johnk wrote:Re powder, last time I was across the issue (when Custer still had the franchise), there was one ship in the world that would carry powder from VV to Australia - one ship - and if a certain captain was rostered to it, the consignment would not be picked up. Consequentially, Custers had to order several years in advance. As an example, understanding that I have an aversion to tossing those 1 kg VV bottles, I have N550 bottles date stamped 2004, 2006, 2009, 2012 (they were code stamped before that).
This may well be the reason that NIOA has dropped VV powders & certainly is a reason QRA would be crazy to take it on..
Stories are plentiful John, and I have heard this before too, but I find it hard to believe, whilst not improbable that its a fact, I find it a bit hard with all the shipping companies around the world that its the truth, many other countries that stock it around the world that have the ability to move it. And moving it would be a VV issue, not a QRA one.
I think, if a tiny enterprise like custers can manage it others could, we all know the NIOA is a pig of a machine for profit, and I reckon they just seen slim margins.