ISSUE 2 / 2017
ISSUE 2 / 2017
BLADE RUNNER Turbine Molds Navigate Great Lakes
VIP SHIPPER CLUB MEMBER:
SIEMENS WIND POWER ................................................................ page 94
CASE CASE STUDY STUDY
BY LARA SHINGLES
BLADE RUNNER Turbine Molds Navigate Great Lakes
A
rising number of renewable energy projects has meant that more and more forwarders, longshoremen, shippers, carriers and ports alike are having to work with and handle larger and more unique project cargo. Case in point: late last year, the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor handled six wind turbine blade mold sets – an essential component for the booming wind energy industry. Each set consisted of one upper and two lower parts, and was 60 meters long by 5.2 meters wide. Together, they weighed 195 tonnes. DHL Global Forwarding took the role of forwarder for the project, while Fednav, Canada’s ocean-going, dry bulk shipowning and chartering group was, tasked with moving the cargo from Aalborg, Denmark, to the discharge port, Burns Harbor in the U.S.
Two cranes worked in tandem to unload six wind turbine blade mold sets at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor. Credit: Burns Harbor
92 BREAKBULK MAGAZINE www.breakbulk.com
ISSUE 2 / 2017
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CASE STUDY
FEDNAV’S GROWING FOOTPRINT Fednav welcomed the Federal Bering to its fleet at the Port of Antwerp in November 2015. The ship was built as part of Fednav’s newbuilding program that will see 19 new handysize lakers, specifically designed for the Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes, delivered through 2018. However, the company’s activities are by no means restricted to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. With a combination of handysize, supramax and ultramax vessels, Fednav also owns and operates two of the most powerful bulk-carrying icebreakers as well as the largest ice-class bulk carrier fleet in the world. The environmental characteristics of these vessels include 25 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than similar vessels built 15 years ago, a decrease of more than 15 percent nitrogen oxide emissions, a B+ rating from shippingefficiency.com and a CLEAN notation from the DNV/GL classification society. Etienne De Vel, commercial manager of European operations at Fednav, said: “By continuing to expand our fleet and operations, our fleet will be one of the most modern, efficient and environmentally friendly trading between Europe and North America, especially in the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway System.” On the Federal Bering’s maiden voyage, the vessel transported mainly steel products but also some project cargoes from the Port of Antwerp to Chicago and Burns Harbor.
The cargo was carried on Fednav’s next-generation vessel, the Federal Bering. Built at the Oshima shipyard in Japan, the ship has six box-shaped holds with folding hydraulic hatch covers and four 35-tonne cranes to facilitate the handling of breakbulk cargo. According to Fednav’s Koen Ruts, who was involved with fixing the cargo on the company’s behalf, all handling processes to load, lash, secure and discharge were discussed and mutually agreed with the project’s forwarder, longshoremen and shipper. However, complications still arose when it came to loading the cargo, he said: “The biggest challenge was to have and position suitable tonnage for this cargo project, which had to be loaded on deck.” The vessel completed its main load in Antwerp on Oct. 1, 2016. Here, Ruts explained that the vessel was load-ready well before the cargo had arrived at the port, “so we agreed with the shippers/charterers to have the vessel waiting.”
DIRECT FROM DENMARK
The vessel then continued to the Port of Aalborg to pick up its deck cargo. Featuring a reinforced quay for project cargo, strong points, heavyduty machinery, large open spaces and a good location in relation to Denmark’s motorway and rail network, the Port of Aalborg was adequately equipped to handle such large dimensional cargoes.
Aalborg prides itself on strong cooperation and Credit: Burns Harbor logistics and the provision of “flexible solutions” customized to the needs of its customers. When it comes to project loading, the port can assist in all processes, whether handling bridge sections and platforms from nearby Bladt Industries or turbine blades from the Denmark hub of Siemens Wind Power. “The Eastern Port is the optimal place for the handling of project cargo, with reinforced quay multifreight terminal and strong points with a permissible pressure of up to 44 tons/square meter,” the port said. “Moreover, there is also an opportunity to use heavyweight machines, and the location of the motorway and rail network in relation to the Eastern Port makes it a perfect location for the heaviest production companies.” The Federal Bering left the Port of Aalborg on Oct. 16 and sailed directly to Burns Harbor, arriving just under three weeks later on Nov. 4. Ruts said that Fednav is “always happy to conclude such a special cargo project shipment,” and that it looks forward to future opportunities. A nearly 200-foot turbine blade mold was discharged.
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Because of the extreme length of the molds, the general cargo terminal for Burns Harbor, Federal Marine ISSUE 2 / 2017
Credit: Fednav
CASE STUDY
Terminals, or FMT, used two cranes in tandem to discharge the units when they arrived at the port. The handling of these molds helped Burns Harbor to record the highest cargo month at the port in five years. Rick Heimann, port director, said: “We had a significant increase in ocean shipments [in November] – up 50 percent from last November and over 80 percent from the previous month.” In addition to this cargo, Burns Harbor also handled a competitive sailing yacht for a boat show and two 10-ton freezers for an Indiana food processor in the same month. Overall, project cargo shipments increased nearly 25 percent at Burns Harbor in 2016. Rich Allen, Ports of Indiana communications manager, said that for FMT and local workers from the International Longshoremen’s Association and International Union of Operating Engineers, “no cargo is too big to handle.” Indeed, other project cargoes have included 20,000-gallon fermentation tanks; air emission scrubbers for power plants; several oversize structures for the recent US$4 billion upgrade at the Whiting Refinery in Indiana; and the world’s largest conventional crawler
crane which, when fully assembled, weighs 1.65 million pounds, stands 473 feet tall and has a Credit: Nick Szymarek lifting capacity of 3,000 tons. Allen said the port’s location at the midpoint of North America on the southern tip of Lake Michigan – just 18 miles from the third-largest U.S. city of Chicago – continues to appeal to companies that need to ship large dimensional cargoes to the Midwest by water, avoiding trucking halfway across the country. In addition to its location, Allen said the port offers global shipping connecThe Federal Bering sailed directly from Aalborg, Denmark, to Burns Harbor.
tions via the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Inland Waterways System, and boasts “unparalleled” freight transportation options. It handles ocean vessels, Great Lakes ships and river barges and has access to five interstate highways and eight rail carriers with connections to all Class I railroads. “Shippers appreciate port stevedore FMT and divisions of its parent company Fednav offering door-to-door logistics services for project cargoes going to the heartland of America,” he said. BB Lara Shingles is a UK-based freelance journalist specializing in maritime projects and services.
Burns Harbor’s midpoint U.S. location helps shippers to avoid lengthy truck journeys. Credit: Burns Harbor
96 BREAKBULK MAGAZINE www.breakbulk.com
ISSUE 2 / 2017