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GT USA Wilmington recently welcomed the M/V Porthos, a general cargo ship built in 2011 that carried glycerin from Malaysia for the Acme-Hardesty company to the Port of Wilmington. A new customer to the Port of Wilmington, Acme-Hardesty was founded more than 80 years ago as a division of Jacob Stern and Sons. Today, the company is one of the largest distributors of castor oils and derivatives, palm derivatives, preservatives and surfactants and renewable palm-based glycerin, fatty acids, and fatty alcohols. The shipment of glycerin offloaded in Wilmington is used in the manufacturing of many product categories, including hand sanitizers, personal care, cosmetics, and cleaning products. Representatives from the company were on hand to view operations on day one. |
Glycerin had previously been shipped in containers, but due to continued challenges caused by the global shortage of containers, Acme-Hardesty thought “outside the box” and transitioned to a bulk method of shipping. Their decision paid off, a GT release stated.
Matt Howle, director of Supply Chain for Acme-Hardesty, said,” By working with our Terminal Partner, GT USA, and our Delaware warehouse partner, Sardo and Sons, Acme-Hardesty Supply Chain has taken the next step in achieving our strategy of reliable, sustainable freight. We have collaborated with our partners to establish a new stream of freight for Acme-Hardesty imports utilizing break bulk vessels. These open hull ships provide Acme-Hardesty the ability to bring in large shipments of our most important products without the impact of the global container restraints. Partners like GT USA and Sardo and Sons have been incredible full-service partners who have shown to work seamlessly with Acme-Hardesty to be successful in our entry into break bulk. We look forward to many more shipments with these vessels as they will continue to play an important role in our overall supply chain network.”
The vessel was unloaded in two days.
Joe Cruise, CEO of GT USA Wilmington, stated, “We are delighted to welcome Acme-Hardesty to the Port of Wilmington and to be able to host their team to see these operations first-hand personally. We are really very pleased that they were able to witness the amazing work by our union partners in unloading this cargo in a safe and timely manner.”
GT USA operates the port under a long-term lease with the State of Delaware.
