High Relo in Korea has provided a specialist ‘white gloves’ service for the Italian Olympic Committee for moving goods to Pyeongchang for this year’s winter Olympics.
The company stepped in with very little time to spare as deadlines came close and the chosen contractor was unable to provide the service required.
At the Rio Olympic Games the Italian Olympic Committee used DHL for their logistic needs, however, this had only been a door-to-(outside) door service with the Olympic committee doing the unpacking themselves. They had great difficulty reassembling the furniture which caused chaos at the time.
For the Winter Olympics they planned to use Hanjin Transportation as their official freight forwarder in Korea. Unfortunately, their booked carrier Hapag Lloyd’s vessel skipped a sailing and its arrival at Busan port was not expected until 5 February. Considering the clearance process and the inland haulage, it was unlikely that the goods would arrive by the opening ceremony on 9 February. So, they contacted Bright Yoon at High Relo for a solution.
“I suggested they convert all surface shipments, 3 x 40’ HC containers, into air shipments when the vessel arrived in Singapore,” said Bright. Bright appointed The Family Movers in Singapore to handle the job: Jenne Fung and one other member of staff worked all weekend to supervise the transfer of the shipment. The complete consignment arrived in Korea on 31 January with delivery to Pyeongchang by 6 February.
“During the delivery our crews had to work in -17°C but it felt even colder because of the wind chill,” said Bright. “They were really struggling, even though they were wearing uniforms and ear muffs.”
The furniture included unique works of great artistic value. All the items were of different shapes and sizes, including an octopus-shaped sofa and a clothes peg-shaped bench. “Even the designer of the furniture had a hard time reading the assembly drawing,” said Bright. With hard work and a large element of skill, however, the chaps from High Relo got the job done in time for the opening night. “Though this project required us to work long days, it was very rewarding.”
Photos: Top: High Relo Supervisor Mr Hyun J.I; middle right: Giovanni Malago, Current President of the Italian National Olympic Committee with Jay Yoon.