Coke hires carriers as it runs out of container options
After Walmart, Ikea, Home Depot and Costco chartering their own containerships, it is now the turn of the real thing: Coca-Cola is hiring three bulk vessels to move materials.
October 4, 2021: After Walmart, Ikea, Home Depot and Costco chartering their own containerships, it is now the turn of the real thing: Coca-Cola is hiring three bulk vessels to move materials.
Alan Smith, procurement director, Global Logistics at the Coca-Cola Cross Enterprise Procurement Group, said in his LinkedIn post recently “When you can’t get container’s or space due to the current ocean freight crisis, we had to think out of the box (or the container).”
The vessels will start loading this week with 60,000 tonnes of “material to keep our production lines running across the world.”
Coke has hired three carriers - the 35130 DWT Zhe Hai 505, the 35,009 DWT Weco Lucilia C and the 34,399 DWT Aphrodite M - to ship the material.
The move is equivalent to 2,800 TEUs that would have been shipped across containers, Smith said.
“The first of many we hope over the coming months and a prime example of excellent collaboration between our procurement teams and suppliers,” he added.
The bulk carriers would head to non-congested ports and the expectation is of a smooth discharge “but it is a big watch out when chartering as the D&D per day is mega.”
