Air Charter Service (ACS) has arranged the delivery of two aftercoolers, weighing almost 50 tons each, from Italy to an offshore oil platform that was being constructed in Indonesia.

Jason Bird, cargo director of ACS Singapore, said the customer approached the air charter provider in July this year to transport two 48-ton aftercoolers from Italy to Batam, which is on an Indonesian island just off the coast of Singapore.

He noted that the extreme weight of the cargo led ACS to recommend using an Antonov 124 and flying directly into Singapore Changi Airport due to the superior cargo handling facilities and the need for external cranes to offload the cargo.

"In the months leading up to the charter, we worked closely with an engineering company and the airline in the creation of a cradle capable of supporting the units during the loading process," Bird said.

He added that ACS' European team had previous experience in coordinating road permits and escort vehicles for outsize loads and they helped facilitate the movement of the cargo to Milan Airport.

"The customer and I then met the aircraft on landing in Singapore to ensure the offloading was as smooth as the loading. Our customer asked us to arrange overnight warehouse storage in Singapore, as well as the trucking, including road permits and escorts for delivery to the port. We also arranged for the cranes that we had used at the airport to be present to load the pieces onto the ship, bound for its final destination in Indonesia," he added.

Dan Morgan-Evans, cargo director of ACS Group, noted that this charter is a great example of how important our global network of offices is — working closely together to organise complex operations across continents.