Reactors transported between Italy and Thailand

A 2,086 tonne reactor (with dimensions of 62 x 8 metres) and a 921 tonne reactor (measuring 59 x 8 metres) have been transported from their point of fabrication in Italy to an oil refinery in Sriracha, eastern Thailand.

To move them between the point of fabrication in Ortona, Italy, to a barge in a nearby dock Italian equipment supplier to the oil, gas, and energy markets Walter Tosto was commissioned. To do this Walter Tosto used 80 axle lines of self propelled modular transporter (SPMT) from manufacturer Cometto. Of the total number of axle lines 32 came from Walter Tosto’s own fleet while the rest it sourced from a partner company.

Once the reactors were loaded onto the barge, they were then lifted onto the Jumbo Kinetic heavy load vessel, owned by Dutch heavy lift shipping and offshore transportation and installation contractor Jumbo.

According to Jumbo, this lift was the heaviest reactor a K-class heavy lift vessel has lifted to date, smashing the vessel’s own record of lifting a 1,929 tonne wash tower in August 2019.

To meet the 6.8 metre draft restrictions in Ortona, the Jumbo team first lightened the vessel by removing the tween decks and pontoon hatch covers. This, Jumbo said, resulted in a precise heavy lift with a shallow draft.

The Jumbo Kinetic crew then continued sailing up the coast to Porto Marghera where another two reactors weighing 1,850 tonnes each and measuring 59 x 8 x 7 metres were waiting. Each reactor was loaded from a barge using Jumbo’s cranes and placed on deck. All cargo was safely secured and sea-fastened before the vessel set off on the last leg of its journey to Laem Chabang, Thailand.

In Laem Chabang, the four reactors were unloaded by the Jumbo Kinetic cranes directly onto extended trailers waiting on the quayside.

The reactors are to be used as part of oil company Thaioil’s Clean Fuel Project, designed to produce cleaner transport fuels in a more environmentally friendly way. Their new process will remove sulphur, oxides of nitrogen and dust emissions from its Sriracha Refinery in the Chonburi province in the east of Thailand.