Nine rings occupying the width of the motorway, over 200 tons of cargo 30 meters long, and a route from Coesfeld in northwestern Germany to Shanghai – these are the details of the task undertaken by logistics operator Dachser on behalf of autoclave manufacturer Scholz Maschinenbau.
The subject of the transport was a giant tank for the thermal processing of composites. Divided into parts, the autoclave was transported under police escort for four nights to the port of Wilhelmshaven, from where it was to sail by container ship to China. Dachser has been carrying out shipments for many years for Scholz, a leader in the global market for autoclave manufacturers, i.e., huge pressure vessels for the thermal processing of composite materials, used, for example, when joining aircraft parts. The cargo, weighing over 200 tons, 30 meters long, and 6.8 meters in diameter, had significantly larger dimensions compared to
other autoclaves. It was not possible to transport it as a whole, so it was decided to transport nine parts, which were to be reassembled in China.
– The length and weight of the autoclave were not a problem. The real challenge was the width of 6.8 meters and fitting such a load on the road – explains Hans-Ulrich Brüggemann, Manager Sea Freight Projects at Dachser.
First, it was necessary to analyze the route from the factory in Coesfeld to the motorway entrance – the point was to check if there was any risk of the vehicles with the rings getting stuck anywhere. Then, it was necessary to cover the 230 km route while maintaining an average speed of 60 km/h and under constant police escort, because overtaking the loaded trucks on a two-lane motorway would have been impossible. Anyone who happened to be behind the transport on one of those four nights had a unique opportunity to see the giant rings up close. Preparations for the cargo transport lasted six weeks. The Dachser team even took care of measuring the gate of the terminal in Wilhelmshaven – it was eight meters, which was enough for the cargo to fit. After several nights of road transport, the autoclave parts were safely delivered to the container terminal in Wilhelmshaven – the only one in Germany with access to the motorway, which is another important factor in Dachser’s personalized transport services. Twenty 40-foot flat rack containers were placed side by side on the ship, which were to be used for loading and securing the nine rings. A container bridge with a lifting capacity of up to 110 tons was also used. Once on board the MSC Hamburg ship with a capacity of 19,000 TEU, the giant rings set off on a 32-day journey to Shanghai.