When a cracker comes home
6,920 tonnes. 55 metres tall. Roughly the weight of the entire steel framework of the Eiffel Tower – moving slowly through the Port of Antwerp. For most people, it would be hard to imagine. For our crew, it was the job.
A project years in the making
INEOS’s ‚Project ONE‘ is one of the largest industrial investments in Belgium in decades: a new ethane cracker at the Port of Antwerp that will produce ethylene – a key raw material for plastics, packaging, and countless everyday products. The project has been years in the making, and its final two modules – the last major pieces of the construction puzzle – had to travel halfway around the world to get there.
The journey wasn’t straightforward. The first module departed on the heavy-lift vessel Ji Xu Xiang 88 but was delayed by several months due to the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical shipping chokepoints. When it finally arrived in Antwerp in July 2026, it marked a significant milestone – not just for INEOS, but for the port as a whole. At 6,920 tonnes and 55 metres in height, it is, according to INEOS, one of the heaviest project cargoes to have arrived in Antwerp in recent years.
Two deliveries, one team
The second and final module followed on 7 August 2026, arriving aboard the Zhe Shan. With that, the full delivery was complete.
Our FAIRPLAY-23 was part of both operations – working under the Antwerp Towage umbrella alongside MULTRATUG 28, as part of the long-established joint venture with Multraship Towage & Salvage. Bringing a cargo of this size and weight safely alongside requires precision, experience, and tight coordination between all parties involved. That’s exactly what our crews delivered, twice.
What comes next
With both modules now at quay, INEOS moves into the most technically demanding phase of the project: the precision placement of each module onto its foundation. According to the company, this is a true millimetre-perfect operation – and one that will bring Project ONE another significant step closer to completion.
An assignment that didn’t make headlines – but one that quietly defines what quality towage looks like.
