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The collaboration demonstrates that ocean freight can safely transport temperature-sensitive medicines, offering the pharma industry a cost-effective, sustainable alternative to air cargo.
Cold Chain Technologies (CCT), a company specializing in temperature-controlled packaging, has been heavily involved in a project that sought to prove the practicality of ocean freight, particularly for pharma shipments deemed high value and temperature-sensitive.1
Alongside Kuehne + Nagel and Teva Pharmaceuticals, the project confirmed that sea freight provides both an economical and sustainable alternative to one’s standard air cargo choice.
It began with transporting temperature-sensitive meds along a sea route from Germany to Australia—described as being one of the world’s “most demanding.” Before this can be done however, the involved parties had to figure out the proper ways to meet the quality and compliance requirements, especially over a longer time frame and distance. Such factors needed to be thoroughly tested live as opposed to a digital simulation.
This is where Kuehne + Nagel and Teva came in. They designed to a demanding testing process that would be able to prepare shipments for the rigors of the sea route by preparing for all variables imaginable.
“This is a long journey with significant seasonal and temperature variations, which meant that a successful test would allow us to qualify many lanes in a single study,” said Judineth Miranda, senior director and key account manager of healthcare with Kuehne + Nagel.
The involved parties initially used traditional thermal covers alongside active containers but soon recognized the need for enhanced protection due to the growing rise of power outages happening at sea in recent years. For that reason, they decided to test CCT’s Enshield passive thermal blanket, the company proprietary product.
With the help of a leakproof Koolit Advanced gel, a form-stable PCM that doesn’t turn to liquid, the package ended up arrived to its destination unharmed.
“Traditional blankets are flawed because once hot air gets inside, it can get trapped. Enshield is designed to keep products within 2 and 8°C– if the temperature rises above or falls below that, the phase-change material slows down the thermal exchange to keep things balanced and consistent,” noted Kristian Williams, senior director of sales, EMEA & APAC, at Cold Chain Technologies.
The ship departed Germany in November 2023, and it was expected to arrive at Australia’s Sydney Harbor in about 60 days, but unpredicted conditions set in—including the Suez Canal closing due to rise in risk to ocean vessel—causing it to arrive 10 days behind schedule.
“Pretty much everything that could go wrong did so, in terms of putting pressure on the integrity of the cargo,” confirmed Fabian Reitmeier, Teva Logistics’ project manager of logistics integrity.
Despite the issues, the target temperature range of 2-8°C remained intact over the 10 weeks of transit. Temperature loggers that were ready to go caught two minor spikes in temperature, but they were still considered safe to use by patients.
CCT has been making various moves2 as of late, particularly by enhancing its APAC presence through strategic investments and partnerships, building on acquisitions like Tower Cold Chain and GCCS. In Japan for instance, CCT opened a new hub in Tokyo, while appointing Hubnet as its distributor, which is taking on the company’s reusable pallet line.
Even in Australia and India, Cold Chain Technologies is in the process of rebranding its regional operations as CCT Australia and CCT India respectively, expanding upon the momentum that GCCS created.
References
1. Saraceno N. Cold Chain Technologies Enables Sea Freight Success for Teva and Kuehne+Nagel. Cold Chain Technologies. October 14, 2025. Accessed October 17, 2025. https://www.coldchaintech.com/news-item/cold-chain-technologies-enables-sea-freight-success-for-teva-and-kuehnenagel
2. Saraceno N. Cold Chain Technologies Expands APAC Presence With New Hubs, Distributors, and Manufacturing Investment. Pharmaceutical Commerce. August 28, 2025. Accessed October 17, 2025. https://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/view/cold-chain-technologies-expands-apac-presence-new-hubs-distributors
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