not right, enabling logistics planners and customer service representatives to take action straight away.

“An exceptional situation during the implementation phase clearly demonstrated the advantages the new system gives us,” says Kehrens. “In spite of week-long strikes in France from November 2019 to January 2020, we were able to maintain an accurate and up-to-date overview of our fleet. This put us in a position to continuously keep our customers informed and supply them with goods, where other suppliers could not.”

“THE PLATFORM HAS ENABLED US TO TAKE A BIG STEP TOWARDS DIGITISING OUR LOGISTICS

accurately, it is possible to provide condition-based maintenance, in other words, check-up dates are planned in accordance with the tank container’s and/or its chassis’ actual kilometreage, instead of according to a rigid schedule.

A wagon operating to capacity will require maintenance earlier than a wagon operating at less than full capacity. This is both a safety and efficiency advantage.

IMPROVING ASSET UTILISATION In addition to improved customer service, the solution makes it possible to make the best use of fleet capacity, thereby reducing costs. Due to the fact that the AnQore production plant cannot be stopped easily, it is necessary to have enough containers and wagons to fill on site. At the same time, it is important to avoid having empty wagons and containers on site for a long time.

Both targets can now be met more easily by using telematic data.

Logistics planners can react quickly to short-term fluctuations in fleet planning

route, SAVVY’s software calculates when they will arrive at the AnQore plant. This makes smooth just-in-time production possible for the customer as well as AnQore.

As AnQore’s products are dangerous goods, shipment safety is also a very important consideration. SAVVY Telematic Systems telematic devices are certified both in accordance with the IECEx international standards and the ATEX European standards and approved for all hazardous zones. “It is our vision and goal to be the most reliable and safest supplier in our competitive environment. Sensors enable us to track shipments with precision.

And this makes it possible to proactively monitor our adherence to local, and future regulations, as well as to EU laws applying to the shipment of hazardous goods such as for example the Basic Network (Basisnet)

ANOTHER HAPPY CUSTOMER Following the completed roll-out in March 2020, all AnQore’s sales and customer service representatives are now using the SAVVY Synergy Enterprise portal. The next step will be to get long-standing customers on board: selected customers will obtain their own access to the SAVVY Portal. This means they will constantly have an overview of their orders; at the same time this will decrease AnQore’s customer support service workload.

“It is a lot of fun to continue to tap the potential of the solution”, says Kehrens.

“From the start, SAVVY Telematic Systems has proven to be an excellent choice. Both hardware and software fully meet our expectations, and we are very happy with the support SAVVY has provided. SAVVY fully understands our specific needs, has advised us accordingly and adjusted the platform as we have envisioned it.

This has enabled us to take a big step towards digitising and automating our logistics processes.”

Aida Kaeser, CEO of SAVVY Telematic Systems, adds: “After all these years of working together, we have come to know and appreciate AnQore as a very innovative and highly professional company. All the more reason for us – as AnQore’s

and take measures in the medium term to continuously optimise processes. Since AnQore always notifies customers of the exact arrival time, the customer can also make more precise plans and unload the shipment more quickly. Once the customer sends the tank wagons on their return

in the Netherlands,” says Kehrens.

To ensure safe shipments, the tank containers have to be in perfect technical condition, something that AnQore previously checked every six months. This process can also be improved with telematics. Since the sensors measure service performance

exclusive partner- to be happy to support AnQore with the implementation of its digitalisation strategy. We will also continue to put all our efforts into jointly maintaining our lead on the market through innovation.” www.savvy-telematics.com

PROCESSES”

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CAPS GET SMART PACKAGING • IBCS MAY LOOK JUST LIKE PLASTICS BOXES BUT THERE IS PLENTY THAT DIGITISATION CAN OFFER USERS, AS PACKWISE HAS BEEN EXAMINING GERMANY-BASED PACKWISE, which has developed a ‘smart cap’ for intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), has taken its concept a step further through a collaboration with Acconeer, a spin-off from research at Lund University in Sweden. Together, the two firms are applying Acconeer’s unique radar sensor to measure the fill level in IBCs during transport.

The partnership results from a search by René Bernhardt, chief technology officer at Packwise, who was looking for the right technology to supplement the Packwise cap to provide level measurement. After testing several products, he hit on the A1 radar sensor from Acconeer. “The people responsible at Acconeer were immediately hooked on our topic and even got their own container to

After the suitability of the Acconeer sensor was confirmed with prototypes, the integration of the sensor into the Packwise solution was started as a joint project. The implementation challenges included algorithm adjustments, integration of hardware components and special software versions for the Packwise Smart Cap hardware architecture. Even after that, during the test phase, there was a lively exchange between the technicians of both companies.

Acconeer employees visited the Packwise team in Dresden in order to optimise the technology for pilot Smart Cap customers. “The cooperation is very lively, fast and trusting,” says Packwise CEO Gesche Weger. “We are very grateful for this warm and professional co-operation.”

carry out initial tests,” he says. After further exploration, the two sides signed a contract.

INTO PRODUCTION The joint project marks the last major step towards series production of the Packwise Smart Cap. The plug-and-play device creates the digital twin of a container. Sensor data provide information about its location, fill level, movement, inclination and temperature. The

 THE PACKWISE MANAGEMENT HAVE TAKEN THEIR CONCEPT A STEP CLOSER TO FULL PRODUCTION

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Packwise Smart Cap, which can be attached to the container in a few easy steps, must function perfectly, even under demanding conditions.

“This is a challenge for the technology, which the A1 radar sensor from Acconeer masters perfectly,” Packwise says. It measures the distance between the top edge of the container and the liquid level. The level can be determined from this. A major advantage is that the sensor can measure through a wide variety of materials without coming into contact with aggressive chemicals or highly sensitive container contents. Whether high and low temperatures or humidity – the measuring results remain absolutely precise.

Series production of the Packwise Smart Cap will start this summer. The cap can be easily attached to the various models of IBC or steel drums. Because customers will have a better overview of stock levels, reordering can be automated and the logistics and preparation of containers can be improved. Carbon dioxide can be saved that would otherwise be produced in the production of new containers: an asset for the environment.

“This is an innovative and absolutely forward-looking approach that Packwise is pursuing with the Smart Cap,” says Lars Lindell, CEO of Acconeer. This development supports the idea of a circular economy.

“We are delighted to be part of it now with our radar sensor technology.” Both companies will continue to work closely together in the future. www.packwise.de

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GET WITH THE PROGRAM PORTS • MARITIME INDUSTRY GROUPS BELIEVE THERE IS AN URGENT NEED FOR PORT COMMUNITIES TO GRASP THE NETTLE OF DIGITISATION AND HAVE ISSUED A CALL FOR ACTION

IF CONFIRMATION WERE ever needed, the current global health crisis has thrown into sharp relief the crucial role that seaports and terminals play in keeping vital goods moving around the world. It has also highlighted the need for port authorities and terminal operators to be able to keep on top of rapid changes in levels and patterns of demand.

Some port authorities have already taken steps to leverage the huge amounts of data flowing into their offices to identify weaknesses and to put in place measures to enhance the productivity not only of the ports themselves

 PORTS AROUND THE WORLD ARE URGED TO WAKE UP TO THE POTENTIAL OFFERED BY DIGITISATION

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but of the whole port community, showing that they are well placed to fully grasp the potential offered by the latest wave of technological innovations and integration and develop into ‘smart’ ports. Others have been slower to change and continue to struggle with their reliance on personal interactions and paper-based transactions. Only 49 of the 174 member states of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) have functioning Port Community Systems, which are considered to be the cornerstone of any port in the current digitised business landscape.

Now that the world’s attention is focused on emerging from isolation and preparing for a ‘new normal’, there is an ideal opportunity for inter-governmental organisations, governments and industry stakeholders

concerned with maritime trade and logistics to come together and accelerate the pace of digitalisation so that port communities across the world can at least offer a basic package of electronic commerce and data exchange, in compliance with all relevant contractual and regulatory obligations.

WHAT DO WE NEED? To this end, a wide-ranging group has come together to launch a call for action. Those putting their names to this initiative are the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), BIMCO, the International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (ICHCA), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Harbour Masters’ Association (IHMA), the International Maritime Pilots Association (IMPA), the International Port Community Systems Association (IPCSA), the International Ship Suppliers’ Association (ISSA), the Federation of National Associations of Ship Brokers and Agents (FONASBA) and the PROTECT Group. They have identified a number of priorities: 1. Assess the current state of implementation and enforce existing mandatory requirements defined in IMO’s Facilitation Convention (FAL) to support transmission, receipt and response of information required for the

DIGITISATION

arrival, stay, and departure of ships, persons, and cargo, including notifications and declarations for customs, immigration, port and security authorities, via electronic data exchange 2. Ensure harmonisation of data standards beyond FAL to facilitate sharing of port and berth-related master data for just-in-time operation of ships and optimum resource deployment by vessel services and suppliers, logistics providers, cargo handling and clearance, thereby saving energy, improving safety as well as cutting costs and emissions 3. Strive for the introduction of Port Community Systems and secure data exchange platforms in the main ports of all IMO member states 4. Review existing IMO guidance on maritime cyber-risk management and its ability to address cyber-risks in ports 5. Raise awareness and promote best practice and standardisation in the application by port communities of emerging technologies

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such as artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, internet of things, digital twins, robotics process automation, autonomous systems, blockchain, virtual reality and augmented reality 6. Facilitate the implementation of such emerging technologies and other innovative tools to increase health security in port environments, allowing port and marine employees, contractors, and the vessel crew to work and interact in the safest possible ways 7. Develop a framework and roadmap to facilitate the implementation and operationalisation of digital port platforms where authorised port community service providers and users can share data under secure data sharing protocols, enabling these platforms to connect with hinterland supply chains as well 8. Establish a coalition of willing stakeholders to improve transparency of the supply chain through collaboration and standardisation,

starting with the long overdue introduction of the electronic bill of lading 9. Set up a capacity-building framework to support smaller, less developed, and understaffed port communities, not only with technical facilities but also with training of personnel. Quality data exchange requires a trained workforce with mid- and long-term perspectives to build, implement, support, and sometimes override technology.

Working on these priorities will require collaboration between all stakeholders in the maritime supply chain industry and governments around the world. Above all, it calls for inter-governmental collaboration as the acceleration of digitisation will require change management at local, regional and national levels. National trade facilitation committees implemented under the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement could be an excellent instrument for member states and port authorities to drive the change.

construction sites,” says Robert Bernhard, area manager supply chain and logistics at Sika Österreich.

All process-relevant information is available online in real time. Order and shipment status can be retrieved by a mouse click, just like the ETA. By means of a link, the shipment status can be shared directly with the Sika customer at the construction site.

Another benefit for Sika is that the entire communication thread relating to a particular transport operation is completely available

on the digital Gebrüder Weiss platform, which gives all parties involved the same information at all times without duplication of requests.

“The launch of the ETA function is part of the digitisation strategy of Gebrüder Weiss,” the Lauterach-based company says. “In the coming months, the company is going to roll out more digital services. The myGW customer portal that provides the framework for the individual features will be launched officially in the course of the year. www.gw-world.com

RIGHT ON TIME ETA • CONSTRUCTION SITES WORK TO TIGHT SCHEDULES; SIKA AUSTRIA NOW HAS BETTER VISIBILITY THANKS TO A DIGITISED SOLUTION USED

BY ITS TRANSPORT PARTNER GEBRÜDER WEISS HAS implemented an estimated time of arrival (ETA) tool to help its client Sika Austria to provide accurate, on-time delivery of its chemicals and adhesives to construction sites. “This not only saves time, but also enhances the quality of communication overall. We are now able to provide direct, reliable information to our customers, enabling them, in turn, to respond quickly and appropriately if, for instance, delivery dates are delayed, and accordingly to benefit from greater planning reliability on their

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DOWN THE HATCH

THE INTERNATIONAL TANK Container Organisation (ITCO) has published a fifth document in its technical series, TG05, Safe Entry into a Tank Container. The document provides guidance for ITCO member companies – and others – that engage in activities that require personnel to enter the interior of a tank container for the purposes of inspection, maintenance or remedial cleaning.

The document focuses solely on the tank entry process, presenting the inherent risks that will be encountered and must be managed properly. ITCO says that, ideally, procedures should be reviewed to see if there are any ways

Those involved in tank entry, whether as personnel entering a tank or those responsible for managing the process, need to be aware of the potential for those inside a tank to be asphyxiated through a lack of oxygen or intoxicated by gases and vapours that are present in the tank. Those are two different things but have the same risk: that the person inside the tank may be overcome and, in the worst case, can die.

DEFINE THE SPACE Before considering the safety risks involved in tank entry, it is important to establish the

limited means of access and egress, and is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.

Permits are required when such a confined space contains or may contain a hazardous atmosphere. Operators need to be aware that tank configurations may result in gases being trapped or concentrated in particular parts of the tank, meaning that a single gas measurement may not give a complete picture of the risks inside. There is also a need to take account of baffles, pumps and other equipment that can present a trip hazard.

In any case, a Tank Entry Permit must be issued prior to any work inside a tank; this must be completed by a competent person who has assessed the risks and put procedures in place to mitigate those risks. The permit should assess the tank’s conditions, in particular the nature of the last cargo carried in the tank and whether it has been cleaned or contains residues. ITCO stresses that the Tank Entry Permit should not be confused with the Cleaning Receipt or Cleanliness Certificate, and provides examples of all three documents.

to allow the relevant tasks to be carried out without the need to physically enter the tank, such as the use of CCTV. ITCO also notes that national legislation governing confined space entry should take precedence over its guidance and users should always comply with the appropriate legislation as a matter of course.

precise conditions inside a tank. ITCO refers to definitions used by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which clarify a distinction between ‘confined space’ and ‘permit required confined space’.

A confined space is one that has adequate size and configuration for employee entry, has

ITCO also stresses the importance of training, not just for those entering a tank but also for the person issuing the Tank Entry Permit and any personnel on hand to provide safety assistance. This applies equally to external contractors or inspectors.

The nature of the required training is often

SAFETY • ITCO IS CONTINUING ITS MISSION TO IMPROVE SAFETY IN THE USE OF TANK CONTAINERS WITH NEW GUIDANCE ON SAFE TANK ENTRY

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specified by local health and safety legislation but additional, function-specific training will be needed, appropriate to the service provider’s site and company policy.

PERMISSION TO ENTER ITCO is clear that the Tank Entry Permit is the key to safe operations, but notes that there are several factors that must be taken into account.

The risks in any tank entry operation vary widely, depending on whether the tank contains residues or has been fully cleaned of its last cargo, hazardous or not. The permit should, for example, show the fullest information possible on the last cargo, including the UN number and proper shipping name, together with the technical name of the substance if is not included in the proper shipping name.

For non-regulated substances, the technical name should also be shown. Abbreviations and proprietary names should not be used.

Information on the last cargo should come from a traceable document. The safety data sheet (SDS) may provide information on the assessed hazards and required safeguards for that cargo.

“Last cargo is important and essential information,” the ITCO document notes.

“In the event of an accident, precise and prompt information is required to be provided to emergency and medical responders.”

It is the nature of the last cargo that will determine the atmosphere inside the tank; the presence of vapours from cargo residue or from inert gas can create an oxygen-deficient atmosphere, and some vapours will have a toxic effect on anyone breathing them. It is vital, therefore, that the atmosphere inside the tank is measured using a calibrated gas and oxygen meter to ensure that the tank is safe to enter.

This check should be part of the issuance of the Tank Entry Permit and must be undertaken immediately prior to entering the tank. ITCO notes that, before opening the tank to take this measurement, operators should check

FIT FOR PURPOSE The purpose of the tank entry process should also be considered, as it too has a bearing on the safety measures that may need to be taken. This is particularly important if any

“THOSE INSIDE A TANK CAN BE ASPHYXIATED THROUGH A LACK OF OXYGEN OR INTOXICATED BY GASES OR VAPOURS”

repairs are to be carried out, regardless of whether or not they involve hot work.

A Tank Entry Permit should be time-limited and take account of the assessed risks. For example, a tank assessed as safe to enter for the purpose of remedial cleaning might

subsequently contain vapours as a result of the cleaning process, whereas a cleaned tank being entered to undertake a visual inspection might be assessed as being safe to enter for a longer period.

The Tank Entry Permit should also list the required safety equipment, as appropriate for the work envisaged. This might include, for example, the gas and oxygen meter, ventilation and breathing equipment, lighting, protective clothing, harness, alarm and a safety watch attendant. ITCO advises that safety training exercises should be carried out periodically and that these should include training on the removal of an incapacitated person from the tank.

ITCO says that it may be possible to devise an alternative documentation process if, after a thorough evaluation, it is determined that the tank does not represent a ‘permit required confined space’. In such cases it may be enough simply to use an alternative procedure involving the marking of the existing cleanliness document, or to securely mark the tank with a tag. This should only be done following a systematic safe entry assessment.

The ITCO document TG05, Safe Entry into a Tank Container, can be downloaded free of charge from the Organisation’s website, www.itco.org.

that the tank is not under pressure.

 THERE ARE MANY REASONS FOR SOMEONE TO BE INSIDE A TANK CONTAINER BUT THE SAFETY PRINCIPLES REMAIN THE SAME

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OVER THE COURSE of 2019, the Hupac Group shifted more than 1 million truck consignments from road to rail for the first time, with the total number of transports increasing by 10.5 per cent. Much of the increase was accounted for by the acquisition in 2018 of ERS Railways but Hupac also increased its market share in its core business of transalpine transport through Switzerland as a result of the introduction of new products. This was despite an overall fall in land transport on transalpine routes of 4.6 per cent, driven by the weak economy in Europe.

Those figures translated into some pleasing

impacted by the clouded economic situation, the strong Swiss franc and the reduction of subsidies. While EBITDA grew by 4.6 per cent, operating profit fell by 35 per cent to SFr 5.1m.

HERE COMES THE CRISIS Those figures are unlikely to be matched this year, as the Covid-19 pandemic has presented the company with some extraordinary challenges since February, when the outbreak struck northern Italy, Hupac’s most important destination and source market. Hupac reacted immediately to protect its employees and customers, moving staff to home offices

Nevertheless, there was a sharp drop in transport volumes during April, especially on transalpine routes, which were up to 50 per cent lower than a year earlier as a result of the forced closure of industrial activity. That has eased somewhat, although at the start of June volumes were still some 25 per cent below the expected level.

“The Europe-wide slump in traffic and the simultaneous increase in road competition due to the drop in diesel prices during the corona crisis requires effective measures to support combined transport in order to prevent a shift back from rail to road,” Hupac says, although Switzerland and Italy have both taken steps to provide some relief in terms of access costs.

However, Michail Stahlhut, director of Hupac Intermodal, believes more could be done.

“We expect further measures to reduce the fixed cost burden of the combined transport operators also from Germany as the most important market and central European transit country,” he says. “Temporary additional track access charges support as well as subsidies for rolling stock that cannot be used in the crisis would provide relief and counteract a clear-cutting of offers in rail freight transport.

Without appropriate support, combined transport operators would be forced to reduce their network, which would trigger a dangerous downward spiral in modal shift.”

Meanwhile, Hupac is also diving further into digitisation, having installed GPS units on some 1,000 wagons last year to provide better tracking, as well as RFID chips on 250 wagons to help with predictive maintenance. Last year it also began the digitisation of booking processes, which is helping to optimise loading capacity and provide reliable information on cargo status. Customers can track their consignments using Hupac Train Radar and, if necessary, can receive proactive information on any deviations from the timetable.

“With the digital transformation of its business processes, Hupac is strengthening

financial results, with group turnover up 5.4 per cent at SFr 611m. Profits were, though,

within a short time to keep customer services up to standard. Hupac notes that this was only possible because of its already high level of digitisation, which provides ways to decentralise access to documents and platforms, together with powerful tools for telecommunications and teleconferencing.

the competitiveness of combined transport,” the company says. “The focus is on wagon technology, terminal productivity, better planning of the interface between wagon, terminal and customer and, last but not least, better visibility of the supply chain.” www.hupac.ch

OVER THE HILLS RAIL • INVESTMENT IN DIGITISATION IS HELPING HUPAC DRIVE BUSINESS THROUGH THE COVID-19 CRISIS, DESPITE A SHARP FALL IN TRANSALPINE TRAFFIC TO AND FROM ITALY

 MOVING FREIGHT FROM ROAD TO RAIL IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO EMISSIONS REDUCTION

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NEWS BULLETIN

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“We are proud to be making a valuable contribution to more attractive, digital rail freight transport with this innovation project.

Fitting our European fleet with cutting-edge sensor technology is pivotal to our digitalisation strategy,” says Sven Wellbrock, COO for Europe and Chief Safety Officer at VTG. Meanwhile, VTG Rail Logistics has finalised the acquisition of a majority shareholding in Slovakian railway company Carbo Rail, following approval by antitrust authorities.

Carbo Rail will be integrated into VTG’s Retrack railway company and will operate under the name Retrack Slovakia.

“Its operating licences for Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary make Carbo Rail a sensible complement to our Retrack network that sustainably reinforces our presence in Central and Eastern Europe,” says Günther J Ferk, head of VTG Rail Logistics Europe.

“Working together under the same name, our commitment is to supply customers with seamless, single-source transaction services and end-to-end forwarding solutions along the most important transportation corridors all over Europe.” www.vtg.com MORE ADBLUE FOR SUTTONS

NEW WAREHOUSE FOR DACHSER

Dachser has formally opened a new hazardous materials warehouse near Karlsruhe, Germany.

The 21,800-m2 facility in Malsch offers 43,000 pallet spaces for chemicals, paints, coatings, adhesives and other products. “Constantly growing demand from the chemical industry made building the new facility an absolute must,” says Bernd Grossmann, branch manager at Malsch.

Construction began two years ago, with part of the warehouse being made available to customers in early 2019. The site, which cost more than €20m to develop, is now fully up and running and is connected to Dachser’s European network, with Karlsruhe seen as a pivotal logistics hub for chemical products.

It also has good transport links to France, which is the largest market for German chemical exports.

The new warehouse (above) is divided into nine sections separated by firewalls. Each section has an automatic fire extinguishing system with both ceiling and in-rack sprinkler systems. The depressed floors are specially designed to retain product leakage and firewater, while barriers at the wastewater outlets provide increased groundwater protection. www.dachser.com VTG ADDS CONNECTIONS

VTG has begun a test of seven sensor prototypes, equipping a large part of its rail wagon fleet with sensors to enable predictive and status-based rail freight car maintenance.

In addition, track-side monitoring systems for a number of safety-related wagon parts – including the braking system, wheelsets and general wagon status – are also being tested.

Suttons Tankers has renewed and expanded its contract with GreenChem, one of Europe’s largest producers and distributors of AdBlue.

“The renewal and expansion of our contract with GreenChem exemplifies our commitment to the safe and efficient delivery of products on behalf of our customers,” says Michael Cundy, managing director of Suttons Tankers. “With nearly a decade’s worth of experience working with GreenChem, Suttons Tankers are looking forward to continuing to provide outstanding levels of service and strengthen the partnership even further.”

“We are thrilled to announce the renewal of our contract with Suttons Tankers,” adds Chris Haynes, managing director of GreenChem. “Their strategic geographical presence, along with their leading levels of safety and customer service are well known in the industry, meaning that the expansion of this contract was a natural move for GreenChem.” www.suttonsgroup.com

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LIMBURG TO GET NEW TERMINAL

Two local firms, Group Machiels and H Essers, are to build a container terminal in the Port of Limburg, Belgium to provide a sustainable connection between the Port of Antwerp and the Limburg hinterland. The terminal, located on the site of a former Ford factory, has a planned capacity of 350,000 teu/year, and will include a specific investment in facilities to handle dangerous goods in both bulk and packaged form, along with container heating, filling and drumming units.

“The optimisation of the existing synergies between Port of Limburg and Haven Genk offers unrivalled potential for the logistical development of the region and the strengthening of the trimodal access to the former Ford site,” says Louis Machiels, chairman of Group Machiels.

“After acquiring our own inland rail terminal, we are now investing in our own water terminal. The proximity of our mega site Dry Port makes this terminal extra valuable,” adds Gert Bevoets, H Essers CEO. “From here, we offer our customers at home and abroad solutions through smart combinations of road, rail and water. In order to respond to the market, it is crucial to continue to grow, innovate and invest. This partnership will only increase our lead as a synchromodal logistics service provider. At the same time, this plan provides a new impulse in the Flemish logistics sector.”

The terminal, illustrated below, is expected to be operational by 2023. www.essers.com POLISHING WALKER

Walker Logistics has established a UK distribution hub for Indigo Nails, a Polandbased supplier of nail varnish and related products. Walker says it already has many of its administrative and operational staff trained to handle dangerous goods, which is necessary as nail polish is flammable.

“Setting up a logistics operation in the UK is part of Indigo Nails’ growth strategy,” notes William Walker, sales director of Walker Logistics. “Being geographically closer to the market means fulfilling orders for the UK will be quicker and cheaper than operating from a site in mainland Europe, which, in turn, will drive future growth.” www.walkerlogistics.com DRIVE ON WITH IMPERIAL

Imperial’s German operation has recently won two storage contracts in the automotive field, involving the handling of sensitive products.

One involves lithium ion batteries, which Imperial will store at two locations for a major global automotive manufacturer, committing a combined footprint of some 25,000 m2.

It will also charge the batteries prior to delivery to the manufacturer’s market network.

“The regulations governing the storage

of rechargeable batteries are necessarily extremely strict, and our site at Rieste meets and exceeds these stringent criteria,” says Michael Pohl, vice-president, commercial, chemicals. “As the world’s automotive manufacturers accelerate their move to zero-emissions vehicle production, the demand for high-output lithium batteries will increase exponentially. Imperial is targeting this sector as a logical progression of its already heavy involvement in automotive supply chain logistics,” adds Markus Kanis, executive vice-president, industrial and chemicals.

In addition, Imperial has been appointed to handle and store air bags for a major car manufacturer. The contract will involve processing some 230,000 air bag assemblies and storing them in a fully certified hazardous materials warehouse, which includes constant monitoring of ambient temperature and humidity. All staff involved in the contract are undergoing specialist training.

“We are delighted to have been entrusted with this additional responsibility for a long-standing customer,” says Pohl. “As with our recent contract award covering lithium traction batteries, which are also classified as hazmat, this latest business win results from Imperial’s parallel expertise and resources in both the automotive and hazmat sectors.” www.imperiallogistics.com RABEN BAGS FENTHOLS

Raben has taken full control of the Germanybased freight forwarder Fenthold & Sandtmann, following its acquisition of 50 per cent of the company in 2011. Raben will take over four locations, including a hazardous goods warehouse at Erlensee, near Frankfurt-amMain, and a branch at Leipzig Cargo Airport.

The deal provides Raben with first-class logistics locations, while Fenthols now has access to Raben’s Europe-wide network and its unified transport management system and the ‘MyRaben’ customer platform.

The acquired land transport activities will be integrated into Raben Trans European Germany, with the air and sea activities bundled in a separate company, Raben Sea & Air. www.raben-group.com

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DEDICATED TO FUEL BUNKERING • INTER TERMINALS RESPONDED TO THE NEW IMO 2020 RULE BY DEVELOPING A SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED BUNKERING FACILITY AT ITS GOTHENBURG TERMINAL IN SWEDEN IN RESPONSE TO the much anticipated ‘IMO 2020’ rule, the mandatory reduction of sulphur oxide emissions from ships imposed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) that took effect on 1 January 2020, Inter Terminals can now offer state-of-the-art low sulphur marine fuel bunkering at its storage terminal in the port of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Since coming into force, the regulation has required vessels to use marine fuels with a sulphur content of no more than 0.5 per cent, compared to a previous limit of 3.5 per cent.

Occupying a strategic location on an active transit channel for large fuel oil flows and now with dedicated IMO 2020-compliace bunkering, the Gothenburg terminal is

demand for low-sulphur fuel from both new and existing customers.

Investing in low-sulphur fuel bunkering at Gothenburg reflects Inter Terminals’ commitment to adapting and developing its pan-European facilities to meet changing regulations and market requirements, the company says. The project concept and design was managed by Inter Terminals’ in-house project engineering teams in association with construction partners. The works included converting 50,000 m³ of existing tankage to dedicated bunker fuel storage, linked directly by three pipelines to the terminal’s new bunkering facility at the port’s coastal jetties.

particularly well placed to meet the new

AUTOMATED FUELLING Bunkering operations at Gothenburg are fully automated for optimum efficiency, accuracy and safety. The automation system allows identified ships to enter key selection data, such as fuel type or grade and the volume required, prior to automatic loading. As part

 INVESTMENT IN ITS TERMINAL IN SCANDINAVIA’S LARGEST PORT NOW ALLOWS INTER TERMINALS TO OFFER AN AUTOMATED BUNKERING SERVICE

of a bespoke bunkering service, fuel additives can also be injected into the pipeline on request to meet specific cargo requirements.

In addition to safe and efficient storage and handling of products ranging from fuel oil and diesel to vacuum gasoil, jet fuel and gasoline, Inter Terminals’ Gothenburg site has one of the most advanced fuel blending facilities in Europe. With access to streams from interconnected local refineries, the terminal’s sophisticated blending hub can provide a flexible offering to customers. This includes the potential for customised low-sulphur fuel solutions to comply with IMO 2020 regulations and individual cargo specifications.

Summing up, Mathias Jonasson, managing director and country manager of Inter Terminals Sweden, says this latest investment at Gothenburg demonstrates the company’s forward-thinking approach to an everchanging market. He comments: “Continuous investment in skills and infrastructure at our terminals is key to achieving growth in our business and for our customers. With this new fully automated bunkering facility, Inter Terminals is able to deliver an IMO 2020-compliant service to shipping from Scandinavia’s largest and busiest port occupying a prime geographical location on Sweden’s west coast, together with the added value benefits of specialist fuel blending expertise.” www.interterminals.com

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BUILDING RESILIENCE INVESTMENT • OIKOS STORAGE HAS COMPLETED A COMPLEX PROJECT TO HELP FUTURE-PROOF FUEL SUPPLIES TO CUSTOMERS IN SOUTH-EAST ENGLAND IN A CHANGING MARKET RESILIENCE IN CRITICAL national infrastructure in its widest sense must be a focus of the next economic chapter in the UK, following the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. This focus is all too often on downstream and upstream fuel resilience and innovation, overlooking the crucial role that the independent bulk liquids storage terminal sector plays.

Oikos Storage, which occupies a 70-acre (28-ha) site on Canvey Island in Essex, with strategic access to the River Thames, is taking on this challenge through significant

across south-east England, including the airports at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton.

‘Project Premo’, an additional third loading bay for diesel, is close to completion and, Oikos says, will provide a filip for a sector that has been going through an uncertain few months. At the same time, the company – now under the ownership of Aberdeen Standard Investments as part of its diverse range of energy interests – has recently re-commissioned the Oikos feeder line that connects the terminal to the national CLH pipeline network and the CLH Thames B

investment in its infrastructure to be able to continue to supply road and aviation fuels

pump station.

 NEW LOADING RACKS AT THE CANVEY TERMINAL HAVE IMPROVED FUEL SUPPLY FLEXIBILITY

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CREATING OPTIONS Tony Woodward, Oikos’ general manager, explains the rationale for the project: “Resilience for us is about creating options and spreading risk as we are a 24/7, 365 days

a year operation. Customer demand is rapidly changing and the storage sector, as a piece of critical national infrastructure, has to be at the vanguard of those reforms. We are seeing a new focus on a wider range of diesel grades with customers rightly wanting them delivered in a faster, more flexible and agile way.

To have been able as a business to deliver this on time and on budget, and to the highest, independently attested safety and security standards, has been very satisfying.”

It is the evolving diesel market, resulting from changing consumer demand, that has spurred the inclusion of additive injection at the new state-of-the-art loading facility next to the existing loading bays. Customers who were previously reliant on pipeline deliveries will now be able to load a truck at 2,250 litres a minute with a gate-to-gate turnaround time of around 20 minutes, using new road loading arms, Accuload equipment to measure volumes and Fuel-Facs dedicated software and Distributive Control Systems to manage loading, and produce HMRC-complaint paperwork. This builds on recent upgrading of existing storage facilities, a focus on new interconnectivity between different parts of the site and a deep-water jetty extension to cater for LR2 vessels of up to 120,000 dwt.

Based on the two new additive tanks and using a best-in-class additivation rack system

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and new large and small-bore pipework, a range of diesel grades can be supplied to delivery vehicles. “It is the creation of a further egress point for road fuel grades which can help our customers improve their market reach and service range to forecourts and bunkering depots which makes this so game changing,” adds Woodward.

RESPOND TO CHANGE If responsiveness is going to be a cornerstone of work and industry in the future, then the fuel storage business will be no exception.

Part of that involves the anticipated recovery in the fuels market following a fall of some 50 per cent in road fuel volumes and a dramatic dive in jet fuel demand since the Covid-19 crisis hit. That is where Oikos is taking a forward-looking view and a longer-term position. Such investment in the current climate of gradual recovery

 CHANGING FUEL SPECIFICATIONS HAVE PROMPTED INVESTMENT IN NEW FACILITIES AS OIKOS STORAGE POSITIONS ITSELF TO BE ABLE TO MEET THE FUEL SUPPLY NEEDS OF CONSUMERS IN THE FUTURE

is welcome and it is not just in the oil storage and delivery infrastructure. The project has needed new lighting, security and safety features and has involved a range of civil, mechanical and electrical engineers along the way.

Project Annexus, which is the recommissioning of the Oikos Feeder line between the Oikos Terminal and the CLH Thames B pump station, has just been completed. This connects Oikos directly to the CLH Pipeline System and the UK’s national pipeline infrastructure, which better connects Oikos into the country’s fuel resilience network.

Woodward comments: “Ultimately, customers are demanding more options and different ways of ensuring their delivery chains. So, whether above or below ground, it is the role of storage terminals to enable those varied distribution channels.” The whole project and pipeline

giving Oikos the distinction of being the only independent fuel storage terminal to be connected to two national pipeline systems.

underwent a thorough inspection process back in 2018, which involved a ‘smart pig’ being sent through the pipe to report back on the pipe’s condition and any potential issues.

The re-connection of the Oikos Feeder Line also complements the existing connection to UKOP (United Kingdom Oil Pipelines),

In light of that, Oikos Storage is looking forward to the publication of the muchanticipated National Infrastructure Plan in the coming months as the economy and industry recover and get back to doing what they need to do. oikos.co.uk

MORE TO COME Oikos Storage is now developing plans for construction of an additional 300,000 m³ of storage capacity as part of the Southside Development, turning it into an integrated fuels terminal and distribution hub and making it a significant asset on a national scale.

Oikos says it is “encouraged” to see the fuel storage sector increasing its level of resilience at this point in the economic cycle. Such efforts do, though, need government support and an awareness that the fuel storage sector is a critical piece of national infrastructure.

Government needs to provide certainty over policy to support the investment that will be necessary over the long term to ensure the sector can apply the innovation that will be needed.

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NEWS BULLETIN

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OILTANKING PLANS JOLIET SALE

Oiltanking has agreed to sell its Joliet terminal, located in Channahon, Illinois to regional terminal operator Omega Partners. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. Although Oiltanking is continuing to develop its North American network, it sees the Joliet site – which has a tank capacity of 44,600 m3 and primarily handles specialty chemicals and biofuels – as a poor fit with its overall context.

The sale is also part of Oiltanking’s Strategy 2025, under which it is continuously evaluating and optimising its global terminal portfolio.

“Since the acquisition of the facility in 2009, Oiltanking and the local team in particular have done a tremendous job of continuously improving operational performance and customer satisfaction. We are pleased to hand over the terminal to a strong US player with proven experience in terminal operations and who recognises the capabilities and potential of this facility,” says Jerry Hardman, vice-president, business development Americas for Oiltanking.

Omega Partners, based in St Louis, Missouri, owns and operates bulk liquid petroleum terminals in Illinois, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Nevada and Kentucky. Its customer base comprises major and independent oil, distribution, trading, chemical and agriculture companies. www.oiltanking.com www.omegapartnersllc.com NNOAT FILLS UP

Noord Natie Odfjell Antwerp Terminal has completed construction of a new tank pit, offering 12,700 m3 of capacity in seven stainless steel tanks and taking overall capacity at the site up to 390,000 m3. The new tank pit is part of the company’s ongoing expansion programme at the site, which handles a wide range of chemicals and base oils. www.noordnatie.be TERQUIMSA TANKS FOR TARRAGONA

Vopak Terquimsa has begun a €14m construction projects at its terminal in Tarragona, Spain, which

will add 17,000 m3 of new tankage in four tanks and take total capacity up to more than 470,000 m3. “We want to continue reinforcing our leading position in Tarragona,” says CEO Eduardo Sañudo. “Tarragona is a strategic enclave at European level when we talk about the storage of chemical products”.

The work, expected to take 10 months to complete, marks the third phase of the expansion of the concession in the Chemical Dock at Tarragona and coincides with Terquimsa’s 50th anniversary. www.vopakterquimsa.com ODFJELL PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

Odfjell has revealed details of its planned buildout of Odfjell Terminals Houston, where three tanks are currently being brought back into service. A final investment decision will be made “shortly” on the second phase, which will involve construction of up to 35,000 m3 of new tankage for speciality chemicals, likely to be in service in 2022.

A third phase, involving development of adjacent land known as ‘The Point’, could involve up to 165,000 m3 of new capacity for speciality chemicals; a final investment decision on this work depends on securing an anchor customer, Odfjell says, with construction likely to take place between 2022 and 2026.

Odfjell has meanwhile sold its 50 per cent stake in the 119,200-m3 chemical terminal in Dalian, China. VTTI paid $59m in the deal, which marks its first foray into China and broadens its chemical storage portfolio, “unlocking further growth opportunities”, as it says. The Port of Dalian Authority retains the remaining 50 per cent share. Odfjell had earlier signalled that it was considering exiting China along with the departure of its former investment partner Lindsay Goldberg. www.odfjell.com MAASTANK PLANS BOTLEK EXPANSION

The Dekker Group has announced plans to expand its Maastank terminal in Rotterdam, having renewed its existing lease in Botlek and signed a contract to take adjacent land.

This will allow Maastank to double capacity to some 140,000 m3 over the coming years.

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development at parent HES International.

“The commissioning of the LSFO unit adds another important value to our portfolio. At HES we continue to build a unique platform of best-in-class liquid bulk terminals, including the state-of-the-art HES Botlek Tank Terminal (Rotterdam), the product-specific bitumen terminal (Rotterdam) and the construction of the 1.3m-m3 HES Hartel Tank Terminal in Rotterdam. These investments underline our strategy and the commitment of our shareholders to further grow in the liquid bulk segment, both in storage as well as in ancillary services.”

The distillation unit was built in 2004 and only operated for five years so was still in good condition. As well as low-sulphur fuel oil, the unit’s output includes gasoil, kerosene and naphtha. www.hesinternational.eu VITOL TO BUNKER AT STATIA

“By entering into this new long-term lease for our existing and newly allocated sites, we plan to further strengthen and expand our market position in this strategic ‘deep sea location’ based on our position as the foremost provider of specialised tank terminal services for high-grade special vegetable oils, oleochemicals and biofuels,” says managing director Jan Duel.

“The Port Authority welcomes this expansion by the Dekker Group. It aligns very well with the Port Authority’s policy to revitalise Botlek into a modern port area that can take on ports elsewhere in Europe with confidence,” says Ronald Paul, COO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority. www.dekkergroep.com

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HES ADDS LSFO PRODUCTION

HES Wilhelmshaven Tank Terminal has announced commercial startup of a new processing unit (above) designed to produce 2.5m tonnes of low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) per year. The revamp of the existing vacuum distillation unit was prompted by the introduction of the IMO 2020 rule on sulphur oxide emissions from ships and the ensuing demand for low-sulphur grades. HES has signed a long-term deal with an energy major to guarantee throughput.

‘We very much appreciate the confidence of one of our existing customers at our Wilhelmshaven terminal as a strategic facility to supply their key LSFO markets,” says Gerrit Groen, director, strategy and business

Prostar’s GTI Statia (GTIS) terminal has signed a long-term agreement with Vitol under which Vitol will operate the marine fuel bunker supply business at the terminal in St Eustatius in the Caribbean. GTIS will continue to provide storage, services and logistics infrastructure as before.

“It is part of Prostar’s continuing strategy to focus on GTIS’ storage operations and to reinvest capital into capacity expansion to meet strong customer demand,” says Dave Noakes, senior managing director of Prostar Capital. “Vitol is one of the largest energy traders in the world and is a significant customer at GTIS and at Prostar’s other storage terminals globally. This new initiative will strengthen our relationship with Vitol and will be immediately accretive for both organisations while bringing significant value to GTIS’ customer base in the regional bunker market.”

“This transaction builds on the $100m capital investment plan for the terminal we announced in March and demonstrates our support and commitment to GTI Statia, the terminal’s strong operations team and the local economy,” adds Steve Bickerton, senior managing director at Prostar. www.prostarcapital.com www.vitol.com

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PULLING TOGETHER PORTS • ANTWERP’S ENERGY AND CHEMICAL CLUSTER IS EXAMINING WAYS TO HALVE THE PORT’S CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS THROUGH COLLABORATIVE CAPTURE AND STORAGE PROJECTS

THE PORT OF Antwerp, already one of the leaders in terms of environmental and digital initiatives among its port community, has launched an ambitious project to halve its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. At the end of 2019 it brought together seven leading chemical and energy companies active in the port with a plan to take practical steps to transition to a sustainable and low-carbon environment.

Under the project, ‘Antwerp@C’, the partners – Air Liquide, BASF, Borealis, ExxonMobil, Ineos,

 ANTWERP’S CHEMICAL CLUSTER HAS THE RANGE OF EXPERTISE NEEDED TO CARRY OUT THE PROJECT

Fluxys, Total and the Port of Antwerp itself – are examining in particular ways of capturing, storing and using CO² produced within the port, in order to make a significant contribution towards meeting climate objectives. The project has now moved on to applying for EU subsidies in order to take it further.

As an initial move, Antwerp@C is currently carrying out a feasibility study with the support of the Flemish Agency for Innovation & Enterprise (VLAIO). This will investigate the possibility of building a central ‘backbone’ in the form of a pipeline along the industrial zones on both the right and left banks of the River Scheldt, along with various shared processing units, a shared CO² liquefaction unit, interim storage facilities and cross-border

transport of CO², both by ship and by pipeline.

As Belgium does not have suitable geological conditions for the underground storage of CO², the project will look at cross-border transport to find permanent storage in depleted offshore gas fields. Antwerp@C is therefore looking at the potential to move CO² by pipeline to Rotterdam or by ship to Norway.

WHAT THEY SAY “As the largest petrochemical cluster in Europe, we are assuming our responsibility with unprecedented collaboration between eight leading companies,” says Wouter de Geest, chairman of Antwerp@C. “Together we are investigating the possibilities for cutting CO² emissions from our production processes, as well as additional innovative solutions for more sustainable petrochemistry in Antwerp.”

Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of the Port of Antwerp, says: “This promising project will enable us to play our pioneering role even more effectively. It demonstrates once more that collaboration is key for generating a cluster effect and creating innovative, operational added value. If this shared infrastructure can actually be realised then it will benefit the entire industrial community in the port and make a valuable contribution towards the Flemish, Belgian and European climate goals.”

“This project demonstrates our capabilities for technological progress are closely tied to the future of our climate,” adds port alderman Annick de Ridder. “If we as the second-largest port in Europe can contribute towards saving up to half of our CO² emissions, this will open up countless opportunities for sustainable growth in our industry and our prosperity.

By taking on this pioneering role we aim to be an inspiration for the entire port community.”

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is seen by the EU as an important weapon to combat climate change; the initiatives put forward

by Antwerp@C are therefore recognised as Projects of Common Interest. Antwerp@C hopes that this will enable it to receive funding under the Connecting Europe Facility, while it is also preparing a subsidy application under the European Innovation Fund as part of the Green Deal. www.portofantwerp.com

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DEEP IN DATA

THE WIDESPREAD LOCKDOWN and travel restrictions imposed around the world in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have caused severe problems for many, but have also offered some relief in terms of cleaner air and quieter roads. As thoughts turn towards how the crisis will affect businesses and individuals in the long run, after the crisis has passed, it is worth looking at ways in which those benefits might be kept secure for the future.

One company that has been looking at this question is Abbey Logistics, a UK-based haulier specialising in the movement of foodgrade

as CEO Steve Granite explains: “We have all been trading in incredibly challenging circumstances, but as a result of quieter roads, we have seen an improvement to customer service and savings in repair and maintenance and an increase in MPG as well as nearly 6 per cent increase in the average speed of our fleet.

This means the fleet is doing more with less and our assets are much more productive and require less repair and maintenance thanks to more consistent driving.”

In order to investigate further, Abbey began a project with Microlise, a provider of telematics and real-time journey management solutions.

lockdown and examine how they could be sustained when traffic and congestion increases once again.

The project involved an analysis of Abbey’s journey metrics for its fleet of 400 trucks and 550 bulk liquid and powder trailers, covering the 30 days prior to and the 30 days immediately following the imposition of lockdown in the UK. The key results showed that: -A verage speed increased group-wide by 5.7 per cent to 38.8 mph -M iles per gallon of fuel (MPG) increased by 2.6 per cent -C arbon dioxide emissions reduced by almost 4 per cent - Driving behaviour and performance also improved, with a reduction in high revving and engine idling, and an improvement in ‘greenband driving’ and the use of cruise control.

Microlise went further, analysing other recent data it had access to on heavy goods and light commercial vehicles. It found two

liquids in bulk by road tanker. It has noticed an improvement in efficiency during the lockdown,

Its Data Science and Research team, a highly skilled multi-disciplinary group that harnesses the latest tools, methodologies and advanced analytics techniques to extract and interpret data, was put on the case. Granite says the idea of the project was to get a better understanding of the productivity improvements during the

stand-out metrics across this group: MPG increased by between 6 and 7 per cent, and there was a 37 per cent reduction in unsafe driving behaviours. “For a fleet owner of any size, the capital cost savings to be realised across these two areas alone would be significant,” it notes.

COVID-19 • ABBEY LOGISTICS AND MICROLISE HAVE TAKEN A DEEP DIVE INTO VEHICLE METRICS TO SEE HOW THE GAINS ACHIEVED DURING THE LOCKDOWN MIGHT BE MAINTAINED

 ABBEY CEO STEVE GRANITE (OPPOSITE) SAYS THE FLEET IS DOING MORE WITH LESS

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WHERE TO NOW? The question now is: what learnings can be taken from the analysis of this data?

Furthermore, are there any practical steps that the haulage sector and government could take that would allow those positive commercial and environmental benefits to continue after the lockdown is ended?

“Across almost every key metric of vehicle performance, traffic movement, driver safety and performance, fleet utilisation, repair and maintenance and customer service, we have registered positive results,” Granite says. “Increasing average speed and miles per gallon contributes to significant cost savings for fleet operators of any size. When you combine this with improvements across driving behaviour and environmental impact, the results are compelling.”

Granite adds: “We have a perfect opportunity to rethink our operations model and do things

differently. Longer delivery windows and more night-time deliveries provide for a more cost-effective and reliable customer service.

We can also support our professional drivers to perform at their best, reducing stress level and keeping them safer while minimising road traffic incidents and any resulting asset damage.

“If we are prepared to shake-up our post-Covid 19 version of ‘normal’, we will all reap the rewards. We partnered with Microlise to take as much of the guesswork out of our business analysis as possible. We now have concrete intelligence that we can and should act upon. It is clear that data will continue to play a key role in supporting our sector as it returns to a new normal and it makes commercial and environmental sense to act upon this to support hauliers and come out of this crisis with stronger and more effective operating models.” www.abbeylogisticsgroup.com www.microlise.com

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OPTIONS AVAILABLE In order to gauge the mood of the shipping industry, classification society ABS undertook a survey of shipowners and operators that took part in a recent webinar, Pathways to Sustainable Shipping. Rather ominously,

short term and hydrogen as a future solution.

“It is clear that the industry views both hydrogen and ammonia as the long-term destination but sees LNG as having a big role to play in addressing the regulatory challenge immediately in front of us,” says Georgios Plevrakis, global sustainability director at ABS. “These results are in line with the findings in our recently released Low Carbon Shipping Outlook. Based on the fuel pathways that we have identified that can shape the future of marine propulsion, hydrogen and ammonia are solutions that are expected to contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions in the long term. LNG, as the most mature of the alternative fuel solutions, can pave the way to a less carbon-intensive maritime industry.

We are working through our network of Sustainability Centers with global clients to define solutions to meet regulatory and market demands related to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction.”

Indeed, some 80 per cent of industry leaders surveyed separately by ABS agreed that GHG ratings are currently an important factor in decision-making, and nearly half said they had already begun implementing options for improvements.

“As shipowners and operators look to improve their environmental ratings to both maintain and attract potential charters, they face complex decisions on how best to identify, report and reduce GHG emissions,” says Lefteris Karaminas, global sustainability manager at ABS. “A key takeaway is that owners taking advantage of accelerated GHG rating improvement options like the non-permanent Engine Power Limitation (EPL) are finding the benefits only temporary, as other vessels in the peer group take on improvements or new, more efficient vessels

that survey revealed that nearly two-thirds of owners currently have no decarbonisation strategy in place.

However, when asked which fuel is most likely to be adopted in the near term, 70 per cent of those surveyed plumped for fuels in the ‘light gas’ segment, including LNG in the

enter the peer group. It will be necessary to consider alternative options, including combinations, in order to remain competitive and increase their ratings in the long term.”

An extensive report, Pathways to Sustainable Shipping, is available on the ABS website, www.eagle.org.

BETTER GET READY MARINE FUEL • LOW-SULPHUR FUELS ARE JUST A STEP ON THE ROAD TO A DECARBONISED SHIPPING INDUSTRY. THERE ARE FORKS IN THE ROAD AHEAD, AS ABS HAS RECENTLY INVESTIGATED SHIPOWNERS HAVE BEEN scrambling to accommodate the sometimes conflicting expectations of regulators and their charterers as they seek to find practical ways of reducing emissions from maritime activities. While the ‘IMO 2020’ rule, imposed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as a way to reduce sulphur oxide emissions from ships’ exhausts, has pointed the way to the use of low-sulphur fuels or exhaust scrubbers, in the longer term cleaner solutions will be demanded.

Much has been made of the potential for LNG to provide a low-carbon alternative, which has led to some very expensive newbuilds and the development of a worldwide network of LNG bunkering stations.

LPG and methanol are other low-carbon fuels, but largely restricted so far to LPG and methanol carriers – as, indeed, had LNG been restricted to LNG carriers until recently.

 ELECTRIC VESSELS ARE ALREADY AT WORK, ESPECIALLY IN THE NORWEGIAN SHORTSEA SECTOR

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Looking further ahead, though, owners and regulators will be looking to eliminate carbon-based fuels insofar as is possible.

This will necessitate the use of another set of fuels, likely to involve the use of electricity generated from renewable sources, either directly via power packs or indirectly through the use of liquid fuels generated through electrolysis. The fact that some of these ‘clean’ future ships will be carrying ‘dirty’ oils for charterers is an irony that has not been overlooked.

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FLEX THOSE SPECS TANKERS • STENA BULK HAS THROWN EVERY TECHNICAL INNOVATION IT CAN FIND AT ITS LATEST CHEMICAL TANKER CONCEPT, AIMING TO CUT EMISSIONS BY ANOTHER 25 PER CENT STENA BULK HAS revealed its latest design concept for its next generation of product/ chemical tankers. Moving on from the IMOIIMax concept, the new IMOFlexMax will, Stena says, “lead the way towards a sustainable future as one of the most energy-efficient product and chemical tankers on the market”.

“The world’s need for reliable, innovative and sustainable transportation of liquid products is increasing and it will continue to do so as the world’s population grows and global living standards continue to improve,” says Erik Hånell, president/CEO of Stena Bulk. The new concept, which can be built today with existing and proven technology and other solutions, represents Stena Bulk’s contribution to bringing shipping into compliance with the Paris Agreement and the UN’s Sustainability and Development Goals.

The new design was developed by sister company Stena Teknik and is based on 40 years of tanker shipping experience. The most obvious addition compared to existing vessels is the use of Flettner rotor sails, which use the Magnus effect to provide additional propulsion and are in this case also coated with solar panels to harvest further energy.

Inside the hull, the new ships have dual-fuel engines capable of running on LNG but are also configured to be able to use alternative fuels depending on customers’ demands

EXPECTED OUTCOMES “The basic concept of the IMOFlexMax will allow us to dramatically reduce local SOx, NOx and particle emissions, as well as greenhouse gas emissions,” the company says. “With the combined fuel and energy efficiencies, we will be able to reduce greenhouse gases by at least 25 per cent with a potential to reach up to 45 per cent compared to modern product tankers run by low-sulphur fuel oil.”

Erik Hånell adds: “The plan is for the IMOFlexMax vessels to be deployed in Stena Bulk’s logistics system in the global market along with the IMOIIMax. The IMOFlexMax vessels will constitute an important asset for Stena Bulk, as well as for its partners, in strengthening our position as the market-

leading, cross-trading specialists in the MR segment with increased efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gases.

“The prototype is one step further in Stena Bulk’s vision of being our customers’ first choice for safety, innovation and performance in the transportation of oil, chemicals and gas.”

Stena Bulk currently operates a fleet of some 115 tankers, ranging in size from two 9,600-dwt tankers operating in Asia up to the Sonangol pool of 160,000-dwt Suezmax crude oil tankers, together with three LNG carriers and two shuttle tankers. Apart from its home-town base in Gothenburg, it also has offices in Houston, Dubai, Copenhagen, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.

Stena Bulk is part of the Stena Sphere, which has around 20,000 employees in Sweden and elsewhere; this arrangement fosters close cooperation in terms of the use of different skill sets and resources, giving all units access to cutting-edge competence in all areas of shipping, from shipbuilding and manning to technical operation and financing. www.stenabulk.com

and the particular trade lanes on which they are deployed.

 STENA BULK HAS BROUGHT TOGETHER A HOST OF IDEAS TO DESIGN THE TANKER OF TOMORROW

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GREEN RIVER INLAND SHIPPING • THE GREENING OF BARGE TRANSPORT IS ACCELERATING AS AUTHORITIES, OPERATORS AND CHARTERERS LOOK AT WAYS TO CUT EMISSIONS

PROMOTING THE USE of inland waterways to move freight in bulk is seen as part of a broader effort to reduce the environmental impact of the haulage industry in general, by moving trucks off the roads where possible.

That is particularly the case in the industrial corridor along Europe’s rivers and canals but also in China, where there is growing political pressure to reduce polluting emissions.

But inland waterway transport can become even more beneficial to the environment if it can take advantage of the same sorts of developments seen already in the oceangoing maritime sector, by switching from fossil fuels to alternatives with a lower environmental impact.

At the end of May this year, for example, the provincial authorities in Guangdong, China signed an agreement with China State

Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) to implement a massive conversion project involving some 1,500 vessels working on the Pearl River.

The framework cooperation deal is designed to support the conversion of these vessels to use LNG as fuel, rather than conventional fuels. It also anticipates the construction of 19 bunkering facilities by 2025.

It is expected that the project will involve the supply of up to 400,000 tonnes of LNG per year, replacing oil-based fuels. The partners calculate that this will reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter from inland ships in the province by 12.6 per cent and 19.5 per cent, respectively.

PLUG AND GO In Europe, where LNG has been used by inland vessels for some time, attention is now moving towards the next generation of alternative fuels, with the aim of decarbonising the fuel chain altogether. At the start of June this year, a consortium established Zero Emission Services BV (ZES), which has designed a new energy system to make inland shipping even more sustainable (below).

ZES is planning to offer a complete range of products and services based on the concept

of battery containers, charged with renewable power, along with charging stations, technical support and attractive payment terms. The idea is that inland barges will pick up a battery along with their cargo call, run the barge until the battery is exhausted, and swap it out for a recharged battery at the next charging station.

Explaining more, ZES CEO Willem Dedden says: “With ZES, we are introducing a systemic change in inland navigation, allowing barges to sail emission-free thanks to replaceable battery containers. These ‘ZESPacks’ are charged with sustainably generated power.

A network of open-access charging points will be set up for exchanging battery containers.

Here, depleted ZESPacks are exchanged for full ones, so that ships can sail on quickly, with minimal waiting time. The energy containers are designed for multiple applications, so they can also be temporarily used on shore to stabilise the electricity grid or to meet momentary local demand for electricity.

“The system is future-proof because it is independent of the energy carrier,” Dedden adds. “We will start out using batteries, but if hydrogen becomes cheaper in the future, hydrogen technology-equipped containers will be able to supply power in the same way.”

In order to make the transition to emissionfree sailing easier for skippers, an innovative ‘pay per use’-based financing model has been developed. As a result, ZES only charges the cost of consumed renewable energy and a battery container rental fee, so that the skipper’s operating costs remain competitive.

However, ships must be equipped with an electric propulsion line.

ALL CONNECTED A total of €20m has been invested in the project’s first phase, with contributions from ING Bank, Engie, Wärtsilä, the Port of Rotterdam Authority and the Dutch government, the last by means of grants from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works and the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, in support of its goal of making transport more sustainable.

Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, states: “The Netherlands is frontrunner in sustainable

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transport by water. More than a third of all goods and 80 per cent of bulk transportation takes place via inland waterways. Not only does this lessen truck transportation, which reduces traffic, inland vessels also emit significantly less CO². That advance is extended even further with these new emission-free ships.”

The first customer has already signed up to ZES: brewer Heineken has signed a long-term transport agreement and contributed to the startup cost by helping develop a new vessel to be operated by its carrier CCT. Under the deal, beer will be moved from the Heineken brewery in Zoeterwoude via the Alpherium terminal in Rotterdam and on to Moerdijk.

This contract will establish the first ZES corridor, with plans to extend this to run from Amsterdam to Antwerp via Rotterdam, with a connection to Nijmegen. zeroemissionservices.nl

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48

REBOOTING RESPONSIBLE CARE DISTRIBUTION • FECC’S GERHARD AHLBRECHT* EXPLAINS THE TOOLS BEING DEVELOPED TO HELP COMPANIES IN THE CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION SECTOR IMPLEMENT RESPONSIBLE CARE ONE OF THE key projects in the course of the ongoing Responsible Care reboot in Europe, spearheaded since 2018 by the European Chemical Industry Council’s (Cefic) Responsible Rejuvenation Issue Team is the development of the Responsible Care Self-Assessment Excel tool. The European Association of Chemical Distributors (Fecc), through its Responsible Care Committee, has adjusted this tool for use by chemical distributors via a dedicated working group combined with the expertise of Arcadis, a global design, engineering and management consulting company based in Amsterdam.

The new tool, which was officially launched for use by chemical distributors in April 2020, paves the way for more European chemical companies – especially small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) at entry level – to join the Responsible Care family while also enhancing the industry’s levels of reputation and trust. It aims to be inclusive, enabling small and large companies or sites, with or without experience in Responsible Care and

the associated standards, to get started on the road to performance excellence and to have visibility on how to improve over time.

To achieve this purpose, the tool includes four maturity levels, representing four different levels of Responsible Care implementation: 1. Commit to Responsible Care and start to acknowledge the implementation steps.

2. Initiate and Plan: planning and doing; the organisation has started implementing Responsible Care throughout its business and plans are made to improve.

3. Improve Continuously: planning, doing, checking and acting; the organisation has reached a level of implementation where plans and actions are not only done but also assessed to drive continuous improvement with a full management system approach.

4. Promote and Sustain Excellence: the organisation has achieved improved performance and effectiveness and is going further by either reviewing that effectiveness or by sharing best practice

with peers, partners and other stakeholders to foster resource-building in the industry and accelerate change.

CLARITY AND SUPPORT In a nutshell, the Responsible Care SelfAssessment Tool aims to help companies get a clear view of their own performance, to frame their commitment and to learn through tailor-made tips the steps that can be taken to improve performance. It is designed to facilitate Responsible Care assessment for companies that are already certified against one of the selected ISO standards, while also providing a first gap analysis towards international standards for those companies that are not yet certified.

Targeting SMEs in particular, this is a useful way to determine if an international standard is within reach or still too far away.

The self-assessment tool creates insights into where a company stands right now.

By carefully filling out the questionnaire, a company can generate a true and reliable assessment of its status or its progress.

Finally, the key benefit for a company consists in helping prioritise those topics where improvement is most desired and in supporting the change management process by generating an action plan.

Ultimately, the tool covers those processes in which Responsible Care contributes significantly to sustainability.

As a second step, a Responsible Care Self-Assessment Web Tool is currently under development and scheduled for launch in autumn 2020. This will enable stakeholders in the supply chain – manufacturers and distributors alike – to benchmark their Responsible Care performance and monitor continuous improvement at both national and European level. Additionally, multi-site companies can also benefit from this web tool.

These tools connect Responsible Care in Europe to globally recognised standards, such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 50001, ISO 45001, ISO 26000 and RC 14001, as well as global sustainability principles including the UN Sustainability Goals. Ultimately, they contribute to a harmonised approach to Responsible Care at the level of the International Chemical Trade Association

HCB MONTHLY | JULY 2020

CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION 49

“THE NEW TOOL PAVES THE WAY FOR EUROPEAN CHEMICAL COMPANIES TO JOIN THE RESPONSIBLE CARE FAMILY”

(ICTA), the body formed in 2016 to address global issues facing the chemical distribution sector.

THE NEW SQAS By the same token, the revision of the whole Safety & Quality Assessment for Sustainability (SQAS)/European Single Assessment Document (ESAD) system led to the introduction of new questionnaires in 2019; these incorporate new elements, especially in the area of sustainability. Retracing the evolution of the system, it can be observed that there has been a continual expansion from the original scope limited to health, safety and the environment, by adding a ‘Q’ for quality, towards covering security and more recently Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) topics. The latter shows a focus on sustainability, also reflected in the modified SQAS acronym.

To enhance alignment across the whole value chain, a new SQAS Core with ESAD Supplement for chemical distributors was developed, beside the revised site questionnaire.

In this context, a SQAS Task Force, comprising Fecc and other partner

associations in the supply chain, is pursuing the objective of promoting the system and to make it fit for the future. SQAS/ESAD, as well as the new Self-Assessment Tool, contain questions on emergency response – another important aspect of Fecc’s European Responsible Care Programme – and, most importantly, representing one of the eight Responsible Care Guiding Principles.

To shed more light on this vital link and to explore the implications for chemical distributors and to provide practical advice, Fecc organised an interactive webinar in cooperation with member company Azelis and co-hosted by the National Chemical Emergency Centre (NCEC) on 12 May. There are exciting times ahead… *Gerhard Ahlbrecht is Responsible Care and Logistics Manager at Fecc, the voice of the chemical distribution industry in Europe.

Fecc represents around 1,600 companies, of which many are SMEs. Fecc and its members contribute to innovation and sustainability, besides adding value in the supply chain, by sourcing, developing, marketing and distributing a wide range of speciality chemical and ingredients to more than one million downstream users ranging across the automotive, electronics, paints, construction, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food and nutrition industries, each of which has its own specialised needs.

More information on Fecc’s work can be found at www.fecc.org or on social media at @FeccEurope on Twitter.

 GERHARD AHLBRECHT (ABOVE) SAYS THE NEW TOOLS WILL BE OF PARTICULAR USE IN HELPING SMALLER COMPANIES GET ON BOARD WITH IMPLEMENTING AND BENEFITTING FROM THE RESPONSIBLE CARE PROGRAMME

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50

CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION

EMPTY QUARTER TRENDS • THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS HIT DISTRIBUTORS HARD. CBA’S QUARTERLY SUPPLY CHAIN TRENDS SURVEY HAS THE FIGURES, AND A WARNING THAT THINGS COULD GET WORSE CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTORS AND traders in the UK have suffered a major decline in sales and orderbooks over the past three months. That much comes as no surprise, given the disruption caused by the Covid-19 lockdown and the resulting collapse in consumer demand, but the quarterly Supply Chain Trends Survey from the UK Chemical Business Association (CBA), covering April to June, gives a clear indication of the extent of the downturn.

“This Survey shows the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic with order books and

 CBA CHIEF EXECUTIVE PETER NEWPORT (ABOVE) IS WORRIED ABOUT THE NEGATIVE TRENDS IN EMPLOYMENT AMONG CBA’S MEMBERS

HCB MONTHLY | JULY 2020

current sales showing more than a 60 per cent negative swing since our last survey in March,” says CBA Chief Executive Peter Newport. “Worryingly, trends in employment have turned negative for the first time since we started running these surveys eight years ago.”

Even more worryingly, this could just be the start of an even more serious period, as Newport adds: “Emerging from the Covid-19 lockdown, an imminent and severe economic downturn, plus the increasing likelihood of a ‘No Deal Brexit’ represents a perfect storm for the UK’s chemical supply chain and are beginning to be reflected in our survey.”

HERE’S THE RESULTS CBA’s Supply Chain Trends Survey asks companies to provide information on

order books, sales, sales margins, and employment, on a ‘better–worse–same’ basis. To measure short-term trends, the analysis ignores responses answering ‘same’ and focuses on the positive or negative balance provided by the difference between the ‘better-worse’ responses.

In terms of orderbooks, the June survey shows a negative balance of -33 per cent, a 66 per cent adverse swing since the last survey in March 2020, when the same figure was a positive balance of +33 per cent.

Respondents also compare their current sales volumes with the preceding three months and indicate their expectations for the next three months. Current sales volumes have turned sharply negative at -31 per cent. In March, members companies reported a positive balance of +32 per cent, representing a significant decline of 63 per cent in business sentiment. The outlook for the next three months remains positive at +9 per cent, better than the March figure of +5 per cent.

Companies compare their current sales margins with the preceding three months and also forecast their trend over the coming three months. Current sales margins are now barely positive at +4 per cent, a marginal improvement on the last survey when margins were neutral at 0 per cent. The outlook for future sales margins remains negative at -7 per cent, the same figure as reported in the March survey.

Member companies are asked if their employment levels will be higher, lower or remain the same over the next three months. For the first time in the eight years that CBA has been conducting these surveys, member companies have reported a negative trend in employment of -8 per cent, a reflection of the impact of Covid-19 and the future uncertainty in levels of business activity.

CBA’s membership includes distributors, traders, warehouse operators and others in the logistics and supply chain. Most of its members are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), representing the main interface between the chemical industry and the thousands of downstream users in the UK. www.chemical.org.uk

51

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• Instant access to an immersive, interactive experience, from insightful news articles to video highlights on HCBlive.com

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NEWS BULLETIN

CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION

NAGASE COMBINES IN SPECIALTIES

Nagase America is to integrate its NY Division and subsidiary Fitz Chem, which it acquired in 2017, into a new company, Nagase Specialty Materials NA (NSM), as from 1 September.

The integration is intended to strengthen Nagase’s position in North America through demonstrated leadership in the provision of specialty materials and solutions, continued excellence in distribution, and a strengthened focus on business development.

The new company will be headquartered in Itasca, Illinois and will be headed by Takuya Tonomura as CEO with Mark Miller as president/CEO and Laura Mack as CFO. “Joining these two established Nagase organisations represents an exciting combination of mission, talent and infrastructure that will result in greater efficiencies and technology access for our customers,” says Tonomura.

Mark Miller adds: “I’m excited to lead our NSM organisation in North America, which

HCB MONTHLY | JULY 2020

provides a unique value proposition to its customers, suppliers and business partners as a hybrid. This new business structure will offer continued representation of the finest chemical and material suppliers combined with access to our complementary manufactured Nagase technologies in our markets, all within the context of NA geographic expansion.”

The news came soon after Fitz Chem was appointed by Stahl Polymers to distribute its aziridine and carbodiimide crosslinkers across the US. “We believe in working together with partners like Fitz Chem who know the local markets and share our values and knowledge of polymers,” says Raymond Bakker, global business director at Stahl Polymers. “With their many years of relevant experience, we know that they will be able to convert the increasing demand of aziridines and to an even higher extent carbodiimide crosslinkers in the US.” nagaseamerica.com

AZELIS STRENGTHENS IN MEXICO, SCANDINAVIA

Azelis subsidiary Megafarma, which it acquired earlier this year, has recently won two significant distribution deals, expanding the group’s presence in Mexico. It is now responsible for distributing BASF Monomers’ polyurethane raw materials and Invista’s Dytek® speciality amine portfolio.

“We have a longstanding relationship with BASF,” says Dan Gruber, managing director for new business development at Azelis Americas CASE. “In the US and Canada we have demonstrated organic growth via our dedicated and technically trained sales force, and our application labs have been instrumental in our joint success. We are very excited about this expansion into the Mexican market as it allows us to deliver the same value and growth that we have provided BASF Polyurethanes in the US and Canada.”

Speaking about the Invista deal, Martin Hernandez Gutiérrez, director general of Megafarma, says: “Now that we are part of the Azelis family, this agreement is an example of our commitment to expand into the CASE sector and become a leading distributor with unsurpassed quality, logistics and technical support for our customers and principals.”

Azelis, meanwhile, has also signed a new distribution agreement with Stepan to cover its surfactants in Scandinavia, expanding on an existing deal in other European countries.

“Azelis has proven to be an excellent partner to us over the past few years,” says Philippe Nastasi, European sales director for Stepan Company. “Their market presence, customer intimacy and technical knowledge are exactly what we were looking for, and the innovative work they have done in their technical development labs will bring extra value to our local customer base. We’re very much looking forward to this new collaboration in Scandinavia.” www.azelis.com BIG WINS FOR BM

Bodo Möller Chemie has extended its relationship with Songwon Industrial to distribute its comprehensive range of

CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION 53

polymer stabilisers. It has been supplying customers in the Benelux countries since the start of this year and has now added responsibility for the UK and Ireland through Bodo Möller Chemie UK. “Our partnership with Bodo Möller Chemie in other European countries being excellent, we are convinced that this step will enable us to further expand Songwon’s market position in Europe,” says Franky Cuypers, the company’s global sales leader, polymer stabilisers.

Bodo Möller has also been authorised to distribute Henkel’s specialised adhesives and related products for the aerospace industry.

“The aviation industry, like the automotive sector, needs a lot of know-how so it can maintain the speed of innovation,” says Frank Haug, CEO of Bodo Möller. “Here, our global sales and distribution network, our expertise for specialty chemicals and their application fields as well as the products made by Henkel are a perfect fit. This allows us to build a strong and long-term partnership with Henkel in this business division as well.” bm-chemie.com

BIESTERFELD DOUBLES UP

Korean speciality chemicals manufacturer Songwon has picked Biesterfeld Spezialchemie to distribute its polymer stabiliser range in France, extending their strategic partnership. “We constantly strive to improve our product availability and customer service. The partnership with Biesterfeld France is strengthening our distribution network, and is an important step towards achieving our goal of delivering solutions that exceed the expectations of our French customers,” says Albert Dantuma, regional sales leader, polymer stabilisers, at Songwon.

Biesterfeld has also extended its partnership with Solvay Special Chem to cover the distribution of drummed organic fluorinated intermediates in Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria. “These CF3 building blocks are an ideal addition to our existing and extensive fine chemicals portfolio,” says Dr Fritjof Weidner, market manager for advanced intermediates at Biesterfeld Spezialchemie. www.biesterfeld.com

ALL CHANGE AT BRENNTAG

Shareholders in Brenntag AG overwhelmingly agreed to convert it to the Societas Europaea (SE) legal form at their meeting last month.

Brenntag sees the SE legal form as fitting best with its modern corporate culture, reflecting its global outlook. The change will take place in the second half of this year.

At the same time, Brenntag appointed Doreen Nowotne (below) as chair of its supervisory board following the resignation of Stefan Zuschke, who held the post for ten years. Zuschke says: “I would like to congratulate Doreen Nowotne on her election.

Particularly under the current challenging circumstances, the company has demonstrated its solid position and fundamental strength.

‘Project Brenntag’, which was initiated by our new CEO Christian Kohlpaintner, also points in the right direction. This is a good time to pass on responsibility to a new Supervisory Board Chairperson.” www.brenntag.com HELM GOES SOFTER

Helm Group has reported 2019 revenues of €5.0bn, down 2 per cent on the 2018 figure of €5.1bn. The positive outlook at the start of the year was dampened by a sharp drop in chemical prices in the first quarter, followed by a number of plant outages and the effects of the escalating trade war between the US and China. Its crop protection business also suffered as a result of extreme weather phenomena in the US and Brazil. Overall, the group reported a net loss before taxes of €66.0m, compared to a profit of €95.5m in 2018.

Helm has meanwhile signed a long-term deal to distribute Tronox’s titanium dioxide products in Germany. “We are pleased to have a reliable titanium dioxide supplier with Tronox for long-term collaboration and to take over the distribution in Germany,” says Christian Witt, global product manager for titanium dioxide at Helm. “The broad product portfolio offers many growth opportunities for our partnership. With its global production sites and the extraction of raw materials in own mines, we see Tronox well prepared for the future.” www.helmag.com

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EYES IN THE SKIES ONLINE TRAINING • A NEW APPROACH IS IMPROVING THE CAPABILITY OF REMOTE TRAINING AND EXAMINATION IN THE TRANSPORT OF DANGEROUS GOODS BY AIR

INCREASING DIGITISATION IN the dangerous goods supply chain has provided plenty of opportunities to do things more efficiently and more effectively, providing greater visibility over goods in transit and opening up collaboration between the various players in the industry. Up until now, its impact in the training sphere has been limited but that has now changed with the arrival of a new concept from Dangerous Goods Online Training, established this past January.

For all those involved with the transport of dangerous goods, training is part of the calendar, as much as holidays, tax returns and Christmas. Everyone needs it, both at their start of their job and every so often thereafter, according to the relevant regulatory provisions.

For employers, there are really three options – unless there is an in-house trainer: either get a trainer into the facility to carry out the training, send employees out to classroom training, or try online training.

HCB MONTHLY | JULY 2020

In the current environment, with lockdowns, social distancing and travel restrictions, various regulatory and enforcement bodies have offered some relief from the need to meet the recurrent training requirement but, nevertheless, training is still needed. After all, ask any safety professional what the three most important things are to ensuring safety in transport and they are likely to answer: “Training, training and training”.

So, given the difficulties in arranging face-to-face training right now, many employers are turning to online training. It offers several advantages, not least in terms of cost, but there are many who have viewed the online alternative as something of a second-class option. There is a suspicion that trainees can quite easily ‘game’ the system, doing just enough to show they are taking part but not actually taking anything in, while still getting a certificate at the end. Experienced instructors also know that, for training to be

effective, the trainer has to be able to see the whites of the trainees’ eyes, to see whether the message is being received and to identify where each trainee needs extra work. Online training – until now – has not been able to offer that.

TAILORED TO TRAIN Dangerous Goods Online Training takes a different approach. While still using a modular curriculum, with trainees going through it step by step, those modules can be tailored to the particular needs of each trainee. Furthermore, those taking the courses are monitored on a daily basis to check how they are doing and to identify areas of weakness that need more work.

Paul Horner, one of the three founding directors, is an experienced trainer in the transport of dangerous goods by air and was formerly with the International Air Transport Association (IATA); he explains: “The model we have is completely different to earlier systems. It requires 100 per cent commitment from students, who have to score at least 80 per cent in the training in order to be able to sit the final examination.”

To do that, Paul is on hand to answer students’ questions by phone or email, and is also able to contact students proactively when they appear to be having difficulty. The link there is Paul’s wife, Lisa Horner, another

COURSES 55

founding director, who is an experienced teacher and teacher-trainer, who actively monitors students’ progress. In this way, it is easy pick up on the gaps in students’ knowledge and she can also identify areas where the training modules need to be adapted.

The third piece in the jigsaw is software wizard Scott Dimmock of Ascent Consultancy and Training, the other founding director. He was working on the learning software system for three years before it was rolled out at the start of this year and says: “We can improve the course every single month, depending on feedback and exam results.” In the past, he says, online training could “turn people off” but this is different. He recommends that students work one to two hours a day over a week or two; they can go back over the modules as often as they need.

The initial course for shippers comprises eight modules, one for each part of the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR); for operators there is an additional module on acceptance procedures. Scott says that students should expect to spend at least 10 hours overall on the course, and possibly 30 or more, depending on the strengths of each particular candidate.

continue: it makes it easier for those located a long way from exam centres, and feedback from candidates suggests they find themselves more confident when faced with the exam paper.

One issue the company faces is taking the concept outside of the UK, as each country has its own approvals process. Dangerous Goods Online Training has reached agreement with Cargosafe Oy and appointed it to provide online training and exams in Finland and Estonia, with the relevant approvals, and this provides a likely model for further expansion.

But what about competency-based training, which is arriving in the air mode? While the modular training system can be tailored to individual needs, it would be harder, if not impossible, to check candidates’ competence levels online. “Testing competency will be something that the employer has to verify,” Scott says, although it is likely that Dangerous Goods Online Training will work with operators, ground handlers, shippers and others to set up a suitable programme.

Paul Horner agrees: “On-the-job evaluation is the employer’s responsibility. But we can help, either face-to-face or online.”

Indeed, as Lisa Horner explains, some traditional trainers have been frightened by the arrival of competency-based training; it means their training has to be adapted, but this is something that Dangerous Goods Online Training does all the time.

And its concept is gaining traction, with Scott Dimmock saying: “People see it as exciting. We have to keep moving and changing.”

For further information, call +44 (0) 800 644 6799 or email info@dgonline.training. www.dgonline.training

REMOTE EXAMINATION Not only has Dangerous Goods Online Training taken the online training concept into a more effective space, it has also managed to find a way to hold remote examinations, using live online invigilation and secure mailing of exam papers. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has observed the process and given its approval for IATA Category 1, 2, 3 and 6.

While the benefits of this are obvious during the Covid-19 lockdown, having proved the concept there is no reason why it should not

 THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT ACTORS INVOLVED IN THE TRANSPORT OF DANGEROUS GOODS BUT THEY ALL NEED APPROPRIATE TRAINING TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH THE IATA DG REGULATIONS

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56 COURSES & CONFERENCES

CONFERENCE DIARY The global Covid-19 pandemic has caused the cancellation or postponement of many events planned for the next few months. A number of events have also been transformed into ‘virtual’ meetings.

HCB has been trying to keep on top of developments but readers should check the dates and locations shown below as things are still changing rapidly.

AUGUST ChemEdge August 16-19, Indianapolis Conference for the North American chemical distribution sector www.nacd.com/education-meetings/meetings/ chemedge/2020-chemedge/ Intermodal South America August 19-21, São Paulo International exhibition on intermodal logistics, cargo transport and international trade www.intermodal.com.br/en PPC Fall Meeting August 30-Sept 1, Nashville Semi-annual meeting of the Petroleum Packaging Council www.ppcouncil.org/upcoming-meetings.php AHMP National Conference August 30-Sept 2, virtual Annual conference of the Alliance of Hazardous Materials Professionals www.ahmpnet.org/page/AHMP2020

SEPTEMBER LogiPharma September 1-3, Nice Conference on the end-to-end pharmaceutical supply chain logipharmaeu.wbresearch.com LogiChem September 8-10, Rotterdam Chemical supply chain and logistics conference http://logichem.wbresearch.com/ Labelmaster DG Symposium September 9-11, virtual 15th annual Dangerous Goods Symposium hosted by Labelmaster www.labelmaster.com/symposium Labeline Biennial Dangerous Goods Roadshow September 15/22/29, virtual Biennial conference to provide a regulatory update to industry www.labeline.com/2020/06/02/biennial_dangerous_ goods_web_roadshow/

HCB MONTHLY | JULY 2020

Virginia Hazmat Conference September 15-18, Norfolk 37th annual networking and training meeting sponsored by the Virginia Association of Hazardous Materials Response Specialists www.virginiahazmat.org/annual-hazmatconference/ ChemUK 2020 September 16-17, Manchester Supply chain expo and conference for the UK chemical industry www.chemicalukexpo.com Pumps & Valves Asia September 16-18, Bangkok Exhibition for the ASEAN pumps, valves and fittings sector www.pumpsandvalves-asia.com SCHC Fall Meeting September 19-23, Arlington, VA Biannual meeting of the Society of Chemical Hazard Communication www.schc.org/meetings European Bulk Liquid Storage Summit September 30-Oct 1, Cartagena Eight annual conference on the European market for bulk liquids storage www.wplgroup.com/aci/event/european-bulkliquid-storage/ World LNG Series: Asia Pacific Summit September 30-October 2, Kuala Lumpur 12th annual meeting for LNG buyers and sellers https://asiapacific.cwclng.com/

Intermodal Europe October 6-8, Rotterdam Annual trade show and conference for the container, transport and logistics industry www.intermodal-events.com IPANA Annual Conference October 6-8, Chicago Annual meeting of the Industrial Packaging Alliance of North America www.industrialpackaging.org/#events Tank Truck Week October 6-8, Dallas NTTC’s Annual Tank Truck Show & Maintenance Seminar https://tanktruck.org/Public/Events/TankTruck-Week/Public/Events/Tank-TruckWeek.aspx RIPA Annual Conference October 7-9, Chicago 79th annual meeting of the Reusable Industrial Packaging Association https://www.reusablepackaging.org/event/2020ripa-annual-conference/ Hazmat 2020 October 13-14, Stratford-upon-Avon 13th annual conference for hazmat specialists https://the-ncec.com/en/emergency-response/ hazmat-event

OCTOBER

ECTA Responsible Care Workshop October 15, virtual Update on Responsible Care implementation in European chemical transport https://www.ecta.com/event-3736082

Argus LPG Moscow October 1-2, Moscow 15th annual event for the regional LPG sector www.argusmedia.com/en/conferencesevents-listing/lpg-2020

FETSA Conference October 15-16, Rotterdam Annual congress and AGM of the Federation of European Tank Storage Associations www.fetsa2020.eu

EPCA Annual Meeting October 4-7, virtual 54th annual meeting of the European Petrochemical Association www.epca.eu

Oil & Non Oil October 21-23, Verona Trade show on fuel and non-oil storage and distribution in Italy and Europe www.oilnonoil.it

COURSES & CONFERENCES

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INCIDENT LOG ROAD/RAIL/AIR INCIDENTS Date

Location

1/5/20

Vehicle Type

Substance

Details

Source

Andover, road tanker oil Massachusetts, US

Fire broke out in four dump trucks, one oil tanker at Deloury Industries construction facility; dump trucks blocked route to tanker for fire crews responding to blaze; site unoccupied at the time; investigation underway

CBS Boston

2/5/20

Obalende, road tanker gasoline Lagos, Nigeria

Road tanker with 45,000 litres gasoline overturned on arrival to discharge at filling station; fire broke out, killing one, injuring 16; fire crews were on scene quickly, managed to prevent blaze from spreading

Premium Times

3/5/20

Knox county, freight train Missouri, US

11 cars of 91-car BNSF train derailed near Edina; one car with granular acid caught fire; crews spent three hours dealing with blaze; other cars not carrying hazmat; no injuries reported; cause unclear as yet

KTVO Tribune

4/5/20

Witbank, road tanker ammonia MP, South Africa

Road tanker carrying ammonia was in collision with another truck on N12; leaking ammonia spread over area, affecting residents, other drivers held up by crash; evacuations ordered, road closed

Sowetan Live

5/5/20

Lagos, road tankers Nigeria

Two tankers, one with kerosene, one with diesel, were in head-on collision on notorious Odetola Bridge; diesel tanker spilt load; police blamed bad driving; fire crews managed to prevent fire breaking out

Vanguard

8/5/20

Ibadan, road tanker diesel Oyo, Nigeria

Road tanker lost control on downhill road in Moniya, skidded and crashed into another vehicle; explosion, fire killed two, several more injured; substantial damage to nearby shops; fire chief blamed brake failure

Business Day

12/5/20

Adani, road tanker unknown Gujarat, India

Chemical tanker, after dropping cargo at port, crashed into parked truck on Surat-Hazira highway; crash sparked fire in front of tanker; driver was trapped and died in the fire

Times of India

15/5/20

Toba Tek Singh, road tanker gasoline Punjab, Pakistan

Road tanker with 48,000 litres gasoline overturned on M-III, reportedly due to driver falling asleep; some gasoline leaked to road, remainder was transferred; highway closed; driver, helper suffered minor injuries

The Int’l News

15/5/20

Roanoke, road tanker hexane Virginia, US

Fire broke out during loading of Chemsolv tank truck at industrial facility; fire officials said various flammable liquids were involved, and hexane was being transferred at the time; severe damage to plant

WFXR

isophthalic acid

kerosene, diesel

MARINE/INLAND WATERWAY INCIDENTS Date

Location

Vessel

Substance

Details

Source

24/4/20

nr Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia

Volgoneft gasoil 249

Product tanker (built 1975), with 3,736 tonnes gasoil, ran aground in Kama River estuary; no breach of hull reported; vessel refloated two days later, sailed to Ulyanovsk for inspection

FleetMon

11/5/20

Belawan, Jag Leela crude oil Medan, Indonesia

Fire broke out after explosion in aft section of tanker (105,500 dwt, 1999) under repair; fire spread to crude oil in cargo tanks, causing dense black smoke, and to other ships in the yard; at least 22 workers injured

Shipwreck Log

15/5/20

Lome, Gods Love unknown Togo

Explosion, fire aboard Nigeria-registered tanker killed one crew, injured several more; 1973-built vessel was originally a containership and may have been converted; not clear whether the ship was in cargo

FleetMon

20/5/20

nr Wuhu, Qiu Feng 6 — Anhui, China

Explosion aboard inland chemical tanker (2018) injured two crew; video showed four crew apparently cleaning tank when blast happened; three jumped into Yangtze, were rescued; fire spread

Spash 247

MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS Date

Location

Plant type

Substance

Details

Source

1/5/20

St Louis, Missouri, US

chemical plant

sulphuric acid

Fire crews responded to report of sulphuric acid leak and explosion at Henkel Corp plant; all workers evacuated; fire department said unintentional introduction of moisture into process caused violent reaction

Fox News

4/5/20

Sabiñánigo, Huesca, Spain

chemical chlorine plant

Three workers were treated for exposure to chlorine after reaction during mixing at Orache Desinfección plant; shelter-in-place order for entire town; roads closed until chorine cloud dissipated

Industrial Fire World

7/5/20

Visakhapatnam, AP, India

chemical styrene plant

At least 11 people died after leak of styrene vapour, presumably due to auto-polymerisation in storage tank, at LG Polymers plant; hundreds more sickened; thousands evacuated from nearby villages; investigation opened

Deccan Herald

15/5/20

Lauenberg, SH, Germany

chemical resins plant

One employee was injured when fire broke out at Worlée-Chemie plant; large plume of dark smoke hung over town for hours; responders managed to prevent fire spreading to large storage tanks

Hazmat Nation

15/5/20

Venice, Italy

chemical unknown plant

Large fire broke out in unidentified chemical plant in Porto Marghera, emitting plume of black smoke; health authorities said there was no off-site impact, though shelter-in-place had been ordered

DW

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MASTER PLAN DATA • ACCURATE MASTER DATA IS KEY TO COMPLIANCE IN SHIPPING DANGEROUS GOODS. WHY IS IT SO HARD TO COME BY, ASKS LABELMASTER’S MARIO SAGASTUME? WHAT EXACTLY ARE you shipping? This may sound like a simple question, but shippers often don’t know exactly what they’re shipping, and that lack of knowledge has a profound ripple effect on the entire supply chain. This is especially true for companies that manufacture, sell or distribute dangerous goods (DG) and, as a result, must comply with complex and ever-changing rules and regulations regarding the packaging, labelling, documentation and transport of those goods.

Having complete, accurate master data is the key to streamlining compliant hazmat transport and it can help unlock efficiencies across all the locations and departments in an organisation. It all starts with the answer

to one question: What exactly are you shipping?

The supply chain has become increasingly data-driven, making access to, and communication of, timely and accurate master data imperative. Unfortunately, data accuracy, completeness and reliability are challenging. These shortcomings are apparent in both the centralised data stored and communicated across companies’ supply chains, and in the data quality and accuracy they receive.

According to Labelmaster’s 2019 Dangerous Goods Confidence Outlook, which surveyed dangerous goods professionals from around the globe, data collection and maintenance are key challenges:

• 45 per cent of organisations report data collection that’s sporadic, inconsistent or not done at all.

• 55 per cent of organisations say their supply chain partners’ data collection is sporadic, inconsistent or not done at all.

What exactly is this master data? Why is it so hard to collect? And how does it impact hazmat transport?

WHAT IS MASTER DATA? Master data is complete, detailed information about a product’s components, makeup, dimensions and origins. This is the information that forms the basis of every process required for compliant DG shipping. It’s the difference between knowing what you’re shipping and knowing exactly what you’re shipping.

For example: - Knowing what you’re shipping: We’re shipping a large lithium battery for a cordless lawn mower - Knowing exactly what you’re shipping: We’re shipping a lithium-ion battery with the following characteristics: • 56 V, 420 Wh, 7.5 Ah • Weight: 3 kg • Dimensions: 23 cm x 9 cm x 9 cm • Manufactured by : XYZ Industries, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China If you work for a manufacturer shipping your own product, master data is relatively easy to come by. After that, it becomes more challenging, due to several factors: 1. Multiple hand-offs across supply chain partners. From raw material sourcing to subcomponent assembly to finished goods to distribution, every time materials change hands there’s a risk that data will be lost, altered or simply not transferred.

2. Disparate data systems between supply chain partners. Data in one format doesn’t always translate to another format – especially if it’s processed manually.

Different ERPs, TMSs and WMSs may all store the same data differently.

3. Fragmentation in assembly and deliveries.

In assembling a lithium battery device, for example, different components may come from different sources – from different countries, in different languages – on different schedules.

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4. Product changes. Products change frequently, and suppliers may pass that information on separately. The updated information may not reach the shipping or warehousing departments because the quantity and pricing of the goods may not have changed.

Now, take those hurdles and multiply them by the dozens of steps involved in the supply chain – classification, preparation, shipping, acceptance, delivery – and you might start to wonder how any data ever gets shared accurately anywhere. And that’s before DG is even brought into the mix.

KEY TO COMPLIANCE Every job is made much more difficult without the right guidance and information, especially shipping DG, which is increasingly complicated due to ever-changing regulations that can vary by country, transport mode, item type and more. And because a product’s components, makeup, dimensions and origins, etc impact every process required for safe and compliant DG shipping – including packaging, labelling, documentation, permits and transport of goods – access to master data is critical.

Unfortunately, DG data is often segregated because many organisations lack the necessary processes, technologies or understanding around the complexity of DG shipping. There is an expectation that the warehouse will automatically know how to handle DG shipments, especially if they have a warehousing or shipping software in place. But here’s the thing: without proper data, no technology can work to its fullest potential.

Effective dangerous goods management begins with knowing what kind of DG shipments a company is processing and making sure that personnel throughout the supply chain have access to that information.

That’s why organisations need to expand the ownership of compliant DG shipments by giving all teams a timely, reliable data set.

 WITHOUT ACCURATE MASTER DATA, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW WHAT EXACTLY IS IN THE BOX, OR HOW TO SHIP THAT BOX IN COMPLIANCE WITH ALL THE RELEVANT REGULATORY PROVISIONS

THE WAY TO GO Here are some key strategies to help improve the collection and management of master data.

1. Start with the end in mind. If your goal is to effect DG shipments efficiently, reliably, safely and compliantly, then you need to look ahead and understand the data and tools your colleagues in shipping, warehousing or other departments will need to achieve this goal. DG information is as important as the correct ship-to address – without it, it’ll be tough to get the shipment to your customer correctly and on time.

2. Keep the needs of your internal partners in mind. For example, if you’re in purchasing or product management, ask your colleagues in warehousing and shipping

are they asking the manufacturer or distributor for the DG data that will enable correct shipping? Is product management adding DG information when launching a new product? How is this data available to the shipper?

While this may sound complicated, there’s good news: the information you need to make a compliant DG shipment isn’t light years away from the data you already have and need for invoicing, inventory, RFPs or many other applications. So, gathering the data you need for shipping DG will help you in other areas, too.

Having complete, accurate master data is the key to streamlining compliant hazmat transport, and it can help unlock efficiencies across all the locations and departments in your organisation. And it all starts with the

what information they need to process shipments. Don’t assume they have all the data they need.

3. Understand where the data is coming from and in what format. How easily can you absorb that data into your operations?

When procurement is buying products,

answer to one question: What exactly are you shipping? * Mario Sagastume is vice-president of software and customer success at Labelmaster. More information on the services and systems that Labelmaster offers can be found at www. labelmaster.com.

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NEWS BULLETIN

SAFETY

ISGOTT UDPATED

The sixth edition of the International Safety Guide for Oil Tankers and Terminals (ISGOTT), the definitive reference for the safe operation of oil tankers and the marine terminals they visit, has been published and is available from Witherby Seamanship. This update comes 14 years after the publication of the fifth edition and has been reviewed by the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), together with the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) and with the support of the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko), the Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminals Operators (SIGTTO) and the Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF), as well as specialists in certain topic areas.

This new edition covers a range of topical issues including gas detection, the toxicity and the toxic effects of petroleum products (including benzene and hydrogen sulphide), the generation of static electricity and stray

currents, fire protection and the growing use of mobile electronic technology. As the participation in the project might indicate, it also recognises the emergence of new bunker fuels, including LNG and other alternatives, as well as emerging technologies employed in tanker vessels and terminals.

The opportunity has also been taken to include new topics or to reappraise those previously covered where there has been a change of emphasis in recent years, such as enclosed space entry, human factors and safety management systems. The Ship/Shore Safety and Bunkering Operations Checklists have also been completely revised to reflect changes in the understanding of the impact of human factors in their effective use; both are available as free downloads from the OCIMF website.

The authors believe that ISGOTT continues to provide the best technical guidance on oil tanker and terminal operations. All operators are urged to ensure that the recommendations in this Sixth Edition are fully understood and are incorporated in safety management systems and procedures. It is available from Witherby Seamanship, priced at £385. www.ocimf.org www.witherbyseamanship.com METHANOL SAFETY

OCIMF and the Maritime Safety Forum (MSF) have published a joint information paper on The Carriage of Methanol in Bulk Onboard Offshore Vessels. The document fills a gap in the library for technical information on the handling of methanol, which is becoming more common in the offshore oil and gas sector.

“This guidance, which was developed under the direction of the MSF and in partnership with OCIMF, outlines the best practices for the carriage of methanol onboard offshore vessels,” says OCIMF director Robert Drysdale. The paper is available as a free download from the OCIMF website at www.ocimf.org/publications/ information-papers.aspx.

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DRYDOCKING GAS-FUELLED SHIPS

The Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF) has published new guidance for the safe drydocking of vessels that use gas as fuel.

The guidance covers work practices during maintenance and repair work, and notes that, while cargo is routinely removed during such operations, fuel is sometimes not.

“With 185 gas-fuelled ships in active service and with another 212 on order, the release of this publication is timely since it is important that prior to any docking both ship owner, operator or manager and shipyard fully understand the safety requirements of the gas fuel management during the drydocking period,” says SGMF. www.sgmf.info/shop TAKE CHARGE ON SAFETY

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a new guidance document highlighting the role that boards of directors and executives have in ensuring that there are effective safety management systems in place to properly managing risks in the offshore oil and gas sector. The document follows up on recommendations delivered to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), which felt it was not authorised to issue the guidance, following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout (opposite). It does, however, include BSEE’s safety culture policy and also refers to guidance issued by the UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and other agencies.

CSB’s chair Dr Katherine Lemos notes that 20 April 2020 marked ten years since that catastrophic event. CSB’s final report on that incident determined that a robust process safety programme is important to a company’s overall success. “Companies operating offshore have the potential for major accidents that threaten the lives of workers and may result in catastrophic environmental damage,” she says.

The full document can be downloaded from the CSB website at www.csb.gov/assets/1/6/ csb_macondo_bod_guidance_05_(1).pdf.

KNOW YOUR RISKS

The UK P&I Club has begun publication of a series of Risk Awareness guides which, over the course of 2020, will cover a wide range of vessel

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types. The first publication provides an aid to risk identification and loss reduction in bulk carriers, general cargo ships and reefers, identifying the common risks posed to such ships and the methods to avoid or minimise them.

The series of guides will provide the controls and key points that the Club’s risk assessors look for when inspecting a vessel, allowing its members to carry out similar checks. In this way, the guides aim to provide the controls that members can use to ensure that threats are contained and incidents do not happen.

More information is available in the ‘Knowledge’ section of the UK P&I Club website. www.ukpandi.com SANDIA STUDY SCRAPS VAPOUR PRESSURE

Sandia National Laboratories has published the full report of its research study on the physical, chemical and combustion properties of crude oils, in particular the ‘tight oils’ that were involved in a number of rail incidents in 2013

and 2014. The study was commissioned by the US Department of Energy (DOE), the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and Transport Canada.

The results indicate that all the oils tested have comparable thermal hazard distances and the measured properties are consistent with other alkane-based hydrocarbon liquids.

The similarity of pool fire and fireball burn characteristics pertinent to thermal hazard outcomes of the studied three oils indicate that vapour pressure is not a statistically significant factor in affecting these outcomes.

As a result of the study, DOE and DOT have determined that no further regulations or legislation is necessary; the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) therefore withdrew its proposed rulemaking regarding vapour pressure in unrefined petroleum products and other flammable liquids and no longer considers vapour pressure as a factor in the transport of crude oil by rail.

TRAINING FOR TANK STORAGE

Reynolds Training Services, the UK Tank Storage Association (TSA) and Cogent Skills have together developed the UK’s first apprenticeship programme for the bulk liquids storage sector. The two-year apprenticeship programme includes classroom-based training and learning, practical skill development and assessment, supported by onsite training and competency assessment against the Level 3 Diploma for a Bulk Storage Operator Technician at the apprentice’s workplace.

“The highly technical nature of our industry has created a demand for skilled and qualified specialists in the bulk liquid storage sector,” says Peter Davidson, executive director of TSA. “For that reason, we have developed this pioneering apprenticeship programme, now in its second year, to give valuable practical and classroom-based training to the next generation of talent and provide a clear route to careers in our sector.” reynoldstraining.com/apprenticeships/

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TESTING, TESTING

Institute for Training and Research (Unitar) and 12 non-governmental organisations.

The Sub-committee heard that the English, French and Russian language versions of the eighth revised edition of GHS had already been published and that the Spanish, Chinese and Arabic versions were being prepared [although they have not, as of June 2020, appeared].

It was also noted that the English and French language versions of the seventh revised edition of the Manual of Tests and Criteria were also available.

to improve the testing of oxidising liquids and solids, specifically the testing of materials of different particle sizes distribution and coated materials, as well as improvements to the testing methods for the Tests O.1, O.2 and O.3. Work was still ongoing, by means of round-robin testing at 13 laboratories in eight countries. At the time of the meeting, experimental data were being gathered and processed. A report on further progress will be made at the next session.

The chairman of the Working Group on Explosives reported to both sub-committees on the work of the International Group of Experts on the Unstable and Energetic Substances (IGUS) ad hoc working group on the revision of UN test series H. Changes had recently been adopted to cover polymerising substances but a broader review had been carried out to update the current test descriptions and to delete over-specification, especially in the adiabatic

TDG MATTERS The first item on the agenda was to review the work of the sister UN Sub-committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (TDG), particularly as it relates to GHS matters. France reported on the work

storage test (AST) in test H.2 and the isothermal storage test (IST) in test H.3, along with the introduction of standard heat-loss values, where possible, for packagings.

The paper included specific proposals to amend 28.1 in Section 28 of the Manual

GHS • ALTHOUGH THEY DEAL WITH DIFFERENT SCENARIOS, THE PURPLE AND ORANGE BOOKS NEED TO KEEP IN STEP. THE GHS EXPERTS SPEND MUCH OF THEIR TIME MAKING SURE THE UN SUB-COMMITTEE of Experts on the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) held its 38th session in Geneva this past 11 to 13 December. The meeting was the second of four planned for the current (2019/2020) regulatory biennium, although the third meeting was subsequently cancelled due to the current Coronavirus pandemic.

The session was chaired by Maureen Ruskin (US) with Paul Taylor (Australia) as vice-chair.

It was attended by experts from 19 countries, observers from Switzerland and Thailand and representatives from the EU, the UN

 HAZARD COMMUNICATION FOR GHS AND TDG MEET DIFFERENT NEEDS SO ARE NOT ALWAYS THE SAME

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of Tests and Criteria. The authors of the proposal were reminded that they needed to take account of the applicability of the Manual of Tests and Criteria in sectors other than transport; the GHS experts were invited to send comments to Peter Schuurman at the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) by mid-March 2020 at the latest.

EXPLOSIVES Sweden updated the GHS Sub-committee on the long-running work to revise Chapter 2.1; this work has resulted in acknowledgment of the need to extend the classification system in GHS and new criteria and associated hazard communication elements are under development. The main feature of the new classification system is that it will go further than the current reliance on product configuration, which is used in transport – that is, the classification takes account of the way the substances and articles are configured and packaged.

The proposed new classification system, while remaining largely based on the current divisions used in GHS and the TDG Model Regulations, evaluates the explosive behaviour down to the level of the primary packaging (normally the innermost container)

 INDUSTRY OUGHT TO BE FAMILIAR BY NOW WITH THE VARIOUS GHS PICTOGRAMS

and validates whether or not the explosive effect as reflected by the division is also accurate at that level. This removes the possible mitigating effect that the (transport) configuration may have, which can be substantial, and thereby allows for appropriate GHS hazard communication for the primary packaging.

Another feature of the new system is to provide a means to classify explosives not assigned to a division for reasons other than being too sensitive (i.e. for other than “unstable explosives”), which the current system does not. For example, in explosives manufacturing and processing there is no (transport) configuration that can be subjected to the appropriate tests for assigning a division, and hence no GHS classification can currently be assigned (unless they are “unstable explosives”).

The new system is able to classify explosives also in this situation and assign GHS hazard communication elements to them.

At the 36th session of the GHS Subcommittee, it was agreed that the review of Chapter 2.1 should be completed during the current biennium. The criteria for the various classifications within the new GHS system are now essentially finalised but the question of whether an exclusion should be made for substances and mixtures in the research and development phase has not been fully resolved. There is also the issue of how to deal with those substances,

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mixtures and articles that are excluded from Class 1 in the TDG Model Regulations and assigned to specific UN numbers in the Dangerous Goods List, but which fall under the GHS criteria for explosives.

Guidance is now being developed on the application of the criteria via correspondence and teleconferencing.

Work was also progressing on the assignment of appropriate hazard communication elements and precautionary statements. A draft of the new Chapter 2.1 had been circulated for discussion and comment and its was expected that this would be finalised before the next sessions of both the GHS and TDG Sub-committees.

HEALTH HAZARDS The UK and the Netherlands gave an update of discussions by the informal working group on the use of non-animal testing methods for classification of health hazards, which had earlier focused on a review and possible revision of either Chapter 3.3 on serious eye damage or Chapter 3.4 on skin sensitisation.

As part of the Chapter 3.3 review, the informal working group will consider again the specific issue of classification using pH values, especially where the appropriate classification is corrosive or inconclusive. The work has also been bolstered by the participation of

the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), which created a first revised draft of Chapter 3.3. This had already been discussed by the informal working group and the draft will be further refined.

The Sub-committee acknowledged the work done by the informal working group and noted that a proposal will be submitted to the next session for consideration.

The US provided an update on the work of the informal correspondence group looking at practical classification issues, following on from a thought-starter from the International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products (AISE) and Croplife International presented at the previous session, relating to the cut-off value/ concentration limits for mixtures presenting a hazard of serious eye damage.

The group had also looked at the relationship between acute toxicity and specific target organ toxicity and was continuing to develop examples that it planned to present in a working document for the next session. On the concept of applying additivity to health hazard classes for which additivity is not explicitly mentioned, there was general agreement within the informal group that references to substances of unknown or variable composition, complex reaction products

and biological materials and multi-constituent substances should be removed from the proposed text. The group also agreed to separate the text into a more concise description for Chapter 1.3 and to provide additional guidance. Discussions will continue with a view to finalising proposals at the next session.

Another upcoming issue for the Subcommittee will be the development of a suitable viscosity criterion for the classification of mixtures for aspiration hazards. The representative of the International Paint and Printing Ink Council (IPPIC) informed the Sub-committee that work on this topic is ongoing.

The expert from France, on the other hand, reported that work on nanomaterials has stalled and that France was no longer in a position to continue to lead the work without the help of other delegations. A general call for help was put out, with the promise to report back at the next session.

Progress has, however, been made by the informal correspondence group on the simultaneous classification in physical hazard classes and the precedence of hazards, as the TDG Sub-committee had already heard. One important element currently being worked on is the safety of testing personnel, bearing in mind the possibility that testing might become more hazardous if substances with certain properties are being tested. There are also some cases where classification tests cannot be carried out: liquids cannot be subjected to Test N.4 for self-heating substances and mixtures as that involves heating the sample in a mesh container; and pyrophoric liquids cannot be tested for their flash point as ignition occurs more or less immediately.

During a short meeting alongside the Sub-committee’s session, the group noted that the Manual of Tests and Criteria already provides advice on the possibility to test with smaller amounts. It was agreed that this advice would be compiled into a single document for consideration by the group.

 PROBLEMS HAVE ARISEN WITH THE SIMULTANEOUS CLASSIFICATION OF PHYSICAL HAZARDS

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Another interesting point raised by Germany in its report on progress was the possibility that hazard communication may give the wrong message. For instance, it quoted the case of explosives that burn normally when ignited and may have a burning rate that meets the criterion for classification as a flammable solid; these would be accompanied by hazard communication indicating a flammable solid as well as an explosive, whereas explosives that react violently rather than burn would only be classified as explosive.

This raised the idea that the problematic tests might benefit from amendment, although the Sub-committee agreed that this did not fall within the scope of the group’s work.

ALIGNMENT AND CORRECTIONS The Secretariat had prepared a paper outlining some potential corrections and clarifications to the GHS document. Firstly, it noted that it

 GHS LABELS CAN BE REQUIRED TO HOLD A LARGE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION

currently refers inconsistently to the UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, the Model Regulations and other variations on the same theme.

It proposed that the definition in Chapter 1.2 should refer to the UN Model Regulations, and that this term should be standardised as such throughout GHS. This suggestion was adopted.

The Secretariat also noted that the criteria in the tables of each chapter of Parts 1 to 4 are normally identified by letters, partly to avoid confusion with the numbering used to identify classification criteria. This principle is applied consistently throughout GHS, except for tables 2.3.1 and 3.2.2, which used numeric indicators. A proposal to align them was also adopted.

The Secretariat had also been advised of a printing error in Annex 7, example 10, where the words ‘Read full label enclosed’ are missing in the illustration. The US said it would prepare a formal proposal to amend this at the next session.

The Secretariat noted that the presentation of the decision logics is becoming problematic as a result of software updates; until recently it has managed to work around these issues

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but some are now being printed with errors.

It alerted the Sub-committee to the intention to convert the decision logics into a format compatible with the latest version of the text processing program, which may result in changes to the current design. One delegation asked for these to be submitted in an official document for the next session, although the Secretariat indicated that there may not be time to have this ready.

The Secretariat further provided a paper with corrections to the eighth revised edition of GHS, which were all adopted by the Sub-committee.

China had already made a proposal to the TDG Sub-committee to amend 2.9.3.4.3.4 of the Model Regulations, dealing with the classification of the chronic aquatic environmental hazards of mixtures, which had been paraphrased from section 4.1.3 of GHS. The debate had been inconclusive and experts had been invited to submit comments to China in writing so that a revised proposal could be made. China also proposed similar

 KEEN EYESIGHT IS NEEDED TO READ THE INFORMATION PRESENTED ON SMALL PACKAGINGS

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clarification to 4.1.3.3.4 of GHS, with the same result. A formal proposal was to be made at the next session.

Australia proposed some clarifications to the classification criteria for eye irritation Category 2 in Chapter 3.3 of GHS, after experiencing confusion during its implementation of the seventh revised edition. Its paper had already received some comments and corrections, and the US came up with further amendments offering an alternative approach.

GHS currently refers to Category 2, 2A and 2B; Australia felt this was confusing and that Category 2 should be accompanied by two Sub-categories, 2A and 2B. There was agreement that this was a sensible change and, indeed, that it should be followed elsewhere in GHS. There is clearly more work to be done on this and Australia, Germany and the US volunteered to work together to develop a proposal for consideration at the next session.

no longer in line with the latest edition of GHS. Several options were offered. The Subcommittee agreed that the examples should be updated but that the layout should be retained, while reference to explicit chemical names should be deleted. It was also agreed that explicit labelling examples would be included in the guidance on the GHS web pages.

Cefic also presented as a thought-starter the results of discussions involving a number of non-governmental organisations on the opportunities that the digitisation of hazard information may bring to the conveyance of hazard information. The use of digital means to address hazard information for chemicals is increasing worldwide and offers significant advantages in terms of a more targeted and effective hazard communication. However, no global standards are currently available covering hazard labelling of chemicals.

Furthermore, consumer research has indicated that current GHS labelling may not be fully

HAZARD COMMUNICATION On behalf of the informal working group on practical labelling issues, Cefic followed up on Unitar’s earlier proposal to revise examples 1 to 7 in Annex 7; it was agreed that some examples need to be updated since they are

effective in conveying safe use and hazard information to the general public, especially on small packaging or when multiple languages are required.

It is felt that a digital label could address many of the shortcomings of physical on-pack GHS labels, while providing additional support

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“THE USE OF DIGITAL MEANS TO CARRY HAZARD INFORMATION OFFERS SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES BUT NO GLOBAL STANDARDS ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE” to vulnerable members of society. In the workplace, it would be sensible to link the GHS hazard label to the relevant safety data sheet (SDS). Digitising the label would also allow hazard information to be updated very quickly.

While all this sounds positive, there are potential issues: the relevant technologies are not available to all consumers; there are privacy and data security concerns; and GHS does not currently address digital labels and would need amendment. The paper did not propose to replace the physical label, which should be kept; digital transmission of information should complement the on-pack hazard communication.

The Sub-committee was invited to share any existing experiences at the national level and the informal working group was invited to discuss further the challenges, issues and drawbacks of the proposal.

The UK reported on behalf of the informal working group on improving Annexes 1, 2 and 3 of GHS with a lengthy paper proposing amendments to the tables and notes in Annex 1 with the aim of removing inconsistencies, improving clarity and enhancing the readability and presentation of the tables. One aspect of the proposal was to include the corresponding transport label alongside the GHS pictogram(s) in the table. With some amendments, the Sub-committee adopted all the proposed changes.

A supplementary paper from the UK, again on behalf of the informal working group,

contained some suggestions for correction and amendment of Annex 3, sections 2 and 3.

These again were adopted, with the heading of the tables for eye damage/irritation in Chapter 3.3 of Annex 3 changing from ‘EYE DAMAGE/ IRRITATION’ to ‘SERIOUS EYE DAMAGE/EYE IRRITATION’. In the tables for pyrophoric liquids in Chapter 2.9 and pyrophoric solids in Chapter 2.10, under ‘Prevention’, P231, relating to the use of inert gas, the following is inserted: Manufacturer/supplier or the competent authority to specify appropriate liquid or gas if “inert gas” is not appropriate.

In Table A.3.2.2, Section 2, for the P230 entry, the precautionary statement “Keep wetted with…” is replaced by the precautionary statement “Keep diluted with…”. A similar change is made in Section 3 for the P230 entry.

The informal working group on improving Annexes 1, 2 and 3 is continuing with its tasks, with its work plan including hand-eye contact and a review of combination statements in Annex 3. Its discussions on hand-eye contact have raised the issue of other areas of skin or clothing that may also be contaminated with an eye irritant; it expected to bring forward a proposal at the next session.

The Secretariat had been looking at the use of acronyms and abbreviations in GHS and felt that these should be grouped in Chapter 1.2. This was agreed by the Sub-committee, as were proposals for new definitions for ‘Aerosols (aerosol dispensers)’, ‘Chemicals under pressure’ and ‘Gases under pressure’.

Australia and Canada had noticed that references to the heading of section 9 of the safety data sheet are not presented consistently throughout GHS, with alternatives including ‘Physical and chemical properties’, ‘Basic physical and chemical properties’ and ‘Physical and chemical properties and safety characteristics’, the latter being the formal title of that section. To provide consistency, it was proposed that all these be changed to ‘Physical and chemical properties’, an idea that was adopted by the Sub-committee.

GHS IMPLEMENTATION The US and Canada provided an update on the work of the informal correspondence group on the development of a global list of chemicals classified in accordance with the GHS, whose

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first two work streams are to identify existing lists that implement GHS and compare them with the guiding principles set down to ensure that classifications are developed transparently, with stakeholder input, from publicly available and electronically available data, and be non-binding.

The Swedish Chemicals Agency had been in the process of commissioning a study that would cover these items; however, it learned that Cefic had gathered information on the implementation of GHS in specific countries and had compiled this information into a report, which was also presented at this session. Sweden’s study has therefore not gone forward.

The informal correspondence group was encouraged to proceed with its work and to report back at the next session.

Cefic reminded the Sub-committee that its project had included a template of information to be gathered from different countries and

shared the results of its labours so far, inviting comments from the experts. It was suggested that an additional column be added addressing the implementation of cut-off values for mixtures. A further update will be provided at the next session.

The EU informed the Sub-Committee that a legal proposal to implement the provisions of the sixth and seventh revised editions of GHS with regard to safety data sheets was under discussion and it was expected to be adopted for entry into force by mid-2020.

The Secretariat of the ANDEAN Community (comprising Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) advised the Sub-committee that the updated Technical Manual for the Registration and Control of Chemical Pesticides for Agricultural Use had recently been updated; it aligns with GHS in many of the building blocks under physical, health and environmental hazards, and also requires safety data sheets in accordance with GHS.

New Zealand’s Environmental Protection Agency opened a public consultation in October 2019 with the aim of updating its classification framework (implemented in 2001) to the seventh revised edition of GHS, and it intends to issue a new EPA Classification Notice incorporating GHS by reference.

Both Canada and the US reported that they were in the process of aligning with the seventh revised edition of GHS, with the US expected to complete the transition during 2020.

EXTERNAL COOPERATION The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) provided a review and update of references to OECD guidance documents and test guidelines in GHS and a lengthy proposed list of amendments to Chapters 3.2 and 3.5 of GHS. These were deemed acceptable and were adopted without change.

The Secretariat had also been looking at the various references to external standards and guidelines in Annexes 9 and 10 and offered two options for keeping up with revisions, cancellations and new publications, feeling that a systematic approach was needed. Opinion was divided on which option was preferable and the Secretariat was invited to prepare an official document for the next session.

The Secretariat also updated the Subcommittee on the work of the Expert Working Group on the review of the Annexes to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. That Group had focused work recently on alignment with GHS, ADR and the UN transport classification system. Further work is ongoing.

The Secretariat further reported on the recent work of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM), which had begun looking at its strategic approach post-2020. ICCM mentions GHS several times as the international standard for classification and labelling and its level of implementation

 DIGITISING THE INFORMATION ON GHS LABELS COULD OFFER IMMENSE ADVANTAGES

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is used as one of the indicators of the implementation of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). The Sub-committee was invited to encourage governments and non-governmental associations to provide regular updates on the status of GHS implementation around the world, as this will become increasingly valuable to countries implementing GHS for the first time or for those updating their legislation to more recent editions.

GHS GUIDANCE The International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) had been working a revision of its GHS guidance, last published in 2010, to ensure that it reflects current research and scientific developments and is consistent with the latest versions of GHS in relation to the application of its criteria to petroleum susbtances. The Sub-committee was

“THE EU PLANS TO IMPLEMENT THE LATEST EDITIONS OF GHS WITH REGARD TO SAFETY DATA SHEETS THIS YEAR”

presented with a second edition of this guidance, updated to the seventh revised edition of GHS. It was invited to link to the updated guidance on the UN GHS website under Section 2 (sector-specific guidance) of the GHS guidance.

The International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) provided an update on its work in the areas of awareness raising and capacity building. During 2019 it had been working with Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment on GHS implementation in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, and also held workshops and meetings in Hanoi, Buenos Aires and Oman to discuss GHS implementation. ICCA said these activities would continue in 2020.

The 39th session of the GHS Sub-committee, originally scheduled to take place from 8 to 10 July, was postponed because of the Covid-19 crisis; it is now scheduled to take place from 9 to 11 December 2020.

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72 BACK PAGE

NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED DOWN BOY Baltimore County fire and emergency response personnel were called to a municipal recycling facility one morning in May on reports of an explosion. On arrival, they found some employees with minor injuries and others suffering after inhaling an irritating gas.

The incident happened while the employees were sorting household recyclables in the facility.

The fire service determined that the reported explosion was actually a can rupturing on the conveyor belt; unfortunately, the can was an aerosol containing a dog training spray. Up to 20 employees were exposed to the irritant, of which 15 were being evaluated by medical personnel. All needed a trip through the portable decontamination shower while the hazmat team ventilated the building.

How come dogs don’t need decontaminating when they’re subjected to training spray?

GET DRESSED UP Perhaps the Maryland recycling pickers should take a leaf out of the London commuter book.

As the Covid-19 lockdown has been gradually eased, people are beginning to go back to work and, as anyone who has lived in London knows only too well, that inevitably includes a trip on a packed train, tube or bus, with no chance of observing social distancing measures.

While it is now mandatory to wear a mask or face covering when riding on public transport, some commuters have taken things a step further. The local paper, the Evening Standard,

CLEAN AND DIRTY FOOD To be fair, ordinary citizens are getting mixed messages about how best to deal with the threat that Covid-19 presents, not least in the US, where the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) became so concerned at some of the stories it was hearing it decided to do a spot of research.

An online survey carried out by CDC found that 39 per cent of those who responded were engaging in unsafe practices in the home in order to protect themselves. These included washing food with bleach, using household cleaning products on their skin, or intentionally ingesting or inhaling cleaning products.

Worryingly, 4 per cent had gone so far as to drink or gargle dilute bleach, soapy water or other disinfectants, and 25 per cent of those surveyed reported at least one adverse health effect during April.

CDC concluded that, while public announcements should still encourage hand washing and effective cleaning in homes as well as public and work spaces, these should be evidence-based and followed up with advice against potentially harmful practices.

“Messaging should also emphasise avoidance of high-risk practices such as unsafe preparation of cleaning and disinfectant solutions, use of bleach on food products, application of household cleaning and disinfectant products to skin, and inhalation or ingestion of cleaners and disinfectants,” it said.

Food can be bad enough on its own, though.

carried pictures of one man who was taking no chances: he was dressed head to toe in a hazmat suit, including breathing apparatus.

What the regulations are for carrying a compressed gas cylinder on a London bus, we are not sure. But these days anything seems to be ok.

Workers at a post office in Schweinfurt, Germany flagged up a suspicious parcel after several of them felt unwell after breathing fumes last month. Emergency response teams traced the ‘fumes’ to a parcel of durian fruits, which smell so bad they are banned from public transport in large parts of Asia.

HCB MONTHLY | JULY 2020

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