With the final delivery of critical components for Europe’s most sustainable ethane cracker construction project, deugro has successfully delivered a total of 85,500 cubic metres of cargo to the project site at the Port of Antwerp.
The first 52,600 cubic meters of cargo—ten oversized storage bullets weighing up to 738 metric tonnes and measuring up to nearly 50 meters in length—were delivered in two shipments from China. Following this, a further 33,000 cubic metres were shipped by three charters from the UAE and Oman. These encompassed a variety of oversized and heavy lift (OSHL) components, including a 331-metric-tonne marine control building measuring 32 × 15 × 6.8 metres; a 404-metric-tonne local equipment room building measuring over 25 × 14 × 7 metres; several substation units up to 438 metric tonnes and 35.9 × 12.6 × 7.2 metres; and a 338-metric-tonne local equipment room building measuring almost 30 metres in length.
The most impressive unit—a 1,040-metric-tonne substation measuring over 67 × 16 × 7 metres was shipped on the final vessel, the Rolldock Storm.
Complex Operational Challenges
Given the dimensions and weights involved, each movement demanded meticulous planning and operational precision. Strict project milestones imposed extremely tight shipping schedules. Simultaneously, the requirement for a specific berth at a persistently congested loading port necessitated intense coordination with port authorities. Additional challenges included adverse weather conditions and the mandatory rerouting of all vessels via the Cape of Good Hope due to the Red Sea crisis.
For safe delivery via a combination of deck carrier, heavy lift and semi-submersible vessels in accordance with the project schedule and budget, as well as the supplier’s and construction site’s individual requirements, deugro UK, acting as project control tower, assembled and orchestrated an experienced cross-disciplinary team of project managers, transport engineers and chartering experts from the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, China, UAE and Oman.
Specialized Loading Solutions
To ensure maximum safety, most components were loaded via RO/RO, requiring intense planning—particularly concerning the SPMT configuration and the ramping system on the quayside. The 67-metre substation alone necessitated the mobilisation of two SPMT trains with 50-axle lines each and nearly 75 metres of quay packing to create a suitable ramp for safe transfer.
In addition to the main cargo, the final vessel was loaded on short notice with special self-loading equipment: a barge measuring 66.04 × 19.1 × 4.25 metres. Consequently, cargo had to be stowed partly on the vessel’s tween deck and simultaneously on the secured barge below. This required specialised loading, stowage and securing plans, including dual ballasting calculations.
Giovanni Nigro, Senior Naval Architect at dteq, said: “Even loading by means of two SPMT lines with 50 axles each represented a challenge, in conjunction with a particular fendering system at Hamriyah Port in UAE which didn’t allow the vessel’s ramp to get directly in line with the quay surface. To overcome this obstacle, a ramping structure of about 75 meters, composed of a mix of steel and azobe wood mats, was built on the quay to allow for a smooth driving of the axles on board. An additional operational and engineering challenge was the conditions of the cargo hold of a pre-loaded barge. This barge, an integral part of the vessel loading equipment, required an extensive assessment in terms of local and global strength, besides proper ballasting considerations during loading and securing.”
Technical Engineering Excellence
With dimensions of 67 × 16 × 7 metres and one-third extending over the vessel length, the 1,040-metric-tonne substation presented the biggest technical challenges.
Giovanni Nigro added: “Such modules require a very accurate evaluation of eventual deflections transferred by the vessel onto the module and the appropriate engineering to mitigate it. For the same reason, a different securing solution was engineered, consisting of transversal and longitudinal bracings that ‘choked’ the cargo inside the cargo hold while still allowing it to displace vertically and avoid structural stress generated from vessel deflections.”
Marco Lauwrier, country manager Benelux at deugro, said: “Acting as the on-site project manager, coordinating the delivery of over 85,600 cubic meters of critical components from China, UAE and Oman to the Port of Antwerp was no small feat. As intensive as the planning process was, being on the quayside during execution is the real differentiator, allowing for quick thinking and providing solutions as the loading environment constantly changes on these large-scale global projects.”
Ben Cunnington, country manager at deugro UK, said: “Thanks to the excellent collaboration with all partners, we were not only able to ensure the successful delivery of these complex and sensitive cargo units on schedule and in accordance with the highest safety standards. In close teamwork with the client, we were also able to successfully utilise the vessel’s substantial storage space, which had unexpectedly become available at short notice on the second ocean voyage, by flexibly collecting and loading over 6,000 cubic metres of additional cargo from the client—thereby avoiding significant dead freight costs.”
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