Freight forwarders Norwegian Forwarding, based in Norway and AIF Global Logistics, based in China, both members of the Pangea Logistics Network join forces to deliver a heavy weight out-of-gauge (OOG) project shipment from Shanghai (China) to Fredrikstad (Norway). 

The shipment consisted of submarine optical fiber cable drums that had a combined weight of 50 tons including tare and divided in 2 units measuring 3.9m X 3.9m X 2.6m (39.546 CBM / 34 tons) on a 40’ Flat Rack and 2.6m X 2.6m X 2.2m (14.872 CBM / 8.5 tons) on a 20’ Flat Rack. The cable will be used off-shore in the Oil Sector in the Northern part of Norway.

At origin, AIF Global Logistics handled the booking, arranged the customs and port formalities and secured an ATA carnet as per the cargo plan.

As there is no direct service, the cargo had to be transshipped via Rotterdam Port, from where the heaviest 40’FR was rolled out 2 times due to heavy congestion at the Port. With an enormous deadline pressure, Norwegian Forwarding had to find an alternative solution to deliver the cargo on time. They managed to release the cargo during the transshipment in Rotterdam and stripped the drums using special cranes, then they barged them from Rotterdam to Eemshaven. From there, the cargo was loaded onboard a feeder coaster vessel type as breakbulk cargo for transportation up to final destination at Harstad.

The other 20’FR unit arrived in Norway as per the initial schedule and was railed to its destination.

“The current situation of space on vessels being heavily saturated has been a real challenge for moving this shipment. From the start, we were able to offer our customer the best freight solution over larger forwarders, thanks to our Chinese partners who did an excellent job organizing and handling the first leg. Despite, the blocking in Rotterdam, our team fought in the midst of the Chinese New Year and weekends to deliver this critical shipment as per our customers’ requirements”, remarks Axel Andreas Jespersen, General Manager at Norwegian Forwarding.