DREWES Logistics and Martrade Shipping win major contract from RWE for steel pipe import

Following the Breakbulk Europe trade fair in Rotterdam, the DREMAR project company formed by DREWES Logistics (Bremen) and Martrade Shipping (Düsseldorf) can announce a major order: The logistics service providers have jointly won the tender from the energy company RWE Power AG for the transport logistics of a total of 9,120 coated steel pipes with a total length of 106 kilometres.

The background: RWE is planning to build a pipeline to take water from the Rhine near Dormagen in order to flood and renaturalise the Hambach and Garzweiler open-cast mines in the Rhineland mining area from 2030 onwards. The most important part of the ‘Rhine Water Transport Pipeline’ project is the construction of the approximately 45-kilometre-long double and triple-tube pipeline.

Project company DREMAR assumes overall logistical responsibility

RWE has launched an extensive tender for the associated logistics services, which has now been won by the project company DREMAR, founded by DREWES Logistics and Martrade Shipping.

The ports of departure for the shipment of the pipes are Arzew in Algeria and Iskenderun in Turkey. “The sea transport from the ports will take around seven and 13 days respectively. The port of destination is Brake on the Lower Weser,” reports Thomas Hölker, Managing Director of DREWES Logistics. DREMAR is taking 46 box open-hatch vessels on full charter for the shipment. From Brake, the pipes are transported by rail on ten trains a month to RWE's central warehouse in Grevenbroich-Neurath in the Rhineland coalfield.

The contract covers the overall logistics organisation for the project. This ranges from the provision and loading of the sea-going vessels, the subsequent sea transport and unloading to storage at the port of import in Brake and onward transport to the central warehouse with all associated services.

The total of 9,120 pipes have lengths of eight and twelve metres and a diameter of 2.235 metres. “The contract stipulates that we will ship 400 pipes a month by sea from September as part of the first batch,” adds Günther Hahn, Managing Director of the Martrade Group.

Focus on punctuality and safety

“In our tender, we placed the highest priority on punctual and safe delivery of the pipes, combined with comprehensive digital documentation throughout the entire process,” emphasises Dr. Lars Kulik, Member of the Executive Board of RWE Power AG.

“We were ultimately able to convince RWE with a sophisticated logistics concept and our references from similar major projects. For example, we increased the departure frequency of the ocean-going vessels from the export harbour to two per month compared to the tender in order to prevent possible delays or cancellations,” explain Hölker and Hahn.

About DREWES Logistics and the DREWES Group

The group of companies is still a family-run logistics and shipping company with its headquarters in Bremen. The company employs over 70 highly specialised employees at its locations in Germany, Belgium, France, South Africa and, since 2023, also in Egypt, China, Austria and the USA with its two divisions DREWES Logistics and DREWES Shipping.

A location was recently opened in Düsseldorf. “This is another significant step in our national and international expansion,” explains Managing Director Dr.-Ing. Patric Drewes, as: “The market for logistics solutions continues to be very robust and attractive for us. That is why we are investing in our market presence and planning further new locations.”

The DREWES Group generates an annual turnover of over 100 million euros. Equal partners are the brothers Dr.-Ing. Patric Drewes and Robert A. Drewes.

Thomas Hölker and Sascha Simon are Managing Directors of DREWES Logistics alongside Dr.-Ing. Patric Drewes.

About Martrade Shipping and the Martrade Group

Martrade Shipping is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Martrade Group. The internationally active, owner-managed group of companies specialises in logistics services, terminal operations and shipping. It offers a wide range of services, including port logistics, ship management, project logistics and ship chartering.

Martrade has many years of expertise in the areas of pipes, heavy and special transport and the handling of complex logistics projects. The Group's regional focus is on the Near and Middle East with branches and subsidiaries in Turkey, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iraq (three port terminals), the Black Sea region with a terminal in the port of Odessa, India with various co-operations, in particular a joint logistics subsidiary with TATA Steel, and China.The Group is managed from its headquarters in Düsseldorf. The Group, which is wholly family-owned, generated turnover of more than 150 million euros in the 2022 financial year and employs around 190 people. The main shareholder and managing director is Günther Hahn, who has been active in the field of international steel logistics since the early 1970s.