cargo-partner Solves Project Cargo Challenges with River-Sea Transport Solution
The Serbian branch of cargo-partner introduced a new river and sea transport service in December 2018. The logistics provider offers solutions for a range of commodities including bulk cargo, project cargo, out of gauge (OOG), wide and heavy load transportation, and liquid cargo. In addition to short sea shipping services on the Black Sea, the Adriatic Sea, and the Aegean Sea, cargo-partner provides transport solutions via the Rhine-Maine-Danube Waterway, which directly connects 14 European countries along inland waterways and traverses all European regions. Transshipments can be organized in all the major ports in the region: Constanta (RO), Regensburg (DE), Belgrade (RS), Pancevo (RS), Smederevo (RS), Reni (UA) and Izmail (UA). Additional services include lashing, securing, and dunnaging of OOG cargo.
At the end of January, cargo-partner received an ideal opportunity to prove the flexibility of this service. An unusual solution was provided for a customer via the Danube River in close cooperation between the cargo-partner teams in Serbia, Beijing and Tianjin. The client was expecting an urgent break bulk shipment of conveyor belts which was on its way from Shanghai to the Port of Constanta, Romania. The shipment, consisting of 56 rolls of conveyor belts with a total gross weight of over 990 metric tons, had to be delivered to Smederevo, Serbia no later than January 31, 2019. Due to a delay of the break bulk vessel’s arrival in Constanta, the cargo-partner team had to complete the delivery within a very short time-frame. cargo-partner took over the shipment in Constanta and handled the transport via the Danube to Smederevo. The logistics provider handled every step of the process, beginning from discharge of the sea vessel and loading onto the river barge at the Port of Constanta, up to cargo survey during discharge from the barge at the Port of Smederevo. Thanks to effective cross-continental cooperation between the company’s teams in Serbia and China, the entire transport process – from the vessel’s arrival in Constanta to unloading in Smederevo – was completed in only nine days.
In April 2019, the international logistics provider tackled another challenging project involving transport via the Sava and Danube rivers. A total of 4,000 cubic meters of boiler parts, including several out-of-gauge parts, was transported from Slavonski Brod to Belgrade on the Sava and on to Constanta via the Danube. For this project, cargo-partner organized three of the largest available barge types. Transport was especially challenging on the Sava, where navigation is difficult in certain points due to unstable water levels. To ensure smooth transport, cargo-partner worked with a former captain who is experienced in navigating every corner of the river. Upon arrival in Constanta, the shipment was prepared for transshipment on the seagoing vessel to Turkey.
Mirko Ilic, Managing Director of cargo-partner in Serbia, is convinced that this new combined transport service will bring added value for cargo-partner and its clients: “Transport via inland waterways is a cost-efficient and ecologically sustainable alternative to road transport. Our specialized teams can draw on long-standing relationships with carriers and port operators and provide many years of expertise in project cargo, seafreight and inland waterway transport. This allows us to offer the most flexible solutions to our customers. We are confident that our clients will make increasing use of our new river-sea transport service in the near future.”
cargo-partner in Serbia celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2019 and currently has 100 employees at branch offices in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Subotica. The company provides a comprehensive range of air and sea freight as well as contract logistics and road distribution services for various industries, with special expertise in the transport of project cargo and live animals. Since 2014, cargo-partner operates a modern warehouse in Dobanovci near Belgrade offering innovative logistics, customs clearance and value added services.