Gigantic Overseas Autoliner | Mega Transports | Free Documentary

a transport to the other side of the world a cargo worth millions about 10,000 cars and gigantic machines what the worst thing is gonna happen somebody gets hurt somebody gets in between with every vehicle the risk increases West space less time to react most of the time the problem is night no other ship of its kind can carry so many cars and heavy stuff on a journey through the narrowest waterways on earth you're nervous really you're nervous but you always have to keep calm a real mega transport [Music] the port at Antwerp in Belgium one of Europe's most important transfer sites for new vehicles and the starting point for the mega transport of a Norwegian giant [Music] the trapper world's largest automobile transporter a ship that takes global vehicle logistics to a whole new level 200 meters long 36 meters wide but the major attraction is actually behind the steel hole a gigantic cargo area in total over 71 thousand square meters enough room for 8500 cars an extraordinary number but still not the biggest challenge for all those involved they are in Barking on a journey covering 28,000 kilometers from Antwerp navigating around Germany England France and Spain and then out onto the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean from there across the pond to ports in the US and Jamaica through the Panama Canal onto the Pacific and all the way to New Zealand and Australia all that in just 50 days the planning for this mammoth task is all his responsibility port captain Pere Henningsen for this usually unflappable Norwegian it's a permanent race against the clock here in Antwerp he needs to board 1,000 cars but the head planner has just 16 hours for a secure loading process all the time you have a challenge to try to get because you have only regular whistle you will have three four five hatches which you can eventually plant in here everything has to come through the same door but before anything is put on the ship the massive cargo has to be cleared from the parking lot a job for twenty on-site port workers known as stevedores they're the ones that will pick up each and every one of the thousand cars first there's a check-in using a scanning system each scanned automobile is registered and then ready for the mega transport only then will it be allowed on board to become one more car on what is the largest floating parking lot in the world each vehicle is assigned a specific parking spot but to do that is anything but simple the trapper has 14 cargo decks which are configured into loading zones by the port captain each zone represents a port at which the ship will load and unload vehicles the concept is the farther the destination port the farther back the loading zone sounds logical enough however there is one small problem pair has to maximize the use of the area while at the same time making sure the loading zones are freely accessible otherwise with last-minute changes a plan there's a risk of the worst case scenario which would involve three parking hundreds of cars and a confined space against the clock they refer to it as shifting it's extremely time consuming and time as the last thing pair has despair only 16 hours for a thousand cars with less than one minute allowed per car completing his task without making any mistake is virtually impossible but I think I can only count two the ones which have been 100% full without any shifting the most common problems last-minute new orders that suddenly increase the number of vehicles or mistakes in the initial numbers the result is that there is not enough room in the loading zones the person responsible for making sure that cars get to their assigned spots his Foreman Dimitri Golemon he checks the cars in for Port Kembla in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand what's extremely important here is non-stop contact with his head planner is very good Fitness has indicated here leave this open yes the Auckland's leave the open forget about that and then you are finished and then the Auckland over is as I make the complete flow stalls most of the cars are brand new from the factory Dimitri's job a permanent balancing act between speed and precision [Music] just a little bit more enough the time pressure is immense but the space in the zones is limited despite this potential dents are not Dimitri's biggest worry but the worst thing is gonna happen somebody gets hurt somebody gets in between the way the lashing crew is over here and we don't check each other throughout the parking process the lashing crew secures every car with special straps they attach the straps to lashing hooks or car rims at the front and back of the car and two holes in the deck this is designed to keep the valuable Freight from rocking during the ocean passage and in the worst case coming loose to create a floating motorway pileup more than half the allotted time has now passed and the first two decks are filling up but a bit too much according to the plan from port captain pair [Music] we loaded for Port Kembla 112 already I think today or including what they did here I don't know did a lot yesterday is girls at Port Kembla yeah the problem a last-minute order for delivery to Port Kembla Australia but the loading zone for that is already full and the cargo for Auckland New Zealand is ready to be parked port captain pair has to improvise while keeping one eye on the clock being you yes like always yes then I fill up with the Auckland or if you like that with the Oakland yes would you go up all for the balance you want the balance over here okay no problem the trapper has an enormous total load capacity of 21,000 tons pair has to keep the weight of the cargo evenly distributed at all times so that the ships does not tip it's a mega challenge especially when it comes to last-minute changes pair redistributes the cars on the spot the new ones for Port Kembla are going to fill up the zone for Auckland he spreads the spaces that were lost across three other decks high pressure work for Foreman Dimitri and his team of stevedores 150 cars suddenly need a new parking place time to go before the planned departure just three hours but things look good [Music] okay 1000 cars are in their proper positions even one hour ahead of schedule station one of the mega transport finished but there's still two months and a whole lot of work to do until they reach their final destination until now only the uppermost two decks of a gigantic transporter have been loaded some decks remains sparsely occupied while others are completely empty and waiting for their cargoes at upcoming ports next up Brina - port captain pair is already starting to prepare for the loading process there because in Bremerhaven he expects more than simple cars is shifted from deck number 8 to be able to load trucks the largest vehicle transporter in the world doesn't just carry automobiles it also hauls all sorts of high and heavy cargo this is only possible due to the trappers special flexible decks whose height can be adjusted in order to accommodate some pretty monstrous machinery the next morning the crew prepares for departure on the bridge just one last technical step remains raising the huge ramp [Music] is everybody ready let's go starting time for the mega transports trip around the globe the trapper has to make it to Australia and New Zealand in just 49 days along for the ride thousands of cars but the biggest cargo of them all has yet to be loaded the ship travels through the inland waters of Belgium in the direction of the North Sea then 500 kilometers along the coast of Holland and Germany debris mer - day 3 of the mega transport and half time for the first crossing for the crew everything is running calmly and comfortably [Music] but one man has been racking his brain for hours head planner pair has to distribute every car and every high and heavy unit properly across the cargo space what is the main thing with this is to keep everything open so that you are not stuck the problem he still doesn't know exactly what to expect and one order in particular has him worrying more than usual we going to load some interesting things which is said to be a trail it was said to be seven point five meter wide too high to pass so they have to go on high high space I'm actually anxious to what it is hair doesn't have any information about the height of this mysterious object but he will plan prepare persist and succeed like he always does Dave for a rival and dreamer - the biggest parking lot in the world over an area of 240 Hector's there's room for 95 thousand cars Bremer Hoffman is considered the most important trade hub for automobiles in Europe the port handles 2.2 million vehicles every year two thousand of those are now going on a journey around the world for our mega transport that's child's play because the other things waiting here include tractors giant construction machines and trucks and short this cargo is hard to work high and heavy a triple whammy prepare and yet there's again just 16 hours to complete the job the fact that any oversized Colossus can even think about taking a ride on the trapper is based on two factors first the 12 meter wide and 6 and a half meter high loading hatch second the ramp load bearing capacity 375 tons the weight of 75 full-grown elephants the additionally height and high in heavy area is just behind the gate even the largest machinery can pass through unscathed what's more five of the 14 decks are movable and can be adjusted in height not to mention their respective ramps the result a total of 18,000 195 square meters of space for high and heavy cargo and that's exactly what's happening on deck 8 whenever there are technical adjustments to be made to the cargo area everything responds to his command chief officer bong Chun then his job to make sure that several large trucks can fit in here the height of this deck right now is two point three meters that's not enough we need four point two meters to load the high and heavy cargo here in just a few minutes the cargo height practically doubles and all that without any complicated technology Fung and his crew push up each of the deck panels using a simple hoist is everything all right up there everything's okay last step the panel has to engage into the safety supports time needed to work on each panel wess than five minutes after just one hour the entire deck is almost twice as high as it was before this is a very great function for us it allows us to transport way more cargo according to different cargo types in this case to accommodate commercial trucks the concept is that as an untoward stevedores drive each of the hundred trucks to its planned space fastened down and done after about eight hours the last square leader the deck is full at the same time the other decks from above are filling up with cars extra high decks five and three are still basically empty but all that's about to change time for the really massive Freight like this 21 ton screaming machine mobile high and heavy units have to go to deck three one ramp below it's a process that can cause serious problems when dealing with such a colossus it's down for the workers it's a catastrophe there isn't just the fear that the valuable cargo could be damaged the huge agricultural machine is now blocking the only access to the deck this will test Pere and his team to their limits keeping to the tight schedule seriously endangered at this point for Marshall our Brian first and his co-workers every second counts the back end is sitting a little bit too low this makes it hard for us to push it over of course we try our best but if it won't work it might need to be shifted on an upper deck but it's already full on top Brian could move the other high and heavy units to make room for the giant but that's going to take too much time the alternative plan use rubber mats to remove the machine from the ramp without damaging it [Music] but the first attempt ends in failure the center of gravity at the rear end is too low Brian needs to think fast because the next giant is already waiting meanwhile main deck 5 is slowly filling up but there's a problem brewing here as well our head planter pair is still calmly waiting for his mysterious cargo supposedly a seven and a half meter wide unit on a long trailer but that's all he knows about it and that's not the only thing testing his nerve most of the time the problem is the height and actually the measurement is open the result of having the wrong dimensions seriously sobering the high in heavy area is completely full up and the adjustable panels of the cargo deck above already raised to the absolute maximum pair has just two hours left until the trappers plan departure from dreamer - but right now all we can do is wait a long unnerving wait but then these be talked about big the cargo the bucket of an enormous dump truck pairs initial irritation has now developed into real worry will this monster even fit on the ship meanwhile on deck 3 the huge screener is still blocking the only way down Marshall O'Brien and his team have to get the 20-ton Colossus off the ramp as quickly as possible they use wooden slats to prop up the machine this should keep the low rear end from scraping across the floor so I hope it works now looks good sure enough the machine slowly starts to move perhaps not the most elegant solution but effective the high and heavy unit arrives in the cargo area undamaged to the great relief of Marshall O'Brien well we're satisfied that it worked right now the path is clear for the really big cargo despite the continuing occurrence of minor adversities hundreds of tons of the high and heavy cargo loads make their way to the deck on scheduled construction machines cranes excavators the big bad and heavy are all in attendance [Applause] a good hour before quitting time there are 199 of the big boys on board just one is still missing the oversized dump truck bucket throws everyone into a major concern it's totally unclear as to whether the unit will even fit on the deck at all especially given its height raising the cargo area is highly problematic because at the moment the decks above it are all fall it would be a monumental effort which is no longer achievable at least not in the time they have left which is about an hour before the mega transport scheduled departure mission accomplished the height is not a problem even the length and width fit exactly into position head platter pair breathes a sigh of relief frankly he will you've been waiting forever is really nice know that know that it will fit loaded so video these things still it is the hardest and that even after 30 years of experience on the job in just one day pear and his stevedores have loaded 2,000 new vehicles plus 200 high and heavy units but the longest and heaviest part of the mega transport is yet to come loading and unloading continues at the next stops in Europe England France and Spain the ship then travels all the way across the Atlantic and to the east coast of the United States via Jamaica and to the Caribbean Sea a real tight spot awaits the mega transport there the Panama Canal day 28 of the Auto Liners journey from Europe to New Zealand the trappers expected to reach Panama by morning the full responsibility for the mega transport lies with Captain surveyed Chum more than anything he has to keep one thing in mind the weather show me the weather forecasts what's our situation it looks like oh no there's a lot of yellow and red reports are calling for heavy storms directly at the Panama coast it's a serious danger for the mega transport if we encounter bad weather the ship will start rolling and pitching too much this means first that we cannot speed up and lose time but also second we are afraid of our cargo that could start moving and in the worst case major damage avoiding it is all in the hands of first officer foot tool young no pressure make sure that every car is lashed down properly otherwise facile but be careful there's a new cars no scratches alright the cargo below is worth several hundred million euros which is why checking that it is secure has top priority especially since storms have been forecast [Music] checking the cargo regularly has another reason during the course of a journey vibrations in the ship caused the lashings to loosen sometimes the lashings aren't fastened down properly sometimes the angle isn't rights and some cars are even missing a lashing lashings need to be anchored at a 45-degree angle if they're too loose the cars could shift and because they're parked so close together they would then crash into each other for this job one thing is more important than anything else for her and his crew a very keen eye cadet do that again this is still not the right angle possibly properly perfect lashing tension is an absolute necessity if any damage occurs to the cargo it's the trapper crew that will bear the responsibility even in normal conditions the crew has to check and if required tighten the lashings every three days no exceptions accepted we need to check every single cop to prepare for the looming storm the guys add shocks to make sure the cars don't move it's an extra security measure that for 8500 cars takes several hours to complete and yet is absolutely necessary for getting the cargo safely to its destination undamaged finally the first officer who makes a last check time to call it a day as the ship continues to approach the storm there is nothing left for the crew to do but wait there a tight group and no wonder many of them spend up to four months at a time together on the high seas [Music] where's my card no I don't have it most of the crew members see each other more than they see their own families it's a tough break and a major challenge each of them plays their part in making sure a mega transport of this magnitude is pulled off trouble-free but trouble-free is in how you describe the bridge at the moment the storm brewing is a major source of worry for a captain's food the trapper must pass through the Panama Canal tomorrow otherwise it could take days until they receive a new transit approval a storm on the open seas would be a problem but in the unforgiving confines of the canal locks it could be a catastrophe if the wind blows from starboard from portside or any other way the vessel could deviate from the course but in the lock there is no room for deviating which means the vessel could collide with the locks wall the transid slots for the Panama Canal are scheduled precisely any deviation would cause a major backup and is therefore not tolerated you're nervous really you're nervous but you always have to keep calm the trapars scheduled transit 4:00 in the morning in complete darkness but even in the best conditions the trip will be a challenge the Panama Canal joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans first there's a three level Launch System that lifts the ship 27 meters to the man-made khatoun lake from there it's 82 km/h on an otherwise them at the end which will take the trapper onto the expanse of the Pacific Ocean for a mega transport like ours such an excursion was impossible until very recently the canal is over a hundred years old and was designed for the largest ships at that time maximum width thirty two point three meters for behemoths like the trapper that's not enough canal authorities began construction on newer larger lock systems in 2007 since its opening in 2016 ships belonging to the so called Neil Panamax class can now transit the canal and that includes the trapper but even though the new log chambers are 55 metres wide for the trapper this means not even 10 meters clearance on either side and in the dark no less on day 29 of the mega transport the trapper is at the Atlantic side entrance to the canal on time at 4 o'clock in the morning Aguaclara to manage the locked chambers the crew now has local support Harbor pilot Robert Alcock and his team are specialized in guiding oversized transport vessels safely through the locks and it works like this the man-made Panama Canal is 27 metres above sea level to get the mega transport up this high it uses three long chambers like steps when the ship gets to the first chamber the chamber is pumped full of water to raise the trapper up by nine meters the process is repeated for a second and third time each raising the ship by nine meters the difficulty the captain and pilot need to position the ship perfectly in the middle of the lock chamber because during the pumping process the engine must be stopped which means there's no chance to make corrections here we go chamber one of three the challenge is maneuvering the vessel straight through in order to steer the course on the high seas the trapper uses an automatic steering system but while going through the locks the ship has to be maneuvered manually as required by law for the entire duration of the canal transit the pilot gives the orders to the captain but captain su still has the last word particularly started starboard 20 style booty each command decides whether the ship will keep its course or crash into the wall we have to hold the ship steady like this without any deviation Staub ad at least we are lucky there is no wind the predicted bad weather has not arrived after 30 minutes the trapper is in the first locked chamber but there is still a palpable tension on the bridge mr. pirate if a we come pick up the slack what synchronized to heavy thank you now the engine is stopped and captain Sue's hands are tied dock workers secure the ship with ropes so that it doesn't move during the pumping process and then off we go within eight minutes the trapper has raised nine meters now the path is clear to chamber number two [Music] until now everything seems to have run smoothly but just before the next stop the ship comes dangerously close to the locked wall now every command has to be perfect no mistakes no excuses no no mr. Bertoni Mitch it fortunately that slip of the tongue quickly corrected went unpunished not all do that sheep were filled with water from the gotten lake raising the trapper to 18 meters thirty to forty ships pass through the locks every day this requires the services of almost 300 pilots they get additional support from 36 tugboats which help the ships to keep the tight course it's a major effort and therefore a major expense the cost of a single passage for a mega transport like ours up to four hundred thousand euros [Music] now just the third and last lock chamber to go once again for the captain and pilot this takes razor-sharp concentration stop engine fawful to port while the lock system pumps the trapper up one last time the pilot in captain have the time to focus on one final and most important task guiding that 200 meter long mega transport out of the narrow lock system and into the canal unscathed [Music] the trapper is now 27 meters above sea level the level of the Panama Canal to safely reach it captain su needs to bring the trapper out of the lock in a straight a line as possible to do this he uses the yellow line as a guide so that the rear does not swing out the ship must always move parallel to the line [Music] on command from captain and pilot the tugboats pulled the monster through but halfway out what happens is this do you see the ship is now very close to this critical point now we have to bow half starboard port bow D less than 2 meters separate the trapper from the solid stone wall yes you see now is it easy to indicate me reach it okay meet you third officer is the back out of the lock it is just gone out stop or 10 it is just gone out oh great so we were safe in the back corner are we safe exactly we're safe Oh meaty power half to stubble meat yep that's star bow mr. pirate ship a stand clear over this corner they did it after three nerve-racking hours the ship and its cargo remained undamaged and can continue their journey through the Panama Canal and they go to take a phone off okay totally clear phone rock yeah the pilot disembarks captain soon once again takes full control of his ship I'm feeling very happy and excited yeah absolutely today we can pass the new Panama Canal because I had a very good cooperation with the pilots for the mega transport and it's extremely valuable cargo it is now time to traverse 82 kilometers away the transit takes all of nine hours travelling through the Panama Canal saves the ship an impressive three weeks of travel time which would otherwise need to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean no wonder that annually an excess of 15,000 commercial ships travel through it since the expansion the annual cargo loads have doubled to 600 million tons that's 6% of all maritime freight traffic in the world which includes our mega transport and even after 20 years of professional experience it's still a special event for captain su I am very proud to be captain on this vessel and I'm excited to experience the Panama Canal the trapper is scheduled to reach Australia and New Zealand in three weeks [Music] [Music] but to continue the journey the ship still has to reach the level of the Pacific Ocean at the end of the canal su and his crew face another three chamber lock system the cocoon locks [Music] the task lower the ship by 27 meters instead of stepping up now we step down based on the experience from this morning it should be no problem and after an extremely eventful day the trapper is one step closer to its goal now it's plain sailing non-stop across the mighty Pacific all the way to Auckland the trip will last for a total of 21 more days until the trapper finally reaches New Zealand 49 days have passed since the otter liner started in Antwerp the mega transport is set to reach the other side of the world tomorrow but there is still one final inspection and no it doesn't involve technical issues if we have any insects on board this is against the law especially in countries like Australia and New Zealand in the worst case the authorities could prohibit the crew from opening the gates and keep them from delivering thousands of cars okay chef we're gonna check the kitchen now it's no joke a crew looking for needles in the haystack top priority for certain chef's you've got cooking oil here I can feel it on my fingers yeah brush that away too yeah chef what come here the floor is dirty you should wipe down here okay oh okay New Zealand has some of the strictest quarantine regulations in the world especially when it comes to food we're literally talking about every grain of rice here where's the rice over here where did you load it and Bremerhaven okay that's still good keep going despite some criticism about the cooks cleanliness the official food inspectors are satisfied in the end good job now everything is ready for the mega transports final chapter Dave 50 despite a monumental stretch of over 28,000 kilometers the world's biggest Auto liner is on time at its first port of call on the other side of the world Auckland New Zealand thousands of new cars and hundreds of the Heian heavies will find their ways to new owners a mega transport around the globe all possible thanks to a bunch of little gears interlocking perfectly stevedores who bring each vehicle on board and then offload them with incomparable dedication just like I was young I was playing with little cars with the toys now is the same but it's a little bit bigger dock workers who solve every problem even when it's tricky and our unflappable port captain without whose meticulous planning everything would collapse like a house of cards is it Enoch Elia satisfying it because you have worked so tremendous harder the biggest vehicle transporter in the world after 50 days of extreme logistics this mega challenge of a transport has reached the goal of its journey the other end of the world it's now officially a real mega transport

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 8,248,754

Rating: 4.7848582 out of 5

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, free documentaries, full documentaries, mega transport, mega transports, epic transport, heavy transport, most epic transport, mega transport cars, mega transport autoliner, autoliner, höegh autoliners, höegh trapper, höegh traveller, car transport, giant ship, large ship, engineering documentary

Id: ahdhk1rZZrU

Length: 48min 14sec (2894 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 10 2019