Bolloré Logistics Tanzania handled the logistics for the Songo Songo gas development and power generating project from June to November 2021, shipping 5,000 freight tons of components and equipment to an island 15 kilometers off the Tanzanian coast. The Songo Songo project, worth US$ 340.37M, intends to exploit Tanzania’s natural gas deposits in order to provide low-cost power for home and industrial usage in an environmentally friendly and effective manner.
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The goal of the initiative is to encourage private sector ownership and control of generation in the gas and electricity sectors. Furthermore, it is intended to boost poor people’s access to power by constructing financially feasible rural energy programs in underserved communities along the pipeline path.
Using its expertise in industrial projects and energy logistics, the business was able to perform a historic feat by becoming the first to deploy a big land craft to the island of Songo Songo. Seven barges, or large flat-bottomed vessels, were required to bring the equipment to the island at various times. A 130-ton and a 60-ton crane, an excavator, a modular hydraulic trailer, and two semi-trailers for shunting were among the specialized pieces of equipment employed.
Challenges for Songo Songo project in Tanzania
There were various difficulties encountered when working on this project, such as a lack of infrastructure. To do this, a jetty needed to be rebuilt and turned into a landing place large enough to accommodate the enormous ships and goods coming on the island. Meanwhile, holes that had been created had to be plugged in order to enable vehicles used for shunting on and off the vessel to pass through.
Elson Shan, Cluster Commercial Director at Bolloré Logistics, stated that the key problems were coordinating customs procedures and customer requests, as well as a shortage of equipment, such as barges and ships. A team of professionals was mobilized and flown to the island, where they deployed unique logistical solutions to address the key difficulties.
The changing tides had a significant impact on the angle of the ramp used to dump the goods, requiring the experts to maintain a tight eye on the ramp’s inclination. In 2021, Bolloré Logistics Tanzania was appointed to manage all logistical requirements for the project to establish a gas compression facility on Songo Songo Island in Tanzania’s south. It was given to the Bolloré Logistics teams by one of China’s major exporters of petroleum and petrochemical goods, equipment, and technology to the worldwide market.
