Rail Logistics : TRAIN SNEAKING OUT!

The entire world is at a shock when an unmanned train engine in Sri Lanka ‘escaped’ from its dock on December 5^th. By the time its absence was noticed and reported, the train engine at the speed of 5 km/h had travelled 12 km through the capital city of the country, Colombo. Inspired by Hollywood or the dramatic Bollywood movie scenes, one of the technicians jumps onto the ‘lonely voyager’ to intercept its journey. Fortunately, there were no accidents caused but nonetheless, the driver and the assistant were immediately suspended by the Sri Lankan Railways. The cause of the incident is said to be either the clutch of the locomotive was not switched off or someone had started the engine. A three member committee was appointed to probe the incident and a report was submitted to the Transport Minister, Kumara Welgama that the shunting driver and the assistant are at fault.

On the other hand, some reporters found a 1913 newspaper clipping about a ghost train mysteriously leaving the same station, on the same track 100 years earlier on the same day, at the same time. Is this a mere coincidence? Or is there a ghost train driver who waits for 100 years to drive a train? Or was the locomotive stolen by the descendent of the thief who stole the train in 1913? Whatever it may be, I hope we do not have to wait for another 100 years to prove the reason of the incident. Perhaps, the locomotive had a mind of its own to have a feel of how it would appear to be just like the driver-less light rail transits (LRT) in Kuala Lumpur. Maybe it is also an indication to Sri Lankan Railways to begin investing into driver-less LRT system.

Thank you.

 

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi

Sea Logistics : BREAKING THE OLD SHIPS BY BREAKING THE LATEST LAW & ETHICS.....

Ship breaking is a crucial industry that disposes the unused or old ships that are no longer viable to be refurbished or maintained or operated. The ships are purchased by ship breakers & torn down so that the metal as well as the other parts can be recycled. Previously, many ship breakers were operating at almost all major ports in the world.

However, these days, most of the ship breakers operate in developing countries such China, India, Bangladesh & Pakistan due to lower cost of operations. But recently, the industry has been tainted lately with various disheartening issues pertaining to the manner the ship breakers functions. One of it is that, the ship breakers in these countries violates the human rights code as they engage child labour to carry out the task. Besides that, their employees life are at stake as the necessary personal protective equipments (PPE) are not provided by the employers. Above all the unacceptable working conditions, the workers are paid USD 1.00 to work 12 hours daily, 7 days a week.

It would be really nice if the ship owners who intends to scrap their old ship, performs a procedural tender & invite ship breakers with good work policies or practices to participate in bidding. Do not just award the ship breaking contracts to the highest bidder but award to those organization that are worth to be known as partners. Ensure that the ship breakers are financially fit, are not involved in terrorism or in support of piracy, has ethical or legal workforce and prioritize the safety, health & environment factors at all times. We are sure that none of us would want to be associated or be a part of an industry that is 'contaminated' with such upsetting concerns.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi

Air Logistics : COMMERCIAL AIRLINES INDUSTRY IS 100 YEARS OLD!

January 1st 1914 marked an event that would change the world – the first ever scheduled flight with a paying passenger. It was Mayor Abe Pheil for the thrill, purchased the first ever ticket at the cost of USD 400.00 then to fly in a passenger plane. Tony Jannus flew that bi-wing seaplane from St Petersburg, FL, to Tampa in a 23 minutes journey. Normally such a trip would take 2 hours on a steam ship across Tampa Bay. Thus, it marked the birth of the global airline industry. 100 years has passed since & the airline industry has changed a lot at this point of time.

Thank you.

 

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi

Sea Logistics : LARGEST SEA EXPLORERS OF THE WORLD!

It's fairly easy to sort out what's the biggest car or the fastest car in the world. Determining the biggest ship is much more subjective.

So, which ship is the largest ship of the world? When everyone hears this question, the very first name which comes to our minds is the Titanic. It is no doubt one of the most famous ships which met with quite a memorable trouble on its first journey.

There are many giant ships other than the titanic of which most of us are not aware of and that’s the reason we have brought you this list of the top 10 largest ships ever which have fared our seas and oceans. There are many ways of transportation available at the present time and each one has its own advantages.

The enormous and big ships of today transport almost 90 % of anything that the world produces. The world’s longest ships are listed according to their overall length (LOA), which is the maximum length of the vessel measured between the extreme points in fore and aft. In addition the ships’ deadweight tonnage (DWT) and gross tonnage (GT) are presented as they are often used to describe the size of a vessel.

Have a good time counting down the World’s Largest Vessels! And have a spiritful countdown in ending of the year 2013 & welcoming year 2014

15. Jarmada class

Jarmada class started off on July 1975 to carry oil to different corners of the world. With the length of 1,225 feet and the speed of almost 16 knots, Jarmada class has made many successful voyages.

With a long service period of almost 32 years, Jarmada class came to an end in 2008. The deadweight tonnage of this huge ship was 380,000 and in its time was counted one of the most strongest, powerful and biggest ship of the world. Jarmada class was retired three years ago and now is currently being used as a dumb storage tank barge.

14. Globtik Tokyo

Globtik Tokyo touched the surface of water in February 1973 for its first voyage. It was one of the biggest oil tankers of its time with the length of 1,243 feet and a massive deadweight tonnage capacity of almost 484,000 tons. Along with this huge weight lifting capacity, Globtik Tokyo had a top speed of 16 to 17 knots. Globtik Tokyo served the world continuously for a straight 13 years until its life ended. The red and black combination of coloring scheme on the body of Globtik Tokyo, when moving on water gave a great view to everyone, greatly enhanced its beauty and massive looks.

  

13. TI class supertanker

TI class supertanker Oceania is one of the most attractive ships ever built with massive capacity transferring crude oil. TI Oceania is a huge Oil Tanker still in the working condition even after a tough journey routine of 9 years. The deadweight tonnage of TI Oceania is around 440,000 tones along with the speed capacity of speed between 16 to 18 knots. TI Oceania is a master piece ship highly laden with technology to hurdle all the obstacles which might occur during the journeys. If you look at TI Oceania from the sky or from a long distance, the very first thing which comes to mind is a giant ice berg floating on the water. The length of TI Oceania is 1,246 feet.

12. Berge Empress

Type                : Oil tanker           
Length             : 381.82 m (1,252.7 ft)
DWT               : 423,697
GT                   : 211,359
In-service        : 1976-2004
Status              : Broken up

11. Berge Emperor

The Berge Emperor was a large oil tanker built in the year 1975 in Japan by Mitsui and was one of the largest oil tankers of all time. It was launched on 30 August 1975. The ship weighed 211,360 tons and had a length of 381.82 meters. The ship was owned by Bergesen d.y. & Co. but in the year 1985 it was sold to Maastow BV. and the ship's name was changed to "Emperor". The ship was scrapped at Kaohsiung on the 30th of March 1986.

10. Nai Genova

Type                : Oil tanker           
Length             : 381.92 m (1,253.0 ft)
DWT               : 402,932 DWT
GT                   : 188,947
In-service        : 1978-2000
Status              : Broken up

9. Nai Superba

Type                : Oil tanker           
Length             : 381.92 m (1,253.0 ft)
DWT               : 409,400
GT                   : 198,783
In-service        : 1978-2001
Status              : Broken up

8. Emma Mærsk (E-Class)

In the list of top 10 biggest ships of the world, Emma Maersk is currently the biggest ship which is still in service. Along with this title, Emma Mærsk is the first container ship in the E-class of eight owned by the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group. When she was launched in 2006, Emma Mærsk was the largest container ship ever built.

As of 2010, she and her seven sister ships are the longest container ships constructed and the longest ships currently in use, after the largest ship ever built, Seawise Giant, was permanently moored in 2004 and scrapped in 2010.Officially, Emma Mærsk is able to carry around 11,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) or 14,770 TEU depending on definition. In May 2010, the class set a record of 15,011 TEU in Tanger-Med, Tangiers on sister, Ebba Mærsk. Emma Maersk is one of the most finely made biggest ships present today.

It’s a Container ship which carries different goods from country to country. Emma Maersk entered the oceans to serve the world in August 2006 with the deadweight tonnage capacity of almost 159,000 and the speed of almost 26 knots which makes it one of the fastest container ships of the world as well. The length of the massive big ship is 1,305 feet.

7) Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller (Triple E Class)

The Maersk Triple E class is a family of large, fuel-efficient container ships, designed as a successor to the Mærsk E-class. In February and June 2011, Maersk awarded Daewoo Shipbuilding two US$1.9 billion contracts ($3.8bn total) to build twenty new "Triple E" family of containerships with a capacity of 18,000 TEU, with an emphasis on lower fuel consumption.

The name "Triple E" is derived from the class's three design principles: "Economy of scale, Energy efficient and Environmentally improved". These ships are expected to be not only the world's longest ships in service, but also the most efficient container ships per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) of cargo.

The ships will be 400 metres (1,312 ft) long and 59 metres (194 ft) wide. While only 3 metres (9.8 ft) longer and 4 metres (13 ft) wider than E-class ships, the Triple E ships will be able to carry 2,500 more containers. With a draft of 14.5 metres (48 ft), they will be too deep to cross the Panama Canal, but will be able to transit the Suez Canal when sailing between Europe and Asia.

One of the class's main design features are the dual 32 megawatts (43,000 hp) ultra-long stroke two-stroke diesel engines, driving two propellers at a design speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Slower than its predecessors, this class uses a strategy known as slow steaming, which is expected to lower fuel consumption by 37% and carbon dioxide emissions per container by 50%. The Triple E design helped Maersk win a "Sustainable Ship Operator of the Year" award in July 2011.

Maersk plans to use the ships to service routes between Europe and Asia, projecting that Chinese exports will continue to grow. The Europe-Asia trade represents the company's largest market; it already has 100 ships serving this route. Maersk hopes to consolidate its share of the Europe-Asia trade with the addition of the Triple-E class ships.

Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller is the lead ship of Maersk's Triple E class of container vessels. She has the largest cargo capacity in TEU of any ship yet constructed, and is the longest ship in service worldwide as of 2013^[update].

6. Esso Atlantic

Esso Atlantic is one of the most popular historic names in the big ships category. This huge ship used to be the best in its time and has served the world with its consistent services level of straight 35 years. Basically it was an Oil tanker with the deadweight tonnage capacity of almost 516,000 tones. The length of this huge ship was 1,334 feet and the speed capacity was up to 16 knots. Esso Atlanticwas disposed off as scrap on 2002 in Pakistan.

5. Prairial (supertanker)

Prairial was a supertanker, built in 1979 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire for Compagnie Nationale de Navigation. Prairial, which was the fourth and final vessel of Batillus class supertankers (the other three were Batillus, Bellamya and Pierre Guillaumat).

It was the only ship of that class to have a career longer than ten years, sailing until 2003, although under different names: Sea Brilliance (1985), Hellas Fos (1986) and Sea Giant (1997). She is also distinguished as the third biggest ship ever constructed, surpassed in size only by Seawise Giant built-in 1976 and subsequently lengthened, and her sister ship Pierre Guillaumat.

Prairial was an Oil Tanker which has served the world for almost 34 years by transporting crude oil and goods from one corner of the world to the other. Prairial is the only big ship which, despite undergoing many name changes with the passage of time, is still mostly known by its first name. With a massive deadweight tonnage capacity of almost 555,000 tones, Prairial has challenged many a sea storms in its voyages and won the battle many times. The length of Prairial was 1,359 feet and the speed capacity was almost 16 knots.

4. Batillus / Bellamya

Batillus was a supertanker, built in 1976 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire for the French branch of Shell Oil. The first vessel of homonymous Batillus class supertankers. Batillus, together with her sister ships Bellamya, Pierre Guillaumat and Prairial, was one of the biggest ships in the world, surpassed in size only by Seawise Giant (later Jahre Viking, Happy Giant and Knock Nevis) built in 1976, and extended in 1981, although the four ships of the Batillus class had a larger gross tonnage.

Her last voyage was from Vestnes to Kaoshiung (Taiwan) where she arrived on December 28, 1985. to be scrapped. One of the main reasons of scrapping the Batillus was purely financial keeping in view its very less usage and demand. When it comes to weight capacity, the deadweight capacity of Batillus was almost 554,000 and the speed of this big ship was 16 to 17 knots. The length of Batillus was almost 1,359 feet.

3. Pierre Guillaumat (supertanker)

It was the 2nd biggest ship ever built in the history of mankind but it didn’t last quite long enough as was expected. Pierre Guillaumat was a supertanker, built in 1977 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire for Compagnie Nationale de Navigation. Pierre Guillaumat, which was the third vessel of Batillus class supertankers (the other three, slightly smaller, were Batillus, Bellamya and Prairial), is distinguished as the biggest ship ever constructed, surpassed in size only by Seawise Giantbuilt in 1976, and only subsequently lengthened, although the four ships of the Batillus class had a larger gross tonnage.

Named after the French politician and founder of Elf Aquitaine oil industry, Pierre Guillaumat, the vessel was completed and put in service in 1977. Due to unprofitability, accentuated by huge dimensions of the ship, which placed restrictions on where she could be employed, the Pierre Guillaumat was put on hold at Fujairah anchorage since February 2, 1983,and later that year, bought by the Hyundai Corporation, and renamed Ulsan Master, she arrived at Ulsan, South Korea for demolition on October 19, 1983.

Because of her gigantic proportions the usability of the Pierre Guillaumat was very limited. She couldn’t pass through either the Panama or Suez canals. Because of her draft, she could enter a minimal number of ports in the world, and was therefore moored on offshore rigs, and oil terminals like Antifer and after off-loading to reduce her draft, at Europoort.

Pierre Guillaumat served the world for only 6 years before it was disposed of as scrap because of the huge unprofitability and declining demands. The biggest reason which created such a name of Pierre Guillaumat, ironically, became its major disadvantage which led it to its end very soon. It was the Pierre Guillaumat’sgigantic size. Because of the huge structure of the ship, it was very difficult for many harbors to provide a good parking for the ship. The deadweight tonnage of Pierre Guillaumat was almost 555,000 tones with near about 16 knots of speed. The length of Pierre Guillaumat was almost 1,360 feet.

2. Seawise Giant

Seawise Giant was the biggest ship of the world ever built till present. Seawise Giant, later Happy Giant, Jahre Viking, and Knock Nevis, was a ULCC supertanker and the longest ship ever built, and possessed the greatest deadweight tonnage ever recorded.

Fully laden, her displacement was 657,019 tonnes (646,642 long tons; 724,239 short tons), the heaviest ship of any kind, and with a draft of 24.6 m (81 ft), she was incapable of navigating the English Channel, the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal. Overall, she was generally considered the largest ship ever built, as well as the largest self-propelled manmade object ever built.

Seawise Giant was built-in 1979 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. at their Oppama shipyard in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan as a 418,000 ton ULCC^[8] to be named the Porthos by a Greek owner. It was last used as a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) moored off the coast of Qatar in the Persian Gulf at the Al Shaheen Oil Field.

The vessel was sold to Indian ship breakers, and renamed Mont for her final journey in December 2009. After clearing Indian customs, she was sailed to, and intentionally beached at Alang, Gujarat, India for demolition. Along with the title of being the biggest ship of the world, the Seawise Giant also holds the title of being the biggest Oil tanker type ship ever built.

With the deadweight tonnage almost a massive 564,700 tones and a surprisingly top speed of 16 knots, Seawise Giant has faithfully served the world and fared the seas for an astounding 30 years till 2009. Seawise Giant was also called the Queen of oceans and rivers. The length of Seawise Giant is 1,504 feet which makes it the biggest ship of the world.

1)   Prelude FLNG 

This is the latest, largest addition. Prelude FLNG is a very large floating liquefied natural gas project for Royal Dutch Shell. It is the largest vessel ever made. It is 488 metres (1,601 ft) long, 74 metres (243 ft) wide, and made with more than 260,000 tonnes of steel. In operation, it would weigh more than 600,000 tonnes; more than five times the weight of the largest aircraft carrier.

The hull was launched in December 2013. The main double-hulled structure was built by the Technip Samsung Consortium in the Samsung Heavy Industries, Geoje shipyard in South Korea. Construction was "officially" said to have started when the first metal was cut for the substructure in October 2012. The turret mooring system and other equipment such as wells are being constructed in other places around the world. It was launched in December 2013. Subsea equipment is being built by FMC Technologies, and Emerson is the main supplier of automation systems. Analysts estimate the cost of the vessel at between $10.8 billion and $12.6 billion.

The Prelude FLNG system will be used in the Prelude and Concerto gas fields in the Browse Basin, 200 km off the coast of Australia; drilling is expected to begin in 2017 and it has a planned life expectancy of 25 years.

Natural gas will be extracted from wells and liquified (by chilling it to –162°C). The ability to produce and offload LNG to large LNG carriers is an important innovation, which reduces costs and removes the need for long pipelines to land-based LNG processing plants. However, fitting all the equipment onto a single floating facility was a big challenge. The system is designed to withstand Category 5 cyclones. It will produce 110,000 BOE per day.

However, this is not the end of the list as there will be another monster of the seas being planned at the moment. Keep at it and you will see continuous growth. We also hope positive growth in our lives in line with the growth of the industry.  

Thank you & Happy New Year!

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi

Rail Logistics : INDIAN RAILWAY INCIDENT...AGAIN & AGAIN BUT HOPEFULLY NEVER AGAIN!

Train accidents may be common in India. And fire breaking out on the Indian trains is becoming a yearly occurrence.  Yesterday, 28-Dec-2013, a fire blaze in a passenger train carriage killed at least 26 people in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Last year, 30-Jul-2012, another train on fire incident in the same state sacrificed 47 lives and in 20-Nov-2011, 7 people were dead as a result of train on fire in Jharkhand. As per the train operator, Indian Railways, the root causes are always said to be short circuit of either air conditioning systems or other ELECTRICAL equipments of the train. We should really hope the actual basis of the fire are identified and avoided in future. Merely declaring that the cause of fire are from the equipments, may be accepted as an accident if it happens just once but if it happens every year, it appears as an act deliberately done by the railway operator to endanger people’s lives. These incidents are excluding of the country’s other train accidents caused by different reasons that took thousands of lives since the last 5 years. May the souls of the people who died in the accidents rests in peace and we shall pray that such disaster does not transpire again.   

Trains services in India are the key public transportation operation with a network of 115,000 km, connecting the entire country. Some 9000 passenger trains are operated, serving 18 million people daily in the country. The operator of the world’s 4^th largest train network, Indian Railways is an Indian state-owned enterprise under the arm of Ministry of Railways, Government of India. The employment number by the enterprise exceeds 1.4 million people which are the 9^th largest in the world. The history of the Great Indian Railways operations dates back to the year 1853. Their expertise in railway engineering is also imported by many countries including Malaysia. Nonetheless, why do frequent train accidents continue to ensue in India? Of course, with recent implementations of safety measures, the numbers of accidents are reduced but the idea of the repetitive causes makes it unacceptable.

Hence, can such sad incidents not happen anymore? What is needed to be implemented for prevention? Stricter rules? Better safety procedures? Besides blaming and pressuring only the train operators, the passengers’ behaviour plays a vital role to minimize train accidents. They should be more responsible of their safety, adhere to all regulations and quit any acts that will deprive or destroy public amenities. Indian Railways’ current logo symbolizes that it is the “lifeline of the nation”. However, we do not want the railways to be known as means to deflate the lifeline of the nation. It is not just a question of reliability of railway transport in India but also the logistics industry of the world.

Source : BBC News ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-25533209# )

Thank you.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi

Logistics Finance : EXIM BANK MALAYSIA, A STRATEGIC PARTNER!

Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Berhad (Exim Bank) is expected to grow by 30% year-on-year asset growth in the year 2014 as per the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Datuk Adissakidin Ali. He also claimed that this growth is realistic based on past year performances. Although, the loan disbursements for the year 2013 is lower that targets but asset growth is achievable.

EXIM Bank was incorporated on 29 August 1995 as a government owned development financial institution through a wholly owned subsidiary of the Minister of Finance Incorporated. The Bank was established to promote reverse investment and export of strategic sectors such as capital goods, infrastructure projects, shipping, value added manufactured products and to facilitate the entry of Malaysian companies to new markets, particularly to the non-traditional markets.

As an agency under the purview of the Ministry of Finance, EXIM Bank’s mandated role as specified by the Government is to provide credit facilities to finance and support exports and imports of goods, services and overseas projects with emphasis on non-traditional markets as well as the provision of export credit insurance services, export financing insurance, overseas investments insurance and guarantee facilities.

The Bank’s clientele consists of large corporations, SMEs, foreign governments and foreign companies and cover all sectors ranging from trading, manufacturing and infrastructure.

 

EXIM Bank continues to pursue alliances with international associations and multilateral organizations and have also executed several agreements to further boost its business and market outlook. As at to date, EXIM Bank is a member of the Berne Union, an international organisation for Export Credit Agencies; a member of Asian EXIM Banks Forum, an association of 9 EXIM Banks in Asia; The Aman Union and Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific. EXIM Bank in its export promotion effort also collaborates with Malaysian government agencies including Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Small And Medium Enterprise Corporation Malaysia (SMECorp), and Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia (CIDB).

 

As a conclusion, EXIM Bank is a good platform for exporters and importers in Malaysia to explore as it provides financial facilitations and has good relations with all associated agencies within the country as well as good relations internationally. Well, it is crucial that any international business relies greatly on the secure networking and dependable partners. 

 

Source :

Exim Bank confident of 30% asset growth | theSundaily
http://www.exim.com.my

Thank you.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi

Air Logistics : NADI REMAINS AS THE PULSE OF GROWING MALINDO AIR?

Despite the latest anecdote that National Aerospace Defence & Industries (NADI) might exit from the contemporary airlines company, Malindo Air, there seems to be positive news that the company intends to expand its operations by injecting 15 more aircrafts. Malindo Air was founded in Malaysia on 11 September 2012 with 51% of its share is held by NADI while another 49% of its share is owned by Lion Group, Indonesia’s largest privately run airline. Currently, Malindo Air has a fleet size of 9 aircrafts with coverage to 16 destinations and is bound to assume delivery of another 3 aircrafts by March 2014. With the additional 15 aircrafts planned to be leased from Lion Air, Malindo Air intends to expand into larger markets especially India.

With such great plans laid ahead by Malindo Air, it appears that the competition of the airlines industry is more resilient not just within Malaysia but globally. It is also learnt that Malindo Air offers additional services that other competitors does not provide without having to pay additional sum of money. With such globalization in the industry and availability of variation, it will now allow consumers to have catalogue of selection to fly in accordance to their preference. Besides that, airlines companies will be required to buck up on their service levels to increase customer satisfaction and customer retention rate. On the other hand, the speculations of NADI selling its shares in Malindo Air remains unsolved and not commented. However, it has to be noted that every speculations or rumour has a reason which will be made known to the world at large when it is too late. Nevertheless, let's all hope that the rumour remains a rumour, while the consumers continue to enjoy the benefits of competition. 



Thank you.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi