INEOS Britannia chooses GAC for logistics provision
by GAC Pindar 1 Feb 2024 09:17 PST
INEOS Britannia AC40 shipped to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by GAC Pindar, December 2023 © Ian Roman / America's Cup
GAC Pindar has been named the official logistics supplier for INEOS Britannia, the British challenger for the 37th America's Cup.
The appointment follows the successful provision of freight services between the UK and Europe for the team by GAC Group's marine, sport, leisure and event logistics specialist since March 2022.
The Southampton-based GAC Pindar experts will apply a seamless umbrella approach to all the team's freight forwarding requirements until the culmination of the America's Cup, including a complete logistics and customs brokerage service package to move the INEOS Britannia 20.7m long AC75 race boat, its 26.5m mast and associated equipment from the UK to Barcelona, Spain.
"Our bid to bring The America's Cup home to the UK requires a higher level of support, understanding, and expertise from all our partners," says Dave Endean, Chief Operating Officer for INEOS Britannia. "In GAC Pindar, we know we have that strength of commitment and capability. Their specialist operations team arranges every component of our freight requirements from the UK and wider afield into Spain."
"Being given official supplier status by INEOS Britannia is a point of great pride for us," adds GAC Pindar's Operations Manager, Beth King. "We take our job of ensuring INEOS Britannia's supply chain keeps moving very seriously and we are committed to keeping the team's schedule on track."
GAC Pindar completed the relocation of the INEOS Britannia team base from the UK to Palma in 2022, moving it again last year to the final event location in Barcelona. The team's race yachts, chase boats and associated equipment also joined other associated freight on a return shipment from Barcelona to the preliminary event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in December 2023.
Tracking freight Co2e
INEOS Britannia has led the way in sports sustainability since 2015, when they became the first sports team to achieve the Olympic-inspired ISO 20121 international standard sustainability certification, through providing a framework for delivery of sustainable operations throughout the team's activities. GAC supports it by providing crucial data on the team's CO2 emissions through a customer facing portal which also gives mode of transport and individual shipment data visibility.
"Moving large quantities of things around the world now has to be justified and sustainable," says King. "Partners like INEOS Britannia who want CO2e reporting are changing the way our industry operates."
The Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup will take place between August and October 2024 in the Spanish city of Barcelona. It promises to be one of the most intense America's Cups in the event's 174-year history.