The shortage of equipment and space caused by the ongoing pandemic has led to a backlog in the US market, so when space could be obtained, not without challenges, an unusually large lot of containers found their way towards Europe. The Maersk Sembawang arrived on Friday 5th of February in Antwerp, where 154 containers were supposed to be off-loaded and then transported to AGL’s pulp and paper warehouse near the French border. There AGL provides Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) services for one of the major producers in North America for paper products.

With only 7 days of port storage allowed, AGL had to move all containers fast to avoid additional charges for their customer. By utilising every tool in their logistics toolbox, AGL ran three block trains, one barge and more than 40 trucks to accomplish this ambitious goal within a time frame of 5 working days. To add to the challenge, winter decided to make a statement this very weekend in most parts of western Europe tossing down 30cm of snow in just one day and temperatures of -15 degrees Celsius! The pressure was on! Monday morning starting off with absolute chaos in most ports, but as the snow was cleared the supply chain started running. In the end, all 154x40’ containers went gate out in the given free time. This was thanks to the excellent work of all parties involved and flawless coordination. The consignee started receiving inventory on the 15th of February without any delays to their supply chain or production, putting a well ending to this colossal shipment!