Allseas Hit New Heights With Project Freight Shipment

02 September 2011

New Heavy Lift Venture Proves UK Ports Versatility

UK – KOREA – Another example of the ingenuity required when undertaking bespoke out of gauge contracts was demonstrated by freight forwarding group Allseas Global Logistics recently. Organising the transport from Scotland to South Korea of a heavy lift consignment measuring up to 7 metres in height required some creative thinking when a lengthy road trip from the manufacturer’s premises in Aberdeen was never going to be an option due to the extreme height of the pieces.

To circumvent this, a special sea leg was added to the journey, and a unique transhipment operation took place at Felixstowe to load the consignment on an ocean going vessel for the month long voyage to Busan.

The cargo, involving cement house units and accessories for the offshore industry, was first delivered to Aberdeen Harbour, itself enough of a challenge involving a three mile road journey by low loader truck requiring full police escort throughout. At the harbour, the entire consignment was loaded onboard a chartered coastal barge, the V. Ushakov, for the journey down the east coast to the deepwater port of Felixstowe.

With single pieces ranging up to forty tonnes and measuring 4x5x7 metres the entire shipment came to 174 tonnes and well over 500 cubic metres and, for Felixstowe, despite regularly handling various project cargoes and heavy lifts, this was the first break bulk coastal vessel seen discharging at the container transhipment port for many years. The consignment was finally loaded by quay crane on to the 9,310 TEU Albert Maersk before setting sail for Korea.

The choice of Felixstowe rather than the more usual routing of such shipments via continental ports such as Antwerp and Rotterdam was popular with David Gledhill, CEO of Hutchison Ports UK who commented:

“We are continuing to expand the port which gives us greater flexibility to berth vessels, and with enhanced new handling equipment with up to 100 tonne lift quay crane capacity, the port is keen to develop more out-of-gauge and project business which has previously been routed via the continent.”

Allseas also considered the ability to use a UK port a bonus with Mark Binge, Allseas Global Logistics commercial manager saying:

“This is the first time such a transhipment has been handled via Felixstowe’s deepwater berths. We needed an innovative solution for this task; not only did coastal shipping prove the perfect answer, but it also gave us the added bonus of being a ‘green’ solution, and making best use of waterborne transport.

“We tried Felixstowe and they proved to be every bit as competent as the competition in handling this cargo. We will be looking to do this type of operation again via Felixstowe.”

Author: Mark Binge, Group Commercial Manager

Also published on: Handy Shipping Guide