January 28 - Incotec Cargo has coordinated the shipment of 16 items of equipment, including a 323-tonne reactor vessel, from Russia to China on board the SAL Heavy Lift vessel Trina.
Incotec was contracted by Atomstroyexport to deliver the 355-tonne consignment from the Port of St Petersburg to China for the second phase of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in Lianyungang.
The reactor vessel, which was manufactured by Izhorskiye Zavody, was first transported by road from the production facility to the Russian port using a specialised girder bridge trailer, owned by St Petersburg based haulier Keenmark.
Considering the dimensions of the transport combination, with an overall length of 99 m and total weight of 660 tonnes, Incotec explained that the cargo could only be delivered to the fourth terminal at the Port of St Petersburg.
This meant that the 350-tonne capacity floating crane, Demag, could not be used to load the cargo onto the SAL vessel as originally planned, said Incotec, meaning that the reactor vessel had to be loaded on board Trina using the ship's gear.
Once Customs formalities were in place and the area was prepared correctly, the unit was lifted, in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, using synthetic slings instead of steel slings. With the cargo lashed down securely, Trina left the port destined for China.
Incotec explained that this was the tenth shipment of cargo for the Tianwan nuclear power plant that the company has organised so far.
Earlier in December 2015, 185 items of equipment, including a 196-tonne pressuriser, 80-tonne core barrel and 98-tonne protective pipes unit, were loaded on board SAL's vessel Annemieke in St Petersburg for the same project.
