Quarterly December 2008 - Odfjell

Hurricane Ike hitting the Gulf
Coast Area
Odfjell Terminals’
Sales & Marketing summit
By Mernie Beiter / Dave Ellis
By: Mike Beviss
Hurricane Ike started as a tropical
disturbance off the coast of Africa
near the end of August. By September
5th it was a Category 4 hurricane
with maximum sustained winds of
145 mph. By the time that it reached
landfall on September 12th it was
a Category 2 hurricane. If it had
been Category 3 or 4 instead of a
Category 2 by the time it hit the Gulf
Coast Area, the destruction from the
storm surge would likely have been
record breaking, with the potential for
damage worse than what was seen
with Hurricane Katrina. It was one of
the most destructive hurricanes to hit
the coast of the United States.
Odfjell Terminals (Houston) suffered
a near miss as the tidal surge at our
facility reached 16 feet (almost 5 m).
The water came up to the wharf road,
and if the surge were two feet higher,
the water damage could have been
much more severe.
Otherwise, actual damage to the
facility was modest. The wind damaged
insulation on two tanks, and some
pumps in lift pits were submerged.
Due to the extraordinary efforts of all
staff (terminal and shipping,) OTH was
moving product four days after the
storm on Wednesday evening, working
truck and railcars on Thursday, and
fully open on Friday morning.
Impact on staff and families was by
far much more severe. Electricity
was down for weeks for a significant
portion of staff. Fuel availability was a
challenge for about a week to 10 days,
and food was limited canned products
within the affected area. As part of
our facility recovery, the company
assembled a team to assist employees
in getting their families situated. These
efforts ranged from finding hotel rooms
to providing fuel and generators. The
company also made funds available for
employees to draw upon if needed.
Local impact is likely to be felt for
months if not longer.
The first Sales & Marketing summit
for Odfjell Terminals took place at our
Rotterdam terminal on September
25/26th. These dates were deliberately
timed for our overseas visitors to
combine this event with the EPCAconference
in Monaco.
With the early birds already arriving
on the 24th of September, some of
the participants received a tour of our
Rotterdam terminal. Some to see the
terminal for the first time and others
just to see the many changes, upgrades
and expansion programs that have
taken place in the last few years. During
that evening an international party of
eight went to see a soccer game in the
Feyenoord-stadium. The local team
Feyenoord won in the end, after extra
time.
At the summit we were a forum of
total 25 counting colleagues from
our world wide Sales and Marketing
network, including Odfjell Tankers
and the associated terminals in South
America. The agenda for the summit
was ambitious, with the two days filled
with presentations based mostly on
topics prepared in advance by task force
groups.
After discussions from the many angles
present, we made recommendations
on where we identified needed
improvement. We highlighted six main
areas, ranging from “Terminal Sales
& Marketing Strategy” to “Operational
Efficiency” as improvement areas.
On the evening of the 25th we all
attended Hosman Vins in Schiedam,
Odfjell’s wine distributor for the
Netherlands, for a fun wine and dine
event, featuring our Odfjell wines.
During the dinner, Laurence Odfjell
shared stories about the winemaking
and the individual wines.
The feedback from the event was very
positive, with the general feeling that
the summit had been informative and
enlightening. We at Rotterdam certainly
enjoyed hosting this Odfjell Terminals
Sales & Marketing summit.
8 Odfjell Quarterly September 2008
Odfjell Quarterly December 2008 9