Louis Dreyfus Ports and Logistics (LDPL), subsidiary of Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, has always been at the forefront of pioneering and innovative developments across various regions, including Latin America.
LDPL’s story in South America began in the early 1990s when Colombia was looking for a solution to increase the coal exports from Cerrejon, a large open-pit coal mine in the northern part of the country, next to the coast. LDPL at that time found a way to load Capesize vessels around Santa Marta Bay, where there was no existing infrastructure to handle such large vessels, carrying cargo coming from mines located in the middle of the country.
The success story of a big revenue for the country started with two floating cranes, a fleet of barges-tugs convoys and lots of lorries bringing coal from mines 300km away. During more than 15 years of operation, LDPL’s operations in Colombia reached an annual throughput of 20 million tonnes, with most of this involving loading into Capesize vessels for different clients like Glencore and Vale among others, with a total fleet of eight floating cranes, 24/7 hours operation and 140 permanent employees.
A trainee programme was developed by LDPL to train local operators and technicians to achieve the required level of skills to perform each vessel loading at the highest level of safety and with peaks of more than 50,000 net tonnes per day. Those programmes were successfully discussed and developed jointly with local unions and government entities with the support from them and all concerned stakeholders.
The model was later reproduced in the Dominican Republic as well in other countries all over the world like, more recently, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, India, Guinea and UAE among others.
LDPL’s operating into a country involves more than just bringing technology and operational expertise. It also looks at how to improve the quality of life in the area of operations. In Colombia, where the region was particularly touched by poverty and malnutrition, LDPL participated in a project led by a local foundation and the humanitarian organization Children International to build a community centre that provided education, health and social care to thousands of children aged 3–18 years.
Today, LDPL is fully committed to contributing to the global net zero targets worldwide and is leveraging its extensive experience in developing offshore logistics solutions to help various countries in the area building their own road map around hydrogen and ammonia. These initiatives include FRESH (Floating Renewable Energy Solution for Hydrogen), LDPL’s bespoke innovation to store and supply green energy (hydrogen and ammonia) to ships offshore, communities and industries with no land usage, no construction, no waste or discharge and risk-free operation for inhabited areas.
Recently, LDPL participated in the panel discussion: “Industrial solutions for Hydrogen” during the launch of the H2 Tour Colombia.
ABOUT LOUIS DREYFUS PORTS AND LOGISTICS (LDPL)
Louis Dreyfus Ports and Logistics is the Louis Dreyfus Armateurs’ (LDA) specialist subsidiary for all Logistics and Port Operations. Offering its clients tailor-made industrial maritime solutions for iron ore, coal, bauxite, grain and other materials, LDPL focuses on offering a one-stop solution, from the mining site to the end users, with an expertise that covers the entire maritime value chain from port operations, barging, transshipment and shipping.
Having run during over 30 years several different projects in different continents, LDPL can provide clients with technical advice and marine solutions that can meet complex challenges, thus making a real difference.
Corporate responsibility is always priorit ized as a primary business objective in all LDPL’s ventures, encompassing its ability to address the challenges of design ing efficient transport solutions, build durable trade solutions, and lead resources and energy supply in an environ mentally friendly and responsible manner.