Yes, you heard me right!

The two 550′ tall chimneys at the derelict Lafarge (formerly Blue Circle) cement works which tower over the River Thames in Northfleet, Kent are due to be demolished on 28th March 2010 by controlled explosion.

If you are a UK resident you can enter a competition now to be the lucky one who presses the button and sets off the explosion and topples the two giant chimneys.

The competition is being run by the Ellenor Lions Hospice, a charity who offer palliative care in the North Kent area for children and adults suffering from life shortening illnesses.

To enter the competition, please visit the Ellenor Lions competition web site here!

Good luck.

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Photo by Sara-Joachim

Wavecrest Limited are pleased to announce the commencement of a fortnightly part container load service from the UK to Walvis Bay, Namibia with a transit time of around 18 days.

This complements Wavecrest’s current full container load service from Tilbury and ro/ro services from Sheerness and Immingham.

The part container load service caters for both commercial freight and personal effects shipments.

Goods may be delivered into Wavecrest’s receiving depot in Gravesend, Kent or alternatively collections can be arranged from all parts of the UK at competitive rates.

In Namibia, Wavecrest works with a very well established local agent able to assist with import clearance formalities etc.

For further information, rates and bookings, please contact Wavecrest Ltd on Tel: 01474 331146 or e-mail: glen@wavecrest.co.uk

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Wavecrest Ltd has many years experience in moving cargo to Africa and provides regular ro/ro and full container shipping services to Walvis Bay, Namibia.

Walvis Bay, Namibia is an important transit gateway to other landlocked African countries such as Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe as well as to neighbouring Angola.

Ro/ro services are operated from Sheerness on a monthly basis and from Immingham on a twice monthly basis. All types of rolling cargo are accepted including cars (from Sheerness only), vans, trucks of all descriptions, trailers and coaches.

To save on shipping costs, trucks and trailers can be loaded with cars, personal effects etc (at owner’s risk) provided they are correctly secured for sea transit.

The next ro/ro departures are as follows -

Mv “Green Cape” - sails Immingham 17th February. ETA Walvis Bay 12th March

Mv “Palmela” - sails Sheerness 25th February. ETA Walvis Bay 11th March

Mv “Golden Isle” - sails Immingham 1st March. ETA Walvis Bay 22nd March

In addition to our ro/ro services, we also offer a regular full container service from Tilbury to Walvis Bay for personal effects, cars and commercial goods.

Due to the large volume of containers that we ship to Namibia each year, we are able to offer very competitive rates.

The next container departures are as follows -

Mv “Green Cape” - sails Tilbury 17th February. ETA Walvis Bay 12th March.

Mv “Golden Isle” - sails Tilbury 1st March. ETA Walvis Bay 22nd March.

We have a very reliable well established agent in Walvis Bay to assist with local Customs clearance formalities.

For further information about our services, quotations or bookings, please contact Wavecrest now on Tel: 01474 331146 or e-mail: glen@wavecrest.co.uk

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Wavecrest Limited would like to take this opportunity to wish all it’s customers, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

2009 has been a particularly challenging year for everyone involved in the international trade and freight industry, and we are very grateful for the continued loyal support we have received from our long standing customers as well as to the new customers we have more recently welcomed “on board”.

Our office and warehouse will be open for business from 29th December - 31st December.

If you wish to make a booking for our forthcoming sailing from Sheerness to Walvis Bay or have any other sales enquiries, please feel free to contact us by phone - Tel: 01474 331146 or e-mail: glen@wavecrest.co.uk 

(Picture by Turtlemom_Nancy)

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Last Thursday I received the sad news that one of my aunts had passed away following a short battle with aggresive lung cancer at the age of only fifty eight.

I found this fitting poem which was written by Bishop Charles Henry Brent -

A ship sails and I stand watching till she fades on the horizon and someone at my side says She is gone

Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all. She is just as large now as when I last saw her. Her diminished size and total loss from my sight is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says she is gone there are others who are watching her coming over their horizon and other voices take up a glad shout There she comes!

That is what dying is. An horizon and just the limit of our sight.

Lift us up, Oh Lord, that we may see further

During the last few weeks of her life, my aunt was assisted by nurses from our local hospice, the Ellenor Lions Hospice and on behalf of the family I would like to extend our thanks for their help at a difficult time.

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A guest post written by: Rosie Cubbin of CS Shipping Containers

If you are thinking about moving abroad, depending on your final destination, there are a three main ways to move your home contents – by air, by road or by sea.  

If you decide to ship your items it will obviously take longer for them to arrive at their  destination although it will save you money.   When you are trying to decide which method to choose, look at all the options in terms of both cost and time.  

You can undertake the whole move yourself, or pay an international mover such as Wavecrest to take care of it for you.   Much will depend on your budget but, even if money is tight, it could be worth talking to them as there are various options available that mean you can take on some of the process yourself and keep that all important price down!

If you do decide to move your effects by sea, you will probably use shipping containers. These are available to buy or hire and are made of corten steel.  These steel containers are extremely rust resistant (very important for anything having to resist the salt in the sea).  The shipping containers can be delivered to your home so that you can pack your belongings yourself or you can have your belongings  delivered to the Wavecrest depot in Kent so that they can pack them safely in a container for you.

If you do elect to buy your own shipping container – and many people do – you may find it extremely useful in your new country.   Many people use it for additional storage space or as the basis of a container conversion.   But whatever you decide to do with it you must make sure that your container is sea worthy.   The phrase CSC plated is often used and all this basically means is that the shipping container is suitable for shipping rather than purely for storage purposes.   CSC stands for “Container Safety Convention” and the plate is usually attached to the shipping container doors, acting almost as the equivalent of a passport for the container.  Second hand shipping containers that are over 5 years old, can be tested and awarded a certificate (Shippers Own Certificate) that needs to be presented to the shipping line.

But how do you decide which size of all the shipping containers available will take all the contents of your home?  I always find that the best way is to ask Glen or Charlie at Wavecrest.   However, the standard sizes are either 20ft or 40ft and the easiest way to judge the size is to imagine that a 20ft shipping container as the size of a single garage and a 40ft the size of a double garage.   Whilst there are other sizes of shipping containers available generally these have to go as “special” cargo and therefore are often more expensive to ship.  

Once you have loaded your shipping container, it should be collected and moved to the port (if shipping) by rail or road where it can be loaded onto the ship otherwise it will continue its journey by road.  Once your goods have arrived in your new country, the container is then unloaded and must pass through customs.   Wavecrest has a wide network of overseas agents that can help you with all the necessary forms to clear your container through customs.  Don’t forget that depending on which country you have moved to it may be possible to claim back the vat you will have paid on your container.

From there on in you are on the home straight (as it were)!  It is simply a matter of getting your shipping container to your new house and unpacking.  

Bon Voyage!

Article written by: Rosie Cubbin of CS Shipping Containers why not read her Shipping Container Blog

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 And they say Germans have no sense of humour!

We have received news that major German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd has announced plans to increase rates on the Asia to Europe trade by US$500 per TEU in June and on top add a peak-season surcharge.

Surely this is a (not particularly funny) joke? 

We are fully aware that shipping lines in the major liner trades are making insufficient returns but this is mainly due to their own folly (as usual). Like sheep they all placed orders for ever larger ships and flooded the trade lanes with additional capacity at the same time as demand fell.

Hapag Lloyd are adopting a King Canute attitude (*)

The only thing that will cause rates to rise to a more sustainable level is if the lines make a concerted effort to cut capacity to bring it in line with demand. It’s basic economics.

(*) - for those unfamiliar with English history…. King Canute the Great, the legend says, sat on his throne on the seashore, waves lapping round his feet. Canute had learned that his flattering courtiers claimed he was “So great, he could command the tides of the sea to go back”.

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Captain Richard Philips, Master of the US flag container ship Maersk Alabama has been rescued earlier today by US Navy special forces based aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge.

The Maersk Alabama had been hijacked by pirates in the morning of the 8th April off the coast of Somalia whilst en-route to Mombasa, Kenya.

Captain Philips from Vermont, USA who heroically exchanged his own freedom for that of his fellow crew mates had been held hostage in one of the ship’s life boats. On Friday 10th April he bravely tried to escape from his four armed Somali guards by jumping into the sea but was unfortunately quickly recaptured. 

Today snipers from the US Navy SEALs based aboard the USS Bainbridge were able to kill three of the Somali pirates and capture the fourth enabling Captain Philips to be released.

Wavecrest Ltd strongly applauds the robust action taken by the US Government and would ask that others take the same stance.

Pirates have been able to operate practically with impunity around the Horn of Africa and this has lead to significant increases in the cost of shipping to ports in East Africa, the Arabian Gulf, Indian Sub-Continent, Far East and higher marine insurance premiums.

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Wavecrest Limited operates regular shipping services between the UK and South Africa for personal effects and vehicles of all descriptions as well as commercial freight. A customs clearance service for inbound shipments from South Africa is also provided at all UK ports.

Readers of this blog may be interested to know that a new social networking group called the SA Expat Club has been established by Sean O’Reilly for fellow South Africans living in the UK. Initially it was aimed at Saffas living in the Milton Keynes area but has now expanded throughout the UK.

 Biltong meets pot roast!  http://saexpatsmk.ning.com

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As reported in our blog back in October ‘08, the European Union outlawed shipping conferences in an effort to stamp out what they deemed to be uncompetitive practices within the industry.

Subsequent to the demise of the shipping conferences and the economic downturn, particularly on the mainline Asia/Europe trade routes, freight prices have plumeted to unprecentedly low levels and shipowners are losing money hand over fist.

This week we have been notified by a number of shipping lines of their intention to implement across the board rate increases with effect from the 1st April. These increases range from around US $ 75 per TEU up to an unrealistic US $ 300 per TEU depending on the line concerned.

Isn’t it strange how all these different shipping lines are increasing their rates on exactly the same day when they are no longer supposed to be conferring with each other…..

All sounds a bit fishy to me.

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