17 DECEMBER 2021 WorldWide Drilling Resource® RENEW - SUBSCRIBE NOW! by Tim Rasmussen This year, the shipment of the container was fraught with uncertainty. When we began to plan for the shipment, we became aware of the backlog of container ships waiting to get into Long Beach and other western port cities. We contacted our shipping agent and were told not to worry about it and to plan on the usual 30-40 days passage time, so we didn’t make any special plans. (It would not have mattered if we had.) We told the shipping agent our plan was to ship in mid-September and he began to look for a ship for us. After a time, he got back to us and said he could give us a range of dates, but because of the shipping congestion, we needed to be ready to load on very little notice. This presented some difficulty for us, but there was little to do about it. Finally, we were given a date in early September, and we began to line up workers to prepare. Then we were told it would happen two weeks later than the date given. Next, we were told it might not be the full two weeks, but in about ten days, so we got ready for that. As that day got closer, we were told the truck would come on Tuesday, September 7. Then, the date was set on September 9. We were told the port would be open for only two days and the truck would bring the container on that Thursday morning and get it to the Port of Seattle on Friday afternoon. That plan seemed firm. The truck came on Thursday morning and it was loaded in three hours, which is about the normal amount of time it takes. The capacity of the container was 54,000 pounds and we loaded 53,600 pounds of equipment and supplies. The driver was unconcerned about the distribution of the weight, saying there were no scales between Spokane and Moses Lake, where he was headquartered. So, it seemed everything was going as planned, but it did not work out that way. On his way back to Moses Lake, the shipper was informed the port had closed the loading of the ship after just a few hours, so our container could not go as planned and would not be accepted into the port. There was no choice but to wait for the next ship. The trucking company told us they would take the container to their yard and hold it until it could be scheduled on the next ship. At least we were not going to be charged for the storage. So the container left, but did not go very far. It made it the first 100 miles then sat in the shipping yard at Moses Lake, Washington, until we received information the container could be placed on another ship coming soon and the port would be open to receive the container on September 21. Now it is all in the hands of the Good Lord, but it always has been anyway, so it really does not make any difference what we plan. 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 February Issue Deadlines for WWDR Space Reserva on: December 25th Ad Copy: January 1st For Classified Deadlines, see Doc’s Buyers’ Guide for Drillers™
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDk4Mzk=