Tank Containers
May/June 2019
B ULK D ISTRIBUTOR
7
Eurotainer
supports clean
energy projects
E
“Our solution needs more technology, which
makes it seem at first sight more expensive,” he
says. “However, if you calculate the total cost of
operations (TCO), our solution works out
significantly cheaper.
“After all, one has to take into account product
losses in the chain as well as other hidden costs,”
he emphasises. “In an ISO tank container, which
can carry 22 tonnes of product, the cocoa butter
is loaded at 60degC. This temperature is
controlled and maintained to arrive at the point of
unloading at 56degC. Once the container’s tank is
emptied, the only residue is a film on the inner
wall, a total weight of just 20kg.
“However, when loaded into a flexitank, the
cocoa butter solidifies and must be warmed when
it reaches its destination, with all the quality risks
involved. In addition, between 400kg and 700kg
of product remain in the flexitank after it has been
emptied. This residue represents a huge cost.
“In addition, there are other hidden costs: the
energy costs needed to heat the flexitank at the
destination are much higher than with a tank
container and, above all, the flexitank must be
properly disposed of after use by a specialised
company. This disposal cost is rising all the time
because of concerns about the environmental
impact of plastics,” he concludes. urotainer recently leased tank containers
with glycol heating systems for the
shipment of water to the North Sea.
The containers are loaded on heavy lift vessels for
offshore delivery. The water in the tanks is kept at
a required temperature before they are unloaded
for cement mixing. The cement is then used for
the construction and installation of offshore
windmills at a wind farm near the coast of
Eemshaven, Germany.
Port of Eemshaven is currently involved in the
construction of no fewer than five wind farms in
the German part of the North Sea.
In Latin America, Eurotainer again participated in
panel discussions at the APLA Annual Logistic
Conference, held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Latin
American
Petrochemical and
Chemical
Association
Logistics Meeting
brought together
leaders in supply
chain and transport
focused on the
chemical industry in
the region.
In Russia,
Eurotainer also
attended the
Russian Maritime
Registry of Shipping
Conference.
The theme of the
event in St
Petersburg was
Eurotainer leased tank containers
with glycol heating systems for the
‘Containers and
shipment of water to a North Sea
Container
wind farm
Transportation.
Topical Matters, Ideas, Solutions’. At the
conference, the attendees focused on safe
transport and prevention of container loss at sea,
development of the reefer container market, and
the implementation of a digital component to a
container transport management scheme.
Eurotainer was invited to make a presentation on
the global tank container market to give the
conference attendees an overview of
manufacturers, container types and leasing options.
www.haesaerts.be www.eurotainer.com
Haesaerts keeps the
cocoa butter flowing
B
elgium’s Haesaerts Intermodal has
embarked on a novel strategy to win
back markets share in food grade shipments
from flexitanks.
The Zwijndrecht-based logistics firm has created
a daughter company - Haesaerts Intermodal Africa
– in Port of San Pedro in Ivory Coast. This will
allow Haesaerts to manage the supply chain of
cocoa butter, the main ingredient for making
chocolate (for which Belgium is, of course,
famous), from its production origin through to
final destinations in Europe.
Although Haesaerts is best known as a specialist
in transporting bulk liquids and gases, it has
actually been using its tank containers to ship
cocoa butter for many years.
CEO Luc Haesaerts sees an opportunity for the
company to concentrate on complex delicate
cargoes, and at some €6,000 a tonne cocoa
butter is expensive, making proper management
of the supply chain that much more important.
Today, Haesaerts ships about 100 tank
containers each year between Ivory Coast, Ghana,
Cameroon and chocolate makers in Europe.
Luc Haesaerts says this traffic will only get
bigger, which is why the firm decided to set up
the subsidiary in San Pedro. The aim to carry as
many as 300 tanks a year filled with cocoa butter.
“We are the first tank logistics operator to found
its own company in the region,” Haesaerts told
Belgian media. Instead of working with local
agents we now have our own employees on the
spot. That allows us to organise the door-to-door
transport ourselves, to control quality better right
along the supply chain, and to intervene more
rapidly in case there is a problem.”
The San Pedro office is located on new logistics
park with the port authority zone. This itself was
the creation of a partnership between the Ivorian
port and Belgium’s Port of Antwerp.
Haesaerts added that in a special area reserved
for the handling of cocoa butter, the company will
create special storage and transit installations
equipped with the latest technology, including an
ultra-modern tank wash facility.
Luc Haesaerts notes that transporting the
product in tank containers sets the company apart
from most other actors in the sector who opt for
flexitanks in standard dry freight containers.
Haesaerts says transporting the cocoa butter in tank containers sets the
company apart from most others in the sector who opt for flexitanks
Your partner for:
Flaxfield
tank container
solutions
Stainless steel 20 ft & swap body
tank containers
Carbon steel gas and cryogenic
tank containers
Composite light weight
tank containers
More than 50 years
collective experience
in the field of sales,
production and
engineering /product
development of tank
containers.
Other related products:
- Spilltainers
- Off shore tanks
Always in stock: used and new tank
containers (in R’dam and Shanghai)
Service centre capabilities
in Rotterdam
G A S C O N TA I N E R S
OUR MISSION? OFFERING TAILOR MADE SOLUTIONS FOR TANK CONTAINERS AND RELATED PRODUCTS THROUGH A SERVICE DRIVEN MENTALITY.