In March 2013, Siem Car Carriers participated in Breakbulk China for the second year running. Among the team that was present at this year’s conference were Siem representatives from China, the United States, and England. Overall, it was exceptionally rewarding to meet with our clients, make new contacts, and discover new business.
Thank you all for visiting the Siem Car Carrier booth in Shanghai. See you next year!
Mexico is rapidly becoming one of the shining stars of the automotive world. Total vehicle sales for the first three quarters of 2012 totaled 701,901 units, a significant 11.2%, increase over the same period in 2010.
The automotive industry accounts for 23% of the country’s total exports, with 80% of the value of those exports, including finished vehicles and component parts, destined for the United States. The remainder is shipped to more than 100 countries worldwide.
If vehicles and auto parts are taken together, Mexico is the fourth largest exporter in the world, higher than the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries.
In 2010, Mexico became the largest exporter of auto parts and vehicles to the US, greater than Canada, Germany and Japan.
This year, Mexican automotive exports will climb by around 4% to an all-time high, according to the president of the country’s auto association AMIA Eduardo Solis. Speaking to reporters last month, he announced that Mexico had exported a record 2.2 million vehicles in the first eleven months of last year and that the projected figure for 2013 is 2.45 million. By 2017, Mexico will have the capacity to produce four million vehicles per year and will be the seventh largest producer and third largest exporter of cars worldwide.
The importance of the automotive industry for the Mexican economy is beyond question. It accounts for 3.6% of the gross national product(GNP), 20.3% of the GNP of the manufacturing industry and is the principal generator of foreign currency.
The industry is also one of the country’s largest employers, with more than 509,000 formal jobs (direct and indirect), a large percentage of which are for skilled workers, and is one of the production chains offering the best pay, training and professional development opportunities.
It is expected that, by 2015, the automotive sector will double the number of direct and indirect jobs it currently generates. The projected market growth for auto parts is between seven and 10% by the end of 2012, the final figures have yet to be released.
There are many contributing factors which play a significant role in the success of the Mexican automotive industry. There is ample installed production capacity which continues to grow as the major multinational manufacturers continue to invest. In the central and northern regions of the country there are 13 large supplier clusters which have a significant base of both local and international parts suppliers.
Skilled labour is readily available in Mexico, and at a substantially lower cost than in competitive countries. Additionally, high-tech production systems have the necessary flexibility for simultaneous assembly of a range of models.
Mexico’s geographical location is ideal for exports to North America and offers considerable cost savings in time and transportation. The country also benefits significantly from the commercial treaties signed with the US and Canada (the North American Free Trade Agreement), the European Union and Japan as well as several countries in Central and South America.
One of the threats to Mexico’s continuing success as an automotive exporter is also a source of opportunity. Currently, the United States is by far the leading destination for Mexican exports and, were there to be a slump in US consumption, the implications for Mexico could be severe. There is, therefore, a need to diversify export destinations and to identify new market opportunities in a variety of areas, not just finished vehicles.
Whilst exports and domestic sales have grown significantly, despite the international economic crisis. Mexico has also sought to increase its participation in the global market. In 2008, 71% of the industry’s exports were shipped to the US, in 2011 only 64% of Mexico’s auto exports were destined for that country. While the US remains the main destination for exports from the Mexican automotive sector, Canada with 7% and Latin America 15% – mainly to Brazil, the fourth largest consumer of vehicles in the world – have currently become important trading partners for the country.
Mexican automotive production is at an all-time high and forecast to increase significantly over the next few years. The Detroit Big Three, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, are all expanding capacity at their existing plants and Mazda, Nissan and Honda have announced plans for new factories to be built by 2014. Audi is also planning to build its first plant in North or Central America in Mexico by 2016.
Audi AG, a Volkswagen group company, has said that it will invest approximately $2 billion in its first SUV plant in Mexico as part of its strategy to compete against rivals BMW and Mercedes Benz. The expected arrival will increase the competitiveness of the company and, to a large extent, bring it closer to its goal of selling two million cars by 2020. The location of the plant will be announced in the coming months but it is worth noting that, despite having the option to install its plant in other countries like the US, the German company is betting on Mexico.
These investments confirm the evolution and relevance of the Mexican automotive industry. Companies in the sector worldwide recognise that Mexico offers excellent infrastructure, competitive costs, world-class manufacturing and a long tradition and experience within the sector.
The challenge for the automotive supply chain concerns the availability of sufficient transportation capacity to handle the increased exports from Mexico to the United States. In 2011, just under 3.5 million vehicles were produced in Mexican plants and the forecast is for an additional 2.2 million units over the next few years.
The transportation sector is already under strain, both on the road and, in particular, on rail where there is an acute shortage of rail wagons. Analysts fear that any inability of the logistics sector to provide the necessary capacity may inhibit the growth which we are already seeing in the US automotive market.
In theory, the answer is simple. Build more trucks and rail wagons. In practice, it is much more difficult. Since the economic crisis of 2008/2009, transport operators have been reluctant to invest in assets, fearing a double-dip recession. Short sea services may be the best solution to an on-going dilemma.
For a sold car, every minute of delay or lack of capacity is unacceptable to an OEM or distributor. However, with rising fuel costs, utilisation of equipment and assets and load factors are paramount to the transportation companies which have to balance their business service model. Many ocean routes have had to be rerouted and extended to balance demand and service. All parties in the supply chain have had to “right size” their businesses following the recent global economic downturn. These companies are cautious not to over build, over staff or invest too heavily as the industry and economy are still fragile. The anxiety for OEMs and distributors is, “will the capacity be there when needed for increased production?”
At the beginning of August 2012, the port of San Diego received more than 1,000 Mexican-built Volkswagen Beetles and Jettas at its National City Marine Terminal, part of a new regular service between Mexico, the US and transpacific markets operated by Siem Car Carriers. According to Pasha Automotive Services, which is processing the vehicles at the terminal, the short-sea leg between Mexico and the US offers a good competitive alternative to rail shipments.
“Europe has had short-sea transportation for a very long time and it has been very effective,” says Stan Gabara, Pasha’s Executive Vice President of Automotive and Logistics. “Short-sea has also been working well on the east coast of the US. There is a lot of congestion in the Mexican ports of Vera Cruz, Altamira and Tampico but it has been fairly effective. Short-sea has to be competitive with rail or truck, particularly rail, with the increased production out of Mexico. As a logistics provider analysing our business in the automotive industry in general, everybody talks about capacity and no-one wants to make the pre-emptive investments.
“We are not manufacturing enough railcars at the moment. With production increasing and Mexico booming, we think short sea is a viable option. The railcars are going to be travelling longer distances because of the shift in manufacturing locations, so now is the opportunity to be more creative. Take the capacity that does exist and relieve pressure off road and rail.”
When the economy worsened, Siem came up with a concept to charter three brand-new pure car truck carrier vessels and start a Pacific Rim service. “The concept was interesting, because it created a route where every 18 days they have a ship in port and they go from Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico to San Diego and the Pasha facility in Gray’s Harbor, Washington then to Russia, South Korea, China and Japan,” explains Gabara. “Previously, they went to Australia and Singapore, but that took their vessel out of rotation for too long so now they only go there on inducement. So, every 18 days there is a ship with capacity which picks up cars for export out of Mexico and also out of Gray’s Harbor where we are doing about 80,000 Chryslers a year for export to South Korea, Japan and China.”
The round trip journey is completed in around nine weeks calling at Vladivostok, Russia, one port in South Korea, three each in China and Japan and then back to Mexico.
“We have had a lot of interest from all the automotive companies, Ford, GM, Chrysler, Volkswagen and others,” says Jeffrey Campbell, Siem Vice President. “They have come to us because we call at Lazaro Cardenas directly and then we go up the US west coast to San Diego, Hueneme and Gray’s Harbor. We are interested in supporting the volume challenge but all we have moved thus far is the shipment for Volkswagen. The other OEMs have not, as yet, taken us up on our offer. We are operating three PCTC vessels servicing Mexico, the US west coast and Asia. We would love to have an opportunity to move more vehicles and we hope that we are well-positioned to do so.”
One reason for the OEMs’ current reticence to embrace short sea shipping could be that they are locked into their own arrangements with the rail companies for transport from Mexico to the US. “Everyone says they want an alternative but, to date, we have only had the one Volkswagen shipment from Acapulco,” says Campbell. “We have a good partnership with Pasha and we would love to do more from Mexico to San Diego. The OEMs just have to take us up on the offer.”
“We have a plant in Guadalajara, and we transport vehicles from there by rail,” says Dennis Manns, Vice President Sales & Logistics Planning, American Honda. “A new facility will open in the spring of 2014 which will be significantly larger than what we currently have. We don’t look at this as a Mexico logistics issue but rather as a North American logistics issue. The rail assets we utilise in Mexico are going from Mexico to the US and Canada.
“There is great interest in Mexican expansion from all the car companies, which are all congregated in the same general vicinity. There is a short list of options for moving these vehicles; rail, truck or short sea. For us, trucking is not really an option at this point, so it comes down to rail and short sea. If railcar supply is a non-issue, rail is a legitimate solution. We are investigating the short sea solution. It is a service and rate discussion and if we can get the service and the rates and make the connection at the other end it is a possible solution. It is a true, realistic, buyable option.”
Ford is one of the OEMs which does use short sea as one of its transportation modes. “We use rail, and there are issues, although there are significant investments taking place as we speak to try to open up new rail corridors through the border,” says Steve Harley, Executive Director, Global Material Planning & Logistics, Ford Motor Company. “We get a pretty decent service; however, on both the east and the west coast, we also have short sea services. We load from our Mexico City Cuautitlan plant, which is where we make Fiestas for North America, and bring the cars into the US in a combination of modes heavily biased towards short sea.
“There are services out of the west coast of Mexico which we tend to use for northern California and Washington state. If we are shipping to the southern US states such as Texas or southern California or further northeast we tend to use our rail services.”
Harley, amongst others, sees the congestion in the Mexican ports as an issue which needs to be overcome. “Because of the congestion, we tend to coordinate our plant-to-port service,” he says. “We do not deliver the cars to the port significantly ahead of the scheduled vessel arrival. We coordinate a slightly more just-in-time delivery than we would actually prefer. We would rather have a steady delivery, build up the stock and then ship when the vessel arrives, but we can’t do that, partly because of the congestion. The ports can be competitive; there is a good offering and there is some capacity available on coastal car carriers, but the ports need to step up and invest.”
Volkswagen, which has a large factory in Puebla has already made changes to its export patterns from Mexico. The company has moved from conventional rail wagons into AutoMax wagons which have more capacity flexibility.
VW also has a dedicated fleet of six Ro-Ro vessels carrying European product from Emden in Germany to Davisville, Brunswick, Houston and then to Veracruz. According to a Volkswagen spokesman, the ships are then reloaded with Mexican-produced vehicles, half of which are destined for the US market and half for Europe. The same spokesman admits that Veracruz is already over-congested, and that increased volumes could limit further use of the port.
Pasha has some 15 years experience in dealing with short-sea shipping. “We were the NVOCC (Non Vessel Owning Common Carrier) for an Asian distributor,” explains Gabara. “We were exposed to short-sea for a long time, doing our own vessel charters. Whichever line had available tonnage we would have pick up the Asia distributor’s vehicles in Manzanillo, Mexico and ship them to San Diego. The biggest challenge with short-sea when we were the NVOCC was how to get a backhaul to Mexico out of the US. Siem’s model is an extremely efficient one with its one-way direction and we have talked to many of the distributors and OEMs about it, saying that we have a chicken and egg situation.
“If they committed traffic, they could get the tonnage. However, in these economic conditions, no-one will dedicate vessel tonnage without a commitment. Not one single OEM is in a position to dedicate the necessary volume to put a vessel into annual service. Since we are an NVOCC and a freight forwarder, we talk independently to the steamship lines. They tell us that they have occasional tonnage available and, if you utilise the multiple steamship lines to service multiple OEMs who can commit a percentage of their Mexico production, you can alleviate the pressure on capacity with short-sea.
“Then there would be enough collective volume to warrant a scheduled ocean service to the US west coast. It is no different to what is going on today on the east coast. The port of Lazaro Cardenas currently has a concession for a new RoRo terminal which will be efficient with its own dedicated RoRo berth and terminal. In our opinion it is an optimum time to utilise the short-sea concept on the west coast to help with the capacity issue, both in the short and long term. If nothing else, why not have another mode of transportation which helps to keep competition as keen as possible?”
Looking at the wider picture, service providers say they cannot invest in new assets because of diminishing margins. These are affected by downward pressure on rates and increases in non-controllable costs such as fuel, labour and port charges. Already, transportation companies are going out of business.
“It appears that we are seeing the fundamentals of supply and demand guiding all the partners in the supply chain,” says Gabara. “If capacity doesn’t exist, options need to be created or financially supported with investment and/or higher rates. Contracts need to allow for investments in equipment and flexibility to deal with the volatility in the marketplace. Independently, OEMs are planning manufacturing to combat currency fluctuations and new supply chain shipping options are being revisited.”
Are the OEMs ready to integrate their volumes and involve themselves in regional network bundling? Gabara believes that much has been done in this regard going back to before the economic downturn.
“When the industry was moving towards its US peak at 17 million units, the OEMs and distributors embraced creative supply chain solutions with co-mingling of finished vehicles and utilisation of any excess capacity,” he says. “Supply chain partners, whether steamship lines, ports, railroads or trucking companies also created systems and processes to maximise capacity, improve velocity and keep costs down. Much of this was through investment in technology systems to be VIN specific and allow transparency in the supply chain.”
As a major vehicle processor, Pasha is well aware that the rectification of damage in transit is both costly and time-consuming but Gabara believes that the industry has done a very good job in this area.
“I recall the days of lift-on/lift-off cargo vessels carrying new autos where 20% damage per shipment was not out of the ordinary,” he says. “It is now standard to see less than a quarter of one percent of vessel shipments with damage and the severity of damage per claim reduced greatly. The key is communication and the review of metrics and KPIs at the exchange points in the supply chain. This however can be more expensive than the overall average damage per vehicle. A $1.50 vehicle survey inspection at each exchange with an OEM or distributor compared to a $0.35 average per vehicle shipped claims experience.”
PDI centres in Europe complain that OEMs use different codes to describe the vehicles and that performance standards vary from one OEM to another. Gabara reckons that the US is ahead in this regard.
“From our experience dealing with up to 15 different OEMs or distributors at our port facilities, there is a high degree of standardisation,” he says. “We believe that to be the case with our competitors as well. This is about working with proprietary OEMs with their own systems and processes that are linked to their financial systems, warranty and parts. We believe that, as more OEMs outsource processes there will be a gradual change of non-essential coding and information exchange to enhance standardised metrics and KPIs, allowing PDI Centers to compare information. This would also help with information exchange for export volumes to other countries, such as US cars to Asia where we have experienced different acceptance standards of vehicle conditions.”
There is a high degree of variability in OEMs production volumes which can often lead to imbalanced flows and under-utilised resources. Gabara says there is a case for granting service providers improved access to production and sales data in order to optimise distribution planning.
“An example for us was an Asian OEM shipping vehicles to our San Diego Port terminal where the ocean transit took 11 days. Fortunately, 90% of the vehicles were sold and approximately half of them went on trucks and the other half on rail. We would receive the manifest for the vessel loading 11 days in advance and share that information via our web portal to the transportation partners, truck and rail. The distributor would tell us the dealer information for the sold units allowing the preplanning for the shipment. The rail equipment would be ordered 11 days in advance and the truck loads could be built several days prior to the arrival of the vessel at the port. The transportation partners also updated transit plans daily, allowing us to receive the entire shipment and just process what was needed on a daily basis optimising the resources of port property, labour, rail equipment and trucks. We also printed the ‘Monroney’ or MSRP labels ‘on demand’ reducing administrative time. This process took several days out of the supply chain for the customer.
“This is an example of collaboration between all the supply chain partners for the specific OEM/distributor. While we do this in general, taking that collaboration to a more ‘granular’ level allows all the transportation partners to participate and support the efforts. It is important to discover and ensure benefit to all members of the supply chain.
“Both asset and non-asset-based service providers consistently have to be more innovative,” adds Gabara. “For non-asset-based service providers it is critical to demonstrate value and generally that is through innovation in their processes, communications and employees. This holds true for asset-based providers as well, but in some cases the transportation assets require such substantial investment and equipment lead time that some innovations take longer to be introduced into the supply chain, for example green technologies. Having been in the industry for a long time, I can say that empirical data provided by improved technology and information systems has let all service providers measure their processes and performance faster and more accurately, leading to continuous improvements for the customer, the industry and the service providers themselves.”
Weihai, November 9th, 2012. Auto Marine Transport, a tonnage provider created with the assistance of Siem Car Carriers, has signed an agreement with Samjin Shipbuilding Industries Korea Co., Ltd. (Samjin) to build a series of vessels for carrying cars and trucks.
The initial agreement involves eight energy efficient pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) vessels capable of carrying 6700 CEU (car equivalent units) and is made up of two firm orders and options for a further six vessels.
Simon Stevens, Chairman of Siem Car Carriers, said
“We are very pleased to have played a part in helping to establish Auto Marine Transport as the tonnage provider to access the energy-efficient PCTC market. It is the intention to work closely and exclusively with Auto Marine Transport and Samjin to develop and build PCTCs beyond the initial series of 8 vessels. Auto Marine Transport is fortunate to have benefitted from the combined design expertise of Samjin and Siem Car Carriers. The innovative energy-efficient design which is being developed will result in significant savings to future charterers. In order to grow Siem Car Carrier’s own roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) and car-carrying operations over the next 10 years, we will need access to this type of vessel.”
Young II Kang, Chairman of Samjin, said
“We are very fortunate to enter into this agreement for 8 vessels and possibly many more PCTC newbuildings with Auto Marine Transport. We believe a very good partnership with Auto Marine Transport and Siem Car Carriers has been created, which should result in the future growth of each company. We will fully cooperate to develop and deliver the most efficient and satisfactory vessels to the Buyers.”
Contact for more information: Mr Simon CG Stevens +44 207 747 0545
Ms Hyeree Heidi Kang +82 70 7732 5124
Port officials, shipping representatives, dock workers, local dignitaries and a Chrysler executive were among a crowd of about 30 people who watched alongside the Höegh Beijing cargo ship as the 100,000th automobile shipped from the Port of Grays Harbor was loaded on Wednesday.
The Chrysler vehicles are processed by Pasha Automotive Services and loaded onto Siem car carriers by Pasha Stevedoring & Terminals and Local 24 of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, then shipped out of Grays Harbor to ports in Asia.
A news release prepared for the ceremony said the number of Chrysler exports shipped out of Grays Harbor “greatly exceeds the estimated 25,000 units a year anticipated at the inception of business in January 2010, demonstrating a healthy growth for these partners in transportation.”
Pasha began operating at the Port a year prior to the Chrysler contract, and the automotive company plans to keep the cars rolling off of Grays Harbor docks well into the future.
“This Port is very important for us and for Chrysler,” said William Cook, senior manager of International Logistics and Customs for Chrysler. “The vehicles you are shipping out of here are going to Asia and the China market is important to our future.”
Cook noted that when the contract first started, there were many concerns about whether the automotive company would even still be in existence.
“I think we proved critics wrong and it’s good to see,” Cook said. “The product we are building is a lot better. The market is demanding and we can’t even keep up with the demand for these vehicles. … It’s very critical for us to have this Port operationally working the way it’s working.
“I think it surprised everybody at how fast we got to 100,000, and we have high hopes for continued growth.”
Michael Pasha, general manager for Pasha Automotive Services, said he hoped to have the same sort of success on Grays Harbor that the company experienced when it started operations at the San Diego Port in 1990. The first year in San Diego, the company shipped 30,000 cars, and it now has surpassed 4 million.
“The same potential exists at the Port of Grays Harbor,” he said. “We have nowhere to go but up, thanks to prestigious partners like Chrysler, Siem and, of course, the Port.”
The Grays Harbor Port provides a deep water berth in a strategic shipping location with available property “and a solid motivated local workforce,” the company said in a statement prior to the ceremony. The company will be “rapidly expanding its operations” to capitalize on “the growing demand overseas for U.S. manufactured vehicles.”
Simon Stevens, chairman of Siem Car Carrier Inc., thanked the Port for the success of the enterprise. Siem offers what is called “roll on, roll off (RO-RO)” liner service between North America and Pacific Asia with sailings every two weeks between the West Coast, Mexico, Russia, Korea, China and Japan.
“We have demonstrated for the last two or three years now, by sitting down together and dealing with the challenges of building a new business, that we can make it work,” he said.
Port Commission President Chuck Caldwell called the event “an awesome milestone.”
As a longtime commissioner, Caldwell said, “I thought I would count 100,000 logs but I never thought I would count 100,000 cars” being shipped from Port facilities.
The port of San Diego received more than 1,000 Volkswagen Beetles and Jettas at its National City Marine Terminal at the beginning of August as part of a new regular service between Mexico, the US and transpacific markets operated by Siem Car Carriers. According to Pasha Automotive Services, which is processing the vehicles at the terminal, the short-sea leg between Mexico and the US offers a good competitive alternative to rail shipments in the face of increased sales in the US and the threatened shortage of rail wagons (railcars) needed to meet the demand.
The port of San Diego is the first point of entry into the US for ships coming from the Pacific side from Mexico, Central and South America. Produced at VW’s Puebla facility, the VWs were shipped from Acapulco in Mexico by Siem Car Carriers. The delivery contributes to a 22% increase in regular vehicle deliveries to the port in the last fiscal year and, according to Pasha Automotive Services, this underscores the increase in domestic and export cars sales.
Stan Gabara, Pasha’s executive vice president of automotive and logistics said the regularly scheduled service means that both the port and Pasha can offer “new and creative logistical solutions” to the auto transport industry and its customers regardless of volume.
“With the auto industry poised for a comeback and more automotive manufacturing in North America, it is anticipated there will be a shortage for rail cars,” Gabara said. “Short sea shipping is a proven transportation method. Siem Car Carriers offers competitive rates from Mexico to the US”
Jeffrey Campbell, Siem Car Carriers Vice President noted that Siem was excited to carry the VW vehicles “we enjoy a challenge and proud to have been able to solve their immediate need and looking forward to seeing how the Mexico short sea market shapes up in the future”.
As was discussed at the Finished Vehicle Logistics North America conference in May this year, rail wagon shortages are now common, especially for growing exports from Mexico, and there are fears that the vehicle logistics industry could fall behind or even limit the sales recovery anticipated.
While truck capacity is an on-going concern, there appeared to be even more worry over rail wagon shortages at the conference and companies are now focusing on alternative options, such as short sea. VW Group, which will add an Audi factory to Mexico by 2016, already moves vehicles between Mexico and the US on vessels which move on a rotation to and from Europe, as well as by rail, and VW of America’s Jörg Schnackenberg suggested that rail shortages could lead to more short sea, although he admitted that Mexican ports might also struggle with capacity. GM’s head of global logistics, Christine Krathwohl, also called for more short sea between the US and Mexico (read more here).
Siem Car Carriers is calling approximately every 18 days at the port using five new pure car truck carrier (PCTC) vessels on the transpacific route. Each vessel completes the roundtrip transpacific journey, which in all takes in Mexico, the US West Coast, China, Russia, Korea and Japan, in around nine weeks.
Pasha stated that in the past it has handled and chartered vessels to transport automobiles through National City for several vehicle manufacturers, including Honda, Chrysler, Volkswagen and General Motors.
“What is different today is that SCC (Siem), with its regular service rotation without the need to ‘backhaul empty’ to Mexico, is more cost effective and competitive,” Gabara said. Another reason is the ship’s capability compared with trucks and the railroad.
“There are capacity constraints today in both rail and truck,” Gabara said. “It’s cost-effective, considering that you might not be able to quickly obtain the nearly 60 railcars needed for a shipment of this size.”
Stuart McMillan, the port captain for Siem Car Carriers, said 1,008 cars were delivered to the Port’s National City terminal on the first voyage.
The Volkswagens that arrived aboard the CSVA Rio Blanco were shipped from Acapulco. The vessel then headed for National City and later to the Port of Grays Harbor in Washington, where Pasha also operates. From Grays Harbor, the ship makes the 14-day trip to Vladivostok, Russia, then to South Korea for one port visit, and China and Japan for stops at three ports in each country and then back to Mexico.
Siem Car Carriers’ transpacific shipping service focuses on the transport of cars, high and heavy cargo and other types of cargoes. Its parent company, Siem Shipping, operates more than 80 other types of vessels worldwide.
Pasha Automotive Services processes about 400,000 per year year.
The great thing about shipping project cargo on a scheduled service is the significant savings our customers make compared to shipping by charter.
One of our recent successes was a shipment of compressors, coolers and associated components for the China National Petroleum Corporation (the parent company of PetroChina) and Agility Logistics.
The two previous shipments of similar products were carried on multi-purpose vessels specifically chartered for the voyage. We loaded the 6100 cbm of cargo on to the Hoegh Beijing for its journey between the United States West Coast and China. With a combined weight of over 1000 tonnes, we used our 40x40’ roll trailers and our own tug masters to load the vessel with the cargo. As it’s a scheduled service, there were no surprises about departure or arrival dates so the cargo arrived as expected.
Darrell Jefferies, the VP of Agility emailed us to say: ‘I appreciate all the efforts you and Siem have done on this project [particularly as] Chinese New Year is upon us”. All in all, both the customer and the receiver were impressed with Siem Car Carriers ability to handle this kind of project cargo as part of our scheduled service. They were equally as impressed with the huge savings they made.
In response to the dire warnings about global warming, countries are being challenged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions – one aspect of this is how goods are transported globally. The shipping community, together with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has responded to these challenges both voluntarily and through regulation.
The shipping industry transports 90% of global trade and as you can see from the diagrams below, statistically it is the least ecologically damaging mode of transport. However, our industry accounts for 3-4% of man-made CO2 emissions worldwide and this figure is expected to rise to 6% by 2020. Some predict that emissions will double by 2050 if no action is taken, so there is no room to be complacent.
Since the 1950s, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has set the regulatory standards in the shipping industry working towards international consensus. Their senior technical committee on marine pollution is the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) has the mandate to work with the shipping industry to improve environmental standards. In March they met in London and produced four sets of guidelines designed to increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from the global shipping industry. The four guidelines adopted focus on revising the Energy Efficiency Design Index for new ships and developing a Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP).
These guidelines are designed to sit alongside the mandatory regulations on energy efficiency of ships introduced by the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL Annex VI) which comes into force next January. Their expected impact can be seen in this graph from the IMO.
Siem Car Carriers takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously. We focus particularly on reducing our vessels’ fuel consumption through ‘slow steaming’. A recent report ‘Regulated slow steaming in maritime transport’ by consultants CD Delft estimated that if global average maritime speeds were reduced by 10%, then carbon dioxide savings would rise to 19%.
We believe that shipping remains the most ecologically efficient way to transport products – our analysis suggests that for every ton of fuel we don’t burn across the 3 vessels operating the NAPA service, we save 150 tons of CO2 emissions every day. We hope that the IMO recognises the benefits of slow steaming in its future discussions on how the shipping industry supports international emissions reductions.
Breakbulk conferences are one of our diary highlights, so we were particularly looking forward to the first Breakbulk Asia conference to be held in Shanghai and the opportunity to see so many of our Asian customers.
It kicked off on 29 February with more than 4,500 registered attendees and over 100 exhibitors discussing a wide range of topics from China’s breakbulk and project cargo market to transporting goods on the Yangtze River and trade in Mongolia.
One of the keynote speeches was given by Mui-Fong Goh, a partner in the A. T. Kearney’s Asia Pacific transportation practice. She talked about trends and developments in the Chinese market for breakbulk cargo logistics. She estimated that China’s breakbulk market grew by 11% in 2010 with export volumes reaching US$10 billion in 2010. By 2015, she expected this to reach US$26 billion.
The growth in Chinese export volumes is helped by the strong relationship between China and the US, and we know there is a huge opportunity for companies like Siem Car Carriers to assist both US and Asian companies by moving their cars, trucks, high heavy and break bulk cargo around the Pacific.
We were delighted to hear the conclusion to Goh’s keynote speech, which noted that “transport decisions are not based simply on price alone, but on a combination of factors. Quality is becoming more and more important; there’s more integration into supply chain and demand for value-added services.”
This is great news, as our fast, direct, reliable liner service is a great example of a high quality, value-added service.
With more than 75 percent of attendees from mainland China, the conference is a great way for us to keep in touch with existing customers and showcase our NAPA break bulk and project cargo services to new ones. For those in the Asian community that had yet to hear of us, they were very pleased to learn that there was finally a reliable and direct Ro-Ro company between the US West Coast and North Asia, especially one that has such a huge emphasis on customer service and reliability.
All-in-all, it was another great Breakbulk conference. We are already looking forward to Breakbulk North America, 8 – 11 October 2012 in Houston Texas.
The partnership between Siem Car Carriers and Pasha began as soon as the companies were introduced. Back then, Pasha was a diversified company with broad hands-on experience and Siem Car Carriers was a startup shipping line established in the darkest days the shipping industry had seen in more than fifty years.
From the outset we focused on finding better solutions to joint problems – from the right port to the best practices. One of our earliest challenges was finding a port willing to support the growth of a startup shipping line. For years Pasha had wondered “what if” regarding Grays – it was a small port the world had passed by for decades. However, it was very close to the sea allowing better transit times. It also had a good port operating group that knew what it would take to deliver and the manpower ready to step up and bring work back to the area.
In early May 2009 we started finding our customer base, recruiting staff and enhancing the port to accommodate this new business venture between Port Of Grays, Pasha and Siem Car Carriers.
Today Siem Car Carriers carries an estimated 70,000 units of Chrysler product to China and ships Caterpillar to Russia. The port has grown tenfold and was awarded the Port of the Year in the state of Washington in 2011. Quite an achievement in less than three years.
We are very proud of our partnership and remain committed to each other’s success.
Thanks to Jeff Burgin, the Snr Vice President of Pasha for this glowing testament of our work together in Gray’s Harbor.
We are looking forward to exhibiting at the Breakbulk China conference in Shanghai that is running from 28 February to 1 March 2012.
China is a significant shipper of break bulk, driven by both imports and exports. As a dynamic, fast growing economy, China consumes a vast quantity of raw materials and imports a wide variety of products for domestic use. It also continues to grow its export market at a rapid rate.
This conference is dedicated to all things break bulk and project cargo as they relate to the Chinese market. A mix of keynote speeches, networking opportunities and workshops covering a whole range of subjects from compliance to case studies and sourcing strategies to scheduling. The conference promises to be a fascinating event for anyone interested in building their presence in China.
We will be one of the exhibitors at the conference, come and meet us at booth F18. The conference is being held at Intex Shanghai & Sheraton Shanghai Hongqiao, for more information see the website: http://breakbulkevents.com/?section=breakbulk_asia2012
Siem Car Carriers vessel rescues 43 shipwrecked off Malta Kuala Lumpur (16th January 2012): MV Verona, a vessel owned by Siem Car Carriers and managed by Wilhelmsen Ship Management, Malaysia, participated in a joint rescue operation that saved 68 Somali migrants off Malta Saturday 14 January. 43 of the shipwrecked were picked up by MV Verona’s crew.
At 21:37 (UTC) on 14 January 2012, MV Verona received a distress relay message from Malta’s Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC Malta). A US Navy P3 Orion aircraft had spotted a 40-foot long white rubber dinghy caught in high swell in Force 4 to 5 conditions at position 59 nautical miles South-South-West of Malta.
The Captain onboard MV Verona, Captain Syed Belayet Hossain and his crew immediately altered course and heading to the distressed vessel’s position for search and rescue operations. As the dinghy was not equipped with any GMDSS or communication equipment, the search was a challenge.
Finally, with the guidance of the US aircraft, the distressed boat was spotted. MV Verona manoeuvred and brought the survival craft alongside and 43 survivors taken onboard by Pilot ladder. An additional 25 survivors was picked up by a Maltese patrol boat that was also part of the search and rescue mission. All survivors were migrants from Somalia and had left Libya in the 40 feet dinghy in the hope of a better life in Europe.
All 68 survivors on the raft, including 9 women and small children were cold and shivering, covered in their wet clothing. They had been floating on high seas without fuel, food and warm clothes for the past 5 days. When rescued, the outside air temperature was approximately 10 degree Celsius and hypothermia had set in. One of the Somalians had died of hypothermia the previous night.
After providing the refugees with warm clothing, blankets, first aid treatment and food, MV Verona set course for Valetta where all 43 rescued migrants were handed over to Marsaxlokk Port authority on Sunday 15th January. All the survivors were safe.
“We would like to congratulate the Master of MV Verona, Capt Syed Belayet, and our crew for taking an active and professional part in the search and rescue operation and for properly caring for the 43 survivors” says Simon Stevens, Chairman of Siem Car Carriers, “and we would also like to commend our Ship Manager for competently overseeing the operation.”
MV Verona is is a 12,743 dwt car carrier. She was en route from Port of Al-Khums, Libya to Port of Sheerness, United Kingdom before she diverted for the rescue operation off Malta.
For more information, please contact:
Torbjoern Aaker, regional manager WSM Asia: +603 2084 5600
The napa service commenced operating its Cars/RoRo/Break-bulk service on 10 June 2009 to meet the needs of an inadequately serviced Pacific Rim basin.
To meet the demands from the market place as well as strengthen our service from US West Coast to Australia East Coast as well as return from Asia to Mexico and US West Coast, it has been decided to omit Singapore and Fremantle.
The new rotation is as follows; Lazaro Cardenas, Los Angeles, Grays Harbor, Xingang, Inchon, Ulsan, Mizushima, Osaka, Yokohama, Brisbane, Port Kembla, Melbourne, Auckland.
Due to lack of gooseneck in Lazaro Cardenas we have not been able to canvass roll trailer cargo to and from this region.
However, in order to widen our cargo base, we have purchased one gooseneck to be located in Lazaro, Cardenas and we are very confident that increased cargo bookings will follow due to various requests from our Mexican customers.
Presently we are also evaluating to purchase a tugmaster for each liner vessel. This will increase our loading / discharging flexibility in all our ports and make sure turnaround times are keept to a minimum. With increasing demand for transporting static volumes on our reliable liner services it is essential that cargo handling is done in the most efficient and safe way.
After a successful Break Bulk Conference in Houston October 12-14th 2010, we continued with internal meeting in Long Beach to draw up the way forward for our service in the Pacific Rim. The first part of second day was dedicated for a terminal visit for our excellent and dedicated partners in Asia, Oceania and USA, who joined us for lunch followed by the global meeting.
Event though this was the first time the whole SCC AS team was gathered, the fruitful setting and atmosphere was there right from the beginning. The team has lots of energy and market knowledge, and it goes without saying after two very constructive days both at day and nigth, we are very confident we will develeope a strong, stable and reliable service in the Pacific Rim.
The team from left to right.First row: Ivan Van Rompaey, Yoshio Mizohata, Kevin Moore, Annie France, Tony Paragalli, Dana Bruttig-Medloff. Second row: Stanley Tsang, Michael Portia, Karl Skaanes, Mette Birkedahl. Third row from left: Torben Henry, Stig Anders Hagen, Shane Stoneman, Robert Pellici, Lars Ingeberg and last but not least Min-Soo Han.
Siem Car Carriers AS is pleased to announce the nomination of B.G.S. International Co., Ltd. in Seoul, as its General Agent/Representative for the South Korean market.
BGS International, located with its head office in Seoul, has long experience within the shipping community in South Korea, also within roro related activities.
With the nomination of B.G.S. International as our local South Korean representative, we are further enhancing our clear aim to further develop our Napa service in the area.
Contact details as follows:
B.G.S. International Co.,LtdRoom no. 314, Somerset Palace
85, Soosong-Dong, Jongno-Ku,
Seoul, Korea
Tel: 82-2-319-9294/5 82-2-732-9297/8
Fax : 82-2-319-9296
Mr. Min-Soo, Han
Mobile: +82-10-2305-3313
Email: Min-Soo.Han@bgsinternational.co.kr
Mr. Jin-Seong, Lee
Mobile: +82-10-8997-6671
Email: JS.Lee@bgsinternational.co.kr
We are pleased to announce that Stig Anders Hagen has joined Siem Car Carriers AS full time as from 25th March 2010.
Stig Anders Hagen graduated from Norwegian School of Management in 1993 and has been with Höegh Autoliners/HUAL since 1993. He has had several key commercial positions with Höegh Autoliners. When he left Höegh Autoliners in 2009, he was Vice President Commercial Asia to Americas.
Stig has extensive experience within the car-world and has in-depth knowhow from commercial, business development and operation. Stig will be reporting to the Commercial Director and will be based in Grimstad, also partly working from his home in Tønsberg
Fresh from the Mitsubishi Nagasaki Yard only 16 days before, M/V Ocean Challenger, arrived its first loading port on the Napa service, Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico. The vessel was due to load Chrysler vehicles produced in Mexico for the Pacific Rim.
The M/V Ocean Challenger was received in the port as one treats a gracious new lady in Mexico, respectfully and with salute. Being the first vessel ever arriving Lazaro Cardenas on her maiden voyage, the Port Authorities presented a commemorative plate to its Captain.
This is the third vessel introduced by Siem Car Carriers AS on the NAPA (North America Pacific Asia) service. The new-building, M/V Ocean Challenger, has been chartered on a long term basis from Mitsui & Co in Japan.The M/V Ocean Challenger is built to carry 6.400 RT cars and RoRo capacity. The introduction of a third and even larger vessel is further underlining our clear commitment to continue building capacity for the customer base on the Napa service.
Siem Car Carriers AS will introduce its third RoRo vessel on the NAPA (North America Pacific Asia) service in February 2010. The new-building, M/V Ocean Challenger, has been chartered on a long term basis by Siem Car Carriers from Mitsui & Co in Japan.
The M/V Ocean Challenger has been designed to carry 6.400 RT cars and RoRo capacity. The vessel is needed to meet the anticipated demand for the fast growing NAPA Service.
Helge Helvik, Commercial Director of Siem Car Carriers AS, stated that “the confirmation in December from Chrysler that Siem Car Carriers AS had been chosen to transport their cars was another reason to add more capacity and frequency to the service. We will increase the schedule frequency of the NAPA service to every 20 days and capacity by more than 30%”.
Siem Car Carriers AS and its partner, Praxis Logistics, are planning to introduce a fourth vessel on the NAPA service within 2010. This will provide its customers with a twice monthly service between Mexico, USA, Japan, Korea, China, Singapore Australia and New Zealand.
The M/V Ocean Challenger is a high-quality, energy efficient Japanese-built vessel. It is consistent with Siem Car Carriers AS’s objective of providing its customers with a reliable, high quality and environmentally responsible solutions to their logistics needs. We expect that Ocean Challenger will further contribute to the NAPA service’s impressive reputation in the market and help to maintain its record of zero damage statistics.
“At 200 meters in length, she is amongst the larger PCTC vessels and is one of the most fuel efficient on the high seas. We are pleased to welcome M/V Ocean Challenger into our fleet and the NAPA service, says Lars Ingeberg, Managing Director of Siem Car Carriers AS”.
For additional information please contact:
Lars Ingeberg, Managing Director: +47 90 98 64 55
Helge Helvik, Commercial Director: +47 91 68 33 57
We are very pleased to announce that Ivan Van Rompaey has joined Siem Car Carriers AS full time as from 1 st January 2010. Ivan comes from combined roles in Senior Management with NYK Group Europe, London, and ICO Terminals in Belgium where he also was Member of the Board.
Having worked within the RoRo industry, both Deep- and Short Sea, for the past 15 years Ivan brings in an extensive competence and a large contact network. His work and background with ICO Terminals is also a strategically important asset for Siem Car Carriers AS. Ivan will be based in London and reporting to the Commercial Director.
We are confident that the appointment of Ivan is welcomed by many OEMs and Shippers both globally and in Europe.
Siem Car Carriers AS and Praxis Logistics Pty Ltd, joint venture partners in the NAPA (North America Pacific Asia) service, are delighted to announce the acquisition of a significant export contract from the Americas to various destinations in the Pacific Rim region.
Effective 1 January 2010, the Chrysler Group LLC will utilise the NAPA service to export their product from the USA Port of Grays Harbor and the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas to Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, Philippines, Australian main ports, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Tahiti.
As a result of this successful contract acquisition, NAPA will be adding in the New Year an additional third vessel to its existing vessel fleet which will increase its schedule frequency to every 20 days and capacity by more than 30%.
In the Port of Grays Harbor, Chrysler will utilize Pasha Automotive’s facilities and services to support their export vehicle requirements from the Pacific Northwest. The Port of Grays Harbor is Washington’s only deep-water port located directly on the Pacific Coast and saves significant scheduled lead transit times from the USA to these Pacific Rim destinations. It is centrally located in the Pacific Northwest and has very strong transportation connections. The Union Pacific Railroad will make direct calls to the terminal. Railcars and accessorial equipment will be available on terminal for inland backhaul.
Kevin Moore, Director Praxis Logistics, stated “the NAPA service is delighted to have been awarded the Chrysler contract for vehicles to Asia and Oceania. Since its inaugural voyage in June this year, the level of support for the NAPA service has grown very quickly and today its high & heavy space is now being utilized to capacity. The awarding of the Chrysler contract to NAPA is a further endorsement of the strategic and economic value of the NAPA service to the Automotive, RoRo and Breakbulk markets in the Pacific Rim region.
The Commercial Director of Siem Car Carriers AS, Helge Helvik, stated “The Chrysler contract acquisition marks a paradigm shift for the Napa service with the linking of Los Angeles and Grays Harbor with Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico with additional vessels and lifting capacity. The NAPA partners, Praxis Logistics and Siem Car Carriers AS, would particularly like to thank the Pasha Group for its outstanding support in developing its excellent terminal and vehicle processing facility for the NAPA service and its customers, particularly Chrysler.”
Praxis Logistics and Siem Car Carriers AS share a business concept to deliver uncomplicated, cost-effective, flexible and reliable transportation solutions (ocean and inland) through partnerships with Automotive, RoRo & Breakbulk manufacturers, other shipping lines and logistics organisations. It is extremely satisfying to have the Chrysler Group LLC recognise this and place its trust and confidence in the NAPA service.
Responding to the marketplace we have since the start of the Napa service gradually expanded our liner service to encompass ports and regions in line with customer requests. The latest port added to our service is Xingang, China.
With Xingang calls on the Napa service we are able to offer the market a direct service from Mexico and US West Coast to China. In addition, and very importantly, the connection from China to Singapore, Australia and New Zealand offers very competitive lead times without transshipment.
Due to the global warming, the Arctic ice around the North pole has been drastically reduced over the last decade. The outlook for the future is indeed very worrying from a global point of view.
Since the North West Passage (North of Canada) and the North East Passage (North of Russia) was passed for the first time with a vessel some hundred years ago, commercial shipping has been well aware about the possibilities with the passages to reduce sailing distance between the continents.
Now when the ice is pulling back due to global warming, both passages have open water for additional months out of a year. In particular the North East Passage has great potential in reducing the overall sailing distance between Japan/Korea and Central Russia/North Europe. Siem Car Carriers AS is exploring the commercial possibilities for such a route by combining deep sea and ice strengthened short sea vessels in a more efficient way.
The average lead times may be reduced with 30 % compared with present sailing routes, improving both economics for potential customers and emissions in our joint effort to look after our planet.
This picture was taken this summer by the crew of the Siem Car Carriers AS sponsored sailboat RX2. The 36 feet open cockpit sailboat passed the North East Passage as the smallest ever – visualizing the possibilities for this sea route in the future.
On Tuesday 15th September Siem Car Carriers AS and Praxis Logistics welcomed into Melbourne the Silverstone Express. Back for her second Melbourne call, a gathering of 90 guests toasted the arrival of the roro carrier as it berthed at Station Pier.
Comfortably sitting behind the Spirit of Tasmania guests were treated to guided tours onboard the Silverstone Express. Meeting with crew members and Captain Nelson S. Lacuesta, guests were given the opportunity to experience first-hand how the vessel operates from the bridge. ‘Have you come across pirates yet?” was the question of the day! Siem Car Carriers AS and Praxis would like to express their gratitude to all who made the afternoon a great success.
Our new NAPA (North America Pacific) service has been warmly received by the industry and we know it will continue to do so well into the future. Strengthened from the backing of the Siem Industry Group the NAPA service has become a significant new operator in the car and roro carrying sector offering services between Mexico, the west coast of North America, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Further ports in China, such as Xingang and Huangpu, are being added to our schedule and will continue to be offered. We would like to thank Simon Stevens, Chairman of Siem Car Carriers AS, and Lars Ingeberg, Managing Director of Siem Car Carriers AS, who flew in from overseas to attend our function, the Port of Melbourne Corporation for allowing us to utilise Station Pier, and the Waterfront restaurant for their hospitality. Lastly, thank you to all of our current and future customers who supported us on the afternoon and who have continued to do so throughout the past year.
Following the positive reception and feedback from the market in respect of the NAPA service, we have now decided to add one port/country to the service. As from August the west coast of Mexico, port of Lazaro Cadenas, will be part of the total NAPA rotation.
This direct call is effective immediately with MV Silverstone Express Voyage 01 sailing directly to Lazaro Cadenas after its departure from Auckland, New Zealand. Cars, RoRo and static cargoes will be targeted both in and out of Mexico. In terms of Mexican exports, the focus will initially be Australia/New Zealand destination cargo plus all transshipment destinations offered via Singapore. Cargo between Mexico and US, Los Angeles and Grays Harbor is clearly also part of the scope.
Our vessels will be calling port of Lazaro Cadenas each month on the 8th. Please check our schedule for updated ETA’s. For booking requests please send to roro@chartering.com
Siem Industries combines with experienced management to create a joint company, Partner Shipping AS, in the Car Carrier Sector.
Siem Industries has agreed to invest 50%, with the other 50% held by an experienced car carrier management team based in Grimstad, Norway to create a significant new operator in the car carrying sector. The joint company is called Partner Shipping AS – the same name as the company formed by the management team a year ago.
“The car carrier sector is going through a period of seismic change.We are tremendously excited about the opportunities which are arising and feel that Partner Shipping will be well positioned, with its experienced and talented management team and with the backing of Siem Industries, to grasp some of them and build a sound long-term business”, says Simon Stevens, Chairman, Partner Shipping.
The management team has over 60 combined years of experience in the sector and is enthusiastic to build on the work already done since deciding a year ago to go out on their own.“We started from nothing and have already launched a North America/Pacific Service and will be looking to expand now that we have the support and backing of a serious and experienced shipping partner” says Lars Ingeberg, senior member of the management team and a director of Partner Shipping.
For more information contact:
Lars Ingeberg /Helge Helvik: +47 90 98 64 55 / +47 91 68 33 57
Simon Stevens: +44 20 7747 0545
Siem Industries Inc. is a diversified industrial group with its main areas of activity within the oil and gas service industry and the ocean shipping industry. The company’s main subsidiaries include Subsea 7 Inc. (45% ownership), Siem Offshore Inc.(34%), STAR Reefers Inc. (72%), Siem Car Carriers Inc. (100%). For the year ended 31 December 2008, Siem Industries reported shareholders’ equity of USD1.03 billion and consolidated net income of USD158.8 million. The Group has 114 vessels and 6,600 employees, including seafarers
Partner Shipping is a shipping liner company delivering cost-effective, flexible and reliable car and roro transportation solutions in Europe and globally through a partnership with automotive manufacturers, shipping lines and logistics companies. In June 2009, the company introduced the NAPA service after delivery of its first two new vessels on long term charter agreements. The NAPA service represents a paradigm shift in roro services in the North American and Pacific Area. In its present shape the service is calling 2 ports on US West Coast, Singapore, 4 ports in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand.
The cargo booked and loaded so far encompasses cars, trucks, roro, static (mafi), boats, agricultural machines, oil- and mining equipment. This mixture of freight is synonym with the huge flexibility the service offers and the benefits it represents for multiple customers on the trade lane.
In Singapore we offer transhipment opportunities to Hong Kong, Keelung (Taiwan), Xingang (China), Masan (Korea), Batangas (Philippines), Jakarta (Indonesia), Port Klang (West Malaysia), Laem Chabang (Thailand), Muara (Brunei) etc. For further details please contact our agents as per details under the banner: our services/agents.
We are all looking forward to further build the NAPA service together with our customers and increase the catchment area, either by additional ports or through new transhipment opportunities.
We are pleased to announce that Siem Car Carriers AS today has entered into a T/C agreement with ECL in Japan for one of their newbuildings, MV Positive Passion.
This medium-sized PCTC’s (Pure Car and Truck Carrier) has a capacity of 3.930 cars (RT) and was delivered to ECL early 2009 from Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, Japan. The vessel can accommodate both standard cars and ‘high and heavy cargo’, thus offering the necessary flexibility needed in the market today. The state of the art vessel will be operated by Siem Car Carriers AS as from end June.
Vessel Particulars
| Length Overall | 180.0 m | |
| Beam | 30 m | |
| Car Capacity | 3,930 units (RT) | |
| Max Draft | 9.2 m | |
| Deadweight | 14,850 mt | |
| Speed | 19.9 knots |
Further to our press release dated 21st April regarding the joint service between Praxis Logistics and Siem Car Carriers AS between US West Coast, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, we are pleased to inform as follows concerning the US market:
Ports
Siem Car Carriers AS and Praxis have evaluated various port alternatives in California as well as in the Pacific North West aiming at finding partners and locations supporting the service, and most importantly meeting the customers demand in relation to service and cost. The new joint service between US West Coast, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand – US Operations.
We are pleased to announce that Los Angeles has been nominated as port in California and Grays Harbor in the Pacific North West.
Agent USWC
With regard to the Commercial and Husbandry Agent role, we are pleased to announce the following partner covering both the port of Los Angeles as well as Grays Harbor:
Marine Chartering Co., Inc.
781 Beach Street, 4th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94109
Telephone Direct: +1 415-447-1084 / +1 415-447-1085
Telephone Main: +1 415-441-3100
Fax: +1 415-358-8250
Email: RoRo-ops@chartering.com
Terminals
Below please find the Stevedore and Terminal partner in each of the ports:
Los Angeles
Pasha Stevedoring & Terminals L.P.
802 S. fries Ave
Wilmington, CA 90744
Jeff Burgin
Email: Jeff.burgin@psterminals.com
Telephone: +1 310 8-35 98-69
Cell phone: +1 310 2-33 20-36
Fax: +1 310 2-33 20-97
Grays Harbor
Pasha Stevedoring & Terminals L.P.
111 S. Wooding
Aberdeen, WA 98520
Leonard Barnes
Email: lbarnes@portgrays.org
Telephone: +1 360 5-33 95-15
Cell phone: +1 360 5-80 01-30
Siem Car Carriers AS, Grimstad/Norway, has great pleasure in announcing its cooperation with Praxis Logistics, Melbourne/Australia, and the introduction of our new service into the Pacific basin trade sector.
Siem Car Carriers AS was established in 2008 by people with very long experience both from global shipping and short sea shipping in Europe. Since start up of the company we have been trading in European waters, the Middle East and West Africa.
Praxis Logistics is an ocean & land based logistics company established during 2008 by two experienced industry professionals Kevin Moore and Michael Portia. Between them they have many years experience in ocean shipping and general logistics, particularly specialising in the Automotive/RoRo/Breakbulk sector. It is also a great pleasure to announce that Tony Paragalli has also just joined Praxis Logistics bringing with him a further experience in this industry.
The founders of Praxis Logistics identified a strong market demand to introduce a new independent shipping service into important Australian trade routes, particularly involving the North America and Asia regions. In late 2008 Praxis Logistics joined with the established Norwegian auto/roro operator Partner Shipping, to introduce such a service into the Pacific basin.
Praxis Logistics and Siem Car Carriers AS share a business concept to deliver uncomplicated, cost-effective, flexible and reliable transportation solutions (ocean and inland) through partnerships with automotive/roro/breakbulk manufacturers, other shipping lines and logistics organisations. Backed by our teams of highly skilled and experienced personnel, combined with an extensive global network, we aim to become the preferred operator in our operating regions by providing great service to our customers.
The new service will operate under the brand name of Siem Car Carriers AS and will be co-managed by Praxis Logistics in Australia. The Siem Car Carriers AS service is being introduced at a time of significant global economic downturn. As a result the service will be able to deliver a paradigm shift in what the market expects from its ocean shipping service and what can be delivered, particularly in terms of value for money.
The Service – NAPA
The Siem Car Carriers AS service is responding to demand in existing and emerging markets where current servicing has been inadequate, namely Nth America and Asia.
In regard to West Coast Nth America, the auto/roro market has been inadequately serviced for several years to both Asia and Australia/New Zealand. The Siem Car Carriers AS service is therefore establishing a Triangle service from West Coast Nth America, through Singapore to Australia & New Zealand, and then directly returning to Nth America.
This service is designed to focus on import activity from Nth America to Asia, Nth America to Australia & New Zealand plus export activity from Australia & New Zealand to Nth America. Auto and High & Heavy cargoes will be targeted. The service will load its inaugural voyage in Long Beach, USA on 10 June 2009.
We are very pleased to announce that Siem Car Carriers AS today has entered into an agreement with Vroon in The Netherlands for a long term agreement for two of their newbuildings, MV Silverstone Express and for the sister vessel, MV Sebring Express.
These medium-sized PCTC’s (Pure Car and Truck Carrier) has a capacity of 3.930 cars (RT) and are under completion at Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, Japan. The vessels will be able to carry both standard cars and ‘high and heavy cargo’, thus offering the necessary flexibility needed in the market today.
Since the inauguration of our company in July 2008 and the successful trading in various waters through excellent partnerships with vessel owners, we have thoroughly evaluated the market and concluded that time is correct for an operation of our own vessels.
These new state of the art vessels represent the very best tool in line with our vision; to revitalise RoRo and Car Carrier services in Europe and globally, by creating a cooperative, lean and hands-on operation with a strong focus on customer service and quality.
Vessel particulars
| Length Overall Beam Car Capacity Max Draft Deadweight Speed |
180.0 m 30 m 3,930 units (RT) 9.2 m 14,850 mt 19.9 knots |
Our first sailing from the Middle East to Tripoli, Libya, is to be completed today. We have carried various cars and vans for the Libyan market and expect to return to the area soon.
In addition to the above we have also completed a sailing to Koper, adding yet another destination to our port call list. Once more we would like to express our gratitude to the many supporters of Siem Car Carriers AS.
Lars Ingeberg and Frode Kirkedam will attend the Automotive Logistic Leaders Congress at Cameron House, Scotland, from 27-29 October.
Lars Ingeberg will join a panel discussion 28th October at hrs 11.30. The topic for the panel is how the global shipping industry is coping with the economic downturn. Given the challenges the automotive industry and its suppliers are facing with the economic downturn, this is perhaps a topic which will engage a vast number of participants at the congress.
Siem Car Carriers AS has been invited to explore services in the Persian Gulf. Helge Helvik, Commercial Director, will soon visit the area together with interested partners to discuss various service possibilities.
The business concept of Siem Car Carriers AS is sea transportation of contract cargo for well known cargo owners between strategic ports – mainly in Europe. However, linked to this is also our aim to supply consultancy knowledge to the industry and create strategic agreements with other operators.
Siem Car Carriers AS will move its office from Arendal to Grimstad end of 2008.
We have signed an agreement with Sub Sea 7, a subsea engineering and construction company, and we will move into their nice premises at Bark Sillas vei in Grimstad.
For those of our customers and suppliers knowing the beautiful town of Grimstad from past visits, also this location has sea view and mooring facilities for boats. We are looking forward to welcome you back in Grimstad for innovative and creative discussions.
We expect to be fully operational from our new office as from start of 2009. Telephone numbers remain the same – full address style to be informed later.
Siem Car Carriers AS is proud to inform that Toyota Motor Europe NV/SA has entrusted our newly established company with its first cargo in European waters.
On behalf of Toyota Motor Europe, Siem Car Carriers AS is today loading Toyota vehicles in Malmo, Sweden, for onward transportation and discharge in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Siem Car Carriers AS is using the car carrier, M/V Gran Canaria Car, owned by Flota Suardiaz for this maiden voyage. The vessel will after completion return to Malmo and load additional Toyota vehicles for St. Petersburg.
Western European car sales have been sliding over the last months, and were down by over 9% in September. Clearly this has had an effect on the car volume transported in Europe throughout the autumn. Although challenging for the shipping community, it is clear that this is also an opportunity for innovative, proactive and cost efficient transport concepts in Europe. By combining our long experience in European waters, optimising the fleet utilisation between various operators and creating cargo synergies in special corridors, we at Siem Car Carriers AS are confident that additional Shippers will continue to award us business like Toyota is doing these days.
