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Thursday 25 May 2017

Farmfest 2017 - See Depth Logistics there



Depth Logistics at Farmfest 2017.jpg
Depth Logistics will be proudly exhibiting at Farmfest 2017, Queensland's premier primary industry field days. This years event runs from 06 - 08 June at Kingsthorpe Park, Toowoomba.

Be sure to drop by site #S/18b, right near the Machinery and Vehicle Demonstration area, and say hello to the team! We look forward to meeting you and answering any and all of your freight forwarding questions and enquiries.

+Julie Magnone , +Anna Queiroz from Depth Travel+Brittney Bowerman and I will all be onsite at various stages throughout Farmfest.

We hope to see you there.

Thursday 6 April 2017

The excellence is back at Depth Travel


Depth Travel’s brand promise is “For Excellence in Travel”. I was one of the original founders in 1998 and honestly speaking I think the company has failed to really “live” that promise consistently for our clients in recent years and progression stalled. This is no longer the case. My executive team and I have been busy re engineering, optimising and transforming every aspect of our business and service to you to ensure it is truly excellent and world class.

Like all other Depth companies our approach is to uncompromisingly deliver our clients the best service and technology available at affordable prices. Depth Travel has an expanded service offering, a greater corporate travel focus and a range of new initiatives.

My team and I are there for you more than ever before with a true 24/7 service available by phone on our new toll free number 1DEPTH (133784) or you can reach us on LIVE chat via our new website.

If you haven’t booked with us recently I hope that you might give us another opportunity to prove to you that we do have our “excellence” back with a vengeance and demonstrate our new capabilities and strengths.

I would welcome your call and any feedback you may have for me, good or bad, that may help us in our pursuit of excellence.

+Brad Skelton
Managing Director
Depth Travel

Sunday 5 February 2017

Rolls Royce shipping gamechanger arriving fast

I have made posts in the past showing how technology is transforming transportation at all levels.

Rolls Royce have an amazing vision for the future that cannot be ignored as most of the technology already exists. Integration is the key.

Here is a phenomenal YouTube clip showing what is coming.


All for now

Saturday 19 November 2016

Lockheed Martin Airships are the next generation in transport

About four years ago +Julie Magnone and I were meeting with one of our energy logistics clients. We had been engaged for our oversize logistics expertise to collaborate with their engineers in designing modules of their gas production plant. The goal being to optimise the design for operational efficiency, cost effective construction and transport.
From a pure construction and operational integrity standpoint the engineers were wanting to build modules as large as possible. So large that it made the land transport task impossible. We could easily transport the module sizes they wanted from overseas to the Port of Brisbane but getting them to site in central Queensland at that size was impossible due to numerous overhead bridges, power lines, railway lines, narrow roads etc en-route.
I remember clearly one of the engineers refusing to accept it was impossible and seriously demanding that we find airships that could move the cargo to site from the Port of Brisbane. Julie and I left the meeting thinking that he was slightly mad but nonetheless we did some research anyway and at that time there wasn't any airship flying capable of lifting more than a few tonnes at the most.
Well...not anymore thanks to Lockheed Martin.

A prototype, like the one pictured, is operational. It has a 7X improved cargo payload compared to what we found in earlier generation airships of 21000kg. The cargo bay is 18m long x 3m wide x 3m high and able to accommodate standard shipping containers and various other types of loads.
These airships can travel at a speed of 60 knots or 111km/h and have a range of about 2500km. Due to a special air cushion landing system, much like a hovercraft concept, they can land on water as well.
For transport into remote areas these airships are far superior than helicopters in nearly every respect. They are quieter and more fuel efficient as well!

While the current prototype still could not solve the transport task our client set for us it is fair to say it probably won't be too long before cargo bays and payloads starting increasing making Airship cargo transport a commercial reality.
Depth Airships here we come!
All for now,

Tuesday 1 November 2016

NYK, MOL and K Line to merge container operations

Yesterday the three largest Japanese shipping lines Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K-Line), Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) announced their agreement, subject to sign off by their respective boards and shareholder/regulatory approval, to establish a new joint-venture company and to integrate their container shipping operations.

M&A activity is sweeping the shipping industry globally as carriers in the wake of the Hanjin Shipping receivership fight to survive. The current wave of M&A activity is more about addressing structural industry issues by strengthening balance sheets, addressing poor investor returns and adapting to a low growth environment.

The industry still suffers from surplus capacity so M&A activity is needed to realign carriers and find synergies in cost reduction, economies of scale, improved competitive positioning and better protection from the prevailing weak industry fundamentals.

This announcement is another positive step for the industry where a significant number of carriers have not made money in the recent years. People that were affected by Hanjin's demise know the problems this caused and is still causing so hopefully another failure by a major carrier can be avoided.


The industry must navigate it's way back to a healthy and sustainable performance for all stakeholders as fast as it can.
All for now,

Friday 23 September 2016

New generation of car carrying ships now able to use the expanded Panama Canal

The term "Panamax" refers to ships of a size able to use the original Panama Canal. Prior to the expansion of the canal, which opened in July this year, some ships could not use the shortcut between North and South America. They were simply too big. Therefore many ships were designed and built to a maximum, "Panamax" size.

Since the opening of the expanded canal even the worlds largest ships can travel via the canal thus saving time and money. Ship owners have been building new bigger ships to take advantage of the improved economies of scale. These are called "Post-Panamax" ships.

Hoegh Autoliners now operates the worlds largest PCTC(Pure Car & Truck Carrier) and Post-Panamax ship in the "Hoegh Target". In fact she is the first PCTC of this size to transit via the canal.

The "Hoegh Target" can carry an incredible 8500 cars and has 71400 square metres of deck space. Importantly she is very fuel efficient and Hoegh claim will halve the emissions per car that they carry.

Here are a some pictures of her in the expanded Panama Canal.



Innovative vessels like this and the expanded Panama Canal are contributing to keeping freight rates lower for shippers.
All for now,

Wednesday 14 September 2016

Trade Finance is a way to ship more inventory more often

I have been pleased to be able to help many of Depth Logistics' clients with Trade Finance to fund their import and export activity. As I have spoken to many of them I have been surprised that most haven't even heard of this type of financing but when they do the majority have embraced it even if to reduce their reliance on financing from their bank.

It can give you greater and more transparent buying and selling power and the ability to ship more inventory, more often without tying up working capital.

For the uninitiated here are more of the key benefits of Trade Finance.

  • Available for imports and exports
  • Increase your negotiating buying power by being able to pay your supplier faster
  • Export more by being able to offer your buyer credit terms
  • Approvals within 5 days with a single establishment fee
  • Competitive interest rates available with up to 90 day terms
  • Does not interfere with existing bank security arrangements or letters of credit
  • Security is taken over the goods and a director’s guarantee only
  • Easy shipping and marine insurance arrangements via Depth Logistics
  • Credit facility is available in multiple foreign currencies
  • Bridge the gap between your shipping and other finance facilities such as Debtor Finance
Depth Logistics works in tandem with Depth Capital to provide this service so please contact me if you'd like to learn more about it.

All for now,

+Brad Skelton