July 4 - Rhenus Project Logistics (RPL) has opened two new offices in Tunisia, one in the coastal town of Gabes and a second in Tripoli. RPL has also signed an exclusive partnership with North African heavy goods transport company Sohatram.
RPL hope the new developments will expand its network in the Maghreb countries and boost its business in the oil and gas markets.
The new RPL offices can handle the full range of services currently offered by Rhenus Group, including project logistics jobs, containers and breakbulk consignments. It can now offer door-to-door logistics supply chains in the region through its logistics centres and partnership agreements.
RPL's newly formed partnership with Sohatram allows it to deliver project logistics services between Tunisia, Libya and Algeria.
Tobias Ko?nig, md of RPL, expects the demand for logistics services to rise in the Maghreb region in the wake of the Arab Spring: "We've been looking for a reliable partner there for a long time and have now found a company in the shape of Sohatram, which has specific local knowledge, excellent capacities and meets our high Western European standards when it comes to handling transport chains."
The partnership allows Rhenus to makes use of Sohatram's fleet of including multi-axle desert vehicles with a payload capacity of 100 tonnes, heavy-duty transportation equipment, 500-tonne lifting capacity mobile cranes, as well as its storage space and warehousing facilities.
Sohatram is certified according to ISO 9001-V2008 and has been accredited according to the OHSAS 18001 occupational health and safety management system since 2010.
RPL and Sohatram have already successfully completed their first joint shipment of containers from Turkey to Tunisia.
