This summer, Dammam, Saudi Arabia-headquartered cargo agent Diamond Maritime Services, an IFLN Network member, oversaw the ex-works of shipment of a yacht – complete with jet ski – from its client’s location in Saudi Arabia that was to make its way right to the port of Malaga in Spain.

   Diamond Maritime Services was first approached with the requirement by its customer – the owner of the yacht, a distinguished family in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) – in the first week of March and quickly set about organising the complex shipment.

   The big shipping lines don’t offer direct service from Jeddah to the port of Malaga, plus this Spanish port doesn’t have the facilities for berthing big vessels and offloading complex, out-of-gauge cargo. Thus, Diamond Maritime Services suggested to its client that the yacht should be first transported to Gibraltar port and only from there would it make its way to its final destination at Malaga.

   The yacht needed to be transported from the shipper’s residence in the Obhur area on the outskirts of Jeddah. Over-dimensional in both height and length, the forwarder had to secure special permission from the Saudi Ministry of Transportation (MOT) and Saudi Coast Guard to move the cargo by sea to Jeddah, since road transportation was, says Shihab Shamsudheen, manager – logistics services for Diamond Maritime Services, not really a feasible option.

   Netherlands-based Jumbo Shipping, a vessel operator specialising in out-of-gauge shipments, shipped the yacht on its vessel Stellaprima from Jeddah to Gibraltar, its 250-ton capacity shipboard crane coming in very useful in the loading and unloading of this unique cargo.

   Other than the challenges posed by the physical logistics of the move, the IFLN forwarder also faced a number of other challenges with the shipment, not least Customs-related issues, securing the necessary export documentation and required approvals from various ministries.

   The yacht was shipped under a KSA temporary export permission, so Diamond Maritime Services had to get permission and relevant documentation relating to that from different ministries as well as from the Customs Directorate in Riyadh.

   Loading the yacht onto the Jumbo vessel was not easy, of course, the yacht being loaded from the water onto the heavylift ship, while heavy wind and other inclement weather at Jeddah also created potentially problem-causing delays. However, with the help of specialist divers, the yacht was loaded onto Stellaprima for its voyage to Gibraltar.

   The 42-ton yacht sailed on its way to via the British Overseas Territory on schedule in May and with all those challenges efficiently overcome. Moreover, agrees Shamsudheen and business development manager Aju Joseph, “The client appreciated our excellent and prompt handling of the shipment.”

 

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