LAMPIE VAN DER NEST

www.ftwonline.co.za
Team work delivers 335t heat
exchangers to Pofadder
Planning pays off as cargo arrives without incident
Liesl Venter
Breaking records and
accomplishing world
firsts is all in a day’s
work for the project
team involved in the logistics of
the specialised cargo needed in
the construction of a solar plant
in South Africa’s semi-desert
Northern Province.
Having just completed the
mammoth task of shipping and
delivering the first of two 335t heat
exchangers to KaXu, the 100MW
parabolic trough solar power plant
under construction near Pofadder,
the team from
“
Global Logistics
Alliance
(GLA), Berry &
Donaldson and
ALE Heavylift
South Africa
(ALE) pulled
out all the stops
to make sure
nothing was left
to chance.
“That is part
and parcel of
success in the project cargo field,”
says GLA’s chairman, Giuseppe
Arnoldi. “You don’t take chances
and you plan in the finest detail
to make sure that you cover every
possibility and eventuality.”
This is not as easy as one may
think in the complex African
project cargo landscape where just
about anything and everything can
go wrong at the drop of a hat.
You don’t take chances and
you plan in the finest detail
to make sure that you
cover every possibility and
eventuality.
– Giuseppe Arnoldi
A long and winding road … the heat exchanger on its way to Pofadder.
Jason
Schouw, projects
manager
for Berry &
Donaldson,
believes
experience and
communication
are integral to
the success of
any project.
”There truly
is no room for
error and therefore the various
parties involved have to work
together very closely, constantly
communicating with each other and
making sure that they know what is
happening all the time. Experience
goes a long way in project
cargo because this is a complex
environment with expensive cargo
being transported in difficult
conditions. Any damage to cargo
can see a project being held up for
months – which of course could have
massive financial repercussions.”
Johann van Zyl, project engineer
for ALE, which was responsible
for the heavylift equipment needed
to move the heat exchanger,
commented: “A lot of planning
went into the movement of this
particular piece of cargo and it
ultimately paid off as we managed
to deliver the cargo without
incident within eight driving days,”
he told FTW.
Kaxu is one of three solar
projects in which the three
companies are involved at present.
The decision was made to bring
in the cargo – weighing in at 335
tons – via the Port of Luderitz in
Namibia and then transport it by
road to Pofadder.
“Luderitz was chosen as it was
the easiest route with the least
amount of bridge propping and
road upgrades,” said Van Zyl.
But moving cargo of this size is
no mean feat. Three trucks with
650 horsepower each were used
to pull the trailer that had a width
of 4.05 metres and an axle-line
spacing of 1.5 metres, with a fourth
truck of 735 horsepower used to
push from the back.
With some 380 wheels in total,
Van Zyl says it is the heaviest cargo
that has ever been transported on
Namibia’s public roads.
Covering the 985km from the
port to the KaXu solar power plant
near Pofadder was slow going
with the convoy only travelling an
average of around 20km per hour
and only in daylight.
And having completed the task
the team are now doing it all again
as the second heat exchanger is
taken to its final destination.
THE FTW ADVERTISERS’ INDEX
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Aon South Africa.....................................7
Associated Marine................................21
BBC Chartering & Logistics..................IFC
Beyond Africa Logistics Consultants..... 11
BLG Logistics......................................... 15
Bolloré Africa Logistics................ 16, 17
Botswana Consolidators.......................31
Bridge Shipping Group.......................... 10
Cargo-Tac Heavy Haulage.......................9
CMA CGM.............................................27
Compu-Clearing....................................21
Customs Services..................................27
Dachser Intelligent Services.................. 11
DP World Cargo Services...................... 18
DS Oram & Associates.......................... 19
DSV Air & Sea........................................31
Eikos........................................................1
Expolanka Freight................................. 14
Frits Kroon Transport............................23
GLA, B&D and ALE................................ 13
Interlogix...............................................30
Intermodal Cargo Solutions....................3
JTR Freight............................................. 14
Karabo Africa..........................................5
Katlego Global Logistics....................... 18
Kingfisher Freight..................................30
Kintetsu World Express.........................25
LBH Group...............................................9
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Lovemore Bros......................................24
Manline Mega....................................OBC
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Onelogix Projex..................................... 19
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United Maritime Logistics..................... 10
UTi......................................................... 15
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Walvis Bay Corridor Group................. IBC
Ziegler...................................................21
32 Project Cargo November 2013