December 18 - GAC's project logistics team has coordinated the loading, transportation and delivery of an 18 m workboat from Sweden to Uruguay.
Working with the boat's owner - Uruguay's Magrau - a GAC team led by group project logistics manager Per Thörnblom ensured that the 25-tonne boat, Distributor, was safely loaded and secured onto a heavy lift vessel for its journey from Esbjerg, Sweden to Montevideo in Uruguay.
As well as providing on-ground support in Esbjerg, GAC also used tailored CAD-CAM software in order to work out the technical specifications and lifting and lashing solutions for the cargo, as well as design bespoke supporting blocks for the workboat onboard the vessel.
"We had no original drawings to work from, so this move presented us with a challenge," said Thörnblom. "But we overcame it by tracking down the person that built the boat in the early 1980s, who was able to provide us with the structural and design details we needed to engineer a lifting solution that would ensure safe transportation to its destination.
"Locating the centre of gravity of the boat and its strongest frames dictates where lifting slings are placed and supporting keel blocks positioned, so this detective work was an important part of this project."
GAC Sweden's ship agency team was also tasked with loading a spare engine for transit, discharging fuel and sludge, inventory-taking and handling all of the required documentation.
The boat is currently en route to Uruguay, and is expected to arrive within the next couple of weeks.
