September 2 - The power boat Cigarette Marauder has been transported from Doha, Qatar to Nice in France onboard Volga-Dnepr Airlines' IL-76TD-90VD freighter.
Volga-Dnepr's engineers devised a special loading solution to accommodate the 15 m long boat, which weighed 14 tonnes. Due to the size of the cargo and small amount of ground clearance, it was not possible to use the aircraft's ramp and internal crane.
Instead Cigarette Marauder was loaded onto a standard trailer, and the engineers installed an extension ramp normally used to load heavy and outsize cargoes onboard an AN-124-100 freighter.
Volga-Dnepr explained that the ramp reduced the angle that the boat and trailer had to negotiate, and meant that the boat could be driven into the IL-76TD-90VD on its trailer.
"Deliveries of yachts and boats always require an individual approach as these types of cargo are very bespoke. They are high value and custom-made and require very precise and delicate handling," said Rinat Akhmetov, sales executive at Volga-Dnepr.
