Logistics Plus Delivers for the Largest LNG Powered Container Vessel

Logistics Plus Delivers for the Largest LNG Powered Container Vessel

The biggest news of last month in the maritime community was the CMA CGM Jacques Saade joining CMA CGM’s fleet on September 23. The Jacques Saade is a 23,000 TEU container vessel that is the largest liquified natural gas (LNG) powered container ship in the world. Logistics Plus is proud to have played a role in making this possible by assisting our customer, Wartsila Gas Solutions, with the delivery of all parts for the gas handling and auxiliary systems they supplied and installed on this ship. Logistics Plus would like to congratulate our long term strategic partner CMA CGM for this new addition to their already performant fleet.

The majority of the cargo Logistics Plus delivered to Jiangnan shipyard came from China via a special ‘bonded logistics zone’ procedure. This procedure always proves to be difficult -especially for oversized cargo – as it involves carefully checking both the export (supplier) and import (shipyard) documents and customs declarations. The remaining cargo was shipped from various locations around the world.

An image of the Jacques Saade vessel can be seen below:

For more information, visit the CMA CGM website here.

Frederik Geirnaert Speaks at the Project Cargo Summit 2020

Frederik Geirnaert Speaks at the Project Cargo Summit 2020

On September 23rd and 24th, Project Cargo Journal held its annual Project Cargo Summit as an online event. Logistics Plus Global Project Manager Frederik Geirnaert was featured as a speaker for the event (at the 1:23:05 mark of this YouTube video also included below) to discuss the way he supervised the transport of three massive modules from one shipyard in China to another while working from home.

As detailed in our story about this same move story back in April, the project involved the transport of three regasification modules: the largest one measuring 20 x 10.5 x 14.5 meters and weighing 425 metric tons (fun fact: Just last week Logistics Plus completed the exact same move and Frederik once again supervised it from his home ?).

You can watch the entire Project Cargo Summit on YouTube below.

Out of Quarantine: Business as Usual for Frederik Geirnaert

Out of Quarantine: Business as Usual for Frederik Geirnaert

life in quarantineIn case you missed it, Global Project Manager Frederik Geirnaert recently shared his detailed story of life in quarantine. Frederik was required to be on a project site in Shanghai in August. Here is Frederik’s follow up after finishing his mandatory quarantine…

Friday, August 28: Business as Usual
Yes, you noticed. I skipped a day. Well, there just isn’t that much to report. Still doing a lot of work. Still doing exercises 5 times a day. Still watching Netflix comedy specials or Belgian TV when I have the time for it. But I do feel like I am in the home stretch. In part because today I paid the 120 CNY for my 2nd COVID test that will take place in 2 days. In part because every day I see the ‘new arrivals’ join our Wechat group and ask the same questions like, ‘When will our meals arrive?’ or ‘How can I have something delivered to my door?’ or ‘How exactly do I report my temperature?’ Makes me feel like an ‘old hand’ watching them find their way. I do also feel a bit sad today as it is my wife’s birthday. But more about that tomorrow.

Saturday, August 29: Birthday Planning
This post is not so much about my day today, but about the day I planned for my wife’s birthday. Birthdays are special in our family so since I couldn’t be there, I tried to make it quite special. The first step in my masterplan was to recruit co-conspirator in chief Stefanie (a friend and colleague of Karen) and of course the kids. They had to ensure Karen was kept unaware of our machinations. At 8:45 in the morning, Stefanie went to the bakery to pick up the Belgian pastries and 2 large cakes. She then came to our home to wake Karen up and they had breakfast with the kids. During breakfast, our little nieces also brought the nicest birthday cards and some flowers (I did not plan for that, but they are the sweetest nieces living a couple of doors down the street). Apparently, I ordered too much for breakfast. They couldn’t finish it all. At 11:00 another friend Marleen dropped in with her kids and so did Karen’s sister. I had ordered pizza but ordered too much again and they couldn’t finish it. At 14:30 both Karen and my parents came by for coffee and cake. You guessed it… too much cake. At 17.30 another friend Tatiana came around and she joined Karen and Stefanie to go to Villa Anamma where Anke, yet another friend, and ex-colleague of Karen joined them around 18:30 for dinner. At 20:03 they left for the drive-in/walk-in cinema of Copacobana Festival where I had my biggest surprise of all in-store. That morning I had recorded a short movie message that said, “Hi honey, I’m very sorry I had to travel to Shanghai for work. And I’m sorry I have to be in quarantine here for 14 days which means I can’t be with you on your birthday. I hope you’ve had a nice day though and please enjoy the movie!” Thanks to my friend Joachim who works for Copacobana Festival they showed this clip before the movie. Karen was super surprised! It’s all part of being a logistics planner I guess.

Sunday, August 30: My Second Test
I was told yesterday that I should be ready for the second COVID-19 test today. I was told specifically to rinse my mouth and be ready before 1300h. Makes you wonder why they have to ask for that. I was dreading it a little bit, but at the same time, I was also looking forward to it. I would see another human being in person again for the first time in 11 days! It’s funny, but I actually showered, brushed my teeth, dressed up (well, I put on a shirt and shorts), and tidied up the room in anticipation. I was ready like a puppy at 1300h, but it wasn’t until 13.40 they knocked on my door. Well, the experience was a bit underwhelming. The nurse was in full protective clothing with a mask, face shield, and goggles. And she was in and out of my room in less than a minute! So much for human interaction. But on the upside: it didn’t hurt a bit. Fingers crossed now for a good result. Counting down until Wednesday.

Monday, August 31: Start of the Load Out in Qidong
Things are heating up a bit as the project I am here for is actually kicking off. Today, 2 of the 4 LNG tanks that we’ll be loading to BBC LOUISE have loaded to 2 barges at the supplier’s private jetty. Ideally, I should have been there as well, but that was practically very difficult as the supplier is in another province and that would have meant a separate entry application for that province. And on top of that, they started today while I’m still in quarantine. But the loading is in the scope of the supplier anyways and they have plenty of experience. So I had our 3rd party surveyor attend the operation and he kept me in the loop by sending WeChat messages and pictures by the minute. I still managed to give quite a few instructions and improve on some issues.

Tuesday, September 1: Last Night of Quarantine
Hurray! The result of the COVID test came in and I tested negative. So I’ve been told to pack my bags tomorrow morning and be ready to be escorted out of the hotel at 0800 in the morning. I am very excited and looking forward to seeing what Shanghai is like these days, but at the same time, I have a sort of feeling that I will miss my quarantine life. Things are simple here (eat, work, exercise, watch Tour de France, sleep, repeat).

Wednesday, September 2: Freedom!
The end of my quarantine came – true to fashion – in a very ‘efficient’ but rather impersonal manner. As instructed I was packed and ready at 0800 sharp, mouth mask at hand. At 0815 I unpacked my laptop to continue working a little. I kept checking my watch, but it wasn’t until 09.20 they knocked on my door. I put on my mask, opened the door and one of the taikonauts was there (all wrapped up in hazmat suit, glasses, etc.) I quickly tucked my laptop away, took my luggage, and sent me off to the elevator. Two other guests got in with me in the elevator and we went to the ground floor. On the ground floor, we had to wait in line for another temperature check and when that was OK we had to sign a document twofold that stated I completed my quarantine and I received a signed/stamped copy of my COVID-19 result. Then I was ushered on to pose against a wall and a picture was taken of my ‘certificate’ and of me holding the certificate. One step to the left and I was given the invoice for the hotel and – rather unceremoniously – shown the door. I didn’t go at once, because I knew from friends and colleagues I should also have an app to show a green QR code. I had tried to install that app, but because I don’t have a Chinese ID card, I had not managed to install it. So I asked the people at the hotel to help me. They looked at my phone, had me switch Wechat from English to Chinese, tried to do the same stuff I had tried earlier, concluded it didn’t work, and finally handed back my phone saying: if you don’t stay in Shanghai longer than 14 days you don’t need the app, your certificate is good enough! Even though there was no marching band greeting me when I walked out, I felt quite jubilant. The next part of my day was pretty standard, but also filled with quite a few firsts:

– I took a Didi (Chinese Uber) to our office
– I got into the elevator with about 10 Chinese people, none of whom were wearing masks
– I worked at our office
– I had lunch with our MD Eileen and I shook hands with a new colleague David (FIRST handshake since March!)
– Cross the street to the hotel I always stay at (where I had a bit of a scare… at first they couldn’t find my booking and then they said ‘we don’t accept foreigners here’… what??? But in the end, they found the booking Eileen had made, and all of a sudden they did accept foreigners. Phew…)
– Went to eat at our long time favorite Xinjiang restaurant on Wuding road / Xikang road with Kit, Tom, and Ya Li
– Now back in the hotel where I succeeded just now in downloading yet another app and registering (with the Chinese phone number of my wifi-pod) in shanghai and I got a green QR code!

Friday, September 4: Bustling City, Lockdown Stories
After 14 days of quiet quarantine life, it has been a bit of an adjustment to shift gears into the hustle and bustle of Shanghai life. It started with a very short first night. As you might have noticed from my last post, I didn’t get to sleep until like 2 am. And I woke up around 5. My first night in a new room is usually not the best, but this time it was a tad bit worse. I can start to have a slight understanding of how prisoners feel when they are released. The silver lining to my early morning is I could take a very nice picture of the view from my window. But I have also thoroughly enjoyed the Shanghai life already. Lunch and dinners with friends and business partners, some shopping, visited the bank to have my bank card activated, and finally link my WeChat pay! So now I can also use that functionality and use shared bikes, ride-hailing apps, and the like. I have also asked some friends and colleagues about their lockdown life back in February, March, and April. It turns out that lockdown in Shanghai was pretty similar to lockdown in Belgium, with some subtle but important differences. You were asked to stay inside as much as possible and working from home was obligatory for non-essential work. You were still allowed to leave your house and your compound/neighborhood for buying groceries and even for sports like bicycle riding and so on. But your temperature was taken every time you left the compound and when you returned and when you entered a shop and the like. and you did have to get your ‘green QR code’ scanned each time as well. Yet most people tell me they did not really want to go outside. For everyone was ‘on board’ and everyone understood very well that this was an emergency and only by everyone making the effort could the virus be kept out / kicked out of Shanghai. Things were also a bit different if a COVID case was reported in your compound or neighborhood. If that was the case, your compound would go in strict lockdown and everyone had to stay inside their homes. The same was true for people coming in from outside of Shanghai. A friend told me his son came back from finishing his doctoral degree in the USA. In those days the system with quarantine hotels was not compulsory, but the alternative was also pretty tight. When he went to pick up his son from the airport both their QR codes (red for risk) were scanned when they left the airport and they were told to head straight home without stopping. It was raining cats and dogs, but when they arrived at their compound the person in charge of their local neighborhood committee was waiting for them outside. He scanned their QR codes again to confirm they had arrived and he escorted them to their own home where they both then had to stay inside for 14 days and until their 2nd COVID test was negative.

So all in all Shanghai seems to have had a relatively light – but long enough – lockdown. But in combination with tight ‘border’ controls, excellent contact tracing, and tight lockdown of potential hotspots. All executed with great success as there have been only  7 deaths and less than 2000 infections! Of course, I also asked about those numbers and the consensus seems to be that definitely there must be more deaths, if not from COVID-19 then surely due to collateral deaths of people who postponed hospital visits and the like. But all people I speak to say the real number would certainly be less than 100 deaths. And the real number of infections they all said would probably be around 4000 or 5000, but certainly not more. They would have known. You can’t keep any higher number of cases a secret for Chinese netizens. When I tell them we now have 400 infections per day in Belgium with less than half the population of Shanghai and that we are not in a strict lockdown they find that rather incredulous. I also asked the floor manager of my hotel and it turned out she was in Wuhan during the lockdown. Out there things were, of course, more strict. She could not leave her home under any circumstances. Except for when they had ordered groceries. Those groceries were delivered to the entrance of their compound and out of every household 1 person (the same person each time) could go down and collect the groceries, wearing a mask, being temperature checked, and keeping 1,5m distance at all times, ‘of course’. She said there was a bit of anxiety, but not really any panic. Everyone simply kept inside and made the best of it for those months until the lockdown was finally lifted and she could come back to work in Shanghai.

Saturday, September 5: Barges Arrive, the Ship Has to Wait
Our barges arrived at the loading port in the Minhang district today. This meant they had to pass the Bund, which is the most iconic place in Shanghai. Good photo-op I obviously couldn’t miss! On a sad note, some other cargo has not arrived yet and while the ship is arriving today, she can’t berth yet as that other cargo needs to arrive and custom clear before the ship is allowed to berth. I’m afraid I will have to postpone my return trip by a couple of days.

Tuesday, September 8: The Fun Has Finally Started
Our ship has berthed, so the fun has started. My idea of fun in Shanghai? Helping the chief mate and his crew keep a 16×18 meter, 50-ton heavy deck plate steady during loading! Getting into the port and onboard the vessel was another thing though. Because of an event that will happen in 2 months (annual import/export fair), the port of Shanghai issued a new regulation that only the vessel agent, stevedores, and port captains can board the ship! Luckily we had the kind support of BBC Chartering and they ‘promoted’ me to assistant port captain. I was registered in the port visitor registry as such and then I could go apply for a boarding permit. My Chinese colleague had to go into border police near the port to go and get that permit as I was a potential bearer of disease and could of course not be allowed inside ?. At the port, another issue… the guard at the one entrance didn’t let me in. Luckily enough the guard at the other entrance did have my name on the list, so I could enter. I did have to wear a full-body protective suit, gloves, and glasses though! And for going on board there was a little check post next to the gangway where I had to register again. More trouble… but in the end I helped the guy select ‘passport’ rather than ‘Chinese ID card’ and then again to tell him he should scan the number code at the bottom, not the picture and that worked! I was registered and could board the vessel. Pulling 50 tons in a full-body protective suit with a mask is tough work, though!

Thursday, September 10: A Job Well Done
Happy to report all cargo was safely loaded. It cost a bit of time and a lot of sweat, but only a little blood (slight cut to the finger) and no tears! There were a few critical situations (overly eager barge captains jostling to come alongside, paying little heed to the tanks behind them, twisted lines during hooking on, finding a way of access/egress from the tanks before/after hooking on,…) but in the end, it worked out like a charm. And on its way out the vessel passed the Bund again!

Friday, September 11: Heading Back to Belgium
My adventure in Shanghai has ended and I’ve returned to Belgium. The return flight was quite relaxed, especially compared to the trip there, but there were still some pitfalls to be avoided and documents to be completed. I traveled from Shanghai (again with a pit stop in Seoul for a crew change) to Paris, then from Paris to Amsterdam. 4 governments, 4 different ways of dealing with things.

For China it was quite straightforward as I assumed they were happy to see me go:

  • A paper form for a health declaration was all
  • Of course, the usual ‘exit’ declaration which I had almost forgotten about

For the French it was a bit trickier:

  • A surgical mask was a must before being allowed to board
  • A health declaration had to be made ‘on honor’, but nobody ever asked or checked it
  • A ‘whereabouts’ declaration had to be completed on the airplane and handed into the crew before arrival

I felt a bit iffy on arrival in France for I was keenly aware that I was leaving the safe place of Shanghai for the uncertain ways of a continent with COVID numbers on the rise. I’m not sure, but it might have been the large number of fellow travelers donning full protective suits that might have given me this feeling. ? In Charles De Gaulle everybody was wearing a mask, although often again in the ‘European’ style preferred by people who believe the nose is not connected to the respiratory system. Keeping distance was also not always observed very strictly. But I tried to keep my space in as much as possible. France also acknowledges that I was coming from a super safe place, so I didn’t have to be tested.

For the trip to Schiphol, KLM did not insist on surgical masks, but some kind of mask had to be worn on the flight. And another ‘health declaration’ was to be filled in, but nobody asked for that one either, you just need to ‘have it’. On arrival, there was a testing station, but again people from China didn’t have to be tested. (Side note: I spotted another fellow European on my flight to Amsterdam who had also been on the flight from Shanghai. He had spent 2 months in Wuxi for setting up some new production lines for making chip-making machines. But he had also had a bit of a tougher deal in quarantine as he had been quarantined in a Jinjiang motel. 20m2 living space only!)

Mask wearing was far from fully observed in Amsterdam, but people did stay distanced a bit better compared to Paris. Then on to Belgium where I had to complete my return form online 48h before returning. I had received a QR code within minutes of completing the form. So, I thought that was that, but it seems I was wrong. Saturday night, some 12h after I landed in Amsterdam and some 48 hours after I had completed the form, I received a text message stating I had to get myself tested for COVID again. To be frank, I’m impressed that the system works, but I’m baffled people coming back from China need to be tested. Apparently, anyone coming from outside of the EU, be that from ‘green’ zones or ‘red’ zones, needs to be tested and home quarantined. Makes no sense to me, but well… when has our government ever made sense? Kudos to the Ghent COVID test center, however. With the code received in my text message, I could get an appointment online for a test on Monday 0900h. I got to the hospital, scanned my QR code, was let into the nurse room, and 3 minutes after arrival I had been tested and was on my way. And just now (36h after the test) I logged in to a special website and could get my result (negative… of course!). So now I can make an appointment for another test next Monday and then I’m allowed out of home isolation. Very smooth, but still very much unnecessary if you ask me.

Final thoughts:
As a final closing thought of these past 30 days I am really wondering if it would not be better if our government, probably best in coordination with the entire EU, would once again impose a rather strict lockdown for 4 to 6 weeks until there are absolutely no more COVID cases for 2 weeks in a row. Then we could instate strict travel restrictions and ‘China-like’ quarantine for people coming in and our lives could go back to normal, just like in Shanghai. I know that is a lot to ask. But I do think if you ask most people, especially those in like the culture and event business or the catering and travel business, I think you will find most people would be willing to make that effort. Just 4 to 6 weeks (or however long it takes) of strenuous effort and then we can go back to normal for 99%. I do hope our European governments find the courage to get that done. But I fear they will not. So I guess we will stay in limbo on this roller coaster of rising and falling COVID cases and – unfortunately – a slow but ever-increasing number of fatalities and an ever longer delayed return to normality. Quite sad, now that I have tasted of what life could be ‘if only’…

 

Life in Quarantine as a Global Project Manager by Frederik Geirnaert

Life in Quarantine as a Global Project Manager by Frederik Geirnaert

life in quarantineWhen duty calls, Logistics Plus answers. A customer has a critical shipment from Shanghai that requires the presence of our Global Project Manager, Frederik Geirnaert. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Frederik had many obstacles to overcome to ensure this project’s success. The story below is just another example of how our team of experts put the “PLUS” in LOGISTICS.  Here is Frederik’s story…

Preparation
To say China takes COVID-19 seriously is a bit of an understatement; it is nearly impossible to travel to China right now if you’re not a Chinese citizen. With the assistance of the LP Shanghai office, we started the application for a special COVID-19 visa for me back in May. As a first step, we petitioned the local government of the Hongkou district. An explanation letter was written outlining why I needed to travel to Shanghai and what the consequences could be if I weren’t present at this project. Most applications get declined right off the bat, but we received a request for additional details instead. Over the next 3 weeks, we went back and forth until the Hongkou government was finally convinced of our case. After approval from Hongkou, my application was sent to the Shanghai government who gave me the final ‘special invitation letter’ to enter Shanghai.

After getting final approval and receiving my visa came the next challenge: finding a direct flight into Shanghai. As you can imagine, there aren’t many options at the moment (check online and you will see what I mean). Since I need to be at the project site on September 4th (and quarantine for 14 days once I landed in Shanghai), I only had one option and booked the flight on August 18th.

In Good Form To Travel: My Daily Journal
Traveling in COVID-19 times is a bit different as you might imagine, but traveling to Shanghai during these times is next-level! To kill some time during my trip and 14-day quarantine, I’ve kept a journal of my daily routine that has vastly changed for this trip. Here it is…

Tuesday, August 18th: Heading to the airport

14.00h – I left home for Amsterdam by car. It’s only 2.5 hours driving from Ghent.
16.30h – Before I arrived at Amsterdam Schiphol airport, I had to complete a local Dutch Health Declaration form.
16.45h – I checked in, they checked my visa and asked why I was traveling to China. They then asked me to go to gate E1.
17.00h – At gate E1 I had to complete an online form (health and quarantine declaration) for customs and local use. My temperature was also taken before was I allowed to go to gate E17 for boarding.
18.20h – I boarded flight KL857 to Seoul (my only stop before Shanghai). About 2 hours into the flight our temperature was taken once more.

Wednesday, August 19th: Arriving in Shanghai

12.30h – We arrived in Seoul. We were not allowed to leave the airplane, but our crew disembarked and a new crew (probably COVID-19 approved by China) came on board. Our temperature was taken once more.
13.00h – We left Seoul for Shanghai.
14.30h – We landed in Shanghai.
14.40h – My temperature was taken once more when I got to the COVID-19 registration desks. I had to fill out a paper declaration, a waiver for the COVID-19 test, a processing form for the test, and a declaration agreeing to complete a 14-day quarantine. With the COVID-19 test form, I was given a sampling tube and had to go to the actual testing room.
14.50h – 2 throat swabs and 2 tickle-your-brain swaps up the nose later the nurse had collected sufficient samples for my COVID-19 test.
15.00h – I had to fill in the arrival card as usual and my temperature was checked once again before reaching the immigration desk.
15.20h – I picked up my luggage and found my way – or rather was sent through a maze of fenced corridors to the ‘transport to Shanghai quarantine hotels’ zone where I had to register at the Hongkou district desk. I had to fill out another online form, another paper health declaration and another waiver stating I understood the rules of quarantine.  Oh… and our temperature was of course taken once more.
18.50h – The people at the Hongkou desk had to complete another form for us, then we had to scan the QR code we got in a previous form before we were allowed to board the bus.
20.10h – We arrived at Bao Long hotel and were met by the nurse on duty. We had to complete yet another online health form and an online registration form as well as fill out a check-in form for the hotel.  Lastly, I signed a waiver for the hotel (that’s 18 forms I’ve now filled out in case you are counting).
20.50h – I finally got to the room which meant I finally got to take off my mask! It had been on since I left and it was only removed once while I was eating.

Thursday, August 20th: Setting up shop and playing by the rules

The beauty of my job is that – apart from attending a loading or discharge operation – I can pretty much work from anywhere as long as I have my laptop and decent internet connection. Turns out once more I was right to buy that 4G WIFI-pod at the airport since the hotel internet wasn’t up to par. I also have a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to help me get around the firewall in China. Admittedly, Bing search works without a VPN, but Google does not.

Next up was setting up my desk. I wouldn’t work for Logistics Plus if I didn’t come prepared, would I? I always take a portable 2nd screen anytime I travel for more than 1 day. This time I also remembered to bring an HDMI cable. The first thing I did this morning was moved my desk next to the TV, hook up my 2nd screen, and plug the TV into my laptop with the HDMI cable. Now I have a 3-screen setup that rivals that of my office at home or in Antwerp. Today is also the first day of my quarantine since they don’t count the day you arrive at the hotel. We have just 3 rules to follow for the next 14 days.

  1. Stay in your room. There are only 3 occasions where you are allowed to open your door and that’s when your food has been delivered. This comes only after you’ve received a message that you can take the food (even then you cannot fully step out of your room).
  2. Report your temperature. They gave me a thermometer to take my temperature in the morning before 1100h and in the afternoon before 1500h. I have to upload the picture in another online form and declare that I have no symptoms or other ailments. I’m a bit puzzled at the trust they put in us for doing that without cheating. I can only assume most Chinese have a high sense of responsibility towards the community and their own health. By the way, I got my COVID-19 result in less than 24 hours and it’s negative! Yay 🙂
  3. Don’t cause trouble. There is a Wechat group that we are to use for practically everything. It’s an app that lets you do instant messaging with people and groups, share files, and more. Anyways, we have a Wechat group that includes all people in quarantine on our 7th floor (35 of us in total) as well as the customer service desk and nurse station. Unfortunately, everything on the app is in Chinese so I have to stay on top of my cross-cultural communication game.

Friday, August 21st: Yummy in my tummy

Right after “How’s the weather?” the second thing people tend to ask when you’re traveling is “How’s the grub?” Well, we get served 3  meals a day, Chinese food of course. Luckily I eat just about everything, even corn or pickled vegetables for breakfast. This morning breakfast was yogurt and something that faintly resembled a chocolate bun.  At lunch, we got an egg and minced meat dish I never had before. It was quite tasty! There is also plenty of water bottles in the room along with tea and coffee. The food is brought into our corridor and put onto a chair next to your door by hotel employees in full-body protective suits. And – very important – we have to wait for a message in our Wechat group before we can quickly open the door and grab the food.

If the food is not good enough you can order fruit, cookies, soda, and some other stuff from the hotel. Friends can also deliver food to the hotel and the staff will bring it to your chair. Unfortunately, we aren’t able to have any fresh produce and the worst of all, no beer or alcohol. 🙁 Anyways, I will just stick with my water, coffee, and tea along with my Chinese meals. It’s a great opportunity for me to lose some weight.

Saturday, August 22nd: A nice power nap

I had to take a power nap today (I’ll explain). A big advantage of having a VPN is that it can get you an IP address in pretty much any country you want. For me, that meant connecting to a server in Belgium so that I could connect to my local Belgium cable network streaming service. I needed this so I could watch the Europa League final between Inter Milan and Sevilla. The only drawback? The game started at 3 am and I couldn’t sleep after that. Hence a power nap was required.

Sunday, August 23rd: Keeping fit and tidy

It’s quite touching to learn how many people are concerned about my wellbeing. My sister in law who is a nurse back in Belgium was the first to remind me that lack of movement can cause thrombosis. For those worried about me, don’t! I actually think of these 14 days as some kind of boot camp. No alcohol, healthy food, and lots of time to exercise (in my room of course). I installed an app that helps me do a 7-minute workout 5 times a day. It’s not the greatest app, but it works. Also similar to boot camp, I make my bed first thing in the morning every day. It’s such a simple task you can complete to get your day started and it gives you a sense of accomplishment.

Monday, August 24th: Feeling at home

I’m starting to feel quite at home here. I have my workstation set up, I have my entertainment system streaming Netflix and other interesting content, I am regularly calling with friends and family, and I have this lamp here. It is the exact same model as a lamp we bought back in 2000 when I first moved in with my then-girlfriend (now wife) which has moved around part of the world with us and is today hanging in the hallway at home. Thanks, IKEA! Another thing I can’t really go without is music. I’m not sure about you, but if I don’t hear music during my day, I get grumpy. Unfortunately, my foresight had let me down here and I didn’t bring any speakers. I found a solution to that problem; my helmet. For those less versed in engineering; when I put my phone backward into my helmet and play music, the soundwaves bounce off the inside of my helmet in a way that creates a much fuller and slightly louder sound.

Tuesday, August 25th: I am not alone

Today was a day full of discoveries. In the morning I caught a glimpse of another individual quarantined 3 doors down when we were both grabbing our breakfast. Nice to know others are also wearing their PJ’s all day 🙂 At noon when I got the green light to grab my food, I saw 3 of the hotel employees near the elevator all wearing blue hazmat suits with a face mask and goggles. They keep a surgical operation here.

Wednesday, August 26th: Is it all worth it?

This will be my last entry for my journal. No, don’t worry I am doing perfectly fine and I’m not even depressed in the least 🙂 I wanted to answer the question many people have been asking: Is 14 days in quarantine for just 1 project worth it? The reason for me coming here is that we have to load 4 LNG cargo tanks each weighing 155 tons for our customer. The value of these tanks is worth more than a couple of million dollars each. I’ve been working on this project for over 1 year and I’ve handled similar projects in the past. Needless to say, this operation is a little trickier and I need to be present to reduce the risk ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Possible). I can confidently say that in the whole world there’s nobody who knows how to handle this move better than me.

Closing: My final thoughts

Yes, this is difficult. Not only on me but on my family who is missing me for my wife’s birthday and the start of the school year. But if me being quarantined means keeping the virus out of Shanghai, a city of 26 million, I am all for it. If all those people can go about their lives without having to worry about wearing face masks, without restaurants being closed, without elderly homes going in lockdown, hospitals can work as normal; well then this is a very little sacrifice on our part that we as a family are willing to make.

So don’t worry about me, I am in high spirits and I look forward to writing the next part of this article when this project is all said and done! Stay tuned.

More 2020 Project Cargo Examples

More 2020 Project Cargo Examples

Project-of-the-Year-Finalist-SquareThe Logistics Plus Project Cargo Team has yet to slow down in 2020. In the past several months, our cargo experts have managed a variety of projects, including the successful deliveries of transformers, gas tanks, generators, engine sets, and more (photos are included in the short video below).

Additionally, Logistics Plus was recently selected as a Project of the Year finalist for the 2020 Heavy Lift Awards presented by Heavy Lift & Project Forwarding International (HLPI) magazine. Read the full news release here.

Recent projects handled:

  • LP Turkey successfully delivered 5 gas tanks to Saudi Arabia.
  • LP USA successfully delivered a 325,000 lb. transformer to a Texas wind farm.
  • LP China and Belgium assisted in building the first-ever FSRU vessel in China.
  • LP Germany successfully delivered 11 crates from Germany to Canada weighing 525 tons.
  • Any many others!