June 5 - R. Collett & Sons (Transport), one of the UK's leading heavy lift transport companies, says that despite the downturn in the market for heavy and over-dimensional cargoes, it is busier than ever.

A company statement claims that it is increasing market share dramatically which has encouraged it to make further significant investments in specialist heavy lift handling equipment to accommodate demand in a number of market sectors.

Recently, the company was responsible for the total project transport management of two 900 cu m carbon dioxide storage tanks from the Netherlands to the North East of England.

Each tank is an incredible 48.5m long, 5.8m in diameter and weighs 175 tonnes. Collect Transport was responsible for the complete movement of the two items from inside the manufacturer's factory to delivery and erection on-site at Wilton. In a truly multimodal shipment, the tanks moved by river barge and were transhipped onto a sea-going vessel in Rotterdam for shipment to Teesport and subsequent road transport to Wilton. The tanks were entirely clad in a delicate and polished aluminium skin and it was a major challenge to prevent this from being damaged.

Richard Platts - senior projects manager at Collett's said: "The shipment demonstrated our capability to support both manufacturers and project forwarders with our diverse range of in-house services, combining our marine, transport and heavy handling capabilities to deliver this challenging project in record time and without incident."

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