Maersk’s two new rainbow-colored containers delivered more than 36,000 pounds of bottled water, nonperishable food and emergency supplies collected for distribution to people affected by Hurricane Laura in the Lake Charles, Louisiana, area.
Maersk said the Pride containers reflect the company’s dedication to diversity and inclusion. In addition to the use of the containers, Maersk and APM Terminals donated all services connected with the relief effort, including collection, consolidation and trucking.
APM Terminals Mobile, the Alabama State Port Authority, Maersk Special Project Logistics and Team Rubicon worked together to collect the goods. The supplies were loaded at APM Terminals Mobile in Alabama and then delivered to Lake Charles on Saturday.
Maersk Special Project Logistics has a global partnership with Team Rubicon for emergency response logistics. Based in Los Angeles, Team Rubicon is a volunteer organization that provides disaster response, humanitarian aid and emergency services around the globe and leverages the unique skill sets of military veterans and first responders.
“This was a group effort and all of these partners pulled together to get the relief supplies to where they were needed,” said Robin Townley, head of Maersk Special Project Logistics in Washington.
Hurricane Laura made landfall Aug. 26 on Louisiana’s southwestern Gulf Coast and killed a reported 25 people. Kathy Fulton, executive director of the American Logistics Aid Network, told FreightWaves on Wednesday that the media focus has moved on from the Gulf Coast but donations still are very much needed.
Fulton said damage from the hurricane has been pegged at $8 billion to $12 billion and that about 125,000 area residents remain without power and more than 22,000 people are living in hotel rooms that have been turned into shelters.
Brian Harold, managing director of APM Terminals Mobile, said his team was glad to help those impacted by Hurricane Laura.
“As part of the Gulf community, everyone at APM Terminals Mobile was happy to pitch in and offer assistance to our friends and neighbors in Louisiana,” Harold said.
In addition to its humanitarian and diversity efforts, Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping line, is committed to a world with net-zero emissions. In July it announced the launch of Transform to Net Zero with Danone, Mercedes-Benz AG, Microsoft Corp., Natura &Co., Nike Inc., Starbucks, Unilever and Wipro.
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Click for more American Shipper/FreightWaves stories by Senior Editor Kim Link-Wills.