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BREAKBULKONE
Breakbulk Events & Media’s biweekly BreakbulkONE newsletter keeps the industry connected between issues of Breakbulk. Here’s a look back at some of the exceptional transports by land, sea and air published in BreakbulkONE from January through November.
January: Sarens Handles World’s Largest-Diameter Vacuum Chamber
Belgium-based heavy-lift specialist Sarens transported the world’s largest-diameter vacuum chamber for U.S. space technology company SpinLaunch. The sci-fi looking, 1,000-tonne steel unit was handled at the tech company’s test facilities in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
February: Schares Shifts 430-Tonne Bridge
German crane and heavy haulage specialist Autokrane Schares moved a massive 430-tonne bridge using one of module manufacturer Cometto’s 24-axle-line self-propelled modular trailers.
March: Bolloré Shifts Cargo for Songo Songo Gas Project
Bolloré Logistics delivered project cargo weighing 5,000 freight tonnes for a natural gas project on Songo Songo Island off Tanzania’s southeast coast.
April: Allelys Doubles Down on Complex Reactor Move
Allelys used two of its specialist girder frames to transport a 150-tonne reactor and a 195-tonne transformer to an electrical substation in southeast England, the first-ever double girder frame convoy deployed on UK roads.
May: AAL Transports Turbines for Queensland Wind Project
AAL Shipping transported nearly 375,000 tonnes of project cargo, including 43 Vestas V150-4.2 MW wind turbines for the new 181-MW Dulacca wind energy project in Queensland, northeast Australia.
BREAKBULKONE
June: Mammoet Deploys ‘Floating Crane’ for Saudi Bridge Installation
Netherlands-based Mammoet deployed its mobile floating crane concept to help install a 1.2-kilometer bridge on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. The heavylift specialist set the MTC-15 crane on a barge to create a 500-tonne capacity containerized sheerleg to transport and maneuver into place 60 bridge-beam and edge-beam sections, each weighing 400 tonnes.
July: deugro Ships Huge LNG Tanks to Caribbean
deugro deployed trailers, barges and a multi purpose vessel to deliver four hulking LNG storage tanks from a manufacturing yard in Decin in the Czech Republic via the Port of Hamburg to a construction site in the Caribbean Sea.
August: Port Tampa Bay Handles Giant Dragline Buckets
Port Tampa Bay in Florida handled a batch of 40-tonne dragline buckets for phosphate fertilizer producer, the Mosaic Company. The move was supported by Maersk, Ports America, and Kentucky-based Edwards Moving and Rigging.
October: Almajdouie Delivers Goliath Cranes to Saudi Shipyard
Saudi-based heavy-lift specialist Almajdouie Logistics overcame some tricky challenges during the transport of four Goliath cranes from the Port of Daebul in South Korea to the King Salman Global Maritime Industries Complex on the kingdom’s east coast.
November: Goodrich Uses AN124s For Kazakh Oil Plant Delivery
Mumbai-based project cargo specialist Goodrich Maritime used two Antonov AN124-100 heavy cargo aircraft to transport six power generation units from the U.S. East Coast to Istanbul. The cargo, which weighed a combined 240 tonnes, was then trucked 2,600 kilometers through Georgia and Azerbaijan to an oil-production plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan.
September: Jumbo Offshore Installs “Torpedo” Mooring System in Brazil
Jumbo Offshore transported and installed a so-called torpedo pile mooring system for a FPSO vessel at Brazil’s pre-salt Mero field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro using just one installation vessel.
BREAKBULKONE
CEVA LOGISTICS LAUNCHES NEW BASE IN BAHRAIN
Ceva Logistics, a unit of French shipping and logistics group CMA CGM, has expanded its footprint in the Middle East after launching a base in Bahrain.
A new office in capital city Manama offers a full range of air, ocean, ground and contract logistics services, spurring growth in key industries and regional markets, Ceva said in a filing.
The Marseille-headquartered company, whose revenues in the Middle East grew by 30 percent last year, already has a direct regional presence with offices in the UAE, Qatar and Oman.
Axel Herzhauser, regional managing director for Middle East and Africa at Ceva, told Breakbulk the company was ready to take on projects “across the spectrum.”
“Bahrain’s aspirations to be a globally competitive economy will certainly provide opportunities for us to use our logistics capabilities to support economic growth.”
Economic activity in Bahrain, the smallest nation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with a population of just 1.5 million, of which half are expats, is driven by crude oil, which accounts for about 70 percent of government revenues.
A huge offshore oilfield discovered in early 2018 off the west coast at Khalij Al-Bahrain could provide project logistics with a long-term source of cargo-carrying contracts. The reservoir holds an estimated 80 billion barrels of shale oil, dwarfing Bahrain’s current proven reserves of just 125 million barrels.
Drilling for the first production wells at Khalij Al-Bahrain was expected to start at the end of 2022, the government said last year.
The island state, whose economy is expected to expand 3.3 percent this year and 2.9 percent in 2023, also unveiled late last year a US$30 billion strategic projects plan to beef up infrastructure, create jobs and boost economic growth.
The plans call for the construction of more than 20 major projects, including the Bahrain Metro, a 109-kilometer fully automated urban transit system, and the 25-kilometer, four-lane King Hamad Causeway linking Bahrain with Saudi Arabia.
“With the projects planned already in Bahrain, the opportunities around infrastructure are certainly noteworthy,” Herzhauser said. BBONE
AAL SALVAGES SUNKEN TUGS IN TASMANIA
Carrier Deployed ‘Mega-Size’ Vessel to Lift and Remove 400-Tonne-Plus Boats
AAL Shipping has deployed one of its ‘mega-size’ multipurpose vessels to lift and remove a pair of sunken tugs from the Mersey River in Devonport, northern Tasmania.
The 31,000 deadweight-tonnes A-Class AAL Melbourne, more accustomed to transporting unwieldy components on the carrier’s longstanding Asia to Australia East Coast Liner Service, was sent to salvage the two boats after they sank in January following a collision with a cement carrier.
The recovery was planned over several months, AAL said, and involved working closely with other stakeholders including New South Wales-based marine salvage specialist United Salvage, port operator TasPorts and cargo insurers.
Chris Yabsley, chartering manager at AAL Australia, said United Salvage, hired to remove the tugs, originally planned to use a floating crane and barge to carry out the operation.
“However, once we demonstrated that our A-Class vessel could not only recover the tugs but also transport them back up the East Coast for delivery to Brisbane, it was clear that AAL would be the perfect partner,” Yabsley said.
The first tug – the 420-tonne York Cove – was hoisted out of the water in early August using the AAL Melbourne’s two port-mounted cranes working in tandem. Two large holes were cut into the hull to allow water and sediment to drain.
The second tug – the 455-tonne Campbell Cove – was recovered and loaded onto the MPV a few days later.
Both tugs were securely lashed to the weather deck for their onward voyage to Brisbane.
“Lifting took time as the tugs weighed significantly more than expected, due to trapped water and fuel,” said Nicola Pacifico, head of transport engineering at AAL.
“Working throughout the evening on the second tug, the full weight of the tug stayed on our ship’s cranes overnight, awaiting the salvage company to pump out whatever was still trapped inside her.”
TasPorts CEO Anthony Donald quoted insurers and salvors as saying it was one of the most complex salvage activities they had undertaken.
“We not only had the significant challenge of tide and weather, but also the natural eddies in the area and potential marine pollution,” said the executive, who estimated that more than 100 people worked on the project.
The removal of the sunken tugs allowed Devonport to return to normal operations.
Singapore-headquartered AAL owns a fleet of 24 vessels of various classes with a combined total of 688,200 deadweight-tonnes. BBONE
BREAKBULKONE
FLUOR REPORTS FIRST COPPER AT QUELLAVECO MINE
Texas-Based Constructor Secured EPCM Contract from Anglo American
Fluor has announced first production of copper concentrate at Anglo American’s US$5.5 billion Quellaveco mining project in the mountainous Moquegua region of southern Peru.
Texas-headquartered Fluor received full notice in 2018 to proceed with the engineering, procurement and construction management of Quellaveco, which contains one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world.
The company has been involved in the project since 2012.
The first yield of the “red metal” marks the start of testing the processing plant with ore and ramping up activities towards commercial operations.
“This is a major milestone for Anglo American and its partner Mitsubishi Corporation as the project nears completion ahead of receiving final regulatory clearance for commercial operations to begin,” said Tony Morgan, president of Fluor’s mining and metals business.
“The project was delivered on time and on budget during a global pandemic through the commitment and collaboration of many companies.”
LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES
A spokesperson for Fluor told Breakbulk the project had faced multiple logistical challenges during its execution, including a lack of infrastructure at the Port of Ilo in southern Peru – the project’s main port of entry – and heavy swell throughout the year.
Delivery of components including heavy breakbulk items was coordinated between two transport towers – one at Ilo and another in Moquegua at the foot of the jobsite.
“Our logistics team worked directly with the construction team in charge of the internal routes design, so the internal routes took into account heavy haul transportation and specialized trailer configurations, such as turning radiuses, inclines and rest areas,” the spokesperson said.
“The jobsite also included areas of delivery with altitudes close to 5,000 meters above sea level. A team within the control tower group was in charge of monitoring this high mountain route, with adequate controls and patrols along the way.”
A SUSTAINABLE PROJECT
Peru is the world’s second-largest copper producer after Chile, while also ranking among the top global producers of silver, gold, zinc, tin, lead and molybdenum. Mining accounts for about 10 percent of the country’s GDP, 60 percent of export income and a sizeable chunk of its breakbulk demand.
At full capacity, Quellaveco is expected to process 127,500 tonnes per day of ore through crushing, grinding and floatation technology to produce 300,000 tonnes of copper equivalent on average in the first ten years of operations.
According to Fluor, the open pit mine will increase Peru’s copper output by about 10 percent.
Quellaveco is expected to reach design capacity in mid-2023, according to Anglo American.
Fluor is a member of the Breakbulk Global Shipper Network, a worldwide network of shippers involved in the engineering, manufacturing and production of project cargo. BBONE
MSC REROUTES VESSELS TO PROTECT BLUE WHALES
Carrier Adjusts Course to Avoid Endangered Species
MSC, one of the world’s largest container lines, has adjusted its shipping route off the southern coast of Sri Lanka to avoid potential collisions with endangered blue whales.
Geneva-based MSC began to reroute its vessels in mid-2022 following guidance from scientists, local universities and international wildlife protection agencies, including the International Fund for Animal Welfare, or IFAW.
The area off Sri Lanka’s southern coast is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, with the port of Colombo a major transshipment hub for global trade.
The region is also where the majority of the northern Indian Ocean blue whale population is known to congregate, the IFAW said.
The new course some 15 nautical miles south of the current traffic separation scheme for commercial shipping could reduce the strike risk to blue whales by up to 95 percent, simulations have shown.
Westbound and eastbound ship traffic is now limited to certain latitudes, while smaller feeder ships in the region have been instructed to reduce speeds to less than 10 knots.
“We believe that the commercial shipping sector has an important role to play in protecting cetaceans, specifically in helping to reduce the risk of ship collisions with whales,” said Stefania Lallai, vice president of sustainability at MSC.
“MSC is proud to rank at or near the top of whale safety shipping rankings. However, we are not at all complacent. We believe that raising awareness of these issues and encouraging collaboration between industry, scientific bodies, civil society and governments is essential as we strive collectively to do more to minimize the risk of ship strikes.”
The carrier said it was urging all other ship operators to consider choosing a more southerly route past Sri Lanka to avoid designated cetacean habitats. BBONE
