The pulp and paper market is expected to reach a value of around $680 billion by 2027. While many predicted the market to shrink with the rise of digitalisation, those that invested in the industry vertical are being kept busy. deugro recently pulled the strings for the Golbey PM1 project to move two drum sections from China to France. 

The company reigned in the knowhow of its teams in Germany, China, Belgium and France to pull off the job. deugro’s scope encompassed the transportation from the Port of Shanghai, China to the Port of Antwerp, Belgium, the inland waterway transport to the river Port of Frouard, France as well as the subsequent on-carriage by various trailer configurations to the job site in Golbey, France.

Two and a half years in the making

The client Voith Paper engaged deugro’s teams more than 2.5 years prior to the transport. The teams investigated the feasibility and maximum cargo size that could be transported. To ensure the transport of the drums with dimensions of up to 32 x 5.6 x 5.7 meters and weights of up to 195 metric tons, detailed planning and preparations were required.

The complex on-carriage route from the closest river port to the plant posed a challenge. To determine the most suitable routing, dteq Transport Engineering Solutions, along with local partners on deugro’s behalf, conducted several route surveys, including turning simulations and swept path analyses.

The path of the drums

In line with the tight schedule and under the personal supervision of deugro Shanghai, the drums were loaded at the Port of Shanghai on dship’s MV Annie and shipped on a last-in/first-out basis to the Port of Antwerp. Here, the cargo was discharged to the quay, allowing the teams of deugro Antwerp to assemble and mount the cable guiding system onto the drums prior to loading the cargo onto the river vessel. After arrival and discharge at the river Port of Frouard, the drum sections were delivered by road to the job site in Golbey under coordination by deugro Paris.

“The most challenging part of the journey was the manoeuvring through the many traffic circles and tight turns, as well as traversing the Town of Lunéville. To allow for safe navigation through the extremely sharp turns in Lunéville, we arranged the transfer from conventional THP trailers to self-propelled modular trailers using a jacking/stooling operation. After crossing the most critical turns in the city, the cargo was transferred back onto the THP trailers for the remaining on-carriage,” said Ambra Gotsch, Project Coordinator, deugro Germany.

“Another operational challenge was the passing of a railway bridge near the Village of Méhoncourt. Six additional axle lines had to be mounted to the modular trailer to stay within the allowable bridge capacity determined by the road authorities, then dismantled after passing the bridge,” added Ulf Langner, Project Manager Operations, deugro Germany.

Golbey PM1 project

In June 2023 Voith Paper has been chosen by Norske Skog to reconstruct the PM 1 production line. The aim of this reconstruction is to manufacture recycled packaging paper in the future. Voith was contracted to perform a significant refurbishment of the Golbey PM 1 and provide a new BlueLine stock preparation system and services that improve efficiency.

The plant, located in the Vosges region, is expected to produce 550,000 tons of containerboard annually with a wire width of 9,300 mm. The launch is set for the fourth quarter of 2023.