In further success for Cavotec MSL’s automated mooring system, MoorMaster™, the global[ds_preview] engineering group is to install eight vacuum-mooring units for Hammersley Iron Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto, at the Dampier Fuel Wharf, located on the eastern end of the Parker Point ore wharf, in the in Port of Dampier, Western Australia.
»The Dampier Fuel Wharf project presents a challenging array of demands that the Cavotec team, in close coordination with the customer, are tackling. This flourishing joint effort marks a watershed in the continuing development of the MoorMaster™ technology,« says Cavotec MSL CEO, Ottonel Popesco.
MoorMaster™ is a vacuum-based automated mooring technology that moors vessels in seconds, eliminating the need for conventional mooring lines. The system counteracts vessel surge in port caused by changes in wave dynamics. The primary advantage MoorMaster™ offers over traditional mooring techniques is enhanced safety for shore-side personnel and ship crews.
Cavotec is to manufacture and install eight MoorMaster™ MM200D units at Hammersley Iron’s Dampier Fuel Wharf at the Parker Point facility, in the Port of Dampier. The units will be rail-mounted and integrated into the face of the berth. Each unit will have a capacity of 20 t, and will be able to complete vessel mooring in less than 30 seconds and disengage in less than 10 seconds.
»The onus is now on us to demonstrate the substantial safety and operational benefits of this version of MoorMaster™ at the Dampier Fuel Wharf,« says Mike Howie, Cavotec MoorMaster™ Technology Manager. Located some 1,600 km north of Perth, Dampier Port consists of the Parker Point facility and the East Intercourse Island facility.
Different versions of the Moor-Master™ system are currently operated by Searoad Shipping Australia, for their Ro-Ro ferry service between Melbourne and Tasmania; by APM Terminals’ container facility at the Port of Salalah in Oman, and on three high frequency ferry routes in Denmark, operated by Nordic Ferry Services A/S.
Canada’s St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) operates four MoorMaster™ units where they operate with changes in water level of up to 14 m. The Dampier fuelling wharf project will be Cavotec’s second major MoorMaster™ installation in Western Australia. www.cavotec.com.
