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Issue 2 2018 - Freight Business Journal


///HEAVY LIFT Planes and people are secret to carrier’s success


With the increasing talent shortage in the logistics industry, personnel have become a major asset, says specialist airline, Volga- Dnepr. The carrier has introduced a


number of programs for training, both internally - via the Volga- Dnepr Corporate University to guarantee continuity in experience between a highly skilled older


generation of


managers and young ambitious graduates, and


externally, in


training centres in order to obtain the required operational knowledge and certificates.


Without highly qualified specialists, no aircraſt can fly, be handled, loaded or offloaded. Volga-Dnepr Group has


established several regional operational bases to improve logistics support and provide expertise in the most effective manner. They are


the world helps to decrease positioning costs. Currently, the Volga-Dnepr


Group fleet consists of 38 freighters including ramp and non-ramp aircraſt. However, it does not limit


supported


by logistics sales and customer support specialists, load-planning executives and loadmasters, operations personnel, navigators, and ground handling specialists who are ready to find the best logistics solutions. Having aircraſt parked in major regions all over


its services to its own fleet but has built quite a big network of reliable partners to give access to a pool of different aircraſt on a sub-charter basis. The outsize and project cargo


market is heavily influenced by economic factors, in the same way as the whole air cargo industry. There was stable demand overall,


in 2017, but with ups and downs for certain industries. Development of aerospace


projects encouraged an upsurge of volumes in that industry, with high demand for Volga-Dnepr’s expertise in moving satellites, helicopters, aircraſt sections and parts. There was also gradual


recovery and stabilisation in the oil and gas market, aſter a significant drop in 2015, which increased demand for equipment and revived some projects. Volga- Dnepr performed more than 120


deliveries of equipment, Hansa sees heavy liſting ahead


It is difficult to predict which direction the market for heavy lift/project


down a bit, with a strong likelihood of


cargo will take,


says Thomas Gimbel, director of global chartering at Hansa Heavy Lift, which specialises in the super heavy lift 900+ tonnes sector. He says: “We saw some


slight signs of recovery in the second half of 2017. However, we believe that the heavy lift shipping industry will not see many drastic changes in 2018 as over-tonnage remains an issue.” Few major projects or


multi-voyage projects are planned for the first half of 2018, while financing for some of the projects expected to materialise remains unclear. He adds: “Consequently,


some experts believe the market


will be trending sideways or may even slow picking up


again during the third and fourth quarter of this year. We definitely need to see more confidence from banks to free up financing. We are also being affected by uncertainty on how several geopolitical situations will affect the global economy.” Gimbel says that the oil and


gas market is expected to see an upturn as prices are finally stabilising to levels that will encourage many oil majors to re-activate projects that have been on the back burner for some time. However, he warns: “The fact that some of these projects have been given a new lease of life does not necessarily mean immediate relief for the market, as they will still need to get the manpower to manage these projects, as


well as secure financing, even though some of these jobs are even awarded to engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) contractors.” He also predicts that sectors


such as wind, energy, and infrastructure that have lately been performing will be the key drivers in near-term future market growth. A very busy heavy lift trade


lane at present are Far Eastern routes towards the US, “and we expect this to continue for the next 12 to 18 months. In terms of potential growth markets, wind - on- as well as off-shore - will continue to remain a driver, especially with China increasingly recognising the importance of producing clean energy.” The Middle East traditionally


remains of high importance for oil and gas related heavy


lift projects, he concludes. “We expect this flow to continue for the coming years. Lastly, we detect positive signs coming from Australia driven by the mining sector, which we believe should materialise by late 2018 or early 2019.” In common with much of


the shipping industry, Hansa does not have plans to acquire any newbuilds. Its focus is to ensure a stable fleet that meets the evolving demands of its customers. Hansa does a lot of project


cargo work in the UK, including significant amounts of reel shipments. “It is certainly a region where a lot of business is controlled and so it will remain a very important market for us into the future. Because of this we have a commercial representative in the UK.”


Excitement in Immingham as boring machine goes on the move


Fracht UK Projects appointed its haulier partner Collett & Sons to deliver a tunnel boring machine from Immingham to Goxhill for a gas pipeline project under the Humber. The four components of


the machine, Mary, had been manufactured in Baden- Wurttemberg and weighed up to 95 tonnes and were up to 29 metres long. Although the journey from


DFDS’s terminal was only 27 miles, there were numerous


tight bends to negotiate and Ordnance Survey data was used to mimic the trailer and vehicle’s behaviour at selected parts of the route. Barriers, road signs and even a


traffic island had to be removed, along with tree pruning Three and a half hours aſter


departing Immingham the first two loads completed the 27 mile journey under Humberside under Police and private escort with the remaining two following next day.


including transportation in Russia and to the Middle East; There was also high demand for charter


services


aſter Hurricane Irma hit the Americas. Volga-Dnepr joined the international relief program and performed more than 100 deliveries to the region using different types of aircraſt. This year has started with


quite high demand from customers in different industries such aerospace, energy, heavy machinery and oil. However, it is still quite hard to say if this will continue throughout the


year but there are some positive macroeconomic signs that the carrier will be busy this year. There might be more


opportunities coming from the Middle


East, South America


and Australia due to increasing construction activities in the oil and gas sector and mining. Volga-Dnepr expects to see more project work based on its current long-term commitments to customers. Aerospace demand is still strong and more than 40% of Volga-Dnepr’s charter services are now provided for customers in this segment.


ARR Craib buys heavy haul firm


Aberdeen Haulage and logistics firm ARR Craib Transport has completed a deal to take over fellow Aberdeen-based McCaul Haulage following the decision of founding owner Tim McCaul to retire from the business. McCaul Haulage works across


the UK and Europe and has an excellent reputation as an


abnormal load specialist, says ARR Craib. Most staff will move to ARR


Craib’s base in Dyce and there have been no redundancies as a result of the deal. ARR Craib has also bought McCaul’s fleet of heavy goods vehicles, which includes a number of curtain- siders and flatbeds.


Shipping giants join forces


Shipping operators RollDock and SAL Heavy Liſt are to set up a pool of six vessels to handle ro ro and float-in/float-out cargoes. The fleet will be managed by RollDock with SAL providing specialized heavy break bulk cargo support. RollDock has over the past


decade developed as a ro ro and float-in/float-out carrier with a fleet of technically advanced dock type vessels. The pool will consist of six


geared dock vessels, all operated under the RollDock brand. Five of the vessels come from the existing RollDock fleet (S and ST class vessels) and one from SAL (Combi Dock I). Both companies will continue


independently and also operate vessels outside the pool. SAL managing director,


Martin Harren, stated; “Through consolidation, we will see a better utilisation of the vessels and because we share our network of offices and agents, we can offer global representation of heavy shipping disciplines”. SAL commercial director, Justin


Archard, added: “SAL wants to keep its place in the ro ro and float- in/float-out market. However we also realise that our core service is liſt operations. Whenever clients look for heavy transportation - with liſting, rolling or floating services or a combination - our setup offers them a one-stop-shop.”


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