Humanitarian heavy lift

25 February 2014

Humanitarian heavy lift

Allseas Global Logistics has a bit of a reputation for saying ‘yes’ where others say ‘no’. That’s because we are known as an international heavy lift specialist, handling what some refer to as the ‘ugly’ freight, where others focus solely on standard containers.

Carl Clark, who recently joined us as business development manager, special projects, sums it up when he says: “Allseas has made a name for itself in the heavy lift market – where others turn down a job, Allseas finds a way. Under pressure, they work even better, and the results are great!”

Bearing all this in mind, we are setting our sights on another logistics challenge – one that requires rock-solid credentials and the ability to react very quickly.

Allseas recently gained official authorisation as a supplier to the Ministry of Defence – not something easily achieved – and we are quoting for a number of military transport and logistics contracts.

Taking the next step, we are also tendering for warehousing, transport and logistics contracts in the humanitarian aid/relief sector, where Carl had considerable previous experience before joining Allseas.

He says: “There is an awful lot of work to be done in the humanitarian, aid and relief side of things. We are looking to use Allseas’ ten years of experience not just in heavy lift but in general logistics to push ourselves in this very specialised area.

“Aid is very military and regimented in structure and requires a dedicated team – because it isn’t just sustaining a regular contract. There are a lot of factors involved in disaster relief. You need to build a team from the ground up. You must be ready to react at any time. You need to have lines of communication established and in place. You have to be ready, 24/7, to move. It sounds very dramatic – but disasters are dramatic, and it requires a very special set of skills, knowledge, contacts and experience to be able to respond instantly and efficiently.”

Of course, it takes a lot of work to establish those vital lines of communication and the right network and systems. When a hurricane hits and millions are suffering, you can’t waste time trying to work out who you should call – and it’s certainly not the moment to find out that your warehouse management system isn’t all it should be.

As Carl says, this is a very personal, sensitive type of logistics – which isn’t for everybody. “You have to be a dedicated company to do this type of work and not everybody has the skills sets or levels to do that,” he says.

Author: Mark Binge, Group Commercial Manager

Also published on: Lloyd’s Loading List