Rickmers in joint venture to move granite

    A new service has been launched by four companies, Stonetrans, Rickmers-Linie, Antwerp Breakbulk Agencies and DP World Breakbulk, to ship rough blocks of granite and sandstone from India to Antwerp.
    Rickmers, which upgraded its Indian service with the addition of new vessels in 2011, will take care of the ocean transport. Five new vessels have entered this service.
    The first stone shipment of more than 2,000 tons was discharged from Rickmers-Linie’s vessel Martin while a second parcel arrived in mid January on the recently-built 17,000dwt Rickmers Yokohama.
    Antwerp Breakbulk Agencies will provide and coordinate the handling, storage and distribution in the port of Antwerp at DP World Breakbulk‘s Quay 468.
    Stonetrans is responsible for commercial activities such as customs clearance and distribution, etc. Stonetrans, which has its headquarters in Neuss, a German city that stands on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Duesseldorf, has over 30 years’ experience in the trading and handling of rough blocks of granite and sandstone.
    Stonetrans believes that through the partnership, an annual target of moving/handling 100,000 tons of stone is realistic.
    After setting up this service from India, Stonetrans is now investigating other trade opportunities into Antwerp from China, South Africa and Brazil.