DB SCHENKERprojects / KSA

• Mr. Julian Cope... please tell us about yourself.

I am 54 years of age, married with two grown up daughters who both have young daughters of their own, a 1 year old and a 2 year old.

I entered the shipping industry after leaving school and have spent the last 37 years in various capacities, living and working in various locations and ports in the UK and overseas. I guess that out of those 37 years about 23 years have been spent in Project Forwarding specializing in the Oil & Gas sector. I have been Operations Manager for SCHENKER Ltd., UK Projects, for the last four years during which time I have managed the Sohar Aluminum Smelter Project in Oman; ELNG Project, Egypt; Thai Growth Project, Thailand; Chile LNG; and SAMREF 2010 Turnaround Project, Yanbu, KSA.  Prior to that I was with Trans Global Projects for 14 years as Project Manager and Associate Director where I managed various projects in Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Singapore and  Australia, to name a few.

Outside of work my interests are my family especially my grandchildren, gardening, current affairs, history, and sports, most particularly football.

• How many times have you been to KSA? And why did you visit KSA this time?

I first came to KSA in February 1977 when I was a young man. I worked in Jeddah for two and a half years with National Transport Company (NTC) which was a transport and forwarding company operated by P&O Special Projects Unit, London, to service the many projects that they were handling in KSA at that time.  The company operated a fleet of 30 GMC trucks and trailers based at K26 on the Mecca Road. I worked at an office on the 21st floor of the Queen’s Building which offered wonderful panoramic views of Jeddah City, the surrounding countryside and the port as it was the tallest building in Jeddah at that time. During my time there I was the Import Forwarding Manager responsible for the customs clearance and delivery of many varied project cargoes to multiple jobsites throughout the Kingdom.

I visited Jeddah for brief periods in 1982 and again in 1998 for business purposes and I must say that when I returned in 1998 the city had developed and changed to such an extent that I did not find my way around easily.

My current visit to Jeddah is the second one this year and once again the city has changed out of all recognition since I was last here in 1998. Now, I am lost without a guide. I visited Jeddah to have meetings with SAMREF, Yanbu, regarding the current Turnaround Project that we are handling for them in conjunction with our KSA partners Fourwinds and SCHENKER LLC, Jeddah.

I then flew to Dammam to visit SCHENKER LLC, Dammam where I am meeting Matthias Leymann to discuss upcoming projects that we have targeted to bid for and win in the Eastern Province. 

• Please tell us about the current projects which were recently held in KSA and what is the volume?

As mentioned earlier, the current project that we are handling in KSA is the SAMREF 2010 Turnaround Project in Yanbu. This involves the shipment of two large towers and a 750 tonne boiler. The first large tower is 80 tonnes – dims: 26m long x 5.05m wide x 5.40m high ex Dintelmond, Holland, has already been shipped by road, barge and geared vessel via Antwerp to Yanbu. The second one at 150 tonnes – dims: 28.42m long x 7.456m wide x 6.42m high is to be shipped ex Belgium during first half November.  The 750 tonne boiler is scheduled to be shipped from Mundra, India direct to Yanbu during November and a Jumbo “J” class vessel is already booked to perform the voyage. In addition to the large pieces there is of course lots of ancillary equipment that comprise of  LCL, FCL and airfreight consignments that have been ongoing since the beginning of this year and will continue until the beginning of next year.

• What are the critical challenges that you face when moving heavy lift equipment for the projects?

The challenge is to ship and deliver the heavy lift equipment safely to site, within budget and on time.  All projects have predetermined construction schedules which contractors must adhere to otherwise they would be liable to liquidated damages which, in most instances, are severe. Therefore, the pressure is on the Project Forwarder to ensure all equipment are delivered within the ROS (Required On Site) date set out by the client. This is even more important in the case of heavy lifts where meticulous planning in all aspects of the shipment must be made well in advance of the actual movement to ensure the ROS date is met. For example, we started planning for the lifting, stowage, lashing and securing of the 750 tonne boiler for  SAMREF in November of last year and we fixed a Jumbo “J” class vessel in February of this year even though the boiler is not scheduled to be delivered in Mundra until 15th November 2009. The reason for this is because there are a limited number of vessels available around the world that are capable of lifting 750 tonnes or more and those that are available are usually booked months in advance and even in excess of one year in some cases.  

It is not just the heavy lift vessels that you have to think about, it’s also the availability of the modular trailers that have to be considered. I can recall, some years ago, having to ship a 350 tonne x 30m long tower from Korea to the middle of the Algerian Sahara desert, some 1500 kms from the coast. The problem was there were no modular trailers available in Algeria during the time the h/l vessel was scheduled to arrive. Therefore, I had to source the required trailers from elsewhere, mobilise and transport them from France to the port of Arzew, Algeria to coincide with the arrival of the h/l vessel to avoid detention charges on the vessel and also on the trailers if they arrived too early.  Thankfully that particular shipment worked out well in the end but not without a few sleepless nights along the way.

• Do you see potential projects business for DB SCHENKER in KSA in the future?

Yes, most definitely, KSA is one of the biggest, if not the biggest for potential project business for DB SCHENKER. This is one of the reasons I am here now as I have mentioned to you earlier.

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Success Stories within SCHENKER Saudi Arabia LLC

• SCHENKER Saudi Arabia LLC’s Dammam branch has opened its own CFS (Container Freight Station) with a capacity of 520 m² in the Dammam Bonded and Re-Export Zone (DBRZ). For that reason Majid Saad Al-Olayane has joined the company as DBRZ Warehouse Supervisor. He brings with him loads of experience in handling DBRZ cargo which he acquired during a four year stint with a leading Saudi retail group. His main job is to manage the warehouse operations and represent SCHENKER Saudi Arabia LLC in the DBRZ and to solve any customs-related issues.

• SCHENKER Saudi Arabia LLC is pleased to announce to its customers that the company’s three branch offices in Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh have been licensed as Air Cargo Agencies by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).

• SCHENKER Saudi Arabia LLC will participate for the 2nd time in a row in SAOGE 2009 (Saudi Arabia Oil & Gas Exhibition) which will be held at Dhahran International Exhibition Center from 1st - 3rd Nov. 2009. SAOGE is hosted and supported by Saudi Aramco. This show was established to meet the requirements for the largest oil producing country in the world to host its own focused Oil and Gas show. Customers and Partners are most welcome to visit Schenker’s booth to learn more about DB SCHENKERglobal projects activities not limited to Saudi Arabia only, and the benefits of a leading global integrated logistics network related to the Oil and Gas industry sector.

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DB SCHENKER Introduces Its European Air Freight Hub in Frankfurt

The most modern and efficient hub in the global network

DB SCHENKER introduced its new European air freight hub at Frankfurt Airport on July 20, 2009. The new facility, which was dedicated to customers, attracted guests from the worlds of politics and business. The air freight hub will begin operations in early August. Import and export units currently operating at different sites will be merged into a single unit right at the airport. Fifty million euros have been invested in the project. “This European hub is an essential turntable within our international air freight network. It will contribute to the expansion of our position in the global competition.”, underlined Dr. Karl-Friedrich Rausch, a member of the Management Board of DB Mobility Logistics AG and the person responsible for the Transportation and Logistics Division.

“The new facility is a visible sign that we are looking towards the future, even in these difficult times.”, announced Dr. Thomas C. Lieb, Chairman of the Management Board of SCHENKER AG and responsible for Global Air/Ocean Freight activities. “We are aligning ourselves with our customers’ future needs and are improving the efficiency of equipment and systems.” And Dr. Hansjörg Rodi, Chairman of the Management Board of SCHENKER Deutschland AG, stressed: “As market leader in air freight in Germany, by making this investment we are setting the standard for our industry and bringing even more attention to Frankfurt Airport as one of the world’s leading cargo airports.”

In the future, cargo shipments for industrial and trade customers from around the world will be bundled, stored temporarily and processed for onward carriage on the 15,000 square meter ground floor of the Cargo City Süd Logistics Center. The second floor of the facility contains roughly 10,000 square meters of warehouse space for spare aircraft parts. The aviation industry relies heavily on DB SCHENKER logistics services. In addition, the facility includes two floors of office space for around 200 employees covering 4,000 square meters.

The hall on the top floor was built without columns to allow large parts to be stored without difficulty. A crane hoists heavy loads from outside into the second floor. State-of-the-art x-ray equipment, refrigerated storage for temperature-controlled goods, separate rooms for hazardous goods, and multiple palletizing lines for consolidating and deconsolidating air freight pallets and containers make the facility one of the most modern and efficient air freight hubs in the international DB SCHENKER network.

Issued by: DB Mobility Logistics AG
Head of Communications Oliver Schumacher

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DB SCHENKER Figures

Can you be Number One three times? Yes.
Our success speaks for itself, with compelling facts and figures that have convinced both our customers and competitors.

Success in Series
DB SCHENKER has consolidated and successfully built on its leading positions through a combination of commitment beyond the call of duty, a market-driven portfolio of products and services as well as performance that keeps customers coming back for more.

• No. 1 in Europe in rail freight
• No. 1 in Europe in combined transport
• No. 1 in Europe in land transportation
• No. 2 worldwide in air freight
• No. 3 worldwide in ocean freight
• No. 6 in global contract logistics

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