Hunterston Port Ships Agency Services

Hunterston is a Scottish deep water terminal which focuses primarily on coal imports. The port has a pretty impressive ten per cent of this market and so it’s the largest in the UK by volume. The port continues to handle increasing amounts of coal, and the total coal tonnage handled has risen from 1.1m in 1996 to 4.9m in 2001.

This bulk terminal deep water port is one of the ports used by t ward shipping, who are pleased to offer their ranges of ship agency services to anyone wishing to use this important port. Hunterston has long been considered to be one of the most important ports in Scotland, if not Western Europe. It’s located on Scotland’s west coast and with a jetty head that extends into 26m of water; the outer berth is capable of discharging the largest cape size vessels.

The inner berth can accommodate vessels of up to 95,000 dwt, ready to be out loaded or transhipped to markets in the UK, Ireland and Europe. Hunterston is of course primarily known and used for shipping coal, and the coal discharging rates at the port are in fact the fastest in the whole of the UK, with up to 50,000 tonnes of coal SHINC.

There is a dedicated twin head automated rail loading station at Hunterston which offers its users environmentally friendly and cost effective transportation for their imported product. The site also has a lower rail vehicle loading area where haulage has easy access to the national motorway networked.

The History of Hunterston

The original Hunterston Ore Terminal was one of the finest deep water ore/coal terminals in the world when it was built in the 1970s. It was built between 1974 and 1979 to supply the then British Steel Corporation's Scottish works, and was important enough to have a direct rail link to the Ravenscraig Steelworks in Motherwell which was around 40 miles away.

Even though t ward shipping is based right over on the east coast of Scotland, we still look after a vessel based in Hunterston. We even have a dedicated agent who stays locally in a hotel when needed to make sure that we provide a complete 24 hour agency service.

For all of advice on ships agency, Hunterston or any other ports, give us a call and we’ll be delighted to discuss your needs.

T Ward Review of 2015

Well, we’ve come to the end of another year, and it’s time to look back over all we’ve achieved in 2015. We’re happy to report that things are looking good for t ward shipping; our forwarding work is certainly in demand as we’re up 25 per cent compared to 2014 and  an amazing 50 per cent compared to 2013!

We’ve certainly been busy, and had the pleasure of working with some interesting companies and organisations. In January we worked with Stretch Tent Scotland, assisting them with a shipment of specialist tents from Cape Town, and using our expertise to help them avoid large fees for importing. We’ve admired the products imported by Dumfries based firm Second Nature, who we helped to bring beautiful rugs from exotic countries like India and Morocco. They were very excited as they
watched their shipments sailing all the way across to Scotland.

We’ve worked with The Turing Trust a couple of times in 2015 and hope to continue working with them, as they are such a worthy cause. The charity, which supplies IT and other equipment to disadvantaged communities in countries like Ghana, has asked us to help them transport shipments of containers full of items donated by kind Scottish people, and we’ve been happy to get involved.

Other interesting charity projects we have worked with in 2015 include Edinburgh Direct Aid- a charity involved with sending supplies to Syrian refugees and the International Fire and Rescue Charity who supply equipment to Paraguay, Mexico and Bosnia (among many other places).

We were also pleased to work with award-winning chocolatiers The Chocolate Tree when they needed to import special confectionery making machinery from Italy.

So, t ward goes from strength to strength, helping businesses with their shipping needs, and while the business is expanding, we also have news of a more personal delivery;  the Hamilton family are due for a new arrival in mid-January with their second baby due on 13th.

Merry Christmas to all our customers, old and new, and we wish you a happy, healthy and successful
2016.

The versatility of railway sleepers

It’s the time of year when people start to think about protecting their land and gardens against the ravages of the winter weather, and here at t.ward shipping we have just the thing to help; second hand railway sleepers.

Railway sleepers make a really good and highly economical building material with the benefit of being environmentally friendly too. Some farmers use them to make tracks across fields in the winter, as they can be really useful for preventing hoof damage to stone farm tracks as the herds are moved.

Other uses for sleepers include event entrance areas in grassy fields, retaining walls, flooring in barns, or to build foot bridges over ditches.

How to build a retaining wall from upright railway sleepers.

If you want to make use of our railway sleepers in your own garden, one very popular way of making the most of them is to build a retaining wall. You can use them horizontally or vertically but the advantage of using them vertically is that you can be more creative; you can make the wall taller in some places and you can create a curved wall rather than being restricted to straight lines.

All you need to do is dig your trench and then lower the sleepers in side by side. The depth of the trench depends on the height of the wall, and the pressure of the earth or material inside. As a ballpark, aim for a third in the ground, and two thirds out, so for example if the wall was a metre high, the railway sleepers should be in about 0.3m.

Once they are all in place you can backfill with a dry concrete mix around the railway sleepers until the wall is rigid.

Using a dry cement mix gives you the opportunity to remove and re-position the railway sleepers without getting sloppy wet concrete everywhere, and especially in winter when the ground’s wet, the concrete will set without having to add water.

For a classy look you can lengths of wood, metal strips or wire to the back of the wall, which also strengthens the sleeper wall.

If you’re planning some winter garden work, and would like to find out more about our selection of railway sleepers, contact one of our helpful team for advice. We have just taken delivery of 350 sleepers so we can help with large or small projects alike.

More shipments for the Turing Trust

The Turing Trust is another organisation we have worked with in the past, and will continue to work with, in order to support all of the good work they do for disadvantaged communities in countries like Ghana. Our most recent project with the Trust involved transporting a shipment of two 20 feet containers all the way to Tema, Ghana.

The charity were out in Ghana earlier this year, where they brought together more than 50 students and ten teachers from all over the country for training in software like Microsoft Word, Power Point and Excel, along with other IT projects.

 

The Turing Trust is a UK based charity set up set up by founder James Turing, who wanted to promote IT access and education in disadvantaged communities in sub-Saharan Africa. One of the main schemes the trust operates is one we’ve been happy to offer our services for, the free computer recycling scheme. The scheme takes in donated PCs, which it wipes and then ships to Ghana where the donated machines are much needed - along with a long list of other items that are donated to help with education and more.

 We’ve been involved right from the start, helping the Turing Trust through all the different processes, along with navigating through customs entry, sorting out the documentation and organising the logistics needed to process the cargo before it’s shipped from the UK.

The number of donations to the charity, which operates a pick up and drop off service in Edinburgh, so the number of containers we’re able to ship for them is increasing. You can donate too; if you have any unwanted IT equipment or other items, just contact the team at: recycle@turingtrust.co.uk

The Trust also needs:

• Old games consoles, games, TV’s, radios, speakers, iPods, MP3 players and accessories for a start-up charity gaming café in Ghana - to raise funds for development projects
• Digital cameras & mobile phones (including chargers)
• Calculators, exercise books, rulers, pens and pencils.
The full list of items that the charity needs is available on their website along with more about the
work they do and the worthwhile projects they are supporting.

Winter laying up services from t.ward shipping

The North Sea isn’t the most hospitable of oceans at the best of times but when winter hits it can be really difficult for many vessels to get anything done. Faced with the dilemma of carrying on through adverse conditions or just giving it a break over the colder months and starting again when things get easier, many shipping companies and owners take the pragmatic decision to lay up their vessels for the winter and leave them to be looked after by experts.

It’s actually extremely common in the oil and gas industry for ships to seek refuge in a port over the months of December and January, especially in the North Sea – and so laying up can be a cost-effective way of looking after your assets.

‘Laying up’ is a term that just means your vessel is neither being actively used nor repaired, and there are two types of lay-up – hot and cold.

A Hot Lay-up involves keeping the ship anchored and with a very small crew. If you keep your vessel in hot lay-up, you’ll also keep some of the generators or other machinery ticking over too, and this is one of the favoured ways to lay up a ship temporarily as it’s a short term measure which is easily reversed. Once you decide to get the ship back out onto the ocean again, it’s normally a fairly swift and easy procedure which means you don’t lose money from having it inactive any longer than necessary.

A Cold Lay-up is a full shut down of the vessel. You won’t leave a crew on board or any machinery running while it’s laid up in port, and you’ll need a secure place to lay it up as there’ll be nobody on board. If you choose to lay your ship up for a longer period of time, and/or shut it down completely, it can take a while to get the ship running again, but with help from experts you can get it operational as quickly as possible.

If you decide that you want to lay your vessel up over the winter, t.ward can offer a long or short term laying up service for any of its East Coast Scottish Ports -particularly Leith. We are more than happy to assist you and your crew with the process of dry docking to make the process go as smoothly and as efficiently as possible, and we would be delighted to advise you about any anchorage and layup services you require.

Edinburgh Charity Helps Syrian Refugees

The plight of the Syrian refugees has touched the hearts of many of people, and here at t. ward shipping we were glad to be able to do our bit to help this worthy cause in September. Local charity Edinburgh Direct Aid – a small voluntary international charity - wanted to ship a container to Beirut for the refugees, and we were delighted to help them. We loaded the 40 foot container ready to be shipped to where it’s needed at the end of September.

"I've not seen piles like this since Kosovo," says EDA founder Denis Rutovitz of the current stock of donated aid.

The shipment contains winter clothing and supplies desperately needed by the refugees. By the time it was ready to ship on 23 September, the charity reported that it had been almost completely filled with supplies donated by the generous people of Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Direct Aid has been carrying out valuable work in Arsal, a small town in the Lebanon that’s close to the Bekaa Valley and the Syrian border. Tensions are very high in the area at the moment because Islamic State is close to the town, even though it’s protected by Lebanese military checkpoints. It’s estimated that Syrian refugees outnumber local residents of the town by three to one, and the situation is becoming critical.



Found this little chap among the donations today - we think he'll make a small somebody, somewhere, very happy

Many children have no access to education in the area, so the charity is trying to support residents and refugees, by expanding refugee access to education in informal Syrian schools. To stop the town’s young adults being driven towards joining Islamic State, the charity is also setting up seven vocational training courses for young Syrians with 30 per cent of the intake being set aside for young Lebanese who also need help. Special workshops are also being set up just for women in the camps to complement some of the vocational training subjects on offer.

It’s hoped that by supporting and helping people in the camps, it will stop them from making the perilous journeys across Europe that have proved so dangerous recently. The charity says; “We do what we can with our very limited funding to offer some hope and opportunity for the 80,000 in this appalling situation. Maybe this will make some of them think twice about making a desperate journey to Europe, a journey they may not survive.”

For more information on the work of Edinburgh Direct Aid, go to their website at:
http://www.edinburghdirectaid.org

Door to door vehicle transportation

Our wide range of services at t ward shipping means that we are able to offer a complete door to port service for our customers, giving them peace of mind and taking the stress out of moving their vehicles around.

Whatever your needs, t.ward shipping can help you with your vehicle shipments, and we offer a full range of door to door services that includes;

•  Collection of vehicles, and transport from door to port.
•  Full range of shipping and customs clearance services when shipping your private vehicle.
•  Lashing and securing your car(s) in the container and making sure it’s safe to be transported.
•  RO/RO (roll on/roll off) service for all cars and plant machinery being shipped to West and
• East Africa.
•  Shipping your car by container to all global ports.
•  Vehicle pre-checking prior to export.

Whether you choose to use a RO/RO service or a container service to move your vehicles, we will provide you with the package that’s best suited to your needs. If you need any advice on which package would suit you, please contact us and we’ll be delighted to help.

What type of vehicles can t.ward shipping transport?

We can take anything – including cars and plant machinery right from your door all the way to the loading port in the UK, through our links with well-established national vehicle delivery services with many years of experience in transporting vehicles around the UK and Europe.

If you have more than one vehicle that needs transporting, that’s not a problem either as we have contacts with enough resources to efficiently move your cars or vehicles.

If it’s plant machinery that you need moving, we are able to help too, we work with heavy haulage companies which have the capacity and experience to handle many types of different loads and transport them around  the UK and Ireland. We are able to organise;

•  24-hour, 7 day control on all services
•  Abnormal load transportation
•  Covered and open storage
•  Expert inspections
•  Expert site / route surveys
•  Handling, dismantling and erection of different types of engineering plant and machinery
•  Qualified supervision of contracts
•  Quotations for monetary enquiries.

Worried that your load might be too large? Don’t be – the abnormal load haulage specialists we work with have the experience and capacity to handle, transport and erect up to 600 tonnes of engineering plant and engineering machinery.

For more information – contact us.

Common Incoterms explained

You’ll probably come across the phrase ‘Incoterms’ while working with shipping, transport and freight forwarding companies, and many people aren’t sure what these terms actually mean, so here’s the t ward Shipping guide to the most popular terms.

Incoterms are simply trade terms which are used to define each of the obligations of seller and buyer when moving goods. The term makes it clear who is responsible for which aspect of the cost/risk at each stage of movement, according to Tate's Export Guide.

You should always try and negotiate Incoterms into your sales contract, to avoid disputes at a later date.

EX Works EXW

This term is used in domestic and international trade, and means that the seller should deliver the goods, either to the buyers’ own premises or a place named by the buyer. The seller is responsible for all costs and risks until the goods reach the place of collection but does not have to load them onto a carrier's vehicle or enter them to customs for export.

Free Carrier FCA

This term can be used whichever mode of transport will be used to move the goods. It’s used for containerised goods which are to be delivered to a carrier at an inland container terminal. The seller delivers the goods to the carrier on behalf of the buyer, either at the seller's premises or another place, specified precisely by the seller. The goods are considered delivered once loaded onto the vehicle provided by the buyer if they are delivered to the seller’s premises, but if delivered elsewhere, they have to be on the seller's vehicle and ready for unloading to be delivered.

Carriage Paid To CPT

This term may be used whatever mode or modes of transport will be used. The seller must deliver the goods to the carrier or to a nominated person (by implication, goods must be unloaded from the seller's vehicle) at an agreed place (which is not the final destination) and the seller covers the costs of transporting the goods to their final destination. It’s important that the seller and buyer agree on the exact place of delivery, the point where the risk passes to the buyer, and the final destination.

Carriage and Insurance Paid CIP

This term may be used whatever modes of transport is to be used. The seller delivers the goods either to the carrier or to a person specified by the seller, and the goods must be unloaded from the seller's vehicle, at a named place agreed by the seller and buyer. The seller is responsible for the carriage, insurance and any other costs involved in getting the goods to their end destination.The seller is also responsible for getting export licences, entering the goods to customs for export and any transit arrangements. Insurance only has to be minimal, though and so the is responsible for the cost of any extra insurance cover he wants added, along with giving the seller all the information needed to obtain it. The place named in this Incoterm is not the final destination.

Delivered at Terminal DAT

This term may be used regardless of the modes of carriage to be used. The seller transports the goods to a named terminal, which might be at a port, rail or air cargo terminal but could also be a named container yard, warehouse, or even a lorry park. The seller must inform the buyer when the goods are ready for collection.  Once they are unloaded, the seller places them at the buyer's disposal on date(s) agreed.

Delivered at Place DAP

This term can be used for whatever modes of transport will be used. The seller isn’t obliged to insure goods to or from the named place but can choose to do so if he prefers.  The seller has to bear the full costs of carriage, insurance and anything else to the named place, which must be specified exactly and included in the contract. If the seller and buyer can’t agree on the place of delivery, the seller has the final say.

The seller can only recover the costs of unloading at the named place if the buyer agrees, and if the buyer doesn’t collect the goods, he is also responsible for any costs, including warehousing, loss or damage, from the agreed time of delivery

Delivered Duty Paid DDP

This term is to be used whatever mode or modes of transport may be used. The goods are considered to be delivered when the seller puts them at the the disposal of the buyer, they are cleared for import on the arriving means of transport and  are ready to be unloaded at the named destination at an agreed time or within an agreed time period.

The seller must bear all risk and cost up to that point, including clearing goods both for export and import, and is also responsible for paying import charges, VAT and taxes. This places a great deal of responsibility onto seller and so it shouldn’t be used if it’s likely that the seller won’t be able to get import clearance.  If the buyer is expected to obtain import clearance, DAP should be used instead.

Free Alongside Ship FA

Only used for sea and inland waterways. The seller is considered to have delivered the goods once they are placed (on a quay or a barge) alongside a nominated vessel at the named port of shipment.

The vessel is nominated by the buyer.

The place and time where cost and risk transfer must be specified exactly.  The seller must deliver the goods alongside the ship or, if he is one of a string, secures the goods from a previous owner in the string. For goods in containers, it’s common for the seller to pass goods to a carrier at an inland terminal a- in which case FCA should be used.

Free on Board FOB

Used for sea and inland waterways. The seller is said to have delivered the goods when they are delivered to a ship previously nominated by the buyer at the named port of shipment - or when the seller procures goods which have already been already delivered there. Risk of loss or damage passes to the buyer as soon as the goods are resting on or in the vessel, but not when they are on a crane or being handled over the ship's side. If goods will be passed to a carrier before being loaded on a ship, as goods in containers are received by a carrier at an inland container terminal, FCA should be used.

Cost and Freight CFR

Term used for sea and inland waterways. As with CPT, CIP and CIF, the seller is responsible for delivering the goods on board a vessel at the port of shipment or procuring goods that are already delivered aboard. Again, risk passes to the buyer at the named port of destination but the goods don’t have to be unloaded first. The seller is responsible for all costs and freight needed to transport the goods to their named port of destination. He must also clears the goods for export if applicable, but isn’t responsible for import procedures or charges. The seller should also pay for any pre-shipment inspection if required.

Cost Insurance and Freight IF

Term used for sea and inland waterways.  The risk of loss or damage to the goods passes once they are on the vessel at the port of shipment, or if the transaction is one of a string, during carriage by sea. The seller delivers goods on board the vessel at the port of destination or procures the goods already on board.

The seller contracts for and pays the costs of the carriage to the port of destination and also pays for insurance to cover the buyer's risk of damage or loss during carriage. The seller is also responsible for entering the goods to customs for export if necessary.

If you need advice on your shipping and forwarding needs, contact the experts at t ward Shipping and we’ll be delighted to help.

Investment in Port of Grangemouth is good news for Scottish Exports

There was good news for Scottish importers and exporters this month when it was announced that Forth Ports will be more than doubling its refrigerated container capacity at the Port of Grangemouth.

The total value of Scottish food and drink exports was valued at £5.1 billion in 2014 and figures released this year revealed that the 3.5 per cent increase in food exports alone was mainly driven by an increase in fish and seafood, which was up a massive £38m.

There’s strong demand for Scottish fresh produce from markets such as the Middle East, where Scottish salmon and seafood has been particularly successful. Other fresh food export successes include dairy, which is up 6 per cent.*

The investment in the port of Grangemouth can only help the already impressive figures, as it means that the electricity supply infrastructure will be increased from 126 specialist power supply points to 432, giving a further boost to Scotland’s fresh produce import/export freight trade. The investment is part of a major investment programme for the port, designed to increase its capacity for storing conventional and refrigerated containers.

A feasibility study has also been commissioned into the deepening of the shipping channel to allow the port to handle larger vessels.

Refrigerated containers, also known as reefers, need to be supplied with power as soon as they arrive in port so that their contents can be kept fresh until they are loaded onto refrigerated vehicles to be exported, or delivered to their UK destinations. The expansion is a result of increased demand, mostly from Scotland’s fresh food exporters, and will help exporters to offer a much longer season for shipping produce including cheese, fish and seafood around the world.

Grangemouth is Scotland's largest container port and already handles more than 155,000 containers every year. With frequent sailings to Rotterdam, Antwerp, Felixstowe and Hamburg, Grangemouth is an important part of Scotland’s import/export infrastructure and increasing its capacity for handling fresh produce will further establish the port’s reputation in the UK and abroad.

The installation should be finished by the end of October, and should help to maintain the Port of Grangemouth’s position as the largest reefer facility in Scotland.

Stuart Wallace, Forth Ports’ Director of Scottish Operations, said:

“Scotland has a growing reputation right across the world for the quality of our fresh produce and that’s resulted in increasing demand for reefer capacity. That’s good for the Scottish economy and good for business and we’re committed to investing in support of this growth through increasing our reefer capacity at the Port of Grangemouth.”

For more information on our shipping services from Grangemouth and other UK ports, contact us.

*Figures from http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/New-record-for-Scottish-food-exports-1933.aspx

T ward shipping - helping firefighters abroad

As a responsible local business and supporter of good causes, we’re delighted to work with the International Fire and Rescue Charity (IFRA), a fantastic organisation that has been sending unwanted emergency vehicles, equipment and clothing to less fortunate countries since 2002.

The charity was set up in 2001 after founder David Kay, a serving firefighter at Lochgelly Fire Station, Dunfermline, saw for himself the need for fire equipment in Bosnia. The services were woefully under-funded and David returned to Scotland and with help from a local school he managed to organise fundraising efforts to buy an Isuzu Trooper which was sent to help the firefighters of Kljuc.

Since then, the work of the charity has been expanded to help firefighters in Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Albania and Bosnia, where fire services are extremely under-developed.

IFRA also helps to train firefighters in countries where the fire services need extra assistance.

We have been able to support the work of the charity by arranging for transportation of some of the equipment to Mexico, Bosnia and Argentina. We shipped two crates of equipment to Mexico at the beginning of August and we’re sending three more to Argentina, Mexico and Paraguay later in the month.

The pallets contain specialist clothing like tunics, boots, helmets, gloves and trousers, all essential gear for helping to kit out around 4,500 firefighters- helping to keep them safe while they carry out their important work. This specialist clothing can’t be used in the UK for health and safety reasons and would only have to be destroyed if they weren’t gifted. Destroying them costs money so sending the unusable items abroad doesn’t just help the fire teams in other countries, it also saves the UK money; a real win-win situation.

The items are no longer of any use in Scotland or the UK but are still perfectly usable, according to David, who added that there was absolutely nothing wrong with them, but they were considered redundant because their expiry dates had passed.

We at t ward shipping are pleased to be able to play a part in this important work, and we look forward to working with IFRA in the future. You can find out more about the work of this incredible organisation at: http://www.ifra.co.uk/

Find out more about our range of freight forwarding and shipping services at t ward shipping

What does a Ship’s Agent do?

t ward shipping is a full service ships agency that offers a wide range of services to help clients import, export and transport their cargos with as little fuss as possible. As ship’s agents, we aim to get things moving quickly and make sure that vessels spend as little time in port as possible, which helps to maximize the ship’s profitability.

As soon as we know the time of the ship’s arrival, we get the arrangements in place, and we ensure that everything runs smoothly from arrival to the next departure.

Our ships agency services cover all of the posts in the Firth of Forth ports:

 Leith
 Rosyth
 Babcock, Rosyth
 Grangemouth
 Methil
 Burntisland
 Kirkcaldy


We also serve:

 Hunterston
 Glasgow KG5
 Ayr
 Greenock
 Stranraer 

And other Scottish ports.

What is a ship’s agent?

So, what does our service actually cover? Well, we are on hand to act as your local representative, making the most of our local knowledge and expertise, plus our connections in the area, to get cargos moved as swiftly and efficiently as possible.

We’re expected to stay up to date with all the relevant regulations in any country to which we operate, and to know the rules and regulations applying to every port we serve. We’re your point of contact for anything to do with your cargo.

Before arrival, we start planning ahead. We pay particular attention to making arrangements for off-loading the cargo and organising any cranes or pump-out facilities. We make sure that everyone knows when the ship is due in port and when the cargo will be discharged, and arrange for personnel to board the ship to advise the captain on conditions and local requirements.  We also make sure that arrangements for docking and undocking are in place, arranging tugs if needed.

Once the cargo is in, we notify customs and arrange services from longshoremen to help with unloading cargo and book any trucks to move containerised freight to its final destination.We’ll make sure that any inspections or certifications are taken care of, and notify any authorities. If there are any repairs needed, we can arrange those too.

When it’s time to reload the ship, we make sure the cargo is there and ready to be loaded up, check that it’s in a good condition and make sure the arrangements are in place for transportation. We’ll also inform the parties and port of the projected date of arrival.

When the cargo is loaded, we liaise with the ship's master to arrange for departure and make all the necessary arrangements. If there have been any inspections while the ship has been docked, we pass the results on.

Once the ship has left port, we collect any payments due from consignees who received freight and any penalties from the ship management company for damage or late delivery.

We’ve had many years’ experience in the ports agency – over 80 years in fact – so when it comes to making sure all the arrangements for your cargo are in place and ensuring the process goes as smoothly as it can, we’re the people to talk to!

Helping businesses understand imports

The eBay and Amazon success stories have led to a surge in small businesses importing goods for sale in the UK, and opportunistic sellers looking for ways to make money have been getting their hands on anything from textiles to e-cigs, cables and packaging supplies at low cost and selling them on through online businesses.

It’s such a popular way to make money, possibly because there’s no need for a dedicated website, you can just set up your own shop on Amazon or eBay and off you go! Because it’s working out so much cheaper to import from abroad, we’re receiving many more enquiries from customers about the legal requirements and procedures, including INCOTERMS; and most first time importers don’t know the difference between Cost, Insurance & Freight (CIF) and Free on Board (FOB.)

Incoterms® are a set of rules internationally recognised rules which are used worldwide in international and domestic contracts for the sale of goods – they make life easier for international businesses by giving them a set of internationally accepted definitions and rules of interpretation for most common commercial terms.

So – what’s the difference between a CIF shipment and an FOB shipment? And which is best for you?

In the case of CIF, the cost of sea transport and insurance are included with the purchase price.  The only costs not included are Destination Terminal Handling, Customs Clearance Import vat & duty and any other fixed fees the arrival warehouse charges for shipments arriving on CIF terms (these warehouse charges can vary depending on the particular warehouse)
 
With a CIF agreement your supplier will choose the carrier that meets your needs for the cheapest possible price, which sounds great until you want a specific route or a faster transit time. Longer transit times can affect your profits and cash flow as you’re forced to wait longer for your goods to arrive.

Even worse; when you’re quoted for a CIF shipment, the Destination Handling Charge (DTHC) isn’t included in the quote, so you don’t always know the total cost of getting your goods transported from A to B. The DHTC charges are often artificially hiked up to well above market rates, and as a first time importer, you wouldn’t know that.

Neither would you know that your cargo suppliers insurance doesn’t fully protect you as an importer, it protects the supplier of the goods. If your cargo is lost or damaged, the supplier gets a pay-out but you don’t. You have to rely on the goodwill of the supplier to get a refund or any kind of redress. You could also find that you will still have to fork out for customs entry, import duties and transport inland, even if the goods are lost/damaged.

The other option is a Free on Board (FOB) shipment, which puts you in control of your cargo and gives you the total costs up front. With an FOB shipment you choose the vessel upon which your goods are transported, and the agreement stipulates that the obligations to deliver them are only fulfilled when the goods have passed over the ship's rail.

If you’d like advice on importing goods, INCOTERMS and different types of shipment, talk to the experts! We have many, many years’ experience with helping people with large and small cargos, and we’ll be delighted to help you find the best options for your business.

A sweet project for t ward

We have some very interesting clients at t. ward, and one of the most interesting we’ve worked with recently is also a potential award winner!

We worked with The Chocolate Tree to import a pallet of Peruvian coca beans last year, and this year we’ve also helped them import a special piece of confectionery making machinery from Italy. The machine, an FBM Unica continuous temperer with Californian Mod, sounds very impressive; according to Alistair Gower, the man behind the delicious chocolates, it boasts, “an enhanced motor, strengthened screw, pneumatic dosing and variable speed with dosing plate,” and is a “tempering dream machine engineered to handle the viscosity of proper craft chocolate – and it came in a blooming big box!”

The Chocolate Tree, which employs 12 members of staff, is being recognised for its skill in creating craft chocolate – the company picked up three prizes at the prestigious International Chocolate Awards British National Competition this month.  The company won GOLD in the chocolate bar with a filling and flavoured white chocolate bars categories, and BRONZE in the spreads dark chocolate (no milk powder) category.

Alastair said: “We are using exceptionally high-quality ingredients and they don’t contain any artificial flavourings. That is to be expected but our recipes are quite innovative and we use high-quality ingredients.”

The chocolates are made at The Chocolate Tree’s factory on Knox Place and sold to eager customers at farmers’ markets, farm shops and also at the company’s two shops in Edinburgh and Haddington. Alastair credits the whole team for the success of the delicious chocolate and says, “There is a great team behind Chocolate Tree and I’m trying to make it down for the awards ceremony.”

We’re wishing Alastair and the team good luck at the awards this month!

At t ward we’re always on hand to help clients ship anything they need from anywhere around the globe, and we cater for all sizes of cargo from 15kgs to 150,000 tonnes. We use our many years of experience to provide all levels of service, and our sea freight forwarders handle anything from chocolate to cars, and plant machinery to personal effects. We also make sure that we work alongside the best partners in the world, which gives us access to the most flexible freight network in Europe.

We’ll be happy to talk to you about arranging the collection or delivery of your goods at origin/destination and effecting Customs Clearance for you too – just call and speak to one of our agents.

Grangemouth – Scotland’s largest container port

Did you know that in addition to other ports across Scotland, t.ward shipping also covers the port of Grangemouth? 

We have been working alongside the port and supporting clients who use it for many years now, and so we are able to offer all varieties of ships agency from Grangemouth, which is Scotland’s largest container port. Grangemouth handles more than 150,000 containers every year, and there are daily sailings from here to Rotterdam, Antwerp, Felixstowe and Hamburg.

Grangemouth is a popular port for many reasons; obviously the size of the port makes it an ideal choice for many clients, and it’s also very well situated between Glasgow and Edinburgh, right at the centre of Scotland’s industrial heartland. 

Grangemouth is a popular haven for Scottish industry, handling around nine million tonnes of cargo per year. It handles over 2 million tonnes of dry cargo such as timber, granite and steel every year, which makes it an important hub – and it’s getting busier all the time. In November 2014 Grangemouth reported its busiest ever week, handling a record 4,200 containers. At the time, operators credited a good potato seed season as well as an increase of whisky and white spirit cargos.

Grangemouth is the UK’s largest feeder port, and the only one that exports more than it imports. It’s also estimated that 30 per cent of Scotland’s gross domestic product (GDP) goes through the port.

The facilities include;

•  Two gantry cranes
•  13 straddle carriers
•  Modern driver’s reception
•  Integrated Terminal Operating System
•  500,000 sqft of warehousing
•  365 acre estate
•  Private and common user jetties
•  LPG berth
•  Dedicated general cargo berths
•  Ability to handle ro-ro, side port and conventional vessels.

This, plus Grangemouth’s location, its proximity to national road, rail and sea links, and its land availability makes the port an ideal choice for development into a top class logistics and distribution
hub.

Grangemouth is just one of the ports served by t. ward shipping – for more information on our services please refer to our Ships Agency page.

The Margarethe Fighter caught on video

The Margarethe Fighter was recently spotted dredging in Newhaven Harbour, as plans for the development of the port into a cruise liner terminal get under way.

The Margarethe Fighter is certainly an impressive vessel – it has a capacity of 425 tons - and Newhaven port is likely to see some imposing ships in the future, following the plans for the terminal there.

Officials have confirmed that there are plans for more dredging, seabed surveys and reviews of local infrastructure and that there will be a “significant” investment in the project.

As well as hosting ocean-going vessels which are stopping in Edinburgh, it’s possible that Newhaven could also become a departure port for turnaround ships taking domestic travellers overseas, which means that facilities will need to be built to house customs, security and luggage handling facilities.

A spokeswoman for Forth Ports said: “We have had a good level of interest from the cruise industry for this new location due to its close proximity to the internationally appealing city of Edinburgh.

“We are currently working with Edinburgh City Council on the potential opportunities at Newhaven
and Forth Ports is looking to significantly invest in this project.”

Newhaven has a maritime history which dates right back to the 1500s, when Scotland’s most iconic ship, when the Great Michael, was launched there.

Watch the video here

Ports we serve

At t. ward shipping we are experienced in handling consignments of all sizes and types and we offer our services to a wide range of UK ports.

We’ve put together a list of the ports that we serve, along with a list of their specifications, to help you decide on the best option for you. For specialist advice, contact our team and we’ll be happy to provide you with more information.

Leith

Maximum size vessel:
 210m LOA
 30m beam
 9.15m draft.

The Port of Leith is Scotland’s largest enclosed deep water port, with capability to handle ships up to 50,000 DWT.  It’s located to the north east of Edinburgh and offers easy access to the A1, the Edinburgh by-pass, the M8 and M9.  The rail connections are also excellent. Leith offers stevedoring and cargo handling services and is equipped with cranes and equipment, plus secure storage facilities.

Grangemouth

 183m loa (length overall)
 27.5m beam
 11.0m draft (tankers)
 7.75m draft (general cargo)

Grangemouth is the largest container port in Scotland, and handles more than 150,000 containers per year. Situated in between Edinburgh and Glasgow, the port handles over 9 million tonnes of cargo per year and its excellent transport links make it a popular choice for Scottish industry.

Rosyth

     540m loa
 Beam n/a
 Draft - 8.3m

The port of Rosyth enjoys a convenient central location on the north bank of the River Forth, and provides a key gateway to Fife. The port boasts useful access to the M90, the Forth Road Bridge and also to Scotland’s motorways, and is perfect for businesses that want a riverside location with logistical support. The port also has a useful roll on / roll off freight ferry service linking Scotland with mainland Europe.

Babcock, Rosyth:

 Loa – 224m
 Beam - 39m
 Draft – 9.4m

Babcock, Rosyth port is located on the north side of the River Forth about a mile west of the Forth Road Bridge. The port gives access to the non-tidal basin through a conventional lock system and also via a single direct entrance, restricted to high tide transits.

Hunterston

 Inner berth:
 Loa – 380m
 Beam – n/a
 Draft – 23.00

 Outer berth:
 280m loa
 Beam – n/a
 Draft – 23.00m

Hunterston is a bulk terminal deep water port located on Scotland’s west coast which has a dedicated twin head automated rail loading station in addition to a lower rail vehicle loading area that gives easy haulage access to the national motorway network.

We can also help with your shipping requirements for other Firth of Forth and Clyde ports such Methil, Burntisland, Inverkeithing, Glasgow, Ayr and Greenock. For more information on the services we offer, speak to one of our friendly agents.

Importing through a southern port? You don’t need a southern agent!

If you’re a Scottish business trying to keep your business costs down when you’re importing goods from China and the Far East, it’s natural to assume that saving money on a shipping agent means dealing with an agent close to your chosen port of entry, such as Felixstowe or Thamesport.

This isn’t always the case; in fact you might find that even though your business is based in Scotland and you’re importing goods through Felixstowe, for example, it can work out more economical and convenient to use a shipping agency local to you, such as t ward shipping. It’s actually something of a widely held misconception that it costs less to use an agent close to the port of import, and t ward works with numerous different businesses who chose Thamesport and other southern UK ports for their LCL and FCL cargo shipments.

According to 2012 figures, China is currently one of the UKs main import partners, with only Germany exporting more goods to our shores. China is responsible for 8.2 per cent of goods imported into the UK and the amount of goods coming this way from the Far East is on the rise with enterprising online businesses finding bargains and selling them in the UK.

There has definitely been a surge in small businesses and sole traders who need to import goods from China, for example, to sell on sites such as eBay and Amazon. They need to be able to use a reliable shipping agent with competitive rates, and they come to us for help with their needs – we don’t just work with the big names, we’re happy to assist individuals and small businesses. It can work out cheaper for them to have their goods delivered in the south, but that’s not an issue for us, we have a transport network that efficiently moves cargo all around the UK, and quite often at a much lower cost than you might expect.

If you need to import goods through a port in the south of England, don’t automatically assume it will be easier and cheaper to use an agent locally. Contact t ward shipping for advice and a quote and we’ll see how we can help you.

Importing rugs from India – it’s second Nature to us!

We were delighted to be able to offer our services to a small, local family business, Second Nature, recently.

Second Nature has a gorgeous shop in Dumfries along with a successful online business and their products are sourced from all over the world, including Morocco and India. The business believes in the principles of fair trade and environmental protection, and are passionate about sourcing and importing products that fit with their principles, and are either natural, fair trade or eco-friendly. Of course, it helps that the products are all high quality and wonderful to browse.

We were asked to assist the company with a recent import of fantastic products, including a range of hand loomed Indian rugs. They had two containers which needed to be transported from Kerala, and we were more than happy to help.  The company were so impressed that in their own words they became ‘geeky’ about being able to watch the two containers as they made their way from Kerala to Felixstowe, mentioning on their Facebook page that they’d watched the shipments on the Marine Tracker app and been very excited as they watched one dock, and the other making its way around Portugal!

We look forward to being able to help Second Nature with more of their imports in the future and bring more of their fantastic wares to the UK from overseas.

What is the role of a ship broker?

A ship broker plays a very important role in the transport of goods by sea, and the broker’s main role is to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible, bringing all the parties involved together and resolving any issues as they occur.

Examples of the type of project we oversee could include matching a UK-based grain merchant that needs to sell 3,000mt of grain to a client in Morocco and who is looking for a suitable ship to transport it with a European ship owner who is travelling to Morocco and is looking for cargo to take back to Northern Europe.

A ship broker usually works on behalf of one of the parties but acts as a mediator between one or more of them. The simplest scenarios to oversee usually involve just a cargo merchant, a ship broker, the ship owner/charterer and the purchaser of the cargo that’s being shipped.

Sometimes things can become more complicated, and that’s when the ship broker’s work is really cut out for them. In some cases, we can be dealing with a cargo seller, who has a broker of their own acting on their behalf, in addition to an intermediate broker, the charterer’s broker, the charterer, the ship owner and then buyer of the goods. It can be a challenge to keep the communication going between so many different parties; all with their own interests, but a good ship broker will have the benefit of experience and a good network of contacts throughout the business.

T.ward shipping is proud to have built up a great range of clients and contacts during out many years’ ship broking experience, throughout the UK and Europe. We are happy to facilitate and oversee all aspects of Shipbroking and charters for your cargo or ship.

Good Luck with the ICS Exams

This time of year means just one thing for some young students in the shipping industry; their Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers exams. These important exams are looming now and it’s likely that most students will truly have their heads buried in their books.

The ICS is the professional body for members of the commercial shipping industry, founded in 1911 and awarded a Royal Charter in 1920. It is the only internationally recognized professional body in the commercial maritime sector representing all section of commercial shipping such as brokers, managers and agents, with 24 branches in key locations all over the world and a membership of over 4,000 individuals.

The Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) is the top ICS qualification, which is designed to demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the commercial shipping industry. The PQE is made up of seven separate exams that can be taken over a period of five years, although most people complete them more quickly.

Embarking on PQE will mean you need to sit a minimum of two exams in your first year (one of which must be Shipping Business), and after that you can decide which subjects to take from the syllabus. Once you have completed your PQEs you will be eligible to apply for membership with the Institute.

t.ward shipping recognizes the contribution ICS has made to the commercial shipping industry in the UK and worldwide which is why we ensure that all of our new employees take steps to completing the Professional Qualifying Examinations (PQE) in topics such as Shipping Law and Dry Cargo Chartering (and more.)

There are other educational options with the ICS such as foundation diploma and advanced diploma, but only those who complete the PQE are eligible for membership of the ICS. Whichever avenue a student chooses to take, they can be sure the education they will get from the ICS will be a tremendous foundation to work from in their professional shipping career.

Our very own Callum Hamilton (MICS) completed his PQE in 2011 gaining membership to ICS in 2012. His hard work also gained him the Port Agency prize for best marks in the Port Agency exam in 2010.

Callum was delighted with his award and said, “All students want to pass their exams, and the target is always the pass mark, but it’s a real bonus when your hard work is recognised and rewarded.”

To all the students preparing for 2015 exams in April, t.ward shipping would like formally wish you good luck and best wishes.

For more information on the ICS please go to http://www.ics.org.uk/home

T Ward shipping pallets for the Turing Trust

T ward are pleased to promote and help good causes, so we’re very pleased to be able to help the Turing Trust in 2015. The Turing Trust is a UK charity set up by James Turing in 2009 after he visited Ghana during his gap year and witnessed a local school trying to teach over 50 students with no textbooks.

The Turing Trust was set up in response to James’ desire to promote education through using information technology. The Trust offers resources to some of the most disadvantaged communities of sub-Saharan Africa.

The trust operates a free computer recycling scheme, with the aim of to providing computer facilities to rural schools in Ghana. They wipe any donated PCs to the industry standard, offer a drop off service to Edinburgh customers and then ship the recycled PCs to Ghana; which is where t ward comes in.

In 2015 we will be acting as freight forwarding agents for The Turing Trust. Their first shipment consisted of twelve pallets as part of an LCL (less than container load) shipment which was collected from Edinburgh and then shipped to Tema, the Ghana via Port of London Gateway.

As the trust were exporting for the first time, we helped to take them through the process from start to finish, guiding them through the processes or customs entry, documentation and the logistics required to process their cargo in the UK before being shipped out.

The charity has been receiving a very welcome increase in donations recently, which means that now they are looking at potentially shipping a whole 20’ container in February 2015. We will be delighted to help them through the process once again.

If you’re interested in donating IT equipment or other items to this worthy cause, you can contact the team at: recycle@turingtrust.co.uk

It’s not just computers that can help students and schools in Ghana. The Trust also needs:

• Old games consoles, games, TV’s, radios, speakers, iPods, MP3 players and accessories for a start-up charity gaming café in Ghana - to raise funds for development projects
• Digital cameras & mobile phones (including chargers)
• Calculators, exercise books, rulers, pens and pencils.

The full list of items that the charity needs is available on their website along with more about the work they do and the worthwhile projects they are supporting.
http://turingtrust.co.uk/

Sleepers in the Garden

With spring just around the corner, thoughts are turning to getting the garden spruced up ready for the better weather, and this is a great time of year to start planning this year’s gardening projects.

T.ward can help with many of your gardening projects – we’ve been supplying reclaimed railway sleepers around Scotland for many years now and it never ceases to amaze us some of the creative ways that our customers choose to use them!

At 2.6m x 0.25 x 0.125m and with a weight of about 75 kgs they are fairly sturdy – which you would expect for something that is designed to be in the ground for hundreds of years!

One of the most popular ways to use reclaimed railway sleepers in gardening projects is to create a retaining wall.

Some of our imaginative clients have used them for other things – adding some attractive edging, supports, raised beds, steps, garden furniture, fencing and even bridges!

Of course, sleepers can be used outside of the garden - many of our clients are industry based and use our sleepers for a base for plant machinery, containers, pipes and much more.

There are many different grades of reclaimed railways sleepers, but t.ward shipping has seen a trend emerging in Grade A reclaimed railway sleepers – this grade guarantees quality throughout the railway sleeper. They are on the more expensive side but if you opt for a Grade A sleeper, you’ll certainly see the benefits in the long run.

For more info or to enquire please get in touch.

What is the Role of a Customs Clearance Agent?

The job that a customs clearance agent does is a specialised one that has to take into account the legislation of every country involved in the process of shipping goods. It involves being very organised and methodical, accurate and being able to communicate with all parties involved in importing and exporting goods around the globe.

Every country has its own different rules when it comes to customs, so the role involves making sure that we keep up to date with any changes to ensure that these regulations are carefully adhered to. The process involves preparing all the correct paperwork and/or electronic documents for each case, calculating and paying the required amounts of taxes on behalf of the customer, including all duties and excise taxes, and acting as the first point of communication for the importer/exporter and the governmental authorities involved in each case. As you can imagine, it’s a specialised job.

Customs Clearance Agents also have to make sure that they are up to date with the Tariff Schedule (or Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS)), as well as the listing of duty rates for imported items, and all regulations governing imports, submit it to the relevant government agencies to notify them - and arrange any clearance that’s needed for specific cargo.

A Customs Clearance Agent has to be accredited with ports, customs authorities and border agencies, as they will have to arrange to pass all necessary documentation on at customs and arrange for any inspections that have to take place.

At t.ward we have many years of experience in customs clearing UK imported goods for both private and commercial customers. We can help you obtain clearance for your goods through customs throughout the world and we’re also happy to advise you on import duty, tax and international tariff codes and permits.

 Contact us if you’re looking for advice or assistance on:

• Customs clearance advice for Far East sea freight imports for FCL / LCL
• Customs clearance in all UK Ports (for example - Felixstowe, Southampton, Grangemouth)
• Air freight customs clearance
• Tariff clarification
• Import and export licences
• Temporary imports
• Duty and tax planning

T Ward helps Stretch Tent Scotland

Here at T Ward, we like to offer our clients a really thorough service that’s tailored to their needs. We’re also experienced in helping clients reach the best solution for difficult logistical problems, and we demonstrated this last year when we worked with a company called Stretch Tent Scotland. The company supplies tents for use at large events such as weddings and festivals, and asked us to assist with customs clearance when they imported a batch of the tents from suppliers in Cape Town. The first shipment was due in April/May 2014.

The company bought the tents on CIF Edinburgh Incoterms, which meant was the shippers in Cape Town organized the shipping up to the first port of entry to the UK, which was Felixstowe. We assisted with customs clearance at Felixstowe and delivery to Edinburgh.

The complication was that because the gods were bought on CIF terms, the client had no control over which warehouse was responsible for their LCL shipment on arrival in the UK. As a result, the common charges (handling, security, documentation) levied by the warehouse for an LCL import were non-negotiable and Stretch Tent Scotland had to pay in order to release their goods – an extra expense they weren’t expecting. The costs were high, too.

Although there was no way around this problem in 2014, we advised Stretch Tent Scotland that next time they imported goods from Cape Town, they should buy them on FOB Cape Town terms. This would mean that shippers in Cape Town would only be responsible for getting goods to our nominated agent’s warehouse in Cape Town. From there onwards, t.ward shipping would be able to take responsibility for the shipment up until it was delivered to the client’s premises in Edinburgh.

There were no nasty surprises with the next shipment as we could decide which UK warehouse the goods arrived into. This saved a few hundred pounds and led to a happy client. In summary, t.ward can assist with all shipping, import/export and customs matters, and we are able to use our many years shipping experience to tailor our services to fit clients’ precise needs, potentially saving them money and ensuring that they don’t need to pay over the odds for shipping costs.