PCN member in South Africa, Afriguide Logistics, were recently commissioned to collect their client's 'Caterpillar 990H' Wheel Loader from an open cast mine in the remote location of Maun in Botswana and ship it to Monrovia, Liberia.

The large machine weighed 80tns with dimensions of 12.555 x 4.183 x 5.070m (266cbm). Director at Afriguide Logistics, Brad Stephens states; "With only the cab, bucket and ROPS removed, the cargo was an imposing load to move the 1,800km to Durban port especially against a tight deadline to meet the only liner vessel capable of carrying this machine for several weeks.

Everything ran smoothly until the machine reached the Botswana border and it was discovered that the shipper had not concluded their registration procedures with the customs authorities which prevented us from taking the cargo out of the country. This hurdle took a few days to overcome and left us with very little time to reach the port. As well as this, we still had to custom build some skids for the loose parts and load & lash them before delivery to the port.

Despite this tight schedule, we managed to complete all tasks ahead of the main machine’s arrival which was still a few hundred kilometres away by the time the ship arrived in port. The ship had discharged and completed loading by the time our machine arrived in the terminal and so it literally drove off the trailer and up the ramp to the vessel with only minutes to spare before setting sail for Liberia. Missing that sailing would have meant a 6 week delay to the shipper as well as significant storage costs".

Afriguide Logistics proved their ability to produce results under serious pressure and achieved a great result for all concerned. The cargo is photographed below as well as an example of the working machine.

http://www.afriguidelogistics.co.za