How to Ship Oversized Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers to Georgia: Packing, Lift Points & Port Documents

Shipping oversized shell & tube heat exchangers from China to Georgia is a logistics problem before it is a manufacturing problem. Nozzle orientation, saddle height, lift points, packing data and carrier booking must be fixed while the drawings are still open. This guide answers the questions engineers actually ask before an exchanger leaves the shop, using a live 2026 shipment of two units from Shanghai to Poti Port as the worked example.

Exchangers that sit in existing pipe racks are not catalogue items: nozzle positions and orientation, saddle supports, footprint and lifting lugs must be drawn against the customer's site layout and approved before tube sheet drilling. Changing a nozzle after hydrotest means re-testing the shell and moving the shipment date. Confirm nozzle size and orientation, saddle height and bolt hole spacing, lifting lugs and bundle pull-out clearance in writing.

Packing data is not a document detail; it drives the freight quotation. Both units on this project were quoted before these figures were finalised:

With these figures the carrier can confirm flat-rack or break-bulk space and the buyer can plan port lifting and inland trucking early.

• Compact units: timber skid, wooden-capped nozzles, VCI film wrap, shipping marks stencilled on two faces.
• Long, heavy units: heavy-duty saddle frame with cross bracing to control deflection in lifting and ocean transit.
• Every package: reinforced tarpaulin over VCI film, packing list and marks readable without opening the crate.
• Coating: abrasive blast to Sa 2.5 (St 3 for touch-up) before primer and finish coat, applied post-hydrotest so no marks or damage remain.

Two packages on one booking is cheaper, but only if stowage is agreed in advance. For the 9.25 m unit the flat-rack / break-bulk arrangement was confirmed with the carrier so lifting points matched the saddles, and loading, lashing and photographic records were completed before departure. Ask for the stowage plan, not just the booking confirmation.

• Third-party inspection report and hydrotest certificates for both sides
• Lifting point diagram and centre-of-gravity calculation for each package, as required by APMT Poti for project cargo discharge — its terminal procedure requires a survey report at least 72 hours pre-arrival stating lifting points, centre of gravity and load-port lifting capacity
• Dimensional check sheet for nozzle orientation and saddle height
• Packing list with package numbers, weights, dimensions and marks
• Loading and lashing photographs taken before the vessel sails

Both units were tested on shell and tube sides at the applicable code test pressure — 1.5× design pressure per TEMA R, or 1.3× MAWP per ASME Sec VIII Div.1 — with certificates issued alongside the third-party inspection report.

Georgia's standard thresholds for oversize cargo are 5 m width, 4.5 m height, 20 m single-vehicle length and 52 t gross weight. Both packages here stayed well within them, so no road permit was needed — but check the destination site, not just the port.

Two custom shell & tube exchangers — a 3.95-tonne compact unit and an 11.85-tonne long-tube unit — packed differently because of their size, shipped from Shanghai to Poti as one 15.8-tonne consignment with zero transport damage. Full record: YUHONG GROUP Two Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers Shipped to Poti, Georgia: 15.8-Ton Export Case.

Fabrication starts after drawing approval, not after the order; approving the site interface quickly is the biggest saving on the schedule.

Hydrotest certificates, inspection report, dimensional check sheet, packing list, lifting point diagram with centre of gravity, and loading photographs.

The supplier issues them, the third-party inspector verifies weights and dimensions, and the carrier confirms the stowage plan against them.

Planning an export to Georgia or the Caucasus? Share duty conditions, nozzle schedule and site layout; we will return a drawing-stage proposal with packing data to quote freight against. See our TEMA shell & tube heat exchangers.