New floating bargeby E-Crane

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TAILOR MADE SOLUTIONS

The Seaboard Corporation needed a ship-to-shore solution forthe discharging of Handy and Handymax vessels with ship-to-ship and midstream transloading capabilities of breakbulkcommmodities on the Congo river in Matadi, DemocraticRepublic of Congo.

As in many ports in Africa there are major port congestionproblems. This, combined with the lack of new and reliabledockside equipment, was a major bottleneck in MIDEMA’s grainsupply chain.

E-Crane promptly started working on the problem and cameup with the solution: The Mama Mobokoli (which means “motherthat takes care” in one of the local dialects) is a 400 tonnes perhour midstream break bulk transfer station equiped with anE-Crane of 36m outreach and net payload of 8 tonnes.

The new floating terminal will greatly improve the capacity,efficiency and flexibility of Seaboard’s MIDEMA grain terminal’sship unloading operations.

Conceptual design studies were carried out in closecooperation with the customer to determine the best floatingterminal concept with particular emphasis on the optimumplacement of the E-Crane.

A winch will be used to manoeuvre the barge, which isn’tself-propelled, between the ship and the shore. The barge willthen be used to transfer the grain from the ship into twohoppers from where it will be transported directly to theflourmills by conveyor belt.

The advantage over other floating crane concepts is the factthat the E-Crane’s counterweight moves not only up and downbut also back and forward resulting in a very small tippingmoment. This means less barge movement and the result is lessfriction between the floating terminal and the vessel, moreprecise and faster grab positioning as well as more comfort forthe operator and the crew working on board of the floatingtransfer station.

Another advantage of the whole set-up is that the companynow owns all the equipment used in its operation, and shouldthings change in the future, it will be able to relocate easily,without having to leave valuable infrastructure behind.

The Mama Mobokoli will greatly improve thecapacity, efficiency and flexibility of Seaboard’s

MIDEMA grain terminal’s ship unloading operations.

A schematic of what Seaboard’s MIDEMA grain terminal shipoperation will look like.

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The Mama Mobokoli, designed for Handymaxvessels, is fitted with a 1500B-Series E-Crane, witha lifting capacity of 13.5 tonnes and a grabcapacity of 10m2. The E-Crane also has betterfilling capacity because the hydraulics make itpossible to push down on the material.

The floating terminal was designed and builtentirely by E-Crane in Europe. A tugboat will towthe barge and reach the client in Matadi afterapproximately 45 days of towing.

The client’s biggest concern now, after specifics and figures, isthe proper training and education of crane drivers.

Fortunately the E-Crane team prides itself in making thecrane driver’s job as simple as possible. Unlike many other cranemanufacturers, who simply use technology for the sake ofkeeping up with trends, E-Crane believes that computers have tohelp make life better, not just make it look better while actuallybeing more complicated!E-Crane’s main goal, when it comes to the cab, is:� keep it simple� transparency for the cab driver — state of the art technology,

electronics, hydraulics and easy serviceability, BUT to the cabdriver it’s just: � two simple joysticks� comfort

It’s about productivity, the E-Crane Control System helps, takesaway a lot of the decision making and helps to do the best jobpossible.

THE E-CRANE FLOATING BULK HANDLING TERMINAL CONCEPT

10 years ago E-Crane delivered the first barge and ship mountedE-Cranes to offload barges and small ships. E-Crane has adaptedthis great concept for the offloading of ships up to Panamax-class and has more than 15 units successfully operating world-

wide. These barge or shipmounted E-Cranes have beendeveloped in closecooperation with the clients.The concept of a floating bulkhandling terminal is well suitedfor both port operations(ship-to-shore) as well asmidstream transfer (barge-to-ship and ship-to-barge).

The E-Crane organizationis always open minded when itcomes to solving its clientsspecial needs andrequirements. This famous‘can-do’ attitude has resultedin ‘cutting edge’ solutions thathave successfully served E-Crane’s customers world-wide. The development of theE-Crane Floating Bulk Terminal

is another logical step inthe evolution of thisunique material handlingconcept.

Floating transloadingterminals address a host ofmaterial handling needsthat are present in today’srapidly changingenvironment. This conceptoffers the followingbenefits: � the complete terminalcan be built and tested andthen floated to its finaldestination � terminal can be located

at the closest possible location to the mine at thepreferred transfer point

� near the end-user � and all this with limited local regulatory requirements � the complete terminal can be relocated quickly and cost

effectively if required � the minimum investment combined with a short delivery time

provides for an excellent return of investment � the option to have a floating buffer storage to smooth out any

peaks and valleys between inbound and outbound materialdeliveries

“E” FOR EQUILIBRIUM

The “E” in E-Crane stands for Equilibrium. The E-Crane design isbased on an ingenious parallelogram style boom that provides adirect mechanical connection between the counterweight andthe load. This unique system ensures near perfect balancethroughout its full working range. Compared to conventionalcranes that require as much as 80% of their availible energy justto move the boom, stick and grab, the E-Crane principle resultsin significantly lower maintenance and operational costs.

These advantages combined with the state-of-the-art, proven E-Crane technology result in unmatched productivity and anextremely versatile; fully integrated solution for today's bulkhandling industries.

The Mama Mobokoli was inauguratedin the Port of Zeebrugge on 22nd

of February 2008.

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