Norcoast eyes strengthening cabotage in Brazil

Norcoast, a joint venture founded by Hapag-Lloyd and Norsul to operate in Brazil’s coastal shipping sector, kicked off its operations in February, banking on multimodality and door-to-door logistics. In an interview, the company’s CEO, Gustavo Paschoa, discussed Norcoast’s plans and objectives for the future.

Norcoast is a new player in the market, which has seen no newcomers in the past 20 years. Although officially founded at the end of 2023, the company has been in the making by its founders, Hapag Lloyd and Norsul, for longer. “It was a project crafted with great care. Over the past three years, we’ve been working on it, and in 2023, we began implementing the company, starting our first operation on February 6th,” Gustavo reveals.

Despite being a newcomer, the company already boasts around 180 clients, with over 80% of them engaged in multimodal operations involving rail, truck, and coastal shipping. “Our proposition to the market is to offer a complete solution. The biggest competitor to coastal shipping isn’t other coastal shipping companies, it’s trucks. We aim to attract cargo that currently travels long distances by truck to coastal shipping, allowing each mode to play to its strengths. We structured our company with teams to understand client needs and customize multimodal solutions,” he explains. The company provides coastal shipping and container feeder services along the entire Brazilian coast, offering door-to-door logistics and operating in major Brazilian ports – Paranaguá, Santos, Suape, Pecém, and Manaus.

Currently, the company operates four vessels with 3,500 TEUs each, equipped with onboard cranes, and collaborates with various partners to integrate logistics between modes of transport. According to Norcoast, linking coastal shipping with other modes of transportation offers a solution to various logistical challenges and has significant growth potential in Brazil.

“Coastal shipping currently represents 3 to 4% of Brazil’s transportation matrix, and over the past 10 years, it has grown by around 11% annually. This growth is completely disconnected from GDP and industrial growth. We’re delighted to be a part of this story and to elevate coastal shipping to more reasonable levels considering the size of our coastline. In other countries with coastlines as extensive as Brazil’s, such as China, the US, Australia, and New Zealand, coastal shipping accounts for 45-50% of the transport grid. […] I am confident that we could easily reach 40-50% in Brazil,” Paschoa asserts.

One of the factors driving the growth of coastal shipping in Brazil and around the globe is sustainability. Coastal shipping emits 4 times fewer greenhouse gases compared to other modes of transportation, according to the Climate Observatory, and causes fewer environmental accidents, providing greater control and accountability. Norcoast is attentive to this theme and strives to help the international goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The company is conducting tests to measure select clients’ carbon footprint and expand the service to all its clients. Additionally, the company plans to engage in the sale of carbon credits in the future.

“There needs to be a sustainable alternative to transport in Brazil, and coastal shipping is the most natural solution. The productive sector is aware of these advantages, which not only impact the companies themselves but also local communities, the environment, and society at large,” emphasizes Gustavo.

The brand also boasts a strong digital presence and focuses on customer experience. Through the “Norcoast Client Portal,” a comprehensive platform for container movement along the coast, clients can create a login, request an online quote, schedule their reservation, and track the entire process from collection to final delivery, across all necessary modes of transport.

Source: Tecnologística

Click here to read the original news report: CEO da Norcoast pretende impulsionar o setor de cabotagem no Brasil – Tecnologística (tecnologistica.com.br)

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