Shipping Critical Blood Plasma Protein from Belgium to India

CEVA Logistics leveraged specialized containers to ensure proper temperature control of the high-value goods, maintaining a temperature of -35°C for the duration of the shipment.

3/7/2025

PROJECT OVERVIEW

When it comes to logistics for the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors, ensuring the safe transport of highly sensitive and valuable commodities is critical. Recently, CEVA Logistics successfully completed an important shipment of protein extracted from blood plasma for a leading biotech company in India. The shipment traveled approximately 12,000 nautical miles from Antwerp, Belgium to its final destination of Nhava Sheva, India. The protein extracted from blood plasma is an essential raw material used in the production of life-saving medicines such as biosimilars for cancer, diabetes, and more.

Our customer’s business challenges 

The shipment, originating in Antwerp, Belgium with consignee in India, posed several significant challenges:

Specialized Temperature Requirements: While this kind of protein generally requires storage temperatures below -25°C, this particular shipment required storage at an even lower temperature of -35°C.

Commodity Value: Each container carried a value exceeding $20 million USD, leaving no room for error. Furthermore, biomedical shipments pose complex (re)collection processes from blood doners, so there is no room for error.

Limited Supply of Reefer Containers: The shipment required specialized reefer containers capable of achieving and maintaining a temperature of -35°C throughout the duration of its journey. These specialized containers are uncommon and were booked well in advance to ensure availability.

SOLUTION

To meet the stringent temperature requirements of the fragile shipment, CEVA utilized two 40-foot specialized reefer containers, capable of maintaining -35°C for the duration of the transport. Each container weighed approximately 10 tons. These state-of-the-art containers provide critical data including real-time temperature monitoring and real-time location tracking. Advance booking ensured the availability of these limited containers for the shipment’s timeframe.

The CEVA Logistics team created full end-to-end visibility for this important shipment, continuously monitoring from origin to destination. This real-time tracking provided updates on the container’s location and temperature, guaranteeing compliance with the required conditions.