Thunderbolt Global Logistics, LLC

We woke up Tuesday morning to the unthinkable. The Francis Scott Key Bridge that spans the Patapsco River collapsed overnight Monday after being struck by the vessel Dalia chartered by Maersk Line.  I'm sure most of you have seen the video of ship hitting the bridge support. It's a terrible accident that took the lives of 6 workers that were on the bridge at the time the ship struck the bridge. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the people that were on the bridge at the time of the accident. Thankfully a Mayday call went out and Maryland DOT was able to stop cars from going over the bridge before ship hit it. They are heroes for acting so fast.   The Port of Baltimore is closed to marine traffic for an indefinite period. The shipping channel is completely blocked. The marine terminals are currently open on the land side and trucks are being processed in and out of the terminal. No export cargo is being received.   We are monitoring the situation closely. Shipments on the water will be diverted by the steamship lines. We anticipate that New York, Philadelphia, and Norfolk will be the ports where most Baltimore destined container cargo will go. The ocean carriers will make the final decision on where they will discharge Baltimore destined containers. Force Majeure is being declared by the carriers to divert the ships to other ports. All export shipments will be rerouted and will utilize the closest option possible to save inland costs.   Our Team is going to be working hard to take care of all shipments that were destined to or shipping from Baltimore. We know what we need to do   The Port of Baltimore community is a close knit group and everyone is going to do what they can to help each other. We appreciate all the messages of support we have received from all over the world. Reach out to us with any questions or concerns.   Jim Shapiro

I attended the 12th Annual Summit of the Project Cargo Network (PCN) that took place at The Royal Cliff Hotel in Pattaya, Thailand, from November 12th to 14th. 185 people from 60 countries attended the meeting. PCN knows how to organize a great meeting. Thanks to Rachel, Judith and the Team in London for putting together a great 3 days in Pattaya. It was a great time starting with 11 of us playing golf at the Chee Chan Golf Resort on Sunday. The dinner and fireworks Sunday night were fantastic. Thanks Patrik Eckert for sponsoring the festivities. Our meetings on Monday got underway with our CEO Rachel Crawford opening the conference meetings with an update on the network and then handing out the awards from the survey that was sent to all the members. Thunderbolt Global Logistics was given the Regional Award for The Americas as voted by the members of the network. We are once again honored and humbled that our network partners think so highly of our company. We have a great team back in Baltimore that always strives to take care of our overseas partners. This validates our hard work. Congratulations to the members that won for their regions and the network member of the year. Well done! Our network is a really strong one with so many fantastic people and companies in it. It's a people business and meetings like this reinforce that belief. I really enjoyed all the one to one meetings and evening activities. New relationships were started and it was great catching up with people we have dealt with for many years. We are grateful to all the members that take care of our shipments in their respective countries. We will take good of theirs as well in the USA. Looking forward to seeing everyone in Cyprus next October.

Great spending time at The Port of Baltimore stand at Breakbulk Americas in Houston. Thanks Rick and Charlie for letting me hang out with you guys, It's been busy seeing a lot of people we work with that are based all over the USA and abroad. We finish up today and then it's on to Breakbulk Middle East in Dubai next February.

On Friday we said farewell and adieu to our summer intern Luka Pavlovich. Luka was with us for 2 1/2 months and we really enjoyed having him with us. He is smart and inquisitive. He assisted with our operations and took care of some vital administration work we needed. He has a bright future in our industry. We wish him well on his return to his university in Rijeka, Croatia to complete his 3rd year of undergraduate studies. We look forward to having him back with us next July for another summer before he begins his graduate studies.

16 out of our 19 Team Thunderbolt members went out for steamed crabs and other entrees tonight at Jimmy's Famous Seafood. We wanted to have all of us together while Josie was still in town. She leaves to go back to Manila on the 12th of September. Today was her last day in the office. We'll miss you Josie but we'll see you on Teams. It was a really great time. Lots of laughter and conversation. Not a bad way to end another good month as well. We have the best team in Baltimore.

Lots of fun Thursday at The Propeller Club of Baltimore Crabfeast at Conread Ruth's Villa. The forecasted all day rain did not happen. A few showers here and there could not dampen the atmosphere. It was great seeing a lot of industry friends we have known for a lot of years. There are not many industry events like this anymore. It's a fun day that goes by way too fast. We had just over half our team attend and our good friend Michelle Jelonnek from Interfracht USA with us for the 6th time. Some members of our team were floating around when the photos was taken.

Great to be at Breakbulk Europe in Rotterdam. Thanks to Craig and Matt from TransAmerican Trucking for letting me hang with them during the conference. Wednesday was non stop from 10-6. Thursday is less hectic and will be here from 10:00-2:30 and then off to Antwerp by train. Stand #1G152. #breakbulkeurope2023 #projectcargo