BREAKBULK\\\ >> 14


it onto other v e ss els ,


taking our own cranes to the destination port if necessary,” Alvarez explains. Panama’s


Diversity in


strength for Rhenus Project Logistics


While the Covid crisis has deeply affected many sectors, the project logistics segment has been among the few fields that have managed to stay relatively stable, says managing director of Rhenus Project Logistics, Carsten Schroeter. He explains: “Project


logistics has always been about overcoming challenges and solving complex logistical tasks. That is why our project managers were able to rise to


the challenge and find


solutions for our customers that allowed them to keep their projects running.” Despite tighter regulations


and new limitations, projects continued and new business opportunities arose as network partners and customers asked for Rhenus’ support in niche areas as travel restrictions prevented them from travelling there themselves. Compared with other crises,


no production assets have been compromised by Covid and companies should be able to ramp up production quickly again. But the most important question remains whether Covid will have unseen effects on the sector, says Schroeter who points out: “The current situation is in fact still fairly new in comparison to project planning horizons which range from two to ten years, so the effects of the current economic downswing were not foreseeable when the projects being worked on today were planned.” He says: “Considering this,


it is important to ask the question: Are the projects that do not get signed today the outcomes of the Covid crisis? We cannot answer this question at this point in time, but we remain hopeful that the end of the pandemic will bring an economic upswing and therefore an influx of new projects.” He continues: “The key


to success in our business is diversity. While there are many promising segments, especially in the renewable energy sector, one field is never the sole driver of our business. However, we do see that we have not yet reached our full potential in many growing and even many already established industries. For example, last year we strengthened our activities in the construction sector with focused solutions for site logistics. At the same time, we are exploring new fields of business such as the offshore sector for renewable energy. “We have been working on


many interesting new projects in 2020. Besides that, we started looking into the latest soſtware solutions for live tracking of project cargo and other systems that will allow customers to get updates on their cargo.” Rhenus


has in the past


year opened two new project locations, in Canada and in South Africa. In 2020, project logistics specialists from Rodair and World Network Logistics joined the Rhenus team. Schroeter adds: “They bring


great value and knowledge, not limited to specific business fields. In Canada, we have Vancouver and Toronto and in South Africa we have colleagues in Durban now. With this continuing growth, we are excited to take on new challenges in 2021.” Rhenus locations around the


world also hired new staff and some even grew in size. At the moment, the project division within the Rhenus Group consists of 120 employees at 16 locations. Rhenus Project Logistics


remains a member of the THLG and CLC networks, “as we need good and reliable partners all over the world in order to offer customers the quality of logistics that they expect”.


Issue 2 2021 - FBJNA


own ports have cranes capable of handling up to 100 tonnes whereas in the outlying ports the maximum is usually nearer 40t or so.


Panama also generates a


certain amount of project cargo itself. As well as the Canal – the subject of a major widening and lock-building programme a few years ago – this year will see the start of construction of a third metro line for Panama City, with Hitachi rolling stock being shipped from Japan and infrastructure material from Korea, with construction expected to last over the next


four years. The line will relieve serious road congestion in the west of Panama City. Ships of most of the world’s


major project cargo carrying lines regularly ply the Canal, so getting material to Panama is rarely an issue. Sea transport can also


reach any maritime location in central America, of course, while for inland destinations road links are available to all countries except Colombia as


the border has been closed due to guerrilla activity in the Darien Jungle. There is a plan to build a railway to Colombia, but that is very long term, says Alvarez. In


the meantime, he is


continuing to push the logistics message among politicians, not all of whom appreciate the industry’s importance to the country’s economy. He would also like better economic integration


15


of the different countries and less red tape and customs bureaucracy. While Panama has adopted many good practices in this respect, other countries are not so advanced in this respect and the lowest common denominator tends to prevail. The Panama logistics


industry can count one other success – the country will be the location of the FIATA World Congress in 2023.


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