Mrs. Mahy Tousson, Managing Director of MOVA Transportation & Oil Services, Drexel Oilfield Equipment (Egypt), states that MOVA will start offering global freight forwarding services, airfreight as well as seafreight to and from Egypt within the next coming weeks.

1-Being in the market since 1976 and after operating solely in the transportation and heavy lifting domain in the oil and gas sector in 1996, what are the developments that MOVA has done along this period?
MOVA started out only providing transportation and craneages services and has since added other logistics services to its scope including freight forwading, rig moves, warehousing and logistics project management. 

Logistics project management is now the key service meaning complete management of all logistics related to one project from the beginning and till the very end which adds very high value to any oil and gas project.  This includes planning for the logistics operations including setting clear procedures and assigning accountability, executing these procedures and evaluating our own performance in terms of HSE standards, target time frames and cost effectiveness.

As you may already know, MOVA is part of the Sahara Group of companies. In Q3 2009, MOVA has joined management with its sister company – Drexel Oilfield Equipment.  Drexel are long-time providers of company representation services and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) including project management and logistical Support. 

2-What are the achievements that you have accomplished so far?
Since introducing the new management in 2009, MOVA has undergone a major facelift with a new head office in New Maadi, ISO 9001: 2008 certification and updated HSE procedures and personnel. MOVA’s vehicles have also had rigorous inspections and recertifications and an intensive training plan has been put in place for our drivers, operators and staff.

With regards to service scope expansion, we have now introduced rig moves to our scope and have secured a contract with one of the largest drilling companies in Egypt
In addition to this drilling company, during 2009 MOVA has also secured contracts with five other clients including major joint venture operators.

3-Did the economic crisis affect MOVA’s investment and activity in the market?
And if yes to what extent did they get affected?
Of course the economic crisis has affected everyone on some level. It reduced foreign investment, drilling and special projects has caused delays in some projects/contracts and some have been cancelled all together. However, I think the effect on MOVA has been relatively minimal and indirect.  Firstly, this is because the types of services that MOVA provides are indispensable and secondly because MOVA is very flexible in adding new services to comply with the changing market needs.

4-What are your expectations for the logistics sector in the oil and gas sector in Egypt in 2010?
As it was mentioned previously that everyone is suffering from the economic crisis to some extent but my expectations for the logistics sector is that it will maintain relatively stable. The current recession will most likely weed out the weaker companies and leave the transportation and logistics market with fewer but stronger service providers.

5-Do you think the Egyptian market is creating a suitable environment for investment in the logistics sector in oil and gas?
Yes, I think the relevant parties are making a significant effort to stabilize the sector. There have been a few reductions in customs duties on imported tractors and other vehicles which of course encourages new equipment acquisition.  The Ministry’s approval of over a dozen new exploration agreements last year is also supportive. Needless to say, the more operations there are, the greater the economic justification for investments. 

6- It is our understanding that health and safety is a very big client concern when it comes to transportation and logistics companies. What efforts are you making in this direction?
MOVA currently operates under an occupational health and safety management system that is in conformance with the BS EN ISO 9001:2008 standard with a very strong commitment from upper level management to the highest HSE standards and accident prevention. All MOVA equipment is certified or in the process and all MOVA staff including drivers attend regular safety training courses, safety meetings and are audited regularly. 

7-Do you consider increasing your offered services in the coming period?
Within weeks, MOVA will start offering global freight forwarding services; airfreight and seafreight to and from Egypt from any point of origin/destination.   We are also adding customs clearance to our scope of services in Egypt.  These two services have already been legally added to MOVA’s licensed and we expect to commence with these very shortly. 

8- Is MOVA considering any additional investments in 2010?  ?
We are considering increasing our investments to cover the addition of new equipment to our fleet to serve the five new contracts and the future expected contracts as well. Since our clients’ operations are spread out all over the country, we are also planning to increase the number of facilitiesbases in order to be more geographically diverse to meet the clients’ needs more efficiently .

9- We knew that there will be future plans of integration with Drexel ?what are the projects that you will carry out?
Our plan is to join forces to bring a new concept to the Egyptian market: optimal logistics solutions. We believe that with Drexel’s management experience and MOVA’s capabilities, we can offer the Egyptian market comprehensive and integrated BPO from human resources, to procurement, supply chain, general & administrative services and the full gamut of logistics services.

10-What are the other companies that you are considering to deal with?
We have recently approached and held discussions with several multi-national companies in the oil and gas sector and we expect new agreements for transportation and heavy lifting to be signed with these clients within 2010. 

It’s known in the Egyptian market that most transportation and logistics companies are known to be relatively small-scale companies. MOVA and Drexel however are now taking these types of services to a different level.

By  Christine Nabil