Will ocean freight be the dominant mode of transport for pharma payloads?
Around 20% of pharmaceutical payloads are moved via ocean freight however, it is forecasted that this will increase to approximately 75% within the next decade
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What is the importance of sea freight shipping in the pharmaceutical industry?
Around 20% of pharmaceutical payloads are moved via ocean freight however, its forecast this will increase to approximately 75% within the next decade. So, why sea freight containers?
There are four core benefits. It offers a variety of solutions for chemicals and high-value equipment. It reduces temperature excursions, providing an unbroken cold chain, it reduces cost and increases security.
There are also fewer touchpoints said Allan Klinge, Vice-President of Klinge Corporation. “Apart from customs for inspection, no one else will put their hands on your product during the entire process.” This goes a long way in increasing supply chain flexibility: Unlike airfreight, where the container is being plugged in at the discharge ports.
SEE ALSO: More Temperature-Sensitive Medicines Moving by Ocean Freight Despite Market Shake-up
Additional security controls also include GSM and satellite monitoring. This is used to track, monitor and enforce unplug times with the carriers and freight forwarders. Alerts can be set up for designated unplugged intervals, ensuring that products are monitored during the entire trip.
What are some of the lessons to learn from the dangerous goods industry?
Regulation into the safe transportation of chemicals was established through the IMO. This helped protect loss of live, cargo, profit and vessel. The organization was charged with ensuring all countries transported volatile hazardous goods safely.
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To comply with this, in the 1970’s Klinge developed two reefers in one cargo system– one acting a backup just in case of a failure. It also included built-in generator.
They now have more partners across the globe providing a strong support network for this type of container.
There is a proven method of transporting dangerous cargo which I think can be imported over to pharma, said Allan Klinge. “To date, we have not had a single incident reported through the use of our equipment that has caused a failure where the product has combusted. If you use the GSM and satellite systems and local support networks, this will ensure a full and functioning system for transport.”
What are the challenges to sea freight shipping?
Over the last 10 years, airfreight has increased while sea freight, on the whole, has decreased due to the consolidation of the market and greater competition. While this trend is forecast to reverse, there are still a number of challenges to sea freight shipping that pharma shippers will have to consider.
- Management –You need to manage your lead times and processes. Take them both into consideration.
- Seasonal products – Transporting seasonal products to the market i.e. flu vaccine. Sea freight will always be slower than. airfreight.
- Tenders – Specifications require products to travel by air. A mindset change needs to happen.
- Agility – The pharmaceutical industry cannot react to very short lead times.
- Inaccessible locations – The biggest customer is UNICEF. Getting temperature controlled products delivered to these locations by sea freight can be challenging.
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Conclusion
As regulators introduce tighter rules around transport and logistics, and more temperature-sensitive medicines enter the market, the gap between air and sea transportation will narrow. However, it will not make other forms of transportation redundant. Adam Tetz Peli BioThermal’s director of worldwide marketing said “There will always be a need for air transportation when emergencies arise and there is the need to get products shipped more quickly."
Some pharma products will always be in high demand or have a high enough value to only travel by air. There will always be emergencies and natural disasters that need pharmaceuticals quickly. Shipments sent over the water could be unavailable for four to six weeks, so air transport will be a valuable logistics mode when speed is called for.
For more insight on pharmaceutical shipping check out the following article
Pharma's Airfreight Versus Seafreight Boxing Match
