April 23 - Istanbul, Turkey headquartered Project Cargo & Yacht Transport has completed the transportation of wind turbine generators from Spain to Pakistan.
The company was tasked with the door-to-door delivery of the turbines and related equipment from a Spanish fabrication plant to inland Pakistan.
Project Cargo & Yacht Transport noted that the entire project weighed 7,576 tonnes and had a volume of 70,574 cu m. The consignment included 370 oversized pieces.
Each turbine blade measured 45 m in length. Each tower consisted of three individual sections - two of which measured 30 m and one 18 m in length. The two longer tower sections weighed 33 and 55 tonnes respectively, while the shorter unit tipped the scales at 33 tonnes. The nacelle for each wind turbine also weighed 72 tonnes.
Project Cargo & Yacht Transport moved the units to Qasim port, and it explained that the final leg in Pakistan proved to be the most challenging part of the project. The company had limited experience of operating the country, as well as facing a worsening security situation and dangerous road conditions.
Aware of the fact that a lack of technical expertise and specialised transportation equipment was available in Pakistan, Project Caro & Yacht Transport began working on the project months before the transport actually began. The company arranged training sessions and simulations for its own employees to better prepare them for the challenges of moving wind turbine generators in Pakistan. Project Cargo & Yacht Transport also sent a team of experts to Pakistan to train its locally sourced subcontractors in a number of intensive training sessions.
Due to a lack of suitable trailers in Pakistan, Project Cargo & Yacht Transport, in coordination with Pakistani partners, designed and built a number of trailers to ensure that the out-of-gauge cargoes could be moved safely. Suitable trailers were constructed ahead of the arrival of the first wind tower components at Qasim port. Specialised webbing slings were sourced form Europe to ensure the heavy tower sections could be safely lifted into position.
Project Cargo & Yacht Transport also faced various challenges to operating in Pakistan, notably frequent labour strikes that would bring about project delays and road closures instigated by locals in the province of Sind. The company's staff and contractors would regularly work long hours, multiple shifts and through the night to ensure that the project remained on schedule.
Another key priority for Project Cargo & Yacht Transport was security. It hired its own security personnel to work alongside Qasim port staff to ensure the security of the equipment.
The company also transported other auxiliary equipment necessary for the successful completion of the project - including heavy lift cranes, cement batching plants, trucks and accommodation units for the installation jobsite. This equipment was sourced from Dubai and Turkey respectively.
