Allseas interview: Richard Dale

1.7.14

Richard Dale heads up Allseas’ fast-growing and dynamic sales team. He describes Allseas’ USPs and explains why, when it comes to logistics solutions, one size never ever fits all.

Q: Tell us about yourself and the team!
Richard: I joined Allseas three years ago from Ocean World Lines – when Allseas took over the UK agency for OWL. I took on the sales function for the whole of the company and was probably Allseas’ first dedicated sales person. We spent some time focusing on the best sales approach and format from there. In January we took the decision to create a new sales force and I now lead a sales team of five. From a standing start, we now have an excellent structure – a really enthusiastic, forward-thinking team that’s full of energy and eager to succeed!

Q: Who’s on the team?
Richard: Claudia Armitage covers the northern UK region and Claire Hallwood covers the Midlands. Mark Selby joined as our dedicated import sales person, and also covers the southern region. And in June this year, John Walker joined us as head of project development. He has more than 40 years’ experience in the general, contract and project freight forwarding industry – he’s worked for some of the largest logistics organisations and shipping lines in the world, as well as some of the more niche service providers.

Q: What’s your approach on training and motivation?
Richard: Our policy is to try to promote from within. And at Allseas, people don’t tend to move on – the company has a long-serving team. We run a structured and sustainable sales programme to enhance our people’s skills, including training in-house and by external specialists. We aim to provide people with the support they need to make them successful and that means support from their individual branch manager as well as from myself. A real Allseas priority is creating the right team for the right job – and matching individual abilities to the required roles. I learned many years ago that trying to get a square peg into a round hole doesn’t work. We pride ourselves in finding the right match. As for myself, one thing that has greatly helped in developing my role is having an MD (Darren Wright) who has an open mind and is receptive of new ideas. I bring in new ideas and some will work, some won’t – but the door is always open.

Q: Will we see further expansion of the sales team?
Richard: Yes, absolutely, we will increase the team as required. Notably, Allseas has created a supply chain division with a very experienced management team who have individual talents in operating and constructing supply chains in the past for major retail outfits. They are now in the process of bringing their unique skills to the logistics side – and who better to create supply chain solutions than people who have used them in the past? So we are building that from a position of strength and as it grows we will be bringing in more sales people under the Allseas banner, with their respective skills sets.

Q: You are talking to a potential customer – what are Allseas’ USPs?
Richard: Despite email, the internet and the whole electronic world, this is still very much a people business and we like to talk to people face to face. I am on the road as much as I can be. We will take customers’ individual requirements and mould a service around what they require – NOT what we think they require. I never ask my team to sell ‘off the shelf’ solutions – it is all about bespoke services. We investigate the customer’s needs and deliver a product that suits their particular needs. Obviously another outstanding USP for Allseas is the fact that we have our own equipment, which gives us an important advantage in the markets we serve.

Q: What’s the mood out there? Is the recession gloom behind us?
Richard: There is a feeling of more positivity. Last year it was the cautious approach but now there is a very positive ring in the air – things are moving in the right direction.

Q: How do you relax away from work? Do you manage to switch off?!
Richard: Yes, you have to switch off – but my phone is always on, 24/7, and it will always be answered! I have a young family, which keeps me busy and fit at weekends – we enjoy activities such as cycling and fishing.

Project Freight Forwarding Outfit Allseas Keeps Expanding with New Location

An Interview with Branch Manager Caroline Goodricke Reveals the Secrets of Success 

UK – Allseas Global Logistics has built a prize winning reputation for project freight forwarding, a market which as anyone in the industry knows requires both top class management and concerted teamwork to avoid the pitfalls which come with handling specialised, often out of gauge consignments. Although known best for its Nottingham and Felixstowe operations the company has several other UK based facilities and now, after rapid expansion, Allseas’ Tilbury team has moved into smart new offices, with plenty of room to grow. We talked to Branch Manager Caroline Goodricke about expansion, variety and the company’s collaborative approach.

Q: Tell us about the new office and why it was needed!

Caroline: “In the past few years, Allseas’ Tilbury team has grown from three to seven members of staff. We had outgrown our office, which was in the old Tilbury Container Services (TCS) building within the Port of Tilbury. We were delighted to find new offices at the Riverside Business Centre – not only is there plenty of room for expansion, a smart kitchen and a dedicated seating area, but we are also enjoying wonderful views over the River Thames!

“TCS was an ‘old-style’ dock office and it was a great place to get established. Our new offices have a more professional, business office environment and reflect our ambitions for further growth. Also, although we have moved out of the port itself, we are only just up the road and still very much part of the shipping fraternity with other forwarders at the Riverside offices.”

Q: What’s been keeping the Tilbury team busy?

Caroline: “The Tilbury team was initially set up as a ‘London office’ with the focus on LCL/FCL bookings. Since then, we have expanded massively from the container work – containers are still really important, of course, but we are also doing increasing amounts of project work. That has included shipping fire engines out to Ashdod for Unicef and moving exhibition and high profile cargo for GL Events, such as canopies and other items for the Malaysian Grand Prix, and Olympic Games equipment from London to Brazil. One of the biggest contracts we are currently working on is organising and handling the shipment of about 50 giant presses from Ford’s Dagenham plant.”

Q: What does the Ford job entail?

Caroline: “The presses, which were used in the old Ford Transit Van plant, are being dismantled onsite, for shipment to Bayaquan in China, where they will be reassembled for producing tractor parts. The pieces we are moving have dimensions of up to 140 cubic metres, with weights of up to 140 tonnes each. These have to be collected by truck from the plant and taken over the Dartford crossing to Thamesport, where they will be loaded on to special charter ships. It’s a huge scope of work, with very demanding health & safety considerations.”

Q: Tell us about your own background.

Caroline: "I joined Allseas about five-and-a-half years ago and came from a shipping background, having previously worked for Maersk Line and Senator Lines. I was joined by others with a similar shipping line background and that’s very important for us. Having that shipping line experience is a big advantage, whether it’s understanding ship planning or negotiating rates. Sometimes forwarding companies can have a rather limited experience or outlook but as a group Allseas focuses on a more collaborative approach, rather than the ‘them and us’ attitude of some. And as well as having that excellent mix of shipping line people and forwarders, we also have the benefit of being able to offer our own special equipment – something that really sets us apart."

Q: So the Tilbury team is set for further expansion?

Caroline: "Yes, definitely. Ricky Fowler is our newest member of staff. He has worked in the shipping industry for more than 15 years and has brought with him a great deal of experience in import, export, FCL and LCL operations. He also has knowledge and experience of handling air freight operations, both inbound and outbound. The Tilbury team is going from strength to strength. Because we handle LCL, FCL and OOG cargoes, we can offer customers the full range of services, handling anything from very large to very small pieces!"

Nicaragua Canal route is unveiled – a $50bn threat to expanded Panama

The Nicaragua government yesterday unveiled the route of its proposed canal to link the Pacific and Atlantic, saying construction could begin this December.

According to a Reuters report from the country’s capital, Managua, the 278km link would begin at the Brito River which connects the Pacific to Lake Nicaragua, Central America’s largest fresh water reserve, which vessels would then transit and then head to the Caribbean Sea port of Bluefields via the Tule and Punta Gordas rivers, requiring around 120 miles of canal to be cut in the sparsely populated south-east of the country.

The 50-year concession to build and operate the canal was awarded to Hong Kong Nicaragua Development (HKND) Investment Co last year, and although officially the cost of the project was slated at $40bn, it appears to have already risen to $50bn.

Despite international ridicule at the scale and ambition of the project, Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega and HKND chief executive Wang Jing issued a joint message to the Nicaraguan people at the beginning of the year confirming the project start date of December, although environmental and social impact studies still remain to be completed which could result in the course of the canal being altered.

Reuters quoted canal committee member Telemaco Talavera, rector of Nicaragua’s Agrarian University, as saying that the project would be completed by 2019 and open to shipping in 2020 – a comparatively tight timetable, given that Panama’s far smaller project to expand its canal began in 2007 and isn’t expected to be completed until early 2016.

Indeed, the competition the Nicaraguan canal could present to Panama is one of the most intriguing aspects of this story. While far longer than the 77km Panama Canal, vessels transiting Nicaragua would shave around 500km on a typical Asia-east coast North America (ECNA) journey.

Furthermore, developments in ship size are already outpacing Panama’s enlargement. Its new set of locks will only allow vessels of up to 13,000teu size to pass, in contrast, carriers’ increasing liking for even larger containerships led HKND to argue that around 17% of the global fleet will be unable to pass through the reopened Panama Canal.

The proposed dimensions of Nicaragua Canal are 230-520 metres wide and 28 metres deep.
At last month’s at TOC Container Supply Chain event in London, analysts were talking about the next generation – 24,000teu vessels – whose appearance would effectively push Panama back to where it is now.

Panama’s limitations have already pushed carriers to route Asia-ECNA strings through Suez. Analysis by Drewry Maritime Research last October showed that delays in the Panama expansion project – caused by a contractual dispute between the government and construction consortium – accelerated the amount of traffic going to the east coast of North America via Suez.

Between 2010 and 2012, Suez’s share of Asia-ECNA traffic was stable at around 30% – by October 2013, it had jumped to 42%.“This was achieved by ocean carriers increasing the average size of vessel passing through Suez from 6,911teu to 7,756teu over the past 12 months, as well as the transfer of Maersk’s TP7 schedule from Panama to Suez, whilst vessels deployed in the services using the Panama Canal have remained restricted to less than 5,000teu capacity,” Drewry said.

Its report added that delays in Panama had also encouraged strings via Suez to load further up in Asia.“A further worry to the Panama Canal Authority will be that the lack of cargo growth to ECNA comes at a time when vessels passing through Suez have been loading at more Asian ports. Whereas up to now, Suez vessels have mainly been restricted to south-east Asian ports due to the shorter distance compared with that to the Panama Canal, they now regularly load in north-east Asian ports as well.”If carriers have already achieved economies of scale by using Suez, what then are the chances that the Nicaragua project will actually get built? $50bn is an awful lot of money, and Mr Wang – who has no track record of developing large-scale infrastructure projects – has been insistent that it is not being funded by the Chinese government, although Beijing clearly has a lot to gain strategically from the opening up of a new route to the Atlantic, allowing its largest tankers access to oil production sources such as Venezuela.However, there is said to be some 400 engineers already working in Nicaragua on the project. State-owned China Railway Construction Corporation is a strategic partner, while the highly respected Hong Kong-based container shipping analyst Charles de Trenck is a member of the HKND executive board.

China Rejects P3 Network, Plan Abandoned

China’s Ministry of Commerce kills P3

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of the People’s Republic of China denied support to the P3 Network, proposed by Mærsk A/S (Maersk Line)  together with MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. and CMA CGM S.A.
The MOFCOM’s decision follows a review under China’s merger control rules.
“The Partners take note of and respect MOFCOM’s decision. Subsequently, the Partners have agreed to stop the preparatory work on the P3 Network and the P3 Network as initially planned will not come into existence.

The lack of implementation of the P3 Network will have no material impact on the Maersk Group’s expected result for 2014,”  A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S said in a statement.
The P3 Network agreement received support from the US and EU, however, competition and maritime authorities in China decided that the project would not go ahead.
Background:
CMA CGM, Maersk Line and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA agreed back in June 2013 to establish a long-term operational alliance on East – West trades, called the P3 Network. The aim was to improve and optimize operations and service offerings.
The P3 Network was intended to operate a capacity of 2.6 million TEU (initially 255 vessels on 29 loops) on three trade lanes: Asia – Europe, Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic.
While the P3 Network vessels were intended to be operated independently by a joint vessel operating center, the three lines would have continued to have fully independent sales, marketing and customer service functions.

Allseas Global Commercial Manager, Mark Binge comments “This must be a major blow for the lines concerned and certainly not the news that we expected to hear. Having already been approved by commissions in both Europe and the USA it was assumed, possibly in ignorance, by the majority of us that it was a done deal …. little did we know!

Whilst this might be the end of P3 as we know it, before it even got off the ground, is there a fall-back option about to be announced in the coming months?”  

CMA CGM, Maersk Line and MSC pleased with European Commission affirmation

The P3 Network – the long-term operational vessel sharing agreement proposed by CMA CGM, MSC and Maersk Line is subject to regulatory review in jurisdictions in North America, Europe and Asia.

In the European Union (EU), the P3 Network was required to conduct a self-assessment. Since its conclusion, the P3 partners have been in voluntary discussions with the European Commission to confirm the P3 partners’ view of P3 being in compliance with EU competition law.

Today, the European Commission informed the P3 partners that the Commission will not open proceedings in connection with P3. The Commission will follow P3 to ensure it remains in compliance with EU competition law.

The P3 partners are pleased the Commission’s communication. The partners will now continue their close cooperation with competition and maritime authorities in amongst others China and South Korea to address questions and to explain the nature of P3.On 24 March 2014, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) decided to allow the P3 Network agreement to become effective in the US.

Port of Felixstowe First Choice for Evergreen

The Port of Felixstowe has welcomed the first call at the UK’s largest container port of Evergreen’s CES (China Europe Shuttle) service. The 8,452 TEU Ever Laden launched the service from the Port of Britain in late May.

The CES Service links North Europe to Asia with calls in Taiwan as well as China. The service has recently been calling at ports in continental Europe only.

Commenting on the decision by Evergreen to introduce a UK call at Felixstowe, Clemence Cheng, Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited Chief Executive Officer, said:

“The decision by Evergreen to call at the Port of Felixstowe underlines our position as the port of choice for container lines in the UK. The unique location of Felixstowe closest to the main shipping lanes and the ports of Northern Europe, combined with a road, rail and feeder network that is not replicated anywhere else, continue to set us apart from the alternatives.

“The UK container market is highly competitive and our customers all have a choice when it comes to selecting a port of call. We are committed to continually improving the levels of service we provide to them and ensuring that Felixstowe represents the optimum solution for their supply chain needs.”

Scott Chang, President of Evergreen Marine Corp. said: 

“We are pleased to be using the excellent facilities at the Port of Felixstowe for the UK call of our CES service. We are eagerly anticipating this new phase of our service from Asia within the CKYHE alliance. The improved CES via Felixstowe will provide a direct service from Taipei, Ningbo, Shanghai and Colombo and bring additional benefits to our customers in the UK.” 

The first call of the CES service at Felixstowe is part of a realignment of the service which will also see new calls westbound at Colombo in Sri Lanka.

The move further extends Felixstowe’s advantage as the clear market leader in what is the UK’s largest trade lane. Felixstowe already has 3 calls per week by Evergreen and its new alliance partners Cosco, K-Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin. It is also the only UK port of call for China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) and its partners UASC, as well as the world’s largest two container lines, Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), for services to Asia. Subject to regulatory approval of the P3 Alliance, CMA CGM will join Maersk and MSC as a vessel provider at Felixstowe.

France orders Maersk to find 500 lost containers

France has given Maersk Line until the end of the summer to pinpoint the location of around 500 containers which tumbled overboard from the Svendborg Maersk in internaional waters off the Atlantic coast in February this year. 

None of the crew was injured during the incident and damage to the ship was minor. 

A total of 517 boxes fell into the sea during a storm in the Bay of Biscay. 13 of them, floating on the surface, were recovered by French support vessels in the weeks following the incident. Maersk is said to have been billed €250,000 for the costs incurred. 

However, given the scale of the losses, the French authorites have ordered Maersk to draw up a detailed map indicating the exact location of the containers which sank. This will involve the chartering of a ship capable of carrying out a sonar survey of the ocean floor. 

"It’s perhaps an exceptional request on our part but one which follows an exceptional maritime shipping incident," a spokesman for France’s State Office for Martime Affairs, in Brest, in Brittany, explained in a telephone interview. "However, Maersk has been only too ready to meet the request," the spokesman 
underlined. 

"The aim of the survey is to produce cartographic data which will help fishermen avoid zones where containers lie and prevent the entanglement of nets." 

Maersk Line’s senior press officer, Michael Christian Storgaard, told Lloyd’s Loading List.com that scanning would commence once the survey vessel was available. 

"We have had a constructive dialogue and understanding with local authorities in both France and UK and we remain committed to doing our part to best mitigate the consequences of the Svendborg Maersk incident." 

However, he gave no indication of the duration of the search operation nor the likely financial outlay required to carry it out. 

Over 80% of the boxes lost were empties and the remainder contained dry, non-hazardous goods, including cigarettes, many of which were found washed-up along the coastline of south-west England. 

Liverpool Orders Larger Cranes in Bid to Draw Round-the-World Services

Peel Ports, owner of the port of Liverpool, signed a £100 million ($168 million) contract with China’s Zhenhua Heavy Industries to supply cranes for a new deep-water quay that will triple the size of container ships the northwestern UK port can handle.

Liverpool aims to tap a new shipping market it expects to develop when the enlarged Panama Canal, able to handle vessels up to 14,500 TEUs, opens in 2016.

Shanghai-based Zhenhua will supply five ship-to-shore megamax quay cranes and 12 cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes for the first phase of the $500 million Liverpool2 project, which will expand capacity by creating a new river berth than can simultaneously handle two 13,500-TEU ships.

The new post-Panamax facility will boost the port’s annual capacity by 600,000 20-foot-equivalent units to 1.4 million TEUs.

The new terminal will be outside the locks that restrict the existing Royal Seaforth Container Terminal to handling vessels of no more than 4,000 TEUs capacity. The cranes are due to arrive from China in 2015.

With the expansion of the Panama Canal, container ships will be able to sail from Asia to the U.S. Gulf and East Coasts and then across North Atlantic, paving the way for the revival of round-the-world container services.

“The fact that we’ll be able to handle 90 percent of the global fleet will be a game-changer for shipping lines,” said Peel Port Group chief executive Mark Whitworth.

Although 60 percent of the UK’s container traffic is destined for the north of the country, around 80 percent currently moves via southern ports, led by Felixstowe and Southampton.

Liverpool has steadily lost traffic to its deep-water southern rivals over the years. The process accelerated with the growth of east-west services, particularly on the Asian trades, deploying ever larger vessels. It now accounts for around 8 percent of UK container traffic.

“The cranes will help future proof the UK’s most centrally positioned deep water port for growth,” Whitworth said.

Zhenhua will supply a further three ship-to-shore cranes and 10 gantry cranes if the port proceeds with the second phase of the Liverpool2 project, which would increase capacity by an additional 900,000 TEUs.

Liverpool will retain its role as the UK’s leading trans-Atlantic port following the decision by Newark-based Atlantic Container Line to continuing calling at the port when its deploys five of the world’s largest container/roll-on, roll-off vessels in 2015.

The ships will have a container capacity of 3,800 TEUs, more than double that of the five 30-year-old vessels they are replacing, 45 percent more ro-ro space and 31 percent more space for cars, trucks and rolling machinery.

ACL also likely will launch a new U.S.-North Europe service, calling at Liverpool, to fill the new vessels.

“At Allseas we welcome developments within the industry that give opportunity to both ourselves and our customers. With the new quay cranes and the ability to handle larger vessel calls, additional services will be attracted to Liverpool …. but only time will tell what they may be and the impact they have on the ports of Felixstowe and Southampton!” - Mark Binge - Group Commercial Manager.

 Working as a woman in the Middle East

Working in the Middle East, namely Dubai is an eye opener for any person who has spent their entire working life in the United Kingdom, but for a woman in Logistics it is that little bit harder or should I say challenging.. a positive attitude always helps where ever you are in life.

Dubai is home to 202 different nationalities in their workforce so to get yourself heard and noticed you must firstly understand who you are dealing with, what nationality, how they approach business and any religious beliefs and traditions that you must follow so as not to offend. Woman of course are also not always accepted by some nationalities however with others are welcomed as a breath of fresh air.

My first challenge upon arriving in Dubai was to understand the Arab culture, our English ways make us wary of offending and in this belief makes us nervous to step forward too quickly. However upon closer relations, I soon discovered that the Arab people, male and female are extremely warm and welcoming and are as interested in our beliefs as we are in theirs. This grounding helped me to understand that my lack of knowledge was a tool I could use to show interest in another’s culture and by listening and learning I was opening up my own warmth and personality to another person, another company and at the same time earning their trust. This I channelled into a marketing / advertising tool to be able to assist clients and build the business for Allseas Global Logistics here in Dubai.

Running a business in Dubai therefore means we encounter various nationalities also running their own business, of course this is nothing new to an International logistics company, however I have found that a common problem for companies here is communication and speed of response. Countries outside of the Middle East, believe all companies within the GCC to be notoriously slow in communication, some fail to remember that our weekend is different to the majority of the world, our weekend falls Friday/Saturday and of course the time difference is there also, however questions on email can also be mis-understood due to misinterpretation or just not reading things correctly due to language barriers and therefore many mails can go to and forth without the question being answered appropriately and therefore resulting in extreme frustration in both sides.

Since my arrival I have analysed the above greatly and believe we have solved this issue a few ways, firstly by actually reading or listening to the question correctly, this may appear simple but you would be amazed as to how frequently this is not done here, secondly we have employed 3-4 different nationalities so far as every nationality likes to speak to their own country from time to time, even as a British citizen I need to be able to converse with British every so often to get that feeling of home, thirdly we employ male and female’s so we can assess our clients needs should a male/female be more suited to the client, and lastly we structure our business in a way so we can pre-empt questions, be proactive and learn from problems that happen so we can guide clients to the right solution rather than letting them make the same mistake time and time again.

I like to feel little by little we are changing the difficult way logistics is being done in the Middle East to make it easier for all. Customer service is and always has been first and foremost for our company.

Dubai is certainly a city where customer service comes first in hotels, shops and restaurants however within the logistics industry it appears to have been lost somewhat, myself and my team are changing this, our clients stay with us due to this reason and we will only grow stronger in this market with a good sustainable growth.

Paula Bellamy - Regional Manager at Allseas Dubai

Felixstowe Expansion Commences

Work has started at the port of Felixstowe on the latest expansion of the UK's largest container port.

VSBW joint venture, a consortium of VolkerStevin and Boskalis Westminster, has been appointed as the lead contractor to extend the port's berth 9 by 190 metres. The work will increase the combined lengths of berth 8 and 9  to 920 metres, giving the port even greater flexibility to berth the worlds largest container ships.

The Bpskalis Westminster dreger, Causeway, began dredging the area on 13 April 2014. The initial dredging is in preperation for construction to beging in the summer. The project will involve dredging 1 million cubic metres of material to provide the berth and approaches,and enable a new steel-piled quay wall will be built.

Commenting on the project, Clemence Cheng, Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited Chief Executive Officer, said "The scale of operations at the Port of Felixstowe already gives us the ability to berth more large container ships simultaneously than other ports in the UK. The new extension will increase the berthing permutations we can offer and continue to ensure that we turn our customers' vessels in the quickest possible time."

Ian Cussons, VSBW Project Manager said: "We are ready to mobilise all necessary resources in the very near future. The tubular pile design is very similar to the existing Berths 8 and 9 will be built to allow the water alongside to be dredged to 18 metres depth." Piling of the quay wall for the new extension will start later in the summer with construction due to complete in mid-2015. The new extension will be equipped with three new ship-to-shore gantry cranes, each with a 25-container wide outreach.

Mark Binge comments "This is fantastic news, not just for the Port of Felixstowe, but the UK shipping industry in general. As more and more of the new generation of ULCS enter the market it is imperative that berths are available to cater for their needs and that direct calls are not lost to our European neighbors."

Protect your data - Phishing warning

At Allseas Global we want to provide you with the most simple, reliable and safe solutions to run your business and deliver on your promises. Criminal activities are of great concern to us and while we take our precautions we unfortunately have become aware of phishing attempts made from emails appearing to originate from ‘@allseasglobal.com.’

Internet criminal offenses often come in the form of phishing which is theft of personal information usually for a financial gain and installation of malicious software such as virus and can cause great damage to the victim.

We urge all our customers to carefully consider the information you share on the internet and through email correspondence. Allseas Global will never ask for personal information including bank account, credit card number or other financial data through email. We will also never send program installation files such as .exe.

Hints to avoid phishing:

By checking the sender field carefully, you can often see an alternative email. Be cautious if it does not show ‘@allseasglobal.com’
By moving you mouse over potential links you can see the site to which it links. Do not open any links that do not contain ‘allseasglobal.com’ before confirming with your local representative
Do not open executable attachments such as .exe files from untrusted sourcesIf in any doubt please contact your local representative immediately.

More information about phishing can be found here
http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/phishing-symptoms.aspx

"The phishing scams have become more sophisticated over time leading to experienced IT users being caught out by such phishing scams. Only recently our commercial manager was a victim of a sophisticated phishing scam." - Wayne Booth

Dante's wildfire inferno in Chile's historic port city

Wildfires have turned the Jewel of the Pacific into a vision of hell. The Chilean port of Valparaíso, famed for its UNESCO-listed historic quarter, has been engulfed in fire, blotting out the sun and causing at least 12 deaths.
The mayor, Jorge Castro, compared the disaster to a scene from Dante'sInferno. "Valparaíso is without electricity at the moment, and this means the flame column is creating a Dante-esque panorama and is advancing in an apparently uncontrollable manner," Castro said in a TV interview on 12 April, the day the blaze began.
The fire is thought to have started in the forested hills that ring the port city, 110 kilometres west of the capital Santiago. Strong winds off the Pacific spread the flames rapidly, displacing tens of thousands of people and destroying at least 2000 homes, although the historic quarter's late 19th-century wooden buildings were spared.

After a state of emergency was declared, thousands of troops backed around 1200 firefighters to bring the worst of the fires under control. The blaze is the second catastrophe to strike Chile this month, following a magnitude-8.2 earthquake that hit the north on 1 April, killing six people.
Wildfires are expected to become more frequent as a result of global warming. Last year they claimed the lives of 19 firefighters in Arizona, and Australia's bushfire season was the worst in years due to record-busting temperatures.

Constraints of exporting to Africa

Shipping to Africa, especially the West Africa region causes issues to both the shipper, importer and Freight Forwarder. Additional documents are used to monitor volumes of cargo, track cargo, aid in customs clearance and duty and gather statistical information.

Documentation requirements range from Pre-shipment Inspections (PSI), Electronic Cargo Tracking Notes (ECTN), Conseil National des Chargeurs Angolais (CNCA), Bordereau de Suivi De Cargaison (BSC), Form M. In addition to this there could be Letters of Credits involved in relation to payment, Certificates of Origin and national prohibitions to be aware of. Many of the documents have to be arranged at origin; some even by the importer BEFORE the cargo has been booked to sail in the form of pre-shipment inspections and the Form M for Nigeria. If the cargo fails, the sale falls through.

These factors can cause a shipper to avoid trade with some African countries due to the lack knowledge required. African buyers in two different countries and a shipper could have double problems. If customs requirements are not adhered to then fines are guaranteed to be imposed - some in the region of USD 5000. Clearance can be severely delayed and demurrage charges will accumulate. The additional documents and requirements are not the responsibility of shipping lines and the majority will not be able to provide them. The responsibility can be assigned to a nominated agent in the UK in the case of the CNCA for Angola shipments but for others such as BSC for Ivory Coast and ECTN for Republic of Congo it is expected that the seller/shipper arrange these themselves through the specific web facilities approved by the respective shipping councils at destination.

Freight Forwarders are used by sellers to take the hassle out of shipping yet these documents are largely uncatered for. A seller would not normally have the knowledge and experience to ship to Africa, especially if it’s a new market for them so it would seem bizarre for Freight Forwarders not to accommodate for the whole product that the seller expects. Researching the requirements for Africa Documentation has not been an easy task. Only a handful of forwarders are offering the documents and there isn’t one complete service.

The BSC Waiver for Ivory Coast became mandatory at origin as of March 2013 and became impossible to obtain through a third party. This change plus a consistent flow of West Africa bookings fuelled the need, as a Forwarder, to provide as many in house documents as possible and information/advice for other documentation/requirements for this region of the world.

Lauren Tyler

UK’s Newest Container Berth Officially Opened at Southampton

It was the final stage of a £100 million investment by ABP in the container terminal in Southampton. This is part of more than £650 million of capital investment planned by ABP across the group’s 21 ports.
It is estimated that this pipeline of investment will generate in order of £1.75 billion in GVA to the UK Economy.

The ceremony with the four-times Olympic gold medallist and the CMA CGM Marco Polo marked the official opening of Southampton’s new 500m long berth. It also brought to an end one of the biggest engineering projects in the south; creating a facility designed to handle the largest and deepest container vessels afloat.

 The port hosted a day of celebrations, which saw more than 300 guests drawn from the global

shipping industry, local community and port staff entertained by BBC South Today’s Sally Taylor holding a live question and answer session with the America’s Cup winning sailor.

Themed on the gold standard, the event highlighted Southampton’s status as the UK’s no.1 performing container terminal, turning vessels around faster than any other UK port.

Mark Binge, Allseas Global Commercial Manager added: “Watch out Felixstowe and London Gateway! The opening of the new quay in Southampton shows just how determined the port is not to be overlooked in the battle to accommodate the world’s largest ships wanting to call in the UK. At Allseas we welcome this news and the opportunities it brings for us and our customers.”