AdvancedInternational
Nooriabad Wind Turbine Project
XLProjects member Project Cargo & Yacht Transport, the Istanbul, Turkey, based XLProjects member company, just concluded its logistics project of transporting Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs) from Spain to Pakistan. It had acquired the contract on a door-to-door basis, which included road transportation in Spain, transport by sea from ports in Spain to the Qasim Port in Karachi, Pakistan, and inland transport in Pakistan, apart from security and escort services throughout.
The project started in February of 2012 and came to an end in November 2012. It was by no means an easy task, especially its last leg in Pakistan, the country which had little previous experience and know how in such logistics projects, without mentioning the worsening security situation and dangerous roads.
The total size of the project can be gauged from the fact that it included 370 oversized pieces, weighing 7576 ton with a total cbm of 70,574.
Each wind turbine blade was 45 meters long. Each tower of a WTG consisted of three sections, top, middle and bottom. The length of each top section was 30 meters, middle section 30 meters, bottom section 18 meters, each weighing 33 ton, 50 ton and 45 ton respectively. Each nacelle of WTG weighed 72 tons.
The total distance covered between manufacturing facilities and erection site was 14,256 km.
As a matter of policy, Project Cargo & Yacht Transport had established a separate desk for project coordination and had deputed teams of experienced employees at each end of the project including at the origin in Spain and the destination in Pakistan. Each of the hundreds of pieces was handled and moved under the supervision of the personnel of Project Cargo & Yacht Transport.
Aware of the fact of the lack of technical expertise and specialized transport equipment in Pakistan, Project Cargo & Yacht Transport started working on the project months before the transport actually started and arranged training sessions and simulations for its own employees in order to equip them with specialized knowledge needed for moving WTGs.
After Project Cargo & Yacht Transport was satisfied with the training of its employees it sent a team of experts to Pakistan in order to train its local sub-contractors where they also conducted intensive training sessions in Pakistan.
As the transport of WTGs is a new phenomenon in Pakistan, Project Cargo & Yacht Transport paid the utmost attention to make sure that all equipment was in place before the arrival of vessel at port in Pakistan. At this stage it realized the inadequacy of trailers that were long enough on which blades could be transported. Therefore, in collaboration with its local partners, new and innovative long trailers were designed and built with enough length to be able to transport blades safely. Special techniques were used whereby the rare wheels could also be turned at places required.
Moreover, because of the lack of specialized webbing slings for lifting tower sections and other safety material, the same were imported from Europe.
It is heartening to note that the project was concluded ahead of schedule, despite the frequent labor strikes in Pakistan, road closures by ethnic groups in the province of Sindh, and the overall scarcity of transport and handling equipment in the country. Such gaps were closed by resorting to sometimes working longer hours and multiple shifts, including working at night. Another factor which the company management looked into prior to the start of the project was the security at port. In addition to the existing port security, additional security personnel were deputed. The additional security personnel worked in shifts, day and night, in order to make sure that the precious components were kept intact.
Apart from the main WTGs, Project Cargo & Yacht Transport also transported – again on door to door basis – other auxiliaries necessary for WTG erection and employees accommodation. These included heavylift cranes, cement batching plants along with the required trucks and camping containers for project site. The cranes were transported from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey, while the batching plant and camping containers were transported from Turkey.
The management at Project Cargo & Yacht Transport is upbeat about and gives special emphasis on the unique achievement by completing the said project in that it emerged as a pioneer in this sector by having accomplished the project in a very difficult part of the world.
The project offers new possibilities of business to the company as an entity which has shown that it can accomplish one of the most difficult logistics projects in the most difficult parts of the world. And that too, with zero damage to the components!
The management of Project Cargo & Yacht Transport would like to extend its thanks and congratulations to all its partners and sub-contractors in Spain and Pakistan for their support in the impressive implementation of the project.
Website:
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/XLProjectsNetwork
Twitter:
Nooriabad Wind Turbine Project
XLProjects member Project Cargo & Yacht Transport, the Istanbul, Turkey, based XLProjects member company, just concluded its logistics project of transporting Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs) from Spain to Pakistan. It had acquired the contract on a door-to-door basis, which included road transportation in Spain, transport by sea from ports in Spain to the Qasim Port in Karachi, Pakistan, and inland transport in Pakistan, apart from security and escort services throughout.
The project started in February of 2012 and came to an end in November 2012. It was by no means an easy task, especially its last leg in Pakistan, the country which had little previous experience and know how in such logistics projects, without mentioning the worsening security situation and dangerous roads.
The total size of the project can be gauged from the fact that it included 370 oversized pieces, weighing 7576 ton with a total cbm of 70,574.
Each wind turbine blade was 45 meters long. Each tower of a WTG consisted of three sections, top, middle and bottom. The length of each top section was 30 meters, middle section 30 meters, bottom section 18 meters, each weighing 33 ton, 50 ton and 45 ton respectively. Each nacelle of WTG weighed 72 tons.
The total distance covered between manufacturing facilities and erection site was 14,256 km.
As a matter of policy, Project Cargo & Yacht Transport had established a separate desk for project coordination and had deputed teams of experienced employees at each end of the project including at the origin in Spain and the destination in Pakistan. Each of the hundreds of pieces was handled and moved under the supervision of the personnel of Project Cargo & Yacht Transport.
Aware of the fact of the lack of technical expertise and specialized transport equipment in Pakistan, Project Cargo & Yacht Transport started working on the project months before the transport actually started and arranged training sessions and simulations for its own employees in order to equip them with specialized knowledge needed for moving WTGs.
After Project Cargo & Yacht Transport was satisfied with the training of its employees it sent a team of experts to Pakistan in order to train its local sub-contractors where they also conducted intensive training sessions in Pakistan.
As the transport of WTGs is a new phenomenon in Pakistan, Project Cargo & Yacht Transport paid the utmost attention to make sure that all equipment was in place before the arrival of vessel at port in Pakistan. At this stage it realized the inadequacy of trailers that were long enough on which blades could be transported. Therefore, in collaboration with its local partners, new and innovative long trailers were designed and built with enough length to be able to transport blades safely. Special techniques were used whereby the rare wheels could also be turned at places required.
Moreover, because of the lack of specialized webbing slings for lifting tower sections and other safety material, the same were imported from Europe.
It is heartening to note that the project was concluded ahead of schedule, despite the frequent labor strikes in Pakistan, road closures by ethnic groups in the province of Sindh, and the overall scarcity of transport and handling equipment in the country. Such gaps were closed by resorting to sometimes working longer hours and multiple shifts, including working at night. Another factor which the company management looked into prior to the start of the project was the security at port. In addition to the existing port security, additional security personnel were deputed. The additional security personnel worked in shifts, day and night, in order to make sure that the precious components were kept intact.
Apart from the main WTGs, Project Cargo & Yacht Transport also transported – again on door to door basis – other auxiliaries necessary for WTG erection and employees accommodation. These included heavylift cranes, cement batching plants along with the required trucks and camping containers for project site. The cranes were transported from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey, while the batching plant and camping containers were transported from Turkey.
The management at Project Cargo & Yacht Transport is upbeat about and gives special emphasis on the unique achievement by completing the said project in that it emerged as a pioneer in this sector by having accomplished the project in a very difficult part of the world.
The project offers new possibilities of business to the company as an entity which has shown that it can accomplish one of the most difficult logistics projects in the most difficult parts of the world. And that too, with zero damage to the components!
The management of Project Cargo & Yacht Transport would like to extend its thanks and congratulations to all its partners and sub-contractors in Spain and Pakistan for their support in the impressive implementation of the project.
Website:
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/XLProjectsNetwork
Twitter: