Mammoet turns Venezuelan port to heavy lift terminal

1 April 2014

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Mammoet has turned the port of Güiria, Venezuela into a temporary heavy lift terminal by using its new MTC-15 terminal crane.

The firm said that the port had to increase its heavy lifting capabilities after PDVSA, the Venezuelan National Oil Company, decided to build a new power plant 20km further inland. The MTC-15 added the capacity needed to bypass the nearest heavy lift facilities at the port of Trinidad and transport the power station modules and materials directly to Güiria.

Mammoet was subcontracted by main contractor Elecnor to transport a total of 40,000 freight tons, consisting of four turbines, four generators and general cargo. The installation of the turbines and generators will also be handled by Mammoet.

The first two turbines, two generators and general cargo arrived in Venezuela from their departure ports in respectively Europe, and the USA. Mammoet offloaded the materials from the seagoing vessel onto trailers to transport them to their final destination at the building site Juan Manuel Valdez.

The company said it believed the MTC-15's load moment capacity is equal to a large 600-750 metric ton crawler crane. This made it ideally suited for loading and offloading heavy items such as columns, vessels, reels, project cargo and engines without the need to reinforce the quay, further adding to speed of deployment and cost-effectiveness.