The right equipment is crucial – ro-ro specialist

The right equipment goes a long way to ensuring success when it comes to project cargo, says Quentin Hill, head of the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) southern Africa branch office in Durban. The company, established in 1999 as one of the world’s largest roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) transporters with logistics activities, operates over 65 modern car carriers and ro-ro vessels. Its most recent deliveries were the world’s largest ro-ro vessels capable of handling 50 m cargo lengths, with cargo heights up to 6.2 metres and weights of up to 500 tons handled across their stern ramps. “Load and discharge isn’t as simple as it sounds when it comes to moving overweight and oversized cargo – especially when one looks at project cargoes that are usually sensitive and need specialised equipment to ensure the shipment is handled in the correct way,” says Hill. “The right tools are extremely important and along with that the necessary experience.” The WWL fleet serves 13 trade routes over six continents and 4.3 million units, of which 1.8 million is by sea, and 2.5 million inland, while its worldwide 11 terminals handle some 3 million units every year. “Moving project cargo across the globe is the sort of thing we do every day,” says Hill. “Our vessels and equipment are adaptable to all transportation challenges. We transport everything from power generators to windmill parts, and we enable customers to track and trace their cargoes at all times.” He says having specialised wheeled equipment available is essential for project cargo while vessels need to be designed to offer customers a range of possibilities when it comes to transporting unique and special needs cargoes. He says they often have to develop their own equipment to match a customer’s specific needs when it comes to a particular project, as they cannot work with ship/ shore cranes as lo-lo carriers do. “Continuous developments are being made on an ongoing basis to ensure that WWL is able to best serve our customers’ requirements when it comes to service, and to be able to safely transport all cargo types,” he says. This is despite projects having been slow in recent years. But, says Hill, through customer feedback combined with our market research we foresee an optimistic return during next year and beyond in the project cargo sector.