Geodis Wilson Italia, part of freight management company Geodis Group, has begun the delivery of four Absorber reactors to the Abu Dhabi Gas Development Company Ltd (AI Husn Gas) Shah Project Site, a new facility 250 km south of Abu Dhabi in the UAE, where one of the biggest natural gas extraction and processing plant is to be built.

The first of four reactors - weighing 1400 tons each and measuring 60 meters in length and 10 meters in diameter, all constructed in Italy – has left Ortona, in Abruzzo, and it was immediately followed by two more from Monfalcone and Marghera. The reactors are due to arrive at their final destination in the middle of the Emarati desert by mid-July.

The whole operation will last around 18 months. The reactors will be joined by around 200 special components originating mainly from South Korea, China and Italy, which will be used to construct specific parts of the Shah Gas plant. The total volume of goods transported will reach an impressive 300,000 cubic meters: the equivalent of some 15 cargo ships loaded to the brim.

"The success of an exceptional delivery like this one depends on the effectiveness of upstream high-engineering activities” comments Biagio Oro, Industrial Project Director at Geodis Wilson Italia. "This means planning all the transport operations in precise detail. Such precision tasks include: the chartering of the best suited cargo vessels; stipulating exact dimensions in contracts with ship owners; carrying out feasibility studies to identify the best routes; supervising the loading of the materials; overseeing unloading operations at the destination port and the arrangement of transport and logistics service for final delivery to the construction site".

Once off-loaded at the port of Mussafah in the UAE and customs clearance has been affected, the reactors are to be transported on special Self Propelled Modular Trailers (SPMT) for around 250 km across the rugged terrain of the Middle Eastern desert, utilizing un-tarmaced off-road tracks. Each exceptional load will arrive at its final destination having spent nearly a month in the desert, travelling at speeds of 7 to 8 kilometers per hour, before being handed over to the managers of the Shah Gas plant.