115 blades of 85 m: 10,500 km from China to Azerbaijan across the Caspian

Breakbulk (Issue 3, 2026), interview with Siddique Khan: the operator of the move is Globalink.

The shipment: 115 wind-turbine blades, each 85 m long; 109 tower sections; 24 nacelles and hubs.

Manufacturing in Yangzhou and Jinchuan, China; destination the Gobustan and Khizi wind farms in Azerbaijan. About 10,500 km overland and multimodal through Central Asia and across the Caspian — described as among the longest onshore wind-component moves.

Equipment: heavy-duty prime movers, blade trailers, blade lifters, tower trailers and hydraulic modular axle trailers. On the Caspian: sea-river class vessels and pontoon-type barges — the RSD-59 project vessel for heavy components, pontoon barges for the blades.

Two crossings: Dulata (China)–Kolzhat (Kazakhstan) for towers, nacelles and hubs; Khorgos for the blades. Globalink developed a dedicated OOG bypass at Dulata–Kolzhat, with special approvals and infrastructure work, to relieve congestion at Khorgos.

Disruptions handled on the way: a Xinjiang earthquake damaged a bridge — blade-lifter methodology and double handling; flooding in Kazakhstan — an alternative international route through Uzbekistan and back into Kazakhstan; multi-country customs and permits.

For OOG practice, corridor growth for renewables still depends on specialised trailers, barge and Ro-Ro slots, route surveys and dual-crossing capacity — not only container-train TEU.