Sea vs. air for pharma: more sustainable, more challenges

BOSTON — Though shipping cold chain pharmaceuticals via ocean creates less CO2 than shipping by air, switching to ocean from air — which is the predominant method for cold chain pharmaceuticals — requires collaboration, training and understanding the cargo. [caption id="attachment_57138545" align="alignright" width="300"] John Wirthlin, right, moderates a panel discussion on the merits of sea freight vs. airfreight with panelists, from left, Ed Ram, Robert Squires and Hiroki Asai at LogiPharma 2023 in Boston. (Photo/Yael Katzwer)[/caption] Panelists discussed the merits and challenges of switching from air to sea and laid out the many challenges at the LogiPharma 2023 event today. “We’ll all be more efficient [by switching to ocean], because, you know, ocean is a tenth the CO2 use as air and significantly less cost,” said panelist Robert Squires , director of launch, network strategy and biologics at AstraZeneca . “It can meet our CO2 goals . It’s the way we have to go.” AstraZeneca has been increasing its use of sea freight but primarily uses ocean for pharmaceuticals that don’t require cold chain considerations. About 65% of AstraZeneca’s cargo is shipped by ocean, but very little of that is cold chain cargo, Squires said. “Most recently, as we’re looking at our operational process performance and our sustainability efforts, [we’re] really looking at how can we better utilize ocean versus air, and especially with our cold chain products,” Squires said. Large vs. small shipments For ocean shipping to be cost-effective, shippers must make large shipments, especially for cold chain pharmaceuticals. “Temperature-controlled ocean containers are definitely a minority of the containers out there,” said panelist Ed Ram , senior director of supply chain at Sagent Pharmaceuticals . Ten years ago, 20-foot sea containers, which could carry 10 pallets, were the norm and it was common to fill them 80% or 90% with eight or nine pallets, Ram said. “In recent years though, getting a 20-foot refrigerated container is next to impossible,” he said. The norm is now 40-foot containers, meaning at least 16 pallets are required to reach 80%. “Now we’ve got to look at the production schedule and our expected release period of those batches, and see how long we’re going to have to wait until we can get past that 16-pallet mark,” Ram said. “That delay of two to three weeks helps us to get over that 16-pallet mark. … We’ve had to match up and introduce delays.” One option to alleviate delays is to consolidate shipments. Squires said AstraZeneca will sometimes bundle shipments that have temperature requirements with overlapping windows and the company is looking into consolidation partnerships with other pharmaceutical companies. “We’re very actively interested in: Can we consolidate shipments with other pharma companies shipping in those same lanes?” Squires said. “Consolidating the load at origin isn’t as much of a challenge as deconsolidating the load at destination, but we are currently working through those issues, and we hope in the future to do more collaboration.” Another concern is that those within the temperature-controlled pharmaceutical supply chain are less familiar with ocean, creating inefficiency and confusion. “These [people] may not be familiar with, well, how do you pack an ocean container?” said panelist Hiroki Asai , assistant director of warehouse and logistics at BioNTech . Creating standard operating procedures and training can mitigate this issue, he said. “I myself like to get into the nitty-gritty of the details, like, how long does it sit in the container yard?” Asai said. “How long is it unplugged for and what’s the time it takes to get loaded onto a ship and then plugged in as well?” Sometimes air makes more sense But, while switching to sea may be more sustainable, it is not right for every shipment, Ram cautioned. “Don’t rule out air,” he said. “There’s times when you look at the sea-air equation, that air does make sense. And the thing is, to know what you’re shipping. So, if you've got a small CMO [contract manufacturing organization], and they only make a batch of 3 pounds for you once every three months, there’s no way you’re going to be able to ship by sea. So, you’re going to have to use air because it’s much more cost-effective.” Air shipments are also less susceptible to theft , Ram said. “Between the [shipment’s] location and getting to the outbound port [for sea, the risk of] theft is uncomfortably high,” he said. “And by flying it out of the airport near where it’s being manufactured, we remove that death threat. So again, don’t necessarily rule out air, just make an intelligent decision when you use it.”

Sea vs. air for pharma: more sustainable, more challenges

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