It’s no secret that Africa has logistics infrastructure challenges. Transporting cargo from A to B can be costly, slow and sometimes even dangerous.The recent transport of three engines, two transformers and three alternators to Burkina Faso in West Africa highlighted the added level of complexity that is introduced when it is project cargo.
According to Lionel Tristan, general manager of Fracht France which was responsible for the logistics, it was a complex and challenging undertaking for their client, TECMON BF.Weighing in at 325 tons each, the three engines were manufactured in Europe by MAN for the power plant in Burkina Faso, which is currently being extended to increase the country’s generation capacity by almost 20%.“Such big pieces of equipment had never been moved in this area before the extension of this power plant was undertaken,” said Tristan. “Our challenge was not just the weight of the engines, but also the height.”At 13x5x6.55 metres, these were not small engines by anyone’s standards. Also part of the project were two transformers from Turkey weighing 80 tons each and three 59-ton alternators from Finland. “There were also various other pieces of smaller equipment and multiple containers that had to be transported to the site.”
According to Tristan the first challenge arose before the cargo had even left Europe. “Due to the outbreak of Covid-19 the cargo had to be stored before it could depart as we had to reorganise the entire transport plan because of the new situation.”On arrival in Ghana the cargo was moved on trucks to the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou – a journey that took just on three weeks.
According to Tristan Covid-19 restrictions did pose some challenges as the cargo was arriving from different countries around the world. “We therefore had to ensure that it all arrived on approximately the same date, which was by no means easy.
Another challenge was finding the proper technical and most suitable financial solution for the ocean freight and the road transport.”He said it was of critical importance to set up a security protocol to protect the cargo and crew during the storage times and during the transport between Ghana and Burkina Faso.Tristan told Freight News the success of the project had hinged on two critical aspects – communication and teamwork. “This was a team effort and we were only the conductors in the orchestra. There are a variety of players involved and each one had to do their bit to make sure it was a success.”
