OTAL wins prestigious Shipping Line award for the second year

OT Africa Line (OTAL) has won the award for Shipping Line of the Year for the second year running at the IFW Freighting Industry Awards 2001. The award, sponsored by Freightliner, was presented to Bart Foley, OTAL's Deputy Managing Director, at a gala dinner attended by over 700 industry representatives and celebrity guests including TV personality, Clive Anderson. The ceremony took place on 12 March 2001 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

Competing against a record number of entrants this year, OTAL was shortlisted alongside MOL and TMM Line and scooped the highly regarded prize due to a number of key factors, as explained by the panel of industry judges:

"OTAL was announced the winner due to maintaining exemplary sailing schedules and conducting reliable operations against the backdrop of an extremely difficult and turbulent trade. OTAL operates in a difficult market and is exposed to complex political situations, yet was able to provide detailed evidence that it had retained its service reliability last year.

"For its size, OTAL also puts a lot of effort into commercial and political lobbying in an attempt to improve the overall shipping environment in West Africa. Last year it participated in ministerial missions to Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Cameroon, where issues such as trade protectionism, terminal privatisation and port congestion were discussed. A customer focus programme between line and agency offices was introduced last year to improve quality assurance."

As Paul Page, OTAL's Marketing Manager, explains:

"OTAL is extremely pleased and honoured to have won this award again and to have attained recognition from such a high-profile publication and eminent array of judges. Clearly there is a vital place in the industry for the more modest-sized and accessible niche carriers such as the type we represent.
"We serve an extremely varied and demanding customer base traversing the African trading, agro-forestry, process mining, energy, oil and gas, project construction and manufacturing sectors. Given the often extreme circumstances of our customers' businesses and markets, we have to be agile and responsive when it comes to looking after their interests. We have a very proud record here and are very pleased that two successive IFW Awards have recognised that."

International Freighting Weekly (IFW), part of the Informa publishing group, has hosted these awards on an annual basis since 1996. The awards highlight standards of exemplary practice and serve as public acknowledgement of innovation, technical development and customer service across the international freight and logistics industry.

A photograph of the OTAL team with its award can be downloaded from the Dunelm PR website at: www.dunelmpr.co.uk. By clicking on the Photo Gallery option, followed by the OTAL Logo, you will be taken to a page of thumbnail images. Click on the image you would like to download and follow the instructions.

The caption for this photograph reads:

"OTAL wins the award for Shipping Line of the Year at the IFW Freighting Industry Awards 2001. Pictured are members of OTAL personnel with the prize, from L-R: Rami Ranger, Spencer Stocker, Martin Roebuck (IFW Editor) Victoria Diez Clemente, Bart Foley, Kevin Smythe, Paul Page and Ray Perkins."