July 27 - Welcome to the Friday Flyer, bringing you a round-up of news from the heavy lift and project forwarding sector which has caught the eyes of the editorial team over the last week.
The London Olympic torch was being rowed down the Thames and run through the streets of London as this week's Friday Flyer was being put together. It's a neat demonstration on the role that freight shipping and transport has played in the seven years of construction and infrastructure development that has been undertaken to support the games. Within the last few weeks, HLPFI reported on the lifting of the Olympic rings onto the underside of the iconic Tower Bridge, while our friends in the infrastructure sector deserve Gold for successfully completing the most complex multi-disciplinary engineering project in Europe over the last decade.
As well as sporting records that will be made in London, there are records being set in the heavy lift and project cargo world - National Air Cargo (National) - www.nationalaircargo.com - celebrated a milestone with the loading of its 1,000th cargo flight from Dubai World Central (DWC). National specialises in international shipments of over-sized, time-sensitive, and special cargo and equipment.
Pilots are the unsung heroes of heavy lift shipping operations as they guide vessels into tricky harbour lanes and quaysides. Two industry bodies, the International Maritime Pilots' Association (IMPA) - www.impahq.org - and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) - www.marisec.org - have revised guidance to remind the industry of the vital need to ensure that ladders used for pilot transfers are safe and always rigged correctly.
Well known provider of crane and heavy-load transportation services, The Sarens Group - www.sarens.com - relied on its Terex CC 2800-1 crawler crane to complete the lift of a new bridge at a steel mill in Saarland.
SC&RA (Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association) - www.scranet.org - an international trade association of nearly 1,300 member companies from 43 countries, is on the move to a new address in Centreville, Virginia.
It's fingers crossed at PD Ports - www.pdports.co.uk - as it learns it has been shortlisted for a quartet of industry awards: shortlisted by container publication Containerisation International for its Terminal Operator of the Year, Port Authority of the Year and Investment in People awards while it is also in the running for the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport's Development of People prize. HLPFI wishes PD Ports the best of British!
A decade ago, Dutch heavy lift shipping line Jumbo - www.jumboshipping.nl - received its first ISO 9001 qualification. This year, the company has celebrated its 10th consecutive certification.
Getting his feet under the table this week was Michael L. Morton who has joined the board of the Diamond State Port Corporation (DSPC), which owns and operates the Port of Wilmington - www.portofwilmington.com - in Delaware. And leaving his current role as president and ceo of Cargolux - www.cargolux.com - is Frank Reimen, following his appointment as High Commissioner for National Protection by the Luxembourg government, effective August 1, 2012.
Business stories this week included the expansion of a number of industry networks the - Project Cargo Network(PCN) - www.projectcargonetwork.com - welcomed Global Cargo Line - www.gcline.net - as a representative in the Lebanon while at the same time it accepted the network's first representative in the Philippines, AAI+Peers Inc -www2.airliftasiainc.com With a dollop of maple syrup, ITN Logistics Group - www.itn-logistics.com - has joined the Cargo Equipment Experts Ltd (CEE) - www.cargoequipmentexperts.com - as the network's member in Canada.
Copies of issue 27 of HLPFI are hitting the desks of readers around the world as we work on this Friday Flyer. Our attention has now turned to issue 28, September/October 2012, which will include features on Germany, Japan, Australia, USA, capital equipment industrial plant and machinery, rigging and heavy duty prime movers.
Now is a good time to contribute editorial or advertise in the magazine. If you are interested or might like to sponsor the Friday Flyer, contact Ian Matheson on +44 (0) 1689 857631 or ian@heavyliftpfi.com
