Published on Project Cargo Italy, annual supplement of Shipping Italy
Prefabricated buildings, living units, bundles for floor and roof, some containers. 9000 cubic meters in Break Bulk and 55 containers, in several units, from Italy to the deep, very deep of Niger. Destination: somewhere in the desert in the centre of Niger, 1000 km from Niamey, 1800 km from the port of Cotonou in Benin.
Scope of the client: to build a modular base for an international organization.
The shipments from Italy continued for 5 months until few times before the beginning of the lock down in February 2020. Shipments in break bulk and containers. From Italy to the port of Cotonou in Benin, where the agent of Logimar was handling the handling and the transports.
A total of 170 trucks have been moved, without any transshipment and directly from the port to destination, not far away from Tchirozerine.
The difficulty of the trip is due to the long distance to cover, a great part of which was in the desert on a road mapped out in the sand and for the last four/five hundred kilometres the path was uneven and with big potholes, also of 60 cm and the trucks are obliged to slalom among them.
Logimar took care of everything from the departure to the arrival, including transit and definitive import customs, lashing on the vehicles, replacement of the vehicles in need of repair and it has sent repairers there where phones do not work. Obviously, it also provided insurance coverage. All risks, until the arrival of the goods to the base.
A huge project and not because of the weights or the dimensions, not because the modules or the bundles were different from usual since even if they are not containers, they have the same dimensions. The project was exceptional for the difficulties and the risks involved.
“Until four or five years ago – says Marcello Saponaro, CEO of Logimar – we would have never thought to manage in total security such a shipment to Niger. Today thanks to Africa Logistics Network, founded by Logimar itself in 2015 we can manage all types of works in Africa.
“Five years ago – adds Alessandro Zanin, commercial director of Logimar, we decided to specialize in the most difficult things, i.e. the Project and Africa and we think we made it.”
Today Logimar makes out 30% of its annual turnover with Africa. From West Africa to the Horn of Africa, from the Mediterranean Sea to East Africa and then to the South. Containers and projects, for the United Nations and for International Bodies but also for Oil & Gas, civil engineering, and international cooperation. The decision to create an independent Freight Forwarders Network specialized on Africa market, has been strategical. Since 2015 we have then selected small and medium companies, reliable, professional, and financially stable. Today the network has the greatest coverage in Africa: more than 98%. And many of the members are major companies of the sector Project.
“The greatest satisfaction – adds Alessandro Saponaro, Honorary President and founder of Africa Logistics Network – is to see that the current main networks are now trying to reach our coverage in Africa”. A race that will have positive effects on the professional growth of some of the most delicate areas.
Shipping Italy, link https://www.shippingitaly.it/
Project Cargo Italy – Edizione 2020, link https://www.shippingitaly.it/2020/09/22/e-online-il-nuovo-inserto-speciale-project-cargo-italy-edizione-2020/
Africa Logistics Network, link https://www.africalogisticsnetwork.com
