The two aftercoolers, each weighing 48 tons, were needed for an offshore oil platform being constructed on the Indonesian island of Batam, off the coast of Singapore.
To move the aftercoolers, ACS chose the AN-124 and flew it directly to Singapore’s Changi International Airport due to the weight of the cargo, Changi’s handling facilities and the need for external cranes to offload the cargo.
Jason Bird, Cargo Director at ACS Singapore says that the team at ACS worked closely with an engineering company and the airline in the months leading up to the move to develop a cradle capable of supporting the units during the loading process.
The European team had experience in securing road permits and escort vehicles to move the cargo to Milan, where airside permits were needed for the external cranes.
He says, “The customer and I then met the aircraft on landing in Singapore, to ensure the offloading was as smooth as the loading. Our customer asked us to arrange overnight warehouse storage in Singapore, as well as the trucking, including road permits and escorts for delivery to the port.”
ACS also arranged for the cranes used to unload the cargo at the airport to be used at the port so the cargo could be loaded onto the ship, which took the shipment to Indonesia.