Versatile in Petro
Credits above video footage: Deugro Japan Co., Ltd.
Year on year, BigLift provides tailor-made solutions for clients in the Petrochemical industry, carrying refinery equipment in all weights and sizes all over the world. Below we highlight three recent projects for which the cargoes were shipped from Masan in Korea to East Siberia, from Porto Marghera in Italy to Sriracha, Thailand and from Masan, Korea, and Zhangjiagang, China to Louisiana, USA.
Gas chemical equipment for Deugro
Deugro awarded to BigLift the shipment of 45 main pieces of gas chemical equipment for the Irkutsk Polymer Plant, a Gas Chemical complex under construction in Ust-Kut in the Irkutsk region in East Siberia. The total cubic metres of cargo amounted to 35,542 cbm, and due to a short ice-free navigational period and the remote discharging area, both timing and operational experience in a challenging environment were key factors to be considered. With the heaviest unit being 595.6 mt and a requirement for Finish/Swedish Ice class 1A, BigLift’s Happy D-types were considered the most suitable vessels for these shipments.
Thus, Happy Diamond and Happy Dragon simultaneously loaded their cargoes in Masan, where amongst Happy Dragon’s 19 pieces the most impressive were the reactor of 44.5*11*10 m and 595.6 mt and the Product Purge Bin, weighing 500.6 mt and measuring 53.5*10.2*10.4 m. Happy Diamond loaded the other 26 pieces, with the longest item, the Ethylene Fractionator of 82 m. Not as heavy, but certainly quite a bit longer than the other major items. Subsequently, the two vessels sailed in convoy up north to Tiksi, a port in Northern Siberia on the coast of the Laptev Sea. Upon arrival, both vessels discharged all cargo on anchorage directly onto barges. and then sailed back to China.
Three mega reactors to the Sriracha refinery
Three mega reactors left the port of Venice on board of BigLift’s mv Happy Star. They were destined for the Sriracha refinery in Thailand and were manufactured by the ATB Group. The Brescia-based company is leader in the design and production of equipment for the energy sector and are operating from Porto Marghera. ATB was chosen by the Samsung, Petrofac, Saipem Consortium to supply part of the equipment for the Clean Fuel unit of the Thai Oil plant. Even today, Sriracha is already the largest Oil & Gas plant of the country. It is located in the Province of Chonburi, on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand. The Clean Fuel project is a transformation that will expand the plant in size and quality. When ready, Thai Oil will produce higher quality transportation fuels and the refinery’s production capacity will have increased from 275,000 barrels per day to 400,000 barrels per day.
Heavy Lift vessel Happy Star safely loaded three precious all-stage reactors made of a vanadium modified CrMo steel. Apart from their materials, also their sizes were extraordinary. With diameters ranging from 5.4 to 5.7 metres, weights from 880 to 1,700 mt and lengths from 37 to 52 metres they fall in the XXL category. This shipment marked a new record for the Venetian Port, after the reactors for Dangote Refinary (Nigeria) shipped in summer 2018, which had also been loaded and transported by mv Happy Star. Mv Happy Star is equipped with two Huisman mast cranes combinable to 2200 mt lifting capacity, making her unrivalled in heavy lift shipping.
Mv Pauwgracht for Methanex Geismar 3 Methanol Project
In November 2020 mv Pauwgracht shipped a cargo on behalf of KBR Houston, for the Methanex Geismar 3 Methanol Project in Louisiana, USA.
The first part of the cargo was loaded in Masan, Korea. For the other part, the vessel sailed to Zhangjiangang, where she lifted three columns, the longest being 79,20m and weighing 803 mt.
Mv Pauwgracht is one of our seven P14-type vessels which are very suitable for cargoes like these, because of their 1,400 mt combined crane capacity and lifting height.
In the port of New Orleans, the three long pieces were discharged directly onto barges, so that they could be transported immediately to the project site.