Agile outfit carving its place in the market

Since the start of the year, and the establishment of an agile outfit, UPF Group, Thomas Vestergaard has been hard at work to make sure the business hits the ground running. Speaking to Project Cargo Journal, Vestergaard said, “We have been concerned about how the owners would welcome us in the market, but we have been very pleasantly surprised and get great support, from owners and brokers.”

UPF Group is a smaller, agile outfit with a significant backing from a number of partners from United Shipping Group. Earlier this year, Vestergaard told Project Cargo Journal that there is a space in the market for a new player, as larger get absorbed into container carriers’ portfolio or larger forwarding companies.

“In UPF Group we aim to have the regional knowhow in Africa with the support from our strong team in Europe with direct contact to the clients and not least fellow forwarders that we also aim to support especially in Africa,” Vestergaard said.

It seems that this knowhow has come in handy in a recent urgent request the company got from a client in Mozambique. The company was requested to move seven offshore containers from Jebel Ali to Pemba, with a single request, to arrive as soon as possible.

UPF Group chartered the MV Hai Duong 36 on a last in-first out basis, completing the journey within 11 days, which included a bunker stop. With the efficient agency work from AGL Group in Pemba, the vessel was discharged smoothly within only six hours, UPF Group said.

“Our first charter vessel within UPF Group is always special! The next fixtures already lined up and we will already within a week’s time load another project in Norway for another client,” Vestergaard said.