A new podcast for the heavy lift sector, Project Cargo Professionals, has launched. The first episode tells the extraordinary story of Kevin O’Sullivan, managing director of Tembo in South Africa. A former soldier in the British Army, Kevin went on to lead a management buyout of the Southern Africa operation of Mammoet in 2024.
“I’d been in construction all my life and had no experience of heavy lift, never touched transport,” O’Sullivan says in the first episode of the new podcast. His first taste of the business was a posting to Dubai, working for Mammoet.
“Before I’d even unpacked my suitcases, I was already on a plane across to Saudi Arabia as there was a project not far from Al Jubail, an Aramco oil refinery project that they wanted me to go and run as a PM.
“So now I’m in Saudi and it’s 42, 43 degrees on site at seven o’clock in the morning. All this equipment everywhere, I’d never seen a site as big as that Fadhili site. It was unknown to me. There were 30,000 workers at one point.
“The amount of steel work and the organizational planning that goes into a project like that, I’d never seen that before. It was on a bigger scale than most people have seen, and what an insight it was.”
Having found his feet in logistics, Kevin is enthusiastic about the opportunities ahead, noting that Tembo is “absolutely exploding – what a great time to have bought it.”
In episode 2, Project Cargo Professionals takes off to Basel, Switzerland, to meet Ruedi Reisdorf, owner of the Fracht Group, a rare breed of independently-owned project forwarders with a global footprint.
Other guests in series one include:
• Agustin Harriague, VP Logistics, Mitsubishi Power Americas
• Bo Drewsen, former shareholder, Martin Bencher, now CLC Projects
• Elisabeth Cosmatos, CEO, Cosmatos Group
• Sandro Lepori, former logistics head, ABB and Alstom
The first series was recorded in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Basel, Switzerland; Thessaloniki, Greece; and Porto, Portugal.
Project Cargo Professionals is produced by Prospect Communications, a specialist PR agency for the breakbulk and heavy lift sector, and hosted by Luke King, who has been involved in the project cargo community since 2017.
“Project Cargo Professionals will take you inside the heavy lift business to meet the characters who make the big stuff move,” says King. “Discover the extraordinary stories of logistics leaders from all walks of life – and all corners of the earth – who’ve successfully navigated the highs and lows of project forwarding.
“Join us as we junk the jargon and hear real stories from real people making an impact in the sector. They share their personal and business philosophies, explain some of the secrets of their success, and give advice for the next generation of pro-ject professionals.”
The first series is exclusively sponsored by Varamar Shipping, which specializes in bulk, breakbulk, heavy-lift, and oversized shipments, and is a trusted carrier to and from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. At Varamar, massive struc-tures like wind turbines or entire factories are a day-to-day business and, as a semi-liner carrier, they can offer tailor-made solutions, calling wherever and whenever you need them to.
With offices in 13 countries, including recent openings in Asia, they’re bridging the East-West gap. A multilingual team fluent in languages from English and German to Arabic and Chinese means communication is seamless.
To enquire about appearing on a future episode, or sponsoring Project Cargo Professionals, email: luke@projectcargopros.com.
For more content and to subscribe, visit the podcast website: www.projectcargopros.com
