A word from GPLN:                                Newsletter Issue 78 / Jan-Feb 2021

We hope that you are all healthy and have started the New Year well and that this will be a successful year for all of you.

The global freight forwarding market experienced last year its most challenging year to date amid the Covid-19 pandemic, contracting 9 percent year-on-year. Looking back at 2020, the reduction in both air and sea capacity also significantly disrupted global supply chains. However, it is expected to rebound and that government stimulus programs will support investments, especially in renewable energy. Many logistics providers believe that the gas-fired power generation sector, in particular, will provide substantial new business opportunities over the next few years, as will the maintenance and modernization of existing installations.

With promising developments in regards to Covid-19 vaccines, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised up its outlook for 2021, predicting that global trade will reach almost pre-pandemic levels next year. Industry analyst Transport Intelligence (TI) believes that the underlying GDP and trade growth dynamics will have a swift recovery in the freight forwarding sector. The airfreight forwarding market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.6 percent over 2021-2024, and the ocean market should see a 5.2 percent growth over the same period.

Delays, lack of space and a surge in tariffs is plaguing the liner shipping market. While the current situation is causing problems for shippers and forwarders alike, there are opportunities for the breakbulk and multipurpose shipping sector. Unprecedented demand out of Asia and a shortage of empty containers as a result of blank sailings are contributing to the situation, which has forced forwarders and shippers to accept new surcharges in addition to general rate increases. As container carriers focus on their traditional cargoes, at least for the short-term, various breakbulk cargoes are finding their way back into the holds of the multipurpose fleet. In some cases, these ships have even been loaded with containers and bulk.

In other news, Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt which had also imposed an embargo on travel and trade, agreed to lift the restrictions at a Gulf Cooperation Council summit in January and announced that they reopened also their land borders with Qatar, marking a major step towards resolving a three-year diplomatic crisis that saw the latter’s neighbors sever ties and suspend all land, air and sea links. Qatar has emerged from the crisis seemingly unaffected, especially in regards to the country’s project logistics industry. The political impasse had ramifications on trade lanes, but challenges were quickly overcome with new sourcing strategies.

Furthermore, January 2021 marked a new era for trade across Africa as countries opened their markets under the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) agreement. Several years in the making, the agreement has been ratified by 36 African nations, to date. Since its inception, the agreement has been lauded as a way to boost Intra-African trade, promote industrialization, create jobs, and improve competitiveness of African industries on the global stage.

At the time of writing, we still don’t know whether the Breakbulk Europe event in Bremen will be moved to a later date this year. However, considering the slow Covid-19 vaccination programs in various countries and consequently also prolonged travel-, entry and in-person meeting restrictions we can’t imagine that this event will take place in May, as it is the case with our upcoming AGM which was scheduled alongside this event. Due to this fact we have also secured space in autumn 2021 at the same venue hotel in Bremen, the Dorint Park Hotel. More details will be announced in due time.

Best wishes for 2021. Please stay safe and healthy!

Your GPLN Team

Star Shipping handles various shipments

GPLN member Star Shipping from Pakistan has recently successfully delivered an enormous breakbulk cargo re-export shipment from Multan site, Punjab, to Karachi port, said Mr. Muhammad Kamran, the CEO of the company. The re-export shipment was consisting of 80 breakbulk units, totaling 2,250 freight tons. The scope of services included loading and   receiving of the breakbulk cargo at Multan job site, transportation from Multan to Karachi port and offloading at Karachi port. The job was done successfully and within the provided lead-time without any accident. Furthermore, Star Shipping Pakistan has set a new milestone in the logistics industry of Pakistan by dispatching 4 different shipments to its several ongoing projects in KPK, Punjab and AJK-Kashmir, within one-day span.

Star Shipping closed the year 2020 with an inaugural handling of a vessel at Gwadar Seaport in Pakistan. It gave them pleasure to perform its maiden voyage for loading the cargo at Gwadar Sea Port Pakistan. Gwadar is Pakistan’s largest infrastructural project site since their independence, Gwadar is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea in the western province of Balochistan, about 533 km from Karachi. Furthermore, Star Shipping and its operations team performed a real fight to complete another challenging task closing by year-end. Thanks to great efforts of their operation team working through the cold night with just 5 grad temperature they lifted a volume of 2300 CBM cargo onward to the transportation to site. They carefully choose the most suitable means of transport to deliver the cargo on time and in good shape during the most difficult weather conditions.

Star Shipping enjoyed its first project in 2021 with delivering cargo to a site despite foggy weather conditions and moved 3x packages/units of 3.4m length and 3.4 diam, as well as 1x package/unit of 6m length, 3.6m width and 4.2 m height with as skid. Furthermore, they also successfully coordinated and surveyed a project on behalf of principals at Karachi Port to the site. Commodity: heavy gas capsule. Dimension: 25.60m x 4.267m x 3.65m. Weight: 274 metric tons.  Star Shipping’s third project of 2021 was a cargo delivery (transportation) from Karachi to Kabul. Commodity: transformers with accessories. Dimension: 6.705m x 4.267m x 4.572m.

Star Shipping Completed in the first week of February 2021 also a wind mill project with supervising and coordination on behalf of its principals from Lianyungang port in China to Qasim port in Pakistan. Commodity: 165 packages of partial shipment for a 50MW wind power generator.

PROTRANSER handles precision and other cargo

GPLN member PROTRANSER’s team from China delivered recently 5*40FR & 3*40HC from Dalian to Changchun, 700km away in Northern China, after unstuffing the cargo in two lots. The shipment was precision equipment (auto parts processing equipment) and need to be transported on air cushion trucks. Our team delivered all the cargo to door safely and on time.

They also delivered 3 pieces 8MW Hubs from Qingdao in China to Europe. The dimension of cargos was: 5.85 * 5.1 * 4.85m / 42000KGS. Working scope: door to door, including picking up cargo from factory 80km away from the port, port service at Qingdao port, shipping from Qingdao to Hamburg in Germany as breakbulk cargo on container vessel, delivering to nominated place after discharging at Hamburg port. Besides, we also provided a survey report for loading process in Qingdao to our client.

In January 2021 they handled nearly 6000 CBM cargo at Shanghai Luojing port for an oil extraction project in Nigeria. 4 units of them were over 40 tons and the max dimension reached 8.69m*3.50m*2.80m. Our working scope was port service, including collecting cargo and coordinating with carrier and port authority to make sure all cargo will be load on board on time.

Furthermore, their team delivered 2 sets of tanks from Shanghai/China to Vietnam. Dimension and weight of each tank was 33m*4.7m*4.7m / 97.3mt per set. Work scope included: 1. pick up cargo from factory; 2. barge chartering service from Zhangjiagang to Shanghai in one day; 3. floating crane service in Shanghai port to load cargo on Breakbulk vessel; 4. Breakbulk vessel chartering service from Shanghai to Ho Chi Minh port in five days; 5. floating crane service in Ho Chi Minh port to discharge cargo on nominated barge.

In another move they delivered 2 sets of tanks from Shanghai to Casablanca, Morocco by Ro/Ro vessel. Work scope included picking up cargo from factory in Zhangjiagang city, Jiangsu province, port service in Shanghai Haitong Ro/Ro terminal and Ro/Ro vessel chartering service from Shanghai to Casablanca. Before shipping, we met a big challenge, which was that the height of cargo changed from 2.7 meters to 3.7 meters.

Dimension and weight: 16m*3.7m*3.7m / 28tons each. There was a limited time left for us to check the possibility of the solution and adjust it, so we had to change different trailers and check with Ro/Ro carriers for two legs, which was transferred in Europe. But finally, we did it and completed this challenging task successfully.

They also delivered 18m long steel pipes from Shanghai/China to Vancouver/Canada. The diameter of each one is 0.81m and total volume is over 1000 CBM. Work scope included port service in Shanghai Luojing terminal for breakbulk cargo, breakbulk vessel chartering service and port service in Vancouver until all the pipes were loaded on trucks.

Finally, PROTRANSER’s team completed again successfully a project logistics service. Our client had to import a set of 400 tons Numerical Control Stamping machine from Japan to China. The heaviest unit was 56 tons with 5.9m*3.3m*3.95m. According to the requirement, we needed to not only deliver the cargo to the factory, but also mobilize the machine and tool to unload at factory and store the cargo properly. Due to this fact we also arranged a 300 tons gantry crane to install the main body in the factory under the instruction of an engineer team who arrived two months later.

During the COVID period, it was a challenge for us. Our team had to follow the strict safety instructions to enter the factory for necessary measurement of the environment and prepare proper machine and tool and operation team for delivering, unloading and installation in advance. We mobilized 2 forklifts (7 tons and 10 tons) and 2 crank cranes (60 tons) for unloading operation and covered the wooden box with tarpaulin which was stored outside of factory under a roof. The main body was stored properly inside the factory. For installation process, our operation team handled it carefully and professionally. With hard work and excellent management of coordinating with different partners, we completed this difficult task.

Universal Transport delivers New Tram for Bielefeld

When father and son transport a new tram through Germany, things can only run smoothly – at least with GPLN member Universal Transport. At the beginning of December, our professional drivers Rene and Alexander Wobst were on the road together to bring a new VAMOS tram from the manufacturer Heiterblick in Leipzig to its location in the moBiel fleet in Bielefeld. Their colleague Thomas Bennarndt was also there to escort the transport. A heavy-duty truck with a low-loader and a total length of 50 meters was used. The low-loader had a track bed on the trailer which is adaptable individually to the track width of the tram.

This made it possible to pull the tram directly from the track onto the trailer via a ramp and unload it directly from the trailer back onto the track at the destination. There were no crane costs or disconnection of overhead lines needed. The foundation for the fast and reliable delivery of the 34-meter-wide and 55-ton tram was meticulous planning and preparation over many weeks. Universal Transport was trusted with the transport and took over the entire organization, including the route planning, obtaining all necessary permits, use of trucks, registering with the police, and organizing the escort vehicles. Another Vamos tram will follow every four weeks. A total of 24 trains of the second Vamos series are to be delivered to Bielefeld by 2022. Universal Transport from Paderborn has the largest vehicle fleet in Europe for handling this sort of transportation.

BATI INNOVATIVE LOGISTICS handles various shipments

GPLN member BATI’s project team has completed the shipment of another heavy transformer from the Port of Haydarpasa/Turkey to Baultino Port/Kazakhstan. BATI completed a route survey from the factory to the port while getting ready for the pre-carriage of a 220-ton main body and its accessories, which filled 3 SOC containers. BATI also undertook the vessel agency at Haydarpasa. Since the port is a container port, BATI had to nominate and hire a heavy-duty crane to complete the loading onto the vessel while performing the lashing and surveying operations. All cargoes were ready at the port one day prior to the arrival of the vessel. The vessel only performed 12 hours of net operation at Haydarpasa.

BATI also completed an out of gauge shipment with flat racks. Shipment has recorded 7 flat racks and 4 high cube containers loaded from Istanbul/Turkey to Alger/Algeria. The were 7 pieces of splitters which were 5.2 meters wide and 18 tons each. BATI’s responsibility included loading, lashing, securing, shrink-wrapping and shipping, while all operations have been completed in one day due to restricted time. The flat racks have all entered the port on time and were loaded onto the Vessel safe and secure.

They also chartered an Anthonov 12 for transportation of Rapid Covid-19 tests. The aircraft was loaded at Ankara Esenboğa Airport (ESB) while the loading was completed in 6 hours. The shipment was 20 tons and there were 1 million test kits in 776 boxes. It was the last air charter fight of 2020.

BATI has also performed an important operation. About 1,000 tons / 14,800 CBM project cargo together with some containers consisting of pipe rack modules, spreader beams and lifting equipment have been loaded on MV Sophia to Itaqui port in Brazil. BATI managed preloading and loading survey for the cargoes including oversized pipe racks and structures with about 19 meters length and 7 meters width.

Furthermore, we will see more and more RIBS (Rigid Inflatable Boats) in the near future as it seems. RIB’s are a relatively new technology in the yacht industry and they also look good. Therefore, a lot of yacht owners who want to cruise during the day choose RIB’s. At BATI we have been moving a lot of RIB’s. The last one was produced in Italy and shipped from Milan to Tuzla/Turkey via road. This boat was 14 meters long and 4.2 meters high. She was loaded in mid-January 2021and delivered the following week to the customer.

BATI arranged also the shipment of a Multicat from Turkey to Canada. The loading took place in Marmaris/Turkey from water. The dimensions of the Multicat were 26m x 11m x 12m and the weight was 240 tons. This 240-ton Multicat was than loaded and secured on board. The vessel has sailed to Marystown/Canada.

Furthermore they shipped a yacht back home after a long summer. The beautiful sailing yacht spent the summer in the turquoise waters of the Turkish riviera. Since summer has come to an end, we transported the yacht back home to its owner. The 45 feet / 13-ton yacht was picked up from the water and will be discharged back into the water. She was loaded in Marmaris/Turkey and discharged in Newport/USA.

BATI transported another motor yacht from the Spanish island of Mallorca to the Turkish Riviera. The beautiful 27 meter and 85-ton Azimut 88 was transported from Palma De Mallorca to Marmaris/Turkey. The yacht was picked up from the water and discharged into the water in Turkey.

They have also provided wintering and tarpaulin services for an 18-meter sailing yacht, handmade in Istanbul. “Yunus” is a 40-year-old wooden boat, which is why we were particularly careful while picking it up from water and positioning it on the ground. She will be resting under a tailor-made tarpaulin until next summer.

Inter American Cargo Group handles bulk fertilizers

This project was one of many others of this kind in which Inter American Cargo Group is developing and taking part in the upriver Parana ports development which is supported by the Argentine- and other South American governments.

GPLN members coordinate shipment of a Hydro Hammer

L.C. van Tiel Logistics from the Netherlands nominated Falcon International in Canada to plan and execute turnkey operations at the Port of Tacoma in Canada. This operation was a joint venture between two GPLN members and shipped to Vancouver. The cargo consisted of 1 x S-800 hydro hammer with a dimension of 14.31m x 1.94m x 2.49m with a weight of 87,500 kgs. The cope of work was receiving the Static S-800 Hammer on MAFI and transferring it to a waiting barge.

The Hydro Hammer is used for the Pattullo Bridge Replacement Project of the Government of British Columbia and slated for completion in 2023. Construction on the $1.377 billion dollar project is scheduled to begin in the fall. The existing bridge will remain in use until the new bridge is open to traffic. Once the new bridge opens, the old one will be removed. Bridge construction will take approximately three and a half years, including building the foundation, piers, and bridge deck.

Höegh provides expert solution for critical breakbulk equipment

When GPLN member Om Freight Forwarders Pvt. Ltd. needed support to transport critical components in the oil and gas industry quickly and safely from India to the Colombia, they turned to the experience of Höegh Autoliners. The freight forwarder was tasked to transport three 52-tonne mud pumps and accessories from Mumbai, India to Cartagena, Colombia. The cargo is an important part of equipment used in the oil well drilling so ensuring its safe transportation was vital.

With Höegh Autoliners’ direct liner service from India to the Caribbean, it allows customers to plan their shipments, reducing risk. Atuldutt Sharma, Breakbulk Sales Manager in India explains, “The customer had a specific deadline to ship the critical cargo from Mumbai to Cartagena. With our regular liner service to the Caribbean, it not only offered the best transit time, but also the possibility to plan for the important shipment.”

The 4.50-metre height of each of the mud pumps could have posed a challenge with the height clearance of our vessels, which are around five metres. However, over the years we have developed our handling equipment to give us greater flexibility in the type of cargo we are able to transport. Atuldutt says, “To transport higher breakbulk cargo, we have developed the Superlow rolltrailer concept. Through our expertise in transporting high breakbulk cargo, together with our specialised handling equipment, we were able to transport the mud pumps and its accessories on our regular vessels in this service.”
The customised handling equipment is only 47cm high and is designed to transport cargo that is 23-30cm higher than what we were previously able to transport on our regular vessels.

RoRo (Roll-On Roll-off) vessels are designed for cargo to be stowed and lashed safely underdeck. This is particularly important for sensitive cargo as the climate controlled decks keep the delicate cargo safe from exposure to salt water, changing temperatures and high humidity, reducing the risk of damage during transit.
With cargo safely stowed underdeck it reduces packing costs for the customer and ensures the cargo reaches its final destination in the same condition it was handed to us in.
Om Freight Forwarders General Manager for Projects, Vishal Joshi shares, “Höegh immediately supported us with our requirements on carrying our cargo on time to its destination with minimum transit time. Höegh Autoliners is always accommodating our requests and come up with innovative solutions for carrying our breakbulk and project cargo.”

Megalift is logistics partner for Light Rapid Transit 2 Project

The Phase 3 of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) project in Malaysia has begun construction in 2019. It is a 37-km railway line connecting 25 elevated stations within Klang Valley, the central region of Peninsular Malaysia. GPLN member Megalift is one of the leading logistics partners in Malaysia since the first phase of the project. And it’s amazing to see how far the project has evolved.

In the Phase 3 of the railway line, our scope at the construction stage is to transport about 400 units of U-Trough Girders from its fabrication yard to all of the respective stations. In accordance to the work schedule, we are moving pretty much on a daily basis due to the high volume of girders to be delivered. There had been delays due to the pandemic situation but we have since gone back to regular deliveries. However, strict SOP’s such as wearing of masks, temperature taking and proper sanitisation have been set in place. The cargo consisted of U-Trough Girder’s and the dimension was between 27 to 30 meters each with an approximate weight of165 tons each.

Darka Group and Atlas Shipping handle peacekeeping equipment

Osman, said “I want to say thanks to my team where despite the challenges they acted as professional as they could. Job well done!” Atlas Shipping Services Pvt. Ltd. MD, Mr. Sushil Gupta, said “It was pure professional service and much better than expected. I am happy that I took a correct decision and look forward to do more business with Darka Group.

MAMQ delivers Downstream & Upstream Bulkhead Gates 

Recently GPLN member Muhammad Amin Muhammad Qaseem (MAMQ) has successfully delivered a national level project logistics contract of delivering the oversized Downstream & Upstream Bulkhead gates for the rehabilitation of Guddu Barrage Project in January, 2021. The specification of Over-Gauge Cargo was as follows: Downstream Bulkhead gates (4 units), weighing 75 tons each. Dimension: L-18m x W-6m x H-4m / Upstream Bulkhead gates (4 units), weighing 85 tons each, Dimension: L-21m x W-7.6m x H-3.2m.

The work-scope was based on the delivery of 4+4 units Over-Gauge/abnormal sized Downstream Bulkhead Gates & Upstream Bulkhead gates, from loading site in Karachi to destination site “Guddu Barrage” Kashmore, onto multi axle hydraulic trailers. There were plenty of challenges in executing the job with safety measures and within the provided lead time due to following factors: The route permission was very hard to obtain due to the abnormal width of bulkhead gates and abundance of traffic on the highways due to narrow roads / Infrastructure bottlenecks besides the highways. Yet, MAMQ has successfully delivered the aforesaid Bulkhead gates to the destination “Guddu Barrage” in safe & sound condition. MAMQ is proud to be recognized as one of the leading Project Logistics and Customs Consultancy (One Window Solution) companies, operating in Pakistan since 1974. MAMQ is specialized in handling power and conventional project cargoes with a sound track record of successful deliveries of Pakistan’s milestone power projects to Punjab, K.P.K & A.J.K (Northern Pakistan’s) remote and rough terrains with safety measures and within lead-time.

PNI Logistics moves 25,000 Freight Tons of Steel Plates with GPLN partner

Since the cargo was curved plates and cylindrical lids, we had to ensure safe loading techniques like Teflon coated hooks, special loading and lifting spreaders, additional dunnage’s to support stacking, additional lashing to ensure stability during transit etc. We managed to move all 3 vessels on time under our charter terms and ensured smooth and timely delivery to the client in UAE, including safe offloading from the vessel and direct delivery to the trucks for final delivery to client’s site. Multiple meetings with all parties concerned (supplier representative, port representative, our partner D.W S & T, marine warranty surveyor, vessel captain etc.) were organized to ease out last minute bottle necks. Clear SOP and responsibility matrix were prepared for smooth coordination. The shipment was very time critical and given all the challenges like port restrictions, multiple coordination’s, Korea and UAE time differences etc., we had to work very closely with our partners to ensure the success of these orders. Finally, all the material was delivered without any single damage or claim.

SIGMAI ships heavy transformers

GPLN member SIGMAI Israel successfully handled 4 power transformers for the Israel Electricity Company, and National Water Company of Israel. The cargo was shipped from Izmir, Turkey to Ashdod, Israel, including delivery to different locations in Israel. The cargo weight was over 70 tons per unit. The shipment was handled smoothly, to client’s high satisfaction.

EGL moves construction equipment and heavy transformers

A French-Egyptian Consortium obtained an Egyptian Ministry of Transport contract for overhaul, including the construction of a light rail track that will link Cairo with the 10^th of Ramadan railway. Last year, the government launched a tender to revamp the line as part of the ongoing EGP 56 billion plan to overhaul the national railways by purchasing new railcars, improving junctions, building new lines, and automating signaling systems.

On August 1, 2020 GPLN member Egyptian Global Logistics (EGL), a subsidiary of Kadmar Group received a Door-to-Door RFQ to mobilize 5,000 cu.m of locomotives heavy equipment’s (Locomotive Diesel, Tamping Machines, Hopper Wagon, Wagon Flat & Regulator machines) from KSA (El-Dammam port) to Egypt (Adabiya port).

EGL immediately opened a hotline (operation connections) in order to arrange all necessary operations in the KSA and represent us in front of all utilities, authorities, Saudi customs and the port terminal.

Scope of work in KSA: Handling origin service at the site in Dammam. Route and site survey to El-Dammam port. Cranes with the loading capacity of up to 600 tons supply for the site. In-land transportations from 3 different sites to the loading port Damam. Handling in the port, customs clearance and stevedoring. Chartering scope: a geared vessel hire.

Scope of Work in Egypt: Vessel berthing arrangement by coordination with Kadmar shipping Co. (ship agent). Route and site survey up to Abu-Rawash workshop. Handling in the port, customs clearance and stevedoring. Arranging all permits needed to get road permits from utilities, especially Road and Bridges Authority, as EGL succeeds in getting consultant report in order to cross El-Moneib River Nile bridge with a total Weight of 180 tons. In-land transportations from Adabiya port to Abu-Rawash workshop.

In parallel and before release of cargo from Adabiya port the JV had requested us to mobilize more than 25 units (total 3,750 cbm) locomotives equipment from Abu-Rawash workshop to 3 different workshops (Minia El-Kamah, Badr LRT, and Al Qassaseen) to guarantee enough space to offload Adabiya cargo on rails after getting permits from ENR (Egyptian National Railways) to stop train traffic in Abu-Rawash Workshop.

EGL achieved this success through careful planning and strong connections in the KSA, especially with our KSA partner without sacrificing safety aspects to meet clients’ demands.

In another move EGL handled a project for SARAI Badr Substations fo the Madkour Group. Cargo type: 2 units transformer’s 145 tons each, plus accessories. Scope of work: EGL made route and site survey before executions / Loading transformers from 10th of Ramadan transformers factory / In-land transportations to job site / All necessary road permits from utilities / Jacking and skidding transformers to foundations

List of Equipment’s used: Two hydraulic modulars (16 axles each) / jacking & skidding Enerpac system (hydraulic & pushing jacks, steel & support beams, Rollers & wooden blocks) / Manpower: 15 employees (supervisor, engineering staff, SHE-Q, operators, drivers and riggers).

Challenges: Loading transformers wasn’t easy due narrow space in transformers factory / EGL crew was very carefully in jacking operations as factory completely full of spare parts and another transformer’s / Especially arrangement’s with factory productions line / Site entrance not easy due many H.V. cables 500KV and 220KV / Foundations access curved and sloped (25 degrees) / Executions area was between control room and transformers foundations only 6m width.

GPLN members Lysander Shipping and Base Logistics collaborate

GPLN members Lysander Shipping, UK and Base Logistics, Slovenia, have collaborated to arrange 3 shipments from FOB Korean port to Czech Republic.

Each shipment consisted of 2 x OOG flat racks and 2 x Break Bulk pieces, weighing 38,000 kgs each. Lysander Shipping arranged the ocean freight from Busan, Korea to Koper, Slovenia where Base Logistics then took over the local terminal handling, customs clearance, documentation and inland trucking to Nosovice, Czech Republic.
The 785 km journey took over 8 hours and required road permits to be arranged in advance. The first of 3 shipments arrived over New Year and was delivered to final destination on Jan 6, 2021 as scheduled.

AZA transports Oversized and Heavy Cargoes

GPLN member Global Shipping Services Houston/USA

GPLN member Global Shipping Services Houston/USA has been on a boom lately, as oil & gas projects seem to be kicking off and our clients are busy with airfreight, ocean freight and chartering. The overall feeling is good for 2021 so far!!! Our Houston office recently handled an urgent shipment of Subsea oilfield equipment, which was critical to the operation in Singapore: 15,000 kg / 33,069 lbs. urgent airfreight from IAH to SIN. The units were 110” tall each.

In order to save our customer money, we re-skidded, re-packed, re-shrink wrapped the units to reduce the length of each unit from 180” down to 154”. This resulted in a significant cost saving for our client. And we kept the original flight schedule, which was critical to the success of the shipment, project. Doing a great job and saving our customer money at the same time.

Furthermore, we had also another shipment for the dive team, going to Malabo, Angola. Just 1 x 20’. Then the customer added some pipe and a 20’ ladder, so we needed to use 40’ container. No problem! Then the customer advised “we have some more cargo to add”, approx.. 500,000 lbs. in fact. Around 230 mts. And now the cargo is urgent so we updated the vessel booking to last in / first out. The problem was that the consignee did not accept breakbulk into Malabo so we had to use 13 x 40’ flat racks OOG with ends down, as some of the cargo was 60’ long, some was 55’ and most was 42’ long. Then we needed a lifting frame to handle the flat racks in Malabo, so we collected the lifting frame, and crated it at the dock to save time the lifting frame was 38’ long, 9ft wide so the crane was rather large when we completed it. This was loaded to a 40’ platform and secured.

All this in the space of 1 week from start to finish. 13 x 40’ flat racks OOG and 1 x 40’ platform OOG. We promised the customer and consignee, we would be at the terminal every day to check on the cargo delivery, handling, loading, securing. And as an extra safety measure we brought in our surveyor to check the securing and lashings.

So, every day we drove 20 miles each way, to go check on the cargo delivery and ensure everything was going smoothly. Rain, sun and fog.

The customer and consignee appreciated the daily updates and we kept track of the cargo deliveries every day. To enter the port area, you have to have a Government issued TWIC card (Transportation Workers Identity Card) which all staff at GSS Houston have. We spent a lot of time at the port / terminals checking on our client’s cargo, especially the breakbulk and OOG flat racks and at the airport.

Great support from the terminal stevedores, port captain and the carrier (UAL) team In Houston. Thank you, Elise, Anita, Gilda, Rhonda and Debbie, at the terminal for making this go so smoothly! Vessel loaded and sailed. Another happy customer and consignee. Here at Global Shipping Services, we always try to go above and beyond keeping our customers’ happy.

ALPHA projects & logistics handle several shipments beginning of 2021

GPLN member ALPHA projects & logistics are excited to see activities are picking up as we have entered 2021. Alpha PNL has completed several shipments of both Breakbulk and FCL from manufacturers and project partners in Europe to destinations in the Middle East, Africa and Far East, specifically Vietnam and Indonesia, such as a project shipment and special equipment to Indonesia and an ongoing project to Vietnam, just to name a few.