Heavy Lift Project Freight Forwarding Cargo is Heaviest Ever for Siemens

GERMANY – TURKEY – The name of Siemens is known world-wide as a manufacturer of all types of electrical and industrial products so when the company manufactured its largest ever gas turbine careful consideration had to be given to transporting it to the client’s premises. With a fleet of over 130 vessels, and a reputation for specialist heavy lift cargo movements, Siemens turned to Rickmers-Linie via German project freight forwarder Bertling for assistance.

The Siemens gas turbine, which can generate up to 600 MW and has a weight of 485 tonnes, was safely loaded from a barge onto MV Rickmers Hamburg followed by a 465-tonne generator and accessories. The parts belong to a gas power plant project, in Hamitabat close to Lüleburgaz in the northwest of Turkey, which is scheduled to be completed by summer 2017.

This load is the first of four shipments for discharge in the port of Tekirdag, southwest of Istanbul and Rickmers-Linie’s specialised vessels will make three more calls at Bremerhaven to load cargo for this project. Not only did the operation involve the transport of the largest gas turbine ever manufactured by Siemens, it also marked the first call of this class of Rickmers-Linie ship, a 30,000 dwt multipurpose heavy lift vessel, in Bremerhaven, the place where the Rickmers Group was founded in 1834 (Bertling’s birthplace was a couple of hundred kilometres away in Lübeck just a year later).

Navitrans, agents for Rickmers-Linie in Turkey, secured the project for Rickmers-Linie in negotiations with Bertling Logistics in Istanbul, the nominated freight forwarder, which is coordinating logistics for this project. The office of Bertling Logistics in Hamburg supported their Turkish colleagues with the pre-carriage arrangements in Germany as well as in local coordination and documentation. Dirk Gindl, General Manager Sales Germany at Rickmers-Linie commented:

"Due to the weight of the cargo and the (for us) historic background of the location, this was not just like any other port call. Of course, no loading operation is ever exactly like another and it is never a routine. As always, thorough preparation, taking into consideration the value, size and weight of the cargo, was key to ensure a smooth and safe operation.”

Photo: The massive gas turbine is loaded aboard the MV Rickmers Hamburg.