News bulletin – tanks and logistics

NEWS BULLETIN

TANKS & LOGISTICS

THE NEW AND THE OLD

Den Hartogh has opened a logistics service centre (LSC) in Antwerp, following its success with a similar development in Rotterdam. The new unit, located in the heart of Antwerp’s chemical cluster, offers a range of services, including shunting of tank containers, drop/ swap and loading/unloading, intermediate parking, tank heating and equipment checks.

“Clustering services improves the efficiency of tank container flows moving in and out of the area for the chemical industry and minimises the truck mileage within the port of Antwerp,” the company states. “Den Hartogh achieves this by promoting densification on the basis of horizontal collaboration and by exploiting the full potential of the local intermodal infrastructure.”

The new centre, LSC 212, is located at Haven 212 on the right bank of the Scheldt and close to a range of customers, suppliers, rail terminals and tank storage terminals. International drivers with long-distance cargo can drop it off at LSC 212 so it can be handed on to a local driver who knows the area is familiar with all local safety protocols.

Den Hartogh is also celebrating its centenary this year and, to mark the occasion, is revealing details of its history on a new page on its website. The first of a number of promised updates looks back to the formation of the firm as a transport company in 1920 by Jacobus ‘Ko’ den Hartogh, who found that transport activities were more lucrative than his original occupation as owner of a grocery store.

The story will be updated periodically on a dedicated page of Den Hartogh’s website, www.denhartogh.com/news/our_history.

FIVE DECADES OF EUROTAINER

Leading tank container lessor Eurotainer has celebrated 50 years in business since the launch of its brand in 1969. Since then, milestones include the opening of its first office in New York City in 1979, expansion into Asia in 1990 and the opening of its first China offices in 2004.

Eurotainer ended 2019 with some 48,000 tanks under its wing, an increase of 18,000 since 2016 that partly reflects its acquisition of Taylor Minster Leasing in 2018. It now has nearly 1,000 customers in 80 countries around the world. www.eurotainer.com

CIMC PICKS UP UBH

UBH International has been partly rescued from the administrators following its collapse in December 2019. CIMC Tank, which has worked closely with UBH since its previous restructuring in 2003, has acquired the name and intellectual property and has re-established UBH as its UK engineering and customer support centre.

CIMC has also retained senior managers and the core technical team from UBH. The centre will be jointly managed by Alex McGonagle and Mike Himbury, supported by Alex Edwards, Phil Brookfield and Martyn Wood. www.enricgroup.com

SWEDISH DEAL FOR VAN DEN BOSCH

Van den Bosch has acquired Willis Larsson Transport, a Sweden-based provider of dry bulk transport services with activities throughout the Nordic countries and in Germany, Poland, the Benelux countries, the UK and Austria.

“The acquisition of Willis Larsson represents the next step in our international growth strategy,” says Rico Daandels, CEO of Van den Bosch. “As a logistics coordinator, Van den Bosch wants to become the European top player in bulk logistics. With the use of data and the right equipment, we can provide intermodal solutions for our customers – both in the field of dry and liquid bulk transport for the food and chemical industry.”

“Joining Van den Bosch connects us with the extensive European transport network and gives us access to the knowledge and experience of modern data systems,” adds Sverker Larsson, CEO of Willis Larsson Transport. “We have noticed that digital solutions have become increasingly important for our clients. The strong reputation of Van den Bosch ensures that we can continue to be a high-quality partner in the future, both to our employees and our customers. Moreover, Van den Bosch will also bring its expertise in the field of liquid bulk transport to the Nordics, which will result in a further extension of our activities.”

The acquisition also expands the Van den Bosch fleet by some 1,400 modern silo trailers and silo containers. www.vandenbosch.com

ABBEY ADDS SERVICES

Abbey Logistics has opened a non-food wash bay at its tank cleaning facility in Liverpool, UK. The new bay is open to third-party use for non-hazardous products. Abbey, the UK’s largest food-grade road tanker operator, says it has witnessed significant demand for more non-food tank cleaning capacity in the region and has converted one of its existing foodgrade bays, which is isolated from the other cleaning spots and operates on a separate cleaning network to prevent cross-contamination.

Abbey Logistics has also won a major distribution contract from Ineos Olefins & Polymers, to transport polymers in bulk by road from the Ineos site in Grangemouth to customers across the UK. The deal includes responsibility for transport planning and will leverage recent investments by Abbey in the bulk polymer sector, not least the expansion of the warehouse space near the port of Liverpool.

“Similar to foodgrade products, polymers require strict handling procedures to be in place to ensure integrity and no contamination,” notes Mike Ellis, business development director at Abbey Logistics. “Abbey’s long and successful background in food grade logistics enables us to control the strict standards of hygiene required for transporting polymer products for our customers.” www.abbeylogisticsgroup.com

ODYSSEY GETS CONNECTED

Odyssey Logistics & Technology achieved double-digit growth in both sales and profit during 2019. “Odyssey made several pivotal, future-focused moves that further strengthened our global supply chain capabilities and our ability to deliver best-in-class services and solutions to our clients,” says Cosmo Alberico, COO/CFO. “The integration of American Fast Freight (AFF), organic growth within our Managed Services segment and continued advancement in technology-focused capabilities were key drivers of our continued strong performance in 2019.”

Odyssey’s Managed Logistics Services division enables clients to leverage a full suite of supply chain services or select individual features including cargo planning, tendering, shipment visibility, configurable event management, freight audit and payment, and management reporting. This division posted a 12 per cent increase in revenues and a 36 per cent increase in earnings compared to 2018.

“Technology is fundamental to the future of logistics and Odyssey is committed to using new and future innovations to meet the increasing demands of our customers,” adds Bob Shellman, president and CEO of Odyssey. www.odysseylogistics.com

IMPERIAL ADVANCES WITH MAZIBUKO

Boikanyo Mazibuko has been appointed group managing director of Imperial Logistics Advance, which runs Imperial’s fuel and gas road tankers, food and chemical road tankers and the KWS bulk transport business in southern Africa. Mazibuko, a chemical engineer by training, has held a number of senior management roles over the past ten year; she was most recently deputy chief executive at Barloworld. www.imperiallogistics.com