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The world’s largest cargo plane and giant trailer were put into use to transport equipment, machinery and construction materials for the Expo site.
It is a logistical nightmare to hold the World Expo, known as “the greatest exhibition in the world” during the pandemic. The level of operational and logistics planning for the large number of transport equipment, machinery and construction materials designed for the Dubai Expo site is nothing less than dizzying.
The world’s largest cargo plane took off from Houston to Dubai, equipped with a 46-ton projector for the Al Wasl Dome at the Expo site. At night, a mammoth-sized trailer drove on a highway in southern Germany, transporting three 21-meter-high carbon fiber entrance gates.
It adopts a multi-modal transportation plan involving air, sea and road transportation across continents to transport the most fragile to heaviest goods from all over the world to Dubai.
Allan Williams, Vice President of Sponsorship and Operations for UPS Expo 2020 Dubai, said that the logistics of Expo 2020 Dubai could easily become the largest and most challenging task undertaken by UPS in the region in its 130 years of business. Task.
Williams said: “When the whole world comes to Dubai and the World Expo and is happy to be associated with it, it is a grand event.”
As the official logistics partner of Expo 2020 Dubai, UPS’s mission is to deliver goods to most of the 190 participating countries’ pavilions.
Carbon fiber doors shipped from Germany
He said that the company shipped some of the most challenging goods for the event. Some of them are shipped directly to their warehouse in the Expo site, while others are stored in their warehouse in Jebel Ali.
“I can cite different examples. However, the delivery of the three carbon fiber doors for the Expo from Germany to Antwerp and then to Dubai is one of the most complex deliveries we have undertaken,” Williams said.
“We shipped nine times…once a month…because of the huge volume of goods. We had to use special equipment and special length trailers. We needed special commissioning and permits to drive from southern Germany to Antwerp at night (Belgium),” he added.
The 21-meter-high mashrabiya-style carbon lattice designed by British architect Asif Khan was manufactured in Bavaria, Germany. They are one of the main attractions of Expo 2020 Dubai.
After a 740 km road trip through Europe, the carbon gate was transported from Antwerp to the port of Jebel Ali in Dubai.
“Throughout the journey, we have to put a lot of moving parts together. Putting things together at the right time and repeating it nine times is a huge challenge,” he said.
Transporting the projector for the dome
Williams said that the world’s largest cargo flight Antonov AN 124-100 was chartered to provide 11 projectors for Al Wasl Dome (the world’s largest 360-degree projection dome).
“Each projector weighs 46 tons. It is not suitable for ordinary aircraft. Therefore, we had to rent the world’s largest cargo plane 124 to fly the projector from Texas to Dubai,” he said.
These projectors are manufactured in Monterrey, Mexico, and shipped by road to Texas, Houston, and then to Dubai by air.
“The journey is not complicated. But because of the size of the product we are moving, the problem arises. When you look at the international shipment of large items…many different stakeholders are involved…it must be synchronized Many moving parts…so that we can ship them to the delivery point when the customer needs them. This is a challenge,” he said.
The pandemic has brought a series of new challenges
For a logistics giant like UPS that has been in business for more than 130 years, it is enough to rely on its previous experience-supporting large-scale events such as the 2012 London Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
But Williams said that the 2020 Dubai Expo has brought a series of different challenges, mainly due to the raging epidemic that has put pressure on the global logistics business.
“When an event of this scale occurs, whether it is a pandemic or a natural disaster, you will be at the mercy of what is happening around the world. Normally, we will make a plan…and then plan B as a contingency plan. But whatever With the pandemic… we have to deal with global events that affect so many countries in many different ways. But we have been able to move on,” Williams said.
However, there are still some unforeseen challenges that need to be addressed. When the Suez Canal was closed for six days after the container ship Ever Give ran aground in March this year, Williams said that many containers to the Expo were delayed because they had to take other long routes. “We immediately entered emergency mode. Some pavilions planned to be installed in sequence must resolve this delay,” Williams said.
“One thing we learned is to never stop learning. This is the first time an event of this scale has occurred in the region, so there is no script. For me, the biggest takeaway is that we are creating an activity manual for the region , In terms of how to run the logistics of major events in the future. We are proud of this,” Williams said.
Expo Secret Consignment
Except for highly public consignment sales, Willaims is reluctant to reveal some “secrets” due to confidentiality agreements with customers.
“We have integrated a lot of things through our global network… They are the largest’this’ in the world and the largest’that’ in the world. They will be announced on October 1. What I can say is that we are very happy to be Be part of this big event. It’s great to see us participating,” he said
For example, he said, UPS must use a combination of land, sea, and air to transport specific cargo from the Caribbean islands. “If I tell you where you are from and for whom, you will piece together the information. Many companies will have’significant revelations’ for the Expo, and you have to wait and see,” Williams added.
Logistics reaches its peak after the Expo
The logistics operation of the Expo has different stages. With the completion of most of the construction of 190 national pavilions, UPS has entered the “renovation” stage, including setting up interior design. “The third stage, the exhibition content, is going all out. As we bring actual content to the exhibition, the business has reached its peak.
“But this is not the end; on the contrary, that is when it started. We need to add content for the entire six months, because many countries will not have the same exhibition throughout the event,” Williams explained.
UPS will also deliver supplies to retail stores at the Expo, and the on-site warehouse will be used to store goods.
He concluded: “Our work will reach its peak within a few months after the Expo, because many national pavilions will have to retire and ship their contents back.”
Anjana Sankar
Anjana Sankar is a journalist based in the UAE, focusing on stories of global conflict, immigration and human rights. She has reported on the front lines of the wars in Yemen and Syria, and has written numerous articles about refugee crises in Bangladesh, Iraq and Europe. From interviewing Islamic State militants to joining the UAE army in Yemen, to earthquakes, floods, terrorist attacks and elections, she came out of the most dangerous conflict zone in the world without incident. With more than 14 years of experience, Anjana is currently an assistant editor of Khaleej Times and leads the reporting team. She often talks about women’s empowerment on the Facebook page with more than 40,000 fans.
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