BIFA Awards
apparent who’s in charge.” In the case of the return leg from Lerwick, Hepburn continued: “We had bad weather that made it unsafe to move, so we had to cancel the police escort. With no guarantees of either a good weather window or availability of the right officers during that window, it’s always a risk. “The police are very good and work with us, but we generally try to keep off the roads as much as possible.” That’s exactly the approach DFDS took in this instance. Local knowledge was key to its success, as the company sourced a small multipurpose workboat and mobile crane to complete the return of the PAUs, involving six crane setups, six shortsea voyages, three vessel crew, six crane crew, two truck drivers and one ops controller. “We knew we could do this and we knew how to do it,” Hepburn said. For instance: “We knew which boats were available, and we know the people at the port authorities [Lerwick Port and the Shetland Islands Council, which manages the other ports].” The timescale for the project was tight. Lift plans and other preparations had to be completed quickly – and a further challenge arose when the selected boat lost power while en route. Fortunately, the crew repaired the vessel as it drifted and the project was completed on time. Satisfying work This was an expensive job, Hepburn conceded, even before the decision to switch from road to sea transport. He explained: “There was a lot of cost, because there were lots of variables, so we decided to do this job for a fixed price.” This protected the customer from any extra cost volatility risk and ensured DFDS delivered within the tolerances of the end client. Looking back, Hepburn concluded: “It’s very satisfying to do this sort of work. Nothing is worth anything if it’s not where it’s meant to be at the right time. We have the ideas, the contacts, the ability and the knowledge – and we really want to help. We even did an extra lift, onshore, for our customer. It’s a real joy when the work is done.”
DFDS sourced a small multipurpose workboat and mobile crane to complete the return of the PAUs
No roads? No problem...
When newly installed pre-assembled units off Shetland needed urgent repair, DFDS stepped in – adapting to challenges on land and at sea to deliver on time for its client, and scooping this year’s BIFA Project Forwarding Award , too
I n late 2024, DFDS Shetland partnered with another forwarder to help a marine company transport three de fi cient pre-assembled units (PAUs) from Shetland to Aberdeen harbour on the Scottish mainland for repair. The size of the PAUs required complete road closures between Sullom Voe Oil Terminal and Lerwick Harbour on Shetland, as well as a police escort. Complicating factors Further complicating matters, a change in Scotland Police policy means specific traffic officers must now be deployed to escort wide loads, and there are no such officers on the island. Instead, project forwarders must bring in UK mainland-based officers to perform any wide load road escort on Shetland as overtime. The outbound leg of the move went to plan. However, Bryan Hepburn, DFDS operations
The road transport leg (above) with Bryan Hepburn inset
manager – Shetland, pointed out: “Timing is difficult. There’s not a lot of land here; we’re basically just a mountain ridge in the middle of the sea, so we’re at the mercy of the weather – and it’s very
Project Forwarding Award
BT is proud to be a sponsor of this BIFA award, having been engaged in the industry for more than four decades, powering theair community as its
system provider. Bringing innovation and digitalisation to air cargo, it understands the value its users bring to moving freight across the globe, some of which form special projects with innovative solutions that exceed customers’ expectations.
18 | June 2026
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