Container cargo gets most of the attention, but project cargo and heavy lift services are crucial for several reasons. They enable essential construction and development, as these services move the massive and unusual cargo that underpins infrastructure projects like power plants, refineries and bridges. Without them, building these structures would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible.
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Many industries rely on project cargo and heavy lift to function, including energy (wind turbine components, oil rigs), manufacturing (large machinery) and transportation (locomotives, airplanes).
The safe and timely movement of oversized cargo is vital for keeping projects on schedule and within budget. Delays due to mishandling or logistical issues can be incredibly expensive.
Project cargo and heavy lift services require specialized expertise for complex cargo. Standard shipping methods simply aren’t suitable for project cargo. These specialized services provide the engineering, permits and equipment necessary to move these unique pieces safely and efficiently.
Large, heavy cargo is vulnerable to damage during transport. Project cargo and heavy lift teams that excel have the know-how to plan, package and move these items securely, minimizing the risk of costly repairs or replacements.
What follows are 10 ocean carrier companies that excel at project cargo and heavy lift:
Cosco Shipping Heavy Transport (Americas)
Houston, Texas
coscoht.com & na.coscoshipping.com
A subsidiary of the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), Cosco Shipping Specialized Carriers boasts a large fleet of specialized vessels for project cargo and heavy-lift transportation. They’re a major player in Asian routes and have a growing presence globally. Cosco Shipping Heavy Transport (Americas) is widely recognized as a leader in the semi-submersible market, handling high value heavy cargoes with safe, reliable and fast transports.
Intermarine Americas
Houston, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana
Intermarine operates a fleet of specialized vessels designed for project, breakbulk and heavy-lift cargo. A wide range of services are offered including engineering, routing, permitting and insurance. Known for expertise in handling complex project cargo shipments, Intermarine is part of the JSI Alliance, which has offices on every continent.
SAL Heavy Lift
Hamburg, Germany
Another member of the JSI Alliance, SAL Heavy Lift is a global leader in heavy lift transportation with a fleet of specialized vessels. The variety of services the carrier offers include feasibility studies, route engineering and on-site project management. They are experienced in handling some of the world’s largest and most complex cargoes.
Jumbo Maritime
Schiedam, The Netherlands and Houston, Texas
Our third and final member of the JSI Alliance, Jumbo is known for its innovative approach and use of advanced lifting technologies. Together with SAL, Jumbo operates a versatile fleet of 30 in-house designed heavy lift vessels with lifting capacities ranging from 400 to 3,000 tons. The services of the Jumbo-SAL-Alliance range from transporting large and heavy pieces of equipment requiring maximum lifting capacity and outreach, to smaller, lighter cargoes.
BBC Chartering
Leer, Germany & Bellaire, Texas
A leading provider of chartering services for project and heavy lift cargo, BBC Chartering has offices around the world, including BBC Houston. They don’t own vessels themselves but act as intermediaries, matching shippers with the most suitable vessels for their specific needs. Their motto is “Any Port. Any Cargo.” And they bill themselves as being fast, flexible and competitively priced.
Boskalis
Papendrecht, The Netherlands
A global leader with a strong track record in complex projects, Boskalis owns and operates a fleet of heavy lift vessels and have expertise in offshore decommissioning, salvage operations and transporting massive structures. Their variety of projects range from ocean transport of a drilling rig to the subsea installation of an offshore production platform or an offshore wind farm.
United Heavy Lift and United Heavy Transport
Hamburg, Germany
United Heavy Transport GmbH focuses on heavy maritime transport solutions, fully integrated maritime project management solutions and consultancy. Operating globally, United Heavy Lift has attuned its fleet expansion and renewal to the prospects of the growing market for eco-friendly breakbulk and heavy lift sea transportation. They are part of United Group, which since its 2015 inception has grown a state-of-the-art fleet to become global leaders in the heavy lift sector. The MV UHL Fresh set sail on her maiden voyage from Tianjin, China, to Europe with project cargo onboard after being officially delivered to the shipping company on Jan. 24.
Ocean Air Network (OAN)
Miami, Florida
A Federal Maritime Commission-licensed ocean freight forwarder and a Non-Vessel Ocean Common Carrier (NVOCC) for project cargo, on U.S. outbound and inbound, OAN has service contracts with most of the major carriers to provide very competitive project cargo rates at an optimal service level—to most worldwide destinations.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL)
Tokyo, Japan
The MOL Group introduced six multi-purpose vessels, the Triumph series, with a total crane capacity of 150 tons (78 tons x 2) in 2013 to address the diversification of project cargo loading sites in Asia and the Middle East, and enable flexible and regular services in waters between the two areas. Two years later came MOL Project & Heavy Cargo (PHC) to cater to the expanding needs for heavy and oversized cargo transportation. PHC offers door-to-door services featuring optimum transportation utilizing a wide variety of vessel types, as well as vanning, coastal and inland transportation, customs clearance and equipment installation.
Seatrans Maritime
Bizkaia and Madrid, Spain
Seatrans has the expertise and technical engineering services to manage a project entirely from the beginning until the ending destination. The Spanish company offers a wide variety of tonnages such as heavy lift vessels, multipurpose vessels, gear or gearless, dry cargo vessels, ro-ro vessels, and semi-submersible dock ships, for the worldwide transport of any serious or of any voluminous cargo, including equipment for the oil, gas, windmills, power generation, steel mill, chemical, manufacturing and mining industries.
