GAC Pindar named logistics supplier for Ineos Britannia
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.
GAC Pindar says it 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.
GAC Pindar is a niche business within the global GAC operation, and many of the team are keen sailors.
“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, COO 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,” says 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.”
One of the pressing challenges of the project will be managing customs processes post-Brexit, King says.
“From the smallest component sourced just over the Channel to the temporary import established in Barcelona under the America’s Cup Customs protocol, every piece has to be accountable,” she explains.
“Since the UK left the European Union, much more paperwork has been added to what were previously relatively smooth and simple import and export processes. The extra layer of customs has curbed flexibility and added extra layers of complexity and cost.”
She says that GAC Pindar has “solid knowledge of the new customs procedures, paired with an in-depth understanding of Ineos Britannia’s needs as a sports team” to ensure “smooth sailing for what could be an overwhelming task.”
GAC Pindar has already completed the relocation of the Ineos Britannia team base from the UK to Barcelona in spring 2023, as well as the shipment of the team’s 40ft long T6 research boat. In the autumn, the yachts, chase boats and associated equipment joined other event freight on a return shipment from Barcelona to the preliminary event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Ineos Britannia team base in Barcelona, shipped from UK by GAC Pindar. Photo courtesy of L.Goldman / Ineos Britannia
“The America’s Cup is the pinnacle of the sport in terms of technology and design; all shipments are bespoke items or components,” says King. “Confidentiality is paramount; a team’s potential design and technological advantages are top secret. Reliability – ensuring delivery deadlines are met, on time and on budget – is crucial to keeping the design and build on track.”
King also highlights the ever-sharper focus on sustainability across the logistics industry in recent years.
“GAC Pindar is helping move things around the world more sustainably, especially with improvements to the way we track customers’ CO₂ freight emissions,” she says. “Partners like Ineos Britannia who want CO₂ reporting and aim to do things in a more sustainable way are changing the way we operate – and that, as far as I am concerned, is a really good thing.”
She adds that GAC has developed its own freight Co2e tracking platform to give customers greater visibility on their own emissions.
“By moving sustainability up the agenda, sailing teams are challenging the industry to make positive changes — and we’re responding.”
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