DB Schenker at boot 2009 - setting a new weight record with luxury

(Frankfurt am Main/Düsseldorf, 15 December 2008) Five yachts weighing
540 tons in total were transported by Schenker Deutschland AG on 15
December 2008 to the halls of the Düsseldorf Exhibition Center, where
they are to be the highlights of the “boot 2009” international boat
show. The trade fair logisticians have set a new record with this
consignment. “This is the heaviest total weight we have ever had in one
special transport for 'boot' since this international trade fair first
started," confirmed Ulrich Zähres, the person responsible for “boot” at
Schenker Deutschland AG in the Düsseldorf Exhibition Center branch. When
empty, the largest yacht shipped, the “Bandido 90”, weighs almost 210
tons by herself.

The five luxury yachts traveled on the deck of cargo ships from the
Taiwanese port of Kaohsiung to Rotterdam, where they were placed onto
pontoons with the aid of heavy-duty floating cranes. From there, they
were transported up the Rhine to Düsseldorf. The specialists from DB
Schenker used low loaders for unloading onto a ramp set up by the
company itself. The low loaders were initially positioned under the
yachts on the floating pontoons, hydraulically raised and then
transported onto land and to the trade fair hall by means of two
heavy-duty trucks with 660 horsepower each.

DB Schenker will be moving another 37 boats from the Rhine to the
exhibition grounds before the start of the boat show on 17 January 2009.
Yachts weighing up to 90 tons will mostly make it to “boot 2009” on
their own steam and then be lifted out of the water using the exhibition
center’s heavy-duty crane, known affectionately as “Big Willi”.
Following this, DB Schenker will transport them on low loaders to the
show.