Impressive Measurements: 23,75m x 5,49m x 5,02 m (lxwxh)
Weight: 116tons.
And this order was not only about safely and properly handling and shipping this giant. Maximum coordination for minimum waiting times was the credo, too.
The smell of gasoline was in the air when our colleagues entered the manufacturer’s site to witness the loading of this giant cargo. Heavy lift specialists contracted by Karl Gross were just navigating an 16 axle SPMT to pick up the coldbox from blocks and beams where it was waiting ready to start its journey from the U.S.’s South to Indonesia.
“Route planning for this ‘biggie’ was actually not too hard”, our project cargo colleagues say. “As there was water access very close by to the shippers’ premises, we decided to use that for the cargoes’ pre-carriage to Houston, our international port of loading.” Using water way transport was the most cost-efficient way to go to reach the port of loading.
Yet it took a rather special way to move this cargo: Our project cargo specialists had organized the coldbox’s pre-carriage to take place on a deck barge with a tug boat.
In Houston, the cargo was booked for international ocean transportation on a geared MPP which Karl Gross had arranged a part charter for.
And here, a major challenge for this shipment came in: linking both transport sections – pre-carriage and ocean transport – seamlessly.
“We wanted make sure to keep handling activities and waiting times at the port at a minimum to perform within the cost framework
we were given for this order.” That required extremely close communication with all parties involved.
The availability of the deck barge and tug boat needed to be synchronized with the ocean vessel’s arrival in Houston. Quite a coordination job to do considering that MPP vessels’ shipping schedules are “by nature” rather volatile.
Double pay off!
Our project cargo specialists managed a close-to-perfect time match of push barge arrival in Houston and the cargo’s time slot for vessel loading. That allowed for direct transloading of the giant from deck barge to vessel – saving handling steps and completely avoiding waiting times, making our logistics solution not only safe but – important – highly cost-efficient.
