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UAL completed the inaugural call at the Oko West private dock in Guyana this month, using a ship-to-ship transshipment operation to deliver heavy generators to a remote mining site, marking the first revenue cargo under its Caribbean Shuttle service and demonstrating how shallow-draft multipurpose vessels can bypass conventional port infrastructure entirely.
The operation, carried out by the mv UAL Transporter, involved discharging the generators directly via the vessel’s bow ramp onto a secondary vessel or landing platform at the private dock. The bow ramp approach, which requires no crane-equipped terminal, allowed the cargo to reach a site where standard port facilities are absent.
Mining Logistics Drive the First Deployment
The shipment was destined for remote mining operations in Guyana, a country experiencing rapid resource sector growth driven by offshore oil discoveries and expanding inland extraction activity. Mining sites in the country’s interior frequently lack access to established port infrastructure, making last-mile delivery a persistent logistical challenge for equipment suppliers and project cargo operators.
The generators were transported as part of UAL’s newly launched Caribbean Shuttle, a fixed-schedule short-sea service connecting Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname. The service accepts containers, roll-on/roll-off cargo, breakbulk, and project cargo on a single loop, allowing consolidation of cargo types that would ordinarily require separate specialist services.
Martijn Hordijk, a UAL representative, said the result confirmed the rationale behind the shuttle’s design. “The combination of fixed regional schedules, multipurpose cargo capability, and ramp discharge operations creates solutions for locations where traditional liner services cannot operate,” he stated.
Landing Craft Design Enables Ramp Discharge
The UAL Transporter is built on a landing craft hull, a vessel type designed for beaching or shallow water operations. Its shallow draft allows the ship to approach shores and private docks that deep-draft conventional vessels cannot safely enter. The bow ramp enables direct cargo transfer without overhead lifting equipment, reducing the ground infrastructure requirements at the receiving site to near zero.
This design has historically been used in military and humanitarian logistics but is increasingly applied in commercial project cargo delivery to frontier markets where port investment lags behind industrial demand.
The Oko West private dock call represents a specific application of ship-to-ship transshipment, a method in which cargo is transferred between vessels mid-route or at an intermediate point rather than over a standard terminal quay. In this case, the method allowed cargo originating from a conventional port call to be repositioned for final delivery at a site outside the commercial port network.
Caribbean Corridor Targets Infrastructure Gaps
UAL, a Netherlands-based privately owned operator with over 50 years of multipurpose liner experience, launched the Caribbean Shuttle to address what it characterizes as underserved connectivity between Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname. The three countries sit along the northeastern coast of South America and share trade links with both North Atlantic and intra-regional routes.
Guyana in particular has attracted growing project cargo volumes since the start of commercial oil production, which began in 2019 and has since scaled significantly. Equipment destined for offshore platforms and inland mining operations typically arrives via the main commercial port at Georgetown, but sites beyond the road network require alternative delivery methods.
The Caribbean Shuttle operates on fixed schedules, a feature UAL says differentiates it from spot-market or tramp shipping arrangements that can introduce uncertainty for project timelines. The multipurpose capability of the UAL Transporter allows a single vessel call to serve several cargo categories, reducing the cost per unit for shippers with mixed freight needs.
The Oko West call is the first confirmed operational milestone under the shuttle service and establishes a precedent for ramp discharge at private facilities along the Guyanese coast.
