Vikram Nair with Gerard Kiernan, Chair of the IIFA Steering Committee for the 2026 competition
On 27th May 2026, Vikram Nair of IIFA Full Trading Member RHENUS Air & Ocean Ltd, was recognised as the 2026 winner of the Young Irish Freight Forwarder of the Year competition.
Gerard Kiernan, Chair of the IIFA Steering Committee for the 2026 competition, presented Vikram with both an individual trophy and perpetual trophy, during the 2026 IIFA Annual General Meeting, with was hosted in the Substation of Dublin Port.
Vikram’s thesis, “Carrying the Way Forward: The Freight Forwarder as a Modern Trade Navigator,” was submitted to FIATA at the close of April, to represent Ireland with the 2026 FIATA Young Logistics Professional competition. The competition required a study of both an export and import shipment.
Vikram’s export shipment highlighted adaptive Freight Forwarding Strategies for Temperature- Sensitive Pharmaceutical Shipments while his import analysed Cold-Chain Logistics for Clinical Trial Imports in the Post-Brexit Ireland–Northern Ireland Corridor. Both case studies were interwoven with the theme of the evolution of Freight Forwarders across centuries, from navigators crossing land masses through shifting political boundaries and diverse cultural landscapes, to modern day logistics operators, utilising technology to handle high volume and diverse cargo types, with accelerated speeds and multimodal connections.
FIATA will review submitted theses from across its global network. Vikram’s thesis is presently among the European submissions, and FIATA will announce the selected candidate from the European competition in July 2026. The chosen candidate from Europe will be among four finalists (the other three representing Americas, Africa-Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions) invited to compete for the overall title of FIATA Young Logistics Professional at the 2026 FIATA World Congress in Milan, Italy, across 6th – 9th October 2026.
Within IIFA, we express our thanks to Vikram for his dedication in researching and crafting his thesis across many weeks and for representing Ireland with this prestigious competition. We congratulate Vikram on his success and wish him all the very best with this competition.
IIFA will host a competition among members for the 2027 Young Irish Freight Forwarder of the Year, details of which will be announced toward the close of the summer months. For more information on the competition, please see the below link:
