Special Cargo - How to Ship Extraordinary Cargo
What do propellers, yachts, helicopters, and heavy machinery have in common? Right, they all are heavy and have overly big dimensions and thus qualify as cargo that’s a bit more difficult to ship. Keep reading to learn how to handle special cargo and what kind of equipment to use for different types of extraordinary cargo.
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How to determine special cargo
Special Cargo is how we call everything that doesn’t fit into a standard General-Purpose container (also abbreviated as GP). There are different reasons for why cargo does not fit into one of the GP containers, for example: a very high weight, overlength, overheight, overwidth or a combination of all or some of these.
For these kinds of extraordinary cargo, you can find our dedicated Special Cargo Quotes tool in the Online Business Suite. In this tool, you just enter the details of the cargo you want to ship, and our Special Cargo team takes care of the rest.
Pre-lashed cargo is already secured inside or on top of the container upon arrival whereas breakbulk cargo isn't and needs to be lashed on at least 2 flatrack containers.
When the cargo is already secured on the inside or on top of the container making it ready to be loaded by the gantry crane with spreader, an over height spreader or chains/wires/slings on deck or under deck of the vessel, it is called pre-lashed. For most out of gauge cargo types, that is the easiest and most secure way of transportation. It also reduces the efforts needed on the terminals to secure the cargo.
If the cargo is too long, too wide, too high and/or too heavy for our special containers (we’ll get to them in a minute), we handle it as breakbulk. Depending on size and weight of the cargo at least 2 flatrack containers are loaded next to each other, creating a so-called tween deck. The bigger and heavier the cargo is the more flatracks are needed.
For weight distribution purposes bedding beams of steel or timber are laid out before the cargo will be positioned on top by gantry, floating or mobile crane. After loading the cargo some of the terminal’s stevedores will secure the cargo to the lashing points of the flatrack containers.
As more equipment, labour and time is needed to load breakbulk cargo, this way of loading and handling is reasonably more expensive than pre-lashed cargo. With our Special Cargo Quotes tool, you’ll get an overview of all costs.
Different cargo – different container types
Not only our Special Cargo tool supports you in finding the right transportation solution for your extraordinary cargo but also our dedicated Special Cargo team with more than 50 years of experience can give you a hand in choosing the right special container type for your cargo.
The complete portfolio of our equipment fleet can be found in the Container Specification Booklet. Below, you will also get an overview of the most important container types and when to use them.
For very heavy items which may also come along with over dimensions in size the 20’ and 40’ flatrack container is a perfect fit. With no walls and roof and 2 collapsible end walls most cargo items can be secured and loaded with this equipment type.
Various 5t lashing points make cargo securing easy to achieve. The maximum theoretical payload of our high cube flatracks is 54,4t - which is the highest you can find in the industry. It is important to know and to understand that the shorter the cargo resting length is, the lower is the possible cargo weight to be carried as pre-lashed.
To some extent weight can be distributed by means of timber or steel beams which must be calculated and planned individually. Our vessel planners always try their best to accommodate the over dimensional cargo under deck top stow, right below the hatch cover of the cargo hold. Here, the cargo is best possible protected against any weather conditions and supports an optimal and effective vessel planning process.
The second special container type is the Open Top container. This box is also available in 20’ and 40’ size with standard (259 cm) and high cube (289 cm) height. The Open Top has, as the name already suggests, is open on the top, hence has no roof. When cargo is too long or too heavy to be loaded inside a General-Purpose container or has an over height, it can be loaded through the roof inside the box by a crane or forklift.
Apart from that, an open top container also has doors, and the door header can be opened as well. To protect the cargo against rain and dust the provided tarp covers the roof opening. In case the cargo has an over height and reaches outside the roof an individually tailored tarp can be organized. Equipped with a high number (up to 100) of lashing points (1-2t each) and more often with a steel floor for higher point loads (3t/m wooden floor vs. 6t/m steel floor) cargo securing can easily be done for a safe transport according to the CTU Code of practice.
Quite like the open top container is the hardtop, the third special equipment for OOG cargo. Instead of having a tarp covering the open roof, the hardtop container has a solid cover made of steel. Hardtops are also available as 20’ and 40’ units. To open the heavy roof segment (it weighs around 450 kilograms) a crane or forklift is recommended.
The biggest advantage of the hardtop container is that it is watertight like a General-Purpose container once closed. This is achieved by a gasket around the roof segment to seal the container. This not only protects the cargo against rain or dust, it protects also protects it against humidity which makes it a perfect fit for moisture sensitive cargo like switch boards or other electrical equipment and machinery.
How to choose the right equipment for Special Cargo
Now that you have an overview about the different ways to lash and handle special cargo, the most challenging question is how to select the right container type. Sometimes, there is more than one solution, but the major impacting factors are size, weight, and shape of the cargo. A secondary factor is the available equipment such as crane capacities in the terminals on the desired routing.
Some questions that will help choosing the right container type are:
- Does the cargo fit on one of the different container types?
- Is the weight properly distributed?
- Is there a difference between total length and resting length?
- Does the shape of the cargo allow a pre-lashed solution or is breakbulk the only way to transport it?
- Are pictures, drawings, sketches, examples from previous shipments available for a better understanding?
- Are there several items to be considered or just one and does the provided cargo dimension reflect total dimensions or single dimensions?
It is extraordinary cargo, and it must be treated like this. We as Hapag-Lloyd can provide you with the needed stowage and equipment.
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