Specialist logistic and forwarding provider Van der Vlist has recently moved a number of Caterpillar material handling machines from the equipment maker’s production facility in Northern Ireland to Van der Vlist’s storage facility in Zeebrugge, Belgium. Van der Vlist uses its facility near the port as a Caterpillar distribution centre, providing storage and modification services, as well as onward distribution around Europe.
The units, each 12 metres long and weighing 31 tons, were moved across the Irish sea and then taken by road across England, before crossing the sea to Zeebrugge.
Van der Vlist stated that it was storing the units ready for any potential modifications, which it will make prior to sale.
Last year Van der Vlist held 14 of the units at its Zeebrugge depot for Caterpillar.
Last month the company also completed the move a Komatsu WA800, 102 ton wheel loader, from Norway to Romania.
The company said that the move needed to be multimodal because of the size of the machine (around 4m x 5.2m x 14m) and the distance it had to travel. Van der Vlist moved the machine by ferry to the Netherlands from where it was shifted onto a barge to one of the company’s technical service facilities in Groot-Ammers for dismantling into 14 sections. From there it was transported by road down to a copper mine Romania, on semi low trailers, and reassembled on site.
