No harbour – no problem for plant moving to Mozambique

Project already at 110 000 tonnes ALAN PEAT MAJOR PROJECT cargo movement is something which sparks the interest of Megan Pillay, who heads up Röhlig-Grindrod’s specialised projects department at the company’s Parktown offices in Johannesburg. And the latest in the company books is one of those, he told FTW – already at 110 000 tonnes, and still more to move. His department comprises a team of 10 project logistics specialists providing solutions to any logistics demands. “This,” said Pillay, “means putting together a tailor-made solution for each and every project in moving abnormal, oversized cargo on a door-to-door basis globally. Careful planning “And it is only achieved by careful planning and execution – matching up with the customer’s requirements.” Röhlig-Grindrod is currently involved in a major project in the north-east of Mozambique - approximately 650-kilometres north of the city of Beira. It entails the movement of a disassembled, second-hand, mineral-sands processing plant all the way from Australia to this rather remote north-eastern corner of Mozambique. It also included the movement of all the required materials and equipment, as well as auxiliary apparatus, sourced from South Africa, the UK, Australia and Europe, and delivered to site. “The biggest single items were 16 pontoons (four sets) as part of the plant,” said Pillay. “Twelve of them had a length of 44-metres and four of them just over 18-m. “The volume, meantime, ranged between 453 and 880-cubic metres. The mass of the heaviest pontoon was 146-tons, the lightest 54-t.” The main challenge facing Röhlig-Grindrod was the fact that no harbour exists at Moma – where the plant is based. “No infrastructure at all in-and-around Moma,” said Pillay, “and no customs facilities. “Precision timing for the co-ordination of all activities was the key requirement, and the success of the project movement so far is proof that we executed this task as required.” Contributing their own parts to the professional handling of the project were a network of Röhlig-Grindrod offices around the globe - in Durban, Komatipoort (on the Mozambiquan border), Maputo in Mozambique, Röhlig Australia in Fremantle and Brisbane, and Röhlig in Bremen, Germany. “To date we have shipped approximately 110 000 freight tons,” said Pillay, “and the project is still in progress.” And, if you are striving to be a leader in the project logistics arena, you can’t be too far out with over 40-years of projects experience in the mining, smelters and construction development sectors in South Africa and Africa, he added.