This week's round up of news from the world of heavy lift and project forwarding.

HLPFI has been busy in the past few weeks: we have officially launched HLPFI's Capital Projects & Contracts e-newsletter, and are just adding the finishing touches to our September/October issue of the magazine - the largest (and heaviest) edition HLPFI has ever produced.

Have you got your subscription to HLPFI's Capital Projects & Contracts yet?

It is now published on a weekly basis, providing an overview of contract awards to EPCs, oil majors, mining and civil engineering companies, energy groups and OEMs, as well as relevant information to the project freight forwarding community.

If you have not subscribed and would like to receive our Capital Projects & Contracts newsletter, please contact David Kershaw - dk@heavyliftpfi.com - to set up a subscription, which will cost you USD825, GBP500 or EUR650 per annum.

This week's Friday Flyer is sponsored by C.H. Robinson Project Logistics, which plans and delivers over-dimensional, heavy lift cargo by land, sea and air. This division of C.H. Robinson is headquartered in Calgary, Canada and specialises in the oil and gas, mining, wind energy and power generation industries.


In business

CMA CGM signed three major agreements with China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) under the name of Ocean Three.

Rickmers-Linie declared its support for the introduction of stricter sulphur regulations but expects that they will inevitably lead to an increase in the cost of marine fuels.

Hill Dickinson warned that additional clauses may have to be drafted for charters that see ships calling in Ebola-affected countries.

Hull City Council's planning committee gave its consent to the proposed works at Alexandra Dock, Green Port Hull.

South Africa's Barloworld Transport acquired an 80 percent shareholding in Kumkani Heavy Haulage.

PKP Cargo is in advanced talks regarding the acquisition of CTL Logistics and Advanced World Transport.


Capacity developments

Clipper Group confirmed the sale of three of its vessels to Compagnie Nationale Algérienne de Navigation (CNAN). The 9,100 dwt Clipper Gemini has already been delivered, with two sister vessels scheduled for delivery soon.

Höegh Autoliners took delivery of its latest car carrier Höegh Jeddah, while Transdata acquired 120 axle lines of SPMTs.

Aertssen Kranen added two 280-tonne capacity Hitachi SCX2800-2 crawler cranes to its fleet, as Collett Transport took delivery of an 8x4 Mercedes 4155 tractor unit complete with a 205 tonne/m capacity Effer 2055 crane.

Transport and Project Logistics (TPL) subsidiary Readybox signed an agreement with Van Moer Rail and Exportpack to introduce a new maritime packing service in Antwerp: Readybox Marine Packing.


Shipments of the week

Transtell used two recently delivered Enerpac strand jacks to lift a 330-tonne generator at a combined cycle power plant under construction on the US/Mexico border.

A 140-tonne shipment, including a 38 m long distillation tower, was transported from the Danish port of Fredericia to DONG Energy's crude oil terminal.

Blue Water Shipping handled the transport and storage of wind components for a major wind turbine project in the province of Ilocos Norte in the Philippines.

Seven fully assembled sets of rubber-tyred gantry cranes, weighing from 130 to 180 tonnes, were loaded onto Coscol's multipurpose vessel Da De in Taicang, China.

Other notable projects reported by HLPFI this week can be seen on the archive news area of our website. Got some shipment news of your own? Send it in to editorial@heavyliftpfi.com


Capital projects and contracts

HLPFI has launched a weekly capital projects newsletter, summarising contracts that have been awarded to EPCs and OEMs.

If you are interested in subscribing, please contact David Kershaw.


On the move

Sevenstar appointed Kris Caren (pictured) as its new US West Coast representative, while Rene Bergerling was appointed Röhlig's global sales director. C.H. Robinson opened a new office in Hamburg, and named Michel Datz as branch manager of its Basel, Switzerland office, as well as Jochen Mueller as branch manager of its Düsseldorf, Germany office. The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia's (Bahri) appointed Ibrahim Abdulrahman Al-Omar as its new chief executive officer, effective October 1, 2014. Specialized Rail Transport's (SRT) vice president of sales and marketing, Kelli Collins, was elected the 2015 president of the Railroad Industry Clearance Association (RICA).


Network and association developments

The CLC Projects network welcomed two new members to its roster: World Logistics Service Corporation representing Czech Republic, and UT Freight Service representing China, the USA and Taiwan. The Project Cargo Network (PCN) appointed a new representative in Ghana, UT Logistics Limited. Global Project Logistics Network (GPLN) member Velogic, based in Madagascar, added its offices in Mauritius and Reunion to the association's list of representatives.


All about Evie

August saw a six-storey high rubber duck, created by larger-than-life artist Florentijn Hofman, float into the US Port of Los Angeles.

Evie loved hearing about this quacking phenomenon, but she was even more excited to see another of the Dutch artist's creations land in UK waters this month.

Hofman's 21 m long hippo sculpture - dubbed HippopoThames - was created for London's Totally Thames festival, and will be semi-immersed in the river until September 28.