A red hot order: abnormal transportation of a furnace to China

01.03.2018
This could very well be called a red hot order: how do you transport an industrial furnace from Oranienbaum near Leipzig to Pinghu City just outside Shanghai?

Not only is the route a challenge – but also the size of the cargo: three break bulk pieces with the maximum dimensions of 13.80 metres long, 4.45 metres wide, 4.06 metres long and weighing 48 tonnes. Some detached houses are smaller than this. In addition, a 3 x 40 foot high cube and a 1 x 20 foot oversize flat rack also had to be transported. A tricky assignment. However, when things get tough, Trans Auriga’s strategies come into their own.

Altogether, the requirements of the assignment were as follows:

– collection of the abnormal load from Oranienbaum
– seaworthy export packing
– export documentation
– stowage and transfer to the export terminal
– loading onto the oceangoing vessel by Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) at Burchardkai dock
– sea freight on the “CMA CGM Christophe Colomb” container ship from Hamburg to Shanghai
– onward carriage from the docks at Shanghai to Pinghu City

What does Trans Auriga do with such an assignment? Everything, actually. “You have to think of it like a house being handed over turnkey ready,” explains Tobias Pisall, one of the two managing directors. “The customer places the order with all their requirements for the assignment – and then we take care of everything.” Of course, the elementary questions had to be clarified first: Which sea port would be possible? Which is the best route? What will the total costs be? Then everything is coordinated; prices are compared, partners are sought for every section of the route, permission is obtained for the transportation of abnormal loads, ships are booked. “The size of the industrial furnace was certainly extreme,” explains Timo Wittmann, the second managing director. “But we soon found suitable solutions.”

As an oversize shipment, the furnace was initially transported from Oranienburg to the export packing firm and once packed, to the export terminal at the Port of Hamburg, again as an abnormal load, where it was subsequently loaded by a special team from Hamburger Hafen and Logistik (HHLA) at Burchardkai.  It then travelled to China on board the “CMA CGM Christophe Colomb”, one of the biggest container ships in the world. “The timeline was rather tough,” says Pisall, “but all of the parties worked superbly well in the chain”. It was therefore possible to accomplish the whole shipment smoothly hand in hand. The onward carriage from the sea port of Shanghai to Pinghu City also ran to schedule and the industrial furnace arrived punctually at its destination. A perfect shipment.