WorldWide Drilling Resource

35 MARCH 2021 WorldWide Drilling Resource® by Tim Rasmussen Last fall, Water For Life sent two containers to Guatemala; there were two shipments because of the large amount of medical equipment we needed to send and the drilling equipment that needed to go to support the rotary rig program. The two containers traveled about a month apart. The first container left our shop and was delivered into the Port of Seattle without any delay. The container made the ship it was supposed to go on and was delivered in Guatemala about 40 days later. This is a pretty standard time frame for the trip. The second container was entirely different. It was loaded onto the ship in Seattle, and I tracked it down the coast of North America. The first stop was Oakland for a couple of days. It was at anchor for two days before getting to the Long Beach dock; then about two days later headed out again. The next time I looked at the ship tracker, I noticed the ship had stopped at a port in Mexico. This was unusual. The ship spent about three days there, then back to sea heading south again. The ship made it to Panama, where the container was unloaded, then transferred to the east coast about the same time as Hurricane Eta arrived. The ship the container was to be loaded on was then delayed until Eta went away, leaving hundreds dead and roads and the port damaged. The delay lasted about ten days. The ship was finally cleared to leave and headed up the east coast to Puerto Barrios. Several other ships had been likewise delayed, and they all arrived about the same time. This created a real traffic jam at the port. After waiting a couple of days to unload, the container was put in the line for the fumigation services. When our container joined the line, there were 124 containers ahead of it, and about 12-15 were being processed every day. When the container is in transit there is no charge for the delays, but once the container is unloaded at the destination, the daily charge of $125 starts to be applied. While waiting for the fumigation service, Hurricane Iota was bearing down on the east coast of Guatemala. The news went out the port was going to close because of the coming hurricane. There seemed to be no way to hurry the process along. All we could do was wait. The container was eventually fumigated and released. It was one of the last containers to be discharged before the port shut down for Hurricane Iota. Berny managed to get a truck to haul it away at the last hour. He said our container was one of the last to be allowed out of the port. Finally, it was safely delivered to our shop in Poptun, and unloaded just before the rains came. This container had been in transit for about 70 days, nearly twice as long as the first container, but everything was intact inside. There was a major problem with the pallets of bentonite, but that will wait for the next article. Thank-you all for helping Water For Life continue the work of bringing safe water to remote villages in Guatemala. If you would like to help, contact Gary Bartholomew at 208-907-0010 or 509-939-1941 Tim Tim Rasmussen may be contacted via e-mail to michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com WTR Ponder this - “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark . . .” You might as well be invisible.

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