Best of both worlds

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The combination of airfreight and seafreight transportation is providing huge advantages for the logistics industry, explains Sumesh Nair, general manager of Birkart Globistics Middle East.

How would you define the concept of ‘sea-air' transportation?

The sea-air model is essentially an integration of two different transportation modes. The cargo is initially transported by seafreight and later by airfreight. This combination offers a drastic saving in transit time compared to pure seafreight, whilst offering a maximum cost saving of 50% compared to pure airfreight. It's basically the best of both worlds.

Do freight forwarders in the Middle East favour the sea-air model?

I would say sea-air transportation plays a very important role for the Middle East logistics industry. For example, Dubai has become one of the top seven leading sea-air transport hubs in the world. The emirate's capacity for sea-air cargo has been growing in leaps and bounds - it's now the most sought-after transit point over the North Pacific route.

Does Dubai offer any specific advantages in terms of sea-air transportation?

As a hub for this type of transportation, Dubai has several advantages, especially since two of the most efficient seaports in the world are located at Jebel Ali and Port Rashid. These are served by most of the major shipping lines, predominantly from the Far East, with very short transit times from Hong Kong, mainland China, Indian subcontinent and South East Asia. In addition, Dubai offers simple customs formalities, which means seamless transport connections to ensure cargo can be custom-cleared from the seaport and delivered to airlines within five or six hours.

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USER COMMENTS (1 COMMENTS)

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Great Service
Posted by Shaikh Naseer, Dubai, U.A.E on 4 December 2007 at 07:57 UAE time

The Sea-Air is mostly perceived as complicated operation due to involvement of multiple documentation and time factor. The information from Mr.Sumesh just eliminates this complication and shows confidence to increase this cost effective + time saving business for all good reasons.

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