German heavy lift expert Combi Lift has successfully completed the first phase of the Gazprom Amur Gas Processing Plant Project in Russia. The last cargo was delivered to Svobodn
y one month before the last contractual delivery date.
Thanks to detailed planning by Combi Lift’s project management team in Bremen and tight monitoring by Combi Lift’s on-site team in Russia, discharging was finalised on September 16, 2018.
The Linde Group hired Combi Lift to be the exclusive logistics partner for oversized and heavy lift cargo for the Gazprom Amur GPP Project. The transport can only be done during the summertime, taking advantage of the ice-free periods on the Amur and Zeya Rivers.
“The winning relationship with our client, The Linde Group, ensured that the project preparation phase and later operations were very efficient. There were no damages during the entire first transport phase, which was completed one month before the last contractual delivery date. We aim for the same success with phase two, beginning on May 15, 2019,” explained Holger Krenz, Head of Project Management Gazprom Amur GPP Project at Combi Lift.
The eight tugs and seven barges carried 79 pieces (61,755 freight tonnes) from De-Kastri to Svobodny between May 18 and September 16. Each trip from De-Kastri to the jetty is 2371 kilometres long and takes about 21 days. The entire scope involves transporting over 176,000 freight tonnes of cargo, including 12 columns weighing 900 tonnes each.
About the project: Spanning 2,824 kilometres, the Amur River is the world’s tenth longest river, forming the border between the far eastern part of Russia and north-eastern China. All project cargo needs to be discharged in Svobodny, located on the right bank of the Zeya River, a northern tributary of the Amur River. Heavy lift transportation is quite challenging in a place like this: The water is only 1.10 metres deep in some areas, and weather conditions are often severe.
Combi Lift developed a sophisticated concept to master this difficult feat: Heavy lift vessels will transport the cargo from ports in Europe and Korea, which then will be transferred to barges on the sheltered inner anchorage of the port of De-Kastri. Special shallow draft pusher tugs will tow the barges up the Amur and Zeya Rivers to Svobodny for discharging at jetty and transfer the cargo to the last mile logistics service provider.
The cargo will be shipped in five phases from 2018 to 2022, taking advantage of the ice-free periods on the Amur and Zeya Rivers.
The four Amur River tugs, four Zeya River shallow draft tugs and seven barges were custom-built by the Damen Shipyards Group for this project. They are designed to cope with extremely low water levels, especially on the Zeya River. All of the tugs and barges sail under the Russian flag, and are classed by Russian River Register (RRR) respectively the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RMRS).
Gazprom, The Linde Group, Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk and NIPIGAS will use the delivered components for the Gazprom Amur GPP Project – one of the largest natural gas processing plants in the world, with a capacity of up to 42 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year. The plant is part of Gazprom’s project to supply Russian gas from eastern Siberian gas fields to China using the “Power of Siberia” pipeline. This will be built in five phases and completed by 2024.
About Combi Lift: Over the last 18 years, Combi Lift’s experienced mariners and engineers have become experts in the worldwide transport of heavy lift and project cargoes. From the outset, Combi Lift has focussed on developing smart and efficient engineering solutions for complex logistics tasks. The Harren & Partner Group affiliate provides clients with customised solutions that suit individual demands and expectations, developed in close cooperation with expert teams.
For more information about Combi Lift, go to www.combi-lift.net
For more information about Harren & Partner, go to www.harren-partner.de