January 29 - UK-based freight forwarder Davies Turner has shipped vintage British fighter aircraft parts between Dorset, UK and South Africa.
Approximately one million parts were found in a local Dorset garage, which were identified as Havilland DH 100 Vampire spare parts. The equipment was delivered to a South African collector as part of an ambitious project to rebuild two of the post-war British fighter planes (pictured left below).
The project shipment was one of the largest ever movements of ex-military spares to foreign private ownership and required seven ocean containers to safely and securely complete delivery, says Davies Turner.
According to Philip Stephenson, group chairman at Davies Turner, "Our Rotherham office was contacted nearly a year ago by our South African partner, WorldNet on behalf of a shipper that was searching for a means of delivering a collection of vintage aircraft parts to South Africa where two examples of the Vampire will be rebuilt."
Davies Turner shipped the cargoes on the MACS containership Atacama. Upon arrival in Durban, the six 40 ft containers and one 20 ft open top, out-of-gauge container, were forwarded on to the client by Johannesburg headquartered WorldNet (pictured right below).
The paperwork associated with the shipment was straightforward, but Davies Turner encountered a problem with the kitting-out of the containers in which the vintage equipment was being shipped. A fumigation expert was sourced to heat-treat the wooden shelving, drawers and compartment to meet South African requirements.
Stephenson described the shipment as looking like an "outsize Airfix model plane kit". The planning, obtaining of export licences and project execution took nine months in total.
www.daviesturner.com
www.worldnetlogistics.com
