The project was launched on 12 August when special trailers were loaded at the GEA factory in Kitzingen. This not only included the sensitive steel tanks, but also energy storage units, electrics, connecting elements and pipes for the goods being transported.

The freight was carefully loaded on board an inland waterway vessel at the port of Kitzingen and taken to the Rhenus Deep Sea Terminal Maasvlakte in Rotterdam. A second project run followed about six weeks later. Rhenus Maritime Services, the charterer and shipper for short-sea traffic, organised the onward shipment to Londonderry by break bulk cargo vessel. Rhenus Project Logistics then took over the coordination work for the final delivery there.

“Not every logistics services provider can professionally handle special transport operations. The transport concept, the detailed preparation of the feasibility analysis and the extensive preparations were the key factors persuading us to select Rhenus Project Logistics. The handling work went extremely well, despite challenges like the corona pandemic,” says Andreas Holleber, Branch Manager at GEA Brewery Systems in Kitzingen, summarising the outcome.

It was not only necessary to handle the plant components sensitively – some of them weigh 22 tonnes, are 17.50 metres long and 5.15 metres high – and package them with great care, but also draw up coordinated transport plans. “Selecting a suitable port and handling the initial and final sections of the transport operations were particularly challenging. It was essential to plan and survey the route in great detail because of the height of some of the freight items and coordinate the closure of roads and brief interruptions to power supplies with the local authorities,” says Yvonne Nikolaus, Project Manager at Rhenus Project Logistics, explaining the concept. The final delivery of GEA equipment for the Old Bushmills Distillery is planned to take place in February 2021.