Navigomes has been involved several times in the past with transports for the Portuguese Armed Forces.

This time, Navigomes was the sole company to respond timely to the urgent request of the Portuguese Ministry of Defence for the transport of 70 tons of military cargo from Lisbon to Baucau, East Timor, following United Nations Security Council resolution dated 25th May.

In less than one day Navigomes was able to secure one An124 from Antonov Airlines to load on the required date a cargo consisting of 20 military vehicles (armoured, all-terrain, pick-ups) laden with all sorts of equipment, including 16 tons of ammunition.

The story, however, goes back in time a few days: - other forwarder (a multinational) proposed a solution for both transports involved: -120 passengers and 70 tons of cargo, while Navigomes quoted only for the transportation of cargo, stating that time frame (3 hours on a Friday afternoon) was too short to quote for an Airbus or similar craft.

In view of the urgency, Ministry of Defence decided to award both contracts to the referred multinational. Well, on the day the aircrafts were supposed to land in Lisbon (approx. five days after the tender), none showed up (!), leaving Portuguese Government in a very delicate position, in view of their commitments with the East Timor Government and the United Nations. I was then called for an urgent meeting in the MoD at 15h00. With regards to the passengers, I suggested the Government to call TAP and other national operators, instead of searching in the international market. Portuguese charter operators responded quickly and a national Lockheed Tristar was made available for the following day.

With regards to the cargo, AirFoyle HeavyLift promptly investigated their fleet position and suggested one An124 to load in Lisbon four days later.

In view of the type of cargo, over flight permits were mandatory for most of the 16 countries enroute. In a record time of less than four days (including a weekend) the Portuguese embassies have managed to obtain all necessary permits. Aircraft departed on time, having had to perform two technical stops, in Bahrain and Bangkok, flying most of the time during the night to avoid the high temperatures, having arrived Baucau, East Timor, precisely according to schedule. Baucau airport hasn’t been used for the past 18 months, when the UN were controlling it, and has no navaids nor equipment. The Antonov have had therefore to land with daylight.

Three years ago Navigomes transported the same forces, 130 men and approx. 20 tons of cargo in an Airbus A330, from Lisbon to Kuwait City, from where they continued by road to Nasiryah, in Iraq.

more info: Navigomes in The Heavy Lift Directory

also:

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NAVIGOMES ...IN ACTION!

THE TRANSPORT OF A FERRULE

THE TRANSPORT OF A TURBINE

SHIPMENT OF U.N. CARGO TO TIMOR LOROSAE

Navigomes ship locomotives to Casablanca

Military equipment - Portugal / Kosovo

Heaters from Portugal to Romania

Heaters from North Portugal to a Dutch refinery

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Transport of a radiant module

NAVIGOMES TRANSPORTS PORTUGUESE ARMED FORCES` VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT FROM KOSOVO

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