XLP members Khimji Ramdas Shipping LLC (KRS), Oman, and Ceekay Shipping, United Arab Emirates, jointly executed the End-to-End Multimodal Logistics ex Central Oman of a 1500 HP Geo-Thermal Rig and its accessories to the Philippines.

This project was a tripartite endeavour between Quickflo Forwarders, Philippines, Ceekay Shipping, UAE, and Khimji Ramdas, Oman. While Quickflo managed the whole end-to-end logistics, Ceekay handled the sea freight and packing, and KR oversaw all local operations in Oman, as detailed in the article.

The shipment consisted of a total of 144 pieces/7000 cbm/85 trailer loads of varying sizes and shapes.

While KRS was in charge of all operations in Oman, including the route survey for the OD cargoes, cargo sorting, segregation, and labelling, packing list preparations, customs clearance, loading, haulage of the OD and in-gauge cargoes, Oman port handling, and arranging the Marine Warranty Surveyor, Ceekay Shipping handled the rig packing and the vessel fixture to the Philippines.

The Rig was crated and seaworthy-packed by our in-house rig packing team, who were relocated to Oman for this project for a period of 25 days. The Rig Packing List creation and packaging were done in the presence of shipper-appointed Marine Warranty Surveyors.

The shipment was executed with planning to move 85 truckloads from Nizwa and Muscat to an intermediate storage yard in the Sohar port area to counter the shortage of storage space in the shipper’s yard.

During execution, the partners had to negotiate several challenges, the major ones being the preparation of customs documentation and the packing list. The Rig, being refurbished in Oman with multiple country-of-origin cargo, required separate customs declarations for the Oman-made and non-Oman-made cargoes. KRS’s customs documentation team worked with the shipper to identify each cargo’s “made-in” origin and successfully resolve this challenge.

The Rig, being in fully assembled condition and needing to be dismantled fully, presented another challenge for the packing list preparation, as the shipper (who were not the rig’s manufacturers) did not have the exact dimensions or weights for each piece. KRS engaged a professional surveyor to overcome this issue.

Jointly overcoming all challenges, KRS and Ceekay ensured the timely port gate-in of the Rig and its packages, despite a shortened timeline to align with the revised lay-can of the vessel.

The vessel was chartered by Ceekay on a Last In First Out basis within a shorter timeline to align with the Rig’s decommissioning date in Oman and the required delivery date in the Philippines. A multipurpose, heavy-lifter, tween-decker, fully-boxed vessel equipped with 2×250 MT cranes was chartered for the shipment by Ceekay Shipping, while Khimji Ramdas Shipping managed the vessel husbanding and Marine Warranty Surveyor scopes at the Omani port of Sohar.

Challenges were escalated by issues in the Red Sea, leading to a severe shortage of suitable vessels during the lay-can expected by the end client. Ceekay Shipping managed the vessel charter and industrial packing services excellently, while Khimji Ramdas Shipping matched up for the other local scope to complete the entire project to the perfect satisfaction of the end clients.

This project was another example of the strength we synergize at XLP – together, we strive forward…

Total packages handled: 144
Total Volume: 7000+ cbm