DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist of Deutsche Post DHL Group, is going to accelerate the supply chain for the northern Norwegian seafood industry.
DHL will ship live crabs and seafood from the Lakselv Airport Banak in northern Norway to Asia and North America, effective May 24. On dedicated weekly flights, the firm transports fresh seafood to the DHL terminal in Oslo, Norway, from where the freight is sent to South Korea and other destinations including Japan and the United States. From the origin only 100 kilometers from the North Cape to its destination in Asia the whole logistics is exactly timed, ensuring the shipments are delivered in ideal condition.
“Live and frozen fish as well as seafood are just some of the food items that DHL Global Forwarding has experience shipping in the United States,” said Tim Robertson, head of Air Freight, DHL Global Forwarding, Americas. “Thanks to our team of experts who understand temperature control requirements, regulations, food safety and quality control guidelines, this seafood and fish is able to get to market and to consumers in the most expedient way possible.”
Transporting fresh seafood by plane allows DHL to cut the lead-time nearly by 50%. The shorter lead-time ensures that living crabs and other fresh seafood arrive at their destination in good condition. Besides living king crabs, snow crabs and shrimp, DHL will also handle transportation of various sorts of whitefish like cod, haddock and pollock, sea urchin, scallop and salmon. The airplanes are provided by DHL Express, and the freight process is handled by DHL Global Forwarding.
“Time is of the essence when it comes to delivering fresh seafood of the very best quality. Norway is a long country, and with a large proportion of seafood being produced in the north, this air freight route is an important contribution to efficiently reaching seafood consumers across the world,” said Bjørn-Erik Stabell, marketing manager for Salmon & Trout, at the Norwegian Seafood Council.
DHL is aiming to increase the frequency of deliveries from Oslo to Asia to three flights per week. From Oslo, almost 90% of the fish is flown directly to Seoul in South Korea, while about 10% is further directed to destinations in the United States, Japan and China.
