No stranger to relief efforts, Volga-Dnepr stepped up to the plate once again, delivering medical equipment from Oslo, Norway, to Freetown, Sierra Leone, to support the Norwegian Red Cross’ fight against Ebola.
The equipment had to be delivered at short notice for a new Ebola treatment center that was being set up in a remote region 217 miles from Freetown. Only 72 hours after leaving Norway, the Norwegian Red Cross was alerted that the cargo reached its destination. Volga-Dnepr’s load planning team was able to maximize the load in the Il-76-TD-90VD safely.
The Ebola crisis has claimed more than 8,000 lives in West Africa since the outbreak began last year. Volga-Dnepr first responded to West Africa in October when one of its ten An-124-100s carried three multi-purpose Mi-8 helicopters from Moscow to Sierra Leone for the United Nations.
More recently, another An-124-100 freighter delivered urgent equipment to the Congo, Ghana, Mali, Guinea-Bissau and the Ivory Coast. The An-124-100 carried single-use protective suits, respirators, glasses, boot covers and other equipment necessary for the anti-epidemic measures being taken by healthcare workers who are deployed in the worst affected areas.
In the past, Volga-Dnepr has been in the forefront ready to provide transportation support for peacekeeping operations and disasters. In 2005, Volga-Dnepr delivered more than 1,300 tonnes of aid and relief cargo supplied by the U.N. and the International Red Cross to the tsunami-ravaged Southeast Asia region, which took 150,000 lives. In September of the same year, Volga-Dnepr made several aid and relief flights for victims of Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. In 2008, the carrier delivered drinking water production devices to Chile after the Chaiten volcano eruption.