Heavy lift shipping and project cargo coordination
When a single unit determines the heavy-lift vessel, port and route, the transport concept comes before the freight rate. We source the capability and coordinate every commercial interface.
Route from ULSAN to ROTTERDAM by sea, 10 900 nm, then 230 km inland to DUISBURG.
Heavy lift shipping moves units whose weight, dimensions or handling method determine the vessel and operation. Lifting points, centre of gravity, deck loading, air draft, port access and the final-mile route must work as one transport concept.
Poseidon sources heavy-lift vessels, geared tonnage, barges, heavy haulage and the required technical specialists. Engineering and warranty work remain with the appointed experts. We coordinate their scopes, commercial terms and delivery sequence from origin to destination.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District · Public domain
- Dimensions and weight of each unit, with the centre of gravity and lifting points if known
- Whether the cargo can be lifted, rolled on or must be floated
- Origin and destination, including the last mile at both ends
- The project schedule the shipment has to meet
- Any survey, warranty or insurance requirement already imposed on the move
Heavy-lift vessels and supporting tonnage
- Heavy-lift vessels
- Combined lift capacity typically from 400 to over 1,000 tonnes, with strengthened decks
- Geared tonnage
- For units within crane capacity that still need dedicated stowage
- Semi-submersible and dock-type vessels
- For floating cargo and units that cannot be lifted at all
- Barge and tug solutions
- Where a coastal or river leg is the practical answer
How heavy lift shipping is planned
A workable freight indication needs more than dimensions and a lane. The transport concept must show how the unit reaches the vessel, where its loads are carried and which technical approvals sit outside the chartering scope.
- Lift or load method
- Confirm whether the unit is lifted, rolled, skidded or floated, together with verified weight, centre of gravity and lifting points.
- Vessel and deck capacity
- Match crane outreach, combined lift, hatch or deck geometry, deck loading and stability requirements to the cargo.
- Port capability
- Check berth strength, water depth, crane access, working area, tide, overhead limits and the route between storage and ship.
- Stowage and sea fastening
- Appointed engineers develop the support, grillage, lashing and securing design. The vessel and operation must allow that design to be installed and inspected.
- Survey and warranty interfaces
- Where insurers or financiers require a marine warranty surveyor, build approval points and document lead times into the shipment sequence before fixing.
- Commercial coordination
- Align the vessel, terminal, lifting contractor, inland carrier, surveyors and cargo interests around one scope and one executable window.
Cargo we see most
- Transformers and electrical plant
- Wind turbine blades and towers
- Pressure vessels and reactor sections
- Cranes and port equipment
- Mining and processing modules
- Marine and offshore structures
- Locomotives and rail plant
- Complete production lines
Questions we are asked
What is heavy lift shipping?
Heavy lift shipping is the movement of cargo whose weight, dimensions or handling method requires specialised vessel capacity and a planned lifting, stowage or roll-on operation. The cargo can be one unit or a project lot. What matters is that it drives the vessel, port and technical method.
How is a heavy-lift vessel selected?
Start with verified weight, dimensions, centre of gravity, lifting points and handling method. Then test crane capacity and outreach, deck loading, stability, stowage geometry, port access, draft and schedule. The cheapest open ship is not suitable if any one of those constraints fails.
How early should we come to you on a project shipment?
As early as you have the outline dimensions and a target window. Tonnage with real lift capacity is limited, and on many lanes the vessel decides the schedule rather than the other way round.
Do you arrange the inland and port handling as well?
We source and coordinate the logistics providers that perform those services. You appoint and pay them directly. Poseidon keeps their scopes, commercial terms and execution milestones aligned with the ocean movement.
What counts as oversized cargo?
In practice, anything that will not fit a standard container or exceeds the lift or deck limits of conventional tonnage. Once a unit is out of gauge, the choice of ship narrows quickly and the port options narrow with it.
Worldwide cargo desk
Bring us the cargo and the route
Cargo, quantity, origin, destination and timing are enough to begin. We will assess the movement and respond within one business day.