A Smorgasbord of Smaller Logistics Announcements from Around the Globe

UK – This week Thomas Miller Specialty and AIG announced they are ending their three year close and collaborative partnership for fixed premium P&I as of 1 January 2022. The two insurance groups say they are looking forward to continuing their strong and supportive relationship in other business areas going forward.

A new collaboration between Thomas Miller Specialty and the UK P&I Club is intended to create a market leading partnership whilst AIG say it is a strategic decision and looks forward to providing support to Thomas Miller Specialty in other ways.

UK – DP World has seen the OASIS Group, an information management outfit, become the latest tenant at its Thames side London Gateway logistics park. The 108,973 square foot warehouse will be taken on a long-term lease by OASIS which said it was particularly impressed by the 21 metre clear internal height, which allows for greater operational efficiencies and deployment of optimised racking systems, whilst the rainwater harvesting system, extensive solar panels and bespoke electric vehicle charging all support the group’s environmental strategy.

UK – Survitec has completed the acquisition of Blue Anchor Fire & Safety Ltd. which provides survival solutions to the fisheries, maritime and offshore energy industries including servicing, life raft rental and product supply and operating an MCA-approved life raft service station in Boyndie, Scotland.

The company is one of only a handful of UKAS accredited companies certified to carry out gas cylinder testing in the country and has a loyal customer base and a strong track record of repeat and sustained business, the company has achieved year-on-year growth since it was established in 2006, particularly in the fisheries and aquaculture business, which accounts for 60% of its revenue. Growth has also been supported by investment in the liferaft hire fleet, with over 700 SOLAS approved life rafts in operation

UK – Rushlift GSE, the specialist airport ground support equipment subsidiary of Doosan Industrial Vehicles UK, has entered into a six-year global framework agreement with airport ground services company, Menzies Aviation, to supply GSE equipment. The new kit will be rolled out in stages until Q2 next year as passenger air travel hopefully picks up.

Under the arrangement, Rushlift GSE will initially lease 650 brand-new vehicles to Menzies Aviation’s ground handling operations at Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The multi-million pound contract, signed in July, will include the provision of a fleet of pushback tugs and HI loaders from Trepel, mobile conveyor belts and electric baggage and pushback tugs from TLD, and trailers from UK manufacturer TBD.

UK – EUROPE – Scottish headquartered FLEETMAXX SOLUTIONS has launched its first fuel card which can be used across Europe. The EuroMaxx fuel card allows drivers to refuel at over 6,000 sites across the UK, Ireland, and Europe. Caps can be put on the amount that can be spent, and it is also possible to select specific petrol stations and services where the cards can be used. This flexibility and control mean journeys can be planned more efficiently and costs calculated accurately.

UK – US – A useful addition to any company first aid kit the RapidStop® Tourniquet from Aero Healthcare was inspired by a need identified by first responders at the Boston Bombings. Using the extensive experience gained from working with the Metropolitan Police the company developed it with MIT engineers.

A tourniquet is used to control extensive bleeding, by halting the flow of blood to a wound and an individual can apply this one with one hand and achieve total occlusion in ten seconds, faster still if a responder can use both hands to place and tighten. A quick action ratchet enables higher compression forces to be easily achieved; and single handed incremental tightening, and adjustment of the tension, is simple to accomplish.

SRI LANKA – In-water hull cleaning specialist HullWiper Ltd has formed a partnership with World Subsea Services Pvt Ltd to bring its hull cleaning solutions to vessels calling at the Port of Colombo.Strategically located in the Indian Ocean, Colombo Port is one of the country’s largest and busiest ports, particularly for container vessels.

HullWiper’s Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) provides an eco-friendly, safe alternative to traditional methods of hull cleaning using divers with brushes or karts. Using on board filter unit technology, hull cleaning operations can be performed while the vessel is in port, day, or night, in most weather conditions and whilst cargo operations are underway. Vessels do not need to be off-hired or experience delays to their tight schedules.

JAPAN – CANADA – UK – This week saw yet another trial for rotor sail technology with MOL in Japan signing up with the world’s biggest mining group, Vale of Canada to conduct a joint study on installation of a wind propulsion system on board one of its 200,000-tonne class in-service bulk carries.

The joint study team will examine and verify the number of rotor sails to be installed and the effect of GHG reduction, working closely with Anemoi Marine Technologies Ltd (Anemoi), the manufacturer of the sails. Anemoi, based in the UK, claims to have installed the world’s first modern rotor sail on a new build Ultramax bulk carrier in 2018.

EUROPE – Truck builder IVECO has gone into partnership with digital road freight forwarder sennder and CO3, a data platform for European road freight, to install and activate inbuilt GPS devices on vehicles. Powered by CO3’s technology, assisted by IVECO’s integrated vehicle tracking and connected to sennder’s sennOS platform the system will give shippers the ability to track almost every load in Europe, including spot loads.

Spot loads account for 20% of the trucking market and are often one-time loads fulfilled on short notice, most commonly on the same day as the terms are agreed. At present, this short notice approach means that carriers must pick up the goods quickly, leaving insufficient time to activate GPS tracking systems, something this partnership aims to overcome.

LUXEMBOURG – Kuehne+Nagel is considerably expanding its local contract logistics footprint with the opening of its latest fulfilment centre in Contern, Luxembourg, comprising 34,000m² of warehousing space. The company views the country as a strategic location in central Europe with a growing importance with regard to eCommerce order fulfilment.

The opening ceremony was attended by Luxembourg's Prime Minister, Xavier Bettel, K&Ns Honorary Chairman, Klaus-Michael Kühne, and other political representatives. Marc Maurer of Swiss running gear brand On and Luc Provost of B Medical Systems, the CEOs of the two anchor customers of the new site, were also amongst the guests.

Photo: A consideration for any company involved in the physical side of logistics, or even in the fleet of vehicles, a sample of RapidStop® Tourniquets from Aero Healthcare.