FESCO Transportation Group, the largest intermodal transport operator in Russia, has performed relocation of four Liebherr rubber tyred gantry (RTG) cranes from Petrolesport (part of Global Ports Group) in St. Petersburg to Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company (part of Global Ports Group) in Vrangel (Primorsky Krai).
"To ensure minimum transit time, the transportation of RTG cranes was carried out along the Northern Sea Route. The sea passage took 28 days, while transit time on the route through the Suez Canal would take about 52 days," said a press release.
Transportation was made by vessel Nordic Svalbard, equipped with heavy-lift cranes. In order to attract Nordic Svalbard was obtained Rosmorrechflot permission for coasting transportation by a vessel under a foreign flag.
The weight of each relocated RTG crane was 117 tons, length - 26.2 meters, width - 13.4 meters, height - 25.3 meters. During loading process the cranes were mothballed and their electro mechanisms were sealed into hermetic packaging in order to maintain the operability of cranes and to put them into operation as soon as possible after a sea passage.
To ensure the safety of maritime transportation, crane trolleys weighing 27 tons each were dismantled from cranes. The cranes and trolleys were mounted on the vessel deck to specially designed and manufactured supporting structures. Loading and unloading operations were carried out by ship cranes, on the deck and along the piers RTG cranes moved on their own power.
Implementation of the project took in total five months.
The project was executed in collaboration with Liebherr-Rusland LLC engineers by order of the Global Ports Group, which redistributes the equipment between its terminals in accordance with market demands and customer needs.
