Project Freight Charter Required Precise 3D Software Analysis for Heavy Lift Shipment

CROATIA – UKRAINE – GERMANY – RUSSIA – Another truly international effort saw a large project freight forwarding assignment undertaken recently when Saint Petersburg headquartered Dealex Transport chartered a vessel from Hamburg based break bulk specialist Hansa Heavy Lift to carry a consignment of cranes from the Croatian city of Split to Yushny in Ukraine.

The three cranes were the property of manufacturer Kirow Ardelt, part of the Kranunion consortium and Hansa used its 3D simulation software prior to the voyage to decide the best configuration and vessel. Hansa selected the HHL Venice to sail up through the Aegean before passing through the narrow channel of the Bosphorus and into the Black Sea. One crane was shipped dismantled, whilst the remaining two were transported under deck and fully erected with the vessel sailing open hatch.

The 3D software used was required to simulate the loading and installation alongside in Yushny in advance of the voyage to ensure the clearance between the vessel cranes and the cargo would be sufficient on loading. The available draught alongside during the lift was on average only seven metres so that clearance below the keel was sometimes limited to 50 centimetres. Meanwhile the size of the cranes meant the cargo had ‘challenging’ 28 metre high lifting points. Christoph Ruck, Project & Transport Engineer at Hansa Heavy Lift observed:

“Stability during the lift was critical because of the draft restrictions in the port of loading. We undertook a Motion Response Analysis of the vessel for this voyage and worked very closely with the crane manufacturer to ensure we had the correct sea-fastening method in place.”

Joerg Roehl, CCO of Hansa was clearly pleased at the way his team had performed, particularly as analysis of the software played an absolutely crucial role in getting things right. He said:

“Our fleet is ideally suited to support this type of cargo and we are always pleased to be able to work closely with a customer to overcome this type of challenge. Our six step process really came into play to make this a successful voyage with the 3D simulation having an important role in the careful planning needed for this move.”

Photo: The HHL Venice under way.