Throughout last year RoRo has established itself as a reliable option for moving project cargo, due to its frequency and quite quick turnaround at the shortsea terminals enabling freight forwarders to avoid port congestion, and sail through the issues caused by geopolitical tensions and Covid 19 restrictions. 

With the intake of project cargo also becoming more frequent, the likes of UECC have come to the forefront and flows of such cargo were handled by the likes of Maria Ramirez, high & heavy project cargo coordinator at the company’s Madrid office in Spain.

On a daily basis, Ramirez is entrusted with quotation for project cargo and high & heavy business, customer service and support to the company’s European commercial agents. This also includes tracking the cargo from the port of loading until the customer takes the cargo over at the destination port. She started her adventure with the company in its office at Portbury Docks as a logistics administrator back in 2007.

Throughout the years, Ramirez has only seen the confirmation that RoRo vessels are a great option for project cargo. “Project cargo business has increased considerably due to the container crisis and more customer have changed their habits in order to ship their cargo,” she said. Going further, Ramirez also sees an opportunity to change the market, due to the aforementioned container crisis as well as the constant push for new energy sources.

She hopes for more specialised vessels in the future that would enable the company to carry this type of cargo, pushing the company towards becoming a major player in green RoRo shipping for shortsea breakbulk cargo. The company already has a multimodal and ecological fleet heading the shortsea market.  On top of that, Ramirez noted that the company is investing in equipment, assembling a considerable fleet of MAFIs to better accommodate the market needs.

No day is the same, according to Ramirez, as each customer comes with a specific request and a challenge to solve. She also sees this as a highlight characteristic of the work, however, in order to attract more people to the business, especially the younger generations, a lot more exposure and information is needed, especially throughout the education systems.

Read also: 

• We go for niche destinations, Anton Plompen, Greycarrier
• Project logistics requires passion, Murilo Caldana, FOX Brasil
• Human interaction will remain key, Oleg Valenkov, TGP