The Magazine of the M+R SPEDAG GROUP

INFRASTRUCTURENew Capacities for Cargo Movement

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panorama

CONTENTS

Cover Infrastructure

Editorial 3

Panama Canal 4The expansion of the Panama Canal is one of the most important infrastructure projects in recent decades

Terminal 3 8Spedag Interfreight is providing the local infractructure for the expansion project at Dar Es Salaam's Julius Nyerere International Airport

Africa‘s Future on the Right Tracks 10Rebirth of railways in Africa - the construction of several new transit corridors is under way

Opening Ceremony in Vietnam 12M+R Asia's latest addition celebrated its inauguration with an official ceremony

Super Heavy 14M+R India won an important contract for ongoing exports of cement shipments to Sri Lanka

Giants of the Oceans 16Will there be an end to the ongoing trend for ever bigger ships in global container traffic?

Corporate Social Responsibility 18An update on the CVT Project in Myanmar, which is supported by M+R Spedag Group

PANORAMA - THE MAGAZINE OF THE M+R SPEDAG GROUP

December 2016 issuePublisher M+R Spedag Group AG, Kriegackerstrasse 91, 4132 Muttenz / SwitzerlandEditor Bernadette Jourdan Design + Layout Stephan Schneider Copyright M+R Spedag Global AG Contact panorama@mrspedag.com Internet www.mrspedag.com

Gotthard Base Tunnel 7Switzerland celebrated the official opening of the world's longest rail tunnel

The main focus in this year’s Panorama is on infrastructure, in view of the 2016 opening of two once-in-a-century structures: in Panama, the expansion of the canal was celebrated after nine years of construction, and the most important waterway between east and west became op-erational with an increased capacity of 50%. And Switzerland is especially proud of building the longest tunnel in the world with the extension of the north/south railway line under the Gotthard. The tunnel runs 57.1 kilometres through the Alps, making the crossing of Switzerland possible with hardly any gradients. The travel time between Basel and Chiasso, the main gate-ways and border crossings in the north and south of Switzerland, is thus reduced by a full hour to only three and a half hours. The new tunnel also allows for a higher frequency of trains. Up to 210 freight trains per day - up from currently 160 - will be using the north-south passageway through the Gotthard.

There can be no doubt that investing in infrastructure is always the prerequisite for economic growth. We ourselves have been operative in East Asia since 1985, and in East Africa since 1998. Precisely here in developing countries, infrastructure expansion is of prime importance. In 1985, 57 million TEU (20' containers) were handled around the globe – a volume that these days is matched by the annual turnover of China's Shanghai and Ningbo/Zhoushan region alone. This has only been possible due to the visionary planning of docks plus supporting transport infra-structure and swift, unbureaucratic realization.

The same holds for all the so-called Tiger States as well: today, Singapore is still the second largest port in the world. And it definitely also applies to the airports in East Asian major cities. Up to the mid-90s, Asian connoisseurs on their way to Hong Kong attached value to sitting at a right-hand window in the plane so they could experience at close hand the spectacular landing at Kai Tak (video clips can be found on You Tube under «Kai Tak Landing»). In 1997 a new airport was opened on Lantau Island that clearly demonstrated how visionary ideas can create high values for many generations to come. The situation is not the same in India, where transport infrastructure always lags behind economic growth. This is surely one of the reasons why India does not participate in world trade in keeping with the country’s size and population.

And Africa? This is where we can see steady improvement in the infrastructure, especially in the construction of new roads and rail connections, but also in the areas of energy and telecom-munication. Semi-public Chinese companies are building up the infrastructure there in exchange for raw materials and mining rights. This ensures that foreign money does not just disappear. The economy gains, jobs are generated and growth is near the double-digit percentage range.

In a word: economic development is only possible on the basis of reliable infrastructure in energy supply, telecommunication and the transport sector – even if this at times has to be at the expense of the environment. But that shall be the focus of our next Panorama.

yoursDaniel Richner

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Since the middle of the 1980s it has not been possible for all container ships to traverse the Panama Canal, as ships with a capacity of more than 4,400 TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units, the technical description for a 20’ container), were quite

simply too big. Ships were classified as Panamax and Post-Panamax, depending on whether or not their length, width and draft were permissible dimensions for passage through the canal.

Since the widening of the canal it can now be traversed by container ships of the Post-Panamax class, only, however, up to a capacity of 14,000 TEU. Tankers, for example for liquid gas, can now choose to take the cost and time-saving route through the rain forest instead of having to sail round Cape Horn at the southern point of South America, still dreaded by seamen. This means that 98% of all ships travelling the oceans can as of now be channeled through the Panama Ca-nal. Expected is a doubling of the freight throughput from 300 to 600 million tons per year.

So that the canal can continue to play an indispensable role in the world’s economy, Panama staged a real battle of materials in the jungle. The new lock installations do not re-place the old ones, but supplement them. And so that the largest ships do not get stuck in the silt, construction work-ers have deepened the shipping channels in Lake Gatún and widened them out to up to 366 meters wide in the bends.

PANAMA CANALAfter nine years of construction work, a bottle­neck for world trade has now been eliminated. In June 2016, a ceremonial act of state opened the newly extended canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Central America. With a two­year delay, Panama has now com­pleted a construction of the century that is unique in its dimensions.

PANORAMA4

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5

This lake forms part of the 80 kilometer-long route for which a ship needs about 12 hours – so long as one of the notorious fog banks does not delay the trip.

In their 2006 referendum the people of Panama voted in favor of expanding the canal, which was first opened in 1918. This was a wise decision, as the construction work that started in 2007 soon had a positive effect on the country’s economy. At times, 40,000 people were working directly or indirectly on the waterway. Last year the Canal Company ACP took in around 2 billion US dollars in fees, 4% more than the previous year. And with its 9,000-strong workforce, ACP is the biggest employer in the country, after public administration.

Responsible for building the expansion is the syndicate ‘Groupe Unis pour le Canal’, managed by the Spanish con-cern SACYR. Undertakings from Italy, Belgium and Panama were also involved. The originally budgeted building costs of US$ 5.3 billion rose finally to 6.9 billion.

There is great hope that the new canal will drive forward the trade in goods with North and South America. There are already seaports on the east and the west coasts of the USA being developed for billions of dollars. And in Latin America,

Ceremonial opening: after nine years of construction, the time had finally arrived! On 26th June 2016, the M/V COSCO SHIPPING PANAMA, a container ship with a capacity of 9,472 TEU, travelled through the new lock basins of the extended Panama Canal.

For Panama, the enlargement of the canal – the prime source of revenue for the country’s economy – was a step of great im­portance. For a long time, modern, large­size container ships have not been able to traverse the canal, as its locks, before the extension, were only big enough for ships with a capacity of 4,400 TEU. Now, in comparison, ships of 14,000 TEU fit into the new lock basins. With its extension, the Panama Canal has regained its importance for international container shipping, with its growing trend to increasingly larger ships.

Cartagena in Colombo, Callao in Peru and San Antonio in Chile are extending their facilities.

Traversing the canal is not, of course, for free. The scale of charges is extremely complex. The price is not only based on the type, size and cargo of a ship. Costs for pilots on board, tugboats in the canal, or locomotives and mooring in the lock chambers have to be taken into consideration. For a freight ship with 10,000 TEU, the sum of about US$ 800,000 is payable. Despite the much larger lock facilities and the deep-ened channels, transit has not become more expensive – in fact, calculated down to a single standard container, it is now a little cheaper.

Panama’s tariff policy is not, however, based on generos-ity to the shipping companies, but rather on its fear that large ships might prefer to take the long way round Cape Horn if the charges seen to be too high. On the other hand, operat-ing the Panama Canal is extremely expensive and cannot be compared to other artificial waterways such as the Kiel Canal or the Suez Canal. In Panama, ships have to be raised in many stages up and down the lock basins. For all its gigantism, Panama is looking anxiously towards the north. In autumn

INFRASTRUCTURE

2012, Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega surprised his fel-low-countrymen with the announcement that he had made a deal with the Chinese investor Wang Jing to build a canal of their own. Although there had been no invitation to tender, and nobody knew of the company Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Co. Limited, the Nicaraguans reacted with enthusiasm. For more than 150 years the country had dreamed of a waterway linking the oceans that would cata-pult it into the future. Panama, thanks to its canal, became the richest country in Central America, whereas Nicaragua, after Haiti, is considered to be the second-poorest country in the western hemisphere.

Subsequent to ‘cutting the sod’ in 2015, nothing more has happened, so that it seems doubtful whether the Nicaragua canal will really be built. A far greater danger for Panama and its dependence on the canal is global economy, the low oil price and climate change. After the financial crisis in 2008, 4% fewer containers were shipped through the canal. Sinking oil prices make the 15,000 kilometer-long detour round Cape Horn more attractive for the shipping companies. In addi-tion, climate change could lead to a lack of water in the canal: crossing through the canal, each ship requires 200 million li-ters of water that mainly comes from the artificially dammed Lake Gatún, whose reservoir is sufficient at present – but if there is less rain, its replenishment is not guaranteed.

When, on 26th June 2016, the new locks opened for the Chinese freighter ‘Cosco Shipping Panama’, there was no talk of these worries. Everyone was happy that it was finally get-ting going. The ship with Captain Jude Rodriguez had been chosen to make the prestigious first crossing from the Atlan-tic to the Pacific Ocean. China is a really important customer, but the USA is actually the largest: 70% of the freight up to now is for or from the United States.

There will always be some bottleneck or other for con-tainer ships. If a giant ship from, for example, Asia, wants to sail along the east coast of the USA and go further west, it can certainly traverse the Panama Canal, but founders in another location: a 14,000 TEU freighter can simply not fit under the New York Bayonne Bridge which blocks the access to impor-tant ports. There still remains a lot to be done in the future.

Bernadette Jourdan, Muttenz

EAST TO WEST OR WEST TO EAST?To get from the east (Atlantic side) to the west (Pacific side), one has to travel through the Panama Canal in the opposite direction, i.e. from the (north­)west to the (south­)east!

THE EXPANSION OF THE PANAMA CANALIn June 2016, after 9 years of construction, the expansion of the 82 km long Panama Canal was officially inaugura­ted. The expansion consists of an additional, third set of locks built on the Atlantic as well as the Pacific end of the canal, the widening and deepening of the canal itself, as well as an increase of the maximum water level of Gatun Lake. This artificial lake not only represents a large part of the waterways through the Isthmus of Panama, but serves at the same time as reservoir for the enormous amounts of water required to operate the locks. Some key figures of the expansion project:

•Construction time: 9 years

•Cost: USD 6.9 billion (originally projected were USD 5.3 billion)

•Chambers: 427 x 55 x 18.3 m (length x width x depth)

•Max. vessel size: 366 x 49 x 15.2 m («NeoPanamax»)

•Max. capacity: appr. 14,400 TEU per vessel (= 20’ Container)

6 PANORAMA

ATLANTIC OCEAN (CARRIBEAN SEA)

COLON

PANAMA CITY

PACIFICOCEAN

With a state festival, an official ceremony and many public parties, the Gotthard Base Tunnel was opened in Switzerland on 1st June, 2016. It leads 57 kilometers through the Alps and is thus the world’s longest train tunnel. The Gott­hard is one of the most important crossings of the Alps in any case.

GOTTHARDBASE TUNNEL

Clean air is worth money to the Swiss – a lot of money. To pro-tect the alpine valleys from the increasing noise and pollut-ant emissions of international road freight haulage, an Alpine initiative was accepted that would restrict the road transit of truck transport. Already in 1991, parliament voted for the con-struction of two base tunnels through the Gotthard and the Loetschberg – although these were not principally intended to protect the public, but rather to cope with the doubling of transit road freight transport growth expected by 2030.

For this purpose, Switzerland has been building the New Alpine Rail Axes (NEAT) since 1999, comprising two north/south lines to cross Switzerland at a low level. Three train tun-nels will take the traffic: the Loetschberg tunnel and the Got-thard and the Ceneri base tunnels. The 34.6 km long Loetsch-berg tunnel for the westward crossing has been operational since 2007, and the 57.1 km Gotthard base tunnel to the east was inaugurated on 1st June 2016; with the new timetable change on 11th December it will be officially in operation. In 2020, the 15.4 km long Ceneri base tunnel will follow.

The NEAT will increase rail capacity considerably. The Gotthard base tunnel reduces distance by 31 km and trav-el time by 50 minutes. Five cargo trains will run each hour and direction – that is 240 trains a day; the previous route over the mountain section could handle no more than 180 trains a day. In 2021 the NEAT will be upgraded throughout for the transport of 4-meter-high shipments in unaccompa-

nied combined transport (UCT). The train length can then be 740 m instead of 600 m, and the train weight 2,000 instead of the present 1,600 tons.

This demands alterations to the tunnels, station roofs and overhead lines on the access routes to the Gotthard. Switzer-land finances similar profile expansions even abroad, such as on the Luino line in Italy. Due to the shortening of the time interval between trains, 80% of the signals have to be moved, and the total cost of the project will amount to a further EUR 950 million. This means that from 2012 onwards, an ad-ditional 160,000 truck transports per year can be taken by rail across Switzerland.

The access routes in Germany are currently behind schedule. According to the German Ministry of Transport, the four-track upgrade between Karlsruhe and Basel will only be completed in 2035, and the full expansion will not be operative before 2041. The reason for this is the reprogram-ming required after the conclusion of public participation. Having said that, it was provided in the 1996 Lugano Agree-ment between Germany and Switzerland that the capacity of the access routes should be implemented parallel to traffic growth. In Italy, work is proceeding. However, the Gotthard base tunnel will not be fully utilized when it starts opera-tions. “It is a structure for coming generations,” says the Swiss Foreign Office.

Source: DVZ

SWITZERLAND

In anticipation of an ongoing increase in international flight movements and numbers of passengers, the Julius Nyerere International Airport – the airport of Tanzania’s capital city Dar es Salaam – is being extended with a new terminal. In April 2013, the Dutch general contractor BAM International was awarded the contract to construct the new Terminal 3. International flight movements will in future be handled at the new Terminal 3, whilst the older Terminals 1 and 2 will be used for national aviation only.

Spedag Interfreight Tanzania Ltd. was commissioned to handle the local logistics for the materials from abroad re-quired for the new terminal. The service package comprises

Customs clearance of incoming consignments and taking over the materials ex ship in the port of Dar es Salaam with delivery to the building site at the airport. The steady flow of goods includes, besides regular ‘General Cargo’, ‘Out of Gauge’ or over-sized parts that require specialized transport.

In spring 2014 the realization of Phase 1 of the project was commenced. This comprises the construction of the main building, intended for 3.5 million passengers a year, as well as access roads, parking lots, taxi lanes to connect the terminal with the two runways, in addition to an observation terrace for spectators. In November 2015 a start could be made on Phase 2, which will expand the terminal to have a capacity of up to 6 million passengers a year. This phase is also being implemented by BAM International, and local logistics are be-ing looked after by Spedag Interfreight.

Nainesh Patel, Dar es Salaam

AFRICA

TERMINAL 3TANZANIA

9PANORAMA

MANAGEMENT UPDATEIn the course of the succession plan in East Africa and the ensuing changes in the management structure, Dilip Bhandari has been appointed CEO for East Africa of Spe­dag Interfreight.

Dilip Bhandari was born in Chennai and brought up in Ahmedabad, capital city of India’s Gujarat state. Gujarat, situated northwest of Mumbai, is the home state of India’s prime minister Modi, and known as a talent foundry, having spawned many of the country’s business elite. Equipped with a Bachelor’s Degree from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in India, he went to Nairobi in 2002 to enter Interfreight East Africa as Controller. Soon afterwards he was moved to Uganda, where he worked first as Commer­cial Director and later as Country Manager.

From 2011, following the merger of Spedag East Africa and Interfreight East Africa, Dilip was in charge as Regional Di­rector Oil & Gas of the newly founded Spedag Interfreight. Under his leadership the Oil & Gas sector was significantly expanded and the company grew into one of the most im­portant logistics partners in this branch of industry.

DILIP BHANDARICEO East Africa, Kampala

In April, the Propeller Club, Port of Basel – to­gether with Swiss­Africa Chamber of Commer­ce – extended an invitation to an event called ‘Africa in Focus’. The main speaker of the eve­ning was Josef Lenherr, former Managing Di­rector of Spedag Interfreight AG, who retired in November.

The title of his fascinating account was ‘Africa’s future on the right tracks’, where he illustrated how in the near future – mainly through the China Road and Bridge Corporation – more than 200 billion US dollars will be invested in rail infra-structure projects. The reason for the boosting of rail logistics is quite simple: Africa is rich in raw materials – from wood to copper through to coal and oil, all those things that other countries lack, but need badly. Precisely these goods will be supplied in return for the capital advanced.

To produce these resources is one thing: to transport them is another. The African road network is poorly devel-oped, and there are hardly any motorways. During the rainy

season the roads are impassable in parts, bridges are swept away and roads turn into mud holes. Another problem is that the larger arterial roads usually lead straight through the center of cities. Anyone who has ever experienced the center of an African city during the rush hour, knows how time-consuming and nerve-wracking it is. Moreover, the axle weight per heavy goods vehicle is limited to 8 tons. It there-fore stands to reason that bulk cargoes like steel, wheat, rice, relief aid, sugar, coffee, crude oil and cement should be trans-ported by train, as heavy loads of up to 60 tons per axle can be moved by rail. Transport time is reduced drastically with the new installations, energy consumption is incomparably less and the transport security higher.

The new railroad from Mombasa to Nairobi, to be opened in 2017, is evidence that the plans for expansion are no uto-pia. This section – built as standard gauge – should soon traverse the whole southern part of the country and go on further to Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi; a second line should go from Uganda to South Sudan. The new railroad will cut the travelling time between Kenya’s large cities Mombasa and Nairobi from twelve hours today to only four hours, and this section is already 75% completed. At the laying of the

AFRICA‘S FUTURE IS ON THE RIGHT TRACKSINFRASTRUCTURE

AFRICA

foundation stone in 2013, Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta, proclaimed that not only Kenya but all East Africa would be changed by these rail tracks.

Three years ago the nearly 500 km-long stretch from Toro-ro, in south-east Uganda, to Gulu, on the frontier to South Su-dan, was put into operation through the initiative of Spedag Interfreight. This line had been abandoned for over 20 years, and it was a historic event as Spedag Interfreight loaded a container with steel. The container was unloaded in the port of Mombasa and taken by road to Uganda. With their invest-ment, Rift Valley Railways changed the logistics market in East Africa and simplified goods handling between Uganda and South Sudan considerably. The new logistics combina-tion of rail and road enable our customers to have efficient and lower-cost goods handling. Along the routes in northern Uganda, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and in South Sudan, goods can be transported whilst avoiding the difficult roads. If interested, you can see a film about this event on our own You Tube Channel (“M+R Spedag Group”).

Bernadette Jourdan, Muttenz

Why are we recommending you to see this film? Because Spedag Interfreight was involved in a thriller of the same sort! Just four days before the attack on the ‘Maersk Ala­bama’, the German container ship MS Hansa Stavanger was hijacked by Somali pirates, 400 sea miles off the coast. The ship was on its way from Jebel Ali to Mombasa, Kenya, where it was expected to arrive on April 5th. On board were three oversized turbine casings (draft tube cones) loaded onto two flat racks, destined for a hydroelectric power sta­tion under construction in Uganda, for whom Spedag In­terfreight was carrying out the logistics.

In view of the hijacking and the uncertain outcome of the situation, the customer was forced to find a solution for the components blocked by the pirates. The machine parts were re­ordered, not, however, from the original supplier but from another manufacturer in Nairobi, Kenya. In this way at least some time could be saved with transport to the final destination.

In August – four months after the hijacking and after the payment of 2.7 million US dollars ransom – the Hansa Sta­vanger was released by the pirates. The crew was able to disembark in Mombasa, reasonably safe and sound. Even the original components could be unloaded in Mombasa port, six months late. The Bujagali power station must be one of the only ones in the world that runs with substitute turbines, whilst the actual originals sit and wait to be used as replacements.

Movie Recommendation

The movie is a multi-layered examination of the 2009 hi-jacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. Ba-sed on a true story, the film focuses on the Alabama’s commanding officer, Cap-tain Richard Phillips, and the Somali pirate captain, Muse, who takes him hostage. In the ultimate standoff, both men will find themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their control.

Captain Phillips

2013Tom Hanks

11PANORAMA

After M+R Forwarding in Vietnam became operational in spring 2015, the inauguration was formally celebrated the following autumn with ceremonies at the Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi offices.

In Ho Chi Minh City, where the new company’s headquar-ters are located, in addition to the formal ceremony on the office premises there was also a celebration to which cus-tomers and partners were invited. The event was opened by Daniel Richner, owner and CEO of the M+R Spedag Group, together with Othmar Hardegger, the Swiss Consul General. Special thanks were given to Gareth Evans, Executive Director of M+R Singapore. Besides being the Manager of M+R Sin-gapore, he is also responsible for Malaysia and Indochina. In the past two years Gareth has regularly flown to Vietnam to oversee the preparatory work and the initial stages, and has spent nearly as much time there as in Singapore.

The opening in Vietnam was the largest opening in M+R Spedag Group’s company history. Offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Haiphong with a total of 40 employees com-menced operations in one fell swoop. Of course, the new country organization was able to benefit from the well-estab-lished structure of the M+R Asia Organization, and it received enthusiastic support from this side.

Looking back, we may feel proud of what has been achieved. The start went off without a hitch, and M+R Viet-nam has already developed well in its first 18 months.

Stephan Schneider, Muttenz

f.l.t.r.: Othmar Hardegger (Consul General), Gareth Evans (Exec. Director, M+R Singapore)

f.l.t.r.: Daniel Richner (CEO, M+R Spedag Group), Kate Pham (Director, M+R Vietnam), Gareth Evans (Exec. Director, M+R Singapore), Nguyen Van Anh (Hanoi Branch Manager)

VIETNAMWELCOME TO

ASIA

In spring 2016, Giovanni Salce was appointed as the new Regional Di­rector with a focus on Business Development. Giovanni Salce has worked with M+R for most of his career, first of all in Switzerland and for the past 25 years in Asia. After two years in Hong Kong in the regional main office of the then still­young organization, he moved to Jakarta in 1993 as country manager for M+R Indonesia. In 1999 came a move to Bangkok, where he was responsible not only for the national organization but also in charge of the whole of South East Asia. Following 17 years in Thailand, Giovanni Salce returned to Hong Kong this year; after 25 years affiliation, he is a ve­teran of the M+R Asia organization.

In the future as well, Giovanni Salce will continue to fulfill a whole series of functions. He is responsible for business development in the entire Asi­atic region, whereby he benefits from having an impressive network not only within the organization but also from many years of personal contact with all our important partners and customers worldwide, by whom he is greatly respected.

MANAGEMENT UPDATES

In autumn last year, Klaus Schumann took up his position in Shanghai as Director for China. Although he is a new member of M+R, he brings with him nearly thirty years of business experience in Asia. He comes from a traditional background, too: after an apprenticeship as a logistics manager in Europe, he left for Asia and climbed the career ladder there in various locations and positions. He has lived and worked in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, in the Philippines, in South Korea and Thailand.

Klaus is originally from Hamburg, so it is not surprising that he built up his initial work experience as a maritime freight specialist. Later, In Asia, he steadily improved this expertise. In his position as branch manager he was responsible for all operational sectors and later on, as country manager in various locations he additionally carried the responsibility for the admini­strative aspects.

Klaus Schumann feels completely at home in Asia. In his own words, the move to Asia was the best decision he ever made in his whole life, and if there is anything he regrets, it is only that he did not take that step earlier.

gIovANNI sALCeRegional Director, Business Development East Asia

KLAUs sCHUMANNDirector, China

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14 PANORAMA

Bharati Cements is a core firm of the Indian VICAT company conglomerate. With its production of more than 8 million tons per year, the company is one of the largest cement manufacturers in the country. The factory in Kadappa, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, alone produces some 5.5 mil-lion tons.

In May 2015, M+R India was invited by Bharati Cements to draw up a comprehensive logistics concept for its exports to Sri Lanka. The service providers were required to offer several variations, with shipping from the ports of Krishnapatnam as well as Chennai, and with initial transport both by road and by rail. The total volume amounted to 180 TEU (20’ containers) per week, each weighing 28 tons.

The client finally decided on the variant through the port of Krishnapatnam, the choice being based on several factors: firstly, this port provides advantages for and greater efficiency in container handling, and in addition there are no weight restrictions in Krishnapatnam for cargo handling by rail.

Krishnapatnam Port is the largest privately-owned Indian deep-sea harbor and covers an area of more than 25 km2. The harbor’s container terminal (KPCT) became operational in 2012 and has an annual handling capacity of 1.2 million TEU. In a second expansion phase, this will be extended to 4.8 mil-

lion TEU per year. Virtually all the big shipping companies, in-cluding Maersk, MSC, CMA, Evergreen, Mitsui O.S.K., Hyundai and APL, discharge their container ships at KPCT. The terminal offers direct rail connection, container loading stations (CFS) and storage facilities in the port area. KPCT is the only har-bor company in India certified according to ISO28000:2007 (Safety Management System for supply chains).

The logistics concept for Bharati Cements envisaged cement in quantities of 50,000 sacks to be conveyed to Krishnapatnam, where these have to be loaded within 6 hours into 90 containers at KPCT, at the same time as all the necessary documents are prepared and the export and cus-toms formalities dealt with. After shipment, the Bills of Lading must immediately be made available, as the crossing from Krishnapatnam to Colombo takes only 48 hours.

The services of the various shipping companies then had to be examined to see whether they were prepared to accept such large quantities of Heavy-Lift containers, whether a suf-ficient number of empty containers could be made available, and also of course whether the connections offered would cover all the client’s requirements.

After M+R India was awarded the contract by Bharati Ce-ments, the first batch of 90 TEU was successfully loaded and shipped to Sri Lanka in May 2015. Since then these shipments run regularly: 270 TEU are shipped every week, and to date, M+R India have handled the shipping of more than 12,000 TEU for Bharati Cements.

M+R India is today KPCT’s largest customer in the export sector. This business will grow even further; according to Bharati Cements, the volume will rise by some 40% in 2017 to over 1,500 containers a month.

R. Jayaram, Chennai

A major client has chosen M+R India to handle the logistics for the transport of cement in sea­freight containers to Sri Lanka. Every week se­veral hundred containers, each heavily laden with 28 tons, are shipped from the docks in Krishnapatnam to Colombo.

INDIA

SUPERHEAVY

ASIA

INDIA‘S LARGEST SEAPORTSMUNDRA

KANDLA

MUMBAI

NHAVA SHEVA

MANGALORE

COCHIN

TUTICORIN

COLOMBO

CHENNAI

ENNORE

KRISHNAPATNAM

VISAKHAPATTANAM

PARADEEP

HALDIA

CONTAINERSHIPS

GIANTS OF THE OCEANS

Some 60 years ago, the first containers were deployed for commercial international mari­time transport. At the beginning container ships were of a reasonable size, but when the triumphal progress of containers for universal freight was seen in the 1970s, the ships gra­dually became larger. In the 80s, imposingly large ships were being built, although they were nothing compared to the dimensions of the ones built in the past ten years. These ships are so huge that one must ask whether the maximum limit will soon be reached.

THE EvOLuTION OF CONTAINERSHIPS Based on the ships loading capacity measured in 20’ containers (TEU)

1955 210 TEU

1970 1‘665 TEU

1972 3‘010 TEU

1984 4‘400 TEU

1996 7‘000 TEU

20038‘272 TEU

2006 15‘500 TEU

2014 19‘225 TEU

strong fluctuations: whilst the ships are under way during the Peak Seasons laden to the maximum, there are also months of excess capacity. As soon as a ship’s utilization falls below a certain percentage, it can no longer operate at a profit and makes a loss; the larger the ship, the larger is the potential loss if it is not fully utilized. To counteract this, every shipowner does his best to maximize the utilization of his ships, caus-ing a drop in ocean freight rates. In the past 20 years various ups and downs in these rates have been seen, but overall the trend has been continually downwards, and the entire sector is today in a severe crisis.

Huge vessels have other problems, too. They cannot be used everywhere; ships with a capacity of some 14,000 TEU can use the newly widened Panama Canal – but anything larger does not fit through the new locks. The Suez Canal will reach its limits with the 22,000 TEU ships currently being built. Harbours will constantly have to extend their infrastructure so that large ships can call. For example, there are at present talks in Hamburg as to whether the River Elbe will have to be deepened further so that the ships of the future can access the docks. The ever-wider ships require crane systems with an appropriate reach to make loading and unloading possible. Although this expansion is, of course, linked to higher costs, harbour and terminal operators do not want to and may not shut themselves off from the increasingly larger ships, as they, too, are in competition with one another.

We will see if in another 30 years we will be laughing at today’s ships – or if the zenith will soon be reached in the matter of ship dimensions. The fact remains that one is al-ways fascinated by modern container ships, whether they can carry 4,400 or 19,000 TEU – they are truly tremendous.

Stephan Schneider, Muttenz

17PANORAMA

The measurand for container ships is the so-called TEU (Twen-ty Foot Equivalent Unit). A ship with a capacity of 10,000 TEU could theoretically be loaded with 10,000 20’ containers, although ships are usually loaded with a mixture of 20’ (=1 TEU), 40’ (= 2 TEU) and 45’ (=2.25 TEU) containers, whereby we should remember that this capacity data is based on the maximum number of slots on the ship. If a ship were loaded with fully loaded containers only, nowhere near all the slots could be used.

In 1984, the then United States Lines brought its first four so-called ‘Econships’ into service. With a capacity of 4,400 TEU, these were at that time the largest-ever container ships, rep-resenting a new dimension in ship building and capturing a lot of attention. However, only four years later the United States Lines closed down; the concept of a Round-the-World Service based on the Econships did not pay off. Despite the failure of the United States Lines, container ships became larger than ever in the mid-1980s. By 2014, thirty years after the launching of the Econships, a ship holding 4,400 TEU does not even bring a weary smile from people in the industry, as the newest container ships have in the meantime reached a capacity of 19,000 TEU. And the East Asiatic shipyards are already preparing to build ships for 22,000 TEU – five times more than the Econships, scrapped long ago.

Will the trend for ever-larger ships continue unchecked? Hardly likely, says a growing number of experts, pointing out that it is doubtful whether ever-bigger ships will really bring shipowners the hoped-for cost reductions in the long run. It is a fact that a larger ship causes lower costs per TEU, with a large part of these reductions from lower fuel consumption per TEU. However, with the present collapsing oil prices, this saving weighs less heavily than it did a couple of years ago. In addition, the sector has for some years been experiencing a crisis. The global volume of maritime freight is subject to

The free preschool program E4Y gives youngsters who have had to break off their schooling for financial or family reasons, a chance to make up for missing elementary school; after four years they obtain an officially recognized school-leaving cer-tificate. Afterwards around two thirds of the E4Y graduates go on to a three-year apprenticeship at the CVT or find a job in the labor market.

The syllabus of the E4Y is comparable to that of Swiss pri-mary schools and is supplemented by study contents to cover the learning objectives of state schools in Myanmar. Besides standard subjects, the E4Y offers additional ones that are lack-ing in the state schools. These include sports (gymnastics and swimming), textile and non-textile work, computer studies and drawing, as well as other life-skill courses such as health checks, trial training courses, placements and excursions.

When it comes to informatics, the trainees have until now had to use the eight desktop computers and a couple of lap-tops in the teachers’ room for their lessons, which often led to bottlenecks and splitting the class up, as altogether there were only a dozen computers available for classes averaging

25 trainees. The situation was eased this summer with a first delivery of ten laptops to the school, as these can now be used in the classroom instead of in the teachers’ room. The target is to have a class set plus a piece of equipment for each teacher so as to be able to offer sound and sustainable com-puter studies. This will require a further supply of about 23 to 30 laptops next year.

Locally, an IT manager looks after the hardware and soft-ware and a teacher offers the informatics module in the last two school years. At present, the CVT is drawing up and op-timizing a new syllabus for this module. The main goal is for each E4Y student to master the ten-finger system as well as having a basic knowledge of the Microsoft Office applications Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The trainees should also be able to carry out simple internet searches. In addition to the lap-tops, the classrooms will be equipped with beamers, which are replacing the traditional overhead projectors. For the past three years E4Y has also been offering a module in dental hy-giene supported by an experienced dental hygienist. In this context, 1,500 toothbrushes and 300 tubes of toothpaste are carried to Myanmar each year.

The CVT is a shining example of practical aid. Its commit-ment means it acts exactly where it can make a sustainable difference, by helping youngsters get a qualitatively high standard of education, giving them sound prospects for a promisingly bright future.

Ricco Ebener, E4Y Responsible, CVT Myanmar

For several years the M+R Spedag Group has been supporting with its logistics services the Center for Vocational Training (CVT) in Myan­mar. Many of the tools and equipment were originally donated from Switzerland and had to be conveyed to Myanmar. At the moment this applies to the second­hand laptops that have been collected in Switzerland.

18 PANORAMA

MYANMARCVT

SPEDAG LADIESSpedag Ladies FC was the first women’s football club to be established on Kenya’s east coast. Its aim was to offer less­privileged young women in Kenya new prospects for the future though sport, education and various extracurri­cular activities. The club would moreover give these young women the opportunity to show their talents at interna­tional matches and possibly even be recruited by a profes­sional football team.

Apart from playing football, the team had a community program: the Peer Education and V.C.T. (Voluntary Counse­ling and Testing) program for reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS in society, conducted in collaboration with the Mi­nistry for Sport, UNICEF and ICRC, who all gave the ladies various forms of training. Older players were coached and attended courses for referees, mainly to give support to the new generation of women players, but as well so that they could get a little more income.

After beginning as a social project, many successful com­petitions later a success story has been written by these

Kenyan women, who are determined to conquer in the world of football with their great commitment and iron discipline. In 2015 the team won amongst others the renowned ‘Jamhuri’ tournament. Jamhuri is Swahili and means Republic; the tour­nament is held on 12th December each year – the National Day celebrating when Kenya became independent from Great Britain in 1963.

In the 2014/215 season, Spedag Ladies also had an important say in the decision for the championship title of the Kenyan Women’s Premier League. They ended the season as runners­up, only a single point behind the Thika Queens. Five of the best goal scorers in the league play for Spedag Ladies. Their target for 2016: winning the championship.

“We have excellent players and appreciate the many talents we’ve got in the club”, says team manager Sarah Ongoya. Esse Akida, a Kenyan international player, joined the team at the beginning of the season, and made a significant contribution to the Spedag Ladies’ success in the first half of the championship. Esse is the top goal scorer in the league.

In the meantime, nearly half the positions in the Kenyan Women’s International Team, Harembee Starlets, are filled by players from the Spedag Ladies’ team. At the renowned COTIF championship last August in Spain, the Starlets reached an excel­lent fourth place. Thanks to key players from Spedag Ladies, the international team has for the first time qualified for the Africa Women Cup of Nations (played in Cameroon from 19th November to 3rd December, 2016). The team manager for Ha­rambee Starlets is Doreen Nabwire Omondi. In 2006, Doreen became street­football world champion in Berlin with the MYSA project, FIFA ambassador at the draw for the World Cup 2010, as well as trainer, international player and top scorer at SV Werder Bremen.

Bernadette Jourdan, Muttenz

www.spedagladies.com

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

www.mrspedag.com

M+R SPEDAG GROUPKriegackerstrasse 91

4132 Muttenz / BaselSwitzerland

HEADOFFICEEach year, M+R India is holding an internal drawing competition. Children of staff members can submit drawings, the best of which then are selected to adorn a desktop calendar.