Cat litter - from Bulgaria via Krems to the customer
- Source and destination: From Kardjali (Bulgaria) via Krems to the customer
- Means of transport: Inland vessel and truck
- Type of transport process: Split multimodal transport (switch of transport mode)
- Cargo: Bentonite loaded in big bags (general cargo)
Mierka Donauhafen Krems is a logistics service provider with more than 70 years of experience in transhipment, storage and transport. Many different transport modes are regularly used in order to fully meet the customers´ requirements.
The transhipment of bentonite is also arranged at the Port of Krems on a regular basis. Bentonite consists of clay minerals and has a high swell and a high water absorption capacity. In this case, the mineral bentonite is used for the produciton of cat litter. It is delivered from Kardjali in Bulgaria where it is packed into big bags.
The goods are transported approximately 300 kilometres from Kardjali to the Danube port of Svishtov by truck. In Svishtov, the big bags are transhipped onto pushed lighters and subsequently shipped on the Danube port of Krems. On average, a pushed lighter is loaded with 500 to 600 big bags leading to a toal load between 750 and 1,000 tons. This transport chain is very environmentally friendly and economic, since the main part of the journey is carried out by inland vessel (1,448 km) and only a minor part (around 315 km) by truck.
The big bags used in this practical example are flexible containers for bulk cargo and very similar to big sacks. The official international term for big bags is Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container (FIBC). Its capacity can range from between 400 and 2,000 litres and its weight up to two tons. Big bags are used for bulk cargo such as waste materials, granules and seeds.
