New Release: ‘CIGARETTE MARAUDER’ POWER BOAT SETS SAIL WITH VOLGA-DNEPR TO NICE

A ‘Cigarette Marauder’ power boat has arrived in Nice in the south of France onboard Volga-Dnepr Airlines’ IL-76TD-90VD freighter flight after its engineers devised a special loading solution to accommodate the boat’s length, weight and low ground clearance.

The 15-metre ‘Marauder’ was flown from Doha, Qatar, to Nice. The flight was operated on behalf of Volga-Dnepr’s longstanding charter partner Air Partner.     

The 14-ton boat was loaded onto a standard trailer for transportation. To ensure the boat could be loaded into the IL-76TD-90VD’s cargo hold, Volga-Dnepr Airlines’ experts had to develop a special loading solution because the size of the boat and the small amount of ground clearance meant it wasn’t possible to use the aircraft’s ramp and internal crane. Instead, the engineers installed an extension ramp normally used to load heavy and outsize cargoes onboard Volga-Dnepr’s An-124-100 freighters, the world’s largest series-produced cargo aircraft. The ramp reduced the angle that the boat and trailer had to negotiate as they were carefully loaded into the aircraft and meant the boat could be driven on its trailer into the IL-76. 

Rinat Akhmetov, Sales Executive at Volga-Dnepr, said: “Deliveries of yachts and boats always require an individual approach as these types of cargo are very bespoke. They are high value and custom-made and require very precise and delicate handling. Thanks to the size and capability of our An-124 and IL-76TD-90VD freighters, Volga-Dnepr is able to transport a wide range of yachts and boats, boosted by our in-house engineering and logistics capability. We have shipped yachts and boats all over the world from countries such as Canada, Belarus, Ireland, Pakistan, and Russia to destinations in the USA, the Philippines, Kenya, Tanzania, and the United Arab Emirates.”

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