Sennebogen 895 E sails 930 nautical miles in one piece to Iskenderun

The 895 E is the largest material handler in the Sennebogen range, and this particular unit had been working for a subcontractor of a large steel mill. When that contract ended, the used machine was sold to a customer in İskenderun in southern Turkey, leaving its new owner with a relocation problem: the handler weighs 420 tonnes and stands more than 20 metres tall.

Why the road was ruled out

Moving the 895 E by road would have meant breaking it down into individual components and spreading them across roughly 18 heavy-duty trucks, with all the cost and downtime of disassembly and reassembly on top. Bridge capacities, road widths and clearance heights would have constrained the route still further. Partner Maritime Services instead planned a sea voyage for the complete machine, factoring in its weight, its height and the need for stability and secure lashing throughout.

Rolling aboard at Tuzla

Loading took place at Anadoluport in Tuzla, where the 895 E travelled under its own power up a RoRo ramp onto a 60 m long and 19 m wide pontoon. While the machine crawled aboard, water was pumped out of the pontoon’s ballast tanks to hold a stable height between deck and quay wall. Once positioned, the handler was secured with prepared lashing equipment, the stability calculations and load securing were checked and approved, and a tugboat towed the pontoon out across the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean. After around 930 nautical miles and ten days at sea, the transport reached İskenderun.

A floating dock to climb the quay

The voyage itself went to plan – the real test came at the destination. İskenderun offered no suitable RoRo ramp, and the quay edge sat more than 5.40 metres above the water, while the pontoon on its own could only make up a height difference of about three metres.

“The most difficult part of the project was not the sea voyage, but the unloading process in İskenderun.”

— Sahin Aktan, founder and managing director, Partner Maritime Services

The team positioned a separate floating dock at the pier and flooded its ballast tanks until it sank below the surface. The loaded pontoon was then manoeuvred into the submerged dock, and controlled deballasting raised dock, pontoon and machine together until the pontoon’s deck sat level with the quay wall – letting the 895 E drive ashore in one piece, just as it had boarded.