THE LIFT
Fracht USA/Germany, a global freight forwarder, completed one of the heaviest project cargo lifts in Port of New Orleans history Jan. 12, successfully discharging a 718-ton, 164-foot-long absorption tower from a ship to barges positioned alongside deck cargo pontoons.
THE LIFTERS
The lift was completed at the port’s Louisiana Ave. wharf by SAL Heavy Lift, Fracht, Roll-Lift, McDonough Marine and the terminal’s stevedore, Coastal Cargo Co. LLC.
45 DAYS AT SEA
The SAL Amoenitas arrived at the port carrying the tower after a 45-day trip from Shanghai, China.
PREPARING
Coastal Cargo’s general manager of New Orleans operations, Don Zemo Jr., said he spent a week making the preparations to pull off the lift safely and successfully. Coastal Cargo unloaded 400,000 cubic meters of cargo in heavy lifts like this one last year.
TIME ON TASK
The lift took almost four hours to complete.
A YEAR TO PLAN
Fracht officials said the entire move took more than a year of careful planning. “When you look at this move, project forwarding isn’t just calling the vessel lines and calling the stevedore,” said Reiner Wiederkehr, Fracht’s chief operating officer. “There are so many things involved with such a huge task.
WHAT IS IT?
The absorption unit is an industrial-size tower (it measures 164 feet long; 24 feet wide; and 23 feet, 7 inches high) used to separate out components of rising gas.
UP THE RIVER
After the lift, McDonough Marine transported the absorption tower by barge 80 miles up the Mississippi River to Donaldsonville, where it was to be installed in the $2.1 billion expansion of the CF Industries Nitrogen Complex. The expansion is one of the largest single capital investments in the history of Ascension Parish.
