Bhagwan Marine barge operation helps with Dampier-Broome leg
Western Australian transport firm Centurion has revealed details of how it beat recent northern Australian floods, with the help of customers and a vessel operating firm.
The impact of tropical cyclones Joyce and Kelvin, combined with a severe storm, drenched the Kimberley in January and February, isolating people in towns including Broome, Derby and Halls Creek from the south of the state.
Working with its large retail supermarket customers and Bhagwan Marine, Centurion commissioned a barge and redirected road freight through the ports of Dampier and Broome.
Centurion says it loaded seven refrigerated trailers on to a barge at Dampier port to arrive in Broome two days later and then used its local fleet to distribute the goods to the supermarkets.
This process was repeated at the end of February when Broome was hit again.
As part of its strategies to ensure its supply routes to the Kimberley remained open, Centurion also begun redirected road freight bound for Kununurra through Port Augusta and Katherine South.
Redirecting freight via this route is 2,095 kilometres and 24 hours longer.
“As a Western Australian company with a strong connection to the regions, we looked at a number of options to ensure vital food supplies got through to the local communities,” Centurion CEO Justin Cardaci says.
“The damage to road infrastructure was significant and we anticipated that the roads would be impassable in the region for some time.
“Our main concern was ensuring we get food to the area and with the road network impassable, the sea was the only other viable option to move large quantities of produce.
“We worked with our major supermarket customers to look at the best solutions to move their freight to the Kimberley.”
Bhagwan, a company that has more than 650 staff and a fleet of more than 150 vessels and marine assets, also recently saluted the effort.
“Centurion Transport reached out to Bhagwan Marine for assistance and via one of our Landing Craft, the ‘Bhagwan Mover’, we loaded seven refrigerated trailers onto the barge at Dampier port and transported them to Broome,” the company, better known for servicing the oil & gas, resources, port services, towage and construction industries, says.