Heavy Lifting

Sappio Appointed President & CEO of Rickmers Americas

Sappio Appointed President & CEO of Rickmers Americas   The Rickmers Group has appointed Robert Sappio to the position of President and CEO of Rickmers Americas. He will report to Ronald D Widdows, CEO of Rickmers Holding. Sappio will be responsible for all aspects of Rickmers Group’s business in the Americas: including Rickmers-Linie (America) which is based in Houston, Texas, and the Maersk-Rickmers US Flag joint venture, which operates multi-purpose heavy lift cargo ships. For the Rickmers-Linie business, Mr Sappio will also report to Ulrich Ulrichs and Rüdiger Gerhardt, Managing Directors of Rickmers-Linie, who are responsible for the global operations of the Group’s heavy-lift and breakbulk business. Sean Carney, formally the head of Rickmers-Linie in the US will continue to have responsibilities within the heavy-lift/breakbulk business. Mr Sappio joins Rickmers Group from his previous position as a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal Business Consulting in San Francisco.  He has nearly 30 years of experience in shipping, intermodal transportation, logistics and supply chain management. He has served a broad range of clients across the US, Europe and Asia.  

Tanker Conversion in China for Dockwise

  The former Sealift/Frontline Suezmax tanker "Front Granite", now owned by Granite B.V., a wholly owned subsidiairy of Dockwsise Ltd., "Trustee", has been delivered to Cosco Zhoushan Shipyard on March 20, 2008 and the conversion into a heavy lift vessel will start. The conversion from a tanker into a heavy lift vessel embodies the complete renewal of the entire midship section after removing the original cargo section.

Rickmers-Linie Names JHL as New General Agent

The German project liner and heavy-lift specialist, Rickmers-Linie, has appointed Japan Heavy Lift Inc. (JHL), a Sankyu Group company, as its new general agent for Japan, effective March 1. Rickmers-Linie serves Japan with its Round the World (RTW) service on a fortnightly basis. In due course this service will see a major upgrade with the phasing in of newly built “Superflex Heavy MPC” vessels, of which three have been delivered and further six ships become available later this year

“World’s Largest” Heavy Lift Ship Enters Service

Heavy lift specialist Jumbo enters its heavy lift vessel MV “Jumbo Javelin” newbuild into service this week after having been mated with cranes successfully and passing final sea trials in the North Sea. With its 1,600 tons lift capacity, a hold space of 19,000 cu. m. and a main deck of 2,650 sq. m., MV Jumbo Javelin is without contest the largest heavy lift ship in its class in the world. She is the first in a series of two new ships ordered by Jumbo

Rigging Int’l, Sarens Group Partnership

A strategic alliance has been formed between Rigging International (RI) of Alameda, California and the Sarens Group of Belgium.  Effective May 31, 2009 Sarens acquired 100% of the shares of RI, which will continue to operate under its present name and current management in the heavy lift rigging and heavy haul transport industry. The alliance allows the Sarens Group entry into the US market and greater reach internationally

Jumbo Completes Transports for KNPC

Jumbo Shipping has completed its eight-month heavy lift transport contract for client KNPC (Kuwait National Petroleum Company). The contract involved the transport of 37 reactors, separators and coke drums for KNPC’s Clean Fuels Project expansion. Jumbo’s Total Transport Solution included shipping and barging operations, as well as land transport. From October 2010 until June 2011, Jumbo’s Heavy Lift Vessels Jumbo Jubilee and Fairpartner and its flat-top barge JB-2

Iran to Build Four Cargo Ships for German Firm

According to the Mena Report, Iran's shipbuilding company Sadra Group will build four cargo ships, worth 100 million euros, for the north German-based Rickmers shipping lines, it was reported on Saturday. The newbuildings have been purpose-designed for the carriage of breakbulk, heavy lift and project cargo. With a deadweight of 24,000 tonnes, an overall length of 175m and a beam of 26.5m, they will be fitted with variable height tweendecks for maximum cargo flexibility

New Heavy Lift Record for Jumbo Jubilee

On Saturday the 22nd of August 2009, a new tandem heavy lift record was set by MV Jumbo Jubilee. During the crane tests of Jumbo’s latest J-class vessel at the Huisman yard in Schiedam, a ballasted pontoon was lifted out of the water in tandem by the two 900t mast cranes. A load of 1,980 tonnes, 10% on top of the combined safe working load (SWL) of the cranes, was required to obtain a Lloyds Certificate of Compliance

Maiden Voyage Cargo: a River Steamer

Shipping company owner Peter Harren said declared the building of four specialized heavy lift vessels at Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven “a grand achievement.” At the same time, Harren backed up the hope that Rüdiger Pallentin, Managing Director of the Lloyd Werft shipyard had expressed when the last of this construction series was delivered, underlining: “I am fairly certain that there will be no more than a brief pause in our cooperation

Sohar Port Receives 1,000th Vessel

As Oman celebrated its 42nd Renaissance anniversary, Port of Sohar welcomed its 1,000th vessel of the year The 9,000 metric tonne MV Maria, owned and operated by SAL Heavy Lift GmbH, berthed at the container terminal C Steinweg Oman (CSO). On board was a 300-tonne gas turbine due for installation at a new power plant under construction in the Batinah area.
 The arrival of the 1,000th vessel this early augurs well for a significant increase in ship calls during 2012