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Cathay Pacific Cargo helps East Rows West take on Atlantic Challenge 國泰貨運協助East Rows West賽艇隊參與大西洋挑戰賽

Every shipment matters at Cathay Pacific Cargo. That’s why we went the extra mile for the Hong Kong ocean-rowing team, East Rows West. Their dream was to take on the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, the world’s toughest row, to raise funds for ChildFund Rugby. However, logistical difficulties nearly prevented them from even making the starting line. As Hong Kong’s home carrier, we stepped up and transported their vessel carefully on one of our Boeing 747 freighters. Thanks to everyone’s swift action, East Rows West made the race successfully and embarked on their epic row across the Atlantic Ocean. With every stroke, they’ll raise money for children in vulnerable communities, providing more opportunities to play, learn, and grow through sports. We wish the team the best of luck on this endeavour of a lifetime.

The world toughest Row…. 40 Days.. three Adventurers.. One Boat, Martin Muller – Rower, So with Covid 19 having hit Hong Kong SAR –China – People’s Republic of China and life changing this Challenge really Appealed to me in a way. It was a way to do something completely unique and something really rewarding in a really difficult time. None of us had ever rowed before in their lives So doing this was something that we saw as a huge challenge. So  the Race itself obviously is huge undertaking…… Robert Lennox- Rower .. .. We’re going to be out on the ocean for 35-40 days.. Matt Bell – Rower .. This is Training for something that you’re putting your body through day in Day out for over a month….

The boat is 26 foot long, Looks a bit like a giant bathtub.. everything we need to navigate, to sleep .. To get in contact with people is all on that boat. Our entire lives will be contained in that 26 feet for over a month… The stress of watching the boat go from port to port trying to make it to the start line would have been incredibly stressful and one delay in a port could have ruined this entire 18 months of preparation and everything for us..   

Tom Own – Director Cargo-Cathay Pacific Cargo- We were approached by these three adventurers form Hong Kong who were having great problems in working out how to send this boat across to the start point for the race.  This big boat they had to support a charity race across the Atlantic.. And we thought if they can’t send it by sea on the long sea route then why not send it by air… this boat’s over nine meters long , 2,300 Kg, Most Importantly, made of Carbon fibre. So it required really delicate handling….. We Used out Expert LIFT product  because for us every shipment matters, And we Loaded it through the nose of the aircraft to make sure there was absolutely no damage and it was secured safely and securely during its flight with padding and all sorts of other extra measures ….

When Cathay came onboard and told us they would ship the boat we were just over the moon, it’s actually quite difficult to put everything in perspective and to understand the enormity of what we’re going to through , We’ve been talking about this experience for so long  we now want to really get out there and have it …..

國泰貨運相信每趟運輸旅程都有獨特意義，早前我們決定為East Rows West賽艇隊多行一步。賽艇隊的三名選手夢想參加Talisker威士忌大西洋挑戰賽，同時藉此為慈善機構ChildFund Rugby籌款，可惜遇上全球貨運供應鏈停頓，幾乎無緣比賽。以港為家的國泰貨運得悉他們的窘境後，提出支持賽艇隊繼續作賽，動用了波音747貨機，將他們的賽艇安全穩妥地送到起航點。經過團隊的努力，賽艇隊早前已開始了這項最具挑戰性的賽事，籌款為弱勢兒童提供玩耍、學習和成長的機會。在此，我們祝願East Rows West賽艇隊能順利取得佳績。

Images and visuals are of Cathay Pacific Airways