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Media
In keeping with general trends when it comes to worldwide project cargo movements, the global air freight industry is being asked to handle ever larger and more complex consignments for that sector.
Predictably, the sheer weight and dimensions of some such shipments is presenting new challenges to air carriers and forwarders in terms of loading/unloading operations, the actual stowage of the cargo on board the aircraft and permission/paperwork issues.
Last year, for example, international forwarder Geodis Wilson had to work out how to ship the longest cargo items ever moved by air - two new prototype wind turbine blades being shipped from Tianjin, China to Denmark for Danish manufacturer LM Wind Power. The 42.1-metre long blades were carried in the 43-metre hold of an Antonov AN-225 freighter.
"Such an operation had never been organised before so we had to figure out a way to get those very long pieces inside the aircraft," explained a senior Geodis Wilson executive. "Together with the customer, we developed a wheeled system whereby we could roll the blades into the aircraft by simply putting a winch inside it. The AN-225 is a nose loader and can 'kneel down' so we wheeled the blades up a kind of angled ramp."
In a separate operation towards the end of last year, global air charter company Chapman Freeborn and logistics service provider Logwin collaborated on a gigantic project to air freight pipes for a heat exchange system, weighing a total of 360 tonnes, some 13,000 km from Sweden to Chile. The movement required four AN-124 flights, with the pipes packed in custom-made steel frames for transport.
Chapman Freeborn explained that the freight for every flight consisted of three elements, each 21.1m long and weighing 30 tonnes. "Loading required precision. Two special cranes were needed to lift the extremely heavy components from a flatbed truck to the aircraft's loading carriage. Technicians located inside and outside continuously monitored the correct position of the freight.
Constant measuring, alignment and adjustment needed to be done before each piece could be finally set down in the aircraft."Sometimes, though, the key issue when it comes to large project cargo movements by air is not so much the length or width of the item to be flown as the weight and, more specifically, how to safely spread that across the floor of the aircraft being used.
That is certainly often the case with transformers which tend to be very heavy and dense pieces of equipment.
"You have to be very aware of the central gravity point of the machinery involved and the lifting points," said Lesley Cripps, sales manager cargo for Chapman Freeborn whose business in that sector has included flying three 64-tonne transformers from Delhi, India to Kabul, Afghanistan, using an AN-124 freighter.
Another leading international air cargo operator with experience of moving heavy transformers is Ruslan International, a joint venture company which manages and markets the AN-124 fleets of its owners, Antonov and Volga Dnepr Airlines.
"We can carry single pieces on the AN-124 of up to around 100 tonnes. Those units can be quite dense so you always try to spread it over the ribs underneath the cargo cabin floor," said Michael Goodisman, Ruslan's business development manager.
To help achieve that load spread, he explained, purpose-designed skids had to be built. In that context, the height of the transformer could be an issue. "Sometimes you have to design the frame so the transformer can actually hang slightly between the rails that we use to run the units into the aircraft in order to get it as close to the cabin floor as possible."
Chapman Freeborn's Cripps pointed out that air cargo operators also had to make sure all movements were in line with IATA (International Air Transport Association) regulations covering the transport of dangerous goods. "So obviously we make sure our clients are aware of what is required when they are bringing the equipment to us," she added.
(Source:http://www.cargonewsasia.com)
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