Released: October 21, 2016

Large and Heavy Tanks Discharged by CaytransBBC Self-Sustaining Vessel

Metairie, LA. 21 October 2016

CaytransBBC proudly announces the successful completion of two voyages with power generation equipment for the Roatan Electric Company (RECO) from Houston to Roatan.  DB Schenker and Alliance Power participated as transportation intermediaries.The voyages took place in July and August of 2016, after 9 months of voyage planning and job site preparation.

The first shipment loaded to MV BBC Baltic and primarily consisted of 12 LPG storage tanks each measuring more than 133 feet in length and each weighing about 80 metric tons. The length of these tanks stretched over the entirety of the vessel’s lower hold, tweendeck, and weather deck. They were loaded and discharged with the ship’s two cranes operating in tandem. In order to not overload the ship’s cranes their rigging had to be adjusted while the tanks were being lifted precisely into their stowed position. 

The trick of having sufficient crane capacity with sufficient crane outreach, while having a vessel able to arrive Roatan and safely discharge with 4.0 meters draft, was one which few other vessels in the world could have accomplished.  The attending CaytransBBC port captain, Mr. Joshua Jordan, commented, “at the planning stage It appeared to all that two of the tanks would not be within the tandem lift ranges. With our knowledge and experience we determined that the rigging could be adjusted.  We proved our theory was correct during loading at Houston and reconfirmed it discharging at Roatan, even while the vessel sat separated from the pier by 3 meter Yokohama fenders to avoid the shallowest water.”  All the rigging for the voyage was supplied by the vessel and all the cargo and crane handling on board was handled by the ship’s crew. 

While the BBC Baltic was just big enough with just enough crane capacity to safely discharge the tanks at Roatan, CaytransBBC had a much easier voyage with MV BBC Sweden.  This was due to the port having been sounded multiple times and eventually dredged in the period leading up to the voyage of MV BBC Baltic.  Additionally, fishing boats and a small tanker vessel were moved, the Yokohama Fenders were installed, and access to the storage area had been created by the temporary removal of a wall between the pier and storage and by the permanent construction of a short road between these areas.  With all this accomplished, the MV BBC Sweden was able to discharge about 1300 cubic meters of not so large cargo as if Roatan was a major port.  Even so her discharge was also handled by her crew, once again, with rigging supplied by the vessel.  

Mr. John-Paul Gehrkin, operations manager of Dan-Gulf Shipping, the managing agents for CaytransBBC, summarized the voyages by stating, “We are always willing to put in the extra effort to ensure that even the most complicated operations are successfully completed without a hitch.  Operating in a Caribbean trade with numerous small ports with scant services, we work creatively to make the exceptional routine.”

Your cargo, our mission. We get it there!

Dan-Gulf Shipping

Metairie, LA. www.dan-gulf.com