Hyundai Heavy Industries has made another significant investment in its shipyard operations by procuring Shipyard Transporters from TII Scheuerle. The company is set to deploy five additional ship section lift transporters at its shipyard, making it the largest in the world. The complex transportation of the first two of these hefty vehicles was entrusted to the expert haulage specialists at Spedition Kübler, who managed to navigate them exclusively through country roads.
This demanding journey posed a remarkable challenge, especially in areas like roundabouts, towns, and villages. There were instances where only a few centimeters separated the colossal eight-meter-wide load from neighboring buildings and tunnel walls.
Inch by inch, the massive cargo wound its way through the narrow streets of Hohenlohe. The two vehicle combinations, stretching almost 40 meters in total, each carried a Scheuerle Shipyard Transporter that measured eight meters in width. This particular transport mission was unprecedented in its reliance on country roads. Some sections of the route between Pfedelbach and the Heilbronn harbor posed particularly tight squeezes, where the load was just a hand’s breadth away from nearby buildings. For instance, the road through the town of Bitzfeld offers a mere 8.22 meters of width between the houses.
The use of Scheuerle InterCombi axle lines played a crucial role in the mission’s success. Kübler employed 18 of these, along with a four-axle tractor unit for each ship section lift transporter, for the initial 30 kilometers of the journey. The InterCombi axle lines, manufactured by TII Scheuerle, offer modular platform vehicles with a three-meter width. These versatile vehicles are well-suited for various transport tasks, thanks to their low platform height and wide support base. They can securely transport exceptionally wide loads like ship section lift transporters or those with a high center of gravity, such as heavy construction machinery, wind power plant components, transformers, and bridge elements.
The InterCombi platform vehicles, with a maximum steering angle of +/- 60 degrees, boast maneuverability to tackle tight bends, roundabouts, and confined spaces in town centers. The entire convoy exclusively used country roads, as highway bridges could only support lower loads, rendering highway transport infeasible. The transporters had to contend with temporarily removed traffic signs and traffic lights, as well as sections of construction sites that were relocated to accommodate the convoy. At times, the transporters even ventured into oncoming traffic lanes or traversed specially covered roundabouts. Metal drive-over sheets and curbstone wedges were used to protect green areas and curbs. Such measures were routine for the Kübler team, and after 7.5 hours, the transport reached Heilbronn harbor facility unscathed.
From Heilbronn, the cargo was further shipped to the port of Antwerp, where TII Scheuerle’s service team facilitated their transfer onto a seagoing vessel. The final destination for these two Shipyard Transporters is South Korea, where Hyundai Heavy Industries, one of the world’s largest shipyards, will utilize them. Hyundai Heavy Industries has a long-standing relationship with TII Scheuerle and has been using their ship section lift transporters for decades. The recent order from Hyundai includes five Scheuerle Shipyard Transporters, each capable of carrying an impressive 800 tonnes to move ship sections and other substantial shipbuilding components. These vehicles can be coupled together, with up to six of them working in tandem to safely transport ship sections weighing up to 5,000 tonnes.
In 2024, two more Scheuerle Shipyard Transporters will make their way to South Korea, while the fifth vehicle will be delivered the same year. This expansion marks a significant milestone in Hyundai Heavy Industries’ commitment to maintaining its status as a leading player in the shipbuilding industry.
