January, 2009 - For Trans Ocean moving wine is no laughing matter, but the opportunity to participate in the transport of the first-ever wines to benefit the Comic Relief Charity was not to be missed. When the SAAM Mountain Vineyard in the South African region of Paarl provided quantities of their 2008 vintages at cost; the challenge was to transport the wines to the UK in the most cost efficient, environmentally friendly manner possible without affecting quality.
The Trans Ocean¹ manufactured VinBulk™ flexitanks were packed with the wine in 20ft containers lined with VinLiner™, which protects liquid from temperature fluctuations, contamination risks and other harmful effects of long distance transport. Wine shipped in bulk makes significant savings in carbon emissions from transport compared to shipping bottles because a much greater volume can be shipped in the same size container. One container of bulk wine can hold 24,000 litres of wine. To ship the same quantity of bottled wine requires over two containers – doubling costs and carbon emissions.
Discounted freight rates from South Africa to the UK were taken advantage of and once in the UK, the wine was moved from Tilbury by train to Liverpool and then taken the short distance by road to the bottling plant. These crucial steps avoided long distance road transport, which is comparatively more costly, more harmful to the environment and causes significant congestion to the UK’s road infrastructure. Here the wine was discharged into lightweight, clear glass which is less costly to distribute and more easily recycled than heavy green glass. In total, Trans Ocean helped cut carbon emissions by 1,276 tonnes, compared to traditional methods.
£1 from every Red Nose Red and Red Nose White will go to Comic Relief to help extremely poor and disadvantaged people in Africa and the UK. Wine Relief has to date raised over £2.7 million as part of the Red Nose Day campaigns.
Trans Ocean was proud to be a part of this project since the wines serve as such positive adverts for sustainable wine practices.
t see more on our involvement in this project, along with a movie showing the journey made by the Red Nose Wine, click here.
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¹(part of the JF Hillebrand Group)