The majority of the approximately 4,000 freight tons have already arrived at the Northern Irish port of Londonderry and will now be successively transported to the distillery construction site 60 kilometers away. The project started on August 12 with the loading of special trailers at the GEA plant in Kitzingen. In addition to sensitive steel tanks, the transported goods also included energy storage units, electrical equipment, connecting elements and pipelines. The freight was loaded onto a barge at the port of Kitzingen and transported to the Rhenus Deep Sea Terminal Maasvlakte in Rotterdam. A second project run took place around six weeks later. Rhenus Maritime Services, a charterer and shipping company for short sea transport, organized the onward shipment from Rotterdam to Londonderry on a breakbulk vessel. Rhenus Project Logistics took over the coordination of the onward carriage here.

"Not every logistics service provider can carry out special transports professionally. The transport concept, the detailed elaboration of the feasibility analysis and the extensive preparations tipped the scales in favor of Rhenus Project Logistics. The implementation went extremely well despite challenges such as the coronavirus pandemic," says Andreas Holleber, Site Manager at GEA Brewery Systems in Kitzingen, summing up.

The plant components, which weigh up to 22 tons, are 17.50 meters long and 5.15 meters high, not only required sensitive handling and careful packaging, but also coordinated transport planning: "Choosing a suitable port and the pre- and post-carriage were particularly challenging. Due to the height of some of the freight items, the route had to be planned and measured in detail and closures and short power cuts had to be coordinated with the local authorities," reports Yvonne Nikolaus, Project Manager at Rhenus Project Logistics. The last delivery of GEA equipment for the Old Bushmills Distillery is scheduled for February 2021.