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