February 4 - WWL ALS has coordinated the transport of a 282-tonne desalination barge from Casablanca to Dakhla in Morocco.
The movement of the barge, which measured 30 m x 11.5 m x 5.5 m, was carried out in close cooperation with WWL's agent and local partner, Transports Marocains.
The barge - a self-sufficient water-producing platform - needed to be shipped to Dakhla, in the southern part of Morocco, to provide the local population with fresh drinking water after a lengthy drought.
Since the cargo was urgently require at the destination, WWL ALS was required to quickly find an available vessel, which had the ability to carry this out-of-gauge cargo.
At the Port of Casablanca, the gross weight of the barge was brought down from 282 tonnes to 254 tonnes by removing four filters, each weighing 7 tonnes. This enabled the barge to be lifted on board by the vessel's two 150-tonne capacity cranes.
On arrival in the draft-restricted Port of Dakhla, WWL ALS was faced with another challenge in the form of swell, which delayed the unloading operations. Once a suitable spot was found to unload the heavy unit, it was lifted out of the vessel ready for use.
