Heavy Cargo Handling Challenge: From Malaysia via Antwerp to Zwijndrecht (Belgium)

Sometimes it’s the details in logistics that make the difference. This was also the case in a recent project of our Overseas Team in Pirmasens: Three heavy-duty reels (each weighing 12.5 tons) with steel cables were ordered by our client in Switzerland from their supplier in Malaysia.

For shipment, the sender decided to use 20-foot open-top containers (20’OT) – a common and cost-effective solution for heavy cargo. However, at the recipient’s site in Belgium it quickly became clear: the space inside the container was too tight to safely unload the massive reels with the available equipment.

This is where we came in: J.S. Logistics was tasked with organizing a practical solution for transshipment at the Port of Antwerp.

The challenge:

• Unloading the heavy reels from the 20’OT containers
• Complying with additional customs and scanning requirements (including special routing: full container out of the terminal, inspection, then back into the terminal with full cargo)
• Re-stowing onto suitable tautliner trucks
• Coordinating between terminal, port handling, and customs

An external mobile crane would not have been welcomed inside the terminal – but thanks to precise planning, our team managed to handle the containers with the appropriate reach stacker, secure the reels safely on transport frames, and smoothly organize onward transport.

Thanks to the dedication of our colleagues Sandra Dengel and Aline Wiede, the transshipment was completed on schedule – much to the satisfaction of our client, who praised the service explicitly.

Once again, J.S. Logistics proves:
Challenging cases are not a problem for us, but part of our daily business.