Profins Ltd approached LV Logistics with an 85-tonne consignment of Finned tubes that needed to travel from Peterlee to Kuwait which were critically required for the operations of the Kuwait refinery. The Oversized Cargo totalling 30 boxes, wherein each box measuring about 12.5 mtr in length and 2.5 tons each the job looked straightforward on paper. In practice, it would take weeks of negotiation, a change of aircraft, and a rarely-used route through a regional UK airport to get it done.
A Changing Plan
LV Logistics initial plan was to route the cargo through a scheduled freighter service into Muscat International Airport (MCT), with the final leg to Kuwait completed by road. Ongoing war in the Middle East ruled that option out almost immediately.
Due to the Urgent requirement of the Finned tubes at the refinery and no end in sight to the ongoing middle east conflict, Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) approached the Kuwait Military and arranged for a military Boeing C-17 Globe master to collect the shipment directly from the UK. The first choice of airport was Prestwick in Scotland, the UK's default hub for oversized air freight. But Prestwick could not accommodate cargo of this length combined with the C-17's loading configuration. RAF Brize Norton, the next logical option, was also unable to help due to a lack of available capacity.
Building a Route from Scratch
With the two conventional options closed off, LV Logistics turned to Newcastle Airport. The company opened discussions with ground handling agents WFS and Samson Aviation, along with Newcastle Airport's own authorities, about handling a military aircraft of this size at a location not typically used for this kind of freight.
Security screening arrangements were worked through with the UK's Civil Contingencies/Aviation authority, and after several rounds of discussion between LV Logistics, WFS, Samson Aviation and the airport, all parties agreed the movement could go ahead at Newcastle. Shortly afterwards, the Kuwaiti Air Force scheduled the first C-17 flight into the airport.
Getting the Cargo in Place
LV organised six full truckloads to move the tubes from Profins' site to Samson Aviation's facility at Newcastle Airport, staging the cargo ahead of the aircraft's arrival.
The first two trucks carrying 5 boxes each were dispatched from Profins on -15th July
The second and third lots were dispatched on -20th July
When the C-17 landed, it was positioned on the apron managed by Samson Aviation. Ground crews unloaded and assembled the aircraft pallets, loaded and secured the tubes onto them, and used three airline scissor lifts to raise the pallets to the aircraft's cargo floor before final loading and securing inside the C-17.
For the first lot - The loading activities started on 20th July @11:30 and cargo fully secured by 14:30
For the second lot - The loading activities started on 22nd July @ 19:00 and cargo fully secured by 22:00
For the third lot - The loading activities started on 11th Aug @08:00 and cargo fully secured by 11:00
During the planned scheduled loading activities, there was unforeseen circumstances that arose as the Military Aircraft was AOG and the third flight had to be postponed for a long period. During this time the cargo was secured inside the airport premises itself by the GHA and their services were on standby to load the final lot as soon as the Aircraft was made available.
A Wider Capability
This shipment is just one example of the kind of out-of-gauge and general cargo work LV Logistics handles for clients worldwide. With offices and partners across the globe, the company offers air and sea freight solutions around the clock, 365 days a year, for shipments that don’t fit standard routes.
