Energy and marine consultancy ABL Group and Mammoet have wrapped up deliveries for Mexicos biggest refinery, and the first one to be built in the country in 40 years. The two partners have completed a total of 12 heavy-lift shipments to the new Dos Bocas project. 

Owned and operated by state-owned Pemex, the refinery is part of the Mexican government’s efforts to become less dependent on imported fuel. Once completed, it has a planned capacity of 170,000 barrels per day of petrol and 120,000 barrels per day of ultra-low sulphur diesel.

Over the past year, ABL Germany – which is part of Oslo-listed ABL Group – has provided project management, owner’s engineering and client representation services to the major heavy-lift and transportation company Mammoet for 12 large shipments made by heavy-lift vessels.

The cargo has been shipped from various ports in Europe, the United States and India. The equipment included reactors, fractionators, vacuum columns and hydro tanks with lengths of up to 70 meters and weighing up to 1080 tonnes.

In addition to project management and on-site support for the preparation and execution of each shipment, ABL has conducted technical reviews and provided recommendations on method statements – including mooring, stowage, lifting, load spreading and sea fastening – prepared by the carriers.

“We have an expert in-house team with a background in heavy-lift shipping that allows us to assist clients and bring real added value to such projects. Our role is to ensure every single detail is well thought through, for a successful project execution. Further, ABL Group’s global office network allows us to coordinate and execute multi-location projects worldwide,” says Emek Ersin Takmaz, general manager of ABL Germany.

“Marine heavy-lift transportation was an important part of the Dos Bocas project for Mammoet. As main contractor we were looking for a reliable partner with offices worldwide that have extensive marine and engineering experience on similar projects to ensure seamless operations from planning to execution. We found this in ABL,” says Rene Rodenburg, shipping officer at Mammoet.