Hamburg, Germany-based Hoyer GmbH has more than doubled the rolling stock of special containers for transporting liquid helium. The logistics company, a specialist in helium transports since 2001, has invested about 2 million Euro dollars in this purchase to improve services for transporting special gases.
Between May and July 2002, the Hoyer Group has added three new containers to the fleet for transporting liquid helium. Now the Hoyer fleet includes five helium containers. Annual world production of helium amounts to only about 4,500 tons.
The high purchase price for these containers is mainly due to the insulation process required for helium transports. Helium can be transported as a liquid or gas product, though transportation as a liquid is more economical. However, helium is one of the most difficult gases to be liquefied, since it needs at least minus 269° C for this process. Containers have to be equipped to maintain a constant temperature for several days or weeks. This makes the helium containers the most expensive units in the Hoyer fleet of more than 10,000 tank containers.
Due to the expensive equipment and the high product price, all helium containers are equipped with satellite tracking systems. Location, temperature, and pressure can be traced by GPS (global positioning system). Customers can control all data on the Internet at www.hoyer-group.com. These companies will not only save the purchase price for such a special container but also the cost-intensive operation.
Apart from the company-owned equipment, the Hoyer Group, in concert with joint-venture partners and the Hoyer network, is also operating 23 customer-owned helium containers. These containers are transported mainly from the helium resources in the United States, Russia, Poland, and Algeria to the consignees.