HANDLING • TRANSPORT • STORAGE • DISTRIBUTION • PROCESSING MAY/JUNE 2012

CONTENTSNEWS

Progress at Tonkolili 2IronClad gets nod 3Evraz upgrades Nakhodka 4New Damen crane barge 5African co-operation 20

BENELUX REVIEW

Investing for growth 6

BLACK SEA REVIEW

NMTP expansion plans 9

INDONESIA REVIEW

A taxing question 10

CARGO HANDLING

Sucking up the potential 11Putting bulk into boxes 13Powering ahead 15Heavy lift shipping 16FIBCs flex their muscles 18

COMMODITY FOCUS

Fertiliser 19

Competition is set to return toNew South Wales grain portsafter Newcastle Port Corpo-ration (NPC) approved an ap-plication by Newcastle AgriTerminal (NAT) for a grainterminal at Carrington.

The privately-owned NATwill manage the constructionand operation of the facility,which will include rail re-ceival, conveyors, 2 x20,000t silos and 3 x 6,780tsilos, shiploading facilitiesand ancillary office, controlrooms, carpark, laboratoryand inspection and samplerooms.

NAT submitted its pro-posal in September 2011 andit has since been the subjectof a thorough assessmentprocess by NPC, including a30-day public exhibition andexamination by a reviewpanel comprising NPC seniormanagement and an inde-pendent expert.

Newcastle grain gainIn the first stage of the de-

velopment NAT will con-struct 50,000-60,000t of stor-age capacity near the existingterminal owned and operatedby GrainCorp.

The newcomer claims itwill have access to a little-used existing rail loop thatwill allow non-stop dis-charge of complete trains.The new environmentally-friendly terminal will permitthe doubling of the size ofgrain trains running throughthe Hunter Valley from thecurrent maximum of 40wagons, and use wagons ca-pable of carrying 80-100tloads compared to the cur-rent 55t.

Unlike GrainCorp, NATwill not be vertically-inte-grated and will not involve it-self in grain marketing andtrading, nor up-country stor-age or grain train ownership/operation.

NAT says the A$28M,2,000 tph terminal will fea-ture best practice new tech-nology and will be operatingby mid 2013.

Executives Jock Carterand Martin MacKay will in-vest their own funds, withcontributions from grain ex-porters Glencore Grain, Olamand CBH Grain.

Carter says the new termi-nal will create competitionamong NSW port operatorsfor the first time and provideAustralian grain growersmore efficient access to ex-port markets and an alterna-tive to the “monopoly”GrainCorp.

“This is the first majorgrain port development inNew South Wales in over 25years and it has the poten-tial to reinstate Newcastle asthe principal grain port ofeast coast Australia,” hesaid.

Midstream bulk handling spe-cialist Associated TerminalsLLC in Louisiana has ex-panded its fleet of Gottwaldfloating cranes to seven ma-chines with the acquisition ofa Generation 5, Model 8 cranevariant.

The new crane will be oneof the highest performancefloating bulk cranes on theMississippi, said Gottwald.

“On the Mississippi, in par-ticular, where quay facilitiesare few and far between, weintend to use the newGottwald crane to improveour versatility in terms of mid-stream cargo handling,”, ex-plained Associated’s directorGary Poirrier.

“In view of a steady in-crease in the volume of freightcoupled with ever greaterpressure to reduce costs, ourcustomers require rapid, effi-cient cargo handling.”

Associated uses floatingcranes in midstream operationbetween mile markersMM 56.8 and MM 141 on thelower Mississippi.

Its new G HPK 8400 Bwill be used to transfer a rangeof cargoes, including ores,coal, grain and fertilisers from

Seventh Gottwald floatingcrane for Associated

sea-going vessels to inlandwaterway vessels.The crane isdesigned with a 63t (metric)grab curve and can handle upto 1850 tph (2040 USt). It hasa maximum hook lift of 100t.

The overall height of all As-sociated’s Gottwald cranes ena-bles them to pass under bridgeswithout having to be partiallydismantled and lowered, whichsaves time and money.

The company acquired itsfirst Gottwald floating cranein 2006 and its fleet comprisesmostly type G HPK 6400 Bwith ratings of up to 1000 tph(metric).

There are now no less than

The model 8 G HPK 8400 B crane will be added to AssociatedTerminals’ existing fleet of floating cranes

15 Gottwald floating craneson the Mississippi and anotherG HPK 8400 B will follow inSeptember. Sales and servicesupport is provided from theDemag Cranes regional cen-tre in Tampa, Florida.

Another important Asianmarket has emerged forSouth Africa’s main coalhandling facility, RichardsBay Coal Terminal (RBCT)in the form of Taiwan, whichtook 600,000t in Februaryand 800,000t in March.

RBCT reports that itshipped 1.9 mt to India inMarch and 1.3 mt to China,while the European share ofSouth African exports de-clined to just 1.4 mt for thatsame month.

Taiwan was South Afri-ca’s 15th biggest export des-tination last year but is ex-pected to become a more im-portant market during thecourse of this year.

State-owned transportutility Transnet has finallyannounced its capital in-vestment plans for the nextseven years under the ban-ner of its Market DemandStrategy (MDS). It haspledged to increase coal

New market forRichards Bay

rail handling capacity to97.5 mtpa.

The mining companiesthat own RBCT had previ-ously discussed expandingthe terminal’s capacity be-yond the current level of 91mtpa but decided not to pro-ceed with any more devel-opment until additional railhandling capacity had beenguaranteed.

It remains to be seenwhether the new Transnetpledge will be sufficient toencourage a sixth phase ex-pansion of RBCT.

Transnet plans to investR300B ($38B) in in-frastructural projects overthe next seven years.

In a statement, a spokes-person for the company said:“The MDS will catapultTransnet Freight Rail, whichhas the lion’s share of the in-vestment programme, intothe world’s fifth biggest railfreight company.”

Tel: +49 9421/9256-0 Fax: +49 9421/9256-25mail@loibl.biz

Arberstr. 40D-94315 Straubingwww.loibl.biz

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BMI May/June 20122

News

After two years of talks, Chi-nese firm Shandong Iron &Steel Group (SISG) has fi-nally taken a 25% stake in theTonkolili iron ore project inSierra Leone at a cost of$1.5B.

The company will buy 2mtpa increasing to 10 mtpa ata slightly discounted rate, andwill also take a 25% stake inthe project’s port and railwaysubsidiaries. Production willstart off at 20 mtpa but will beramped up to 50 mtpa as a re-sult of the Chinese investment.

First iron ore was shippedfrom the project in November,the first from Sierra Leone in30 years, and African Miner-als says that existing rail andport operations are “comfort-ably achieving” 8 mtpa.

African Minerals hadhoped to produce 15 mt thisyear and 20 mt in 2013 but inmid-April downgraded its2012 forecast to 10 mt.

Chief financial officer

Progress atlast on Tonkolili

Miguel Perry said: “It is con-servative, I accept, but it is theright thing to do given the in-herent uncertainties in theramp-up period.”

The first phase of the rede-velopment of the port ofTagrin Point, the upgrade of74 km of new railway and theconstruction of a further 126km of line have now beencompleted. The existing railstock of 20 engines and 456wagons will be increased to 34and 856 respectively by theend of this year.

Frank Timis, the executivechairman of African Mineralscommented: “We are pleasedto welcome SISG, one of theworld’s largest steel produc-ers, as a strategic investor inthe Tonkolili project.

“This partnership confirmsthe potential for Sierra Leoneto become one of the world’smajor iron ore producing na-tions thereby creating lastingbenefits for its people.”

Pakistan must turn to coal -from both its large untappedreserves and from imports - togenerate power beyond thenext decade if it is to ease theenergy crisis which is cappingeconomic growth, trade andindustry sources say.

The country, which has 180million people, has beenplagued for years by powercuts and unless new sourcesof generation can be devel-oped will see power demandoutstrip supply for years tocome.

Yet it has one of the big-gest, barely-touched, coal re-serves on the planet - the mas-sive Thar coalfields in north-ern Sindh province with 175bt of extremely high water-content, low energy coal.

This kind of low-grade,watery coal is found in abun-

Pakistan urged to tapcoal to avert energy crisis

dance in other countries, suchas Indonesia, the world’s big-gest exporter, but it has notbeen economic to exploit inthe past.

But high oil, gas and coalprices and new technology todry out watery, gaseous coalor leave it in the ground butextract the gas from it instead,has prompted projects aroundthe world.

The Pakistan governmentthis year declared Thar coal-fields as a Special EconomicZone, with tax breaks and in-centives to lure investors todevelop coal gasification andmining as part of its strategyto fill the energy gap.

“In five years, coal’s con-tribution to the energy mixwill reach 10-12%.

It’s minor at the moment,”said Najib Balagamwala,

CEO of Karachi-based traderSeatrade.

“The private sector is con-sidering coal-fired plants veryseriously, as there’s marginthere,” he added.

Pakistan’s energy mix haschanged in recent years frommostly hydro to thermal, con-sisting of domestic gas andimported fuel oil, according toa report by the Asia Develop-ment Bank.

Of the ten Thar coal blocks,four have been drilled and ex-plored by Oracle, Cougar En-ergy, SECMC and anothergasification project com-pany, according to the Sindhgovernment.

Two Chinese firms arealso looking to build gasifi-cation and coal miningprojects in Thar, industrysources said.

The materials handling division of Sandvik Mining and Construction RSA is currently focusedon the second phase of platinum producer Impala Platinum’s Zimplats Ngezi expansionproject 150 km south-west of Harare in Zimbabwe. This project involves the constructionof a fourth portal, ore storage facilities and a 6km overland conveyor, which will alsocollect ore from one of the existing portals and feed all the material to the existingconcentrator. The Ngezi Phase II expansion will see the development of a 2 mtpa undergroundmine, a 2 mtpa concentrator module, a 35 000-million litre dam, a nine kilometre overlandore conveyor and employee housing.The Sandvik-constructed overland conveyor willeliminate the current need to truck material to the concentrator. Future expansions will seeseveral crushing installations and conveyors ultimately linking a total of eight portals to theconcentrator. The expansion of the existing concentrator is currently under constructionby Dowding Raynard and Associates (DRA), the overall project managers

Viktor Nusenkis, the owner ofRussia’s major coking coal ex-porter Zarechnaya andUkraine’s steelmaker Don-etskStal, is reportedly in theprocess of forming Russia’sfirst united manufacturer ofmining equipment.

According to industrysources, he is about to amalga-mate four producers of miningand hoisting equipment underhis control. Russia’s Yurga Ma-chine Engineering Plant,Ukraine’s Donetsk ElectricalEngineering Plant, the CzechRepublic’s T Machinery andGermany’s ESSER will forma single holding structure, pro-visionally named Heavy En-gineering Corporation (HEC),which could later become aplatform for incorporatingother relevant companies.

So far, Russian miningequipment manufacturershave operated separately, sothe possible appearance of anew strong player couldradically change the localmarket.

The more individual pro-ducers to be picked up byHEC, the higher the chancesit could compete locallywith such market leaders asCaterpillar or Komatsu, sayRussian market analysts.

But according to Ukrainianexperts HEC would find it dif-ficult to play a key role inUkraine, as it is the home formany former Soviet manufac-turers of mining equipment.The prices charged by both lo-cal producers and Chinesecompanies are lower thanthose of their Russian com-petitors, they say.

CaterpillarandKomatsufacingcompetitionin Russia?

Rio Tinto has been forced torevisit the economics under-pinning its A$4B Son ofEmbley bauxite project onQueensland’s Cape York afterthe Federal Governmentraised concerns about the im-pact on the Great Barrier Reef.

The company is planningto produce an additional 50mtpa of bauxite from the newmine by 2015, by extendingexisting extraction areas be-tween Weipa and Aurukun. Thebauxite would be shipped froma new port south of Weipa tothe A$2.5B Yarwun refineryexpansion at Gladstone.

However, in mid-Marchfederal Environment MinisterTony Burke said after consid-ering “significant new infor-mation” he had determinedthat the environmental assess-ment process for the projectshould include the Great Bar-rier Reef Marine Park, WorldHeritage properties and Na-tional Heritage Places.

Reef risk hits Oz miners

The most important consid-eration when working withany heavy machinery is safety- for the operator, bystandersand the equipment. The newHiab Multilift skiploader tel-escopic (SLT) radio controlallows the operator to movefreely around the truck and getan all-round view of the work-ing area, making loading, un-loading and tipping easier andsafer. All the controls found onthe standard external controlcan be run from the SLT radiocontrol.

“Safety and ergonomics gohand in hand, literally. That iswhy we have designed theSLT radio control for use withgloves,” said Jussi Kata-jainen, product manager forHiab Multilift at Cargotec.

“It has a logical controlstructure with large buttonsand easy-to-read symbols.That makes the SLT radio con-trol safe to work with, even inchallenging conditions.”

The stop function furtherenhances safety and replacesthe dead-man’s switch, allow-ing operators to use just onehand and also acts as an on/off switch for the SLT RadioControl.

The radio control runs onrechargeable AA batteries, andthere is no need to recalibratethe SLT radio control if poweris lost. When the batteries arereplaced everything will workexactly as it did before. If thebattery runs out, the standardexternal controls located be-hind the cabin can still be used.

Hiab puts safety first

Rio Tinto Weipa Pty Ltdsubmitted a proposal for fed-eral assessment to extend itsexisting bauxite mining opera-tions south of the EmbleyRiver near Weipa on westernCape York in September 2010.

But Burke has expandedthe assessment to include theeffect of the proposed ship-ping activities on the GBRfollowing information pro-vided in Rio’s draft environ-mental impact statement.

The company, however,claims it has been safely ship-ping bauxite through the Reeffor over 40 years and Burke’sdecision to rescind conditionalapproval was based on misin-terpretation of information con-tained in a one-page submissionto the public review process.

Rio also pointed out that themajority of additional SoE pro-duction was destined for Asianmarkets and so would not beshipped anywhere near theGBR.

Every issue, our experienced editorial team brings you news, features, comment and analysisfrom around the globe, updating you on the latest in heavy-duty handling & transport of bulksolids, such as coal, ore, grain, minerals, cement, fertiliser etc.

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02_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 16/07/2012 18:38:21

BMI May/June 2012 3

News

A development application for portfacilities designed for iron ore ship-ments from IronClad Mining newWilcherry Hill mine in South Aus-tralia has been approved by the stategovernment.

The green light concludes all theprocesses required for IronClad tobegin building infrastructure at theexisting Lucky Bay port, near thetownship of Cowell on the coast ofthe Spencer Gulf, and permits futureiron ore exports via the new Eyre Pe-ninsula facilities.

IronClad’s iron ore export facili-ties – which open up a new multi-user shipping avenue for SA export-ers – include iron ore storage at theport.

The company will initially use theLucky Bay facility to move ore toships anchored offshore but growthplans could potentially upgrade thissystem to incorporate the innovativeconcept of a floating harbour, withsuitable holding warehouses for theore, both on land and at sea.

“Cape-sized vessels with a carry-ing capacity of up to 150,000 tonnescould then be loaded with iron orefrom the floating harbour, whichwould potentially be owned and op-erated by IronClad,” the companysays.

IronClad has an agreement withSea Transport Development SA PtyLtd (a subsidiary of StuartBallantyne’s Brisbane-based SeaTransport Solutions) for full accessrights to the designated 50-hectareport site at Lucky Bay, where it willstore and ship iron ore from itsWilcherry Hill and Hercules projects.

The company has a 50-year leaseto this facility and the accompany-ing land within the 50-hectare site.

IronClad’s transhipment opera-tions will involve a customised, mo-torised feeder barge that will trans-port the ore from the Lucky Bayloading facilities to the awaitingships. Future transhipment upgradeswill consider the incorporation of afloating harbour facility anchoredoffshore, or the utilisation of a float-ing crane. Both designs will signifi-cantly increase the ship loading rateswhilst reducing port operatingcharges and barge cycle times.

The first purpose-built barge isscheduled to arrive in SA early in thethird quarter of this calendar year.The Wilcherry Hill iron ore projectis an 80:20 jv between IronClad andTrafford Resources. The first twoyears of production has been con-tracted to international steel mills,while 50% of year three and four’sforecast production is assigned toHong Kong-based New Page Invest-ments.

Stage One of the project involvesproduction of 1mtpa of Direct Ship-ping Ore magnetite, increasing to 2mtpa in the project’s second year ofoperation. Stage Two involves a fur-ther increase in production to 4-5mtpa of iron ore by combiningWilcherry Hill magnetite concentratewith the DSO product.

Stage Three includes the explo-ration and development of the jointventure’s Hercules Project, 15 kmsouth east of Wilcherry Hill, whichhas an inferred and indicated JORCclassification of 198 mt, and is ex-pected to increase output fromIronClad’s operations to 10-12 mtpaby 2015.

IronCladgets nod Following on from Vale and

Riversdale, Ncondezi Coal looksset to become the third biggest coalexporter in Mozambique. Thecompany has increased its reservesestimate on the Ncondezi projectin Tete Province by a massive250% to 4.655 bt. The firm has alsorevealed that it will complete its fi-nal feasibility study on the projectby the third quarter of this year.

Ncondezi Coal chief executiveGraham Mascall said that the in-

Upgrade for Ncondezi reservescreased resource estimates repre-sented a significant development forthe Ncondezi Project.

“All resource blocks on theNcondezi Project have now beenmodelled, and we are pleased to notethat of the 4.7 billion tonnes classi-fied, 1.3 billion tonnes has been clas-sified in the indicated category whichis eligible for transition into mine-able coal reserves,” he said.

Ncondezi is currently undertakinga study into coal rail and port devel-

opment in partnership with RioTinto, the new owner of Riversdale,and Revuboe. A spokesperson for thecompany said that the IntegratedTransport Development Project “rep-resents a scalable solution with thepotential to provide coal export ca-pacity of between 25 mt and 100 mta year. It has the potential to be thelowest-cost rail transport option forexporting coal from the Tete Prov-ince, as it is expected to be the short-est rail distance to port and will utilise

new and modern infrastructure tomaximise economies of scale.”

Ncondezi would take a 10 mtpashare of the project’s handling ca-pacity.

Mascall added: “Rio Tinto hassignificant experience in develop-ing rail and port infrastructureprojects around the world, and I be-lieve that it is best placed to leadand implement this project in Mo-zambique.”

A new port on a greenfield sitenorth of the mouth of the RiverZambezi is currently the favouredterminal option.

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03_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 16/07/2012 18:45:29

BMI May/June 20124

News

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ISSN 0955-3754ISSUE NO:136

U.S. coal exports reached theirhighest level in two decadeslast year as strong demandfrom Asia and Europe offeredan outlet for a fuel that is fall-ing from favour at home.

U.S. Energy Departmentdata shows coal exportstopped 107 mt, worth aboutUS$16B in 2011, the highestlevel since 1991 and morethan double the export volumefrom 2006.

Much of the increase wentto power-hungry Asian na-tions, where rapid develop-ment has sparked whatPeabody Energy calls a “glo-bal coal super cycle” that her-alds renewed interest in thefuel.

U.S. exports to South Ko-rea rose 81% last year to morethan 10 mt. India saw a 65%

U.S. coal exports surgeon Asia, Europe demand

jump to 4.5 mt. Japan boughtabout 7 mt of US coal last year- up 119% - as the nationsought alternatives to nuclearpower after an earthquake andtsunami caused the Fuku-shima nuclear complexmeltdown.

Coal faces a tougher out-look in the U.S., where com-petition from cheap naturalgas and costly new rules forpower plants are eroding itshistoric dominance in electric-ity generation.

Coal’s share of the USpower supply has fallen bymore than 20% over the pastseveral years, forcing compa-nies to search for new custom-ers or risk having to cut pro-duction from US mines thatproduced almost 1.1 bt lastyear.

The Energy Departmentforecasts exports to slowlyclimb to about 130 mt annu-ally by 2030. Countries world-wide consume more than 6 btof coal annually.

U.S. companies have of-fered far more optimistic sce-narios under which exportscontinue to grow rapidly. ArchCoal has predicted export ca-pacity could reach 245 mt by2015.

To make that happen, com-panies want new or expandedcoal ports on the West andGulf coasts.

But environmentalistswho filed dozens of lawsuitsover the last decade to blocknew coal plants in the U.S.have turned their attention toexport proposals in recentmonths.

Laden with 76,195t of coal,the ALAM PESONA sailed into theUk’s Port of Tyne in May,smashing the record for thelargest cargo on the RiverTyne previously set by sistership ALAM PENTING.

The ship travelled fromNew Orleans (Louisiana) andtook 18 days to reach the Portof Tyne without stopping,covering a distance of 4,800nautical miles.

The Port invested £5M indeepening the river last yearmaking it possible to handle83% of the world’s globalfleet of cargo vessels.

Steven Harrison, Port ofTyne chief operating officersaid: “Developments in theenergy sector remain centralto the Port of Tyne’s businessdevelopment and coal remainsan important part of the Portsbusiness.”

New record for largestcargo on the River Tyne

The handling and trans-portation of coal has also beensupported by significant in-vestment in rail infrastructure,with additional capacity cre-ated by the re-opening of asection of rail track known asthe Boldon East Curve. Thismeans trains leaving the Portare routed more efficiently tothe East Coast Main Line,making onward transportation

to the Port’s power generatingcustomers faster and morecost effective.

Coal has traditionally beenan important cargo to the Tynesince the 16th Century, ex-ported to every corner of theglobe. In 2004 coal began tobe imported in significant vol-umes and in 2011 over 2 mtof coal was imported via thePort of Tyne.

The ALAM PESONA took 18 days to sail from New Orleans tothe Port of Tyne laden with 76,195t of coal

Plans by Indonesia to ban ex-ports of some raw mineralsfrom 2014 and imposition ofa 20% export tax on coal andbase metals this year will sti-fle foreign direct investment(FDI), hurting growth pros-pects in South East Asia’slargest economy, warn mar-ket analysts.

“FDI has become an im-portant component of Indone-sia’s balance of payments overthe last few years,” said PrakritiSofat, regional economist atBarclays Capital.

“But if we have news likethis then potentially invest-ment within the mining sec-tor, which has been comingin very strongly from Chinaand India, can take a breather

Indonesia’s export curbs,taxes to stifle FDI

which would not be very posi-tive long-term for the country.”

Latest policy developmentsin the country’s mining sectorwere also “definitely concern-ing especially for the equitymarket,” Sofat said.

FDI into Indonesia surged20% to a record US$19.1B lastyear, according to the country’sInvestment CoordinatingBoard.

In a research note earlier thismonth titled “The intent is clear- the mechanism is not,”Deutsche Bank analysts high-lighted separate mining policymandates announced by theIndonesian government in thepast year, including the deci-sion in February to limit foreignownership in domestic mines to

49% within the 10th year ofthe start of commercial opera-tions, and plans revealed earlyApril to impose a 20% exporttax on coal and base metalsin 2012, with an increase to50% in 2013.

“It appears likely that thegovernment will claim alarger share of domestic re-source earnings going for-ward, through either highertaxes or increased owner-ship,” Deutsche analystswrote.

“This could adversely im-pact production in the longerterm if investment from for-eign companies declines as aconsequence,” they said.

For more on Indonesia,see page 10 of this issue

Evraz Nakhodka TradingSeaport (NMTP), part ofEvraz steel and mininggroup, has started recon-struction of its coal berthand the upgrade of the han-dling facilities in a bid todouble its coal exports viathe Russian Pacific harbour.

The upgrade will seeNMTP equip the coal wharfwith a wagon dumper, de-frosters, stackers and beltconveyors.

Upon the project’s com-pletion in December 2013,the new terminal will be ca-pable of discharging 250wagons a day and handlingup to 5 mtpa of export coal.

Last year, Evraz NMTPhandled 2.37 mt of coal, up27.8% on 2010, whileNakhodka’s total coal han-dling volume reached 3.7mt, up 32.7% on the previ-ous year.

Coal was not handled atNakhodka until 2007, butthe growing consumption ofthe commodity by the Asian-Pacific markets changed theharbour’s profile and hasmade coal one of its princi-pal cargoes.

In addition to Russiancommodity exports, EvrazNMTP has partnered Mon-golia’s Energy ResourcesLLC, the operator of theworld’s largest coking coalfield Tavan Tolgoi, in ex-porting coal to Asian mar-kets including Japan and In-dia. Since January this year,the stevedoring companyhas moved 20,000t-70,000tof coal each month fromMongolia to Nakhodka forshipment.

While Nakhodka seemsto be an ideal place for com-modity exports, linked as itis with any point of the Eura-sian continent through theTrans-Siberian Railway andcapable of accommodatingup to 50,000 dwt ships, itscapacity cannot expand in-finitely as it is limited by thecountry’s railway infrastruc-ture.

But as Russian Railways(RZD) is not able to fully fi-nance all the infrastructuredevelopment projects, it hasbeen agreed that the coun-try’s largest coal exportersand VneshEconomBank(VEB) will help RZD in-crease the railway network’scapacity.

Last year, Russia’s Pa-cific harbours handledaround 42 mt (up 21% on2010), or 55% of the totalvolume of coal exported viaall the domestic seaports.The same year, the nation’soverall coal export grew by8.5% y/y to 104.65 mt.

EvrazupgradesNakhodkato doublecoalexports

Nibulon, one of Ukraine’slargest grain exporters, hasbegun construction of thecountry’s only river grain ter-minal to be located in itssouthern Kherson region, onthe Dnieper River.

Oleksiy Vadatursky,Nibulon’s director general,said that the new facility willserve as a gate to the BlackSea and to global markets.

Taking into accountUkraine’s growing grain exportpotential and limited capacityof the local seaports, the newterminal will strengthen Nib-ulon’s competitive advantage.

Once in operation in 3Q2012, it will feature 315m-long berthing facilities includ-ing a 105m cargo berth and210m of mooring palls. Thiswill allow handling of three90m-long vessels simultane-ously. The terminal will havecapacities for one-time storageof 76,000t of grain, drying and

Nibulon looks tonew grain facility

handling of 4,000t and 10,000tof grain per day respectively.

Nibulon estimates thateach year the terminal will becapable of loading up to 1,000ships (both empty and par-tially loaded), which are ex-pected to transport by riversome 3 mt of grain, or oneeighth of Ukraine’s entire an-nual export volume.

As the grain exporter has along record of co-operatingwith international financialinstitutions, it hopes to enlisttheir support in funding theUS$20M project.

“There will be a high-ca-pacity crane at the terminal toreload grain from smallerships into the locally-basedgrain elevator and from thelatter onto larger vessels,” saidVadatursky, adding that plansto increase grain exports up to10 mtpa will help Ukraine ex-pand its total annual exportvolume to 35-40 mtpa.

04_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 23/07/2012 13:10:08

BMI May/June 2012 5

News

Damen Pontoons & Barges, part ofDamen Shipyards in the Netherlands,has started building the Damen cranebarge (CBa) 6324, a transhipmentbarge for handling dry bulk and con-tainer operations.

The shallow draught barge, whichis optionally available with its ownpropulsion) is aimed at both ship-to-ship and ship-to-quay transloadingoperations.Measuring 63m by23.5m, it is outfitted with a LiebherrCBG 350 crane with a grab capacityof 35t (grab plus load) at 12-36moutreach and a hook load capacity of45t at 12-36m. Average throughput isestimated at around 20,000 tpd in bulk.

There is accommodation for 12crew, including a pantry, a changeroom and an office as well as cab-ins. Several of these new tranship-ment barges are currently being built,says Damen. The first is slated fordelivery in the Netherlands this No-vember and the second will be de-livered to a customer in China in De-cember, while CBa Nos 3 and 4 willbe available in 1Q 2013.

At the time of writing, Damen hasmore than 35 pontoons of variouskinds under construction at Chinesepartner yards under its supervision.Frank Koppelaar, product directorpontoons & barges, said: “Damen iscontinuously developing and buildingnew pontoons and new barge types,based on proven design and adaptedto changing market circumstances.” Anew series of offshore accommodationbarges will begin soon as well.� Damen Shipyards has taken overthe Swedish ship repair and mainte-nance company Oskarshamnvarvetin Oskarshamn, south east Sweden.As well as ship repair, Oskar-shamnvarvet is active in a numberof industrial areas, including special-ised crane assemblies and productionof special purpose containers.

New cranebarge fromDamen

Data recently released by the Fed-eration of Indian Mineral Industries(FIMI) show that India’s iron oreexports fell 60% to 4.22 mt in Feb-ruary from 10.58 mt in February2011, as a result of high duty leviedby the government in December todiscourage supply to steel millsabroad. About 90% of India’s ironore exports go to China.

Exports in the first 11 months ofthe financial year to February fell36% to 55.8 mt, down from 87.3 mtin the same period last year. Exportduty was raised from 20% to 30%on 30 December.

FIMI has renewed its demand fora rollback in export duty to enablemining companies to sell low-gradeore to steel mills abroad. It said ex-ports are expected to be half of lastyear’s levels while there is no corre-sponding increase in domestic de-mand and lower production, whichwill mean less royalties for the re-spective state governments.

India’s ironore exportsfall 60% onhigh duties

GAC Protective Solutions, pow-ered by AKE, has entered intotwo new strategic partnershipswith the innovators of anti-piracytechnologies to help protect ves-sels, cargoes and seafarers:Unifire’s Seaserpent Anti-PirateWater Cannon System and Intel-ligent Engineering’s (IE) SPSCitadel Access Protection.

Unifire’s Seaserpent WaterCannon System is a non-lethalprotective measure using high-

GAC forms new counter-piracy partnershipsvolume, remote control water can-nons to rapidly flood pirate skiffs.By delivering a jet of up to 80 l/sof water from a range of 80 m theflooding of the pirate vessel bothprevents boarding and inhibits theuse of firearms. The system can becontrolled from either the bridgeor citadel.

With crew safety paramount forvessel owners and operators, Intel-ligent Engineering’s SPS CitadelAccess Protection uses Sandwich

Plate System (SPS) to reinforceship citadels to ensure that even themost determined hijacker cannotgain access

SPS Citadel Access Protectionpanels significantly enhance crewsecurity, are simple to install onnew build or existing vessels andcan be deployed within 90 secondsper doorway, says GAC Solutions.

“The Seaserpent water cannonsystem and SPS Citadel AccessProtection are the new additions to

the range of solutions we now of-fer, designed to enable ownersand operators to minimise thethreat to crews, cargoes and ves-sels, and offering greater peace ofmind for seafarers,” said ChristerSjödoff, group vice president,GAC Solutions.

“An added benefit of investingin such cost-effective protectivemeasures is that it can save moneyby reducing piracy insurance pre-miums,” he said.

05_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 24/07/2012 11:37:17

BMI May/June 20126

Benelux Focus

Despite a difficult economic climate, Rotterdam recorded a

record bulk throughput lastyear of 87.3 mt, up from the84.6 mt handled during 2011.

Iron ore tonnage, however,dipped to 37.4 mt comparedto the previous year’s 39.9 mt,although it was still consider-ably more than the 23.3 mthandled during 2009, whichwas compensated by a rise incoal landed from 24.1 mt in2010 to 26.7 mt last year.

The coal and iron ore sec-tor in Rotterdam is dominatedby two major terminal opera-tors, EECV and EMO. As asubsidiary of ThyssenKrupp,EECV’s main traffic is ironore, although it also handlespet coke in a separate termi-nal adjacent to the main ironore site. Last year, coalthroughput amounted to 4.2mt, marginally up on the pre-vious year’s 4.1 mt, while ironore landed dropped slightlyfrom 2010’s throughput of22.8 mt to 22.1 mt.

EMO’s capacity is moredifficult to define as both coaland iron ore are handled alongthe same quay with an inte-grated stockyard. Last year,the terminal discharged some32.2 mt and although this isdown from the record 37.5 mthandled in 2009 before the im-pact of the Eurozone financialcrisis was felt, the key factorto its performance is quay uti-lisation if coal imports rise.

Upgrading handlingAccordingly, the operator iscurrently assembling a new85t grab unloader, which wasordered in April 2010 for atotal of €30M including theaccompanying conveyor beltand other necessary ancillar-ies. ThyssenKrupp Förder-technik of Rohrbach, Ger-many is the main contractor,and FAMAK of Kluckzborg,Poland is constructing it. Theelectrical drives and controlswere commissioned from TES

Benelux terminals invest for growthBenelux ports and dry bulk terminals areincreasing capacity, but the financial returnmay take longer than originally planned dueto the challenging European economic outlook

Industrial Systems of Oost-erhout, the Netherlands.

The first components of thenew unloader, the largest of itskind in the world, have nowarrived at EMO. This newunloader is being assembledin the Missisippi harbour,alongside EMO’s existingunloaders. When commis-sioned, EMO will access tothree 85t plus two 50t grabunloaders and a 36t floatingcrane.

The unloader, fabricatedentirely in Europe, will betransported to the EMO termi-nal by water from Stettin inPoland, in a series of bargetransports. The unloading ca-pacity will be strengthenedwith 10 mt on an annual ba-sis, leading to further im-provement in efficiency andservice levels.

The new 85t grabunloader and accompanyingtransport conveyor belt sys-tem are expected to be putinto service in the secondhalf of 2012.

Once this unit is commis-sioned, EMO will have one ofits older 85t gantry grabunloaders overhauled and up-graded. The overhaul contract

is currently being tendered toa number of service providersand will be awarded shortly.It is aimed at extending the lifeof the 1992-built MAN ma-chine, now Takraf-Tenova, by15 to 20 years. The work isscheduled for completion inthe second half of 2013.

Largest of its typeIn addition to this, the opera-tor commissioned a secondcoal train loading station lastyear while it is currently com-missioning a seventh stacker/reclaimer in conjunctionwith 1600MW Electrabel,which is constructing a ther-mal power station adjacentto the terminal.

T h y s s e n K r u p pFördertechnik (TKF) won thecontract to supply the EMOterminal in Rotterdam with astacker/reclaimer, quaysidegrab unloader plus a railwagon loading station.

The stacker/reclaimer(KB7) will be the seventhbucket wheel machine at theterminal and will be an exactcopy of the stacker/reclaimerNo 6 (KB6), the largest of itstype in Europe, also suppliedby TKF, although this latest

machine will feature fully au-tomated operation.

During reclaiming, coalcan be transported either to thequay or train loading stationor to the adjacent Electrabelpower plant. To enable this,the stockyard conveyor hasbeen fitted with a reversibledrive unit allowing the up-stream material flow, comingfrom the ship unloaders, to beeither stacked by KB7 ontothe stockyard or by-passeddirectly to the Electabel PowerPlant.

To achieve this, the ma-chine has been equipped witha retractable Tripper car whicheither feeds the intermediateconveyor during the stackingoperation or by-passes themachine either during re-claiming or during direct feed-ing to the power plant.

Piling highKB7 as well as all the otherEMO Stacker/Reclaimershave been designed to mainlyhandle coal and iron ore. Al-though the respective materialproperties are quite different,the machines have been de-signed to reclaim and to stackeach of these materials at thesame capacity by using vari-able conveyor and bucketwheel speeds.

The cell-type bucket wheelwith nine buckets and a diam-eter of 9 m is driven by a slowrunning hydraulic motor andreclaims the material at up to4500 tph.

During the stacking opera-tion, up to 6000 tph of coal oriron ore can be conveyed tothe stockpiles and with aboom length of 60 m, the ma-chine is able to stack piles upto 60 m wide and 24 m high.

Load them upA new seagoing vessel loaderwill be built along the Missis-sippi harbour because of thewidening of the Amazone har-bour. This seagoing vesselloader will and is expected to

be operational in the secondhalf of 2012.

A new ship loader has re-cently been commissioned ona new quay at the Mississippiharbour, replacing the currentone. Unlike the rest of the newhandling plant installed orbuilding for EMO, this unithas not been contracted toTFK but Sandvik.

The loader can slew, luff,shuttle and long travel, it canload barges as well asPanamax vessels with coal oriron ore at 6000tph. Theloader is equipped with high-tech safety features such as astate of the art collision pro-tection system.

New quayThe new quay at the Missis-sippi harbour consists of twoberths, one for Panamax ves-sels and one for barges. Thisnew quay is equipped with aninnovative solution which in-tegrates the berthing structurewith the fender structure us-ing a thin layer of high-per-formance concrete lined withrubber strips on the outside ofthe quay, instead of a tradi-tional fender structure. Thishighly durable structure alsominimises the gap betweenvessel and quay.

The new sea going vesselloader is replacing the currentloader at the Amazone har-bour. The Amazone harbour isbeing widened to allow for

berthing of the latest-genera-tion container vessels at theadjacent ECT terminal. Thearea where the current sea-going vessel loader is locatedwill be dug out to allow for thewidening, EMO therefore hasto relocate the shiploadingactivities to the Mississippiharbour, east of the existingunloaders.

Hartel stripDue to the construction of anew Electrabel power plantand the widening of theAmazone harbour, EMO willmove part of its activities toan available site on the Hartelstrip. Located across theHartland canal from the exist-ing EMO terminal, the newterminal meets EMO’s growthobjectives. Market develop-ments in the area of coal stor-age and biomass led the op-erator to expect a shortage ofspace but now, by relocatingto the Hartel strip, there willbe more space for these activi-ties, which will increase itscurrent efficiency.

However, this move is cur-rently on hold following en-vironmental objections, eventhough it is located adjacentto the Steinweg steel terminalwhich operates four gantrycranes.

Hub statusThe two main Dutch ports,Rotterdam and Amsterdam,

Simulator and virtual train-ing software developerVSTEP has created a cranesimulator for EMO in Rot-terdam, the largest coal andiron ore transhipment termi-nal in Western Europe.

The simulator will beused for the preparation,training and refreshercourses of EMO’s currentcrane drivers and for newrecruits. According toVSTEP it incorporates highquality sound effects andvisuals with true-to-life dy-

VSTEP delivers cranesimulator for EMO

namics for crane swingingand gravity pull.

“The advanced collisionand cargo spilling model im-mediately shows the conse-quences of improper craneoperation,” says VSTEP.

The crane simulator in-cludes full crane functional-ity and control console forrealistic loading andoffloading simulation andtraining, as well as post train-ing review and scorekeeping.

EMO began using thecrane simulator in April. �

The VSTEP crane simulator being used by EMOincorporates authentic sound effects and visuals

EMO has invested in a new 6000t/h Sandvik unit to operateon its main quay at the Port of Rotterdam

This comprehensive 245 page study is an in-depth analysis of capacity constraints, productivity, selectivity and flexibility of different container handling systems in terminals of different types and sizes: common-users or dedicated; hub centre (transshipment and/or relay) or import/export vocation; gateway or feeder port;intermodal rail or truck distribution inland; with or without CFS, etc. Profusely illustrated with charts,figures and explanatory tables. Effects of different call patterns of containerships and dwell day regimes.Predictive power provided through development of queuing theories. Hundreds of detailed equations.

Price: £165 or US$245 or €245 including postage and packing.

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“Container TerminalPlanning - A TheoreticalApproach”A major study by Dr Itsuro Watanabe (Container System Technology)

06_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 23/07/2012 13:13:34

BMI May/June 2012 7

Benelux Focus

represent the dominant bulk handlingcentres of the 11 ports in the Ham-burg-Le Havre (H-H) range, han-dling 133.8 mt between them lastyear compared to 115 mt for the re-maining nine. In terms of coal han-dling, the two Dutch ports handledsome 46.7 mt out of the overall H-Hrange of 78.1 mt.

While Rotterdam has good mari-time access and deep water, it doesnot have any appreciable areas todevelop for bulk handling asMaasvlakte2 is focused on containerhandling. Amsterdam, on the otherhand, still has potential sites for de-velopment but is hampered bydraught restrictions in the sea canalplus requiring lock access.

Never-the-less, last year the porthandled 46.5 mt to put it in secondplace in the Hamburg-Le Havrerankings and considerably above thethird and fourth positions occupiedby Hamburg and Dunkirk with 25.6mt and 23.8 mt respectively.

Banking on biomassThe port is keen to develop itsbiomass handling following the de-cision by the Dutch Ministry of Eco-nomic Affairs, Agriculture and Inno-vation to obligate biomass co-firingin thermal power stations, as hasbeen laid down in the 2011 EnergyReport.

The port recently hosted a delega-tion from the American Port Erie,Pennsylvania to study the biomasshandling options. Port of Erie islooking for ways to tranship andsell biomass into Europe. Thismainly involves wood pellets forwhich a market capable of han-dling 500,000t tons of wood pel-lets is being sought.

By 2020 Port of Amsterdam isexpecting a transhipment level ofapproximately 6 mt for the North-west European market mainly fromCanada, US and Brazil. Biomasstranshipment is possible thanks tocompanies such as, OBA, MajaStuwadoors and IGMA.

Most of the bulk cargo handledby IGMA can be split into three in-dividual product areas – agribulk,minerals, and biomass. The compa-ny’s activities within the agribulkmarket can then be further dividedinto compound feed, grains andoilseeds for human consumption andcrushing, and cocoa. In fact most ofthe import volume of compound feedfor the Dutch and German marketsis transhipped at IGMA terminals.Imported grains and oilseeds such assoybeans and sunflower seeds arestored at IGMA, and then shipped tothe local crushing industry.

As the global focus on environ-mental issues continues to increase,IGMA has worked to expand its ac-tivities in the biomass sector. Moreand more waste products are beingused as a fuel for power plants acrossEurope, and as such IGMA is seeinga rise in the volume of derivativesfrom the sugar and palm oil indus-tries, as well as wood pulp, passingthrough the terminal.

Parcel serviceAnother aspect of the business is theIGMA Parcel Service (IPS), whichprovides regular shipments fromSouth America and the US to Am-sterdam and Ghent. Operating anaverage of 12 panamax and cape sizevessels, IPS extended its services tothe Far East in 2002, enabling min-eral bulk from China, and agribulkfrom Thailand and Malaysia to behandled. This service could also beextended for biomass shipments aswell.

Additionally, IPS also offers an

onward transportation service fromAmsterdam to various destinationsacross Europe, either by coaster orbarge.

Ghent reaches 50Last year the Port of Ghent handledsome 50 mt, the first time it hasbreached this barrier in its history,with overall cargo traffic increasingby 4.4%, some 2 mt more than in theprevious record year of 2010. Traf-fic by seagoing vessels reached 27.2mt and as such remained on the samelevel of the previous year while in-land vessel traffic showed a 10.6%growth: from 20.7 mt to 22.8 mt.

Total dry bulk traffic carried in

deep sea trading dropped some 3%to 17.1 mt last year, although this wascompensated by an increase of17.5% in inland bulk shipments to15.5 mt, giving an overall increaseof 5.5% to 33 mt.

Part of the reason for the drop indeepsea traffic was the closure of acoal-fired Ghent power station whileit was being converted to fullbiomass burning. This came back online late last year and will requiresome 700,000t to 800,000t of woodpellets, 75% of which will be sourcedfrom Canada and the US.

During the first quarter of thisyear, deep sea coal traffic dropedsome 30% compared to the same

period last year to 656,000t, whileiron ore slipped 16% to 1.1 mt as Eu-ropean steel demand from theArcelorMittal steelworks on the seacanal at Ghent fell.

In all, during the first quarter2012, the Ghent port handled some12 mt, a drop of 5.8% compared tothe corresponding period last yearto the same level as in 2010 whenthe port handled a total of 48 mt.

In the first quarter, the total of 6.2mt seaborne cargo traffic handledregistered a decrease by 13% in com-parison with the same period in 2011.Inland navigation, however, in-creased 3.4% to 5.8 mt.

The port considers that its growth

cannot rely on inland traffic as its2020 Strategic Plan is focused on theport becoming a more central inter-change between an ‘inland’ industialand logistics hub and accessiblemaritime port.

Locked upThe port is becoming increasinglyaware of its vulnerabilities in termsof access, both to the sea and alsoinland waterways. The maritime ac-cess is the greatest cause for concern,with the port handling 3,351 seago-ing ships last year, representing adrop of 85 ships. Its share of deepseatraffic decreased by 3.3% while shortsea rose 3.2%.

Liebherr-Werk Nenzing GmbHP.O. Box 10, 6710 Nenzing/AustriaTel.: +43 50809 41-725Fax: +43 50809 41-447mobile.harbour.crane@liebherr.comwww.liebherr.com

Experience the progress.

07_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 23/07/2012 13:14:12

BMI May/June 20128

Benelux Focus

The number of inlandbarges increased to 16,236,some 1,381 vessels more thanthe previous year and ac-counts for the additional 2 mtof cargo throughput and ac-counts for the 4.4% growthfactor.

The port acknowledgesthat “Ghent port is very vul-nerable because of its one sin-gle maritime access: when thelock cannot be used, not oneseagoing vessel can enter orleave the port”.

The port also recognisesthat some industries, relianton maritime traffic, may bereluctant to establish sites inthe port, particularly in thenew Kluizendok zone withaccess by one lock only – afact which Antwerp en-dorses and is now rectifyingwith the construction of asecond dock to its Left Banksites.

Heavily usedThe current Westsluis dock isnot only the smallest sea lockin the Hamburg-Le Havrerange, but also the most heav-ily used with a utilisation ratein excess of 70%, whichleaves little time for regularmaintenance and requiresprecise traffic managementto reduce congestion andqueuing.

Ghent’s intention of con-structing a second sealock ishampered by the fact that it isin Dutch territory atTerneuzen. While the Dutchauthorities have agreed that alock should be constructedalongside the existingWestsluis, and there is spaceand provision for this, Ghenthas held out for a larger dock,even though this will still bedepth restricted due to themain canal.

Sticking pointThe crucial matter of financ-ing now appears to havebeen resolved with theFlemish minister of mobil-ity, Hilde Crevits, and herDutch transport colleague,Melanie Schultz vanHaegen, signing an agree-

ment in March on the divi-sion of the cost of the newlock which will measure427m x 55m x 16m.

A two year environmen-tal impact study and the de-velopment of a financial

model and access to Europeansubsidies will now be under-taken, which will be followedby a five year constructionperiod, which may be short-ened to allow the lock to becommissioned around 2018.

It is also planned towiden the Ghent-TerneuzenCanal once the new lock isoperational and also deepenthe waterway. However,work on the waterway willbe complicated as it will be

necessary to lower theZelzate road tunnel.

The new lock will enablecapesize bulkers access to theport, although even afterdredging, which has still to beagreed to, these will not be ableto enter at maximum draughtand will still have to be light-ened off Terneuzen. However,it will give the port substan-tially more vessel capacity, re-duce congestion and at thesame time increase reliability.

Back doorThe second area which theport would like to address isits inland waterway connec-tions, which while relativelyefficient, compared toZeebrugge, would be consid-erably enhanced with the con-struction of the Seine-Scheldtcanal.

Some work has alreadystarted, with the constructionof a 6.5km quaywall aroundGhent two years ago butsince then the project ap-peared to have stalled, al-though now, despite the gen-eral mood of European aus-terity, there is a more posi-tive approach to the €4.2Bproject. It was endorsed bythe outgoing French presi-dent while the growth aspi-rations of the newincumbant give the project apositive message.

The Seine-Scheldt /Seine-North canal, a TEN-T prior-ity project, encompasses thedevelopment of a 106km wa-terway connection betweenthe Seine basin and theScheldt basin. After comple-tion, the stretch betweenGhent and Deûlémont at theFrench border will be navi-gable for vessels up to4,500dwt.

However, this connection,which is now anticipated to becompleted by 2017, will notjust benefit Ghent as it willgive access to the highlypopulated Paris basin fromDunkirk and Antwerp and alsopossibly Zeebrugge. Francewill in its turn further developthese inland waters from theFrench border in the directionof Paris, via Lille, Cambraiand Compiégne.

Benefits for allWhile it is Ghent that is push-ing for a new sealock, it willalso benefit the Dutch port of

EECV is the only operator in Rotterdam to have specified aCSU for coal handling.While this FAM unit, based on aSumitimo design, has operated well at its coal terminal, EECVopted for a ZPMC grab unloader when it increased capacityat its adjacent iron ore terminal

Terneuzen and in particularthe Ovet terminal inside thelocks. On the other side of theSchelde at Vlissingen, whichforms the other half ofZeeland ports, Ovet recentlycommissioned a new quayextension, which was offi-cially opened by Mr F.Schulz, VP chief procure-ment officer of Arcelor-Mittal, the majority share-holder in Ovet.

The new Ovet quay in the‘Kaloothaven’ in EastVlissingen replaces an exist-ing 400m former inland navi-gation quay which is no longerfit for purpose due to its lim-ited depth.

Ovet now has a deepwaterquay 650m in length plus an-other quay which is 310mlong capable of handlingbulkers with a draught of upto 16.5m, with the potentialfor deepening to 17.5m overthe length of the new exten-sion. This will enable Ovet tosimultaneously handle twoCapesize and one Panamaxship.

In addition, Ovet has takena further site covering ap-proximately 1.5 hectares, giv-ing the company additionalstorage and transhipment ca-pacity.

The quay was designed forZeeland Seaports by the con-sulting engineering companyLievense, which also took re-sponsibility for project man-agement and execution. Thequay was built by contractorsBallast Nedam.

Zeeland Seaports beganpreparations for construc-tion in June 2011 and theproject was completed inMarch 2012. The new sitewas delivered to Ovet inphases, with the first 125mof the quay being taken intouse as early December 2011.

The new quay meansOvet is able to handle sev-eral ships at the same timeand so meet the growing de-mand for imported coal fromGermany as a result of theclosure of the German nu-clear power stations and coalmines.

Last year, Zeeland Portshandled some 4.7 mt of coal,which together with other sec-tors, such as agribulks (2 mt),iron ore, mineral ores, aggre-gates etc, took its dry bulkthroughput total to 13.2 mt. �

Ovet’s terminal prior to the quay extension. The work saw the indented section filled in anddredged to a depth of 16.5m to allow two capesize plus a panamax bulker to be handledsimultaneously, although Ovet may have to invest in a new floating crane to maintain productivity

TKF is starting to erect EMO’s new 85t grab unloader using components shipped by thestructure’s sub-contractor FAMAK by barge. When commissioned in mid 2013, EMO willhave three 85t unloaders, two 50t unloaders - all operating on the same rail span - plus afloating crane, although one of the 85t cranes will be taken out for refurbishment

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08_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 23/07/2012 13:14:51

BMI May/June 2012 9

Black Sea Focus

NMTP to expand on Black Sea & Baltic shoresNovorossiysk Commercial Seaport(NMTP), the largest stevedoringcompany in Russia’s Black Sea, isplanning to upgrade its existing fa-cilities and undertake a newbuildproject in order to increase its to-tal handling volume from lastyear’s 157 mtpa to 170 mtpa thisyear and 224–237 mtpa by 2020.

Last year, NMTP changed itsprincipal stockholders and its con-trolling stake is now jointly ownedby Summa and Transneft. In addi-tion, the NMTP group extended be-yond its Novorossiysk–based core(which, apart from NMTP itself, alsoincludes the Novorossiysk GrainTerminal, NLE timber terminaland some other assets) to includethe Baltic port of Primorsk and theBaltic Stevedoring Company.

Development planIn March this year, the group’s newowners presented its new develop-ment strategy to be implemented inthree stages: from 2011-2012, 2012-2015 and 2015-2020.

According to NMTP board mem-ber Marat Shaydayev, phase one willfocus on completing the oil handlingprojects initiated by NMTP’s previ-ous stockholders, as well as improv-ing operating efficiency of thegroup’s assets.

The next two stages will call forcapital investments of more thanUS$1B to upgrade existing handlinginfrastructure and to develop newgeneral and bulk handling facilities,with special emphasis on containersand grain.

Novorossiysk is looking tostrengthen its market share by in-creasing capacity by 2 mtpa at itsgrain terminal by 2014 thanks to itsUS$53M expansion, as well as theUS$250–290M construction of anew terminal by 2016 to handle up

Aria International, a Hamburg-based international commoditiestrading company focused on ironore and steel raw materials, hassigned a service contract withleading Romanian port operatorComvex S.A., regarding the ex-port of iron ore from Romania viathe Black Sea port of Constanta.

The contract has a duration un-til mid 2014 and includes the ship-ment of a total of 11.2 mt of ironore from Comvex’s facilities at theport.

Aria International said that itplans to use Constanta for futureEuropean and Black Sea iron oreexports. The contract makes Ariaa leading exporter of iron ore fromRomania.

The bulker GENCO LANGUEDOCrecently docked at CaofeidianPort, China, carrying 56,401t ofiron ore from Constanta. Thisshipment, organized by Aria Inter-national, marked the first iron oreshipment for years from Romania.

“With the ability of loadingCapesize vessels of up to220,000t, Aria International willbe taking a big step forward insecuring competitive logistic so-lutions for its broad customer basein China”, said Alireza Roodsari,MD, Aria International. �

Aria Internationalto revive iron oretrade betweenRomania and China

to 12 mtpa of iron ore and other bulkcargoes, including coal and manure.

With the building of new termi-nals to handle up to 40 mtpa of ironore, manure and metals, Primorskwill be transformed from a dedicatedoil harbour into a deep-sea port withdiversified cargo traffic within the2015-2020 timeframe.

The new development strategyalso aims at working with Russianrail company RZD to develop therailway infrastructure and capacityat both Primorsk and Novorossiysk.

Preliminary figures indicate 41mt, up 10% y/y, handled by theNMTP group in 1Q 2012.

In a week following the presen-tation of the group’s new develop-ment strategy, its shares grew by9.5% in price, while capitalisationgrowth made up US$161.8M at theLSE.

Grain terminalElsewhere, Brooklyn-Kiev, thestevedoring company which handlesbulk and general cargoes, has an-

nounced that it is to build a 4 mtpagrain terminal at Odessa Commer-cial Seaport, Ukraine’s largest portin the Black Sea-Azov basin, in or-der to increase export capacity. It willbe the fourth grain terminal at thestate-owned port.

The port will invest US$40M inthe US$125M project, withBrooklyn-Kiev funding the rest, saidUkraine’s Ministry of Transport.

Latest figures show that cargohandling at Odessa from January-May 2012 was up on the same pe-

riod in 2011 and totalled 11.3 mt. InMay alone, cargo throughput at theport reached 2.3 mt, a 15.4% in-crease from a year earlier. Han-dling of dry cargo increased by14.2% to 1.5 mt. and grain exportsincreased to 540,800t.

Odessa encompasses 14 ha andfeatures a 9km-long quay line with54 berths. The port’s capacity is 14mt of dry bulk cargo and the samevolume of oil products a year. In2011, cargo traffic rose 3.7% year-on-year, to 25 mt. �

When you’re dealing with the risk of shock loads and need a robust system that will keep on working even in the toughest environments, Rexroth has the drive and control solutions for you. The low moment of inertia and fast response times in our drive solutions protect your machinery from damage due to stalls or sudden overloads. You can also easily adjust to all types of materials and conditions, since the systems offer full torque at an infinite speed range, making it easy for you to optimize machinery and processes. You can focus on your core business, relying on our high quality solutions and global network to provide complete peace of mind. Contact us for the ingenious solution that’s just right for your needs.

Bosch Rexroth AG www.boschrexroth.com/materialshandling

Tough application,ingenious solution Exactly

09_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 23/07/2012 13:15:27

BMI May/June 201210

Indonesia Focus

In April, Cargotec securednew contracts to deliverMacGregor anchor-han-dling, mooring and towingsolutions for 15 offshoresupport vessels (OSV) ofvarious types being built inChina for Asian customers.

The ships are being builtin several shipyards in Chinafor delivery throughout 2013and 2014.

Cargotec is supplying an-chor-handling/towing solu-tions for two 59m anchor-handling tug/supply vessels,a 56.2m anchor-handlingtug, and five 50m towing/utility vessels.

Positioning mooring so-lutions are destined for two100m/300-person accom-modation/work barges, two85m subsea maintenance/work support vessels, a 60mdiving support vessel and

MacGregor equipment benefits15 Asian OSVs of all types

two 105m subsea operationvessels.

“Most of the systemcomponents are establisheddesigns, and we have com-bined them to meet theneeds of a particular shiptype,” says Francis Wong,Cargotec’s sales director foroffshore winch solution.

“This ensures that eachsolution is well integratedand helps a ship type fulfilits specific functions. It alsoenhances a vessel’s effi-ciency, safety and eco-friendly credentials through-out its entire lifecycle.

“We clearly see OSV de-mand coming back stronglyin Asia, the Middle East,West Africa and SouthAmerica at the beginning of2012, and the market out-look is promising,” Wongsaid. �

Cargotec will supply MacGregor positioning mooringsolutions for two 100m work barges

Indonesia’s government re-cently announced that itwas to impose a 20% duty

on exports of 14 mineral ores,including copper and nickel,in a bid to encourage localprocessing and extract morevalue from its mining sector,which accounts for about 11%of its gross domestic product.

The tax will prohibit min-ers from exporting the miner-als until they submit plans tobuild local processing facili-ties in a move to not only in-crease investment in the sectorbut also to generate more jobs.

Mining minister JeroWacik’s statement that the du-ties would not apply to coal,which would be ruled on sepa-rately, and his subsequentcomment that the country had‘no intention’ of imposing thecoal tax, have done little to as-suage the uncertainty as towhether the coal duty will be

implemented. Some criticshave accused the governmentof making ‘hasty’ policy an-nouncements, while othershave criticised the ‘conflict-ing’ opinions being voiced bythe ministry on almost aweekly basis.

The official line currentlyappears to be that the countryis still considering the exporttax on coal.

Continued growthBut despite the uncertainty,Indonesia’s mining sector re-mains strong. PT Thiess Con-tractors Indonesia recentlysigned a US$393M contractwith PT Tamtama Perkasa, amember of the Barito PacificGroup, for mining services in

Muara Teweh, CentralKalimantan.

Under this contract, ThiessIndonesia will provide miningservices over a period of fiveyears to support the deliveryof 7.5 mt of coal. Operationsare expected to commence inthe second half of 2012.

“This contract award is inline with our strategy for con-tinued growth in Indonesia,”said Roy Olsen, president di-rector of Thiess Indonesia,adding that the Tamtamaproject is only the beginningof a long-term collaborationwith the Barito Pacific Group.

The contract is the secondawarded to Thiess Indonesiafor works in CentralKalimantan within a few

weeks of each other. In Aprilit announced it had signed aUS$44M contract with PTLahai Coal (IndoMet Coal), ajoint venture between BHPBilliton and Adaro Energy, forthe development of the MuaraTuhup port and access roadinfrastructure in CentralKalimantan.

Under this contract, ThiessIndonesia will provide bulkearthworks, drainage, civilstructures and associated portearthworks. Project mobilisa-tion is expected to commencemid 2012.

Strong performanceElsewhere, Asian coal andpower company Banpu hassaid that it expects perform-ance in 2012 to be as good aslast year, with sale volumesfrom both Indonesian andAustralian operations due toincrease.

Chanin Vongkusolkit,Banpu CEO, said that salesrevenue for the year was ex-pected to increase on highercoal production and sales vol-ume. The company’s total coalsales volume in 2012 is tar-geted at around 47- 48 mtfrom 42 mt in 2011.

It forecasts that coal salesfrom Indonesia and Australiawill increase 8% to 27 and 16mt respectively this year,while the rest will come fromChina and Mongolia.

The 2012 average sellingprice is likely to be better thanthat of 2011. The majority ofthis year’s coal sales contractsfrom both countries have al-ready been priced.

“Sales revenue is expectedto grow this year. The coalbusiness which is our main rev-enue source will benefit fromhigher sales volume and fa-vourable selling prices,” saidChanin.

“Moreover, the powerbusiness recorded a smoothoperation in the first quarterand is expected to maintain itsconsistent performance.”

In the first quarter of thisyear, Banpu recorded 5.7 mtof coal from Indonesianmines, an increase of 7% fromlast year’s figure for the sameperiod.

ISS expansionIn response to growth in theregion, maritime services pro-vider Inchcape Shipping Serv-

ices (ISS) is expanding itsfootprint in the Asia-Pacificregion with the opening of anew Global Marine Travel(ISS GMT) office in Singa-pore.

ISS GMT Singapore hasbeen opened to look aftermarine clients based in Sin-gapore with their travelneeds into and out of thecity. Along with ISS GMTPhilippines in Manila it willlook after travel requests forclients throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

“Singapore is one of theworld’s largest commercialhubs for marine and offshorebusiness and the new officewill meet the demand fromexisting clients and growthwithin the region,” said ISS.

“The company’s travellertracking system and globalground transportation networkoffer an enhanced service andhave created extra demand forits value-added services fromshipowners and vessel man-agement companies.”

Both offices are led bymanagers with over twentyyears’ experience. Shern Kwaat ISS GMT Singapore willmanage commercial marinecrew and ensure the smoothoperation of the office whichis open round the clock, 365days a year, while JacquelineWenlock has recently beenappointed as the new generalmanager of ISS GMT Philip-pines. �

Despite uncertainties as to Jakarta’s intentionsregarding the imposition of a coal export tax,Indonesia’s mining industry remains strong

Indonesia still mulling its taxing question

CBM AFRICA

11 - 12 June 2012Radisson BLU Hotel, Sandton Johannesburg

Join local and international industry leaders at CBM Africa to hear key topics surrounding CBM in Africa, including:

J How to manage and optimise benefits from the country’s coal resources?

J Regulation - The balancing act of overlapping coal and CBM

J The outlook for the African LNG market

J Infrastructure needed to develop South Africa’s natural gas potential

J Land access, environmental laws, safety and community concerns

J Water management & drilling experiences in CBM operations – What can be learnt from Australia?

J Workforce challenges and planning

J Why UCG? – Its potential in Southern Africa

J End users perspective of CBM

Confirmed speakers to-date include:

Tertius Kruger, Project Manager, Gas Energy, Exxaro

Tebogo Segwabe, Geological Survey, Botswana

Gabriel Canahai, Associate Hydrogeologist, Golder Associates Africa Pty Ltd

Paul Tromp, Exploration Director, Badimo Gas

Andy Lambert, Managing Director, Kinetiko Energy Ltd

Ian Tchacos, Chairman, Instinct Energy Limited

Andrew Elf, General Manager – Drilling Services, Mitchell Drilling Services

Michel Thuysbaert, Managing Director, Cobramar Ltd

Dr. Lin Tu, Executive Director, Clean Coal Technology South Africa

Prof Philip Lloyd, Energy Institute, Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Alan Golding, Director, Analytika Holdings

Prof Danie Vermeulen, Director of the Institute for Groundwater Studies, University of the Free State (UFS)

Conrad Kahts, Managing Director, Aqua Alpha

Unlocking the energy potential

Coal Bed Methane / Coal to Liquids / Underground Coal Gasification

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10_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 23/07/2012 13:16:11

BMI May/June 2012 11

Cargo Handling

The global construction indus-try is experiencing its lowestorder intake for decades and

consequently demand for cement hasfallen dramatically. While the mar-ket outlook from a leading consult-ant, regarded as optimistic in somecircles, is estimated to rise at 5.3%per year to 2015, this will probablynot be sufficient to spark a spate oforders for cement handling plant,both for marine and terminal sys-tems.

This has significantly impactedon the short-term outlook of special-ised suppliers such as Van Aalst andCargotec’s MacGregor subsidiarywhich includes the Nordströms divi-sion. However, one sector which isholding well is the offshore market.

Contracts wonLate last year, for instance, Cargotecsecured contracts for MacGregorbulk handling systems for installa-tion onboard four offshore supportvessel newbuildings from two differ-ent owners; one in the UAE and theother in Spain.

Grandweld Shipyards in theUnited Arab Emirates orderedMacGregor bulk handling systemsfor two anchor-handling tug/supplyvessels to handle cement, barite andbentonite for Halul Offshore Serv-ices, in Doha, Qatar. Equipment forboth vessels is scheduled for deliv-ery at the end of June 2012.

The second order for MacGregorbulk handling systems is for two plat-form support vessels under construc-tion at Astilleros Balenciaga S.A. inSpain, for North Star Shipping, Scot-land. The vessels will operate in theNorth Sea and will handle cement,barite and bentonite. The equipmentis scheduled for delivery in June andNovember, 2012.

“For the owners, it was importantthat the vessels were fitted with sim-ple and well-proven bulk handlingtechnology, with a solid trackrecord,” says Pankaj Thakker,Cargotec sales manager, marineselfunloaders.

“Each installation will featuredust-free operation and low powerconsumption, making these some ofthe most environmentally-friendlysystems available today.”

Healthy growthThe agri-bulk sector is facing betterprospects as demand for grains andanimal feedstocks continues to grow.At the port of Sète in France, whichexports cereals to EU countries, pre-dominantly ltaly and Greece, as wellas Morocco and Algeria, CentreGrains, part of the Axereal group, re-cently extended one of their quays.It has equipped its terminal with apneumatic unloader for barges of5,000dwt and a shiploader for25,000dwt vessels, both designed,manufactured and installed by ViganEngineering S.A.

The pneumatic unloader has around suction nozzle which sucks theproduct into the hold, allowing it toreach the maximum capacity with aguaranteed minimum breakage. De-pending on the products discharged,the rate reaches 400t/h for wheat,corn or barley. The rail-mounted gan-try moves along the quay and sup-ports all unloading equipment: anelectric transformer group, the cabinwith turbo-blowers, the unloadingtower, the cable reels for power andcontrol and manual rail clamps (forsecuring the device in a parking po-

Sucking up to new market potentialThe market for pneumatic handling systems is split into verydistinct sectors. While cement is suffering a downturn, agri-bulks are proving resilient as is biomass demandsition). The unloading tower ismounted on a slewing ring with hy-draulic motor. It incorporates an au-tomatic cleaning filter with com-pressed air injection equipped witha vent explosion and a 400 litreairlock. The 15m boom supportingthe piping system can lift from 15°

to 54°, by means of a hydraulic cyl-inder.

Bionic challengeBiomass handling represents both anew market and also a challenge forpneumatic unloaders, particularly asthere is no defined trend between

grabs or pneumatics. One of the firstpioneering projects was at EssentEnergie’s co-firing power plant inGeert-ruidenberg, the Netherlands.The initial aim was to burn 2 mtpabiomass, replacing up to 30% of firedcoal, although the operator is plan-ning on a 50% mix in the future.

The biomass consists of woodpellets, palm kernel paste (formed bypalm oil kernels ground into shav-ings) citrus pellets comprising fibrewaste from the citrus fruits process-

ing, dried olive pit pulp and groundcacao pods. Other biomass productssuch as household organic waste(ONF) were also tested

The biomass is sourced globallyand transported by sea to Rotterdam.From here, it is transhipped in pushbarges to Geertruidenberg. With aninitial annual target of 600,000t ofbiomass to be burnt, this requires 400barges, carrying 1,500t each.

Interestingly, the deep sea shipsdelivering the biomass are dis-

Bulk challenges need unique solutions Cargotec’s market leading MacGregor self-unloading/loading systems for cement carrier newbuildings and

conversions are fast, efficient and cost effective. The MacGregor modular concept allows for future alterations,

add-ons and upgrades without major modifications to the original solution. Our systems improve performance,

need minimal maintenance and ensure environmental protection.

We are committed to delivering the solution that suits a customer’s needs.

Cargotec improves the efficiency of cargo flows on land and at sea – wherever cargo is on the move. Cargotec’s

daughter brands, Hiab, Kalmar and MacGregor, are recognised leaders in cargo and load handling solutions around

the world.

www.cargotec.com

11_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 23/07/2012 13:17:00

BMI May/June 201212

Cargo Handling

charged by grab cranes di-rectly into the barges while atthe power plant, the barges areunloaded by a Neuero pneu-matic unloader.

RepackagedThe Flexiport F600 continu-ous barge unloading systemincorporates technology origi-nally developed in the 1980sfor non free-flowing materialsfor use in European feed mills,and adapted for use withbiomass by Essent engineers.One of the difficult challengeswas to design a system ableto cope with the variety ofproducts, especially with ma-terials like wood chips andONF that have a high percent-age of dust.

The design of the F600 metthe new ATEX dust explosionrules even before they werepublished, as Neuero had co-operated with ATEX in thedefinition of the new rules.

The F600 is able to workat 50% capacity with a corre-sponding reduction of powerconsumption. This is useful inclean-up operations or in han-dling extremely light materi-als like ONF, which has a spe-cific weight of 150 kg/m3.

Alternative solutionsOther systems were analysedand compared. A traditionalbatch unloading system suchas a crane with grab was dis-carded because it would needa bigger installation for thedust suppression hopper andthe extra work to avoid spill-age during unloading.

Therefore a modern con-tinuous unloading system wasnecessary. A continuous chainsystem has problems feedingmaterials that are not free-flowing, while a screw-typeCSU with a feeder head canjam when dealing with woodpellets.

The combination of apneumatic system with a ro-tary feeder was considered bythe utility to be the optimumchoice, as dust is reduced be-cause of the suction to the pipeand minimised in an enclosedsystem. The plain pipe with-

out jammed points and the beltairlock for the extraction pro-vides the best conditions toprevent blockages or jammingin the system.

The special belt airlocktype was selected because thetype of material - from woodchips to powder-like ONF -could cause blockages in tra-ditional airlocks. The conceptof the belt airlock is simple,as instead of a rigid steel body,two belts seal the rotor be-tween low pressure and at-mosphere.

The main advantage ofthis system is that the beltsrun at the same speed as therotor and therefore reducewear.

Feeding flowThe rotating feeder introducesthe material into the convey-ing pipe with its speed adjust-able by the integrated hydrau-lic drive. The intake air can beremotely adjusted to the bestair/product ratio while thepipe design incorporates notelescopic movement, sincethe different materials, like

wood chips, could block themovement.

The use of flexible coneswas discarded for this samereason. The use of cylindricaljoints at vertical kick in/outand the filter intake allow ti-diness and avoid productdeposition.

Four Neuero blowers withspecial characteristics are in-stalled in the machineryhouse. The operation level ofthe frequency inverter air con-trol system can be set by theoperator at the touch panel, inpercentage value. This helpsto reduce the air depending onthe type of product being un-loaded.

For the clean-up operation,the use of only two blowers ispossible by shutting off thesecond stage of each set. Thisis also a useful feature in un-loading very low density ma-terials. The pneumatic systemis a volumetric one limited bythe airlock volume, thereforelight density materials caneasily cause overflow of ma-terial.

The drive motors are also

equipped with automatic belttension (ATB). This simplebut efficient design enablesconstant belt tension with noneed to re-tension. An auto-matic greasing system com-pletes the package, with PLCalarm for grease replacementand/or blockage of the greasepipe.

Filtering outThe filter was designed to beoversized because productslike ONF are almost com-pletely composed of very lightdust. Working with normalproducts, like wood pellets,the filter loss is extremely low.The filter is cleaned by re-versed air flow generated byturbo blowers.

This counter flow principleproduces less shock loading ofthe filter material collectionbags and eliminates the pos-sibility of condensed mois-ture and oil contamination,often produced in high pres-sure reverse pulse type fil-ters.

This results in increasedbag life resulting in lower

maintenance costs, as there isno air compressor, air dryer,solenoid valves, air tank, timerand piping.

Also, there is less of a lossat conveying as no outside airis used, making the designmore efficient for both hot andcold climates, particularly forthe latter as there are no sole-noid valves to freeze in winter.

Power for the unloader istaken from a medium voltagemotorised cable drum with the10.5 kV cable enclosing a fi-bre-optic cable for the com-munication and control. AScada system via bus commu-nication with fibre-optics linksto the power plant’s centralcontrol.

Volumetric efficiencyThis design has proved the ba-sic module which Neuero isemploying to enter this market.

While the machine is rated,correctly at 600 t/h, this onlyrelates to a product density of1000kg/m3 as the capacity ofa pneumatic unloader is deter-mined by the cubic capacity ofits turbo-blowers, which in thecase of the F600 is 600m3/hr.

When handling biomass,this mass is seldom attained,with wood pellets, dependingon water content, normallyweighing around 650kg/m3

giving a maximum rate of390t/h while ONF, with a den-sity of 150kg/m3 would onlyprovide a throughput of some90t/h.

It may be difficult to engi-neer capacities above the cur-rent ratings as the turbo-blow-ers, for both Neuero and itsmain competitor Vigan, arerun in series using a modularconstruction. Thus threeturbo-blowers on the sameshaft driven by one electricmotor or diesel engine willeach provide 200cu/m3 to at-tain the 600cu/m3 suctionpower. It is not a simple proc-ess to add more blowers whiledoubling up capacity with aparallel set of blowers is anexpensive option.

This could be why bothNeuero and Vigan have in-vested in “soft touch” me-chanical unloaders which arenot so dependent on volu-metric capacity. Neuero hasdeveloped its own Multibeltdesign, while Vigan acquiredthe Simporter system whichpioneered the twin enclosedbelt concept technology.

Focus on biomassCurrently, however, the focusis on pneumatic handling forbiomass. Vigan installed a500t/h unit for an Electrabel600MW co-firing plant atGelderland, near Nijmegen.The overall contract in-cluded supply of the bargeunloader, quay belt convey-ors, silo feeder pipe beltconveyors and two 5000tcapacity steel silos.

The type NIV600 unloaderis equipped with three, fourstage turbo-blowers directlydriven, rather than the tradi-tional belt drive system, by anAC frequency controlled elec-tric motor controlled througha Schneider drive system.

The more precise motorcontrol delivered by this typeof drive enables Vigan to

claim a power consumption of0.6 to 0.7kWh/t. The designalso incorporates an air jetpulse system for the automaticcleaning of the filter which iswidely used in the food andfeed industry sectors, but isrelatively new to biomass han-dling.

This system provides sig-nificant safety advantages asthere are no moving mechani-cal parts in contact with the airflow which could be eventu-ally contaminated with dustand therefore could be a po-tential source for an explosivecondition to develop.

Full burnVigan has used this project asa reference for what is argu-ably the most ambitiousbiomass burning installationto date. RWE has convertedits Tilbury B power stationon the Thames from coal-fir-ing to a full biomass plantrather than previous co-fir-ing projects.

The new capacity of thestation following the conver-sion is 750MW and it isplanned to operate on biomassuntil its scheduled closure un-der the Large CombustionPlant Directive (LCPD), atthe end of 2015 or when theremainder of its permitted20,000h of operation underthe LCPD have been used.

As the site has direct accessto a jetty, which has been en-larged to accept panamax-sized bulkers, RWE is keen topursue a range of options forthe future of the Tilbury siteafter 2015, including the po-tential development ofbiomass options.

Once converted, Tilbury isexpected to use around 2.3 mtof wood pellets during its re-maining LCPD opt-out hourswith in excess of 90% of thesesourced from North America,either from RWE’s ownpelleting plant in Georgia,U.S.A, or from Canada.

Two of a kindTo discharge the pellets, RWEhas invested in two railmounted NIV 600 shipunloaders, similar to theGelderland unit, powered byan ac frequency controlledelectric motor fed through ca-ble reeling drums.

The 28.5m rotating boom,incorporating telescopicpipes, enables the unit to han-dle bulkers up to panamaxsize, although the majority ofthe ships engaged in this traf-fic are anticipated to be around45,000dwt.

When handling wood pel-lets, Vigan claims a capacity ofup to 600t/h each, with the unitsfeeding a conveyor system di-rectly to the silos. The machineis fitted with a winch for a 10tbulldozer for hold cleaning,control cabin with camera anda fire-fighting system.

The machines were fullyassembled in Tilbury docksearlier this year and placed onexisting rails, which theyshare with two Kone bucketwheel coal unloaders.

However, a fire in one ofthe main biomass silos in Feb-ruary has put back the fullimplementation of thisproject. �

Once converted to 100% biomass burn, RWE’s 750MW Tilbury B power station becamethe largest of its type in the world. It is anticipated to burn over 2 mt of biomass before itsclosure in 2015, with the fuel being handled by two Vigan 500t/h pneumatic unloaders

BACK ISSUESTo purchase back issues

of Bulk Materials International

and for an archive of articles

previously published in BMI

please see our website:

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In Printand

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12_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 23/07/2012 13:18:48

BMI May/June 2012 13

Cargo Handling

U sing containers toship agriculturalproducts looks set to

become more prevalent in thefuture, particularly for han-dling exports from NorthAmerica and establishing newsupply chains in Australia.

Commodity crops likewheat, corn and pulses havetraditionally been controlledby agricultural cooperatives orproducer boards and been ex-ported in bulk.

Canada and Australia haveboth recently reformed mo-nopoly wheat boards, openingthese markets to new players.Often these are smaller compa-nies who handle thousandsrather than millions of tonnesper year and are looking formore flexible solutions withlower cost of entry.

Asian demandSupply-side reform is beingmatched by growing demandout of Asia for raw materialsand food products. China be-came the top destination forU.S. agricultural exports lastyear and containers are play-ing an increasing role. Ac-cording to the AgricultureOcean Transportation Coali-tion (AOTC) its members nowexport around 1.5M TEU ayear of agricultural products.

At a recent conference inLong Beach AOTC president

Putting bulk in boxesBulk logistics is making more use of containersboth to ship commodities and fill gaps intraditional supply chain infrastructurePeter Friedman said with ex-port growth ranging from 5 to11% a year compared to 1%for imports, exports couldeventually become the headhaul cargo on trans-Pacificcontainer routes.

Canada too is now target-ing the Chinese market withsmaller quantities of diverseproducts. In March the firstever shipment of alfalfa haywas moved from Alberta toChina, a shipment of 20 con-tainers. China imported just$115,000 worth of alfalfa hayin 2006 but last year the mar-ket was worth $103M and isexpected to keep growing asChina ramps up its dairy pro-duction.

Pressing issueThe export boom should begood news for shipping lines.For over a decade they havehad a problem with containerimbalances and a lack of ex-port cargo to fill boxes return-ing to Asia. That does notmean, however, that there arethousands of empty contain-ers available for agriculturalexports.

Container availability isactually a pressing issue at the

moment. According toSingamas, the world’s secondlargest container manufac-turer, the current container-to-slot ratio sits at 1.5 to 1.6, welldown from the normal ratio oftwo containers per vessel slot.Normally this would triggercontainer owners to build upinventory but Singamas saidbox owners are concernedabout another global downturn.

Low box inventory cou-pled with slow steamingmeans container supply islikely to be tight throughoutthe northern growing season.

Tight container supplymeans container owners areless likely to want to divertboxes into agricultural areasfor loading with export prod-uct. Ports and rail lines target-ing containerised exportsknow this and are looking forloading facilities along con-tainer back haul routes.

In Canada CN Railway isfocusing on developing load-ing facilities along its existingnetwork including its estab-lished transload facility in Ed-monton. It recently opened anew facility in ChippewaFalls, Minnesota, that features

a grain transfer facility withinan intermodal terminal.

CN and Prince Rupert areboth looking to increase agri-cultural exports in containers.Prince Rupert has a bulk grainterminal that can handle 7mtpa but port spokespersonShaun Stevenson said the portis an “enthusiastic supporterof new stuffing facilities de-veloping inland by partnerslike CN” and also plans itsown loading facilities at a lo-gistics park at the port.

Volumes are steadily in-creasing and Prince Ruperthandled 16,422 TEU of con-tainerised agricultural exportsin 2011.

Overweight issueThe biggest supply of emptycontainers is around the portsof LA and Long Beach butexporters have concerns aboutthe cost of using these ports.Friedman said PierPass feesfor trucking alone are keepingone major agricultural ex-porter away from the SanPedro terminals. Another is-sue is that export commoditiesare heavy and the 80,000lbtruck weight limitation adds todrayage costs. Other portshave heavy weight corridorsfor containers and Freidmansaid some cargo from Califor-nia is going as far as Houstonbecause of this problem.

The Port of Tacoma doeshave a heavy-weight corridorlinking the Tacoma TransloadInc (TTI) container loadingfacility to its container termi-nals. TTI opened in 1992 andnow claims to be one of thelargest transloading facilities

in the Pacific Northwest, load-ing up to 1,000 containers amonth.

TTI has three separateloading bays where grains areloaded directly into containerson road trucks using loadingchutes fed by screw convey-ors. A bulk head placed at therear of the container keepsgrain from flowing out. TTIalso loads 40’ boxes to be-tween 50-80% capacity.

Hoffman said the market atthe moment is currently uncer-tain as high freight rates areputting some exporters offusing containers. However, heis still optimistic for a reason-ably healthy export season.

Special casesIn Australia the idea of usingspecial containers to overcome bottlenecks or the ab-sence of “traditional” bulksupply chains for getting min-ing products to ports is gain-ing traction. Last year P&OAutomative and GeneralStevedoring (POAGS) beganusing the Rotabox system todeliver iron ore concentratefor export through the Port ofBunbury in Western Australia.Rotabox is a special halfheight 20’ bulk container de-signed to be used with a rotat-ing spreader to tip bulk mate-rial into a stockyard or directlyinto the ships hold.

POAGS has now re-branded as Qube Ports andBulk, and Qube has justlanded a new contract to han-dle copper concentrate fromSandfire Resources’ De-Grussa copper project in thePilbara region of Western

Australia. Sandfire plans toexport 280,000t of copperconcentrate annually throughPort Hedland, approximately740km from the mine.

Qube will haul the productto Port Hedland using quadroad trains and 1200 speciallydesigned containers based onthe ISO 20’ container footprintwith steel lids. Two differentheight containers (1800mmand 2000mm) will allow dif-ferent payloads to meet roadtrain axle loading require-ments. The payload capacityof the road trains is 115t witha maximum load per containerof 35t.

At Port Hedland the con-tainers will be unloaded usingreachstackers and stacked ina container yard. When a ship-ment is ready the containerswill be moved by terminaltractors to the quay where theywill be lifted and tipped intothe ships hold by ships craneswith Rotabox tippers. TwoRotabox units working in tan-dem are expected to achievea loading rate above 400 tp/h.

Qube’s project develop-ment manager StephenTimmins said the wholeRotabox concept provides away for junior miners to reachexport markets sooner andwith less capital risk than ifinvesting in conventional shiploading infrastructure. Com-pared to the scale of Austral-ia’s bigger ports, vessel load-ing is a bit “like loading witha teaspoon”, but Rotabox hasbig environmental advan-tages. There are no openstockpiles close to other infra-structure and local communi-

While TIL and other graintransloaders load grain intocontainers horizontally thereare advantages to loadingcontainers vertically. Theseinclude faster loading, elimi-nating the need for bulk-heads and liner bags to stopfree flowing cargo spillingout the doors, and enablingthe container can be filledright up to the doors (de-pending on the weight of thecommodity).

New Zealand-based A-Ward has developed a widevariety of container tilters for20’ and 40’ containers. Thecompany got its start in thescrap metal industry and hasbuilt up a product range withoptions for automaticallyopening and closing doors,monitoring weight duringloading, taking pictures ofloaded containers and pro-viding safe access for sam-pling during loading.

It is now expanding intofood and agricultural productsupply chains and recentlyinstalled a tipper at a coffeestorage facility inCournonsec in the south ofFrance operated by JoulieTransport.

With scrap flexibility thekey factor, customers willtypically have a mobile cranelike a Sennebogen with agrab but no equipment to liftcontainers. A-Ward’s tiltercan be equipped with a lift-ing system for lifting con-tainers off and on road trucksand its own diesel or electricpower pack for the hydrau-

New ways of tilting boxes

lic system. It can also bemounted on rollers for mov-ing around the facility as re-quired. Not having to pur-chase container handlingequipment is a major advan-tage as a tipper costs less than25% of the price of heavyforklift.

Business developmentmanager (Europe) Edgar Rootsaid the same principle of tilt-ing the container up to 90-degsafely for efficient loadingapplies equally well to agri-cultural products. At the Jouliefacility the A-Ward tipperforms part of a permanent cof-fee handling system built un-der a steel canopy to protectthe product from rain.

The beans arrive in 20’shipping containers and mustbe transferred to special foodgrade 20’ containers for stor-age and then onward deliveryto coffee roasters. Joulie ishandling between 150 to 200

containers a month and hasa heavy forklift for handlingthe containers.

The handling process be-gins when tipper trucks bringa container of coffee fromport. They enter a raised areaand tip the coffee from thecontainer (which is fittedwith a liner) into a hopper.An enclosed conveyor sys-tem then carries the coffee toa loading chute which dis-charges it into the 20’ foodgrade containers that havebeen raised 90-deg by thecontainer tipper.

As all the food grade con-tainers are handled with theforklift A-Ward supplied itsFlat Deck Frame optionwhich has a 30t capacity andis designed to to be used withthe container fork pockets, acrane or a sideloading trailer.The tipper is powered bymains electricity and wassupplied with an access lad-der and hydraulic containerdoor arms. In the first test 22tof beans were transferred inless than ten minutes.

This is A-Ward’s first cus-tomer in the coffee industrybut it has been getting en-quiries from food handlersand processing companieslooking for ways to handleraw materials like hops incontainers. Most are inter-ested in loading but A-Ward’s tippers are also suit-able for unloading, wherethey can be used instead of atilting trailer to elevate a con-tainer to a maximum angleof 70-deg. �

The A-Ward tipper forms partof a permanent coffee handlingsystem at the Joulie facility

THE JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL CARGO INDUSTRY

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13_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 24/07/2012 11:40:38

BMI May/June 201214

Cargo Handling

ties and “the reduced berth cleaningcosts also make sense to small min-ers” added Timmins.

Rotabox solves the problem ofscale for mines that have to start upwith small volumes as the businessdevelops. Each 20’ box costs in theregion of A$7,000 to A$9,000 andthe Rotabox tipper unit costs a frac-tion of a “conventional” shiploader.Qube is talking to customers withvolumes in the 100 ktpa to 3 mtparange for which the capital require-ment of the Rotabox system is lessthan A$3M - including an RFID sys-tem to track the containers. Moreimportantly, Qube can provide mine-to-port transport and ship loading as

a service on a per tonne basis on rela-tively short term contracts. It can alsooffer port options including existingcontainer terminals and general serv-ices at bulk ports.

Addressing bottlenecksBulk containers can also be used toovercome bottlenecks and chokepoints in existing stockyard andship loading systems. Timminssaid these include ports where theavailable berth capacity is difficultto utilise due to constraints on roadand rail access to the port, or be-cause of inadequate port infra-structure. Qube is exploring theuse of multiple Rotabox units to

provide an additional feed to exist-ing ship loading systems of up to1,000 tph. This could be either a per-manent solution or a temporarymeasure until the bottlenecks areaddressed through longer term in-vestment.

Qube is really just getting startedwith the Rotabox concept andTimmins said it is willing to talk tocompanies outside Australia thatwant to license or otherwise use itssystem. �

NZ sideloader specialist Steelbrodeveloped its own tipper framedesigned several years ago, in-tended to be used with itssideloaders or fixed on site. Usedwith a sideloader the tipper is de-signed to be handled off and on aroad trailer in the 20’ position.

The sideloader can deliver thetipper to where grain needs to beloaded and place it on the ground.20’ containers can then be tippedup to 46 degrees for loading.

“The great advantage for theexporter is that a conventionalcontainer can be used for grainhandling instead of a specialisedgrain container. Twenty per centmore grain can be filled to a maxi-mum capacity of 30 tonnes”Steelbro said in a statement.

The company is now marketingits tipper more actively and sees op-portunities in the bulk foods indus-try, especially in Africa. �

Steelbrotargets grain

Rotabox is designed to be used witha rotating spreader to tip bulkmaterial into a stockyard or directlyinto the ship’s hold

The mining industry sets differentrequirements to containers thanmany other industries. The trans-ported product is heavy, sticky, andsharp – in one word, difficult.

Langh Ship Cargo Solutions hasdeveloped its 20’ hard open top bulkcontainer to meet the needs of themining industry. The container’s flatwalls are made of special steel thatis three times stronger than normalCorten-steel and are painted with apaint that endures the demandingnature of ores or scrap.

Due to the flush walls the con-tainer is easily emptied in unloadingand there is no need for manual re-moving of cargo residues.

The container’s hard open toproof makes loading very fast forwheel loaders and the normal bulkhatches on the roof are suitable forsilo loading. All the details are de-signed bearing in mind the natureof the transported products, saysLangh. Shields of the roof’s lock-ing mechanism work as guideposts for the roof and the forkliftpockets under the roof make it pos-sible to handle the roof easily witha forklift.

The top of the container can belifted off or alternatively three smallbulk loading hatches on the top canbe opened. In the other end of thecontainer there is a bulk unloadinghatch. When the container is tipped,the bulk material will easily slideout as the inner walls of the con-tainer are flush, so enabling easyemptying through the tippinghatch. �

Langh’s 20’ hard open top bulkcontainer can be loaded by wheelloader or by any other means wherethe material is loaded from the top

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BMI May/June 2012 15

Cargo Handling

Powering ahead on new ordersEngineering group Cavotecis active in a number of elec-trical supply fields, includ-ing mining and tunnelling,airports, general industryand shipboard equipment aswell as port handling equip-ment.

In the ports and maritimefield, business last year in-cluded an order from SandvikMaterials Handling, a long-term customer, for cable reelsfor tripper cars that will loadcoal into vessels at the Port ofBeira. Through Cavotec,Dalian Huarei ordered Tratoscable for a ship unloader ap-plication in China, and cablereels were supplied to DalianHeavy Crane Group with ca-ble reels for a 1800 tph shipunloader.

Spain-based FelgueraGruás ordered four sets of mo-torised cable reels and motor-ised hose reels, plus relatedcables and hoses, in connec-tion with two stacker/reclaimers rated at 4000/3500 tph it is building forthe coal stockyard atKrishnapatnam Port on In-dia’s east coast.

Mining marketIn the mining field, UhdeGmbH, part of Thyssen-Krupp, ordered four MV ca-ble reels and two hose reels fornew coke batteries being in-stalled at U.S. Steel Corpora-tion at Clairton, near Pitts-burgh, Pennsylvania.

Another German industrialmajor, FAM GmbH, orderedseveral types of MV cablereels - each with a capacity toreel 900m of cable - for mul-tiple conveyor bridges, hoppercars and stackers for use at anAGL Angren coal mine inUzbekistan.

Felguera Grúas, part ofDuro Felguera group, isparticularly active in theAsian bulk handling portsmarket. In April this year itreported an order worth €62Mfrom Gangavaram Port Ltd toincrease capacity of the coalterminal.

Scope of the order com-prised a new gantry grabunloader with a capacity of62t (grab plus load), a newstacker and a new reclaimer,a new 800 tph coal train load-ing station, extending the ex-isting conveyor system andadding new conveyors.

Igus launchNew developments from Ger-many-based energy chain spe-cialist Igus include a new cir-cular movement energy chaincalled “e-spool.” This isclaimed to provide more dura-bility than cable reeling drumsand also economises on space.

“E-spool” links two differ-ent energy chains in a uniqueway - a standard e-chain fromthe E2 or E4 series is routedvia the spool and, thanks to theintegrated return spring, al-ways ensures the correctlength and tension of the en-ergy chain.

A “twisterband” connectsthe spool with the shaftbracket, which serves as the

interface to the permanentlyinstalled cables. This acts likethe sliding contacts usuallyused in cable drums(sliprings).

The “e-spool” concept, ar-gues Igus, is far more flex-ible because, in contrast tothe sliding contacts, cablesfor data, compressed air andfluids can be connectedwithout interruption and canbe replaced or modified atany time.

The twisterband TB 30provides sufficient space forcable diameters up to 16mm.If more space is required, thetwisterband can route cablesto both sides of the chaindrum. The “e-spool” can beused in mobile cranes, plat-form applications, or assem-bly or process cranes withgrabs.

Thanks to reverse bend-ing radius (RBR), continuesIgus, standard energy chainscan be used for circularmovements. With the chainslying on their side androuted through specially di-vided channel structures,circular movements of up to600-deg are possible. Oneend of the energy chain isconnected to the inner ring,and one to the outer ring;one of these rings is fixedand the other rotate.

Doing the roundsTo achieve even larger angles,Igus has introduced a newproduct, a multi-rotationmodule (MRM). This makesit possible to implementmuch larger rotations on thebasis of standard energychains, with a rearwardbending radius and suitabledivided guide channels.

The idea behind it, saysIgus, is like a stack of coins.Several individual systems areplaced on top of each otherand connected to a completesystem, and the maximum ro-tation of the individual levelscan be added together.

This makes rotary move-ments of up to 900-deg possi-ble. The working principle issimple. After the defined ro-tary angle of the lower ringhas been reached, the nextmodule is carried along bymeans of a simple stop sys-tem. This means that thewhole system requires onlyone control unit.

The MRM system is suit-able for rotary applicationswith high loads and rough en-vironmental conditions, suchas stackers, reclaimers, bucketexcavators and rotary cranes,and for offshore applications.

Kabelschlepp debutAnother energy chain com-pany in Germany, TsubakiKabelschlepp, has introduceda new cable and hose carrier,designated TKA55, specifi-cally for use in environmentswith heavy contaminationfrom chips and dirt. The all-round closed structure, saysKabelschlepp, effectively pre-vents the intrusion of foreignbodies into the cable space,and allows for reliable protec-

tion right up to the connectionarea. It is available in six inte-rior widths between 50mmand 175mm.

Wood, metal or plasticchips entering into the cablespace of cable and hose carri-ers can quickly result in costlyproblems. Carriers wear faster,the service life of the routedcables and hoses is shortened,and the availability of the en-tire machine or system is jeop-ardised.

The TKA55, a closed plas-tic cable carrier, was awardedthe Eco-Link label of excel-lence and also meets the verystrict environmental compat-ibility standards of Japan’sTsubaki Group.

Design featuresThe design features anoptimised sideband and acover contour with mini-mised gap dimensions, to

prevent functional faultscaused by chips and dirt en-tering into or sticking to thecable carrier. The compactnew cover design fitsseamlessly into one anotherand reach over thesidebands to form a com-pact, closed unit.

They offer secure holdeven under severe mechani-cal stresses such as whenbeing used with hydrauliclines, says Kabelschlepp,while the smooth, dirt-repel-lent contour of thesidebands with their encap-sulated stroke system pre-vents the intrusion of anyforeign bodies.

The covers can beopened and removed easilyon the inside or outside toload the cable carriers. Theinterior of the TKA55 canbe modularly partitionedwith various divider solu-

tions for even cable distribu-tion. The optimised geometryof the chain links and a tripleencapsulated stroke system al-lows the TKA55 to span ex-tensive unsupported sections,while the integrated gliding

The interior of the TKA55 from Tsubaki Kabelschlepp canbe modularly divided for even cable distribution

surfaces make the cable car-rier highly suitable for longtravel lengths. Integratednoise damping is included, toensure that the cable carrierruns silently and with low vi-bration at all times. �

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15_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 24/07/2012 11:44:36

BMI May/June 201216

Cargo Handling

F ollowing a spate ofnewbuilding activitythere has been a lull,

although Jumbo Shipping sur-prised the market with an or-der for two highly sophisticatedultra heavy lift vessels, with anoption for a third. These K-class vessels are intended aspart of a fleet expansion pro-gramme rather than renewaland are based on the success-ful J-type ships which are fit-ted with two 900t mast cranes.

However, the latest vesselswill be equipped with two1500t Husiman mast cranes toprovide a record breaking3000t twinned lift at 20moutreach.

The K-class vessels arebeing built at the Brodosplitshipyard in Split, Croatia. Thedesign incorporates Finnish-Swedish ice class 1A and eachvessel will be prepared forDP2 installation. The first ves-

Market moves in heavy lift shippingDespite fears of a commodity slowdown,heavy lift and project cargo shipping servingthis market remains in relatively good shapehandling a backlog of contractssel will be in active service inthe autumn of 2013 and thesister-ship will follow somesix months later.

Indian disasterWhile BigLift’s andRolldock’s ventures into In-dian shipbuilding have notbeen successful, they have notbeen put off their newbuildingprogramme. Both operatorsordered specialised heavy liftships from Larsen & Toubro

The new L&T shipyard,which was specifically builton a greenfield site for com-mercial shipbuilding, took itsfirst order in May 2006 for aseries of six floodable hold

dock ships for Rolldock. Deliv-ery of the first was scheduledearly 2008 and the rest follow-ing at four month intervals.

At that time, world ship-yards were working at full ca-pacity with containership andbulk carrier orders and conse-quently both lead times andprices were high. It thereforemade commercial sense to optfor an unproven and partiallyconstructed shipyard, as it waspart of a highly competentengineering conglomerate.

The first ship, ROLLDOCKSUN, was delivered over twoyears late in mid 2010 fol-lowed by the second ROLLDOCKSTAR in 2011. The BigLift

ships were to have followedthis pair and then the remain-ing Rolldock ships wouldhave been delivered.

Time outThese new ships are part ofBigLift’s expansion pro-gramme, which is now com-plete with the delivery of HAPPYDYNAMIC, but lacks the two18,900 dwt specialised heavylift carriers ordered at L&T ata cost of some US$95M.

The ships, HAPPY SKY andHAPPY STAR, were designed withtwin Huisman deck cranes,each rated at 900t and capableof a twinned 1800t lift. Theywere re-scheduled to enterservice by the end of 2009/early2010, but Big Lift recentlystated HAPPY SKY will be deliv-ered at the end of this year andthe second vessel a year later.

The company is believed tohave placed an order with an

unspecified “Far Eastern”shipyard for one ship, althoughthere could be an option for asecond. These will be built tothe same specifications as theoriginal Indian order.

Rolling awayRolldock had been informedby L&T that its next shipROLLDOCK SKY would finallybe handed over in Decemberlast year, followed by twomore in August and October2012, although this has notbeen the case.

An option had been exer-cised for two more ships,which were scheduled to bedelivered, along with the sixthvessel, in February, June andOctober 2013, some sevenyears after they were ordered.

In comparison, CombiLiftordered four similar ships atLloyd Werft Bremerhaven af-ter the Rolldock contract, withthe final vessel delivered inJanuary 2010.

Rolldock has now lost itsconfidence in the L&T ship-yard to deliver, and there ap-pear to be some concerns re-garding the ability ofnewbuildings to meet their con-tractual specifications. Thecompany has now cancelled thethird and fourth ships,ROLLDOCK SKY and ROLLDOCKSTAR, and placed an order fortwo dock-type ships with theGerman shipyard Flensburger.

The order for the fifth andsixth ships at L&G still stands,but as with BigLift Shipping,there are doubts if this willmaterialise and it may be thatRolldock will look for an op-tion for two more ships atFlensburger.

Lessons learntThe German built ships willbe slightly larger, having aLoa of 151.5m and beam of25.4m compared to the142.3m x 24m of the originaltwo ships. This allows thedock/hold width to be in-creased from 19m to 19.4mand enable the newbuildingsto reach the original designspecification of 8000dwt.

The concept of the shipsremains the same, with afloodable hold, 1600t sternramp, capable of taking roll-ing loads of 4000t and two350t Liebherr cranes. How-ever, the technical design isessentially new and, while thepropulsion plant remains thesame to provide an 18k serv-ice speed, the engine room andaccommodation deckhousehave been redesigned.

Delivery has yet to be con-firmed, but the first ship is an-ticipated to enter service No-vember 2013 followed by thesecond ship a few months later.

Australian build-upThe two new vessels, claimsBigLift are not replacementsfor the 28 year old HAPPY BUC-CANEER, which is performingparticularly well with bulkhandling projects in Australia.

For an iron ore expansionproject at Port Hedland, HAPPYBUCCANEER was equipped witha new flyjib to lift and posi-

tion two shuttle truss sectionseach weighing 310t, and two200t transfer stations. The ad-dition of the 17m long flyjib toone of the ship’s cranes pro-vided the 35m outreach and thehook height of 52m required toposition the four sections.

While it took only twoworking days to install thesections in their designatedpositions, they were not con-secutive as cyclone Heidimade an unscheduled ap-pearance in the middle of theoperation. All ships had toleave the port and HAPPY BUC-CANEER had an uncomfort-able two days riding out thecyclone off Port Hedland.She returned to port to com-plete the discharge of thetwo shuttle trusses.

The Huisman-Itrec 17 msuper flyjib for the 700t heavylift mast cranes increases thelifting height and outreach by50% to respectively 59mabove deck and 55m. With thefly jib mounted the crane hasa maximum load of 350t upto 35m outreach and a 250tload at a 50m outreach. Thelifting height increases to ap-proximately 59m above deck.

To reduce installation timeof the fly jib, lightweight staysproduced by FibreMax are be-ing used. For future projectsrequiring further outreach orlifting height capacities, the flyjib can be extended and willalso be able to be fitted to thefuture S-class newbuildings.

SAL Heavy Lift has alsosecured some transport andinstall contracts in Australia,having recently completed thetransportation and positioningof 5 wharf modules of up to700t unit weight for the newiron ore berth in the port ofGeraldton, Australia. Themodules were loaded in Thai-land on SVENJA and transportedto site, where they were dis-charged onto stabbing piles,requiring a very accurate andcareful cargo handling.

Make an offerCombi-Lift, a JV betweenDanish operator Poulsen Ship-ping and the German groupHarren & Partners, has soldtwo of its four semi-submers-ible-type ships, not through alack of demand for their serv-ices but more for a price “itcouldn’t refuse.”

The ships COMBI DOCK IIand COMBI DOCK IV were ac-quired by Offshore Installa-tion Group (OIG) which wasformed last year when Harren& Partner Group andGoldman Sachs Capital Part-ners agreed to invest $500Min the venture.

It has one of ex-Combi-Liftships, BLUE GIANT, on long-termcharter. A third similarnewbuilding will join the fleetat the end of this year.PoulsenShipping had the opportunity toparticipate in this venture, butdeclined having decided that itsoperational expertise was in theheavy lift and project cargoshipping sector rather than off-shore oil activities.

Financing the futureBremen-based Harren & Part-ner (H&P) caused some con-fusion when it announced lastmonth that it was forming a

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BMI May/June 2012 17

Cargo Handling

joint venture with J.P. Morgan AssetManagement to establish a new com-pany Sumo Shipping, the aim ofwhich was to “to build up a fleet ofmodern and young heavy lift vesselswith lifting capacities of more than500t. This should be achieved withinthe next 24 months.”

The first investment will be oneof six Palmerston Class vesselswhich were built for H&P between2009-2011 by the Chinese shipyardTaizhou Kouan Shipbuilding.

As H&P is also in a JV with JPoulsen Shipping to form Combi-Lift, which operates the Palmerstonclass ships, this could have causedsomething of a conflict of interest!However it transpires that the newJV is not an operator but a financialstructure intended to assume the mort-gage commitments of the ships whichwere originally funded under the Ger-man KG system. This source has nowvirtually dried up and H&P accord-ingly looked for alternative finance.

Of the six 10,800dwt P-type shipsbuilt, two are now on long-term char-ter to Hyundai Merchant Marine andit is one of these that has been re-fi-nanced although it is probable that theremaining five will also be transferred.

Moving inlandRickmers-Linie is strengthening itspresence in China and expanding itsregional sales offices from six to tento cover central and Southern China.

According to Gerhard Janssen,director marketing and sales, thecompany is moving closer to the ma-jor industrial production facilities asengineering, procurement and con-struction (EPC) activities move fromcoastal regions to inland locations.

The new offices are located inChangsha, the capital city of theprovince of Hunan, Chongqing, andChengdu, the capital city of the prov-ince of Szechuan. These three inlandoffices will be managed and co-ordinated for the time being out ofits Shanghai office while a further of-fice has been established inShenzhen, which will be managedthrough the Hong Kong office.

The Chinese market, according toJanssen, still has a good import de-mand but exports are where thegrowth is. The Indian market, whereRickmers-Linie has committed fiveships, is steadily building and pro-vides a more balanced trade. Thecompany has retained some flexibil-ity on this service with two of its own17,000dwt ships built specifically forthis traffic, plus three chartered shipsincluding two ex-Beluga vessels.

Americas’ attractionThe U.S. joint venture with Maerskhas two ships fully registered andsailing under the U.S. flag. Janssennotes that although it is a “niche mar-ket, in an election year, the emphasisis on the economy and employment”.This will lead to increased exports,particularly for specialised heavy plantwhere the U.S. is able to compete inthe global market.

The two newbuildings employedfor this service loaded in China forEast Coast South America on a po-sitioning basis and the success of thismove prompted Rickmers-Linie totest this market with a further twoshipments using chartered vessels.This trial proved the potential of theChina EC South America routewhich the company may well de-velop using chartered vessels, asJanssen states “Compared to a fewyears ago, there is a lot of good qual-ity tonnage available now.”

New servicesThe German heavy lift shipping op-

erator BBC Chartering, which interms of the number of ships it de-ploys is the largest operator in theheavy lift market, has also identifiedSouth America as a growth market.

In response to demand for the ship-ping of capital goods in the mining andenergy sectors, last December itstarted the new monthly liner serv-ice ‘BBC Americana Line – MedService’ which connects loadingports in the Mediterranean with theEast Coast of Latin America. Thisservice represents the tenth regularintercontinental connection to SouthAmerica of BBC Chartering sincethe commencement of the liner ac-tivities to the region in 2005.

BBC Chartering has also intro-duced the new liner service ‘BBCEuro-Asia Express Line’ which pro-vides bi-weekly sailings to Asia anddeparts every three weeks to Europe.

The company will mainly deployits K-type 7,200dwt multipurpose ro-ro heavy lift vessels on the serviceequipped with two 150t cranes ca-pable of a 300t twinned lift and arerated at the highest ice class enablingthem for year round service on thedesignated route.�

The joint Danish/German operatorCombidock has now sold two ofits relatively new dock-type shipsfor use in the offshore industry

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17_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 16/07/2012 19:54:04

BMI May/June 201218

Cargo Handling

What can be some-times overlookedis that an FIBC is

not just a container but a cer-tificated lifting device capa-ble, according to its design, oflifting up to 1100 times itsown weight. As such it mustbe treated with care and alsosourced from a reputable sup-plier.

Safety firstThe Austrian producerMondi, for instance, stipu-lates a 5:1 safety factor forsingle trip FIBCs, 6:1 forreusable bags in normal useor for hazardous cargoes ona single trip basis which in-creases to 8:1 for multi-tripwith hazardous contents.

This standard must becarefully monitored. TheUK supplier, Bulkbag Con-tainers Ltd regularly tests itsproducts on a batch randomprocess to destruction bothin-house and at the NationalEngineering Laboratory.

These tests conform toBS EN 1898:2001 andEFIBCA standards. FIBCsare issued with individualtest certificates to the SafeWorking Load and SafetyFactor. EFIBCA (EuropeanFlexible Intermediate BulkContainer Association) is aEuropean trade associationof manufacturers and dis-tributors of FIBCs, whichadvises the technical andsafety standards within theindustry.

Double bottomEven when the FIBC will behandled on a pallet, thesestandards still apply as thebag is equipped with liftinghoops. However, bottomhandling can be advanta-geous for storing, particu-larly if the bag is rackedrather than stacked on top ofeach other as stability can bea problem with stacks overthree high.

Conventional wooden

FIBCs flex their musclesWith an estimated market in Europe alone of25M FIBCs/year and some 250 mtpa carriedin big bags, quality control is essential

pallets weighing 20kg- 25kgcan restrict bag weight de-pending on the FLT capac-ity while there is also thepotential for product contami-nation for some commodities,particularly for the food andpharmaceutical industries.

The Canadian companyDrader has accordingly de-veloped a dedicated pocketlift system, which it callsBagPal, which comprisestwo forklift channels, a padof hygienic material, and apolypropylene skin.

The pad keeps the filledFIBC off the ground and re-duces bag bottom contami-nation. The polypropyleneskin contains both pad andforklift channels and alsoenhances stacking as the bagtends to ‘nestle’ between thetwo rigid plastic fork casings.

It’s a gasAs long as the strict compli-

ance to the manufacturingand safety codes is upheld,FIBC suppliers can site orsource their manufacturingplants globally, althoughthere is a growing trend tofocus on regions where thereis an abundance of naturalgas supplies for the produc-tion of the basic wovenpolyethylene and polyprop-ylene, rather than cheaperlabour costs.

Manufacturers can thensell to the domestic marketto industries which also usegas as the manufacturingbase product, such as ammo-nium nitrates, for export.Accordingly the gas-richstates in the Gulf are keen topromote this development,while even high labour costcountries such as Norwayare also able to complete.

Schutz, for instance, hasrecently inaugurated a newplant adjacent to its existing

site in Kongsvinger, Nor-way, mainly to serve domes-tic companies such as Yara.However, it has recentlyopened a plant in Tianjin,which is intended to supplythe fast growing Chinesemarket.

Strong marketIndia is also a stronglygrowing market, mainlyserved by domestic suppli-ers. Storsack India has astrategic alliance and a busi-ness tie-up with TPI India,which was one of the pio-neers for FIBCs in India.

It has a fully equippedmanufacturing unit atMurbad, some 80km awayfrom the Mumbai port,manufacturing over 1 mil-lion bags annually. It alsohas a fully equipped testlaboratory which includes aUV testing machine and testrig.

Storsack also has a pres-ence in Pakistan, where thecompany admits that asFIBC manufacture is a la-bour intensive industry,cheap and skilled labour isavailable in the country as ispoly-propylene granule, thebasic raw material requiredto manufacture the FIBC.

Therefore in addition toChina and India the com-pany decided to invest inPakistan through the acqui-sition of two manufacturingunits both based on Aus-trian/German technologywhich are located in GadoonAmazai N.W.F.P and MirpurAzad Jammu and Kashmirrespectively.

The Gadoon Amazaiplant not only exports itsproducts but also suppliesthe bags locally to chemicaland cement industries, riceexporters and grain mer-chants and at present theGadoon unit is running on99% capacity. Beside thisGadoon Amazai Unit thereis an in-house liner produc-

FIBCs are a highly efficient method for unitised bulktransportation. Capable of carrying over 1000 times theirtare weight, they must also be capable of lifting between 4to 8 times their loaded weight to meet safety regulations

In recent years companiestransporting bulk products inboth powder and liquid for-mats have moved towardsshipping such products in in-termediary bulk containers(IBCs).

Recognising this,bpi.visqueen has developedan innovative range of dura-ble, cost-effective polytheneliners for such applications.

IBC liners perform an im-portant function in the trans-portation and storage of bulkproducts. Manufactured us-ing high strength, versatile,food grade polythene, thepuncture resistant liners pro-vide effective protection forpowders and liquids fromloading through to dis-charge.

Liners fall into two dis-tinct categories for applica-tions as “dry” and “liquid”products. Dry liners are usedfor single trip transportationin standard bulk containersfor free flowing powders orgranule. The liner serves thepurpose of containing andpreventing contamination tothe product whilst beingtransported in the bulk con-tainer.

Flexible IBC’s, which aremanufactured from wovenpolypropylene, come typi-cally in 500kg and 1000kgcapacities. In the majority ofcases they require polytheneliners which are in the mainshaped to assist with fillingand discharge.

Suitable for most freeflowing material in powder,granular or flake form,bpi.visqueen’s FIBC linerscan actually be tailored tocreate bespoke solutions ac-cording to customer needs.

Through the manipula-tion of factors such as prod-uct blend the manufacturercan create products that givespecific performance char-

Lining up choice

acteristics depending on thepackaged product or on theindividual nuances of agiven supply chain or pack-aging line.

In addition, bpi.visqueenalso produces a range ofshaped liners that have beendesigned specifically tocope with the growing shifttowards automation. Ventedto allow a reduction in airpressure and with a bottleneck to aid the filling, theseliners are fully equipped todeal with the demands oftoday’s high speed, high per-formance filling operation.

All bpi.visqueen IBC lin-ers are ink-jet coded fortraceability and the neckwidth of the liner can be var-ied to allow for differentdensities of product.

The business has alsobeen quick to offer FIBC us-ers greener solutions. In par-ticular, the manufacturer hasbecome an exponent of thelatest downgauging technol-ogy. This enables the crea-tion of FIBCs using thin-ner films and without com-promising on product per-formance.

Ultimately, this approachensures less packagingwaste by volume at the endof the FIBC’s life. Plus, inthe case of bpi.visqueen’sdowngauged films, this re-duced waste is also 100% re-cyclable.

As Jim Chamberlain,sales manager at the busi-ness notes: “As a marketleader in the production ofshaped and plain FIBC lin-ers, the company is commit-ted to pushing the bounda-ries to develop greener andever more effective productchoices.

“Our recent advance-ments in FIBC liners onlyserve to highlight this com-mitment.” �

In addition to being easier to handle than conventionalsacks, particularly the single loop variant, FIBCs providea convenient storage solution. For some food andpharmacological products, the base of the bag shouldnot contact the ground but be placed on a pallet orsomething like the Drader fork pocket system

tion facility which can pro-duce 80,000 liners/month.

Similar conceptA similar concept also ap-plies to Vietnam, whereStorsack were amoung thefirst foreign FIBC manufac-tures to recognise the poten-tial of the country when itopened there its wholly-

owned subsidiary StorsackVietnam eight years ago.

The factory specialises inthe production of non cleanroom standard, cube styleand Storstat CD FIBC, witha production capacity ofsome 800,000 FIBCs annu-ally. These are mainly deliv-ered to Vietnam, USA, Aus-tralia and Europe. �

Every issue, our experienced editorial team brings you news, features, comment and analysisfrom around the globe, updating you on the latest in heavy-duty handling & transport of bulksolids, such as coal, ore, grain, minerals, cement, fertiliser etc.

To ensure you get your personal copy plus ezine and online access just send us this form andwe will start your subscription with the very next issue. Our all-in rate for anywhere in theworld is just £135 €175 or US$265. Or why not take advantage of our discounted extendedsubscriptions? Please see www.bulkmaterialsinternational.com for details.

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18_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 24/07/2012 11:46:28

BMI May/June 2012 19

Commodity Focus

Fertiliser markets tight on firm demandand project delays

Following receipt of permitting fromRiga City Council, Riga CommercialPort (RTO) recently signed an agree-ment with Uralchem Freight, the for-warding arm of Russian fertiliser gi-ant Uralxhim, to build a new ferti-liser export terminal in the port.

RTO has a 49% stake in the newjoint venture, which was originallyagreed in 2009, and Uralchem Freightcontrols 51%. The investment is putat €50M and the lease agreement,which covers 12-ha, is of 45 yearsduration. Swedbank is providing€30M of construction financing.

The new facilities are currently atthe design stage, but the infrastruc-ture development could be com-pleted before the end of this year.Phase one of the terminal, with a ca-pacity for 2 mtpa, is slated for launchin 3Q/2013. It will cater for ship-ments of various fertilisers, includ-ing stabilised ammonium nitrate andcarbamide peroxide.

All installations will be designedand built to the latest IMO require-ments and safety standards, to pre-vent localised pollution and cross-contamination, having particular re-gard aso to the potentinal combusti-bility of some of the commoditiesbeing stored.

However, there are still plenty ofobjections to the project and it maybe further delayed. Opponents havecomplained that the project lacktransparency. Ammonium nitratesare highly combustible and explosiveand are widely used in bomb-mak-ing. The new facility is located closeto terminals handling fuel and LNG.

Equipment will include rail recep-tion facilities, with a capacity forsimultaneous unloading of four railcars, underground and surface convey-ors and shiploaders. The storage fa-cilities comprise eight dome stores -six with a capacity of 25,000t each andtwo with a capacity of 15,000t each.

According to a report in BalticNew Network, the maximum amountof ammoninum nitrate that can bestored in any port in the world todayis only 5000t, yet more than half thethroughput of the new terminal re-lates to ammonium nitrates and thisequates to a daily train load of 4000t.

A number of previous contractsfor storage domes in Baltic sea portshave been awarded to U.S.-basedDome Technology, Inc. These in-clude Kalija Parks in Ventspils andAlpha Maima in Riga. �

New Rigafertiliser terminal

Demand for fertiliser is steadily in-creasing in response to a positiveagricultural market, says the In-ternational Fertiliser Industry As-sociation (IFA) in its new reportMedium-Term Fertiliser Outlook2012-2016.

However, the report warns thatexpansion of supply is still delayedbecause of schedule slippages forabout half of projects.

On the demand side, tight marketconditions for maize and oilseeds pro-vide strong incentives for farmers toincrease productivity and optimisetheir return. The report says that worldfertiliser demand is up by 2.8% in2011/12, and by another 2.5% in 2012/13, to reach 181 mt of nutrients (ni-trogen, phosphate and potassium).

“In the next five years, reduced

inventories and strong crop prices areexpected to persist in the agriculturalcommodity markets because of theneed to supply the fast-rising food,feed, fibre and bioenergy markets,”said Patrick Heffer, director of theIFA’s agriculture service.This was an-ticipated to stimulate fertiliser de-mand, he said, but he warned that highcrop price volatility could result in sig-nificant year-on-year variations.

Average annual growth is seen asstronger for potash (+3.7% per year)than for phosphates (+2.3%) and ni-trogen (+1.5%).

Reaping the benefitsDemand is anticipated to rise firmlyin Eastern Europe and Central Asia,as well as in Africa. In volume terms,East Asia, South Asia and LatinAmerica together would account forthree-quarters of the increase inworld demand during the next fiveyears, the report shows.

On the supply side, world totalnutrient sales in the fertiliser and in-dustrial sectors in 2016 are forecastto grow at an average annual rate of1.8%, to 245 mt nutrients in 2016.

“The fertiliser sector will soonreap the benefit of massive invest-ments in new capacity,” saidMichel Prud’homme, director ofIFA’s production and internationaltrade service.

Nearly 250 new fertiliser plantsare projected to come on stream overthe next five years, corresponding to

a total investment in excess ofUS$90B. However, about half theseprojects have faced delays of 6 to 18months. Schedule slippages haveslowed down the projected growthof capacity and have led to more bal-anced market conditions in the shortterm, while lowering the levels of po-tential surpluses in the near term.

In the near term, trade prospectsappear strong for most products.Between 2011 and 2016, global tradewould expand by 15-20% for sea-borne ammonia, potash and proc-essed phosphates. Urea exports maygrow by an overall 15-30%, depend-ing on India’s import demand andcapacity developments. �

19_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 16/07/2012 20:03:03

BMI Dateline 200020

News

New £1.7M crane grabsattention at Port of HullCargo handling capacity at Associ-ated British Ports’ (ABP) Port of Hullhas received a boost following thedelivery of a new £1.7M LiebherrLHM 180 mobile harbour crane.

The new crane, which supple-ments four existing Liebherr mobileharbour cranes as well as a Liebherrmobile excavator crane in KingGeorge and Queen Elizabeth Docks

ABP Hull’s new crane loading its firstconsignment, rapeseed, to KATE C

in the port, will be used mainly forhandling dry bulk cargoes using a 12cubic metre grab. The crane has thecapacity to lift up to 64t of cargowhich gives an adaptability and flex-ibility to handle a wide range of othercommodities such as containers,packaged or palletised goods, andproject cargoes.

“The crane can be transferred be-

tween various port operations, andthis will enable ABP to offer an evenbetter service to our customers,” saidMike Sellers, ABP deputy port man-ager Hull & Goole.

“We now have six versatile ma-chines, in addition to our portal cranes,which can handle a whole range ofcargoes of up to 100 tonnes in weightthroughout the Port of Hull.”

The first job for the new cranewas to load 4,000t of rapeseed on tothe vessel KATE C, which was carriedout by ABP’s operations team onbehalf of Frontier Agriculture, whichoperates the Frontier Import Termi-nal in King George Dock.

Equatorial Resources andSundance Resources have signeda memorandum of understanding(MOU) regarding joint use of railand port infrastructure for ironore projects in Congo andCameroon.

Given the proximity ofSundance’s Mbalam project inCameroon, Nabela in Congo-Brazzaville and Equatorial’sBadondo scheme, also in Congo-Brazzaville, such co-operationseems sensible, particularlygiven the similarities in the re-quirements of the two Australianfirms.

A statement from EquatorialResources read: “Sundance isprogressing the development ofthe Mbalam and is proposing theconstruction of a dedicated rail-way track which will connectMbalam to a new bulk materi-als port at Lolabe [inCameroon].

“By signing the MOU Equa-torial and Sundance have agreedto use all reasonable endeavoursto co-operate on the developmentof an expansion of Sundance’sproposed railway and port whichwould enable Badondo to haveaccess to these facilities.”

However, the structure of theplanned co-operation has yet tobe determined. The two firmscould sign a haulage servicesagreement or Equatorial Re-sources could directly invest inthe planned transport infra-structure.

Mbalam is expected to yield35 mtpa for at least ten years,while Badondo has an explora-tion target of 1.3-2.2 bt.

Sundance chairman GeorgeJones said: “We strongly believethat regional co-operation byway of infrastructure sharing isa logical and pragmatic ap-proach to fast tracking develop-ment for the benefit of every-one involved, including thegovernments and people ofthese countries.”

Such joint ventures could be-come increasingly common intapping mineral reserves in re-mote parts of Africa.

Infrastructureco-operation inCentral Africa

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20_BMI_May_June_2012.indd 1 16/07/2012 20:08:36