HCB Magazine October 2020

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M O N T H LY O C T O B E R

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BUILT TO LAST LOGISTICS PROVIDERS TAKE SUSTAINABILITY SERIOUSLY EPCA ANNUAL MEETING GOES ONLINE LOCKDOWN ACCELERATES DIGITISATION RULE CHANGES FOR 2021

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UP FRONT 01

EDITOR’S LETTER

According to my diary, I should be in Budapest this month. I was

factor seems to be that they have all gone at least some way

rather looking forward to it – after all, it is a beautiful city, with

on the digitisation journey.

good food and wine, plenty to see and do, and nice people too.

Being able to quickly switch from office-based operations

Oh, and that was where EPCA was to hold its Annual Meeting this

to home working was a critical issue for many and one that

year. So, if all had gone to plan, I would be sitting now somewhere

was enabled best by having digitised systems and platforms

alongside the Danube, glass of beer in hand, having interesting

in place. Being able to locate and monitor transport assets

HCB-related chats with important people from the European

out in the real world was also a major benefit for many

petrochemical industry.

logistics service providers, again with the assistance not just

Instead, I am still in my home office, enjoying the last of the

of ‘track and trace’ systems but integrated telematics with

summer weather, and communicating with the world by means

real-time visibility, linked to ERP and other systems to help

of one of the many software systems that have sprung up to

operators make sure they could plan ahead with at least

keep us all working virtually during the travel and other physical

some confidence.

restrictions imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. By

It is clear from HCB’s conversations with many operators in

comparison, those old workhorses of mobile phone and email

the chemical logistics arena that the pandemic has accelerated

seem now rather quaint and old-fashioned, but they still work

the uptake of digitised systems and platforms. It is also apparent

well enough for most purposes.

that both they and their business partners have realised that

EPCA itself, in common with other organisations and commercial

investment in digitisation delivers rewards. Those rewards go

outfits that put on the conferences and events that help us do

further than just improved efficiency in operations, though:

business together, has had to re-imagine how its Annual Meeting

they include better relationships between the various players

can work in this virtual world and, as several pages in this issue

in the supply chain, better customer service, better care of the

of HCB reveal, has come up with some ideas as to how best to

health and safety of personnel in the field, and – something

keep the conversation flowing.

that may not have been expected – better performance in

And there is plenty to talk about. The disruptions caused

terms of sustainability and carbon emissions.

by the Covid-19 pandemic – as well as by rapid fluctuations in

EPCA’s Annual Meeting will try to look ahead to a post-

chemical feedstock prices, growing geopolitical tensions and

pandemic world but it seems inevitable that the gains that

the increasing demand for action on climate change – have

digitisation as a concept has made within this industry, so

thrown an unforgiving spotlight on inefficiencies within the

often slow to embrace new technologies, are here not just to

supply chain. Those that have been able to respond fastest

stay but to grow and to realise even greater benefits for all.

have had an advantage in the market – and the one common

Peter Mackay

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UP FRONT 03

CONTENTS VOLUME 41

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NUMBER 09

UP FRONT Letter from the Editor 30 Years Ago Learning by Training View from the Porch Swing What’s next?

M&S looks ahead to post-pandemic world EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT Welcome to the future EPCA takes Annual Meeting online Reflections on uncertainty EPCA CEO Caroline Ciuciu speaks to HCB Navigating into tomorrow Dirk Verstraeten on the supply chain Refreshing the committee SCPC reinvented for the modern world Digitisation in practice Eclic broadens its scope TANKS & LOGISTICS Train and retain Cefic, ECTA address driver shortage Jobs for life Chemical Express and driver welfare Silo mentality Greiwing expands Duisburg site Tank takeover Essers grows tank container fleet Outside the box Aeler offers new container concept Intelligent expertise WHS Logistics improves visibility Exception management IMT introduces alert function Ready to serve GSEE develops logistics facility Power for powder

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13 15 20 26 33

36 38 39 40 42 44 46 47

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

Mouvex compressor does the job French twist Perolo continues to grow Built to last Peacock reviews leasing market Not just for bulk Lineas offers less than wagon loads Keep on the rails Fort Vale expands rail offerings The safety standard Wascosa extends safe tank car On the platform VTG launches traigo News bulletin – tanks and logistics SUSTAINABILITY Keep it in the tank ITCO highlights isotanks’ reusability Clean air action Endegs takes degassing to ports Low-carbon society GPCA reports lower emissions INDUSTRIAL PACKAGING Where’s my cube?

Greif offers IBC tracking Living in a box Thielmann protects batteries CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION Not on the high street Univar boosts online presence News bulletin – chemical distribution TANKER SHIPPING So far so good Demand firm for gas shipping Second of pleasure Odfjell focuses on sustainability News bulletin – tanker shipping

48 50 52 54 56 58 59 60

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66 67

68 69

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STORAGE TERMINALS Take it from the top

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

TSA launches leadership charter A year apart ILTA works hard for its members The intermodal port Tarragona promotes rail connections Getting the most out Evos optimises Amsterdam Standic still building Antwerp construction continues Coping in a crisis Dan Balt pulls through Inter sells a slice CLH buys part of Inter Terminals Latin lessons Implico partners in Latin America

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COURSES & CONFERENCES Off the ground Online training for ground handlers Rethinking IATA training Lion looks at CBTA Conference diary SAFETY Incident Log Could it happen here?

Beirut explosion scares ports Small but deadly Don’t use LQ to hide hazards The detectorists NCB, Exis launch Hazcheck Detect Clearing the air Safety in on-ship fumigation REGULATIONS Devil in the detail Changes to ADR 2021 More than training Significant changes to IATA DGR Connecting the community Labelmaster launches DG Exchange BACK PAGE Not otherwise specified

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

Commercial Director Ben Newall Email: ben.newall@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4036

Production Manager Binita Wilton Email: binita.wilton@hcblive.com Tel: +44 (0) 208 371 4041

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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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04

30 YEARS AGO A LOOK BACK AT OCTOBER 1990

The October 1990 issue of HCB was something of a monster, weighing in at more than 100 pages. The reason? As ever, it was the EPCA special issue, in those days being distributed at the annual EPCA Logistics Meeting in Monte Carlo. Advertisers queued up to feature, as they still do today.

Among the editorial pages, though, there was talk about the recent amalgamation of the UN Group of Experts on Explosives and the Group of Rapporteurs into a single body, the UN Sub-committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, now just meeting for the third time. Had it been a good idea, or bad? In the end, it seemed to be something of a non-event.

However, readers may recognise some of the comments ‘HJK’ made in his report of the meeting, where he said: “Papers still make tardy appearances, some decisions are reached, while others are adjourned.

The modal organisations … find themselves in the vexing situation of having to re-revise recently revised regulations.” Sound familiar?

But, as this was the last meeting before the December session of the parent Committee, some interesting changes were agreed, not least the revision of the Class 4 for self-reactive substances into

both were at pains to explain that there had been plenty of time for US industry to get used to the idea and that shippers in the US would have to fall into line if they were to be able to move their products in international trade.

Further input from the US came in the form of a report from ILTA’s tenth annual operating conference and trade show, which had attracted almost 2,000 attendees. Comments from Stolt-Nielsen’s James Stove Lorentzen formed the basis for HCB’s annual review of chemical tanker fleets, accompanied by a listing that featured many of the names still leading the business. As for bulk liquids storage, the sector was facing up to a “regulatory onslaught”, not least on the environmental front, but delegates to the event heard about the new ‘Responsible Care’ initiative from the US Chemical Manufacturers Association, which promised to help them meet the new requirements through a process of continuous improvement.

Matters were brought back home by yet another conference report, this time from the Pira Update Seminar, described as the “Cannes Film Festival of the dangerous goods world”. Again, discussions may sound familiar, covering such issues as the difficulty in achieving harmonisation across modes and territories, new marginals in ADR on

three divisions, although the experts obviously overlooked the issue of polymerising substances.

In the US, though, the focus was on the imminent (1 January 1991) arrival of new rules on the use of UN-specification packaging.

A report on COSTHA’s second annual forum, held at the Westin Hotel in Washington, DC, summarised discussions there, which revealed widespread concern about the issue. Larry Bierlein and Andy Altemos

vehicle stability and construction (following the Herborn road tanker incident in 1987), the proliferation of entries in the Dangerous Goods List, the relocation of provisions covering the transport of lithium batteries into Class 9 and dangerous goods in aircraft passenger baggage. The latter had been prompted in part, reported Kaye Warner, head of the CAA’s Dangerous Goods Section, after fireworks stowed in a passenger’s golf bag went off during a flight.

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

UP FRONT 05

LEARNING BY TRAINING

By Arend van Campen

ONLINE TRAINING

Thanks to advanced information and communication technology, people all over the world can see and talk to each other, aided by cameras and microphones, online. The Covid-19 global travel restrictions have boosted the use of online interactions such as meetings, education and training beyond expectation, raking in billions for those entrepreneurs who offer the best software.

Whilst this seems a great and gratifying solution to save humanity, the planet and nature, there are some flaws in thinking that through technology we can stay educated and informed, because we have to fly less, drive less and can work from home. Sure, to stay home and train people all over the world has its advantages, but somehow it is not the same. When I see students on my computer screen, talk to them and show them a Power Point presentation, it just seems too boring. No laughs, fewer remarks, less discussion, because first of all we can’t see and feel the whole group is real because they are only virtually with us. This makes the quality of the lessons suffer from isolation and, I may even conclude, less humane.

The humane value of talking to a group of people who are sitting together (without social distance or facemasks) is being underestimated because after all we are social beings needing

as well as teaching in classrooms where I can read people’s faces, sense they have a question or understand that my reasoning is baffling them by their body language. This of course hinders building a teacher/student relationship. It does not work as it does in the classroom: perhaps a student wants to tell me something but he can’t find the words and I won’t notice this because I can only see his face and not his expression by means of a tiny and limited computer camera.

Therefore, I do believe that despite the enormous growth in online training and education availability, it is but a transitory necessity and not something that global communities should pursue. At this time I am experimenting on how to improve my online trainer/student interaction, but I haven’t been able to figure it out just yet. During my courses I show them slides, documents, even short films about shipping or storage, but being there, for example on a tanker or actually in an oil terminal, certainly enhances the value of education, because after all, a virtual reality is like a surreality, which then depends on the perception of such a reality through a camera or microphone, which will be filtering it, perhaps causing confusion. I will be doing my best to train those who are open to learning as

compassion, friendship, respect, love. These conditions for survival, in my view, can’t be reproduced by technology. On the contrary, dehumanisation through the internet may prove to be detrimental to our continued existence and should not be our goal, but merely a temporary means.

Over the last few months I have trained online in about ten different countries and must also admit that it works, but not

a human being.

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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FROM THE PORCH SWING I DUNNO THE SHOCK ON their faces was palpable.

A HazMat/DG instructor who didn’t know the answer to a compliance question? How could that be? Who would’ve brought in such a person to deliver training? And didn’t he seem to know his stuff otherwise? Can we trust anything else he’s said? Who ever admits they don’t know?

I didn’t let it last long. I followed up with “but I know how to find out”. And then we used the regulations to find the answer.

I’ve done this over and over, for different courses and, of course, different audiences.

Most react the same way. Heck, sometimes people will ask me during a break whether I knew the answer or not. Usually I did know and had just picked a topic that had the answer in the regulations where it was expected to be. Actually, most of my CDGP preparation course for the open book CDGP examination is based on my asking a lot of questions and answering every single

And then we talked about how they could use a similar process when questions arise in the future. And they were relieved. They still weren’t sure whether I truly knew the answer or not, but they understood that I was creating a teachable moment either way.

one of them with “I don’t know”. Finding the answers quickly can be a learned and practiced skill, especially when the answer isn’t where it would normally be expected to be. But, just between you and me and the lamppost, sometimes I really don’t know. Shhh.

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

I wasn’t the only one though, at least once upon a time. Back in the old days when SDSs were MSDSs it was legal to say “I dunno” on them. Well, different words and acronyms were used, but they all seemed to mean the same thing. NA, unknown, not fully studied, not listed in the literature, ---, not available, not found, use all reasonable precautions, and of course, . (That was a blank, by the way).

At one of my employers we used to keep a champion of sorts, the best example of what we called The MSDS of Ignorance.

It was indeed amazing to see an MSDS that said the form and color were both unknown.

Um, how about you just look at what you’re selling and shipping, and then write down what you saw?

UP FRONT 07

Who would create these MSDSs? To be fair, most weren’t candidates to be the champion MSDS of Ignorance, but they were more like Swiss cheese, with holes of varying sizes scattered about. Maybe they were written by a process safety person who didn’t know much about product safety. Or maybe they were copied from a competitor’s MSDS and just re-titled. I’ve heard of Distribution Managers being assigned the task. But probably most common, at least at mid-sized to small companies, was to assign the MSDS writing responsibilities to a QA/QC chemist, who at least knew most of the properties of the product, if a bit weak on figuring out which type of gloves to recommend.

Then, thankfully, things changed. GHS finally happened. Countries adopted lots of parts of GHS. Rules and regulations about not knowing were tightened up. The M was dropped, leaving us with SDSs. The holes were being filled and, if information or data was missing, that information had to be found or that data developed. Certainly, as a transport classifier for re-distribution of products, it was a lot easier to have information available, and I’m sure that in workplaces employees could better know what they needed protection from and how to protect themselves.

But once that pendulum started swinging away from ignorance and toward information, it kept on going. More and more information was required. Explanations and warnings were expanded. Data underlying conclusions was provided, as if the reader of the SDS would use that data to verify or debunk the conclusion.

the literature and databases for relevant information. A toxicologist to evaluate all the acute and chronic hazards in a variety of human systems and organs. An aquatic toxicologist to evaluate both freshwater and saltwater effects. A workplace safety specialist to help choose PPE (personal protective equipment). An emergency responder to determine what to do if the stuff gets loose. And yes, a chemist to help with the physical properties. But, as a firm believer that the old regulations were insufficient to cause MSDSs to have even a modicum of relevant information, I resisted writing that column. Certainly more information is good, isn’t it? Even if that information can’t easily be provided by just one chemist.

And then…

I have a friend that for years has been bugging me to write a Porch Swing column about how a chemist can no longer write an mSDS. Certainly, it seems like a team is required to write a compliant SDS these days. Someone with a degree in information technology or library science to comb all

And then I saw this. Let me just type it in for you. “Understanding the Content of SDSs/ eSDSs”. Okay, a good title about a relevant skill. It continued with “Online training course”. Well, of course, in these days of the coronaviruses and Covid-19, certainly

“A CHEMIST CAN NO LONGER WRITE AN SDS. THESE DAYS A TEAM IS REQUIRED TO WRITE A COMPLIANT SDS”

the course needs to be online. And then the hammer: “(4 days)”. Huh, what? Four days?

Seriously? I’m not sure I’d’ve signed up for it at four HOURS. That’s it. It’s official.

We’ve gone too far and the pendulum has swung to an extreme.

We seem to have forgotten who the SDS is written for. It’s not for the health and safety professional with a university degree, it’s for the people working with the materials.

It’s for the people who may be exposed in the workplace as they make and package products. It’s for people who may not have finished their pre-university schooling, for people who don’t read well or don’t like to read so they got a job ‘doing’ instead of reading. It’s for people who don’t have the wherewithal to obtain information about the chemical materials in their work environment, so that they can protect themselves.

The university educated health and safety professional can find the underlying data for themselves, or ask suppliers for more data so that minimum workplace safety standards can be put into place. But when all the extra information suitable for the safety professional is put into the SDS, it renders the document virtually unusable for those in the workplace who struggled to get through 10th year basic science classes.

In other words, if it takes four days, FOUR DAYS, (yeah, I’m still having trouble grasping that), to teach someone to get useful and usable information from an SDS, then it’s too damn complicated for the original target audience. I dunno, but from my porch swing it sure looks to me like the regulators have lost touch with the purpose of the document.

This is the latest in a series of musings from the porch swing of Gene Sanders, principal of Tampa-based WE Train Consulting; telephone: (+1 813) 855 3855; email gene@wetrainconsulting.com.

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WHAT’S NEXT? OUTLOOK • DAVID KEW, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF M&S LOGISTICS LTD, LOOKS AT WHAT A POST-COVID WORLD MIGHT LOOK LIKE AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR THE LOGISTICS SECTOR

how will it affect the chemical industry?

So far we have seen a change from just in-time planning to receivers being inclined to hold stock. Will this go further and to what degree will we see manufacturing splinter and migrate closer to market? If so, will we see segmenting along geographical or ideological lines and how will this affect trade flows?

I WAS WATCHING one of the global financial news channels a few weeks back and this comment by Bridgewater Associates got me thinking: “Globalisation, perhaps the largest driver of developed world profitability over the past few decades, has already peaked.

Now the US-China conflict and global pandemic are further accelerating moves by multinationals to reshore and duplicate supply chains, with a focus on reliability as opposed to just cost optimisation.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought

current rise in nationalism and subsequent geopolitical tensions. This, followed by the already bleak global financial situation with growth in both government and corporate debt, coupled with low interest rates, leaves very little room for governments to manoeuvre.

Have we reached the pinnacle of globalisation and are we in for a reshuffling of priorities?

From local and national lockdowns, imbalances in trade, blank sailings and container imbalances, to nations protecting their own self-interests (including the

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED None of us could ignore the impact this pandemic has had on jobs and the economy.

While those countries that have opened up sooner are seeing an increase in demand, we have to question whether, with job losses, this demand is sustainable. Since the bailout of 2008/2009, we’ve had lowering of interest rates, and in the West a stagnation of earnings. For many countries and businesses the levels of debt has increased to new highs. While many countries have brought in significant support packages, the effects

a spotlight to tensions that have been brewing over the last decade and accelerated the

restricting of PPE and other essential exports), the pandemic has magnified the weaknesses in supply chains and led to a sense of national vulnerability. If political desire and commercial necessity lead to a diversification of risk and duplication of supply chains, what will this look like and

of most of these are likely to be temporary in nature. This leaves governments across the globe with very little in their armouries to boost their economies.

As has been seen in the retail, hospitality, and travel sectors the level of indebtedness has led to some ‘unexpected’ bankruptcies.

 THIS IS THE TIME TO INVEST IN THE INTEGRITY OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN, DAVID KEW SUGGESTS

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

UP FRONT 09

We have to ask not only whether our customer will be here tomorrow but how robust are our suppliers and are they able to weather the storm? The growth in globalisation has been fuelled by an insatiable need for greater growth, which has led to a continuous drive for cost reduction, to the point where fewer businesses have the wherewithal to weather the sort of ‘storms’ we’re seeing.

A supply chain is just that, a chain of individual links, only as strong as its weakest part. What responsibility are we each taking for ensuring that the other parts of the chain are strong? Many of us have corporate values stating our commitment to valuing and treating suppliers fairly, but what is the reality on the ground?

If the hypothesis in some small way proves to be true, where does this leave us? They say

the biggest fish are found in muddy waters.

If we have based and run our companies on solid fundamentals and have nurtured a culture of adaptability, opportunities will be found. There is a reasonable expectation that we could see higher inflation in the future.

For those with the reserves, now might be the time to invest.

THE RIGHT PRICE John Ruskin, the prominent 19th century social thinker, said: “It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that’s all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little

and getting a lot - it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

Is now the time to invest in the integrity of the supply chain? This will cost short-term profits but will ensure those links with the right commitment to the rest of the chain are strong and dependable.

It may also become more important than ever to proactively decide which partners, both customers and suppliers, you link yourselves to and whether they have the financial fitness to, at the very least, ride out any storms ahead. In choppy waters none of us needs the weight of others who can’t carry their own commitments. www.mslogisticsltd.com

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HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 13

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE EPCA’S 54TH ANNUAL MEETING IS GOING ONLINE BUT PROMISES PLENTY OF INTERACTION

For the past 53 years the European

but in virtual form. That is bad news for the

effects on the petrochemicals sector, and

Petrochemical Association (EPCA) has attracted

hotels and restaurants of Budapest, where

growing geopolitical tensions that have also

massive crowds to its Annual Meeting, with

the event was planned to take place, but

impacted trade patterns.

registrants numbering in the thousands as they

regulars will still get their EPCA fix through

flocked to the hotel venues to meet colleagues

online sessions and a newly developed

at an opportune time for industry as it begins

and clients and to hear the latest information

EPCA Community app.

to try to map out a plan for the post-pandemic

from industry leaders.

This has been a difficult year for many in the

The EPCA Annual Meeting therefore comes

industrial and economic environment. Company

But for its 54th Annual Meeting this month,

European petrochemical industry and its logistics

owners and managers have a lot of questions

EPCA has – like many other organisers – had to

service provider (LSP) partners, as they have not

they need answers to: How long will it be before

face the reality of travel restrictions and social

only had to navigate the uncharted waters of the

things get back to ‘normal’ – if ever? Will the

distancing measures imposed as a defence

pandemic and its uncertain impacts on trade

pandemic period have changed how business

against the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

flows and end-user demand, but also extreme

is done and what their customers expect

The EPCA Annual Meeting is still going ahead,

volatility in oil and gas prices, with consequent

of them?

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The EPCA virtual Annual Meeting is designed

and national government decisions affect the

importance of digitisation in the petrochemical

to provide some answers to those questions,

transformation journey on which industry

sector with new people to help drive its online

under the theme of ‘Beyond the New Normal’,

is embarking?

presence as well as a new Digital Advisory Body

with an experienced and high-level line-up of

EPCA members have been well prepared for

speakers. But it will also look at some of the

these conversations through presentations and

which will open up discussions with thought

themes that have emerged over the past few

discussions at the last few Annual Meetings.

leaders from outside the petrochemical and

years, particularly in the areas of digitisation,

They should not rely, though, purely on the

logistics industries. Again, members are being

sustainability and the need to move to a circular

input from speakers at this year’s event. The

challenged to contribute to this discussion.

and low-carbon economy.

Association is challenging everyone to apply

Again, there are questions. Will the trends

under the Supply Chain Programme Committee,

So, while we will not be able to meet up in the

their sharpest critical and blue sky thinking to

bars of Budapest this year, the EPCA community

in those areas that have been developing in

find answers to these questions, as it looks

will still be gathering in spirit and in mind online. As

recent years just continue when things calm

to strengthen its growing role as an ideas

the following pages make clear, there is a lot to

down or will there be a different attitude? Can

marketplace for the European petrochemical

talk about, a lot of issues to address and some

the petrochemical industry move towards

community, as well as a hub for synergies to

challenging decisions to be made. Being part of

a more sustainable business model while still

help shape the industry as a driver towards

that discussion is the best way to make sure your

remaining competitive and generating the profits

a more sustainable world.

business is as well prepared as it can be to face

that its shareholders demand? How will EU

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

EPCA has also responded to the growing

the New Normal, whatever it turns out to be.

EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 15

REFLECTIONS ON UNCERTAINTY EPCA HAS HAD TO RESPOND TO THE CURRENT CRISIS JUST LIKE ITS MEMBERS. CEO CAROLINE CIUCIU EXPLAINS WHAT THAT HAS MEANT FOR THE ASSOCIATION

This year has been one of great and

technology it will be no different in nurturing the

Meeting,” Ciuciu adds. “Building on the

unprecedented challenges for the European

community spirit as well as strengthening our

remarkable responsiveness and resilience the

petrochemical and chemical industry and for its

understanding of the political, economic, and

petrochemical industry has demonstrated over

logistics service partners. It has also been a

social trends shaping our future. This year’s event

the last eight months, we wish to take our

great challenge for the European Petrochemical

should enable us all to, for a moment, step out

members ‘Beyond the New Normal’.”

Association (EPCA) but one that CEO Caroline

of the hectic crisis mode, reconnect with each

Ciuciu says has tested the strengths of the

other, and together embark on a smarter and

and, Ciuciu says, it is a testimony to the

organisation and found them healthy.

inspirational pursuit of the way forward. This

leadership of the global petrochemical industry

combination of elevated insights and shared

that it has met the pandemic with a quick and

gatherings of the petrochemical industry

purpose is what the industry needs, more than

smart response. Leadership is also critical in the

worldwide and is a much-anticipated event for

ever, this year,” she points out.

recovery. “That is why we invited the CEOs of

EPCA’s Annual Meeting is among the largest

executives and senior managers from across

The crisis is a good time to show leadership

major global players to share their perspective

the sector. As Caroline Ciuciu says, EPCA’s

“Industry endured in a remarkable way and

on the future and how they envisage the sector’s

Board of Directors made a smart decision

has actively contributed to the battle against

leadership in the global economic recovery and

to move this year’s event to a virtual format.

Covid-19 and to the mitigation of its effects on

what a smart-re-emergence could look like.”

“This special edition will not be the same, by nature,” Ciuciu says, “but with the support of

our health system and society. This is something that we need to celebrate at this year’s Annual

“Sustainability and the circular economy are high on their agenda,” she highlights.

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“Companies continue to develop new technologies in the area of circularity, especially in chemical recycling, and take their share towards the low-carbon economy.”

The same can be said of the EU, with the Green Deal high on its agenda, and industry is already responding. “The industry is willing to play its part. The petrochemical sector can make a tremendous impact, due to the widespread application of its products.

Companies are setting and implementing ambitious agendas for circularity and sustainability,” Ciuciu points out.

And there will be more challenges on the Annual Meeting agenda. “We will turn to China’s post-pandemic experience, with a focus on energy transformation and the recently boosted climate change ambitions of the Chinese leadership,” Ciuciu outlines.

“We will also explore the complex geopolitical developments in global trade.”

EPCA is staying focused on digital transformation as an enabler of both smart and sustainable future. “Our supply chain demonstrated incredible resilience. We should use this to build a momentum for further innovation. We are embracing digital innovation as a booster for growth, competitiveness and sustainability,”

digital presence throughout the year, something

has just been rolled out, will not only offer full

says Ciuciu. The latest development is the

that has already been in the works since 2019.

information about the Annual Meeting and

creation of the Digital Advisory Body under the

“The reflection that we conducted with the

a directory through which members can

Supply Chain Programme Committee, a group

Board of Directors last year certainly enabled

exchange details, but will also provide a

of seasoned and savvy digital trend watchers,

us to quickly transfer the event online,”

platform for sharing stories and experiences

taking an in-depth look at the tools necessary

Ciuciu says.

and maintaining contacts within the network.

for the sector’s digital advancement.

“We are bringing in digital ambassadors

Inspired by the ways in which its members

“We are also asking the community to

have deployed new technologies to create

upload their stories on a series of crucial

to bring outsider perspective, take a sharp

digital twins of their operations, the EPCA Board

topics for our sector – the circular economy,

assessment within the industry and work,

of Directors took the strategic decision to

sustainability, the Covid-19 fight and re-

together with the network, on bold new ideas

develop new digital tools to keep member

emergence, for instance – and the first stories

for a digital future,” she explains. “We want

companies informed throughout the year. As

are coming in,” Ciuciu says. “The idea is to

them to challenge us!”

a result, EPCA has been working with a design

use the app to allow our members to share

Ciuciu hopes that this year’s virtual event

studio to develop tools to help its community

their stories all year round, not just during

experience will boost EPCA’s plans for a wider

stay connected. A new community app, which

the Annual Meeting.”

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EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 17

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18

Before the 2021 Annual Meeting, though,

That journey mirrors those of many of its

We hope to be able to hold a physical Annual

EPCA’s website and online communications

members, who are also re-tooling with the

Meeting in 2021,” Ciuciu says, “but we may

will be revamped to be made more user-

personnel needed to take on the future

move to a hybrid event, with both in-person

friendly. To help in this project, EPCA has hired

business environment.

and virtual activities.” Decisions on this will be

Dragan Stojanovski as its new marketing and

The innovative digital tools that will be rolled

taken after this year’s Annual Meeting, once

digital communications manager, representing

out in the coming months will strengthen the

members’ experiences of a fully virtual event

another step in EPCA’s transformation journey,

organisation’s unique role. “EPCA is a unique

can be gauged. “Stay connected – more news

rejuvenating its team with new skills and ideas.

international platform for the sector in Europe.

coming soon!” Ciuciu concludes.

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EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 19

BEYOND THE NEW NORMAL On 5 October, the first of three days of this

As ever, EPCA has chosen an external

year’s 54th EPCA Annual Meeting, the C-Suite

speaker to close the Annual Meeting and on 7

Leadership Forum, chaired by EPCA president

October Professor Lin Boqiang, director of the

Marc Shuller, COO of Arkema, will bring

China Center for Energy Economics Research,

together four leading executives to discuss

will provide his perspective. This will be timely,

how to navigate towards the future through

as China has already emerged into a post-

the Covid-19 crisis, volatility in the oil and

Covid world and it is a key territory for the

gas markets and the need to address climate

global petrochemical and chemical industry,

change and circular economy initiatives.

both as a producing and consuming nation.

Which strategies and interventions will be

He will look at how China is aiming to

necessary and efficient in the medium to

combine a durable economic recovery with

long term? How will the petrochemical

a sustainable energy transition and answer

industry strike a new balance to master

questions on China’s approach to climate

the project pipeline for growth and

change mitigation, as well as the impact

carbon management?

of a resurfacing of economic nationalism.

These and other questions will be discussed

The business sessions are designed to keep

by Martin Brudermüller, chairman of the board

attendees informed about the latest thinking

and chief technology officer of BASF, Jim

on the part of industry leaders; this year, those

Fitterling, chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical,

business sessions will be delivered as webinars.

Thomas Casparie, executive vice-president of

In addition, there are many other events being

Shell Chemicals, and Bernard Pinatel, president

organised by members, reflecting what Ciuciu

of Total Refining and Chemicals.

regards as a “vivid and lively community”.

Discussions on the second day will turn to

To learn more, download the EPCA

supply chain and logistics issues, discussed

Community app from Google Play or the

by Dirk Verstraeten in the following article.

Apple App Store, or go to https://epca.eu.

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NAVIGATING INTO TOMORROW NOW IN HIS SECOND YEAR AS CHAIR OF EPCA’S SUPPLY CHAIN PROGRAMME COMMITTEE, DIRK VERSTRAETEN PROVIDES AN UPDATE ON PROGRESS ON THREE FRONTS

When he took over the chairmanship of the

post-pandemic world? The session ‘Standing

supply chain. But that journey into the sunlit

EPCA Supply Chain Programme Committee,

Strong, Moving Fast’ on the second day of

uplands of a cleaner, greener logistics sector

Dirk Verstraeten, director of global logistics

the Annual Meeting will look beyond the ‘new

has three paths: not just digitisation but also –

procurement at Covestro Deutschland, could

normal' from the supply chain perspective,

and partly enabled by digital technologies –

not have anticipated that his tenure would

investigating new business practices and

ways to address the industry’s contribution

include a pandemic-inspired global lockdown,

trends accelerated by the Covid crisis.

to climate change and to foster the

with rapid and immense changes to chemical

Speakers will aim to analyse, define and

development of a circular economy within the

supply chains around the world. As the European

reframe opportunities to identify the right

petrochemical industry.

industry gathers virtually for this year’s EPCA

way forward to build the logistics and supply

Annual Meeting, there are still questions about

chain of the post-pandemic world.

how the crisis is going to affect the sector in

“Digitisation is with us all the way on this journey,” Verstraeten says. “It’s changing: it’s now becoming part of the corporate strategy

the longer term – and, perhaps more pressingly,

It has been evident from the past few EPCA

for some companies.” But not all, though;

in the near term too.

Annual Meetings that the petrochemical industry

some companies are still thinking about it.

The big question to answer is this: how

and its logistics service provider (LSP) partners

One way in which EPCA is pushing for

can the petrochemical industry contribute to

are on a journey and that that journey centres

a wider digitisation in the sector is to open

building a smarter, circular and more inclusive

very much around the process of digitising the

up space on SCPC for tech companies and

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EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 21

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EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 23

start-ups, beginning not least by enlarging the

to an outside-in approach,” Verstraeten

identifying new opportunities, challenging our

group with Frederick Ronse, founder and ‘chief

explains. “After a few years of intensive work

industry and creating best practices that our

evangelist’ of Ovinto, a digital native company,

within our own industry and our LSP community,

esteemed community members can use in

with the objective of fostering EPCA connection

supported by Vlerick Business School, we have

their daily challenging environment.”

with players in the digital and tech ecosystem

learned a lot from each other and made huge

to better understand the rapidly evolving

progress. Now is a good time to learn from

The second path in the journey is climate

dimension of innovative solutions in the logistics

other industries that are further down the

change, which Verstraeten describes as a

and supply chain.

digitisation path.”

“major topic”. It was discussed during the

“Many of us have a lot of experience in logistics

DAB will consist of a diverse group of experts

‘Digital Café’ event as part of the 2019 EPCA

around the world but we needed another group

from academia, government-led tech initiatives

Annual Meeting, as digitisation is seen as

of people to help drive the digitisation process,”

and venture capitalists, offering a broader and

a way to help achieve the environmental

Verstraeten explains, noting that Ronse’s arrival

wider overview and dynamic outsider perspective

advances that are required – and are

has opened a lot of doors to new people, bringing

on digital transformation of the overall economy

increasingly being demanded by regulators

new ideas to the table.

and the petrochemical supply chain in particular.

and the public at large.

Their main focus will be on projects and initiatives

But, if wallets are empty, as they are for

Formalising that approach, the EPCA Board

leveraging digital technologies to enable more

many during the current economic conditions,

of Directors supported the creation of a new

environmentally friendly practices, which advance

reducing a company’s cost base can conflict

sub-committee under SCPC, the Digital

circularity principles in the supply chain and/or

with the demands for emissions reductions.

Advisory Body (DAB), to expand its digital

reduce its CO2 emissions.

On the other hand, there are plenty of projects

journey by bringing in insiders from the digital

“We are honoured that they have accepted

under way in various fields, not least in the

arena. “The idea is to create even more value

our offer to engage with us,” Verstraeten says.

use of hydrogen as a power source. While

for our members in moving from an inside-out

“We are convinced that this will help us in

economics will always play a part, digitisation

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may offer a way to enable a stronger focus on

– by a new set of people with different skills

players in the petrochemical supply chain:

sustainability, Verstraeten thinks. Again, this

that will be brought into play in the creation of

a trader, an LSP and a chemical distributor.

question will be discussed during the supply

the ‘new normal’. It is a dynamic employment

They will team up on stage to find together

chain day at the EPCA Annual Meeting.

environment right now, with new faces bringing

an industry recipe for the ‘vaccine’ to prevent

new ideas. And it is the young in particular that

further disruption and ensure growth and

the circular economy – represents a big

are driving demands from end consumers for

innovation. Speakers include Gina Fyffe,

challenge. Industry will have to think about

the circular economy.

CEO of Integra Petrochemicals, Jan Arnet,

The third path on the journey – developing

reducing the volume of waste it generates and

CEO of Bertschi, and Christian Kohlpaintner,

increasing the re-use and recovery of material.

These fundamental changes need an open mind

CEO of Brenntag. A panel discussion and

Here the supply chain will be called on to play

to be assessed and EPCA has certainly done its

opportunities for questions from viewers will

its part. And, Verstraeten insists, “it is going

best to find one to give the keynote presentation

round out what promises to be an illuminating

to happen”. Chemical manufacturers will have

during the supply chain session at the Annual

and informative 90 minutes, kicking off at

to take responsibility for their products and

Meeting. Peter Hinssen of nexxworks,

14.30 CET on 6 October.

the containers they are shipped in, even

a sought-after author and speaker, will set

after delivery.

the stage, putting the ‘New Normal’ into

how to go about taking the journey. “Everybody

Underlying all this is the current generational

But the session will not be able to tell people

perspective, showing the impact of new trends

has to follow their own path,” Verstraeten says.

shift within the industry. Older people are

and sharing his remedy for companies to

It is clear that some in the industry are still

generally comfy with the old way of doing

recover and thrive in the post-pandemic world.

struggling to find the right enablers to help them

things but they are being replaced – possibly even more rapidly during the current pandemic

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

This keynote presentation will be followed by three speeches in response from diverse

make a start. After this session, they should be a lot better equipped to do so.

EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 25

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REFRESHING THE COMMITTEE EPCA’S SUPPLY CHAIN PROGRAMME COMMITTEE IS DEVELOPING TO MEET THE CHANGING NEEDS OF EUROPE’S PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY AND ITS LOGISTICS PARTNERS

EPCA is fortunate to have among its membership

need to face the pre-existing issues of volatility

during the disruption generated by the

ranks a weight of industry expertise and

and economic difficulties, as well as the need to

Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns, social

knowledge. It draws on that pool of expertise

move forward into a greener way of operating.

distancing measures and slump in demand

in its committees, not least the Supply Chain

that accompanied it. Has that interrupted the

Programme Committee (SCPC), which includes

Ahead of the EPCA Annual Meeting, HCB spoke

journey towards sustainability, or accelerated

among its members senior representatives from

to three members of SCPC to gauge how they

the adoption of technologies that will be able

both the petrochemical industry and from its

and their companies are bringing their

to help?

logistics service partners.

experience to bear on the issues of digitisation,

Indeed, as the virtual EPCA Annual Meeting

Jan Arnet, CEO of Bertschi Group, agrees

sustainability and business resilience. None of

that the disruption was major and sudden. As

nears, those members of SCPC have been

these can be taken in isolation, though – there

the pandemic gripped Europe, supply chains

gathering online and continuing their discussion

is a common theme running through them, not

had to be quickly reorganised on a day-to-day

of the themes that will be addressed via the

least the need for greater visibility along the

basis – and without physical communication.

EPCA Community app and in webinars over the

supply chain and for a greater willingness to

“Operations had to be transferred online within

three days in early October. They have brought

cooperate and share information, for the good

a few days,” he says.

with them insights and experience that will help

of the industry as a whole and of the planet on

industry navigate the uncertain times ahead as

which it depends.

the world – hopefully – moves into a postpandemic phase, albeit a world that will still

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

Of course, the other issue that all have had to face up to is carrying on with business

As an intermodal transport service provider, Bertschi also had some challenges to face early in the pandemic, not least ensuring the health and well-being of its drivers out on the road.

EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 27

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28

With counties imposing rapid and unexpected

Arnet reports, there was little resistance to

Bessant says that, as a business leader,

border closures, road transport became difficult

the change, with older employees proving

the pandemic has brought him closer to the

but it was unclear at first how this would affect

especially enthusiastic. This is not necessarily

business; he has had to reach out to his people

rail transport. Would rail terminals stay open?

what we have been led to believe; yes, training

in different ways and this has not been all

In response, Bertschi established emergency

was needed but Bertschi saw the opportunity

negative. Now the focus is on getting people

teams to organise operations and scaled up its

and to use digitisation as a way of achieving

safely back into the office as, he says, “physical

Truck Tracer app; it also brought its planning

business resilience.

interaction is critical”. Overall, though, the

online, which meant standardising processes and the elimination of manual input.

lockdown has changed attitudes, especially Bulk liquids storage terminals may not be

to working from home, and technology has

such a labour-intensive business as intermodal

proven itself. He adds that the need for visibility

accelerated the process of digitisation.

transport but Guy Bessant, president of

– especially real-time information – during the

Changes that usually take years had to be

Stolthaven Terminals, reports similar changes,

pandemic has led to a realisation on the part of

made immediately.” Bertschi was already

saying: “Covid-19 showed that a good IT

some companies that digitisation is sufficiently

advanced on the digitisation journey but the

system and digitisation made us better able

important to warrant continued investment,

pandemic removed any hesitancy among its

to respond to rapidly changing conditions.”

even at a time when they are looking to

own personnel and its customers. After all,

It has also provided justification to continue

conserve cash.

those customers were also working from home

to invest in digitisation.

In effect, Arnet says, “the pandemic

and needed more visibility and appreciated

But again, on a practical level, the pandemic

Bessant says the world “is not a happy place” right now – but it is not as bad as it

receiving milestones and ETA in real time

moved people out of the office and the company

could have been. But, he notes, businesses

through their electronic connections. As

had to take care of them. As a business, Bessant

have partially shifted their focus away from

a result, the new online processes have

says, Stolthaven had to keep running, not least

a number of sustainability and digitisation

reduced the number of queries from

as it operates critical infrastructure, but it could

initiatives: “it’s all about saving cash at

customers and delivered productivity gains.

not expose its people to risk.

the moment”.

“We saved two years in the process

How can a company manage those risks?

of digitisation,” Arnet says. “It was a real

“The business is involved in handling products

documented, the recession that has travelled

eye-opener. External influences drove people

that need to be carefully managed and handled

with the pandemic has not affected the overall

to adopt new technology.” Interestingly,

with risk mitigation a key focus to ensure

chemical industry as badly as some sectors;

we can operate safely,” Bessant explains.

although there has been a sharp drop in

“Covid-19 is just another risk to be mitigated.”

demand for chemicals for use in the automotive

Physical barriers were put in place to ensure

and construction industries, other areas have

social distancing but that was not something

helped compensate, not least in the field of

that Stolthaven had planned for.

hygiene and pharmaceuticals.

Above left: Jan Arnet, Bertschi Group CEO Above right: Frederick Ronse, Ovinto CEO

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

On the other hand, as has been well

EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 29

Those companies that are seriously looking to improve their sustainability efforts are certainly relying on technology and innovation to help

world is a coming issue and companies will have to take that on board.

Stolthaven Terminals has recently adopted

But, Arnet believes, many of the processes that were changed to support Bertschi in handling business during the pandemic will

them achieve their aims but it is not clear how

the edison365 ideation and innovation platform

not go away. “Having processes online is here

much will actually get done, especially during

to offer a way for its employees to put forward

to stay,” he says. “We are able to respond to

the current crisis and the likely recession to

new ideas and to open up discussion across

changes even faster than before and it enables

follow. The EU is supporting green projects as

the company. Bessant says this is already

visibility and reliability in the supply chain.” That

part of its support for the industry, but questions

generating information about issues that need

move online has redefined some work roles too,

remain as to how this will be financed. The

addressing and a lot of little ideas are coming

and Bertschi found that it had to assign tasks

Emissions Trading Scheme will likely be revised

forward. The company will be able to use this

to those who had the best skills. Greater

and may well involve a carbon tax on shipping;

for continuous improvement in its operations.

digitisation means, for instance, that the role of

this could raise costs for the chemical industry and have other impacts.

transport planners has changed as there is no More radical innovation will be needed to address

longer any need to follow goods in transit – it

the coming energy transition and Bessant is

is all done digitally and provided to customers

innovation in its search for better sustainability

challenging the entire organisation to come up

in real time. But there is still a need to manage

in its terminal operations. Bessant notes that

with ideas. But beneath it all lies the power of

exceptions manually; this can make planners’

such innovation is usually found at the coal face:

digitised systems to crowd-source ideas and

jobs more interesting and gets them closer to

it is those who work directly with assets that

better communication tools, such as the recently

the customers, Arnet reports.

often have the best ideas on how to do things

installed Yammer.

Stolthaven has taken its own approach to

more efficiently, a truth he observed first-hand

That ability is also crucial at a time when

With 80 per cent of its people working from home, the dynamics of communication have

at sister company Stolt Sea Farm. He also

many people are working at home. Jan Arnet is

changed completely. This worked well during the

raises the point that sustainability is a broader

insistent that innovation shall not suffer but needs

crisis but will it also work in the long term? This

topic than just the environment and has to

people to be working together actively and

is something that has to be managed and, for

include people – social injustice around the

closely, whether working from home or on site.

a company with a global reach, it is something that Bertschi has already experienced; it needs to be a part of the corporate culture.

Digitisation is certainly playing a major part in that culture and helped Bertschi cope with the drastic changes in the market in the early days of the Covid-19 lockdown. Shifting product trades meant that transport assets had to be in the right place very quickly and its digitised systems helped with forward planning and with customer service. There is a lot of information in its own and in customers’ ERP systems and all players in the chain still need to learn how to use all that data. That is likely to become crucial in a post-pandemic world as shippers seek to reduce their working capital while still bolstering their resilience to sudden shocks, for example by supply chain diversification rather than single-sourcing. Visibility is now needed more than ever, Arnet says.

Ultimately, whether it is business resilience, greater sustainability and the need to reduce carbon emissions, or just for more efficient operations, digitisation will underpin developments moving forward. Anyone who has doubted EPCA’s focus on new technology in recent years must now see the logic.

Guy Bessant, president of Stolthaven Terminals

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FACE OF THE FUTURE This year, SCPC has been opened up further

is to contribute to business resilience during

market for interesting new technologies that

with the inclusion of Frederick Ronse, founder

a time of unprecedented and rapid change or

can help the petrochemical industry.”

and CEO of Ovinto, in the group as it seeks to

to help industry meet the growing need for

delve deeper into the possibilities that digital

sustainability in all its operations. There are

viewpoints, and not solely from Europe. He

technologies can offer to help the petrochemical

a lot of new technologies out there that have

hopes SCPC will be able to invite every single

industry meet its aims and obligations to reduce

already been used in other industrial sectors

company with interesting technology to

its carbon footprint and move towards

and, although there has been a lot of talk at

present it through a showcase to the EPCA

a sustainable and circular economy.

previous EPCA events, there is also a need

community. He explains: “I hope I can find

for some clarity and organisation if the

a mechanism to optimise the search for new

of digitisation: “How can you talk about supply

petrochemical industry and its logistics

technology that will be of use to the European

chain efficiencies if you don’t know where your

partners are to benefit.

petrochemical industry.”

Ronse is unequivocal about the importance

shipment is?” Not being connected causes

That is one reason behind the arrival of

Ronse sees it as vital to be open to different

“There will be all sorts of things,” Ronse adds.

inefficiencies and this is why digitisation is so

Frederick Ronse in SCPC and he has plenty

“The broader we look the more we will find.”

important to the whole discussion of

of ideas about how to take the conversation

And he is not just talking about new technology

sustainability, climate change and the circular

forward. After a three-year digital journey

but also new applications for old technology.

economy. Greater efficiencies in the supply chain

within the petrochemical supply chain, which

Through that search, he says, “we can start to

mean more product is moved with less effort and

saw the active participation of the EPCA

give answers to all EPCA members according to

with less impact on the environment. It’s good for

community in dedicated research and

their needs and their place on the digital journey”.

the bottom line and good for the planet. Bessant

workshops, it is now time to get a broader

That will be particularly useful for smaller

agrees with that: “Sustainability and innovation

view on digital trends and new technologies

companies that perhaps lack the capability to

are interlinked,” he says, but thinks the focus on

by bringing together experts from academia,

develop their own roadmap to digitisation or to

innovation – and the willingness to spend money

from venture capital and from other industries,

address sustainability and the circular economy.

– has been weakened by the pandemic.

as well as trendwatchers and futurologists, in

It is clear that digitisation represents a trend whose time has well and truly come, whether it

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

Ronse concludes with a plea to the EPCA

the Digital Advisory Body. “Let’s put those

community: “Think of new technology that can

people together,” Ronse says. “Let’s scan the

help, bring it to EPCA – don’t wait to be told!”

EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 31

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EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 33

DIGITISATION IN PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT OF THE E-ECD WAS JUST THE FIRST STEP FOR ECLIC, WITH MORE TO COME

In recent years, EPCA’s Annual Meeting has

altered or forged. Putting this onto a digital

value in terms of improved compliances,

done a lot to promote the uptake of digitised

platform was seen as a way of removing those

sustainability, product quality and efficiency

systems, platforms and networks among the

problems, while also making the ‘eECD’ available

among those who had adopted it, the added

European petrochemical industry and its

to all relevant players, on demand, all along the

health and safety factor is now driving digital

logistics service partners. That clarion call has

supply chain.

documentation forward. Since the Covid-19

also been heeded by their representative

Putting their heads together, the partners in

outbreak started, eECD usage has increased

associations, not least through the formation in

Eclic got the system up and running on a trial

2018 of the European Chemical Logistics

base very rapidly and the eECD has now been in

Information Council (Eclic) by the European

use in Germany and the Benelux countries for

That increase in uptake was fuelled in part by

Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), the Belgian

more than 18 months. Eclic reports that the

the translation of the eECD application into

chemical industry association essenscia, the

issues posed by the Covid-19 pandemic have

German, making it easier for the German-

European Chemical Transport Association

attracted more interest from shippers, carriers

speaking user community to initiate and process

(ECTA) and the European Federation of Tank

and cleaning stations across Europe.

eECD documents. BASF, which had already

Cleaning Organisations (EFTCO).

Eclic’s initial mission was to act as the platform

Many companies had been reluctant to move

by more than 25 per cent, Eclic reports.

been using eECD at its Ludwigshafen plant,

away from established ways of working, Eclic

welcomed the move. It says: “The application is

manager for the electronic version of the EFTCO

says, but paper-based processes were also seen

recently also available in German, which makes

Cleaning Document (ECD); the supply chain was

as presenting a route for the spread of the virus.

the use for our loading personnel even more

awash with paper ECDs, which could be lost,

So, while eECD had already demonstrated its

comfortable. Other loading stations are in

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evaluation in close alignment with the

Eclic is now moving ahead with further, related

reduce the risk of product quality problems.

responsible business units and will soon be

projects to replace paper documents. During

We are convinced this digital collaboration

piloted. This will be a good basis to prepare

the fourth quarter of 2020 it plans to launch

platform provides opportunities to re-design

for a further roll-out. We are convinced that

electronic versions of the ‘Proof Previous Load’

our site logistics processes and shift towards

this new way of digital collaboration will bring

– ePPL – and EFTCO Cleaning Order – eECO –

pro-active steering.”

us forward in terms of quality, safety, efficiency

documents. These digitised documents will help

and effectiveness and will help us to even

harmonise the way of working between cleaning

There is more to come. At the start of this year,

better fulfil our customers' needs.”

stations, carriers and loaders and will also further

it was agreed to extend the Eclic platform with

support semi-dedicated and dedicated bulk

ePPL and eECO and to start to develop three

product flows, enhancing the value of the eECD.

new data exchange pilots covering an ‘eCMR’,

Exchangin eECD data through the Eclic platform requires that existing data from cleaning stations is provided digitally. Most

Eclic developed ePPL and eECO during the

estimated time of arrival (ETA) and equipment

cleaning stations use specific software, which

middle of 2020 with input from a core group of

pre-notification. In August this year, the EU

can be accommodated by an open-source

eECD users and the support of its IT partners,

published the ‘eFTI’ regulation, which aims to

eECD API infrastructure.

NxtPort, Nallian and Pionira. Eclic says that the

replace paper documents with e-freight versions,

new documents are regarded as part of the

including eCMR and eCIM, in the coming years.

Automation, has been engaged with the eECD

existing eECD licence subscription so will be

To help understand what that might mean across

project since it began and was the first to offer

available at no additional cost to users.

the supply challenge, Evonik has started an

One of those software suppliers, LynX

the eECD market solution. It says: “Optimisation

BASF is one of the first chemical companies

eCMR pilot project with some of its carriers and

of internal process eventually reaches a point

to take up the offer. It says: “We are committed

input from Eclic and Pionira. Evonik was one of

where the investment costs exceed the financial

to use the new ePPL use case. Together with

the pioneers in eECD so has a head start in

return. The new Eclic platform extends the

the eECD it enables us to create a uniform

moving towards digitised documentation.

scope of data flow from internal to external

digital process to check cleaned and uncleaned

processes. This expands the boundaries for

equipment before loading. This digital process

‘Eclic 2025’ roadmap, envisioning the evolution

process flow optimisation, unlocking previously

brings improved compliance and process

of the Council towards being a federated

unavailable business opportunities. LynX

quality. The ease of use compared to the current

data exchange platform for chemical logistics,

Automation recognises the potential of this

situation means less time wasted and less room

supporting both business-to-business and

platform and supports it with a free add-on to

for errors in every step of the complete process.

business-to-government interactions. Further

our software. This enables seamless integration

It enables us to trigger automatic notifications

work on this will be carried out in 2021. More

of our software with the Eclic platform, allowing

to clean in case of dedicated equipment. By

information will be provided on the Eclic website,

our clients to benefit from this new technology.”

this way we avoid time-intensive checks and

www.eclic.eu, as the process continues.

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

This year has also seen the launch of the

EPCA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 35

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TRAIN AND RETAIN DRIVERS • THE STRUCTURAL SHORTAGE OF TRUCK DRIVERS IS NOTHING NEW BUT IS GOING TO GET WORSE UNLESS INDUSTRY DOES SOMETHING. CEFIC AND ECTA HAVE COME UP WITH SOME IDEAS THE ISSUE OF driver shortages in the European road transport sector is nothing new: it has been a growing problem for some years now and all haulage companies have had to try and face it as best they can. The shortage emerged before the 2008 financial crisis as a result, many felt, of changes in working practices that affected drivers’ comfort levels, not least an increase in waiting times at loading and unloading sites. Drivers want to drive, not sit around twiddling their thumbs.

The opening up of EU membership into eastern Europe covered the shortage up for a while, with an influx of new drivers, and it ceased to be a critical priority for many transport companies. Since then, economic

recovery and an increase in demand for transport services have revealed that the underlying issues are still there. Growing road congestion, stricter regulation, unfavourable demographics and further increases in waiting times all combined to make the idea of becoming a driver unattractive, especially for younger potential entrants.

In addition, the rapid increase in e-commerce and the need for more delivery drivers has offered employees an alternative, often with a more local focus, meaning they do not have to be away from home for long periods, and a better work/life balance. During the current Covid-19 pandemic, with its associated lockdowns and social distancing, factors such as this become even more significant.

As a result, Europe’s heavy goods road transport sector is currently more than 200,000 drivers short of what it really needs and worse is to come: within the next 15 years, around 40 per cent of existing truck drivers are due to retire.

STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS The issue of driver shortages has been a matter of concern for the European Chemical Transport Association (ECTA) for more than a decade; it has been working together with the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) since 2009 to try and find ways to address the problem. These have included the publication of best practice guidelines on loading/unloading activities, with recommendations on how to reduce the time spent by drivers on site and improve their treatment while they are there.

That joint work has continued, culminating this year in the publication of an extensive document, Recommendations to Tackle the Impact of Driver Shortage in the European Chemical Transport. The document notes that the shortage of truck drivers is a structural issue that goes wider than Europe and affects all industry sectors, the chemical industry being no exception.

However, the document says, “For our industry, this structural driver shortage is putting the entire chemical supply chain at risk.

Besides increased transport costs, the service level to customers is also declining. In addition, it becomes more and more difficult to find qualified chemical drivers who are able to cope with ever more demanding legislation and site requirements. This lack of qualified truck drivers may pose safety as well as product quality risks. All of this endangers the security of supply in the European chemical industry with possible disruptions.”

The guidance provided by the Cefic/ECTA document is designed to support chemical producers and their logistics service providers to improve the productivity of the drivers they already have and, by improving the attractiveness of driving in the chemical sector as a profession, to attract new employees.

The document also represents a starting point from which the chemical industry, transport companies and authorities will need to work

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from to explore the recommendations and innovations. It is hoped that new technologies will create new opportunities but focusing on the safety of people at loading and unloading sites will remain a key success factor.

PLAN FOR CHANGE The recommendations in the Cefic/ECTA document were drawn up after a root-cause investigation based on input from members of the two associations. The over-riding conclusion was that the chemical industry must adapt and rethink how it will organise road transport in the coming decade and adjust to the idea that driver availability will always be limited. This implies that collective action will be needed by industry, logistics service providers and authorities to ensure a safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable road system. In addition, automation and digitisation will change the nature of the driver’s job, requiring management of change on the part of employers.

The investigation generated two key outputs.

Firstly, long-distance driving needs to be decoupled from last-mile and on-site driving, which will optimise driver and asset use while ensuring safety and efficiency. Secondly, job dissatisfaction cannot be allowed to put potential drivers off; the chemical industry and its logistics partners must maintain a strong focus on driver health and comfort, training and qualification, remuneration and two-way communication. This will have to be supported by policy-makers by lowering the entry cost to the profession, lowering the minimum age and providing enough safe and secure parking areas.

Arising from that analysis are four practical recommendations: 1. Several infrastructural measures can be taken to redesign the infrastructure at

 THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, ITS LOGISTICS PARTNERS AND AUTHORITIES WILL NEED TO WORK TOGETHER TO KEEP EXISTING DRIVERS HAPPY AND ATTRACT NEW RECRUITS TO THE PROFESSION

loading and unloading sites, including the use of the ‘drop and swap’ concept to decouple long-distance drivers from on-site and local operations; availability of a ‘fast lane’ to help drivers get access to sites, with the use of biometric identification and other digital tools; self-loading/unloading by the driver, potentially in combination with drop-and-swap; and optimisation of the physical loading and unloading process.

2. Digitisation in the loading and unloading process, especially in the areas of planning and on-site administration, can contribute to cutting lead times. Manual processes lead to errors, which cause delays, and other delays at the entry gate can be avoided if missing or invalid documentation is identified before the vehicle arrives.

Digitisation can already provide dynamic time slot planning in real time, again reducing frustration for drivers at the gate.

3. Full and effective communication with drivers is seen as highly important; part

unsafe situations or unexpected events.

Standardisation should extend to PPE. And it is necessary to take account of different languages.

4. To attract new drivers to the chemical transport sector, transport companies need to engage in attracting and retaining drivers and offer a dedicated career path. Training and certification are part of this process.

The transport industry also needs to recognise the different types of activity, for example packaged or bulk, ADR or non-ADR, liquids or gases, and so on.

All four of these recommendations work hand in hand and their adoption will take planning and cooperation across the industry and between producers, receivers and transport companies. The guidelines include some practical illustrations of how the recommendations can be implemented and how site infrastructure will need to change to optimise operations, reduce efficiencies and make the job of transporting chemicals

of this involves the standardisation of procedures across loading and unloading sites, which will reduce complexity, stress and frustration for drivers. This would need better communication between sites. Further, drivers need to be able to communicate when they face potentially

a more attractive career option.

The Cefic/ECTA guideline document can be freely downloaded at www.ecta.com/resources/ Documents/Best%20Practices%20Guidelines/ Recommendations%20driver%20shortage%20 200831%20FINAL.pdf.

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drivers: the average age of drivers is very high – in some countries over 50 – and younger generations are not being attracted to the profession. In the collective imagination there is a negative picture of the truck driver, living away from family and friends and spending almost all the day in a cramped space, with inadequate rest facilities and a resulting anti-social and unhealthy life.

Another problem for transport companies is the difficulty they have in retaining drivers.

Constant monitoring of drivers by satellite

KEEP THE DRIVER HAPPY Chemical Express has engaged for many years, as part of company policy, to both retain qualified and professional drivers and to encourage young people to join the profession. Driver retention is based on three factors: training, recognition and flexibility.

Truck drivers represent the ‘business card’ of the transport company and, in turn, of its customers. For this reason, Chemical Express created a project for its drivers, ‘Continuous Training’, which covers the following topics: -B ehaviour-based safety (BBS) driving and loading/unloading -T ransport regulations -S afety topics, such as the use of PPE and working at height -D efensive driving, and - ADR. As a result of this programme, each driver can carry out their job in a very professional way.

They are also trained on topics such as how to communicate problems; how to be polite with customers, operators and colleagues; how to be well dressed using all the PPE; how to be proactive with customers and be ready to help them; how to be very careful about potentially unsafe situations; and to always report near-miss incidents.

Drivers are also recognised for their length of service. Together with other benefits, specific incentives based on the number of years of work have been set up to encourage drivers to stay with the company for longer.

Drivers’ needs are also taken into account in assigning the type of work they do. If they find it important to stay close to their family, they will be assigned to local operations, while if they are looking for a higher wage, they will be given international or long-distance jobs.

Another way to address the driver shortage problem is to encourage young people to take up the profession. Aside from the image problem, the cost of getting a heavy goods driving licence is high and can discourage new entrants.

communication, bad working conditions due to the lack of flexibility of time slots and the need to adapt sleep to rest hours, alongside pressure to get their freight to its destination as quickly as possible, can lead to job dissatisfaction and a consequent change of job.

Chemical Express is planning to counter this with a project to approach young people, pay the cost of their training and licence and develop them with mentors from its own pool of experienced drivers, as long as they commit to stay with the company for a certain length of time. www.chemicalexpress.it

JOBS FOR LIFE DRIVERS • THE DRIVER SHORTAGE IS NOT NEW BUT IS BECOMING CRITICAL. CHEMICAL EXPRESS HAS THOUGHT ABOUT WAYS TO KEEP ITS DRIVERS AND ATTRACT YOUNG ENTRANTS FOR MANY YEARS the transport industry has been struggling with a shortage of truck drivers. According to research among small and medium-sized transport and logistics companies in several European countries, carried out by the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the commercial freight driver shortage increased from 23 per cent in 2019 to 36 per cent this year.

There are several reasons behind this difficult situation. The main one relates to a lack of generational change in professional

 DRIVERS ARE THE LIFEBLOOD OF THE TRANSPORT INDUSTRY AND NEED TO BE TREATED DECENTLY

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Greiwing, promotes mutual understanding and trust, which is particularly important to us.”

“As recently as 2019, we invested €6m in a logistics center for food products at the Logport and expanded the storage capacity by 8,000 pallet spaces.” This latest work is said to be costing some €13m.

As in previous projects, the construction work is being undertaken by Goldbeck Nord as general contractor. “We have been a satisfied regular customer of the contractor for a good five years and this new building is part of a series of successful joint projects.

We receive all planning and constructionrelated services from a single source that has been a decisive factor for us since the beginning of the collaboration,” says Greiwing.

“It is particularly nice for us when one of

QUICK CONSTRUCTION The new logistics centre will be used to store, process and transship a wide variety of free-flowing goods from the chemical and plastics industries up to water hazard class (WGK) 1 in accordance with the HACCP and GMP standards.

Loading and unloading takes place via four ramps. Greiwing says: “With the expansion, we are underpinning our growth ambitions. Our Duisburg location will continue to play a central role in the company-wide network of locations in the future.” It is also anticipated that the expansion will create 20 new jobs at the site, taking headcount over 150.

The official groundbreaking ceremony for this expansion stage took place in August and, according to plans, the work will be completed in May of next year.

Andreas Wermelt, project manager at Goldbeck’s Münster branch, explains: “We owe the short construction time to our system construction and the high level of vertical integration. We manufacture modular precast concrete elements in our own factories. These elements are then simply put together on the construction site according to the ‘Lego’ principle.”

“Visible customisation and invisible standardisation work particularly well when we are involved in the planning from the start, as was the case again with this building project,” adds Terwey.

The location in Duisburg currently has 67,700 pallet spaces, a 40-tonne gantry crane, a container tipping station, a silo interior/exterior cleaning facility and its own

our customers becomes a ‘repeat offender’ and commissions us again,” says Christian Terwey of Goldbeck’s Münster branch.

“This is great praise for us and confirms what we are doing. At the same time, the recurring cooperation, which also takes place supra-regional and nationwide with

truck workshop. Greiwing has ten logistics centres across Germany and a fleet of 200 tractor units and more than 550 special trailers. Its main customers are in the plastics, foodstuffs, chemicals, construction and pigments sectors. www.greiwing.de

SILO MENTALITY POLYMERS • GREIWING IS EXPANDING ITS DUISBURG FACILITY AGAIN TO HELP HANDLE INCREASING DEMAND FROM THE LOCAL CHEMICAL AND PLASTICS INDUSTRIES GREIWING HAS BROKEN ground on another expansion of its location in the Logport facility in Duisburg, Germany. A 5,000-m² logistics centre with 12,300 pallet spaces in mobile racks, together with 15 high silos for the storage and filling of free-flowing goods are being built on a 11,800-m² site on the Hamburgerstrasse.

Completion of the work, scheduled for May 2021, will take capacity at the facility up to 80,000 pallet spaces and 27 silos.

“The location in Duisburg has developed positively over the long term. With the new expansion, we are now creating the conditions to continue on this path,” says managing partner Jürgen Greiwing.

 ADDITIONAL CAPACITY AT GREIWING’S LOGPORT SITE IN DUISBURG WILL OFFER MORE SPACE FOR LOCAL PLASTICS MANUFACTURERS

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TANK TAKEOVER ACQUISITION • H ESSERS’ TAKEOVER OF TANK MANAGEMENT TAKES IT INTO NEW TERRITORIES AND ADDS TEMPERATURECONTROLLED TANKS FOR CHEMICALS AND FOODS BELGIUM-BASED INTERMODAL operator and bulk logistics provider H Essers has acquired the Oslo-based tank container operator Tank Management A/S, adding to its tank operations following the purchase of Huktra in 2018.

The development of its liquid bulk chemical transport operation is part of H Essers’ long-term strategic plan and also fits in with its focus on synchromodality –

 H ESSERS NOW HAS 2,000 TANK CONTAINERS UNDER ITS CONTROL AFTER RECENT ACQUISITIONS

the intelligent combination of various modes of transport. It operates warehouses, trucks and road tankers, as well as tank containers. H Essers says 41 per cent of its operations are multimodal in nature.

The transaction also greatly expands H Essers’ geographical footprint for liquid chemical logistics, adding operations in France, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.

It can now offer tank container operations right across Europe, from Gibraltar to the Urals.

In addition, the takeover further strengthens H Essers’ ability to provide temperaturecontrolled liquids transport for pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs as well as for chemicals.

WHAT THEY SAY Tank Management, a family-owned business, was founded in 2006 and has evolved into a European specialist in temperature-controlled tank container transport for chemicals and foodgrade products. Aside from its Oslo base, it has offices in Le Havre, Milan and Rotterdam and owns 800 modern tank containers. All its tanks are fitted with real-time tracking as well as sensors to monitor the temperature of the contents.

“After the substantial growth Tank Management has recorded in recent years, it is now time for the next step,” say the Nordbo and Philippe families, the owners of the Norwegian-French company.

“Thanks to the acquisition by a strong industrial player such as H Essers, Tank Management will continue to excel in service, to grow and to expand its expertise in the coming years.”

“The acquisition of Tank Management fits into our strategy of sustainable development of synchromodality within the chemical segment. It enables us to offer our customers a new way of managing transport flows, which are not only more efficient but, thanks to this approach, also more sustainable. It’s a win-win situation for all parties: customers, logistics service providers and our community,” adds Gert Bervoets, CEO of H Essers.

“Tank Management is a family business that shares our values,” Bervoets continues.

“As is the case in our company, safety and quality are paramount. As an example, material and equipment are renewed with a high frequency, to ensure that the operations meet the most stringent standards and strictest requirements.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming our new colleagues into the warm-hearted H Essers family and to shaping our future together.”

As was the case with the Huktra acquisition, the leadership team at Tank Management will stay with H Essers. Both firms will now concentrate on integrating and consolidating operations.

Following the acquisition, H Essers now

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has some 2,000 tank containers under its control and a total annual turnover of some €100m. It currently employs around 6,000 staff at 77 locations in 19 countries.

BUILDING IN ROMANIA While H Essers is expanding its tank container operation, it is also adding to its logistics and distribution capabilities in Romania where, it says, demand from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries is very high.

In May this year it completed a 10,000-m² expansion of its warehouse for high-Seveso goods in Bucharest.

“When H Essers erected the first building in Bucharest in 2013, we were only one of the few players in the area with a warehouse complex for chemical and pharmaceutical products,” says Jeroen Fabry, business unit manager for Romania. “In fact, we were also

one of the few logistics service providers in Romania to offer Seveso-certified facilities.

In Romania, many chemical products are still stored in standard warehouses even today. In view of our broad expertise, we can completely live up to our specialist role in this area.”

The gap in the market offered plenty of opportunities, and the demand for H Essers’ services was high from the start.

“Fortunately, we have plenty of capacity,” says Fabry. “Up until now, we’ve had to expand roughly every two years to meet demand. It’s not a matter of building more and then taking on new clients later; the client chooses us and we expand based on their needs.” The Bucharest site now has 60,000 m² of warehouse space following the latest expansion, while H Essers also undertook an 8,000-m² warehouse

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expansion and installed a new office complex at its Oradea site in 2017/18.

“Expansion allows us to support more pharmaceutical and chemical clients and offer them a safe environment to store their products,” adds Fabry. “Like all of our other buildings, this new building meets the strictest requirements. Thanks to the state-of-the-art fire extinguishing system, this building is fully equipped to store hazardous goods.”

H Essers deliberately chose to adhere to more than just the local legislation governing the warehousing of highly flammable goods.

“The bare minimum isn’t good enough for us,” says Fabry. “We are committed to achieving the highest level of safety for our clients and our employees. We won’t settle for anything less.” www.essers.com

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OUTSIDE THE BOX CONTAINERS • SPECIALISED PRODUCTS DEMAND SPECIALISED TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS. AELER HAS DEVELOPED AN INNOVATIVE CONCEPT FOR INSULATED, SMART CONTAINERS BUILD A BETTER mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door, or so it’s said.

There is nothing in this world that cannot be improved and aim is now being taken on the metal freight container, a concept that is some 60 years old. Switzerland-based Aeler, a technology-driven company designing hardware and software to meet fundamental logistics needs, is creating a smart and lighter container that, it says, promises to transform global logistics operations.

To find out more about this revolutionary concept, HCB spoke to Naïk Londono,

HCB: Tell us more about Aeler. When was it founded? Who was involved? What skills and expertise does the company bring to the market?

Aeler’s co-founder and CEO.

We bring three types of technologies to the market: - The use of composite materials to build better containers - Advanced embedded electronics to make containers as intelligent as they should be in the 21st century

 AELER’S LIGHTWEIGHT CONTAINER DESIGN WILL OPTIMISE PAYLOADS AND OFFER SMART VISIBILITY

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NL: Aeler is a Swiss technology company developing hardware and software to solve what we see as the most important logistics challenges: efficiency, visibility and sustainability. We founded the company in 2018 but the technologies used in our solutions are the result of decades of research and development.

- Data analytics and machine learning to enable our customers to reach supply chain excellence using the new wealth of data that is available about their supply chain.

Our lighthouse solution is a new-generation 20-foot shipping container that enables efficient and safe transportation. There are two segments that highly benefit from our innovations: -F lexitank transport, where we can enable higher payloads without any container bulging, prevent leakages outside of the container and provide insulation to protect cargo -S ensitive goods transport, where our high-grade insulation maintains cargo quality and, coupled with our 24/7 cargo monitoring, ensures cargo safety and the identification of any deviation harming cargo quality.

HCB: Do you see chemical shippers and their logistics partners becoming more accepting of digitised solutions? Is there confidence in cloud-based platforms?

NL: We see digitisation playing an important role for chemical shippers in order to keep up with an increasingly challenging array of demands and expectations from customers.

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With new solutions offering simplified integrations and adapting themselves conveniently to legacy system, making the move to newer technologies is easier than ever and many have benefitted from becoming early adopters.

What we feel is still lacking is a good quantification of the potential benefits from visibility and digitised operations, therefore reducing interest and good measures of success.

HCB: Has the Coronavirus pandemic accelerated the pace of take-up of your services?

NL: At our current state, the Covid situation has not had such a great impact on the adoption of and interest in Aeler’s solutions.

What has happened is that customers are more aware than before of the importance of good supply chain visibility and, interestingly

enough, the Covid situation has brought sustainability more to the forefront.

HCB: What developments do you have in the planning stage to take things forward?

NL: Beyond our current 20-foot container, we are planning a 40-foot HQ version to meet the demand we’re receiving for affordable premium services in regards to insulation, security and visibility.

We will also extend our network to incorporate more depots around the world to facilitate our one-way container usage service and add capacity to satisfy the service needs of even our most demanding customers.

HCB: Can you illustrate this with a case study?

NL: A shipper moving FMCG precursors through flexitanks that need to be heated

before unloading. The use case here is not only to load 28 tonnes of cargo versus their usual 24-tonne loads, but to ensure the cargo temperature does not fall too much after loading during the winter, effectively reducing heating time significantly before unloading.

Not only does this shipper gain efficiency in payload, but reduces by days the necessary heating time, therefore reducing his costs and receiving his cargo earlier than using a traditional box.

Throughout the entire process, the shipper can measure the actual temperature of the cargo, further improving the efficiency of his unloading operations and gaining a new insight on cargo quality throughout transportation.

As with this case, insulation and monitoring are proving to be important added values for cargo that needs to remain within certain temperature ranges for quality reasons. www.aeler.com

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INTELLIGENT EXPERTISE SUPPLY CHAIN • A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS TOGETHER WITH ADVANCED SOFTWARE TOOLS IS HELPING WHS LOGISTICS ACHIEVE ITS PLATFORM AMBITIONS WHS LOGISTICS MAY be an unfamiliar name in the market, having been founded only in 2016. But that masks the fact that the people working there have been tried and tested in managing supply chains over decades and have an intimate knowledge of the liquid bulk market. They are using that expertise to optimise supply chains by bringing improved performance, flexible service and efficiency – all the while focusing on the highest standards of safety and sustainability.

The fourth-party logistics (4PL) control tower offered by WHS Logistics takes care of the entire supply chain process, offering a one-stop-shop concept for its clients. WHS Logistics offers what it says will be the most optimal supply chain solution, where visibility and transparency are self-evident and

efficiency is key. This constant focus on innovative solutions from WHS Logistics allows its clients to stay focused on their core business.

The fully transparent WHS Logistics control tower covers such services as procurement, planning, execution, invoicing, analysis, quality assurance and optimisation tools. Its employees are passionate about providing added value and they do this by realising year-on-year cost reductions in combination with guaranteed flexibility and by following the highest quality standards.

ENGINEERING PROWESS As a 4PL control tower, WHS Logistics has a global reach with a focus on the raw material flows arriving in all the main ports and hubs in

Europe. From there it coordinates transport to factories throughout Europe. It can choose from Europe’s largest database of active partners in the liquid bulk sector and this large supplier network lies at the core of WHS Logistics’ value proposition. All suppliers are monitored, audited and evaluated to make sure they are compliant with WHS Logistics’, and also their customers’, high quality standards.

The WHS Logistics team consists of dedicated logistic engineers, spread across three locations, all of them having in-depth knowledge of the industry, customer requirements and legal constraints. They know how to tackle logistical challenges in order to completely relieve their customers of their logistical burdens. In addition, to assure the seamless operation of the daily business, WHS Logistics also develops and implements new logistical concepts with its partners, such as drop-swap, modal shifts and yard management. The team continually strives for supply chain improvements through, for example, payload optimisation initiatives and spot market tendering.

CLIMB THE TOWER The strength of the WHS Logistics 4PL control tower lies in its ability to enable economies of scale through vertical and horizontal integration.

In order to do so, WHS Logistics has a dedicated team of software developers working around the clock to build new functionalities for the custom-made ‘Freight Management System’ that forms the backbone of the control tower.

All systems, processes and portals have been designed and configured to assure customers complete confidentiality while reaping the benefits of visibility, control and intelligence across their global supply chain. A track and trace system has been implemented so that customers can monitor their supply chain at all times.

WHS Logistics has developed an automated tender tool that allows large tenders of thousands of lanes to be executed, managed and analysed. The carrier portal forms the interface with suppliers through which they post updates, and also manages the invoicing processes. The purpose of all this is to make the processes as efficient as possible for customers and carriers.

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In addition, WHS Logistics has rolled out an intuitive yard management tool, allowing complete transparency over the load-out process through visual management. Dynamic customer dashboards, telematics and APS (Advanced Planning & Scheduling) are all in the pipeline for further development.

Furthermore, WHS Logistics actively helps its customers to realise year-on-year spend reduction in their supply chain, and to have visibility over those reductions via the customer portal. This added cost control makes it easier for the customer and the WHS Logistics employee to determine which improvement processes can be initiated to optimise the supply chain and bring the service to the next level.

THE BIG TEST This year started with great uncertainty. The Covid-19 pandemic led to border closures in Europe and traffic jams sometimes reaching more than 50 km at border points. Another big challenge was ensuring the health and safety of drivers, something in which all parties needed to play a role. In the end, despite this level of volatility, WHS Logistics was able to execute all orders and deliver them with zero or minimal delay. This was due to its good relationship with all the partners involved and the presence of excellent communications and maximum flexibility.

Indeed, the pandemic has tested the promise of the 4PL control tower concept, which has proven to be there to serve the liquid bulk transport sector both in good times and during the Covid-19 crisis.

QUALITY AND SAFETY In the liquid bulk sector, quality and safety are key: products must be handled in such a way that quality will not be compromised and food safety will never become an issue. But the safety of drivers taking care of the loading and unloading of the product is just as important.

In order to ensure high quality and safety standards, WHS Logistics conducts audits across Europe for both customers and its carrier partners. It takes its responsibilities seriously in terms of ensuring that all companies involved in the supply chain meet the highest standards and, through these audits, it helps the entire chain to maintain those standards.

The benefit of this effort is mutual: WHS Logistics demands that its carriers follow the regulations set by loading and delivery locations and, if they fail to, they will receive a warning. In return, WHS Logistics asks its carriers to let it know about locations where local legislation is not being followed or where conditions are not workable or present a hazard to the driver. WHS Logistics believes

see sustainability, green solutions and carbon footprint offset as being the norm and are even unique selling points, the same is not (yet) common in the transport sector.

Transport is considered as a commodity and low costs are key. WHS Logistics started to change this by providing insight into carbon dioxide (CO²) emissions during transport and by offering a way to compensate those emissions.

In order to find the best solution, it has partnered up with the H&S Group and sent out a so-called International Technology Request, using the Enterprise Europe Network, to work on an IT solution that will enable it to make calculations of CO² emissions during transports organised by its control tower; at the same time this should provide an easy way to



that this cooperation in raising awareness of health and safety issues across the supply chain will help industry flourish.

determine CO²-compensation for all parties involved, such as customers, suppliers and producers. WHS Logistics is really connecting all the dots and therefore feels obliged to be the linking pin for sustainability in the liquid bulk sector. www.whs-logistics.com

LIQUID BULK LOGISTICS IS A COMPLEX BUSINESS AND WHS LOGISTICS IS CONTINUING TO DEVELOP ITS CONTROL TOWER TO PROVIDE MAXIMUM VISIBILITY AND ACCURACY IN REAL TIME TO HELP OPTIMISE OPERATIONS

ADDRESSING SUSTAINABILITY The transport industry in general is considered to be highly polluting. While other industries

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EXCEPTION MANAGEMENT DIGITISATION • IMT CONTINUES TO DEVELOP ITS SYSTEMS, ADDING NEW FUNCTIONS AND OPTIONS, INCLUDING ALERT NOTIFICATIONS TO SIGNAL WHEN PARAMETERS ARE BEING EXCEEDED IN AN EVER-CHANGING world, logistics companies have to work hard to keep up with developments if they are to improve efficiency, maintain security over product quality and enhance the service they provide to their customers. Round-the clock monitoring of product in tank containers and rail wagons is an essential part of this.

But it is no longer just sufficient to be able to monitor the location and condition of

 THE ALERTS FUNCTION IS INTEGRATED INTO IMT’S EXISTING WEB APPLICATION

product in transit. Round-the-clock visibility is one thing but, as Intermodal Telematics (IMT) realised, anomalies can arise that need to be quickly intercepted to allow intervention in a timely manner. IMT has therefore developed – and continues to develop – an alerting module that provides its customers with immediate notifications of events of interest.

The alerts function is an integral part of IMT’s web application, which allows users to set a range of email and SMS alerts to keep them informed of status changes in their own or their customers’ assets and/or cargo. This might be an increase or decrease in product temperature over time, passing a temperature

or pressure threshold, the arrival at or departure from a set point, or a message to say that an asset passed an idle time.

IMT’s alerts module allows its customers to set their own alert notifications for individual assets such as tank containers or rail wagons, or create notifications covering an entire fleet, in a few clicks on the keyboard. These alert notifications are fully customisable, allowing users to determine the thresholds and other points of interest that are relevant to each transport.

In addition, all notifications can also be sent by email or SMS to people that are not users of the web application, anywhere in the world, so that all parties in the transport chain can monitor changes and anomalies and take the necessary action.

BESPOKE SOLUTIONS IMT, working with its customers, has more recently developed gradient alerts to monitor temperature changes over a specific time frame, allowing close monitoring of temperature-sensitive products. For instance, the transport of ethylene oxide is safe as long as the temperature stays below a threshold.

To monitor the potential beginning of an autocatalytic exothermic reaction, a gradient monitoring system needs to be in place that is sensitive to the relative change in temperature over time.

The alerts module is available to all users of IMT’s smart tank concept, which uses a range of sensors located on a tank container or rail wagon and feed data to the IMT Communication & Location terminal.

Installation of sensors again reflects the specific needs of each user and IMT is also constantly developing tailor-made solutions for its customers to respond to their particular requirements.

IMT was founded in October 2013 specifically to offer telematics solutions to the intermodal market. Its clients include tank container and rail wagon operators, leasing companies, tank manufacturers and shippers. Its platform is open to third-party input and output and, once more, can be customised and can be integrated into legacy transport management systems. www.intermodaltelematics.com

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READY TO SERVE SERVICE CENTRE • SAUDI ARABIA’S DOWNSTREAM DEVELOPMENT IS GENERATING A NEED FOR FACILITIES TO KEEP CHEMICALS MOVING. ONE COMPANY IS AIMING TO FILL THAT NEED GULF STAR ENTERPRISE (GSEE) has announced ambitious plans to expand its service centre in Dammam City, Saudi Arabia to provide its local and international customers with a single point for all their chemical warehousing, repacking and tank container cleaning needs. The site, which is located between the 2nd and 3rd Industrial Cities on the Dammam-Al Ahsa Highway, will also be able to offer handling and labelling of specialty chemicals and solvents.

Moreover, GSEE says the unit will be able to deal with the recycling, treatment and disposal of chemical wastes and offer a comprehensive waste management programme for toxic and other hazardous wastes.

The new facility is designed to meet increasing demand for the proper handling of chemicals, plastics and fertilisers as the kingdom’s downstream oil and gas industry diversifies into new product streams. GSEE already provides logistics services to that sector, but as it develops its needs are becoming more sophisticated.

The GSEE location is 45 km from the King Abdulaziz Sea Port, which currently handles 25 per cent of Saudi Arabia’s imports and 5.6 per cent of its exports, and is projected to gain a large share of the increasing trade in chemical products. The port is also well connected to the country’s hinterland and

“GSEE aims to be part of this growth story, taking advantage of being in the Eastern Province, the jewel in the oil and gas industry in Saudi Arabia, and the increase in growth in trade volumes and business activities, to provide good quality services, and to enable smooth trade and operations for its customers,” says Nafel Al-Hajeri, head of GSEE. EXPERIENCE COUNTS GSEE was founded in 2010 to serve the regional oil and petrochemical industries, creating a supply chain through its network of partners to enable fulfilment of ondemand and long-term contracts around the world. This new Environmental and Logistics Service Complex will add to its capabilities and responds to growing public and government concern about the protection of the Arabian environment

and the proper and safe disposal of toxic and hazardous waste.

The facility will also provide space for the storage of tank containers and intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), as well as palletised drums.

GSEE, in its role as a third-party logistics provider (3PL), is also moving fast in the area of digitisation, which it says will allow small companies to achieve global reach and compete on equal terms with global giants. Over the next few years, GSEE plans to develop and implement systems to offer real-time visibility of transport information, allowing it to offer its customers total solutions for their individual requirements. The platform will be based on the group’s long-standing expertise in the logistics field, together with its strong network of partners in the supply chain.

GSEE is ready to act as a representative in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region for international chemical manufacturers and other 3PLs in the chemicals sector. It also offers agency services for companies seeking to do business in Saudi Arabia in the expanding energy and water resources sectors, developing markets for their products and services.

2030visions.com

is the closest port to the capital, Riyadh.

 GULF STAR ENTERPRISE IS CREATING A ONE-STOP-SHOP TO HANDLE CHEMICAL TANKS

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in western Europe, employing a rolling fleet of more than 1,300 vehicles.

Lomas Distribution was itself chosen to field test the MX12 screw compressor by Meller Flow Trans (MFT), based in Bradford, UK, which specialises in developing product transfer solutions for the transport industry.

MFT was been a preferred distributor of France-based Mouvex for more than 25 years. Mouvex is a product brand of PSG, a Dover company.

“MFT has been a key supplier to Lomas Distribution for many years and our partnership with Mouvex goes back more than 25 years,” says Mike Conway, key account manager at MFT. “The Mouvex MX12 is the latest compressor to join the Mouvex family and it is perfect for the UK 6x2 tractor market.”

WITH HIS BROAD shoulders, walrus moustache and deep, gritty voice, no one would mistake Kevin Mears for an adolescent.

But hearing the veteran truck driver talk about the capabilities of the MX12 Series screw compressor from Mouvex, he can easily be envisaged as a young boy who had just been given the shiniest new bicycle.

“Other drivers want to know how I can

“A lot of the products are heavy products, granular stuff, so it’s lumps and powder, and we need two bar to get it going,” he explains. “[The MX12] is a fantastic bit of kit, really strong, powerful, does the job. Gets straight up to two bar and holds it there. That’s where I need to be, two bar.”

Mears considers himself to be a lottery winner: it was his tipper trailer that was

SMALL AND RELIABLE To cope with stringent on-the-road weight limits, truck manufacturers in Europe have been designing lighter trailers that have very limited space for ancillary components such as pumps and compressors. The MX12 overcomes this limitation by being, at 110 kg, the lightest and most compact compressor on the market, according to Mouvex.

“Tractors are now extremely tight, space is at a premium, and the MX12’s unique design allows for a very compact installation,” says Conway. “It has been designed to maximise the space that is available.”

Being compact is all well and good, but the MX12’s fundamental requirement is that it can perform reliably, especially when handling a product such as ferrous sulphate, an essential component in cement. “The best delivery time I’ve had is 22 minutes for 29 tonnes,” Mears says. “That was for ferrous sulphate, which is a granular product that you need a lot of air for. [The MX12] produces

build so much air so quick; it’s not a problem for me, it’s a problem for them,” Mears says with a chuckle. The ‘air’ he refers to is the 2 bar (29 psi) of pressure required when he needs to unload granular or powdery substances such as fly ash, lime and ferrous sulphate.

recently chosen by his employer, Lomas Distribution, to be outfitted with an MX12 screw compressor on a trial basis. Lomas, based in Buxton, Derbyshire in the UK and which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019, is one of the largely privately owned liquids and dry bulk haulage companies

so much air, I even have to bypass it at times because it’s producing too much.”

When discharging fly ash – a by-product of burning coal that is also a common ingredient in cement – Mears has achieved a best unloading time of 15 minutes for 22 tonnes.

These eye-catching unloading times can be

POWER FOR POWDER COMPRESSORS • GETTING ENOUGH AIR TO DISCHARGE DRY BULK PRODUCTS IS GETTING EASIER THANKS TO A POWERFUL NEW COMPRESSOR DESIGN FROM FRENCH SUPPLIER MOUVEX

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produced because the 2 bar of air pressure that the MX12 creates enables it to achieve flow rates of up to 1,130 m³/hr (18,833 l/min).

That capability enables Mears to, on average, unload a 28-tonne trailer in 35 to 45 minutes, a process that would previously take more than an hour to complete.

GOOD FOR LOMAS The MX12 also checks all of the other boxes for optimised screw-compressor performance, specifically those pertaining to vibration and noise levels. “The shaft stops where it is, no rumbles, no tweaks

 OPPOSITE: MIKE CONWAY (LEFT) OF MELLER FLOW TRANS AND LOMAS DRIVER KEVIN MEARS HAVE BOTH BEEN IMPRESSED WITH THE POWER OF THE NEW MOUVEX MX12 SERIES COMPRESSOR

or anything; super smooth,” says Mears.

“There’s no vibration on it, it sits and runs perfectly, always straight in line, no problems whatsoever. I really enjoy using the Mouvex MX12, it’s a fantastic compressor, easy to use, quiet.”

The configuration of the MX12’s ports allows for quick, simple installation, while its large and variable inlet speeds are able to match up with basic PTOs with low motor speeds. Should they ever be needed, repairs can be performed quickly and easily due to the MX12’s modular design, which is also a benefit if the operator wants to make modifications or upgrades to the compressor system.

All of these benefits make the MX12 ideal for use with, as illustrated, powdery or granular substances, but also such diverse dry bulk products as plastics, gravel, animal food and cereals.

The capabilities of the MX12 also fit hand-inglove with the very unique business strategy that Lomas Distribution has recently developed.

The company has made the conscious decision to have none of its 1,300-strong vehicle fleet be in service for more than three years before replacement, which is atypical for the transport market. As such, Lomas strives to outfit its transport fleet with the best equipment and systems available – with the MX12 ably filling that demand.

“As an organisation, they are very demanding,” said Conway. “Their focus and their ethos are based on safety, green technology and green solutions wherever possible, with exceptional customer service.

They expect to provide exceptional customer service and, as a result, they demand that from their key suppliers.”

PART OF THE SOLUTION In 25 years, Lomas Distribution has grown into one of Western Europe’s leading haulage companies, with revenues of more than £75m in 2018. This has been possible because Lomas has completely dedicated itself to meeting the needs of its clients in the most efficient, reliable and cost-effective way possible. Playing a role in achieving that goal have been partners that share the same level of dedication and commitment – in this case, Meller Flow Trans and Mouvex – with the development and recommendation of the MX12 Series Screw Compressor being the latest tangible example.

“The Mouvex MX12’s performance and low noise levels make it an ideal choice for a variety of different products and tractors in the powder market,” says Conway.

“It provides maximum performance with extreme lightweight capability, quiet operation and maximum reliability.”

This article was written by Christopher Jovani, marketing manager for Mouvex and PSG. He can be reached at christopher.jovani@ psgdover.com. More information about the Mouvex range of pumps, compressors and coolers can be found at www.mouvex.com or www.psgdover.com.

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PEROLO - FRENCH TWIST EQUIPMENT • PEROLO HAS COME A LONG WAY OVER THE PAST 100 YEARS BUT THE FACTORS UNDERPINNING ITS SUCCESS HAVE REMAINED CONSTANT LEGEND HAS IT that the story began on a frosty morning in Paris during the winter following the Armistice at the end of World War I, when Joseph Perolo was looking out of his window and contemplating his future.

He was far from imagining that he was about to create a company that would grow to become a world leader in valve solutions and tank fittings. When spring arrived, Joseph bought premises in the suburbs of Paris and started Établissements J Perolo, a mechanical workshop for the automotive industry employing 15 people.

A hundred years later, Établissements J Perolo has become BIP Perolo, employing more than 200 people and having two factories and six subsidiaries. The main focus of the company is nowadays the design and

manufacture of the finest tank safety and fluid transfer equipment for oils, chemicals, powders, liquefied gases and foodstuffs.

BIP Perolo is active in four different markets: tank containers, road tankers, rail tank cars and offshore/IBC tanks; it services major players in those markets all around the world.

The key to this success story is innovation and customer service as core values of the company. BIP Perolo’s R&D department has been continuously innovating and evolving since the beginning of the company with an activity going from automotive industry to petroleum equipment before finally arriving at valves and tank fittings. All designs are the result of French engineering at its best combined with state-of-the art designing equipment.

PEOPLE AT PEROLO Innovation at BIP Perolo is, though, not limited to the engineering department.

Indeed, continuous investment plans both in the French and Chinese factories ensure modern equipment such as laser-cutting machines, robotic welding, CNC machining, and so on. It is this innovation combined with the craftsmanship of the workforce that makes BIP Perolo grow.

The second core value of BIP Perolo is customer service, which has been a central theme from the very beginning, of designing the valves till the day that they require maintenance operations after years of loyal service. Listening to the market and the requirements of the customer is very important to BIP Perolo. Only by offering this level of customer service is it possible to meet customer demands. This is the reason why BIP Perolo specialises both in very standard equipment that are mass produced but at the same time designs and manufactures limited series of valves that are tailor-made for one specific customer.

This approach to flexibility and versatility is rare in the industry and is widely appreciated by customers.

A recent example of this drive for innovation combined with tailor-made customer service is the development of a 90° ball valve. During a customer meeting with BIP Perolo’s sales team, the customer – operating in the tank container market – announced that it was looking for a solution that would avoid working at height and at the same time overcome the problem of lack of space on top of the larger capacity tank.

After further correspondence between engineering teams of both companies, BIP Perolo developed a 90° threaded ball valve that could both be operated from ground level and saved considerable height by allowing a connecting hose to be fitted horizontally and not vertically on top of the valve. As such, all the customer’s needs were met and the new valve was designed and fabricated (for the first series) in a very short space of time.

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THE MARKET EVOLVES This approach to customer service is not limited to just specific developments for one customer but also includes a general awareness of the ever-evolving market. For instance, when the market decided to not just use bottom valves for unloading but also for loading, this meant altering the direction of the product flow and as such the dynamic requirements of the valve. BIP Perolo was able to accommodate this change with an evolutionary upgrade of the valve that was rapidly available world-wide.

Another example is the bilateral rail control for opening and closing the bottom valve on a rail tank car. Most bilateral rail controls snap shut from open to closed position, creating a risk for the operator of damaging their hands or fingers. When BIP Perolo heard of this risk, it developed a damper option on the bilateral rail controls, which slows down the opening/ closing movement of the handle and as such guarantees the operator’s safety.

The same customer service can also be traced back in the quality of the fittings produced by BIP Perolo. Only wanting to offer customers the very best quality, BIP Perolo’s president Thierry Bourguignon took the decision in 2015 to invest in a lost wax foundry situated in Rudong, China. By doing so, the quality of the products is controlled in-house from the smallest component to the final assembled product. It is also to be noted that 100 per cent of the valves and fittings produced by either of BIP Perolo’s factories are thoroughly tested and traced by a unique serial number. Moreover, BIP Perolo collaborates with the best laboratories in Europe to ensure further extensive third-party testing.

 CLOSE ATTENTION TO PRODUCT QUALITY, TOGETHER WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THE ABILITY TO QUICKLY REALISE NEW CONCEPTS (INCLUDING THROUGH 3D PRINTING, ABOVE) HELP PEROLO KEEP AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE INDUSTRY

WORLDWIDE SERVICE BIP Perolo’s view of customer service extends to after-sales service. After all, in a globalised world, availability of spares is crucial to keep the global supply chain going. Therefore, BIP Perolo counts no less than six subsidiaries strategically based across the world: France, Belgium, UK, Poland, China and Singapore – all of them holding stock levels of the most common spare parts. In addition to these subsidiaries, BIP Perolo has more than 15 official distributors spread around the world to make sure that spare parts and after sales support are available anywhere and anytime.

The success story of BIP Perolo cannot be limited to just innovation and customer service. There is a third very important factor that has made everything possible, namely the ‘Péroliens’ (i.e. the employees), whether they are based in France, in China,

employees and its loyal customers, BIP Perolo managed to grow its customer base during the last century and become a global leader in valve and tank fittings for tank container, road tankers, rail tank cars and IBC/offshore tanks.

in the UK, in Poland, in Belgium or in Singapore. Gender equality matters for BIP Perolo as shown by the following facts: 50 per cent of the management team is female and the managing director of Rudong factory is a woman, Jane Shu. Thanks to the continuous support of these

ago? Probably not, but we can be sure that he would be proud of what the company has become and would be excited of the new adventures that lie ahead on the horizon for BIP Perolo. Those wanting more information are invited to take a look at the BIP Perolo website, www.perolo.com.

INTO A SECOND CENTURY What does the future bring? It is true that Covid-19 constitutes a challenge for the entire industry. But with international travel being limited and trade shows being cancelled BIP Perolo continues to re-invent itself by launching a new website and by communicating through social media. This new way of communication allows the company to be in direct contact with the customer and improve customer service even further.

Could Joseph Perolo have foreseen the success of his future company when he was staring out of that window so many years

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BUILT TO LAST LESSORS • THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS AFFECTED ALL SECTORS OF THE CHEMICAL SUPPLY CHAIN, INCLUDING TANK CONTAINER LEASING COMPANIES, AS PEACOCK CONTAINER REPORTS

CHEMICAL MARKETS AROUND the world showed a lagged response to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak due to the nature of order cycles. Tank container lessors are at the end of this chain and operators needed time to get clarity on market direction and volumes. From March to May, inefficiencies and imbalances due to lockdowns and blank sailings supported lessors’ utilisation rates. While some markets – particularly the automotive sector – were impacted significantly early on, this was offset by other product flows such as isopropyl alcohol for use in hand sanitiser, which spiked.

For tank container lessors, then, the impact of Covid-19 was muted during the first six months.

Where there was impact was through delayed projects as lessees postponed the collection of new equipment. But with the market slowly normalising and supply chain efficiency improving, lessors are now seeing more rational behaviour and decisions being made by customers as more information becomes available and capacity needs become clearer.

OUT OF THE CRISIS The road to recovery is still unclear, however.

As Peacock Container says, it is difficult to tell if the market has seen the bottom or whether it is still heading down. There has been improvement in some regions but, again, it is unclear if this is sustainable demand or just restocking of inventories. Government support packages have created a false sense

 PEACOCK’S COMPOSITE SWAP TANKS CAN LOWER USERS’ CARBON FOOTPRINT

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of demand, leading to a spike in underlying volumes in the short term, some of which may disappear on the withdrawal of that support.

The US elections in November seem to be a key moment as it is unlikely that the support packages will be cut before then, but the desire to keep them in place after the election will wane.

At the time of writing, Covid-19 cases are increasing again in Europe and the possibility of a ‘second wave’ creates yet more uncertainty.

The main determining factor here will be the way in which governments respond. Will there once more be blanket lockdowns or will they be more surgical to help ensure economies remain open?

Peacock believes that, within the next six months, demand will stabilise and improve in line with overall economic development in

both Europe and the US. In the medium term it remains unclear how long the recovery will take, though Peacock believes it will be a considerable time before markets are back to pre-Covid levels. In the long term, the fundamentals of the tank container market remain strong. Improved efficiencies, a modal shift and the increasing focus on safety and sustainability all work in support of the tank container market.

SUPPLY-SIDE FACTORS In the tank container leasing market, there is a clear split between standard and non-standard tanks. Standard 20-foot tanks with a capacity of 24,000 to 26,000 litres are the workhorse for most operators and constitute the bulk of the world fleet. There has been overcapacity in standard tanks for a few years now and this has not been changed by the Covid-19 crisis, though there has been greater discipline among lessors in terms of new orders over the past eight months, which is a positive development.

The underlying driver for this excess capacity is a disconnect between actual demand levels and the volume of capital looking for a return.

Recent low interest rates and central bank behaviour have resulted in declining returns on almost all traditional investment routes and the long-term cashflow dynamics of the tank container sector have looked attractive.

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In addition, historically low newbuild prices, reflecting the declining price of nickel as well as government support for tank building, convinced many to buy into the market, which had a potential upside in rising asset prices. Although explainable from an investment perspective, such rationale is disconnected from the fundamental demand drivers of the tank container market and the chemical industry.

For new entrants, with typical investment horizons of five to seven years, the focus has been on volume and utilisation. Asset lifecycle return was a secondary concern. Tank containers have a technical life of 20 years and are often depreciated on that basis.

Maintenance and repair management becomes more significant as tanks age and this is a key issue in asset lifetime returns. Short-term investors have limited incentive to include future maintenance and repair costs into lease rates or to develop platforms that can service tanks up to the end of their useful lives.

This combination of excess capacity, low interest rates and capital focused only on medium-term returns has had a material negative impact on lease rates for standard tanks, making it hard for traditional lessors with more mature fleets to maintain utilisation at healthy levels. The easiest solution for them has been to add new, more favourably priced units to decrease average book values.

But this further added to overcapacity and added to margin pressure.

With plenty of tanks in the market and many lessors open for business, new customers had no problem leasing large numbers of tanks at attractive rates. Competition at the operator level also intensified as more players joined the market. From a risk/reward perspective the balance seems to be distorted as newly established customers with limited balance sheets pay almost identical lease rates to those of long-established well capitalised lessees.

SPECIALS ARE SPECIAL Non-standard tank markets require a longer investment period. Developing a value-adding platform, acquiring in-depth equipment knowledge and building a diverse customer portfolio for these tanks goes well beyond traditional investment horizons. As a privately

“WITH FUNDING COSTS DECLINING, CREATING SUSTAINABLE VALUE THROUGH DIGITISATION AND

to the market. Over the recent years the management team was strengthened by people with backgrounds and experience in chemical engineering, commerce, IT and finance. This combination has created a team focused on creating efficiencies, innovative solutions, and sustainability together with customers and other stakeholders in the supply chain.

owned company Peacock is one of the largest owner/manager tank lessors in the world.

The company has been active in the leasing market for almost 35 years and the current shareholders have been with the company for over 15 years. Such a long-term commitment allows for a strategy with a focus on sustainable business in line with the full life cycle of tanks containers.

Peacock’s fully owned fleet numbers some 7,000 tanks with an average age of six years and including both standard and non-standard tanks. For many years now the focus has been on value adding services and long-term relationships with customers. Peacock advises its customers on product-tank compatibility, can support arranging logistics as well as offer fleet management services for third-party owned tanks. The combination of the diversified fleet and the progressive value adding approach has resulted in a diversified customer portfolio of large

WHAT’S NEW AT PEACOCK As an example, Peacock was the first tank container lessor to add composite swap bodies to its fleet. These tanks are 40 per cent lighter and are better insulated compared to stainless steel tanks. Certified for carrying most liquid chemicals and foodstuffs, these tanks can significantly lower the carbon footprint for operators and chemical manufacturers.

In recent years Peacock’s team has also performed several temperature studies for products loaded in tank containers. Together with leading technical universities it was able to simulate heating and cooling profiles within tanks under various conditions. Follow-up studies are currently ongoing as Peackock continues to roll out projects with customers to increase efficiencies and reduce costs for transport and heating processes.

Peacock is also investing in the added value that digitisation can offer. A significant part of its swap body fleet is now equipped with telematics systems to allow customers to monitor location, product temperature and product levels within the tank via an online portal. Further integration into SAP, Oracle or other ERP systems is possible, which creates a truly real time and transparent supply chain for chemical and foodstuff producers.

Lessors certainly need some scale to create efficiencies and build profitable businesses, but with funding costs declining, a platform’s cost efficiency driven by automation, as well as its capability in creating sustainable value for its customers through digitisation and innovation

and medium sizes chemical production companies, end-users and operators.

The full ownership model allows for an agile approach towards customers. Combined with an efficient structure, a young but well educated and experienced team, Peacock offers a flexible and competitive package

is gaining importance. An approach that includes managing tanks over their full lifecycle will maximise benefits to all stakeholders over the long term. The fundamentals remain strong and with a long-term view Peacock remains optimistic about the opportunities ahead. peacockcontainer.com

INNOVATION IS GAINING IMPORTANCE”

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years already. Less than 30 per cent of the transport volumes in the sector are transported by road. Nevertheless, our ambition is loud and clear: even more transport by rail and less by road. That is not so much a question of infrastructure or investments, but mainly about a different mind-set facilitating collaboration and digitisation,” says Yves Verschueren, managing director of essenscia.

ESSENSCIA, THE BELGIAN chemical industry federation, and rail freight operator Lineas have finalised their ‘LessThanWagonLoad’ research project, designed to facilitate the modal shift to rail in the chemical sector. The study, undertaken by a consortium of industry players and with funding from the EU, has involved the development of a prototype of a new automated pallet loading system for trains as well as a concept for a multimodal logistics hub that includes innovative rail solutions for the chemical industry in the Port of Antwerp.

The LessThanWagonLoad project aims to provide innovative solutions that will help the

to rail, taking into account the strict security and safety standards applicable to the transport of potentially dangerous goods.

Greater use of rail transport is seen as offering a considerable positive societal impact, with lower carbon dioxide emissions, less air pollution and less road congestion.

The study focused on the development of the Antwerp Main Hub into a true multimodal freight village, specifically for the local chemical cluster. The new concept features added-value rail services such as crossdocking pallet warehouses, repair and picking services, advanced cleaning services for chemical wagons, trucks and tank

ON AND OFF THE TRAIN The consortium also revealed the prototype of the Automated Wagon Loading System (AWLS). Inspired by automated truck loading systems, the system makes it possible to automatically load 15 pallets onto a train wagon. Whereas traditional rail transport typically consists of full containers or wagons, the system will open up rail freight to smaller quantities of chemical products, which currently have to rely on road transport.

“If we want to convince customers to shift from road to rail, we have to make it as easy as possible. Already our Green Xpress Network is allowing customers to get on rail starting from a single container or wagon. With the AWLS technology, we are further decreasing this threshold to even smaller loads,” adds Geert Pauwels, CEO of Lineas.

Speaking at the release of the research report, Pauwels called for broad collaboration between both industry and political partners to develop an ambitious Rail Freight Masterplan for Belgium.

Referring to existing masterplans in neighbouring countries, Pauwels highlighted that innovation within the rail freight sector alone would not be enough to realise the modal shift.

“We cannot stay behind as a country,” he said. “It is time to be very ambitious and deliver a Rail Freight Masterplan for

modal shift of chemical transport from road

containers, and improved rail connections that combine both conventional and intermodal volumes. These specialised services can remove barriers and reduce the cost of using rail freight.

“The chemical industry has been making efforts to realise a modal shift for several

Belgium that will safeguard and boost our country as logistical hub in Europe.

There is no time for half-hearted plans or lukewarm ideas. We need to be bold and make it happen.” www.lessthanwagonload.eu www.lineas.net

NOT JUST FOR BULK RAIL • CHEMICAL SHIPPERS MAY SOON BE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE POTENTIAL TO MOVE SMALL CONSIGNMENTS BY RAIL, FOLLOWING A RESEARCH PROJECT BY ESSENSCIA AND LINEAS

 THE NEW AUTOMATED PALLET LOADING SYSTEM IS SEEN AS CRUCIAL TO GET MORE CHEMICALS IN SMALLER SHIPMENTS OFF THE ROADS AND ONTO RAIL

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KEEP ON THE RAILS EQUIPMENT • IT’S BEEN A BUSY YEAR FOR FORT VALE. SALES DIRECTOR GRAHAM BLANCHARD EXPLAINS HOW IT IS KEEPING ON TRACK DURING ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTIES GRAHAM BLANCHARD, GLOBAL sales and marketing director of Fort Vale, is an extremely busy man. Even though the rest of the world has been negotiating the Covid present amidst the pressures of lockdown, and an uncertain Covid future as furloughs end and global economies grind back into action, Graham has been turning up to work every day trying to negotiate a way through the wake of a pandemic-inspired storm.

Blanchard joined Fort Vale straight after school, working his way up the corporate ladder having initially qualified as a mechanical engineer. He was made sales director in 2018 and at the beginning of this year was confirmed as global sales and marketing director. It’s a position that in normal times means a lot of foreign travel - but these aren’t normal times and, as a result, HCB was only able to catch

up with Graham via the now ubiquitous Zoom call to talk about Fort Vale’s new offerings for the rail sector.

HCB: Is 2020 a good time to be entering a new market sector? How has Fort Vale coped with such a move during the pandemic?

GB: First of all, rail is not really a new market sector for us - it’s an area we have been working in for more than seven years. As with so much of our business, it started out with a customer enquiry. We were contacted by a US company that wanted to pick our brains with regard to a change in regulations.

The rail market can be a bit conservative, so we saw it as a chance to expand our business utilising our specialist knowledge of effective fuel, food and chemical transfer,

using technology from our existing markets and adapting it to theirs. At the moment, we offer products to both the European rail market under RID regulations and the American rail market under AAR regulations.

We started supplying lids and valves to the European rail industry in the early 2000s but at the time did not have a full range of equipment, so volumes were very low. There was no real push to develop the range further as the tank container market was growing rapidly and is the core part of our business, but in 2013 we started work with the Association of American Railroads (AAR) developing relief valves. The surge in crude oil fracking in the US and some regulatory requirements and updates meant that we were in the ideal position to supply the new AAR relief valves for newbuild and retrofit tanks - at which point significant production commenced.

In 2015 we started development work on our European rail range to try and establish a full range of kit for liquid and chemical wagons.

Bottom discharge valves, vent valves and y-pattern valves were developed in addition to existing relief valves and ancillary equipment to allow Fort Vale to offer a full rail wagon package.

In 2019, further development for LPG equipment occurred and this is the latest range to be offered to the market – including a hydraulic bottom discharge valve with hydraulic pump and LPG y-pattern valves.

We offer both carbon steel and stainless steel valve sets, dependent on operating requirements and conditions. We have seen steady growth in both markets over the years and now we want to expand even further.

As for the pandemic, it has been an obstacle but one that we have successfully negotiated - our original aim in 2020 was to develop relationships, build on our product portfolio and grow market share. Covid difficulties have mainly been limited to travel restrictions, as we haven’t been able to see as many customers or take part in exhibitions as we normally would, but Fort Vale has remained open with the majority of employees remaining at work throughout the entire pandemic.

Many new processes have been implemented to allow us to continue with production while keeping employees safe, which is the main thing. Oddly, we picked up a lot of work

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early on when Europe went into full lockdown.

Because we own all of our facilities, including manufacturing capabilities in China, we were able to fulfil orders that other companies couldn’t. We have certainly made use of digital communication both internally and externally in the form of video meetings and conferences - but then again, hasn’t everyone?

HCB: How do valves and fittings for rail tank cars differ from those for road tankers and tank containers? What differences are there between European and US standards?

GB: Construction materials, flow rate requirements - generally the size of the equipment is larger than that you would find on a tank container or road tanker. It’s also about how the equipment operates, such as the ability to open a valve from either side of the wagon.

There are many differences between the European and US standards; however, two obvious ones are the requirements around pressure relief valves and the need for service trials prior to supplying equipment into the rail market.

HCB: How has Fort Vale had to re-tool to enter this market? And where is the equipment being manufactured?

GB: We’ve invested in new CNC machinery, test and inspection equipment, casting tools and foundry machinery. The equipment is manufactured in the UK at our purpose-built foundry and manufacturing plant. In addition to our existing ISO 9001 quality management certification, in order to supply equipment for AAR applications the manufacturing plant here in the UK and in the US both needed to undertake a stringent AAR audit to be certified as an authorised and approved manufacturer of AAR equipment. All employees working on AAR valves and equipment must also

demonstrate competence for manufacturing this type of equipment. I think we’ve covered all the bases!

GB: The demand for bulk liquid and gas rail services in Europe is only going to increase.

Much of this is driven by environmental and carbon footprint reduction initiatives - to try and reduce traffic on roads for example. There are a number of governmental projects across

Vale has always been about as a company hard work, dedication and innovation coupling those core values with our industryleading safety, precision and quality gives us an advantage over competitors. We have always believed that the best way to lead is from the front, by setting an example, and our adaptability in situations where events are out of our control has proved vital this year.

We’ve always been a company that builds from a solid foundation and trains its own staff in a variety of disciplines - I’m a classic example of the company’s approach to

have undertaken AAR approved training to

many European countries that are looking to invest in rail infrastructure and services over the coming years and we feel that with our technical expertise, experience and quality, we are in a prime position to take advantage of the opportunities that arise.

When you think about it, this is what Fort

succession planning, with over 20 years’ service at Fort Vale - and I started out as an apprentice.

Fort Vale’s long-term strategic view gives our customer base the confidence that we are here to support them for many years. www.fortvale.com

 FORT VALE HAS INVESTED IN DEVELOPING A WIDE RANGE OF VALVES AND OTHER KIT TO SUIT RAIL TANK CAR APPLICATIONS BOTH IN EUROPE AND THE US

HCB: How does Fort Vale see demand for bulk liquid rail services in Europe developing?

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deformation path, anti-climbing protection in accordance with the requirements of RID and, naturally, telematics units.

WASCOSA, TOGETHER WITH its customer AnQore (formerly DSM Acrylonitrile) and Slovakian wagon builder Tatravagonka Poprad, has developed a new rail tank car optimised specifically for the transport of acrylonitrile. This new tank car, Wascosa says, sets new standards in terms of safety and design; 25 units have already been delivered and Wascosa aims to produce another 75 by the end of 2020.

The new tank car design builds on the

construction as well as a new headshield, the PS02 Protection Shield, developed by EST Eisebahn-Systemtechnik, specially designed for this wagon. The PS02 shield protects the tank in the event of a collision with adjacent wagons or other vehicles or obstacles; it is located far forward of the tank, repelling danger as early as possible.

In addition, the new design offers significant weight savings, made possible by more efficient use of materials in its construction

CULTURE OF COLLABORATION For Peter Balzer, CEO of Switzerland-based Wascosa, the new tank car is a clear demonstration of his company’s culture of innovation. “As a provider of freight wagon systems, we are committed to meeting the highest customer demands. Constant progress and the determination to provide the greatest possible safety for dangerous goods tank wagons are part of our DNA and are what continuously drive us to break new ground and to constantly introduce new innovations within the European freight wagon market,” he says.

“The new wagon from Wascosa shows that increased tank wagon safety does not have to be at the expense of the payload,” says Marián Moravcík, chief design engineer of Tatravagonka Poprad. “The self-supporting construction of the tank enables weight savings of at least 500 kg.”

The new tank car design has been in development for two years, as AnQore CEO Peter Boon says: “I am very proud that after many months of design, development and building we are now finally able to introduce 25 brand new rail tank cars (RTCs) into our fleet. We were planning to start using these RTCs sooner, but due to the impact of Covid-19 we had to wait a bit longer than planned.

“AnQore will start transporting acrylonitrile in RTCs that have been engineered and built to the highest safety standards to date. We made a conscious decision to go beyond the legal requirements to set this new standard in rail safety. On top of the new design, we have equipped all our RTCs with sensor

Wascosa safe tank car® concept rolled out in 2010. It features a self-supporting tank

following calculations using the finite element method and verified in practical tests. Despite the additional safety features, this means that the wagon has a larger tank with a capacity of 93 m³.

Furthermore, the new wagon has derailment detectors, crash buffers with a particularly long

technology that allows us to continuously track our RTCs. We use this technology for example to check location, speed, speeding and g-forces. This way we stay on top of possible issues with our deliveries.” www.anqore.com www.wascosa.ch

THE SAFETY STANDARD TANK CAR • WASCOSA HAS TAKEN ITS SAFE TANK CAR CONCEPT A STEP FURTHER WITH A NEW DESIGN DEVELOPED IN COLLABORATION WITH ANQORE TO HANDLE ACRYLONITRILE

 ANQORE WANTED A DESIGN THAT WOULD GO BEYOND LEGAL REQUIREMENTS IN TERMS OF SAFETY

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availability is provided by displaying the time currently (and historically) spent in repair shops.

digital innovations that have long been standard issue for other modes of transport.

But thanks to traigo, our industry can now provide services much more transparently and efficiently. That will make it more attractive to existing customers, as well as capturing the enthusiasm of new companies in the forwarding industry. There really is no other way to reach the political goal of raising rail’s share of the modal split to at least 25 per cent.”

The traigo platform serves as the interface to modern fleet management, making a broad spectrum of digital applications available to drive smart rail freight

COMING SOON Since testing began at the start of the year, the functional scope has grown continuously.

Existing tools have been expanded and new applications developed, with attention paid to feedback from front-line traigo users.

In close collaboration with customers, the specific needs of rail freight practitioners were implemented and further ideas for the platform were mapped out in the course of the six-month test period.

“We are very grateful for the successful test phase and all the feedback provided,” says Dr Niko Davids, Chief Digital Officer at VTG. “What we need to do now is ramp up the digital service portfolio and model other wagon owners’ fleets on the platform, too.

For this reason, we are inviting every partner in the industry – forwarding agents, operators, railway companies, other wagon owners, whoever – to also link their systems to traigo and, by developing digital applications, to play a part in making rail freight more attractive. One thing is for sure: we must work together if we want to genuinely transform a system as complex as rail freight.”

Concrete plans are already in place to enrich traigo with more and more digital tools. One example is a feature that displays the maintenance status for certain wagon components. The data needed for this purpose will be collected from a variety of on-wagon and on-track sensors and fed into the system. Other services – such as customer-driven digital maintenance management – are likewise in the pipeline.

Besides read access to all kinds of contractual data, it should in future also be

transportation. The new traigo tools include mileage predictions based on deployment patterns, plus a function that flags wagons that have been standing idle for long periods.

Together, these two services will enable platform users to manage their fleets more efficiently. Transparency about rolling stock

possible to conclude wagon hire contracts online on traigo. Going forward, a digital corollary to the existing portfolio of analogue services will thus take shape – an instrumental step in making rail freight more potent and competitive. www.vtg.com

ON THE PLATFORM RAIL • VTG HAS LAUNCHED ITS TRAIGO PLATFORM, WHICH TAKES DATA FROM WAGON OPERATIONS TO PROVIDE GREATER VISIBILITY AND ALLOWS USERS TO PLAN AHEAD

LEADING EUROPEAN RAILFREIGHT operator VTG has formally launched its traigo platform, which is intended to improve efficiency in rail transport to the benefit of operators, customers and the environment.

The platform has been trialled since the start of the year and has been improved as a result of feedback from users, with new functionalities identified for further development.

“We are convinced that only digitalised rail services will retain their place in the global trade flows of the future,” says Dr Heiko Fischer, CEO of VTG AG. “Rail freight has suffered a chronic lack of the

 TRAIGO IS MORE THAN JUST A TRACKING PLATFORM - IT IS DESIGNED TO GROW AND HELP THE RAIL FREIGHT INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE BECOME MORE EFFICIENT AND PRODUCTIVE

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NEWS BULLETIN

TANKS & LOGISTICS

MDI DEAL FOR DEN HARTOGH

Den Hartogh has won a contract from EMA Kimya, a division of Hunstman Polyurethanes, to distribute methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and polyols on the domestic market in Turkey. Den Hartogh is deploying modified tank containers (below) that meet local requirements and comply with standards set by the European Diisocyanate & Polyol Producers Association (ISOPA).

“We strive to serve EMA Kimya and their customers in the Turkish market with the highest safety and performance standards by providing them with innovative solutions through the application of operational excellence and customer centricity that help to create a sustainable future, while doing no harm to people or the environment,” says Kerem Gürler, general manager of Den Hartogh Lojistik Hizmetleri.

Den Hartogh has been active in the Turkish market since 2009, offering both standard and specialised logistics services for bulk liquid chemicals and liquefied gases. It operates four sites around Turkey that offer heating and the storage of loaded tank containers. www.denhartogh.com

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THE ROAD TO TURKEY

Rhenus has opened a direct service between the UK and Turkey, bypassing the existing stopover in Germany. The service is aimed at customers in the automotive, chemicals, engineering, steel and textiles sectors looking to be assured that their goods will remain in one network from collection to delivery. Rhenus Intermodal Systems is headquartered in Istanbul with five offices around Turkey as well as three more customer warehouses. There will be multiple weekly departures from the UK to Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa and Izmir.

“Turkey is an important trading partner within the European market and plays a vital part in our continued global growth,” says Gary Dodsworth, director at Rhenus UK. “The breadth of the Rhenus network means we have a really strong team in Turkey that, in turn, delivers significant benefits for our UK customers. We are able to offer a one-stop-shop for their forwarding requirements - providing consistency and high service levels that are more critical than ever during such unprecedented times.” www.rhenus.group

RAFFLES GETS BAFFLES

Raffles Lease has added a number of 26,000-litre baffled tank containers to its fleet.

These tanks allow its clients to ship high- and low-density products in full or short loading and have multiple 300-mm cleaning hatches in addition to the 500-mm manway. The new tanks are available for dedicated foodgrade or chemical services.

Raffles has posted an explanatory video on its website. raffleslease.com MORE TANKS FOR ALBATROSS

Albatross Tank Leasing has expanded its tank container fleet with the delivery of new 26,000-litre units from CIMC. The tanks are equipped with a range of connections in the rear compartment, making them suitable for all types of application, as well as a full walkway and collapsible handrail. The new tanks are available on both long- and short-term rental. albatross-tanks.de SUTTONS BAGS ESSAR DEAL

Suttons Tankers has won a new contract with Essar Oil UK to deliver fuel from the Stanlow refinery to customers in the north-west and Midlands. Essar selected Suttons as one of its haulier partners to strengthen its supply chain; Suttons says it offers Essar sustainable added value through a solution that delivers competitive advantage, facilitates sales growth and has a clear cost-to-serve.

“Suttons are a significant and reputable player in the market and we were impressed with their detailed approach in understanding the needs of our business throughout the tender process,” says Mark Barnes, head of logistics at Essar Oil UK. “Following a successful implementation at the start of July, Suttons have so far demonstrated that they will be a partner adding strength to our supply chain.”

Michael Cundy, managing director of Suttons Tankers, adds: “This new contract with Essar marks a significant point in our strategic objective to grow in the fuels sector. Our ability to drive cost efficiencies for Essar, especially in the current climate, is crucial and demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers with tailored solutions.”

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Suttons adds that the strategic objectives of both businesses were well aligned, with Suttons having the capability to help Essar with its growth strategy and Suttons itself being keen to expand in the fuels sector. www.suttonsgroup.com TRISTAR’S CRYO CONTRACT

Tristar Group’s Saudi Arabian joint venture United Stars has signed a long-term contract with Sharjah Oxygen Company (SOC) to transport cryogenic liquids between the UAE and Saudi Arabia. SOC is a leading producer and supplier of industrial gases in the Middle East.

The contract will use Tristar’s recently established cryogenic gas transport division, which offers leasing of cryogenic road tankers (above) and tank containers as well as consultancy, engineering and intermodal transport services. Tristar will shortly open a specialised maintenance and repair centre for cryogenic assets in Saudi Arabia. www.tristar-group.co EFTCO REACHES ISRAEL

The European Federation of Tank Cleaning Organisations (EFTCO) has welcomed Gold Bond Group as its first member outside Europe, giving it the status of an EFTCO Global Member. The Israel-based tank cleaning station is now permitted to use the EFTCO Cleaning Document (ECD),

a support document for every tank cleaning carried out in the supply chain.

To reach this status, Gold Bond has had to prove high standards of quality and environmental protection, EFTCO says, and has fully adopted EFTCO’s philosophy of safety, environment, education and technical improvements. Gold Bond is located in the North Industrial Zone in Ashdod. www.eftco.org www.goldbond.co.il OVERLAND BY FLEXI

TransContainer has for the first time delivered a consignment of vegoil in flexitanks to China via the inland border crossing point at Zabaikalsk. China Railways had up till now prohibited acceptance of flexitanks at border crossings, meaning they had to travel by sea.

The new service follows negotiations between RZD and China Railways, which authorised test shipments. The first consignment, involving four 20-foot containers, left TransContainer’s terminal at Penza in late August; the company hopes that this will open the way to a regular service on this route. trcont.com VTG CONSOLIDATES IN RUSSIA

VTG has taken direct control of its tank container activities in Russia and the Baltic states, after several years of working through

agents, consolidating operations at its existing VTG Project Logistics office in Moscow and supported by VTG Rail Russia. VTG Tanktainer will also establish its tank containers within the Russian market to handle local business as well as international movements.

“Russia and the Baltic are lucrative growth markets,” says Oksana Janssen, the VTG AG Executive Board member responsible for business in the Eurasia & Far East region.

“Our new activities in the region are building bridges between different business units, which in turn creates customer-centric transportation solutions for multimodal tank container business.”

The decision to step up the company’s commitments in the fast-growing Eurasian space benefited from a number of factors, VTG says. An expanding network of VTG sites representing different divisions and focusing on various areas of expertise lays the foundation on which to add joint wagon hire and logistics services (rail, container and project logistics) to the existing portfolio.

At the same time, bundling the group’s local presence in Eurasia can foster even greater efficiency in cooperation with both local and international partners. In all strategic decisions, the focus is strictly on the needs of the customer, which can be better addressed as a result of this reorganisation, VTG stresses. www.vtg.com

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KEEP IT IN THE TANK TANK CONTAINERS • SHIPPING LIQUIDS IN PLASTICS BAGS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA ON SAFETY GROUNDS NOR, AS ITCO HIGHLIGHTS, DOES IT FIT WITH SHIPPERS’ SUSTAINABILITY GOALS THE ROLE OF the International Tank Container Organisation (ITCO) is to promote the use of tank containers for the movement of bulk liquid products. To do so, it highlights their efficiency and safety features but, of late, has also been looking at environmental and sustainability factors as it strives to help its members migrate cargoes from competing transport formats.

In particular, ITCO is seeking to promote the sustainability advantages of tank containers over flexitanks or flexibags, which carry around one million shipments of nonhazardous liquids each year, a significant proportion of which represent output from the chemical industry.

During a webinar held on 17 September – partly as a replacement for ITCO’s planned

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members’ meeting, which had to be cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic – representatives of the ITCO Sustainability Work Group, established in October 2019, brought members up to speed on developments, not least the launch of a video, available both in English and Mandarin, on the use of flexibags and their contribution to plastics waste.

GROWING AWARENESS William Leigh-Pemberton, chair of ITCO’s Operators Division, highlighted the fact that what he called the “Blue Planet effect”, after the BBC documentary showing the extent of plastics pollution in the world’s oceans, had raised awareness of the issue and the significant damage being done to the global

environment by single-use plastics. But, he said, the best way to reduce plastics waste is not to use it in the first place – after all, each piece of single-use plastics, whether it is a shopping bag or a flexitank, has to be manufactured for each and every load. And a flexitank is the equivalent of around 7,000 single-use plastics shopping bags.

The Covid-19 crisis has also highlighted the immense manual effort of shipping in flexitanks.

Each bag has to be manufactured, in a closed environment, with people working in close proximity, then fitted into a freight container – probably by at least two people working together – and then filled with its cargo.

It then has to be unloaded at the destination, the bag removed from the container and then transported for disposal. At each stage, people are involved.

In comparison, a tank container – which will make between 200 and 300 loaded movements during its lifetime – can be loaded and discharged by one person.

There are other issues surrounding the disposal of flexitanks. While users and producers stress that they are recyclable, they avoid the issue that they are not reusable. And, while some new recycling

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However, he added, safety issues do not seem to change the behaviour of purchasing managers – unless they have had direct experience. Price remains the overriding consideration, although the up-front cost of using flexibags does not fully reflect the actual cost of their manufacturing, disposal and any necessary clean-up after a failure.

facilities are now opening up, that process also generates a further environmental impact. Furthermore, the recyclate produced in the process is less dense than virgin material, so more needs to be used to manufacture the next product or bag. In an environment of low oil prices, virgin material will often also be cheaper than recyclate.

As a result, Leigh-Pemberton said, there is a lot of waste plastics stacking up at recycling facilities.

COST OF RECYCLING In summary, Leigh-Pemberton said, it cannot be credibly claimed that flexibags are being recycled in large numbers. A 50 per cent recycling rate quoted by some is, he said, “highly optimistic”. The shipper has no visibility over what happens to the bag at the end of its journey and is reliant in effect on the good will of the receiver to take its

 THE FREQUENCY WITH WHICH FLEXIBAGS LEAK IS JUST THE MOST OBVIOUS ILLUSTRATION THAT THEY CANNOT BE SEEN AS PART OF A SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT CHAIN, UNLIKE THE REUSABLE AND LONG-LASTING TANK CONTAINER

environmental responsibilities seriously.

In contrast, in the tank container sector operators take responsibility of the tank through the whole cycle, from acquisition to eventual recycling (after 20 years or more) and can point to the regular safety and environmental audits undertaken of all the players in the supply chain.

Safety is another issue with flexitanks, LeighPemberton explained. There have been very many incidents of leakage, which always cause problems and, depending on where they happen, can be costly. If a ship has to be held up for cleaning because a flexibag has leaked in its hold, the costs can escalate rapidly.

Another safety issue is liquid surge during road transport. In the road tanker and tank container transport sectors, drivers receive thorough training on their driving behaviour to allow for the fact that the liquid in the tank behind them will surge within the tank as the vehicle accelerates, brakes or turns.

By contrast, flexitanks are in standard freight

THE WAY FORWARD Leigh-Pemberton remarked that all the major petrochemical companies have pledged to improve sustainability in their operations; programmes in that regard must include the transport of their products.

In the real world, though, there must be a balance between ecological and economic considerations. Responsible behaviour comes at a cost – but, he added, “someone, somewhere is always paying for waste”. This should be acknowledged and accounted for.

Laurie Maclachlan, vice-president of ITCO, sought members’ opinion on the best way or ways forward to continue to raise the sustainability conversation among the tank container industry and its clients. One ideas has been to use a logo on a decal on all tanks, with the ‘Reduce, Re-use, Re-cycle’ mantra. After all, he said, a tank container is effectively an advertising hoarding travelling around the world. Mark Warner commented that, when Responsible Care was first introduced, the logistics industry spread the word among shippers by using its logo on their correspondence and invoices, which gave better visibility and expanded awareness among those who make the decisions; his comments were warmly welcomed.

Dean Lee of Stolt Tank Containers offered the idea of establishing an “ideas platform”, possibly on the ITCO website, where members could offer ideas and discuss them among themselves; Maclachlan confirmed that this was already in ITCO’s thinking (bearing in mind possible antitrust issues).

containers and the driver may not even be aware of these factors – and is unlikely to have received the same sort of training.

There are significant dangers, Leigh-Pemberton said, in this behaviour and ITCO will continue to highlight safety issues as well as the environmental impact.

At the end of the well-attended webinar, all agreed that it should be seen just as a thought starter and that there is a need to continue the conversation and debate among members, and to spread the word among shippers. www.itco.org

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public degassing at its berths for some years now and has been collaborating with local and national authorities in order to bring it to fruition. The trial was carried out with the participation of the RotterdamRijnmond Safety Region and DSMR Milieudienst Rijmond, the regional environmental protection agency. Further trials are set to take place this year.

THE PORT OF Rotterdam has successfully carried out a trial on the use of a mobile degassing unit. The unit was positioned on the public quay of the Seinehaven in early August and carried out a gasoline degassing operation on the inland tanker Visioen.

The Port says the operation was carried out “without any measurable vapours being released into the atmosphere”.

had to be degassed before it could load the next cargo. The procedure took nearly seven hours.

“The aim of the trial is to determine whether the installation is suitable for degassing inland vessels without the emissions exceeding the standards,” the port says. “The installation must also be safe. The experiment was also used to

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY The equipment for the trial was provided

by Endegs, based in Ingolstadt, Germany.

Endegs has also been working with the port of Duisburg, Europe’s largest inland port, and set up a facility there in March this year to provide legally compliant degassing of gas, chemical and petroleum tankers.

“We are very happy that this service is finally offered in Germany and that in doing so we can prevent emissions into the atmosphere,” Endegs’ founder and CEO Kai Sievers said at the time. “The demand for the service has been there for years and now it’s finally reality.”

Indeed, in the past 18 months, Endegs has degassed nearly 400 seagoing and river tankers. “We are pleased that our ship degassing service is more and more appreciated by our customers, and that we can make our contribution to the safety of ships’ crews and other parties as well as to the environment, by reducing emissions of pollutants into the air,” Sievers says.

The new site at Duisburg will accelerate that achievement, as it is capable of degassing some 750 tankers per year.

Endegs has also been working to further develop its mobile combustion technology, which removes virtually 100 per cent of all volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous airborne pollutants (HAPs) from

The 3,235-tonne vessel had discharged its gasoline cargo and all ten cargo tanks

test the permit conditions.”

The Port of Rotterdam prohibits the venting of a number of substances, including gasoline and benzene, to the air.

Degassing while sailing is also prohibited in most provinces in the Netherlands. The port has been working towards enabling

vented gases. In September it began to roll out two new units, the larger of which can handle a maximum flow of 3,000 m³/hour at a maximum inlet pressure of 150 mbar (2.15 psi). www.endegs.com www.portofrotterdam.com

CLEAN AIR ACTION DEGASSING • ENDEGS HAS RESPONDED TO THE NEEDS OF PORTS SUCH AS ROTTERDAM AND DUISBURG TO REDUCE THE EMISSIONS EXPERIENCED DURING DEGASSING OF TANK BARGES

 THE PORT OF ROTTERDAM HAS BEEN HAPPY WITH THE TRIALS OF ENDEGS’ MOBILE DEGASSING AND COMBUSTION UNIT AT ITS PUBLIC QUAY

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LOW-CARBON SOCIETY MIDDLE EAST • A BROAD COMMITMENT TO RESPONSIBLE CARE IS HELPING GULF PETROCHEMICAL COMPANIES REDUCE THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, A GPCA REPORT SAYS

CHEMICAL PRODUCERS IN the Arabian Gulf region cut waste generation by 29 per cent in 2019 and emissions by more than 35 per cent in the last six years, despite a continuous increase in petrochemical production across the region, a new report by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) has found.

According to GPCA’s 2019 Responsible Care® Performance Metrics report Our Commitment to Sustainability, the volume of waste generated

by GPCA member companies decreased by a third from the year before, while production went up 2 per cent. The new milestone was achieved as a result of successful waste reduction projects undertaken by chemical companies in the region in line with their commitment to sustainability and the circular economy.

Emissions reduction per tonne of production recorded over the last six years was even higher, dropping by 35 per cent for NOx and 39 per cent for SOx. However, despite remaining at a steady rate in the previous two years, average GHG emissions (in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) increased in 2019 by 1.7 per cent, largely due to higher production rates across the region. CO² intensity has been on a downward trend since 2013, decreasing by 23 per cent overall during the seven-year period.

According to the report, GPCA Responsible Care companies also implemented a series of efficiency projects to decrease wastewater generation and increase the efficiency of wastewater treatment at their plants, resulting in a 40 per cent improvement over the last six years.

GPCA is also pleased to report that the industry achieved a new safety record in 2019, with no fatalities recorded, despite a 23 per cent increase in the number of man-hours worked. This, coupled with a significant drop of 51 per cent in the Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR), showcases the uncompromising commitment of all GPCA member companies towards inculcating a culture of safety and compliance within their organisations.

GOOD BUT CAN BE BETTER “Now in its seventh edition, the GPCA Responsible Care® Performance Metrics report has demonstrated the chemical industry’s commitment to sustainability and the highest degree of transparency,” says Dr Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, secretary general of GPCA. I congratulate all 38 member companies who participated in the report, submitting a total of 836 data entries, for their achievements and success, and encourage them to continue on the trajectory of continuous improvement.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has presented innumerable challenges for all, but the efforts of GPCA member companies to ensure the highest level of safety, while maintaining high production, highlights the importance of the Responsible Care® programme as well as the ability of chemical companies in the region to respond to the crisis with agility and resilience,” Dr Al-Sadoun continues.

“That said, more needs to be done to truly transition towards a sustainable future. I am confident that with the adoption of the right technology, research and innovation, and continuous investment in the skills of its employees, the chemical industry in the region will improve on its performance even further and help to meet global and regional targets.” www.gpca.org.ae

 DESPITE RAPID GROWTH IN REGIONAL CHEMICAL PRODUCTION, GPCA REPORTS A FALL IN WASTE GENERATION

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and automate procurement and sales processes,” Bettoni adds.

“The combination of real-time geolocation and filled product level data enhances the proactive information that an IBC can provide to fillers, making GCUBE Connect much more than just a packaging solution.

Ultimately it helps save valuable time, money and resources.”

GREIF HAS LAUNCHED real-time tracking for its composite intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) as part of its drive to help its customers increase their performance, reduce costs and improve their carbon footprint. The new system, GCUBE Connect, was developed in conjunction with Nanolike, a French specialist in internet of things (IoT) monitoring solutions.

The new “smart packaging technology” provides real-time tracking information through a customer-based dashboard that displays

GCUBE Connect, currently available to customers across Europe, was introduced to industry during the LogiChem virtual conference and exhibition in early September.

Greif operates eight IBC production facilities in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region and another six elsewhere in the world.

“Much of our innovation strategy for our GCUBE IBC portfolio of products and services is driven by the need to develop more sustainable, added value solutions for customers,” says Luca Bettoni, EMEA IBC

PART OF THE PROCESS For several years Greif has steadily expanded its IBC production capacity, with recent organic investments completed at plants in Houston, Spain and Russia to expand its presence in key geographic end markets.

In August this year Greif also established a joint venture partnership with Delta Containers, the UK’s leading independent supplier of reconditioned IBCs. Delta operates two IBC washing lines, a rebottling and remanufacturing facility and a complete plastics recycling and pelletising extrusion line. The joint venture, Greif Delta Plastics UK, is manufacturing new blow-moulded inner bottles for use in various models of IBC and plans to expand into the manufacture of Greif-branded GCUBE IBCs in the near future.

“The investment is in line with the strategic plan and serves as a foundation for an expanded and continued growth in industrial packaging,” Greif stated at the time of the announcement.

Greif is focused on improving sustainability in the production, supply and use of IBCs, further expanding its IBC collection and reconditioning network and enhancing products and services in specific market segments such as food and beverages.

As part of that commitment, it established a global industrial packaging reconditioning service, EarthMinded Europe after acquiring pack2pack, which collaborates with the US joint venture Container Life Cycle Management,

where an individual IBC is located, its filling level and the environmental temperature.

and plastic product manager at Greif.

“GCUBE Connect improves visibility across the entire supply chain. Through the IoT-based device customers receive live data about their product, allowing them to increase sales, reduce freight costs, optimise production planning

in which Greif is a partner, in EarthMinded Life Cycle Services. The venture operates in Europe and North America and is, Greif says, the largest industrial packaging reconditioner in the world, offering a network of drum and IBC services. www.greif.com

WHERE’S MY CUBE? TRACKING • GEOLOCATION OF IBCS IN TRANSIT IS NOW POSSIBLE THROUGH GREIF’S LATEST ADDITION TO ITS SERVICES, LEVERAGING IOT TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE VISIBLITY

 THE GCUBE CONNECT CONCEPT AIMS TO PROVIDE GREATER VISIBILITY ALONG THE SUPPLY CHAIN, IMPROVING EFFICIENCY, REDUCING COSTS AND CUTTING EMISSIONS

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LIVING IN A BOX

THE FUTURE OF personal transport looks likely to be electric: an aggressive phase-out of traditional hydrocarbon-powered private vehicles in many countries across the globe points to innovative solutions, of which electric power has the head-start.

What that means is that there will be an increasing need to manufacture and move the large lithium ion batteries that currently seem to be the power pack of choice for private cars. And, when we get a little further along this road, there will be a similar need to collect and recycle spent batteries. As regular readers of HCB know, there are tight but regularly changing regulations covering the transport of

focus looking at how they are packaged for transport to contain the hazards they represent. Batteries that have been damaged in a collision, for instance, can represent a hazard of spontaneous ignition.

One manufacturer that has been working to find a solution is Thielmann, which has come up with what it calls the Battery Safe Box. Large enough to contain an automotive battery, these containers are capable of containing the fire and filtering any gases produced.

TRIED AND TESTED The Battery Safe Box, constructed of double-wall stainless steel, has been

a payload of 435 kg, and a 1,200-litre version with a capacity of 1,200 kg – Thielmann says this is the largest such box on the market.

When not in use, the boxes can be stacked two high; after use, the Extover® filling material, which contains the fire and smoke and also acts as cushioning material, can be replaced and both the container and the filling material re-used. Integrated temperature monitoring and GPS tracking systems are available as options.

Thielmann is making the Battery Safe Box available for purchase and for shortor long-term rental. In addition, it offers a full-service option for a fixed fee, which includes the supply, collection and maintenance of boxes all around the world.

Only Thielmann is permitted to inspect and maintain the boxes. This Full Handling Service also covers the collection of batteries, in whatever condition they are, for transport to a repair or recycling facility.

“Given the vast number of end-users for this application, we see a strong future for the Battery Safe Box – car manufacturers, garages, logistics companies and

such batteries, with a lot of the current

extensively tested and has been approved

by BAM as meeting the ADR requirements for the transport of lithium batteries, as set down in the various packaging provisions and large packaging provisions.

The Battery Safe Box is available in two sizes: a 700-litre container capable of carrying

governments all have requirements for this technology,” Thielmann says. “We also see applications in the defence market, because as military vehicles increasingly include electric drive technology, customers in that segment are likely to emerge.” thielmann.com

BATTERIES • ELECTRIC VEHICLES NEED LARGE BATTERIES. MOVING THEM AROUND REQUIRES A SPECIFIC SOLUTION, WHICH IS NOW BEING OFFERED BY THIELMANN

 THE TRANSPORT OF LARGE DAMAGED BATTERIES REQUIRES AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTION

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NOT ON THE HIGH STREET DIGITISATION • AIMING TO ENHANCE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND DIFFERENTIATE ITS OFFERING, UNIVAR SOLUTIONS IS EXPANDING AND IMPROVING ITS ONLINE FACE TO THE WORLD THE COVID-19 CRISIS and associated lockdown has discouraged high-street shopping but, with plenty of options online, people have largely managed to keep themselves fed, clothed and entertained. Given the number of store closures and redundancies among the major retailers being announced, it seems that online shopping is going to be the primary retail outlet in the future.

The same goes for chemicals: there are now plenty of avenues through which users can compare and buy products. That means

 UNIVAR IS WORKING HARD TO ENSURE ITS CUSTOMERS HAVE ONLINE ACCESS TO ITS LARGE PORTFOLIO

chemical distributors have to be alert to changes in customer behaviour. Leading global distributor Univar Solutions is ahead of the curve and is continuing to expand on its existing industry-leading digital capabilities.

“Designed to enhance and differentiate the customer experience, reach new markets and customers, and accelerate growth, these capabilities open up more ways for buyers to search, source, and self-serve on the products they need at the time that best suits them,” the company states.

Univar has plenty to offer on its own website and its ChemPoint.com offering is well established in terms of finding, engaging and nurturing customers. Additionally, ChemPoint’s MarketConnect offers marketing as a service,

helping to create multi-channel digital marketing campaigns for a wide range of chemical and ingredient products.

Univar has expanded on that digital base with the launch of Shop.UnivarSolutions.com (‘Shop’) and ChemCentral.com. Shop provides access to Univar Solutions’ full catalogue of more than 17,000 products through an innovative e-commerce experience that includes complete order status, invoicing, transaction history, safety and regulatory documentation, as well as a new ‘where’s my stuff’ functionality that allows customers to know the real-time status of orders.

For customers who want a simple, no-frills buying option and transparent, all-digital experience, ChemCentral.com provides fast, easy and direct access to a portfolio of products, alongside detailed product information and simplified pricing.

ROLLING OUT “The addition of Shop.UnivarSolutions.com and ChemCentral.com expands our e-commerce offerings and gives both existing and new customers options to search, source and self-serve anytime and from anywhere,” says Brian Herington, CCO and head of North American Chemical Distribution at Univar Solutions. “These new tools are created to help drive growth through a streamlined buying journey and a digitised end-to-end supply chain.”

Univar says it will continue to work on expanding its new e-commerce offerings in new territories through to early 2021.

“Launching in the US, these platforms will be rolled out globally as our customers continue to seek information, select products, make purchases and manage their business online through our suite of digital capabilities,” adds Herington.

Intended to enhance the customer experience, generate demand and make it easier to do business, Univar Solutions’ digital capabilities are designed to meet a multifaceted set of demand trends. “With many markets looking for chemical and ingredient solutions online, our digital capabilities are fulfilling a need at the right time,” Herington says. www.univarsolutions.com

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NEWS BULLETIN

CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION

CZECH MATE FOR BARENTZ

Barentz International has acquired Praguebased Conneco Chemicals, consolidating its growing position in the Czech market after taking a majority share in pharmaceutical distributor IMCoPharma last year.

“Conneco is an extremely well-known specialist in formulating and blending ingredients for the health and nutrition industry,” says Pavel Kratochvil, senior vice-president of Barentz. “They have an outstanding reputation, and their proposition will create valuable synergies for Barentz.”

“For us it is a great honour to work with a top entrepreneur like [Conneco founder and owner] Sarka Hronkova, who has built up an excellent reputation in her 26-year career,” adds Hidde van der Wal, CEO of Barentz. “I look forward to learning a lot from Sarka and Conneco and guiding them into the international business league.”

Conneco Chemicals was founded in 1994

and has become a specialist in formulating dietary supplements and blending ingredients for the sports nutrition, fitness & wellness, and health food markets in the Czech and Slovak Republics. In these markets, Conneco has built a leading position, with a focus on trendy lifestyle health food markets and the dynamically fast-growing market for sports nutrition, from professional bodybuilding to a variety of other sport activities suitable for a wider public. “With the support of Barentz we have great opportunities to expand and to internationalise Conneco’s activities,” Hronkova says. barentz.com ALGOL HANDS OVER TO TRANSVAL

Algol Chemicals has transferred responsibility for warehousing its chemical production to Transval as from the start of 2022. Transval has been working with Algol at the latter’s warehouse in Espoo, Finland since 2014.

“Outsourcing chemical warehousing is a strategically significant development step, which gives us a new kind of flexibility and focus in our core operations,” says Algol Group CEO Alexander Bargum. “At the same time, we can be certain that the processing of chemicals will be carried out in a safe and competent manner even in the future. We are extremely confident that Transval will be an excellent partner for us in this development.”

Transval’s warehouses (below) and procedures are certified according to the ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 standards, which require the active training of personnel, auditing of management and procedures as well as concrete exercises. Transval takes care of the statutory requirements related to chemicals on behalf of its customer companies.

“In chemical warehousing, we fulfil the requirements of the most comprehensive safety standards in Finland, our procedures are certified and we regularly organize rescue trainings with our personnel and the rescue department. We train our personnel with external actors and in our own training unit, Transval Academy,” says Ville Lumio, head of dangerous goods warehousing at Transval. www.algolchemicals.com www.transval.fi

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COMSTAR PICKS CHEMPOINT

Univar’s ChemPoint.com has been appointed

by ComStar International to market, sell and distribute its refrigerant products in the US. ComStar’s RS series of refrigerants offer a line of zero ozone-depleting and low global warming potential (GWP) solutions for a variety of industrial and commercial applications.

“We are excited about our new partnership with ComStar. As yesterday’s harmful refrigerant technologies are phased out, it is important to select an eco-conscious, environmentally friendly refrigerant,” says Rick Hoener, global managing director for ChemPoint. “ComStar’s advanced refrigerants are recognised for their quality and low global warming potential (GWP).

Their 45 years of experience in manufacturing environmentally friendly chemistries is a perfect match with ChemPoint’s agile and innovative digital approach to providing superior customer service to the trade professional market.”

ComStar will continue to develop and deliver innovative refrigerant solutions for the consumer and industrial end markets such as aerospace, automotive, chemical processing, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, while ChemPoint will leverage its technical expertise and high service level to reach new markets and applications.

“ComStar manufactures a comprehensive product line of environmentally safe, industrial strength chemical products for the trade professional,” says Steven Mella, CEO of ComStar. “ChemPoint’s unique customer support platforms set them apart from chemical distribution companies of the past.

We’re confident that ChemPoint’s outreach tools and customer driven services will help extend the reach of ComStar’s state-of-the-art low GWP retrofit refrigerants, ultimately helping to reduce the carbon footprint of refrigerants.” www.univarsolutions.com ASIA BOOST FOR IMCD

IMCD has reported a strong first half of 2020, with gross profit up 7 per cent on the year at €332.7m and operating EBITA also up 7 per cent at €131.4m. Revenues were up only slightly at €1.41bn.

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

“Although the market circumstances due to the Covid-19 crisis were challenging, in Q2 we were able to improve our operating EBITA by 4 per cent due to a strong performance in the Americas and APAC,” says CEO Piet van der Slikke (above).

Revenues in the EMEA region were slightly down, despite the acquisitions of DCS Pharma and Zifroni Chemical either side of the turn of the year. Revenues also fell in the Americas division.

“At this moment, the economic consequences of the pandemic are uncertain,” van der Slikke adds. “Therefore, it is difficult to predict how the rest of the year will develop. Nonetheless, our focus is clear. We will continue to work on new projects and to execute our diversification strategy, not only geographically, but in our market segments as well. I am proud of the resilience of our Group and encouraged by the flexibility we have shown during this crisis, and confident in our company’s potential for future growth.”

Part of that diversification strategy has been demonstrated by IMCD’s agreement to acquire Signet Excipients Pte Ltd, one of India’s leading distributors of pharmaceutical excipients. IMCD is to acquire a 70 per cent shareholding from the founders and will take the remaining 30 per cent of the company by 2024.

Explaining the investment, van der Slikke says: “As India is the largest supplier of generic medicines globally, it is our ambition for our pharmaceutical business to have a strong presence there. Hence, I am pleased that Signet and IMCD will now join their activities in India, Bangladesh, the Middle East and Africa.”

“IMCD is an excellent partner for Signet, not only due to the similarity of our principals but moreover the culture of growth through deep market knowledge, technical innovation and highest levels of service,” adds Harish Shah, founder and managing director of Signet. “We look forward to being a strategic part of IMCD’s global pharmaceutical business.”

With its asset-light business model and long-term relationships with leading tier 1 global excipient producers, the acquisition of Signet by IMCD has a strong strategic rationale. It is an important step in IMCD’s strategy to become a leading global speciality pharmaceutical ingredient distributor and strengthens IMCD’s footprint in the high growth and resilient pharma excipient distribution market. It furthermore significantly strengthens IMCD’s presence in India and increases IMCD’s position in the high-growth Asia-Pacific region. www.imcdgroup.com

TANKER SHIPPING

SO FAR SO GOOD LPG MARKET • GAS TANKER OPERATORS HAVE DONE REASONABLY WELL SO FAR THIS YEAR BUT WILL THE RELATIVELY SMALL ORDERBOOK CONTINUE TO PROTECT THEM IN A TIME OF UNCERTAINTY?

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dropping by 41 per cent to 2.1m tonnes, partly once again as a result of adverse naphtha/ LPG price differentials but also because of a fall in the use of LPG as a road fuel as consumers were in lockdown. Conversely, Indian LPG imports were up by 16 per cent at 3.7m tonnes, primarily as a result of higher retail demand, especially for domestic cooking during the lockdown, and Japanese imports were also well up on the prior year.

AFTER A BARNSTORMING first quarter, when freight rates for LPG tankers across the board rose to new highs, the second quarter felt the inevitable hangover. As in other sectors, a combination of volatile and unfriendly oil and gas prices, together with a slump in end-user demand in some markets, caused a fall-off in earnings, though many half-year reports released recently show that owners are still doing pretty well. Indeed, things seem to be on an upturn since the end of the quarter,

According to data provided by BW LPG, relying on figures from IHS, total seaborne trade in LPG in the second quarter was 9 per cent below year-earlier levels, largely as a result of lower Middle East exports following oil production cutbacks designed to support crude prices. LPG exports from the Middle East were 8 per cent down on the previous year at 8.8m tonnes, while exports from North America rose by 4 per cent to 10.9m tonnes – and exports using very large gas

DEMAND PATTERNS In the short term, BW LPG expects to see US LPG production remaining high, although further out this could be reduced if oil prices stay low, discouraging further shale oil and gas development. There are signs that LPG production in the Middle East is picking up again as oil output improves. It also expects to see a recovery in LPG demand in the petrochemical sectors in Asia and Europe as prices rebalance, along with incremental

with industrial recovery in Asia and a change in price differentials once more supporting rates in all sectors.

carriers (VLGCs) were up by 7 per cent.

Second quarter imports of LPG into China fell by 6 per cent compared to 2019 to 5.1m tonnes; BW LPG says retail demand has been recovering but low naphtha prices in particular have reduced demand for steam crackers. European LPG imports fell sharply,

demand in China to feed new steam cracking and propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plants.

For the year as a whole, Drewry Shipping Consultants is now predicting total seaborne LPG trade of 107.3m tonnes, down from its forecast of 108.2m tonnes released in February, although both are above the 106.5m

 GAS SHIP OWNERS HAVE BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE ADOPTION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES

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tonnes recorded in 2019; similarly, its forecast of annual tonne-mile demand growth has been downgraded from 4.5 per cent to 0.8 per cent. Epic Gas, which specialises in the fully pressurised (FP) sector, considers that the continued restriction on Middle East exports and the availability of replacement tonnes from the US mean that there is a case for higher growth in tonne-mile demand.

A similar pattern has been seen in the seaborne trade in olefins, with ethylene shipments responding to Covid-19 lockdowns in Asia and the general slowing in the global economy. However, Navigator Gas reports that demand picked up late in the second quarter and, with new US export capacity coming onstream – not least from the terminal in Houston developed by Navigator in a joint venture with Enterprise Products Partners – there was an increase in liftings from late May onwards. Navigator reports that this trend continued into the third quarter as arbitrage opportunities remained open.

Pricing developments also boosted propylene movements into Asia throughout the second quarter, both from US Gulf terminals and from the Middle East. Petrochemical producers in Europe were also continuing to use naphtha as feedstock, which resulted in surplus output of butadiene; these volumes were also shipped to Asia in Handysize semi-refrigerated ships, further adding to tonne-mile demand for this sector.

The ammonia business suffered a shock at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown, which impacted short-term demand for fertilisers but, by mid-year, more medium-sized carriers found employment in the ammonia trades, although Exmar expects the recovery to be sluggish.

SUPPLY SIDE FACTORS One salient feature of the LPG tanker market in recent years, particularly among the smaller vessel segments, has been the comparative lack of newbuilding activity and new contracting. The relatively small

 A DIP IN LPG EXPORTS HIT THE LARGER VESSEL SIZES IN THE SECOND QUARTER

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

orderbook is expected to support freight rates, as vessel supply is likely to be tight for the next few years.

For instance, Epic Gas note that, in the FP sector (over 3,000 m³ and excluding Chinese domestic vessels) there were at mid-2020 a total of 336 vessels in the water and only 17 – or 5 per cent – on order for delivery by end-2022. At the same time, there were 22 such ships of 28 years or more, seen as candidates for scrapping, not least with the high cost of retrofitting ballast water treatment plants and scrubbers (or running on higher cost ultra-low sulphur fuel oil). During the first half of 2020, one 5,000-m³ FP newbuilding was delivered and none were scrapped, though it must be stressed that the demolition market in south Asia was very weak due to restrictions on working practices resulting from the Covid-19 crisis.

Exmar does not share the optimism shown

by Epic Gas. Exmar notes that timecharter equivalent (TCE) earnings for its 5,000-m³ pressurised ships were 9 per cent lower in the first half of 2020 than in the same period a year earlier, with TCE earnings for smaller ships down 21 per cent at $6,024/day. Exmar has responded by repositioning one vessel

If Exmar’s perception is shared, that could accelerate the pace of demolition among the smaller vessel segments, particularly with the necessary cost of upgrading older ships to meet recent regulations on ballast water treatment and sulphur oxide emissions.

east of Suez to take advantage of better freight market conditions in Asia, but overall says that its management has reassessed the useful life of its fully pressurised fleet and reduced it from 30 years to 20 years, leading to an additional depreciation charge in its first-half figures.

to the volatility and uncertainty generated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The VLGC orderbook is still quite high, though the 33 newbuildings due to join the fleet in the period to the end of 2022 is still much lower than the 79 vessels that were delivered in 2015 and 2016. To that total »

HIGHER UP THE SCALE In the smaller semi-refrigerated market of ships under 13,000 m³, which can compete with FP ships, there were 199 vessels in the water and just three due for delivery in 2020 and 2022. The Handysize sector of semirefrigerated and small fully refrigerated segment consists of 121 ships in the water and only 4 on order.

In the midsize sector, which comprises smaller fully refrigerated gas carriers and where Exmar is the dominant operator, market sentiment has remained strong with limited idle time as a result once more of marginal fleet expansion. Some cargoes were taken over from the larger semi-refrigerated segment and, in parallel with the rising VLGC market, growing LPG supply supported improved rates. Exmar has managed to increase its contract cover, despite some charterers asking for shorter periods due

TANKER SHIPPING

must be added the 17 newbuildings that arrived in the first half of this year, and some owners are still showing interest in booking new orders. BW LPG notes that the current orderbook stands at 11 per cent of the existing fleet of 299 ships; however, it also says that 10 per cent of the current fleet will be more than 27 years old by the end of 2022, with demolition the likely future for them.

In addition, BW LPG says, during the second half of 2020 and throughout 2021, more than 40 per cent of the existing fleet is scheduled for special survey; some of these may be in extended drydock for scrubber retrofits or, the latest craze, the adaptation of their main engines to be able to burn LPG. As such, this programme will reduce fleet supply significantly and, BW LPG says, “should provide support for VLGC freight rates”.

MARKET OUTLOOK So what does all this mean for the market – and the rates that cargo interests will be expected to pay? The major shipowners in the LPG tanker market are of one mind: continuing appetite for LPG in Asia will place additional demands on LPG tanker capacity in all size segments, with the US likely to contribute the bulk of the incremental tonnage. Signs are good too from petrochemical gases, with more ethylene and ethane exports due to come out of the US. Some of this will

“PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION FOR THE GAS TANKER MARKET WILL BE MADE BY US VOTERS IN NOVEMBER”

be carried on the new breed of very large ethane carriers (VLECs), with Chinese importer Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical now having a total of twelve 98,000-m³ VLECs on order at Korean yards.

In the near term, BW LPG feels that low oil prices could weaken US LPG exports during 2021 and, with a relatively high number of new VLGCs due to be joining the fleet, this could put downward pressure on vessel utilisation.

“The magnitude of the impact is sensitive to the development of oil prices, and freight rates could be supported by a heavy drydock schedule and the expected recovery in

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LPG exports from the Middle East,” the company adds.

If, however, VLGCs find themselves looking for work elsewhere, the impact will undoubtedly be felt further down the size sectors, with the midsize segment clearly at risk, though here the very limited projected fleet growth should provide some protection against downside pressure. That is not the case with the larger semi-refrigerated sector, though here the consistent increase in the volume of petrochemical gas trade – not least on longhaul routes from the US to Asia – will continue to offer incremental employment that should support earnings for operators.

There does seem to be some disagreement about the likely future for the FP sector but it would appear that, if freight rates become too weak, demolition sales will increase, especially now that the yards and beaches are back open.

Much of the outlook, though, remains clouded by the Covid-19 pandemic. Any resurgence in the spread of the virus is likely to cause a recurrence of lockdown restrictions and their associated impact on end-user demand. While some sectors, particularly residential demand for LPG for heating and cooking, remain resilient, other large-scale end-user markets are more price-sensitive. It would be best to expect the unexpected and it is clear that all the major LPG tanker operators are keeping a close eye on developments in order to make sure they have the right vessels in the right place – which may be in drydock for upgrades or retrofits, if freight rates weaken too far.

The other major factor that will affect the gas tanker sector is international relations – not least the relationship between the US and China. Perhaps, in fact, the most important decision that will be made for the market over the second half of the year will be the US presidential election in November.

 GROWTH IN NGL PRODUCTION IN THE US IS OPENING UP NEW LIQUEFIED GAS TRADES

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SECOND OF PLEASURE RESULTS • A GOOD SECOND QUARTER REFLECTS ODFJELL’S ABILITY TO ADAPT ITS CHEMICAL TANKER FLEET TO MEET WHAT HAVE BEEN RAPID AND EXTENSIVE CHANGES IN DEMAND PATTERNS ODFJELL SE HAS reported very strong financial figures for the second quarter 2020, on the back of a sharp upturn in freight rates in the chemical tanker sector. Strong earnings in the clean petroleum product (CPP) and vegoil sectors pulled swing tonnage out of the chemical trades, supporting a tightening market.

Group EBITDA rose from $66.3m in the first quarter to $81.9m, a figure 44 per cent up on second quarter 2019, despite a slight slip in revenues from $259.3m in the first quarter to $252.4m. Odfjell delivered quarterly net profits of $30.9m, its first quarter in the black for

improvement posted in the period came from its chemical tanker operations, with the smaller storage terminal operation continuing its stable trajectory.

“We are happy to report positive figures in light of the unprecedented times of the global economy,” Mørch says. “This shows the agility and resilience of our global platform and business model. Covid-19 continues to cast high uncertainty about the future, but we are so far not experiencing any major negative impact overall on our market.”

However, while the health crisis has so far had little impact on Odfjell Tankers, the group

some time and a significant improvement on the loss of $10.2m recorded in the same period last year.

Kristian Mørch, CEO of Odfjell, says the second quarter was good for Odfjell due to a continued firming chemical tanker market and a rising spot market. All the financial

expects the usual seasonal downturn in the third quarter, although it still expects to make a profit.

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RATES AND EARNINGS Odfjell reports that contracts of affreightment (COAs) were being renewed at rates on

average some 6 per cent higher, although its COA coverage dropped during the second quarter. This was no bad news, though, as it allowed the company to take advantage of a strong spot market, responding to regional variations in the impact of Covid-19. Odfjell also positioned its fleet opportunistically to match those variations. Furthermore, COA coverage increased towards the end of the quarter and into the third quarter, although Odfjell is firm that it will not renew COAs at unsustainable levels.

Profitability has also been helped by ongoing cost-reduction measures. Odfjell notes that it has reduced breakeven costs from $27,279 per day in 2012 to $20,226 per day in the first half of 2020, though this is expected to increase in the second half due to some scheduled drydockings. The projected breakeven figure for 2021 as a whole is $21,400 per day. As a comparison, during the second quarter, timecharter equivalent earnings (TCE), net of pool distribution, came in at $22,186 per day.

The second quarter also benefitted from lower bunker fuel costs, with Odfjell saying that the market has stabilised following the ‘IMO 2020’ transition and that price spreads have been relatively stable. As an indication, bunker costs after hedging and adjustment clauses totalled $35.6m in the second quarter, down from $50.1m in the prior period and also below the level seen through 2019.

TANKER SHIPPING

BEYOND THE CRISIS Odfjell notes that, while a wide range of cargoes have shown resilience during the Covid-19 crisis, demand from the construction and automotive sectors has suffered; it believes that improved demand levels from these industries are crucial to supporting a sustained recovery. Odfjell notes some early signs of that, quoting a number of global chemical manufacturers that have been reporting gradual improvements across most industries.

In particular, Ineos said in late July that it was expecting the second quarter to be the low point of the crisis. “The automotive sector is still weak but is now slowly improving, and there are encouraging signs from the construction sector,” it noted.

“Overall core market conditions for all of the businesses are now improving from the lows seen in the second quarter.”

The chemical tanker market is still tight and so any recovery in demand should prompt a further strengthening in freight rates. Odfjell notes that swing tonnage is still working in the CPP and vegoil markets, though this may ease, particularly in the Middle East. On the other hand, no newbuilding orders for chemical tankers were placed during the second quarter and activity has been below historical trends over the past four years; the orderbook-tofleet ratio is now at an all-time low of 4.1 per cent, Odfjell says, with uncertainty over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic and over future propulsion systems and environmental regulations keeping owners away from new contracting. This projected low supply growth over the next few years is, Odfjell says, “encouraging”.

 ODFJELL’S FIRST CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER, ØISTEIN JENSEN (ABOVE), SAYS THE COMPANY HAS ALREADY COME A LONG WAY BUT THAT THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR POSITIVE CHANGE AND MORE IMPROVEMENTS

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“WE ARE HAPPY TO REPORT POSITIVE FIGURES IN THE LIGHT OF THE UNPRECEDENTED TIMES OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY”

THE TERMINAL ZONE Odfjell Terminals posted revenues of $16.0m for the second quarter, down on the $17.5m in the prior period following the sale of the company’s interest in the Dalian terminal.

EBITDA of $7.6m was also down on the first quarter, but ahead of last year’s $6.2m.

The period was marked by contango in the products markets, which kept occupancy rates high, though throughput fell.

Overall tank capacity utilisation reached 97 per cent, up from 93 per cent in the first quarter, reflecting strong demand in Asia.

Throughput was stable in Asia and Antwerp but declined in the US, although Odfjell says it has seen early signs of a recovery in activity in the third quarter. Nevertheless, while lower throughput affects service fees, a substantial share of revenue comes from take-or-pay contracts that are not affected by throughput volumes.

Odfjell also reports that it brought 12,700 m³ of new, fully automated storage capacity for speciality chemicals onstream in Antwerp

company-wide work on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. “Our appointment of a Chief Sustainability Officer reflects our firm commitment to ESG and the responsibility we take as a global operator,” says Mørch. “We are pleased that Øistein Jensen has accepted this challenge.

Sustainability is an important focus area for Odfjell, and we have ambitious targets for the coming years.”

Odfjell launched an extensive sustainability strategy in 2018, though it says work in this area goes much further back. Its tanker fleet has already significantly reduced its environmental impact an is on course to reach the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) goal of achieving a 40 per cent reduction by 2030.

“I look forward to contributing to Odfjell’s many projects within the broad ESG sphere, and to work together with internal and external partners to drive positive change,” Jensen says. “Odfjell has already come a long way in this field, but still has a lot of

during the second quarter.

potentials. We have to advance and keep up the focus on improving operations and searching for innovations. The bar is high, but the competence and dedication of the Odfjell organisation makes me very optimistic about what we can achieve.” www.odfjell.com

CARE FOR THE WORLD In other news, Odfjell SE has appointed its first Chief Sustainability Officer. Øistein Jensen, formerly Chief of Staff, has taken on the role, which is an executive position, and will lead

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NEWS BULLETIN

TANKER SHIPPING

its order for 98,000-m3 very large ethane carriers (VLECs) to 12, with six additional orders for 2022 delivery. It has extended its existing order of three vessels at each of Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samung Heavy Industries to five, while Tianjin Southwest Maritime will provide a further two under 15-year timecharters. These will be built at Jiangnan Shipyard in China.

The first six orders were recently sold to MISC Bhd for $726m under a sale and leaseback deal and it is likely that the four new direct orders will seek similar arrangements.

Satellite Petrochemical is the largest producer of acrylic acid in China and use the ships to transport ethane from the US to its new cracker in Lianyungang, due to open later this year. www.satlpec.com FIRST OF EIGHT FOR AURORA

STOLT SWOOPS FOR QUINTET

Stolt Tankers has agreed to acquire five chemical tankers from Chemical Transportation Group (CTG). The five, all of 26,000 dwt with some stainless steel tanks, were built in China in 2016/17 and will join the Stolt Tankers Joint Service. The acquisition is expected to close between December 2020 and February 2021; the terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

“This acquisition is an excellent opportunity for Stolt Tankers to replace ships being retired in the next few years, lowering our fleet age profile with competitively priced ships that can trade in any of our deep-sea lanes,” says Lucas Vos, president of Stolt Tankers. “Newer, fuel-efficient ships help us reduce our carbon footprint while buying existing tonnage means capacity is not added to a market that doesn’t need it. In a cyclical industry like ours, buying the right ships at the right price is the path to financial sustainability. In the end, Stolt Tankers’ customers are the real winners in this deal, as these ships will support our proven platform that provides a high quality, reliable and flexible service offering.” www.stolt-nielsen.com

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BIG ORDER FROM BAHRI

Bahri has ordered ten 49,999-dwt chemical tankers from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) as part of its ongoing fleet expansion and renewal programme. Bahri says the new ships will be built to the highest environmental, fuel efficiency and safety standards in line with its commitment to operating responsibly.

“As a company committed to contributing to Saudi Arabia’s maritime goals set out in Vision 2030, Bahri has always remained keen on the continual enhancement of its enormous fleet of state-of-the-art multi-purpose vessels,” says CEO Abdullah Aldubaikhi. “The new agreement with HMD for the building of 10 high-spec chemical tankers represents a major step forward in our next phase of growth and further strengthens our leading position in the global maritime industry.”

The contract is worth $410m; deliveries are due to start in early 2022. HMD has already built more than 50 vessels of various types for Bahri. www.bahri.sa VLEC ORDER DOUBLES

Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical has doubled

Aurora Tankers has launched Maritime Comity, the first of eight 49,000-dwt newbuildings at the CSSC yard in China.

The zinc-coated IMO II tanker is fitted with an exhaust gas scrubber and nitrogen inert gas system to ensure longer life of the tank coating and easier cleaning. The design maximises cargo loads with low specific gravity and offers a shallow draft to maximise trading flexibility. Delivery of the remaining vessels in the series will run to the end of 2021.

“Aurora Tankers’ first newbuilding in this series of eight supports our strategy of growth and will continue to improve our service offering to our customers. The series will be operated in our Aurora Tankers pool, strengthening our position as a leading IMO 2 MR operator,” says Frederik Guttormsen, senior director, shipping at IMC Industrial Group, parent company of Aurora Tankers. “We appreciate CSSC Shipping and their efforts in the completion of this first delivery during these challenging times caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. We are looking forward to further strengthening our partnership in the years ahead.”

Imcindustrialgroup.com GOOD TIME FOR EXMAR

Exmar has reported revenues of $135.4m for the first half of 2020, up from $99.5m a year ago, with EBITDA up by 44 per cent at $69.7m. Higher depreciation and impairment

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losses, largely arising from the Tango FLNG unit, held operating profit growth back, rising from $16.4m to $19.2m but the net result moved into profit this year.

Exmar benefitted from much stronger earnings from its midsize and VLGC gas carriers, despite the drop in VLGC rates during the second quarter, and describes the first six months of the year as “one of the best semesters in recent years”. The pressurised fleet did less well and Exmar says it expects this sector of the market to remain under pressure through to the end of 2021. exmar.be BOOST FOR BW

BW LPG has reported a second quarter net profit of $62.1m, well up on last year’s $26.5m, although VLGC freight rates slipped somewhat after the highs of the first quarter.

Vessel utilisation remained high at 97 per cent.

EBITDA rose by 52 per cent to $113.1m, with the after-tax profit rising from $26.5m to $62.1m.

Since the end of the quarter, the market has recovered strongly, BW LPG says, with rates hitting more than $50,000/day in early August.

Looking ahead, a weaker outlook for US LPG supply together with a relatively high number of newbuild deliveries are expected to put downward pressure on vessel utilisation.

Despite the market uncertainty, BW LPG is pressing ahead with the retrofitting of LPG dual-fuel engines on 12 of its existing vessels during 2020 and 2021; BW Gemini and BW Leo

are currently in drydock having the work done.

“Retrofitting provides significantly more environmental benefits compared to newbuildings, as confirmed by DNV, and boosts an already efficient and clean fleet without adding capacity,” the company says.

BW LPG is collaboration with Hafnia on bunker procurement for the ships. www.bwlpg.com AVANCE WARY OF VOLATILITY

Avance Gas Holding has reported second quarter timecharter equivalent earnings of $35.3m, down from $44.1m in the first quarter after a sharp decline in VLGC freight rates.

Net profit dropped from $15.1m to $6.7m.

Avance notes that demand has returned to a more normal level in the third quarter, which has boosted the freight market. However, US LPG exports remain volatile as a result of unfavourable price differentials between the US and Asia, while Middle East exports have dropped in line with oil production cutbacks.

Petrochemical demand in Asia has started to normalise after Covid-19-related shutdowns and Avance remain optimistic that VLGC demand will benefit from an increase in propane dehydrogenation (PDH) activities in China. www.avancegas.com CHARTERS SUPPORT STEALTHGAS

StealthGas has reported second quarter voyage revenues of $36.3m, up by $2.2m on the year-earlier figure after higher timecharter rates and more vessels working in a strong spot

market. Net income of $8.9m was the company’s best return since the start of 2013 and EBITDA was up by almost 50 per cent on second quarter 2019 at $21.8m.

“In spite of the global turmoil the Covid-19 pandemic has brought on, StealthGas exerted a very strong performance in the second quarter of 2020,” says board chairman Michael Jolliffe.

“The pillars of our success were principally our strong period coverage secured ahead of the imposed lockdowns, our stable operating cost base and the lowering of our finance costs.

Going forward we will strategically navigate the tides of the Covid-19 pandemic, pursuing the best course of action amidst what may prove to be difficult market conditions.” www.stealthgas.com TEAM STEAMS AHEAD

Team Tankers International has reported second quarter EBITDA of $21.7m, up from $16.5m in the first quarter and $11.8m a year earlier. Average timecharter equivalent earnings rose from $13,812/day in the first quarter to $14,667/day.

“We executed the strategic commercial cooperation with Maersk Tankers and commenced the joint venture with V Group for technical management, building commercial and operational scale for our tanker fleet,” notes CEO Hans Feringa. “The two partnerships have improved trading performance, reduced costs and increase our flexibility for additional divestment and investment activity.” teamtankers.com

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TAKE IT FROM THE TOP LEADERSHIP • TSA’S MEMBERS HAVE SIGNED UP TO A CHARTER THAT REAFFIRMS THAT THE TANK STORAGE INDUSTRY IN THE UK AND IRELAND IS COMMITTED TO PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT THE INVESTIGATIONS INTO the disasters that took place in 2005 at the BP refinery in Texas City and the Buncefield oil depot in Hertfordshire, UK both highlighted the need for effective leadership from the highest levels of an organisation, to promote the proper application of process safety management (PSM) principles in high-hazard operations.

Indeed, the report authored by James Baker on the Texas City explosion specifically called on BP’s top management to provide effective leadership and establish appropriate goals for process safety, articulating a clear message and matching that message with policies. Board-level management should

set expectations regarding process safety performance, both in terms of verifiable objectives and the means by which the company was to achieve them. That system should incorporate a mechanism by which process safety risks could be identified, reduced and managed.

Similarly, the response in the UK to the Buncefield explosion, which involved government, industry, trade unions and other stakeholders, also identified a lack of effective leaders on process safety as an underlying factor; that response led to the formation of the Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG), which established the necessary improvements

to safety and environmental controls required to improve the overall level of safety; first among these improvements was the need to demonstrate effective leadership within the sector.

TAKING PART The Tank Storage Association (TSA), which represents independent bulk liquids storage terminals in the UK and Ireland and which played a role in PSLG, has followed up since then in promoting PSM throughout the industry. TSA also takes part in the work of the COMAH Strategic Forum (CSF), which sets out the need for leadership in the following terms: “Understanding and managing risks are critical to any business, whether these are operational, financial, safety, environmental, ethical or reputational risks. If these risks are not managed, they have the potential to harm people, damage the environment and destroy facilities along with corporate reputation. Good major hazard leadership helps an organisation to ensure these risks are given the resource, priority and attention that they need to reduce the likelihood of a major accident.”

TSA has followed up on its work on PSM by issuing a new Safety Leadership Charter, reaffirming its commitment to the original principles of Process Safety Leadership.

The Charter consists of seven pledges that demonstrate commitment on the part of its members to managing major hazard risks by promoting an engaged, positive, informed and cooperative safety culture.

“TSA, with the support of its members, has developed the Safety Leadership Charter to promote a positive and cooperative safety culture within member organisations,” says Paul Denmead, president of TSA. “This Charter clearly demonstrates our commitment to major hazard safety, starting at the top, and puts the TSA at the forefront of safety leadership within our sector.”

THE PROMISE IN WORDS All of TSA’s terminal member companies have signed up to the Charter, which carries the signatures of senior directors at each of them.

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This confirms that each company will use the appropriate resources to help improve their safety performance and that, as leaders, they understand and recognise that the consequences of not properly managing risks at their sites could be catastrophic for people, the environment and their businesses.

“Good leadership is critical to sustained management of risk,” the Charter states. As leaders in their organisations, the signatories have committed to: - Understand what could go wrong that could cause a major accident - Know what systems are in place to stop this happening - Provide continued assurance that those systems are working effectively, and - Ensure that employees continue to be appropriately skilled and competent.

In practical terms, this means that at least one board member at each company will be conversant in the management of major hazard risks – CSF already provides some tools to deliver this expertise. The entire

 EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP AND STRONG OVERSIGHT OF SAFETY IN TERMINALS WILL BE INSTRUMENTAL IN AVOIDING DISASTERS SUCH AS THE 2005 EXPLOSION AT THE BUNCEFIELD FUEL DEPOT (ABOVE)

board should also understand the importance of good major hazard leadership and performance, for which all are ultimately responsible, and also understand the implications that business decisions can have on major hazard management, both in the short and long term.

In addition, the signatories have committed to promote a positive culture throughout the organisation by being visible and passionate about managing major hazard risks and to involve the workforce so that all employees understand their role in managing risk.

Companies will establish meaningful indicators of how well those risks are being managed – which does not include lagging indicators such as lost-time injury rates. Furthermore, the signatories commit to share learnings from relevant incidents both from within the business and from external events.

STANDARDS MATTER Explaining the role of the new Charter, Peter Davidson, executive director of TSA, says: “TSA is committed to ensuring that safety lessons

“Since its publication in 2009, TSA’s members have fully supported the Process Safety Leadership Group’s Principles of Process Safety Leadership and the launch of our Commitment to Good Major Hazard Leadership further strengthens this support.

Our aim is to ensure that these principles are embedded in all that we do as a sector,” Davidson adds.

One of the signatories to the Chater, Martyn Lyons, CEO of Inter Terminals and himself a former president of TSA, says: “High standards of leadership are essential to ensure effective control of major hazard risks. The Safety Leadership Charter, developed by the Tank Storage Association in conjunction with sector’s leaders, is a testament to our strong commitment to strive for the highest standards and continue leading from the front.”

More information on the work of CSF and the resources it has available for use by industry can be found on the UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE) website at https:// webcommunities.hse.gov.uk/connect.ti/ COMAHSF/groupHome. Among those

and best practice are shared across the sector wherever possible. Our dedicated Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) committee is key to achieving this, and we remain a driving force in a number of industry safety forums, including the Process Safety Forum and the COMAH Strategic Forum.

resources is a report by CSF looking back on how the high-hazard industries in the UK changed their approach to process safety in the ten years following the Buncefield explosion. More information on the work of TSA can be found on its website, https://tankstorage.org.uk.

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A YEAR APART ASSOCIATION • ILTA HAS WORKED HARD THIS YEAR TO HELP ITS MEMBERS DURING A STRESSFUL TIME ON MANY FRONTS, AS KATHRYN CLAY, ILTA PRESIDENT, REPORTS

2020 IS SHAPING up to be a year like no other.

The Covid-19 pandemic threw the entire world into flux, causing us to rethink the way we work, the way we run business and our personal and professional priorities. But Covid-19 has also presented opportunities, including many the International Liquid Terminals Association (ILTA) has capitalised on this year to bring our members greater value.

The pandemic spurred ILTA to find new and better ways to reach its members.

We have grown our membership offerings though an enhanced website, achieved greater membership interaction through calls and webinars, offered a more robust weekly and monthly newsletter, and established a new membership platform that allows our members to easily to update their information.

WHAT ILTA HAS DONE It has been a successful year for ILTA’s advocacy efforts as well. Some of our accomplishments relate to our industry’s needs in the face of Covid-19, while others reflect long-standing priorities that will position our industry to be stronger well into the future. Some highlights include:

 ILTA HAS MADE SOME SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN ITS ADVOCACY EFFORTS TO HELP ITS MEMBERS BOTH DURING THE CURRENT CRISIS AND FOR THE FUTURE

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Ensuring fair treatment of terminals by railways. ILTA succeeded in persuading the Surface Transportation Board to issue new regulations correcting a misinterpretation of a 2014 ruling on railroad demurrage billing.

The new regulation will ensure fair treatment of terminal operators, eliminating billing practices that had cost terminal operators tens of millions of dollars each year.

Strong prospects for greater, more efficient spending on ports, harbours and waterways.

ILTA successfully lobbied for a new funding mechanism for both harbours and inland waterways to allow more timely investment in this essential infrastructure for terminal operations. Congress is expected to pass a bill later this year with near-record funding for water infrastructure.

Common sense approach to Process Safety Management (PSM). ILTA secured a favourable decision by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on PSM requirements for in-line butane blending. OSHA had introduced a departure from established practices that would have imposed significant costs on the terminal industry and downstream customers — without providing any additional health and safety benefits to workers during gasoline loading operations. This advocacy success will eliminate needless expenditures of hundreds of thousands of dollars at each blending facility.

Securing a delay in summer gasoline blending rules in response to Covid-19. ILTA and coalition partners made the case to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

for additional time for the changeover to summer-grade gasoline, giving the industry more flexibility as fuel demand flattened in the early weeks of the pandemic.

In addition, as of this writing, ILTA is continuing to convey to EPA the need for flexibility for out-of-service tank inspection requirements. We are pleased with the early round of accommodations that the agency has provided, and we will continue to communicate the industry’s priorities on this – and many other issues – going forward.

ILTA’s efforts to strengthen our organisation and amplify our voice have positioned us to persevere for our members — especially in a time of great uncertainty. We stand by to help all our members – the terminal operators and the suppliers that provide goods and services to the terminal industry – to thrive, grow and meet challenges, and we urge non-members to join us. www.ilta.org

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(42.8 metres at an exterior monobuoy); an internal pipe rack to connect berths with the terminals and the Southern Chemical Park; and facilities that allow berth-to-berth port operations.

In 2014, Port of Tarragona completed the extension of the Chemical Quay; this key infrastructure will enable independent bulk liquids storage capacity to double from

MORE THAN A PORT This infrastructure’s hub positioning is designed on the basis of two subsequent forms of distribution: on one hand, through smaller ships to Mediterranean countries; on the other, through rail-port intermodality to distribute goods to the interior of the European continent: the Iberian Peninsula, France, Italy and central Europe.

Ship-to-rail intermodality is one of the main commitments of the Port of Tarragona.

The port itself has important rail infrastructure, alongside key development projects outside its main location. The Chemical Quay has a railway terminal adapted to the loading and unloading of liquid bulk products. It has three tracks of 220 metres in length, and a loading/ unloading system that allows operations directly from storage points.

La Boella Intermodal Terminal is the most important infrastructure in this development. It is a mixed-gauge terminal (with both Iberian and international standard gauge tracks) with four operating tracks and four others for receiving and dispatching trains – all of them are ready to operate trains of 750 metres in length. With first class characteristics such as electrification up to the operating tracks, or a liquid collection system in case of any spillage, it provides for a full, state-of-the-art terminal in the Mediterranean rail freight corridor.

Finally, the Tarragona Port Authority is also working on getting closer to its Iberian hinterland thanks to the construction of a new intermodal terminal in Marchamalo (Guadalajara, Spain), with identical characteristics to those of the La Boella Terminal. The port enclave has currently acquired a 150,000-m² plot of land

its current 800,000 m³ to some 1.5m m³ in the next few years. This growth in capacity, which is already being developed by Vopak Terquimsa, Tepsa and Euroenergo, is one of the main bases on which rests Port of Tarragona’s strategy to become a regional hub for liquid bulk products.

parallel to the rail line between Madrid and Barcelona, and located in a logistics development area, right on the edge of the point where Madrid’s railway congestion ends. Port of Tarragona says construction works on this new terminal will begin during the coming year.

THE INTERMODAL PORT STRATEGY • PORT OF TARRAGONA’S AMIBITION TO BECOME THE REGIONAL HUB FOR LIQUID BULK PRODUCTS IN THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN RELIES ON RAIL-PORT INTERMODALITY

OVER THE PAST few years, Port of Tarragona has pursued a commercial strategy to become a regional hub in the Mediterranean for liquid bulk products. This strategy rests on the growth in bulk liquids storage capacity, its proximity to the most important chemical cluster in southern Europe, and the opportunities provided by the important development of intermodal services.

Port of Tarragona is a leader in terms of Mediterranean chemical and petrochemical traffic, handling more than 21m tonnes in 2019. Its technical characteristics allow it to have one of the most outstanding port infrastructures in the region: it has an operational draught of up to 15.5 metres

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RAIL IS THE KEY The development of rail-port intermodality is seen as one of the keys in achieving Port of Tarragona’s ambitions. Rail is a highly competitive mode of transport over long distances, helping to increase the port’s effective hinterland area and allow distribution of goods further from the port. Furthermore, the extension of the international gauge rail network to Tarragona is now planned for 2022, which will allow trains to run directly between Tarragona and any point in the European rail network.

Using rail transport as part of a logistics chain can also reduce end-to-end costs.

Depending on the final destination of the goods, the Mediterranean can be a very interesting region as an unloading point, using

 THE ROLE OF THE PORT IS NOT JUST IN HANDLING SHIPS BUT IN GETTING GOODS IN, THROUGH AND OFF TO THEIR END DESTINATION BY SEA, ROAD OR, IDEALLY, RAIL

rail to reach the final consumption point and to achieve a much more efficient alternative to the current logistics model that uses the ARA region as an exchange point for goods.

That also can reduce the end-to-end transit time as a result of the optimisation of the logistics chain.

Another benefit of using rail is an overall reduction in the environmental footprint of the transport operation. It is well known that rail is a highly sustainable mode of transport, with much lower emissions than others. Furthermore, by using the Mediterranean as a region for unloading liquid bulk products, inefficient links in the logistics chain can be avoided and a much greater reduction in the level of emissions can be achieved.

Rail also provides for continuity during times of disruption, as has been seen during the current Covid-19 pandemic. Land transport across Europe has been paralysed at times by border closures, which can be avoided by the use of rail transport. In addition, rail transport uses fewer human resources per unit of load, with a notable reduction in contact between people.

STRENGTH NEEDED These advantages demonstrated by this connection between rail-port intermodality and a hub strategy must have some strengths in order to be successful. Firstly, there must be a concentration of logistics facilities for a good intermodality. Without a clear concentration of these infrastructures, time and cost reductions are not optimal and do not allow the advantages of this intermodality to be obtained. Secondly, a high storage capacity is necessary. This offers the possibility of storing large quantities of product and a variety of goods, and makes it possible to be a point of concentration of loads with the consequent reduction in costs thanks to economies of scale. Finally, the synergies with a powerful industrial cluster are crucial. The fact of having a first class port infrastructure next to a powerful chemical industrial complex allows the generation of important points of reception of goods thanks to the variety of products that are consumed in the region, generating economies of scale with the reception of large quantities of product.

With the aim of promoting the commercial strategy of becoming a regional hub for liquid bulk products, the Port of Tarragona is organising the IV Med Hub Day in November.

This free event aims to promote debate and the exchange of information on the strengths and opportunities offered by the Mediterranean as a logistics platform for liquids. Due to the health circumstances created by the Covid-19, this year’s fourth edition will be held virtually on 19 and 20 November.

The IV Med Hub Day will bring together storage terminals operators, ports, consignees, freight forwarders, market analysts and chemical and petrochemical companies, guaranteeing participation and networking among all those attending. This interactive event will have the presence of great experts and a very complete programme - one of the keynote speeches of the event will be on ‘rail-port intermodality as a ground link in a hub strategy’. More information on the event can be found at www.hubdaytarragona.com. www.porttarragona.cat

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GETTING THE MOST OUT

EVOS AMSTERDAM SOUGHT advice from Systems Navigator when it was looking to optimise its operations. The analysis provided insight into different infrastructure allocation set-ups, guiding the terminal in its decisionmaking process on the use of its assets at the site and of its personnel.

More specifically, Systems Navigator helped Evos determine how best to allocate its terminal infrastructure in order to minimise the number of sub-orders. Various product and infrastructure allocations were analysed to test their influence on the number of sub-orders, berth occupancy and vessel waiting times. Alongside the potential reallocation of infrastructure, the model’s outcomes identified the influence of potential changes on terminal throughput and the potential benefits of future investment in additional infrastructure.

search for improved infrastructure usage,” says Daan Merkestein, senior consultant at Systems Navigator. “By further refining the Evos Amsterdam simulation model, we were able to not only simulate the water-side operations in a very detailed way but also taking into account additional infrastructure usage such as line displacements, pigging operations and tank-to-tank routing.”

EXPERIENCE TELLS This is not the first time that Evos has worked with Systems Navigator. Paul Dekker, front line execution manager at Evos Amsterdam, explains: “The insights we gained from the analyses Systems Navigator performed on our terminal infrastructure helped us to compare different infrastructural allocations. The results helped us to form an educated opinion on how

components. In a competitive environment, it is crucial for Evos to be able to offer a modern and highly automated facility with the necessary infrastructure to provide its customers with high throughput, fast vessel turnarounds, on-demand blending and effective vapour recovery.

The analysis provided by Systems Navigator, which describes itself as a global leader in advanced and predictive decision support technology, helps its customers make better decisions on where to allocate capital spending by demonstrating the impact of change through simulation modelling. Its Dropboard platform for planning and scheduling also helps companies optimise their operations, improve customer service and maximise the use of their assets. Aside from Evos, other major clients for Systems Navigator include VTTI’s Euro Tank Terminal in Rotterdam, with which it has worked for seven years, and BASF, for which it developed a jetty simulation tool to optimise vessel operations at its Antwerp production site.

The Amsterdam terminal is one of four in the Evos network, all acquired over the past two years by First State Investments. The three other Evos terminals – in Algeciras, Hamburg and Rotterdam, were acquired from Vopak.

Overall capacity in the network is some 2.5m

“We are happy to have had the opportunity to advise and support Evos Amsterdam with their

to operate our terminal infrastructure in the most efficient manner.”

Evos Amsterdam is a large site in Europe’s key hub for the storage, blending and transhipment of clean petroleum products, with an overall tank capacity of more than 1.2m m³ for gasoline, middle distillates and related

m³, with 403,000 m³ at the Algeciras site and 670,000 m³ at Hamburg. The 172,000-m³ Rotterdam terminal largely handles bio-ethanol and methanol and is partnered by a production unit for formaldehyde and derivatives. evos.eu www.systemsnavigator.com

INFRASTRUCTURE • SYSTEMS NAVIGATOR HAS HELPED EVOS GET THE MOST OUT OF ITS AMSTERDAM TERMINAL BY A THOROUGH ANALYSIS OF TANK AND VESSEL OPERATIONS

 CLOSE ANALYSIS AND MODELLING WILL HELP EVOS GET THE BEST OUT OF ITS AMSTERDAM TERMINAL

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STANDIC STILL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION • DUTCH TANK STORAGE COMPANY STANDIC IS BUILDING A NEW CHEMICAL STORAGE TERMINAL IN ANTWERP, DOUBLING ITS TOTAL CAPACITY STANDIC, A MEMBER of the family-owned Hametha group, is building a new storage terminal in the 5th Haven dock in the Port of Antwerp with an initial capacity of around 95 000 m³ and a potential total capacity of some 245 000 m³. This will add to its existing terminal in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, and effectively double its available capacity.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Standic reports that it is continuing construction according to schedule and the first phase of the new Antwerp site will be put into operation in the first half of 2021.

The state-of-the-art facility, involving a capital investment of some €200m, will be fully automated with built-in sustainability features such as onshore power for ships moored at the terminal, to meet the requirements of customers.

“Port of Antwerp is known as one of the largest maritime clusters in the world, which is why we chose it for our expansion,” says Hametha’s managing director Ronald Ooms.

“We aim to build on our success with chemical storage and further expand it. In Antwerp we will be able to further develop in the niche market of more specialised chemicals and serve our customers from all over the world.”

AIMING FOR A NICHE The new Antwerp terminal, like the existing Dordrecht facility, will focus on niche chemical markets and the distribution of chemical products. The tanks will range in size from

500 m³ to 3,500 m³. The Dordrecht terminal offers 230,500 m³ of storage capacity in 163 tanks of varying types and sizes.

Large chemical tankers will be able to reach the Antwerp terminal easily thanks to the

handle multiple block trains after completion of the entire project.

“The new Standic terminal will further boost the synergy between the various industrial companies in the port, thus helping to make

favourable draught, which will be between 11.45 and 14 meters in that part of the port.

In addition to its accessibility by water – both by sea and by inland waterway – the location is also very favourable for rail transport.

With two long rail tracks and three loading stations, Standic Antwerp will be able to

logistic operations and processes even more cost-efficient,” says William Demoor, customer relations manager at Port of Antwerp. “Furthermore, the location is ideal for multimodal access, a key factor for sustainable distribution of chemicals.” www.standic.com

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COPING IN A CRISIS BUSINESS • OPERATING A BULK LIQUIDS STORAGE TERMINAL THIS YEAR HAS BEEN AN EXCITING AFFAIR. DAN BALT HAS WITNESSED SOME MAJOR CHANGES BUT HAS PULLED THROUGH “2020 HAS PROVEN to be a staggeringly disruptive year,” says Murad Yusuf of GTL Terminals, parent of Dan Balt Tank Lager (DBTL). “Most industries have had their foundations rocked to the core, the way in which we manage our daily routines has had to be completely reinvented; some aspects are a welcome change but others are not so comforting.”

Reassuringly, the tank storage business has largely benefitted from the crisis, primarily due to the market contango that was triggered by over-supply and then collapse in oil product demand from the start of the year. DBTL witnessed a flood of storage demand in March, with its commodity trader clients taking advantage of a market that had been struggling in recent years during a lengthy backwardation.

With most other businesses confined to working from home, storage terminals have,

 DAN BALT’S TERMINAL IN AABENRAA HAS ENJOYED FULL OCCUPANCY DURING A TURBULENT PERIOD

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for the most part, have been able to work throughout lockdowns. This has allowed DBTL to provide its newly anchored customers with a seamless service, and receiving product through Aabenraa port, facilitating loading and offloading to road tankers through its prized loading ramp infrastructure.

“Being in a smaller town has also provided the advantage of key terminal staff being readily available for work, and a much lower risk than in larger metropolises,” Yusuf notes.

“Circumstances this year have made our personnel much more adept at managing processes for clients digitally. For instance, at the peak of client acquisition in March, which happened to be the peak lockdown period as well, due diligence that has always been an in-person third-party site visit was reconfigured to be completely remote through video-based meeting, with all documentation exchange processed electronically.”

FILL UP THE TANKS The surge in demand for storage at DBTL filled its 17 tanks, which offer some 160,000 m³ of capacity. The products involved included

ultra-low sulphur diesel, waste oil, gasoil, liquid nitrogen fertiliser and bio-diesel.

“It has also permitted some of our tanks that were previously not in service to be brought back into use, with certain maintenance undertaken that had not been financially viable prior to the dynamic shift in the market,” Yusuf adds.

The changing product mix also means that internal piping had to be reconfigured to ensure full separation of different products.

Loading, particularly onto road tankers, had to be set up to ensure dedicated lines. As a result, all stored products, including products blended on site, can be loaded without the risk of cross-contamination.

One task that DBTL had already been working on was the acquisition of an excise licence alongside its existing customs warehouse licence that it has had since its inception. With the excise licence it can now deliver product directly through the Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS).

“Although we are currently in the piloting phase and only using the system on blended product for a specific client, our team is now fully capable of handling this digital government portal for products of any kind,” Yusuf says.

“Our terminal team and senior management are certainly humbled by the success our terminals have and are benefitting from this year,” Yusuf concludes. “But we also hope for a return to business continuity and normalcy for our direct industry and all other industries as quickly as it is safe to do so.” globaltlog.com/terminals/

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LATIN LESSONS DIGITISATION • IMPLICO HAS TEAMED UP WITH AQUARIUS SOFTWARE TO TAKE ITS TERMINAL AUTOMATION AND DIGITISATION SERVICES INTO LATIN AMERICA IMPLICO GROUP, WHICH has been leading the automation and digitisation of the downstream oil and gas industry in Europe, is taking that experience to Latin America, signing a partnership agreement with Aquarius Software to collaborate on future-oriented projects in the region. Their common aim is to guide downstream companies on their digital transformation journey and to help them make their supply chains fit for the future.

The move is part of Implico’s growth strategy and it sees Latin America as a very promising market and a key area for the oil and gas trade of today and tomorrow. Implico is particularly eager to bring its next-generation terminal management system, OpenTAS, to the region’s huge tank storage sector.

To do this, Implico aims to leverage the local knowledge of regional partners and says it has found a “perfect match” in Aquarius Software, which is headquartered

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

in São Paulo, Brazil. “Combining their deep know-how and experience, the two partners aspire to introduce their clients to the many benefits of digitisation, such as streamlined processes, increased transparency, better collaboration and more safety along the entire supply chain,” Implico says.

“We always look for the best solution for our customers,” says Marcia Campos (below, right), executive director and partner at Aquarius Software. “Implico is recognised in this market with awarded solutions and numerous customers worldwide. There is a natural synergy between the companies, which have a strong focus on digital transformation and clear orientation towards their customers’ businesses. I am sure that this partnership will lead to more project opportunities for both companies as well as strong benefits for our customers.”

REFERENCE POINT Aquarius Software has become a Brazilian reference in technology, products and services for industrial automation and production management. The key to this consolidated position is the company’s capability to understand the local market and seek market-leading solutions and differentiated services from the shop floor to the corporate environment, something

that was very much in the mind of Implico when it was looking for a local partner.

“Aquarius Software has a thorough understanding of the downstream industry plus a wide-spread network, a spotless reputation and a forward-looking mindset,” says Thomas Roller (below, left), head of sales and marketing at Implico Group.

“Sharing similar aims and values, we look forward to drive digital transformation for oil and gas enterprises in Latin America together. In fact, we are already at it. The cooperation agreement has already been signed and the first implementation project is underway.”

Aquarius Software was formed in 1984 and initially concentrated on software development in the finance and advertising segments. In 1996 it moved into industrial automation, acting as distributor for GE’s FIX process supervision software. It continues to change and grow, offering a mix of software and services with new approaches from its team of specialists in automation and operation technology and information technology.

Aquarius says it offers a series of synergistic and complementary services that add value to its customers and differentiate them in the markets in which they operate. Customer satisfaction surveys performed by third parties have shown that Aquarius’s after-sales service is considered its main differential by customers and integrating partners. www.implico.com www.aquarius.com.br

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OFF THE GROUND AVIATION • STOBART AVIATION SERVICES HAS EXPANDED RAPIDLY AND IT NEEDED A RELIABLE DANGEROUS GOODS TRAINER. IT FOUND ONE IN DG ONLINE TRAINING STOBART AVIATION SERVICES, a provider of ground handling, passenger and airside services, has grown rapidly since its inception in June 2017, with its first contract operating at London Stansted in March 2018 to now operating across a total of five airports, having added London Southend, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports over the last two years.

This growth was achieved station-by-station with a blueprint being replicated for operations and training systems. The scale of growth and geographical spread of the business caused the inevitable diversity of suppliers with local project teams managing their own people and utilising internal and external regional training providers. Additionally, acquisitive growth and the transfer of staff meant inheriting existing levels of training from providers.

The expansion into Manchester Airport was a prime example when it doubled the size of the business. The complexity of compliance training requirements further increased when Stobart Aviation Services opened its first cargo handling facility at London Southend Airport.

This expansion has resulted in significant dangerous goods training challenges, not only with the inevitable escalation in costs and administration but also with the vast array of training providers offering different fees and systems. Classroom closures due to Covid-19 also added an additional issue to this growing company. Dangerous Goods Online Training Ltd, the UK’s only fully CAA-approved online DG training provider, was able to offer Stobart

trained with Dangerous Goods Online Training Ltd for his Category 6 Operator Acceptance and completed the remote examination during lockdown. Gary was so impressed with the depth and challenge of the training as well as the professionalism of the Dangerous Goods Online Training Ltd team, he was keen to roll out the training content and system for other ICAO/IATA categories, specifically 7, 8, 9 and 10. These courses focus on ground and passenger handling staff.

TRAINING PAYS OFF “It was refreshing to have a company with a voice at the end of the phone,” says Thistlethwaite. “The courses challenge staff to achieve a higher standard and are not just a tick in the box exercise”. The comprehensive Dangerous Goods Online Training courses have already helped staff spot mis-declared packages by developing trainees’ understanding of the marks and labels on dangerous goods consignments. “Staff are now able to

successfully recognise the meaning of a UN number, which might have slipped the net before.”

Equally as important as the training is the dexterity of the learning management system (LMS) used to deliver the courses. Stobart Aviation Services needed an LMS that enabled the management of its dangerous goods training on a national level and was scalable as the business develops. Dangerous Goods Online Training’s LMS enabled Stobart Aviation Services to self-manage training, produce hundreds of customisable reports and break down costs by site, ensuring accurate cost allocation. The system is easy to use and responsive, which is important as changing to a new system can be challenging and a risk.

“The speed of response and willingness to adapt both the courses and LMS was a significant value add, the transition to a new system was very smooth,” Thistlethwaite explains.

Dangerous Goods Online Training Ltd has recently been appointed as the training provider of choice by other airline ground handling agents. It is pleased to offer HCB readers a 10 percent discount on all of their online training courses using discount code DGOTHCB. For more information, email info@dgonline. training, call +44 (0) 800 649 6799 or visit the company’s website. www.dgonline.training www.stobartaviationservices.co.uk

Aviation Services a solution to their problems.

Gary Thistlethwaite, head of Health, Safety & Compliance at Stobart Aviation Services,

 A NEW COMPANY IN THE AVIATION ARENA OPTED FOR A NEW SOLUTION TO DG TRAINING

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RETHINKING IATA TRAINING

another packages the product, affixes marks and labels, and closes the package. A fourth employee may fill out or sign shipping papers, and others still may load or secure the materials on a vehicle. Each task is critical to safe transportation, and each employee needs training that prepares them to play a specific role.

Contrasted with a one-size-fits-all hazmat training approach, a competency-based training programme requires employers to identify specific skills and knowledge that each individual employee needs to do their job effectively. Training and assessment then focus on these specific competencies to drive a more tailored, relevant learning experience.

WHEN SHIPPERS CRACK open the new edition of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) that takes effect on 1 January 2021, they will notice that the training requirements in Sub-section 1.5 have changed dramatically.

Among the significant updates in this 62nd edition of DGR is the official adoption of a ‘competency-based approach to dangerous goods training and assessment’ – or ‘CBTA’.

The updated training standards require employers to develop and implement a dangerous goods training programme that focuses on the specific knowledge and skills each employee needs to fulfil their role in the dangerous goods supply chain.

Employers should review the new Sub-section

programme as soon as possible. There is a two-year transition period until 31 December 2022, during which time employers may follow the previous DGR training requirements.

One thing will not change: IATA requires dangerous goods training for employees every 24 months.

WHAT IS COMPETENCY? Transporting dangerous goods is a complex process with potential for catastrophic and expensive mistakes at every step.

The fundamental principle of IATA’s new CBTA guidelines is to provide each employee with training that covers the knowledge and skills needed for the employee to perform their job effectively and safely. In other words, the

WRITE THE PROGRAMME In the new Sub-section 1.5, IATA recognises that there is no one right way to train employees. Instructor-led training, online courses, on-the-job training, group discussion, simulations and self-study can all play a role in preparing dangerous goods personnel to perform their jobs properly.

Employers should choose a training format, or combination of formats, that they believe will best impart the level of proficiency the employee needs to fulfil their job role. Factors that play into this decision would include the employee’s experience level, the scope and complexity of the employee’s job, the need for initial or recurrent DG training, and others.

Ultimately, it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that every employee receives appropriate training. Organisations should seek out training providers and solutions that will impart the key competencies each employee needs. If a provider offers only a one-size-fits-all course, employers should question whether that one course can meet the needs of employees with different job roles or at different experience levels.

By following IATA’s new competency-based framework for dangerous goods training,

1.5 and plan to develop an appropriate training

dangerous goods training that each employee receives should be tailored to the specific job functions for which the employee is responsible.

At a typical shipping facility, one employee may classify materials and choose proper shipping names. A different employee sources and purchases authorised packaging, while

employers can prepare every employee to properly perform his or her role and keep shipments soaring safely. *Roger Marks is a content writer for Lion Technology, a leading provider of 49 CFT, IATA DGR and IMDG Code training in the US. For more information, go to www.lion.com.

CBTA • IATA’S NEW COMPETENCY-BASED APPROACH TO TRAINING FOCUSES ON THE SKILLS EMPLOYEES NEED. LION’S ROGER MARKS* LOOKS AT WHAT THIS MEANS IN PRACTICE FOR EMPLOYERS

 A RANGE OF ROLES MEANS THAT TRAINING NEEDS TO BE APPROPRIATE TO RESPONSIBILITY

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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.

OCTOBER EPCA Annual Meeting October 5-7, virtual 54th annual meeting of the European Petrochemical Association www.epca.eu IPANA Annual Conference October 6-8, virtual 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/Tank-TruckWeek/Public/Events/Tank-Truck-Week.aspx LNGgc October 12-14, virtual 10th annual conference on LNG shipping and trade https://energy.knect365.com/lnggc-london/ Dangerous Goods Operations & Hazardous Substances 2020 October 14-16, virtual Workshop on chemical safety and dangerous goods compliance www.marcusevans-conferences-australian.com/ ECTA Responsible Care Workshop October 15, virtual Update on Responsible Care implementation in European chemical transport www.ecta.com/event-3736082 Oil & Non Oil October 21-23, Verona Trade show on fuel and non-oil storage and distribution in Italy and Europe www.oilnonoil.it Cryogenic Storage Tanks October 22, Munich Second technical conference on liquefied gas storage www.tuvsud.com/de-de/store/academy/ conference-management/tank-storage-systems/ cryogenic-tanks ChemCon Europe October 26-30, London

Conference on global chemicals regulation https://chemcon.net/upcoming.shtml DGAC Members Conference October 28-29, virtual Annual conference of the Dangerous Goods Advisory Council www.dgac.org/dgac-meetings-0

NOVEMBER NACD Annual Meeting November 9-12, La Quinta, CA 49th Annual Meeting of the National Association of Chemical Distributors www.nacd.com/education-meetings/meetings/ annual-meeting/nacd-annual-meeting-2020/ LogiPharma November 11-13, virtual Conference on the end-to-end pharmaceutical supply chain logipharmaeu.wbresearch.com ILTA November 16-18, Houston 40th annual operating conference and trade show of the International Liquid Terminals Association www.ilta.org Argus LPG Moscow November 19-20, Moscow 15th annual event for the regional LPG sector https://www.argusmedia.com/en/conferencesevents-listing/lpg-2020 IV Med Hub Day 2020 November 19-21, virtual Fourth annual workshop on regional tank storage issues www.hubdaytarragona.com World LNG Series: Americas Summit November 19-20, virtual 18th annual convention for LNG buyers and sellers http://lngamericas.cwclng.com LNGgc Asia November 24-26, virtual Congress on commercial and technical aspects of LNG in the fuel transition www.informaconnect.com.sg/event/lnggc-asia/

Gefahrgut & Gefahrstoff November 24-26, Leipzig Trade fair for all those involved in the transport and internal logistics of dangerous goods and materials www.ggs-tradefair.com/?language=en Oil Terminal 2020 November 26-27, St Petersburg 15th oil terminal congress and exhibition www.oilterminal.org/en Hazards30 November 30-Dec 2, virtual Conference and exhibition on best practice in chemical and process safety www.icheme.org/career/events/hazards-30/

DECEMBER World LNG Summit December 1-4, Rome 21st annual conference and awards dinner https://world.cwclng.com/ NISTM December 8-9, The Woodlands 13th Annual National Aboveground Storage Tank Conference & Trade Show www.nistm.org

JANUARY COHMED January 25-29, Savannah Annual conference of the Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development (COHMED) programme https://cvsa.org/eventpage/events/cohmedconference/

FEBRUARY SMM February 2-5, Hamburg 29th biennial exhibition and conference for the global shipping industry http://smm-hamburg.com/en

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INCIDENT LOG ROAD/RAIL/AIR INCIDENTS Date

Location

Details

Source

3/8/20

St-Basile-le-Grand, road tanker diesel Quebec, Canada

Vehicle Type

Substance

Tyre fire in tank truck with 5,000 litres diesel spread to tank, consuming vehicle; fire crews allowed blaze to burn out but despite best efforts some diesel spilled to nearby Richelieu River; driver escaped unhurt

Montreal Gazette

5/8/20

Cheste, road tanker bitumen Valencia, Spain

Road tanker with bitumen overturned on exit from A-3 highway, spilling part of its load; driver badly hurt; no fire; roadway damaged and required repair; spill contained

Las Provincias

10/8/20

Volgograd, road tanker gasoline Russia

Electrical spark ignited road tanker making delivery at fuel station, leading to explosion and fireball; at least 13 people hurt, 10 seriously; some of those were firefighters attending the initial fire

Fox News

12/8/20

Heysham, road tanker nitric acid Lancashire, UK

Leak developed in tanker with nitric acid in port area; residents urged to shelter in place; road closed; fire crews managed to isolate leak and worked with port officials to clean up spill

LancsLive

13/8/20

Kingston, road tanker tar Ontario, Canada

Road tanker with “liquid tar” overturned on Highway 401, spilling cargo to wetlands; vehicle had struck guard rail, apparently due to driver inattention; charges pending

CBC News

13/8/20

Tromode, truck chemicals Isle of Man

Road closed for nine hours after three “crates” (IBCs?) with 3,000 litres potassium borate, hydrogen peroxide, BBC sodium hydroxide fell from truck and were damaged; nearby residents advised to shelter in place

15/8/20

Amangarh, road tankers fuel Punjab, Pakistan

Three fuel tankers caught fire at oil depot in Nowshera Industrial Estate; witnesses reported three explosions, The Int’l dense black smoke; other businesses, nearby residents evacuated; power supply suspended during response News

16/8/20

Hluhluwe, road tanker fuel KZN, South Africa

Multiple vehicles, including one fuel tanker, were in collision on N2; fire broke out on tanker, spread to nearby bush; some casualties but no details; other traffic diverted; cause not yet ascertained

IOL

19/8/20

Lambata, road tankers diesel Niger, Nigeria

At least two killed, seven injured when two road tankers, at least one with diesel, collided on Lambata-Minna road, reportedly during risky overtaking manouvre; two other vehicles involved; fire raged for several hours

Trendy Pulse

25/8/20

Akron, road tanker gasoline Ohio, US

Tank truck and car collided on SR 8, sparking fire; car driver was killed; nearby homes, buildings evacuated; burning gasoline drained to storm sewer, some reaching Cuyahoga River; fire quickly under control

Beacon Journal

26/8/20

Llanelli, freight train diesel Carmarthen, UK

Three wagons of diesel train from Milford Haven derailed, caught fire in Llangennech; some 100 people living nearby evacuated, roads closed; fire burned overnight, posing “substantial risk”

BBC

27/8/20

Yellowstone Park, road tanker gasoline Wyoming, US

Tandem trailer overturned in national park, spilling some 3,000 gal (11.4 m³) gasoline; six-mile (10-km) stretch of road closed during response; no evidence of fuel reaching river

AP

MARINE/INLAND WATERWAY INCIDENTS Date

Location

25/7/20

Pointe d’Esny, Wakashio fuel oil Mauritius

Bulk carrier, in ballast, grounded on reef, causing hull damage in way of bunker tanks; vessel had some 4,000t FleetMon VLSFO, diesel, around 1,000t of which spilt to sea; remaining fuel taken off; vessel broke up, was scuttled

10/8/20

Calaca, Andrina 200 residues Luzon, Philippines

Three crewmen died during cargo tank cleaning, either through asphyxiation or inhalation of toxic fumes FleetMon from cargo residues; all lost consciousness and were rescued but failed to recover; not clear what last cargo was

11/8/20

Dordrecht, Viyada Naree scrap Netherlands

Fire broke out in cargo hold of bulker loading scrap; fire was quickly dealt with and vessel continued cargo operations; similar fire during unloading of scrap loaded at Dordrecht last month

FleetMon

15/8/20

Charleston, S Carolina, US

Accident at Plum Island treatment plant released some 3,100 gal (11.7 m³) diesel, mostly to marshlands and creeks nearby; failed pump control blamed for leak; USCG oversaw response

Maritime Executive

18/8/20

Walluf, inland tanker naphtha Hesse, Germany

Tanker with 1,30 tonnes naphtha lost steering on River Rhine, drifted off course and collided with cargo barge; both vessels damaged but no sign of leak; tanker allowed to proceed after inspection

DW.com

20/8/20

Yangtze estuary, Long Qing 1 gasoline China

Tanker with 3,000 tonnes gasoline collided with sand barge off Yangtze River; tanker caught fire on deck, which proved difficult to extinguish; at least eight crew died on tanker, others missing; other vessel sank

Xinhua

21/8/20

Corpus Christi, pipeline propane Texas, US

Dredging vessel struck submerged propane pipeline, sparking explosion and major fire; two crew on dredger KIII TV killed, two others missing and presumed dead; ship channel closed during response efforts

27/8/20

East China Sea Zhong Chang nickel ore He Sheng

Bulk carrier issued distress signal, reporting cargo liquefaction and danger of capsizing; vessel was north of Senkaku Islands, changed course twice, apparently to keep wind, sea at favourable angles; later stabilised

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

Vessel

Substance

wastewater diesel treatment plant

Details

Source

FleetMon

SAFETY 97

MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS Date

Location

Details

Source

2/8/20

Golfo Triste, oil refinery (?) oil Venezuela

Plant type

Substance

Reports began of oil slick in sea off Falcón state, threatening wetlands, beaches; source of oil spill uncertain, with environmental groups identifying the El Palito refinery as a likely culprit; much of the oil was recovered

BBC

3/8/20

Xiantao, Hubei, China

Six people were killed, four injured by flash explosion at Bluesky Chemical plant; investigation suggested blast happened during cleaning, blaming “chaotic safety management” at the facility

China Daily

4/8/20

Beirut, warehouse Lebanon

ammonium nitrate

Nearly 200 people believed killed by massive blast in warehouse in port area, thought to contain 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate impounded from ship in 2014; possible that it was ignited by fire in other products

BBC

5/8/20

Trois-Rivières, warehouse Quebec, Canada

sodium hydrochlorite

Fire broke out in 3,600 kg sodium hydrochlorite at Somavrac facility; thought that product may have become damp, causing chemical reaction; nearby residents advised to shelter in place; no injuries reported

The Canadian

9/8/20

Haverhill, Suffolk, UK

Some 1,500 litres acetonitrile spilled in Merck plant on industrial estate; fire crews from across the county attended; shelter-in-place advised; fire crews had release under control in two hours

Suffolk Today

10/8/20

nr Wadebridge, brewery Cornwall, UK

Up to 1,000 litres hydrochloric acid spilled at Sharp’s Brewery, producer of Doom Bar ale; operator said acid leaked from container into containment drain, with no risk to community; response plan put into action

BBC

15/8/20

Athens, Greece

plastics plastics factory

Major fire broke out at Metamorfosi plastics factory, blanketing city in thick black smoke; roads closed; fire crews used helicopters to help control the blaze; facility destroyed but fire did not spread to nearby factories

Greek Reporter

23/8/20

Edison, New Jersey, US

chemical plant

titanium tetrachloride

Two people hospitalised after spill of 200 gal titanium tetrachloride at LyondellBasell plant; substance releases Courier hydrogen chloride in contact with humid air; leak came from distillation column, which was quickly isolated News

24/8/20

Damascus, pipeline Syria

natural gas

Explosion on Arab Gas pipeline in outskirts of city caused loss of pressure at power station, nationwide blackout; authorities said it was the result of a terrorist act, though evidence seemed sketchy

27/8/20

Westlake, Louisiana, US

chemical silicon plant

chemical acetonitrile plant hydrochloric acid

chemical chlorine plant

SANA

Hurricane Laura caused damage at BioLab plant, which manufactures pool chemicals and cleaners; fire broke Fox News out, leading to release of chlorine; I-10 highway closed; CSB investigating incident

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COULD IT HAPPEN HERE? EXPLOSIVES • AMMONIUM NITRATE IS STORED AROUND THE WORLD, USUALLY SAFELY BUT OCCASIONALLY DISASTROUSLY. RPMASA WANTS OWNERS AND WAREHOUSES TO WAKE UP TO THE RISK

THE RECENT TRAGEDY in Beirut, with the catastrophic destruction of most of the port and much of the city, should act as a serious wake-up call for all chemical manufacturers, importers and storage facilities. The question all should ask (and many are) is: could it happen here?

There are plenty of well-documented disasters involving ammonium nitrate over the past 100 years, not least the 2015 explosion in Tianjin, China, which killed more than 170 people, and the fire at the Sandoz plant in Basel, Switzerland in November 1986, which resulted in the spillage of tonnes of pollutants into the River Rhine due to the overflow of

Commenting on the Beirut explosion, Liz Anderson, technical director of the Responsible Packaging Manufacturers Association of Southern Africa (RPMASA), asks her community: “let us give thought to what we can do to prevent such disasters happening in our region”. And she is not alone: there are many other responsible associations and experts asking the same question around the world right now.

fire water.

the Explosives Act No 26 of 1956; its import, export and transport into and through the country’s ports is well regulated by the Explosives Division of the South African Police Service (SAPS). But the warehousing and storage of ammonium nitrate and other chemicals in areas outside the ports is less

 THE BEIRUT EXPLOSION WAS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN (PIC: MEHR NEWS AGENCY)

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

KNOW THE HAZARD Ammonium nitrate, classified as UN 1942 or, for ammonium nitrate-based fertilisers, UN 2067, is regulated in South Africa under

well regulated; Anderson is concerned at the potential for misdeclared or unknown cargoes to cause a serious reaction with other, incompatible products, which could have disastrous consequences. She reminds her audience of the warehouse fire that broke out in South Durban in March 2017, which sent black smoke over the city for several days, requiring some evacuations.

“What may be lurking from years past, and what condition could it be in?” Anderson asks.

It is thought that the ammonium nitrate identified as the cause of the Beirut explosion had been in storage for some six years after being impounded by the authorities, and the Tianjin explosion involved improperly stored ammonium nitrate, which detonated after fire spread from stocks of nitrocellulose in the same warehouse.

The answer, Anderson says, is for a full inventory and audit, along with effective permitting, of all warehouses storing chemicals. This should be accompanied by: - Inventory control and the importance of maintaining good product hygiene and the good condition of packaging - Compliance with permit levels - Risk assessment and emergency plans to be in place and be shared with the emergency services and local communities, and - Training for all those involved in the storage of chemicals, so they understand the

SAFETY 99

physical properties and compatibility of chemicals and can ensure effective separation and segregation during storage.

POINT OF CONTACT RPMASA is the lead point for dangerous goods information in southern Africa and is also the only industry association from Africa with observer status at the UN Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and GHS. It has a wide network of contacts and colleagues from international industry and government, and has memoranda of understandings with the Chemical Distribution Institute (CDI) and ICHCA International.

In 2017 RPMASA launched the CDI’s International Marine Packed Cargo Assessment Scheme (IMPCAS) in South Africa, which includes audit schemes for warehouses and freight forwarders as well as terminals, to help them benchmark their safety, efficiency and compliance performance and to set improvement plans to achieve global excellence.

“Implementation of these assessments by all chemical warehousing operators would be a great start to identifying and eliminating potential risks in warehousing and provide peace of mind to those who store chemicals and to the surrounding communities,” says Anderson (pictured right).

Unfortunately, support for IMPCAS assessments and RPMASA’s training courses has been poor, something that, Anderson says, has contributed to the high number of chemical-related incidents in southern Africa.

“The lack of cooperation from other industry sector associations to encourage member participation and to promote the benefits is lamentable, to say the least,” she says, adding: “It is time for all industry sectors to stop working in silos and work together to prevent potential future disasters and tragedies.”

Ultimately, it is not just about ammonium nitrate, there are plenty of other potentially dangerous chemicals manufactured, imported and stored in South Africa. Ignorance and the

avoidance of compliance with regulations and industry best practice is not acceptable and could be the cause of a serious disaster, Anderson stresses. “Product stewardship and producer responsibility mean sharing, caring and working together for the good of all.

Remember: we are all part of a community that needs to be protected!” www.rpmasa.org.za

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SMALL BUT DEADLY CONTAINERS • USING THE LIMITED QUANTITY PROVISIONS TO EFFECTIVELY HIDE DANGEROUS GOODS IN THE MARITIME CHAIN IS A DANGER, SAYS TT CLUB’S PEREGRINE STORRS-FOX TT CLUB, THE leading mutual insurer for the containerised maritime supply chain, has for many years been working hard to highlight

which vary depending on the limits specified in column 7a of the Dangerous Goods List. And those which show a ‘0’ in that column may

the hazards surrounding the transport of dangerous goods on containerships, after a seemingly endless litany of major fires, fatalities, property damage and environmental harm. These have often involved – or been strongly suspected as having involved – misdeclared or undeclared dangerous goods.

A growing focus on the part of TT Club and container lines has sought to identify and remove such consignments from the chain before they cause harm, though incidents continue to plague the industry.

It is apparent that, while there is some wilful misdeclaration of dangerous goods, a lot of the problems come down to expertise, knowledge and training. “Ignorance of the underpinning regulations and, for international shipments, how those regulations interact with one another has the potential to result in unintentional mis-declaration,” says Peregrine Storrs-Fox, risk management director at TT Club.

Patterns in misdeclaration are varied, which makes policing the system very challenging.

And there is always the get-out of using the limited quantity (LQ) provisions, which may in itself take the goods out of the relevant dangerous goods regulations and thus avoid or attract a lower surcharge from carriers.

However, Storrs-Fox says, the LQ provisions are frequently misunderstood.

The International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code is very specific, setting volume limits for both inner and outer packagings,

not be shipped at all as LQ.

 DANGEROUS GOODS IN LIMITED QUANTITIES ARE STILL DANGEROUS GOODS AND MUST COMPLY WITH THE RULES

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STILL IN SCOPE But use of the relief provided by the LQ provisions does not mean that compliance with the IMDG Code is no longer required. For example, training according to Chapter 1.3 of the IMDG Code is still required for all persons employed, including shippers and packers, whose duties concern the transport of dangerous goods, LQ or otherwise. Training shall include the requirements governing the transport of such goods appropriate to the person’s responsibilities and duties.

Similarly, the cargo classification provisions remain applicable, as do requirements concerning appropriate packaging, filling provisions and leakproofness. Shipments by sea still require a container/vehicle packing certificate, which must specify among other requirements that the packages are correctly

segregated where appropriate, that the packages are not damaged or leaking and that the correct labels and marks are in place.

“The LQ provisions are not a mechanism by which dangerous goods can simply be declared and placed into the supply chain as though they fall entirely outside of the scope of the applicable regulations,” Storrs-Fox says.

In recognition of challenges faced by stakeholders in the supply chain, dangerous goods software platforms continue to be developed. One such platform is Exis Technologies’ Hazcheck Detect, a cargo screening solution that scans all booking details for keywords, validates against rules and highlights suspicious bookings to identify mis-declared and non-declared dangerous goods. As software applications become ever more sophisticated, while not themselves intelligent, they become vital tools in the armoury in safeguarding every aspect of the supply chain and delivery certainty of outcome.

“Through good fortune, lack of effective identification and accountability, those who are motivated to mis-declare cargo when placing it into the supply chain may undoubtedly gain.

Over time, the foundation of their respective business models and contracts become based on the cost savings derived from mis-declaration, undermining any safety culture. What may at the outset have been viewed as taking a risk becomes normal practice,” Storrs-Fox adds. www.ttclub.com

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THE DETECTORISTS CONTAINERS • EXIS TECHNOLOGIES AND NCB HAVE FORMALLY LAUNCHED THEIR TOOL TO HELP IDENTIFY IMPROPERLY DECLARED DANGEROUS GOODS IN MARINE CONTAINERS EXIS TECHNOLOGIES AND its parent National Cargo Bureau (NCB) have launched Hazcheck Detect, a cargo screening tool to detect misdeclared and undeclared dangerous goods in containerised shipments. The tool scans all booking details for keywords, validates against rules and highlights suspicious bookings to identify such shipments.

Container lines that sign up to use the service will be able to screen their bookings and bills of lading using the same keywords and rules to try to find mis- and/or undeclared dangerous goods, thereby helping to ensure the safety of the crew, ships and cargo. In the future there is also scope to apply the tool for use in other global screening applications not related to dangerous goods, for example the

 NOT ALL DANGEROUS GOODS ARE PROPERLY DECLARED BUT FINDING THEM HAS BEEN DIFFICULT

illegal shipping of wildlife or other compliance cargo. Currently, the system has around 4,500 mis-declared rules and 10,000 undeclared rules available.

The first customer to sign up for Hazcheck Detect is Maersk Line, whose director Henrik Lauritsen says: “Exis Technologies has developed a solution that could be used industry-wide and allows easy sharing of keywords and rules between industry partners. This is very important so that container lines know that partner lines are searching using the same criteria. The service went into live operation in February 2020 and we are finding an average of 40 containers a week which are stopped, undeclared DG or re-declared as DG. In the past these containers would have been loaded on board as non-DG cargo or misdeclared.

“Critically we get the search hits returned from Hazcheck Detect within seconds so that we can follow up quickly to ensure that

suspicious cargo is not loaded on to the vessels. We are delighted to be the first shipping line to start using Hazcheck Detect and we encourage more lines to come on board,” Lauritsen adds.

SOLUTION FOR A PROBLEM NCB published a white paper this past July (HCB September 2020, page 72), in which it reported that a recent Container Inspection Safety Initiative it carried out had revealed an alarming level of misdeclaration in containers carried by sea, representing a serious safety risk to crews, vessels and the environment. The inspection initiative found that 55 per cent of containers were non-compliant, with 43 per cent revealing a failure to secure dangerous goods correctly within the container. Approximately 6.5 per cent of containers had dangerous goods that had been misdeclared.

The NCB white paper called on industry to adopt a comprehensive, holistic and coordinated approach to address this worrying trend, with 12 recommendations ranging from embracing a safety culture for dangerous goods compliance throughout the organisation, to practical measures for container and vessel inspections and monitoring. One of the recommendations was the incorporation of digital tools to automate critical compliance functions: Hazcheck Detect is just one such tool.

Hazcheck Detect focuses on finding cargo that is not declared as dangerous goods but shows some characteristic that may indicate deliberate or accidental non-declaration, and also for declared dangerous goods that may not be as declared. The tool supports the creation of rules based on keywords and the rules are designed to ensure that only search results of interest are returned for specific follow-up. The rules are continually enhanced and will evolve using machine learning and AI techniques.

Hazcheck Detect is delivered as a softwareas-a-service (SaaS) solution, hosted and maintained by Exis Technologies. It includes a web user interface so that users can enter and maintain data search terms, keywords and rules. www.existec.com

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CLEARING THE AIR FUMIGATION • COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS HAVE MADE LIFE DIFFICULT ALL ROUND. FUMIGATION IN TRANSIT IS MORE HAZARDOUS, AS THE NORTH P&I CLUB EXPLAINS THE FUMIGATION OF bulk cargoes is required to be carried out by qualified operators; a Circular from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) – MSC.1/Circ.1264, Recommendations on the safe use of pesticides in ships applicable to the fumigation of cargo holds, states that the crew should not handle fumigants.

However, particular trades sometimes require ‘top-up’ fumigation to be carried out during the voyage. This is most typical with the carriage of logs, and ordinarily the qualified fumigators will sail with the vessel to apply the top-up fumigant. But what happens when fumigators cannot sail with the vessel because of travel restrictions caused by Covid-19?

To meet the requirements of the IMO Circular, designated crew receive basic training from the ‘fumigator-in-charge’, who also initiates

 TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED AS A RESULT OF THE COVID-19 CRISIS HAVE MADE IT ALL THE MORE LIKELY THAT SHIPS’ CREW WILL HAVE TO CARRY OUT TOP-UP FUMIGATION

fumigation and remains on board long enough to allow the gas concentrations to build up to a level where testing for leaks can be carried out. Once it has been confirmed that the vessel is safe and no leaks are present, then the fumigator-in-charge will normally hand over the operation to the Master. If qualified fumigators are not permitted to sail with the vessel and topping up is required, it is likely that the crew will be requested to carry out this task.

This may be at odds with the IMO guidance, which recommends against crew handling fumigants. But there have been reported instances where topping up has been carried out successfully and safely by the crew after they received specialist training from the fumigation company.

given to the selected crew members and propose contingency plans.

The training requirements for the crew to be able to safely apply top-up fumigant are far more comprehensive than the basic safety training for in-transit fumigation, where the crew only monitor the process that is already underway. Envirofume, a fumigation company in New Zealand, has developed a two-day course for crew on the safe use of aluminium phosphide fumigant, and have kindly shared an outline of its training programme.

The training is delivered to an officer and a rating as a minimum, and they must ensure language is not a barrier. In the case of New Zealand, the crew under training must have a high standard of English.

Training covers the following aspects: • Fumigant properties • Safety protocols • Actions required in the event of an incident • Fumigation-related tasks covering all aspects of the fumigation process, including application, gas monitoring and leak tests • Necessary documentation The crew undergo a final assessment before they are deemed competent by the fumigation company.

TRAINING THE CREW

TOPPING UP The topping-up procedure to be carried out during the voyage by the trained crew members should be the same as the procedure followed by the specialist fumigators during initial fumigation at the load port. Therefore, the crew can run through the entire process with a technician before they conduct the fumigation themselves during the voyage.

Once the vessel departs the load port, the trained crew liaise closely with the fumigation company, including sending daily the results of safety checks. On a set date during the voyage, the trained crew can then carry out the top-up fumigation in accordance with the fumigation company’s step-by-step procedure. The

The vessel and the fumigation company should together develop a plan which is then presented to the vessel’s flag state and the relevant port states for approval. The plan should provide details of how the operation will be conducted (based on a thorough risk assessment), address what training will be

fumigation company should always be available to offer any additional guidance if the crew encounter any issues during the operation or subsequent monitoring.

North P&I Club has more information on safe fumigation on its website at www.nepia.com/ publications/fumigation-briefings/.

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DEVIL IN THE DETAIL

THE 2021 TEXT oof the Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods

by Road (ADR) enters into force on 1 January 2021, with a six-month transitional period within the EU (and the UK). For those familiar with the two volumes contained in Annexes A and B to ADR, one obvious change will appear on the front cover – the word ‘European’ will no longer come in front of ‘Agreement’ as, after several years of discussion and reflecting the fact that ADR is widely used (and not just by signatory states) elsewhere in the world,

Changes within the covers of the two documents will, though, be less extensive than is normal for the biennial update. As with other organisations around the world, restrictions relating to the Covid-19 pandemic curtailed the ability of the body responsible for ADR – the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s (UN ECE) Working Party on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (WP15) – to complete its deliberations. In particular, the postponement of WP15’s session scheduled for May 2020 meant that a lot

for 2021 had to be deposited with the UN no later than 1 July 2020.

Having lost that opportunity in May to make further changes, WP15 has limited the update to ADR to those decisions taken at the previous three sessions, which were partly based on the deliberations of the Joint Meeting of Experts on RID/ADR/ADN (necessary to ensure modal harmonisation with rail and inland waterway transport) and partly on the latest, 21st revised edition of the UN Model Regulations.

A few outstanding items crucial for modal harmonisation were agreed by correspondence subsequent to the postponed May session, along with some amendments critical for safety that had been put forward by the Working Groups on Tanks and Standards, not least those in Parts 8 and 9, which are not drawn from the UN Model Regulations.

The 108th session originally scheduled for May has been rearranged for 9 to 13 November; as of writing, it cannot be stated

it has been decided it is now an obstacle to road safety in the world at large.

of the work to finalise outstanding issues was left unfinished. On the basis of previous experience, this was the last chance to have significant amendments agreed and adopted – and there had been a number of issues left over from the previous sessions. From a legal standpoint, the notification of changes

with confidence that this session will go ahead. It is due to discuss the items placed on the agenda for the May session, but any significant decisions taken will be too late for inclusion in the 2021 text of ADR – although any deemed sufficiently safety-critical may be anticipated through multilateral special

ROAD • NEXT YEAR’S ADR WILL BE PUBLISHED SHORTLY. THERE ARE A FEW SIGNIFICANT CHANGES BUT A LOT OF APPARENTLY MINOR AMENDMENTS THAT WILL AFFECT MANY USERS

 THE ADR REGULATIONS GOVERN A WIDE ARRAY OF ROAD TRANSPORT OPERATIONS

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agreements, should contracting parties feel so inclined.

HEADLINE CHANGES There is, as this issue of HCB went to press, no consolidated list of amendments adopted thus far, although formal adoption was scheduled for 1 October. A document published in February at the request of WP15 following its 107th session has been augmented by a set of corrections and an addendum, detailing the further changes agreed through correspondence.

What is apparent is that there are no overarching changes of any major importance, unlike in other years. There are some that will affect certain shippers and carriers, but nothing of the extent of the new ‘Articles containing dangerous goods’ or the new approach to polymerising substances that have appeared in recent updates. This article attempts to summarise some of the more significant amendments included in the 2021 text.

To start with the Dangerous Goods List – which is always the starting point for using ADR – there are only four new entries. Three

of these – UN 0511, 0512 and 0513 – relate to Detonators, electronic, programmable for blasting, assigned to Divisions 1.1B, 1.4B and 1.4S, respectively. These articles have been in use for some time but were not accurately represented in the Dangerous Goods List.

The fourth new entry is UN 3549, Medical waste, Category A, solid; this was added as a result of problems experienced in the response to the Ebola virus outbreaks in Africa in 2014 to 2016, which generated large volumes of solid waste that could not be transported fully in compliance with the regulations in effect at the time.

These new entries are accompanied by packing instructions, special provisions and other measures in various parts of the regulations.

The increasing use of telematics systems, sensors and other ‘data loggers’ on transport assets has raised questions over their place in the dangerous goods regulations. This has now been clarified by an addition to 1.1.3.7(b), which provides an exemption for electric energy storage systems and such like, which are contained in equipment “used or intended for use during carriage”. Data loggers and

cargo tracking devices are now excluded from this exemption and, instead, are dealt with under a new 5.5.4, which reads: 5.5.4 Dangerous goods contained in equipment in use or intended for use during carriage, attached to or placed in packages, overpacks, containers or load compartments 5.5.4.1 Dangerous goods (e.g. lithium batteries, fuel cell cartridges) contained in equipment such as data loggers and cargo tracking devices, attached to or placed in packages, overpacks, containers or load compartments are not subject to any provisions of ADR other than the following: (a) the equipment shall be in use or intended for use during carriage; (b) the contained dangerous goods (e.g. lithium batteries, fuel cell cartridges) shall meet the applicable construction and test requirements specified in ADR; and (c) the equipment shall be capable of withstanding the shocks and loadings normally encountered during carriage.

5.5.4.2 When such equipment containing dangerous goods is carried as a consignment, the relevant entry of Table A of Chapter 3.2 shall be used and all applicable provisions of ADR shall apply.

There are two problems that have emerged with this new provision. Firstly, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) wanted to limit the power rating of the lithium batteries covered in 5.5.4, so as not to leave the potential for large batteries being transported on aircraft without their hazard being communicated; as a result, there will be modal disharmony (although this might be addressed in a correction at some point).

Secondly, it is far from clear how shippers of non-dangerous goods, such as foodstuffs, are to know about 5.5.4 if they are using tracking devices on their shipments.

NOTABLE CHANGES In Chapter 1.2, there are a number of changes to the definitions, many relating to radioactive materials. These include the replacement of ‘Radiation level’ with ‘Dose rate’, reflecting

 THE TRANSPORT OF SOLID MEDICAL WASTE IS NOW COVERED BY THE ADR REGULATIONS

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a change in use throughout the regulations.

There are also amendments to the definitions of ‘Self-accelerating decomposition temperature (SADT)’ and ‘Self-accelerating polymerisation temperature (SAPT)’. Also, following input from the tank container industry, the definition of ‘Tank-container/portable tank operator’ has changed to mean “any enterprise in whose name the tank-container or portable tank is operated”.

Chapter 1.6 contains a number of significant amendments to the provisions for packages for use with radioactive materials, following changes in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material.

In 1.8.5.1, ‘unloader’ is added to the list of persons responsible for making an accident report.

In Chapter 2.3 there is a revision to 2.3.2.1 on the classification criteria of nitrocellulose, introducing the possibility of using the methyl violet paper test as well as the BergmannJunk test.

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One change that may have wide applicability is found in a new 3.1.2.8.1.4: For UN Nos 3077 and 3082 only, the technical name may be a name shown in capital letters in column 2 of Table A of Chapter 3.2, provided that this name does not include “N.O.S.” and that special provision 274 is not assigned. The name which most appropriately describes the substance or mixture shall be used, e.g.: UN 3082, ENVIRONMENTALLY HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE, LIQUID, N.O.S. (PAINT) UN 3082, ENVIRONMENTALLY HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE, LIQUID, N.O.S. (PERFUMERY PRODUCTS).

This avoids the need to include a technical name; it was thought that as such names are often lengthy and confusing to non-chemists, their use in terms of hazard communication offers little value.

Elsewhere in Chapter 3, there are amendments to around 25 special provisions and one significant new one, SP 390, which deals with the marking and documentation requirements when a package contains a

combination of lithium batteries contained in and packed with equipment. Other new special provisions deal with nitrocellulose classification, solid medical waste of Category A (the new UN 3549), and a prohibition on the mixed loading of polymeric beads (UN 2211) and plastics moulding compounds (UN 3314) with explosives, other than 1.4S. In Chapter 4 there are some 30 changes to the packing instructions, mostly minor in nature, although there is a new P622 (and LP622) to deal with UN 3549. P801 for lithium batteries has been amended, with the former P801a deleted, and there are some changes to P903. A new special packing provision PP96 in P003 requires ventilation for packagings containing waste gas cartridges of UN 2037.

One important change is in 4.1.1.3, which is now headed “Design type”.

A new 4.1.1.3.2 reads: Packagings, including IBCs and large packagings, may conform to one or more than one successfully tested design type and may bear more than one mark.

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In 4.2.5.3, TP19 is amended to read: At the time of construction, the minimum shell thickness determined according to 6.7.3.4 shall be increased by 3 mm as a corrosion allowance.

Shell thickness shall be verified ultrasonically at intervals midway between periodic hydraulic tests and shall never be lower than the minimum shell thickness determined according to 6.7.3.4.

SECOND HALF Chapter 5.2 contains a number of changes to the required sizes of some marks, labels and lettering on packages. For instance, the second sentence of 5.2.1.1 now reads: The UN number and the letters “UN” shall be at least 12 mm high, except for packages of 30 l capacity or less or of 30 kg maximum net mass and for cylinders of 60 l water capacity or less when they shall be at least 6 mm in height and except for packages of 5 l capacity or less or of 5 kg maximum net mass when they shall be of an appropriate size.

The minimum size of the lithium battery mark (5.2.1.9.2) will now be 100 mm x 100 mm, though the way the amendment is worded allows the continued use of existing marks, which are larger, which will be of benefit to those using pre-printed boxes.

In Chapter 5.4, dealing with documentation, there is a clarification in 5.4.1.1.1(k), which now reads: for carriage that includes passage through tunnels with restrictions for carriage of dangerous goods, the tunnel restriction code given in Column (15) of Table A of Chapter 3.2, in capitals within parenthesis, or the mention ‘(–)’.

There are some changes in 5.5.3 on the carriage of UN 1845 dry ice; notably, the first sentence of 5.5.3.4.1 will now begin: Packages containing dry ice (UN 1845) as a consignment shall be marked “CARBON DIOXIDE, SOLID” or “DRY ICE”;

 CHANGES TO ADR WILL AFFECT THE DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DRY ICE AND PROVIDE DETAILED REQUIREMENTS ON THE USE OF DATA LOGGERS, EVEN ON NON-HAZARDOUS GOODS

Chapter 6.1 contains a number of new and revised provisions. Of particular note are the replacement of the second sentence of 6.1.3.1(e) to read: In such a case and when the clock is placed adjacent to the UN design type mark, the indication of the year in the mark may be waived. However, when the clock is not placed adjacent to the UN design type mark, the two digits of the year in the mark and in the clock shall be identical.

There is also an important new 6.1.3.14: Where a packaging conforms to one or more than one tested packaging design type, including one or more than one tested IBC or large packaging design type, the packaging may bear more than one mark to indicate the relevant performance test requirements that have been met. Where more than one mark appears on a packaging, the marks shall appear in close proximity to one another and each mark shall appear in its entirety.

Similar text appears in new 6.5.2.1.3 for IBCs and 6.6.3.4 for large packagings.

Also new are 6.1.4.2.6 (for aluminium

retain their protective properties under normal conditions of carriage.

As ever, there are a range of new and updated standards referenced in Chapter 6.2, relating to gas cylinders and LPG equipment and in Chapter 6.8 relating to tanks.

In Chapter 6.5, the minimum wall thickness requirements for metal IBCs have been amended (6.5.5.1.6).

In Chapter 7.5, there are some changes to the CV codes, mainly to do with radioactive materials, though there is a significant revision in CV36 to require a warning notice when gas exchange between the load compartment and the driver’s cab cannot be prevented.

In Chapter 8.5, three of the safety codes – namely S1(6), S16 and S21 – have been amended to make specific mention of the security plan.

There is a new paragraph in 9.1.3.4 to state: The vehicle shall not be used for the carriage of dangerous goods after the nominal expiry date until the vehicle has a valid certificate of approval.

As noted earlier, it is important that all

drums) and 6.1.4.3.6 (for drums of meal other than aluminium or steel), both of which read: If materials used for body, heads, closures and fittings are not in themselves compatible with the contents to be carried, suitable internal protective coatings or treatments shall be applied. These coatings or treatments shall

those subject to the provisions of ADR look closely through the new text as there are very many other changes that may affect their operations. Once finalised, the 2021 text will be made available electronically on the UN ECE website at www.unece.org/trans/danger/ danger.html.

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SECTION 1 The most obvious change in the 62nd edition of the DGR is the incorporation of a competency-based approach to dangerous goods training and assessment in 1.5. This had been included in the 61st edition in Appendix I to give industry and authorities time to consider how they would address the new requirements; the previous 1.5 is now moved to Attachment A of Appendix H, as there is a two-year transitional period until 31 December 2022, during which time the current training provisions may continue to be used.

Elsewhere in Section 1, the list of exceptions in 1.2.7 has been expanded to include dangerous goods required for the preservation of organs intended for transplant, and dangerous goods to be dropped for pest management purposes.

New entries have also been added to the indicative list of high-consequence dangerous goods in Table 1.7.A.

MORE THAN TRAINING

THE NEW, 62ND edition of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) takes effect promptly on 1 January 2021. As it has done in previous years, IATA has made available a summary of the significant changes that can be found in it, to help those subject to the DGR prepare for the new year’s incoming rules.

It might have been expected that this time

travel and meeting imposed to protect against the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the list of amendments adopted by ICAO’s Dangerous Goods Panel and IATA’s Dangerous Goods Board has been rather shorter than usual.

Neither this article nor IATA’s list of significant changes will be sufficient for those in scope of the rules to be compliant;

SECTION 2 There are several changes to the provisions covering dangerous goods carried by passengers or crew, all involving batteries and battery-powered equipment.

Passengers will now be able to carry up to two spare batteries for mobility aids (2.3.2.2) and up to two personal safety devices (2.3.4.2).

The provisions for portable electronic devices (PEDs) and spare batteries for them in 2.3.5.8 have been amended to amalgamate the provisions for electronic cigarettes and for PED powered by wet non-spillable batteries; that subsection also includes a clarification that it applies to dry batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries as well as lithium batteries.

around, as it is a biennial update for the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Technical Instructions, which are incorporated in DGR, there would be a lengthy list of amendments. However, with rulemaking activity hampered like all other business operations by the restrictions on

they will still have to acquire copies of the updated DGR. However, it is hoped that the information presented here will go some way to highlighting those amendments that may have particular impact on air shippers, carriers and others active in the supply chain.

There is a change to 2.4.2(a) on the transport of dry ice as a refrigerant for UN 3373 in mail; such articles must be offered separately from other mail to allow the operator to meet requirements for acceptance and for the information to the pilot-in-command.

AIR • THE UPDATED VERSION OF IATA’S DANGEROUS GOODS REGULATIONS CONTAINS FEWER CHANGES THAN USUAL BUT A NUMBER OF THEM WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT

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SECTION 3 In the classification section, new criteria added to 3.6.2.5 address solid medical waste containing Category A infection substances; subsection 3.8.3 has revised criteria for the assignment of packing groups to corrosive substances and mixtures.

SECTION 4 The new DGR will include the new UN entries drawn from the UN Model Regulations; UN 0511, 0512 and 0513 for detonators, electronic and UN 3549 for medical waste, Category A. The proper shipping name Dangerous goods in articles is added to UN 3633.

Elsewhere in the List of Dangerous Goods, UN 2216 Fish meal, stabilised is now permitted for both passenger and cargo aircraft, having formerly been forbidden/forbidden. The word ‘stabilised’ is added to the proper shipping name for UN 2522 2-Dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate. The packing instruction for medical and clinical waste (UN 3291) has been changed from PI 622 to PI 621 following the renumbering of the instruction to align with the UN Model Regulations.

Among the special provisions in 4.4, there are amendments to A88, A99, A107, A145, A154 and A201. A154 has been significantly revised to address damaged and defective lithium batteries; this is accompanied by changes to packing instructions PI 965 and PI 970 to specify that lithium cells or batteries identified as damaged or defective in accordance with SP A154 are forbidden for transport.

A new A219 is assigned to UN 2216 Fish meal, stabilised, to specify that antioxidants must be added to the fish meal to prevent spontaneous combustion. An important new special provision is A215, assigned to UN 3077

and 3082 to allow the shipper to use a listed proper shipping name as the technical name.

SECTION 5 In common with other modes, 5.0.2.5 has been changed to allow packagings that meet more than one tested design type to bear more than one UN specification mark.

There are many and various changes to the packing instructions, many of which follow on from amendments in the UN Model Regulations. Of particular note are changes to PI 650 and PI 959 to clarify that the diamondshaped mark with the UN number must appear on one side of the package; PI 957 has been revised to allow for both combination and single packagings; and PI Y963 now identifies that a unit load device prepared by a single shipper may contain dry ice as a refrigerant for consumer commodities.

SECTIONS 6/7 There are numerous revisions to the packaging specification and performance test provisions, including changes to marking requirements.

An important change in 6.1.7.2 revises the maximum capacity for metal aerosols. There are the usual updates to ISO standards for UN cylinders and closed cryogenic receptacles in 6.4.2.

A new provision in 6.2.2.7 and 6.2.7.7 identifies that, for aluminium or other metal drums, suitable internal coatings must be applied if the drum is not compatible with the contents to be transported; this is in line with existing requirements for steel drums and steel and aluminium jerricans.

There are revisions in Section 7 to clarify the height of the UN/ID number and the letters ‘UN’ or ‘ID’ on packages (7.1.4.4.1) and to revise the minimum dimension of the lithium battery mark (7.1.5.5.3), both in line with

8.2.1 to the effect that the statement on the air waybill has been revised to align with the use of electronic documentation; there is a two-year transition period for this change.

In 9.1.9, the recommendation that operators should include the transport of dangerous goods as part of their safety risk assessment has been made mandatory. The requirement in 9.6.4 on the provision of reports no longer refers to the state of origin.

There are a few revisions in Section 10, which deals with radioactive materials, to align with the UN Model Regulations and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) transport safety standards.

APPENDICES Aside from the changes relating to training (see above), there are a few additions to the definitions in Appendix A, changes to the list of organic peroxides in Table C.2, and the usual updated information in Appendices D, E and F. A full list of the significant changes, as well as the new DGR itself, can be accessed via the IATA website at www.iata.org/en/ publications/dgr/.

other modal regulations.

 ALL THOSE INVOLVED IN THE TRANSPORT OF DANGEROUS GOODS BY AIR WILL NEED TO COMPLY WITH THE NEW EDITION OF IATA’S DG REGULATIONS PROMPTLY ON 1 JANUARY 2021

SECTIONS 8/9/10 The requirements on how to describe multiple overpacks on the Shipper’s Declaration have been revised, with a new example added in Figure 8.1.Q. There is also a small change in

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CONNECTING THE COMMUNITY

SHIPPING DANGEROUS GOODS (DG) is a complex and high-risk activity, leaving professionals at various levels of organisations looking for information, searching to find answers or simply trying to stay on top of the latest trends, issues and regulatory changes.

Addressing this common challenge was a driving force behind the creation of DG Exchange, the global dangerous goods industry’s first digital community. DG Exchange is a one-of-a-kind platform where supply chain and business professionals can

related to dangerous goods and further empower themselves to improve supply chain performance, compliance, safety and profitability within their organisations.

DG Exchange offers a wide range of opportunities to: - Access insightful content and share/request sources - Attend educational events and training sessions - Engage with peers through open forums and other networking opportunities.

Groups: this is where users can discover resources, members, events and conversations centred on key dangerous goods topics – regulations, training, lithium batteries, technology in the supply chain and supply chain management.

Events: DG Exchange will host live virtual events throughout the year as well as on-demand webinars on a range of supply chain topics.

Resources: DG Exchange will be a home for articles, blog posts, infographics, podcasts and more, to help users stay up to date with the latest DG issues, trends and best practices.

Forums: Users can engage with other members by asking questions and participating in ongoing discussions about specific hazmat-related topics.

Member directory: Users can find and connect with community members located in specific regions of the world, who have specific areas of expertise or similar job roles or focus areas.

connect and share ideas and information

So what exactly can users find in DG Exchange and how can it help make their hazmat transport operations safer and more efficient?

DG Exchange provides a range of opportunities for members to engage, learn and connect around the key trends and challenges impacting the dangerous goods industry.

RANGE OF TOPICS Dangerous goods transport isn’t just one subject – it’s more like a university where every topic has its own curriculum and requires its own level of expertise. That’s why the DG Exchange offers five distinct groups where

PLATFORM • ROB FINN, VICE-PRESIDENT OF LABELMASTER, INTRODUCES A NEW COMMUNITY FOR DG PROFESSIONALS THAT WILL HELP THEM SHARE, LEARN AND NETWORK

 DG EXCHANGE PROVIDES A WINDOW ON A WORLD OF EXPERTISE, OPINION AND KNOWLEDGE

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participants can start and join conversations: •R egulations: Dangerous goods regulations make up several thousand-page books and there are new wrinkles every week. Here’s where you can get help navigating them all.

•T echnology in the Supply Chain: From blockchain to warehouse management to artificial intelligence, keep up with the world’s most advanced hazmat operations.

•S upply Chain Management: C-suites have finally woken up to the importance of safe, efficient supply chains. Get insights you can share to secure the resources you need.

•T raining: Top dangerous goods managers know the right training practices can unlock higher performance throughout the operation. Make it happen with tips and insights here.

• Lithium Batteries: Everyone’s favorite topic deserves its own group, right? Find the help you need to stay on top of new regulations and operator variations.

There’s also a ‘Hazard Class 13: Unclassified DG Topics’ group with live chats about any topic related to the DG supply chain.

WHO’S IN? DG Exchange was created for anyone involved in the dangerous goods supply chain. Whether your organisation ships dangerous goods every day or only a few packages a year, the DG Exchange is a place where professionals at all levels of the organisation can come to better understand the complex world of DG. In addition, your organisation can gain valuable information, insights and connections to enhance business performance, improve operations, drive revenue and more.

The community is special because it’s the individuals involved in the dangerous goods supply chain who are driving discussions, sharing insightful content and collaborating with each other. Once you join, you’ll have unlimited, free access to every section of the DG Exchange.

You’ll be able to make connections with other supply chain pros and industry experts, chat about issues that impact your business, and dive deep into resources from myriad sources to find the insights you need.

Because the DG Exchange is driven by the DG community, you – and thousands of professionals like you – will determine how fast it grows and what directions it takes. As the community grows, so too will the industry topics that are covered, the resource content being shared and the volume of peers around the world with whom to connect. Ultimately, the community will provide the continuous opportunity for members to better navigate critical dangerous goods issues and positively impact their businesses.

Join the DG Exchange community – just go to www.dgexchange.com – to connect with your peers and access exclusive content to empower your organisation to better manage dangerous goods.

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112 BACK PAGE

NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED WHEN PLANTS ATTACK There’s some stinky stories here on the Back Page this month, so readers of a delicate disposition are advised to look away now.

Our first story takes us to New Jersey, where back in May a couple were waiting keenly on a delivery of elephant ear plant (Colocasia) bulbs from Amazon. A package duly turned up – despite it being listed as ‘delayed’ on the Amazon website – with a proper USPS logo on it. Inside was another bag with ‘China Post’ on the label, stating that it contained jewellery from Shenzhen.

There was one problem: it smelled awful.

In fact, it was so bad that the man gingerly checked the package outside while wearing a surgical mask. He found brown sludge leaking from the package and a really, really bad smell.

“It was the weirdest thing I have ever smelled,” he told local reporters. “I used to work at a grocery and that dumpster in the middle of summer – milk and everything else – did not compare to this smell. It was just horrible!”

So bad, indeed, that he called the cops, who sent their hazmat team to check it out.

One of the technicians who arrived on scene used equipment to investigate the package and determined it contained something organic. The police duly filed a report (as they always do) but left the package with the couple for them to dispose of.

against opening packages containing seeds from China. It seems that that’s what the package was, with the seeds having badly decomposed in transit. We don’t know what happened to the bulbs they ordered, though.

Oddly, there was a phone number on the package; when the couple rang it, the call was diverted to the man’s own cellphone. Amazon said the number was not one of theirs.

A couple of months later, the man spotted an item on the local news website where the NJ Department of Agriculture was advising

a single parent and the resulting lack of rest had weakened his immune system to the point where he could not fight off the infection.

The moral of this story? At the end of the day, just put your socks in the laundry basket and walk away.

HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020

FUNGUS FEET But things don’t have to go that far to go bad.

We were alerted to a tale from 2018, involving a man in Zhangzhou, China, who showed up at hospital complaining of chest pains and an annoying cough. He was admitted as an emergency and x-rayed to try and find the source of the pain. He was diagnosed with a fungal infection of the lungs and kept in hospital for treatment.

After interviewing the man, medics determined that his condition was most likely caused by his habit of sniffing his socks after wearing them. (Note to female readers: this is what men to do see if they can be worn another day.) But he had a fungal infection on his feet and, by sniffing his socks, transferred that infection to his lungs.

It seems he was not in fact just giving his socks a quick sniff; rather, he admitted to doctors that he had become addicted to smelling them, and it was probably those repeated, deep sniffs that had brought the fungal spores into his chest. The hospital also figured that the stresses of being

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