Setting sail in Venice

One of the jobs involved the transportation of four reactors; for this job Fagioli chose a 24 axle lines modular trailer from Italian manufacturer Cometto.

Two of the reactors weighed 232t each and measured 21.56 x 5.28 x 5.07m. These were transported using the Cometto modular trailer from northern Italy to the river port in Cremona.

At the Fagioli quays in Cremona the company used its own fixed gantry lifting system to load the reactors onto Fagioli barges for shipping to their destination, the Port of Marghera in Venice, where they were transshipped onto a dedicated heavy lift vessel. The other two reactors, which weighed 534t each and measured 31.05 x 6.12 x 6.35m were transported to the port with the same equipment.

The loading of the reactors onto the heavy lift ship was completed in April.

This was not the only job Fagioli had in Venice. In May it transported two reactors weighing 1,496t each (58.4 x 8.5 x 8.4m) using 72 Cometto axle lines SPMTs (36 for each) within Venice, from the manufacturing site to a storage area. In early October, Fagioli loaded them onto a dedicated heavy lift ship for delivery to Nigeria.

Cometto vehicles have been used in many oil and gas projects worldwide, with the manufacturer saying that this is the sector it has seen the biggest expansion in business activity from.

“Cometto heavy and selfpropelled trailers are applied in the movement, handling, transport, shipment and fi nal installation of large equipment like tanks, refi nery reactors, off-shore platforms and others, from the production sites to the operation sites,” the manufacturer told Cranes Today.

The Cometto products that are being used for oil and gas applications are heavy duty modular trailers and self-propelled modular trailers with electronic steering type MSPE. The newest products for each family are MGSL and MSPE Evo3 70t.

Both, MSPE and MGSL, allow users to create different configurations of loading platforms, according to any specific loading needs. MGSL is designed for public roads, off-road transport as well as for inside plant operations. Each axle line has a technical axle load at 0.5 km/h from 45,000 kg.

“The MSPE range grants load capacity up to 70t per axle line (for the MSPE Evo3) thanks to the high quality steel frame, specific suspensions type and special tires designed with the collaboration of a primary brand manufacturer,” Cometto added.

The manufacturer has seen an increased demand for higher payload capacity and limited loading area from the oil and gas sector in recent years.

Regarding its expectations for future demand from the oil and gas market, the company commented: “There are still growing margin in the oil and gas field, in particular into the off-shore application.

“Cometto is following this evolution, always improving and enlarging its product range, according to the latest new requirements of the market.”