COVID-19 – How Maersk’s air charter solutions helped Red One Medical deliver PPE to North America

The Customer

Red One Medical is a private sector scout of medical innovation for the US Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense. As a certified Service- Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), the company provides advanced medical and pharmaceutical technologies that improve patient care for veterans.

The Challenge

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems faced an unprecedented surge in demand for Protective Personal Equipment (PPE). Sourcing quality products became a daunting task. Red One had relationships with suppliers and was able to source PPE, but the company’s primary clients are US government agencies, which are typically not allowed to source products outside of the US. However, given the exceptional circumstances, it was crucial to consider procuring from international manufacturers. Red One found it quickly needed to find partners like Maersk that were immersed in the world of international trade regulations. Red One was also looking at procuring PPE for a totally new market – the government of Alberta, Canada. Despite all of these challenges, Red One was committed to maintaining trust, integrity and transparency, having worked so hard to be a dependable partner to its customers.

The Complication

• There was an urgent requirement for delivery in a logistically challenged and fractured infrastructure.
• The strict regulatory measures that normally surround the sale of PPE were suddenly extremely flexible, creating confusion and misinformation in the market.
• Customs clearance requirements changed almost hourly, making it difficult for well-intentioned sellers to meet expectations.
• Red One wanted to confidently deliver products to North America, but had no reliable strategy to get products to their customers once they arrived.

For Red One, it was critical to understand exactly what could and could not be done. Whether the company was sourcing isolations gowns, 3-ply surgical masks, non-medical disposable filtering facepieces, or COVID-19 serology tests, it was imperative to know the facts, or partner closely with those who did.

The Solution

Maersk Special Projects^*, which specializes in project and on-demand transport solutions, is extremely well positioned for the COVID-19 emergency PPE logistics support. With decades of experience working with governments and supporting contractors in disaster relief situations, the team is familiar with the specific requirements for these types of client base and the level of support needed to successfully execute delivery of critical items to citizens in need. In the same day that Red One reached out to Maersk Special Projects, the team brought a response to their challenges and created a customized multiple air charter solution, with full end-to-end management of logistics operations

• Arrangement of air charters, including 3 Antonov-124 flights, the second largest cargo aircraft in the world
• Direct communication with Red One’s manufacturers to schedule pick-up/ drop-off, handle all the palletization and build up for transit.
• Implementation of a control tower across China, the US, Canada and Denmark to oversee the execution, coordinate with different parties and provide real-time tracking to Red One’s customers
• Management of shipping documents, customs clearance and last mile delivery

The Result

• 4x air charters
• ~32 million face masks
• ~3 million isolation gowns

The leadership team at Red One Medical summarizes their experience in these words: “Simply put, Maersk made us look good and brought a great deal of ease to an extremely difficult process. Sourcing products is easy, but getting those products to customers in a white glove manner is a different thing altogether. Maersk Special Projects is the main reason we were successful in delivering meaningful inventories time and time again. Our credibility was enhanced by the experience and knowledge they brought to the table. Ultimately, our customers were satisfied and relieved to secure much-needed PPE during the pandemic.”

^*Maersk Special Projects is now known as Maersk Project Logistics.