23 September, 2021

Synergy takes over Maersk’s technical management business

Posted on 23 September, 2021 by Keith McKinley

Synergy Marine Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of Synergy Group, has signed an agreement to take over Maersk Tankers’ technical management business. This will strengthen Synergy Group’s position within technical management, and Maersk Tankers will become a service company focused on commercial management.

“Maersk Tankers has been transformed from a traditional tanker company into a service company over the past few years,” says Christian M. Ingerslev, CEO of Maersk Tankers. “The agreement with Synergy Group marks the next big step on our strategic course, offering both the technical and commercial businesses optimum conditions in which to thrive. Maersk Tankers will become a service company focused on the commercial management market, delivering financially and environmentally viable solutions for shipowners.”

The technical management business, which has been part of Maersk Tankers since 1928, maintains vessels to ensure their safe, efficient and cost-competitive operation. It employs close to 3,300 people, of which 140 work onshore. Synergy Group, a leading ship manager founded in 2006 and with 14,000 seafarers and more than 1,000 shore-based employees, has been carefully chosen as the new owner to grow and develop the technical management business.

“At Synergy, we have always strived to provide high-quality services to our ship-owning partners,” says Captain Rajesh Unni, founder and CEO of Synergy Group. “Being considered the right owner of Maersk Tankers’ technical management business is testament to our beliefs and philosophy of working towards creating a platform for high-quality and technically adept services. The crew’s well-being is paramount, and we are committed to providing sustainably responsible services.”

Under the agreement, Synergy Group will take over the entire technical management business of Maersk Tankers. This includes customer and supplier contracts, as well as the technical management of 82 vessels, including the vessels in Maersk Product Tankers. More vessels mean access to more data, which Synergy Group will use to optimise vessel performance and reduce the environmental impact of shipping.

The vast majority of the employees in Maersk Tankers’ technical management business will become part of the Synergy Group, which will strengthen the company’s presence in Denmark, Singapore and India.

Following the takeover, the two companies will work together on the management of the vessels in Maersk Product Tankers.

The takeover of the technical management business is expected to be completed during November 2021.

Descartes’ research highlights impact of delivery experience

Posted on 23 September, 202129 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Descartes Systems Group, a global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, has published the findings of its Consumer Online Delivery Research, which set out to assess consumers’ online purchasing experiences across Europe.

Undertaken by SAPIO Research during July 2021, the interviews with consumers across Europe highlighted that quality of the delivery service is undermining overall customer perception of both delivery companies and retailers – leading to lost sales. The research concludes that retailers need to take ownership of the end-to-end experience, in order to address consumer expectations regarding tracking and communication; safe delivery and ease of return; and, increasingly, environmental considerations.

Key findings include:

The quality of the experience has been far from perfect: just 16% of UK consumers are satisfied with the delivery service every time.
Over two thirds (68%) have had an issue with delivery in the last three months – and, as a result, 24% lost trust in a delivery company and 24% lost trust in the retailer.
Over a third (37%) of consumers also share their perception of both delivery company and retailer with friends and family – creating a ripple effect that rapidly undermines consumer perception.
71% of European consumers consider the environment when making an online order.
Almost a third are interested in bulking all orders to one weekly delivery.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of purchases made online has grown from an average of 32% to 43% and is expected to remain at 41% for the foreseeable future. More than half (51%) of consumers have increased the number of purchases they make online, and 51% now make an online purchase at least once a fortnight – almost double the number (28%) pre-pandemic.

Despite these statistics, the research findings underline the fact that deliveries are failing to achieve complete customer satisfaction, with nearly nine in ten (87%) customers not always satisfied with the delivery services received. With satisfaction rates even lower for consumers who have reduced their online buying behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic, the implications of inadequate delivery experiences cannot be overlooked.

Timing is the biggest issue for home deliveries – with two in three (68%) UK consumers reporting a delivery problem in the last three months. Delivery problems radically affect customer perception – and not just of the delivery company. While almost a quarter (24%) lost trust in the delivery company, 24% also lost trust in the retailer and 23% did not buy from that retailer again.

Given that many consumers were a captive audience during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, these delivery problems should raise serious alarm bells for retailers. With just 16% of UK consumers confirming they are totally satisfied with the delivery service, a company’s ability to meet its delivery promises will become increasingly important to reinforce the quality of customer experience and maximise the chances of customer retention.

Questions retailers should, therefore, be seriously considering, include:

How proactively is the retailer tracking delivery performance?
What is the strategy for managing spiralling delivery costs and optimising driver time?
What is the strategy for meeting customers’ environmental expectations? Can the delivery model support bulk orders and green scheduling? Are the right vehicles being automatically assigned to deliver in Clean Air Zones?

Pol Sweeney, VP Sales and Business Manager UK, Descartes, comments: “Consumers will not return to pre-pandemic shopping habits; having become used to the convenience of ecommerce, online purchasing will continue to dominate. Individuals have become far more confident and sophisticated online over the past 18 months and expectations have risen, leading retailers to enhance the online experience, but as this research reveals, the quality of the delivery service is undermining the overall customer perception and leading to lost sales.

“Retailers that take ownership of the entire end-to-end experience and truly optimise the delivery process have the opportunity to transform customer perceptions, drive additional sales and, critically, entice customers from poorer performing competitors.”

Duisburg DC marks developer’s market entry

Posted on 23 September, 2021 by Keith McKinley

BEOS Logistics, a joint venture between Swiss Life Asset Managers, Ingo Steves and Stephan Bone-Winkel, is developing an 85,000 sq m logistics facility close to the ports of DeltaPort Niederrheinhäfen on the Rhine and Lippe rivers in Wesel near Duisburg for a global logistics service provider.

BEOS Logistics acquired the site from the DeltaPort Niederrheinhäfen group of ports. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. As the general contractor, the List Group is responsible for the construction works, which are scheduled to start in spring 2022 for completion in summer 2023.

“Besides this first project, our pipeline is well stocked and will allow us to grow rapidly,” says Ingo Steves, Managing Partner of BEOS Logistics. “With this project, we have created an excellent win-win situation for the tenant, Delta-Port and BEOS Logistics. While the port location, with its outstanding connections, is particularly attractive for us and the tenant, DeltaPort benefits from having a long-term user and investor in place.

“What brought all of the stakeholders together, however, was primarily the focus on a solution in which sustainability plays a leading role,” says Steves. The partners’ commitment to sustainability means that the state-of-the-art property will strive for BREEAM “Excellent” certification and substantial investments will be made to enhance other sustainability features throughout the facility.

The property is being developed on a 165,000 sq m greenfield site. The majority of the leasable space (81,400 sq m) will be logistics space. In addition, the new complex will also accommodate 1,600 sq m of office and social and 2,700 sq m of mezzanine space. While the facility is leased on a long-term basis to the single tenant, the space is also flexibly designed for division into up to 10 units for different occupiers. The development will also include 37 parking spaces for heavy goods vehicles and 200 for cars.

The site of the new facility benefits not only from direct access to the Rhine-Lippe port, but also from convenient access to the B8 and A3 highways, both of which link to major logistics routes. Given its proximity to the ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp, the region also serves as a hinterland hub for international goods traffic, which has led to the above-average settlement of wholesalers.

At the same time, the location offers access to the Ruhr and Cologne/Bonn regions. Overall, the Duisburg/Lower Rhine region has one of the most efficient infrastructures and is one of the most flexible logistics hubs in Germany.

nShift acquires Danish delivery management platform

Posted on 23 September, 2021 by Keith McKinley

nShift, a global provider of cloud delivery management solutions for e-commerce shops, retailers, manufacturers and third-party logistics companies has acquired Webshipper. Webshipper is a leading e-commerce cloud delivery management platform, serving over 5,000 e-commerce stores in Denmark, including Hummel, Miinto, Message, Pilgrim, and Shaping New Tomorrow.

Following nShift’s launch in August 2021, Webshipper will become the company’s second acquisition, as it continues to increase its extensive library of 700+ carriers and expand its 90,000+ strong customer base internationally. By integrating Webshipper’s user-friendly interface, advanced back-end technology and prominent support model, Webshipper will further advance nShift’s capabilities as a global leader in cloud delivery management.

“We have experienced tremendous growth as a company, with revenue increasing more than 100% over the last year, and the team quadrupling in size in just two years,” said Thomas Andersen, CEO and founder of Webshipper. “We are now delighted to be joining the growing nShift family and to be working alongside some of the world’s most innovative technology providers in the shipping and logistics sector. As a part of nShift, we look forward to being able to continue the momentum we have created and benefit from the infrastructure and network that nShift has to offer.”

Webshipper is the first Danish company to be acquired by nShift and will join Sweden-based Returnado (rebranded to nShift Return since its acquisition by nShift) in adding critical technology to nShift’s cloud delivery management platform. nShift is owned by two leading technology investors, Francisco Partners and Marlin Equity Partners, both of which are supportive of nShift offering their customers the most innovative full suite of shipping features, widest geographic coverage and deepest domain knowledge and technical expertise available in the market.

“We have been extremely impressed at how quickly Webshipper have scaled their offering, and are excited to begin embedding its frictionless automated shipping technology and bolster our wide portfolio of advanced cloud delivery management solutions for our customers,” added Lars Pedersen, CEO of nShift.“This latest acquisition further demonstrates our commitment to becoming the most innovative player in the business, to continuously enhance and improve the delivery management journey for our customers.”

Schmitz Cargobull breaks ground in Spain

Posted on 23 September, 202129 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Schmitz Cargobull Ibérica has held the official groundbreaking ceremony for its new plant in Figueruelas (Spain). The company is investing around €19m in the construction of its new production facility, which is scheduled to go into operation in August 2022, with more than 280 employees and a production capacity of 60 vehicles per day.

The new plant, which is being built just 3km away from the existing factory, covers a total area of 104,000 sq m: 16,400 sq m will be used for production and logistics, 2,000 sq m for offices on three floors, plus a depot housing new and used vehicles.

“I’m very proud of Schmitz Cargobull’s development in Spain,” said Andreas Schmitz, Chairman of the Board of Schmitz Cargobull AG, at the groiundbreaking event on 15th September 20201. “When we started this project in 2002, our production forecast was five semi-trailers per day. Today, we are producing 20 vehicles a day and our aim is to increase production capacity to 22 units a day by the end of 2021. With the new production plant and our own new foaming line for the production of refrigerated trailers, we’ll be able to produce up to 60 vehicles a day.”

As at the existing factory, all products from the product lines S.CS curtainsiders, S.KO refrigerated semi-trailers, M.KO truck box bodies and S.BO steel boxes for the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and African markets will be manufactured at the new plant.

In the last five years Schmitz Cargobull Ibérica has doubled both sales and the number of units produced compared to the previous five years, achieving sales of €130m with around 4,000 units per year.

“Thanks to this increase in demand, our headcount has grown by more than 60% on average. We are now working tirelessly to commission the new facility, which could even enable us to triple the volume,” explains Jordi Romero, Managing Director of Schmitz Cargobull Ibérica.

Also present at the groundbreaking ceremony was Carlos Javier Navarro, General Director for Industry (Government of Aragon), who also supported the founding of Schmitz Cargobull Ibérica in 2002. He explained that the Aragon region values family entrepreneurs like Andreas Schmitz, who are able to build a project from scratch, make it grow and consolidate it. Decisions such as the construction of the new Schmitz Cargobull plant confirm that the region is also of interest internationally for companies seeking to establish industrial locations.

Timber federation calls for action on labour shortage

Posted on 23 September, 2021 by Keith McKinley

The Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation (TIMCON) has called for the government to help it address acute labour shortages across the UK.

In a letter to the UK’s Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, TIMCON President John Dye (pictured) said a lack of staff in the pallet and packaging sector is “impacting severely on the transportation of essential goods and other UK supply chains, with delivery delays and…empty retail shelves”.

A continual supply of new repaired wooden pallets is vital to the supply of categories such as food, drink, and pharmaceuticals, including Covid vaccines.

The pallet and packaging sector employs workers from EU sources including Latvia, Poland and Romania. Since the conclusion of Brexit on 1^st January, availability of labour from these countries has decreased dramatically, which, added to staff shortages caused by COVID, is having a serious impact on the industry’s production and repair capacity.

Dye called for the government to urgently roll out a solution like the Seasonal Workers scheme, which allows the horticultural sector to recruit from overseas on a temporary but regular basis.

“It is really frustrating that, despite the recognition of the wooden pallet and packaging sector’s essential role in keeping supply chains moving, there is no assistance for us in recruiting staff during this difficult time,” said Dye. “We are calling on the government to review this situation as a matter of urgency and roll out a similar scheme to the Seasonal Workers programme. Without this, this situation will become more serious, particularly in the run up to Christmas.”

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