Cavotec to deliver additional MoorMasters to Port Hedland, Australia

31 Oct 2011 - AtoN and Mooring/Berthing, Port Planning

• Cavotec receives order from the Fortescue Metals Group for 24 Moormasters at Port Hedland

• Automated mooring units to be used at the mining company's AP4 berth

Mining group, Fortescue Metals Group has ordered 24 of Cavotec’s MoorMaster MM200D automated mooring units for the Anderson Point 4 (AP4) berth, the company’s fourth berth at Port Hedland.

The units will moor vessels ranging in size from 174,000 DWT (Dead Weight Tonnes) to 206,000 DWT and are designed to withstand the rugged conditions at the berth where winds gust up to 30m/s (meters per second).

“This project is among the largest orders to date for MoorMaster™ and illustrates how the ports industry increasingly considers the technology as the most effective way to optimise mooring operations,” said Ottonel Popesco, Cavotec CEO.

Due to tidal variations, vessels calling at Anderson Point are only able to sail at specific times. It is hoped that the MoorMaster units will keep mooring times to a minimum, as if ships are delayed they risk waiting up to eight hours before being able to sail.

“This technology is changing the industry in ways we never thought possible. It’s safer and quicker than conventional mooring, and generates substantial infrastructure savings,” said Tony Swiericzuk, General Manager – Port, for Fortescue Metals Group at Port Hedland.

This will be the second berth at Port Hedland to use MoorMaster. Fourteen MoorMaster MM200B units are already in operation at Port Hedland’s Utah Point iron ore handling berth. The technology is also being employed at other bulk handling applications in Western Australia.

The technology was also a component in the Port Hedland Port Authority (PHPA) and PInC Group’s successful entry for the 2011 Western Australia (WA) Engineering Excellence Awards. The team’s Utah Point Multi-User Bulk Export Facility project won the Resource Development Category.

 

Staff Writer: Linton Nightingale