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.