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Issue 4 2014 - Freight Business Journal It’s details that count, says World Express


Malta-based World Express started working with UK-based NVOCC Cardinal Maritime in September last year. It’s going well, says director, Stephen Aquilina. “We’re running a groupage trailer from Manchester weekly, as well as full loads.” World Express’s parent


company, the Attard Group, is a typically diverse Maltese concern, with interests ranging from foodstuffs and wine to building materials and financial services. It also has a branch company in the Far East. “Attard is a large importing company by local standards,” says logistics manager, Laurence Brincat. World Express handles its freight business, of course, but it is equally open to third party traffic and it goes to great lengths to ensure that it is independent and neutral, Brincat explains. “If we (World Express) have a client who is also importing foodstuffs, we’re strict about keeping the two entities apart. But it’s important, with Malta being such a small place, to be seen as being neutral.” Word about anything untoward would soon get around. World Express also has agents


in Italy, Germany, the Benelux and Spain and it


also runs


regular consolidation services to Libya. The idea, says Brincat, is to


from all over Europe, and from receive consignments


outside the EU, consolidate and warehouse them in Malta – under customs bond if necessary – and then forward them on as required to Libya. Brincat explains: “Malta, being so close to Libya, has a very good relationship and that gives us an advantage over other countries. Also, our new general manager, Charles Frendo, is an old Libya hand and it’s a place in which personal contact is very important.” It’s also important to have a good agent. Charles Frendo himself adds


that the uncertainties and difficulties of dealing with Libya are as great as ever – if anything, more so following the change of regime. Just because the old Gadaffi regime has gone doesn’t mean that the barriers to trade have disappeared overnight. The Government is struggling to keep control of the country and ports and transport are pretty chaotic; it’s common for ships to wait outside harbour for a week or more. Moreover, personal travel still


isn’t totally safe – it’s not a good idea to wander the streets of Tripoli aſter 10pm and the traffic is pretty fearsome. But that said, “the Maltese are respected there” and probably have less trouble than most. World Express kept its services


to Libya going through all the months of turmoil and it was able


to deliver service as promised “96-98% of the time.” World Express is also an for Libyan Airlines, and


agent


it operates a courier to the country four or five times a week. “Volumes for the courier business have gone up recently,” says Brincat. “More business people are trying to do deals, so they’re sending more samples and documents there.” Customs clearance is another


difficulty in Libya and can take 7-10 days. World Express can help foreign exporters obtain the necessary certificate of origin for goods exported to Libya and get them processed through the Chamber of Commerce. “We have German and Italian clients who use us for that as they find it easier than doing it in their home country, and speed and the price factor also comes into it – we can do it in two days,” says Aquilina. “Coupled with our courier service, we can do a complete service to Libya.” The


fact that the whole


operation is under the control of one company makes it easier to sort out any issues that arise. The Far East is the other area


of activity for World Express and it works closely with Japanese forwarder Kintetsu to provide a service for Malta’s electronics industry. It operates a specialised bonded warehouse at Zurrieq,


///MALTA Medsea: strength through diversification


Laurence Brincat (leſt) and Charles Frendo are well- used to the uncertainties of doing business in Libiya


close to Malta airport, fully temperature-controlled and subject to inspection at any time by the customer’s representative. “If something is needed in the middle of the night, the warehouse manager will attend,” says Brincat. The next major area for


development will be to develop trailer services to and from mainland Europe to


those already operating from the UK in partnership with Cardinal Maritime. “We’re constantly looking for


match


Being a liner agent on Malta can be tough. With just one major port, and only a limited number of lines calling there direct, only a very select number of agents can count on significant regular local business. Some agents have seen their carefully built up business dry up overnight when the line they


represented decided to


switch – for operational reasons – away from Malta to another hub port. Medsea represents China


new


opportunities and we have a strong commitment to a personal service,” says Brincat. “In many ways Malta is a very tough market. It’s saturated and also, because most companies in Malta are not large, very oſten you deal direct with the owner – and they tend to have very exacting standards.”


Shipping and Yangming, which in almost any other country would be sizeable pieces of business, but both these operators have not served Malta direct for some time. Medsea has therefore had to develop other business, including groupage from the Far East and UK and there are plans to add similar services from Italy, says business development director, Michael Callus. Medsea also represents Turkish intra-Med line Arkas, and it is also active in markets such as tankers and tramping. Container groupage from


the UK is a good market. The additional cost of the Channel crossing means that containers can compete on price against the trailer operators, which isn’t always the case in mainland European markets. Another


factor is that most shipping lines have a surplus of otherwise empty boxes in the UK and are willing to quote keen prices to get them back to their Malta hub. There are also some suitable cargoes from the UK such as foodstuffs or malt for the island’s brewing industry. From the Far East, Medsea


has container groupage services from Shanghai and Hong Kong. China remains a powerhouse of manufacturing, but Michael Callus has noted that quite a bit of traffic now comes from other places including Turkey and Greece. The latter has become a low cost country thanks to its economic woes, while quite a bit of manufacturing has moved into Turkey. Italy has also traditionally been a strong supplier to Italy to Malta. “In fact, exports from Europe are booming now,” says Michael Callus. Malta could be in a good


position to cater for all this extra trade, but the Freeport needs to be expanded to cope with the extra business, in Michael Callus’ opinion. As it is, it is one of the very small number of ports in the Mediterranean that can accept the new 18,000teu ships that are coming on stream, so money spent on the Freeport could be an excellent investment.


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