The Isotainer started its journey in Europe and was en route to Victoria when other cargo was stored atop its frame causing it to buckle. At a scheduled stopover at Fremantle Port, the shipping vessel captain noticed significant structural damage to the Isotainer. It was deemed it was no longer safe for continued transport and was offloaded.
At that time there was no facility in the state of Western Australia that could safely decant the liquid from the vessel to facilitate unimpeded structural repairs. In situ structural frame repairs had to be completed on the fully laden pressure vessel, carrying 35 tonnes of SO2.
Rapallo accepted the challenge and coordinated the management of all technical logistics, project management, including stakeholder alignment of international ownership and regulatory bodies, developed a scope of work and subsequently, coordinated, and supervised all repair activities. Key deliverables included developing weld procedures, compliance documents, Inspection & test plans, emergency response plans, exclusion and contamination zones and implementation of many unique safety measures to ensure all risks were appropriately controlled.
The frame repair was managed successfully, with the effective transformation of the Isotainer into a standard load that regulators would accept as fit for road transport. Rapallo then stipulated road transport equipment requirements and sourced a suitable transport operator to ensure the repaired ISO Tank was properly transported from Perth to Victoria.
