Logistics operator creates structure to cater to segment
10/15/2010 15h16
Logistics operator creates structure to cater to segment
Valor Econômico
Besides shipowners, another important link in the maritime transport chain is alert to the growth in the activities of the so-called project loads: logistics operators, responsible for the handling of the carriage and tax issues after the cargo is unloaded (in the case of imports) or when it follows to the ship (export). Companies that traditionally used to give priority to regular container services are now betting on specific departments for that type of operation.And the case of Damco - logistics arm of the multinational group A.P. Moller-Maersk -, whose division dedicated to projects was created in April and it already represents nearly 12% of the earnings of the company. "Before the department we had a project load every three months. Today, at any time, we have an average of two a month", says the commercial officer of Damco in Brazil, Marcelo Vitorino. In the end of September began the shipping of nine yachts in Italy scheduled to arrive in Brazil on the 22nd. They will be unloaded in the Port Complex of Itajaí (SC). It is the first commissioning Damco carries out of such type of cargo for recreation. Another logistics operator that is betting in the sector is the Brazilian Division of MAC Logistic, which created MAC Project this year as well. Until then, the sector represented nearly 10% of the company businesses specialized in the door-to-door service. After the creation of the exclusive arm, the percentage shall go up to 40% - 60% of which related to the area of oil and gas, estimates the Director Rodrigo Carreiro.The main challenge for anyone who works in the segment continues being the infrastructure of the ports. There is a lack of physical space in the Brazilian ports for this type of activity, few berth windows for very large ships and there are no national flag vessels capable of performing the coastal shipping (navigation between ports in the same country). Several times, in such case, customers resort to foreign ships, which receive special authorization of the Antaq (National Water Transportation Agency) to perform cabotage. That is the case of the German Beluga that has recently taken part of a batch of nine wind blades (each blade measuring 39 meters) from the port of Santos to the Northeast due to lack of national cabotage vessels.
