In a scenario affected by the present economic downturn and despite the still growing electricity demand in the developing countries, the trend towards the utilisation of larger vessels and the increasing environment issues, means suppliers and end-users have to focus on seeking improvements in all sections of the supply chain.
Off-shore trans-shipment solutions can provide an efficient and sustainable alternative when project restrictions (either environmental or physical such as shallow water, lack of suitable land, etc.) represent a hard nut to crack to justify investments in a shore-based facility. This is why the use of floating terminals has generated new interest as end users discover the potential opportunities this technology can offer.
Each supply chain is different
The economic and technical viability of a Floating Terminal project is also subject to a suitable and comprehensive assessment of the inherent risks associated to the land, river or coastal transport and offshore coal trans-shipment and the way the potential risks would be addressed and overcome in order to not compromise the annual export throughput and costs, hence the competitiveness of end users. The operating conditions of such floating facilities are more demanding, i.e. exposure to high winds and waves in open water conditions, thus the relative cargo handling facilities are more vulnerable and require higher standards since they are subject to higher acceleration forces as compared with equipment operating on-shore or in sheltered water conditions.
In order to design the most efficient solutions, the sources of delays and bottlenecks have to be identified, analysed and simulated dynamically in accordance with the envisaged project goals to answer the question, “What If…?” To this end Logmarin has customized “Log.Des”, a software (developed on Witness Computing Platform) which enables the end user to trial alternative scenarios in a digital (free risk) environment to make sure that the selected supply chain will work as planned in the real world, meeting the project target and expectations.
Log.Des provides a complete view of the logistic system. It allows studying and analysing the interaction between every single link of the supply chain, in order to evaluate the impact of potential changes before their occurrences, to assess performance in different operating conditions and to check analytical results.
Present market
Nowadays, Floating Terminal facility technology has grown up and there is wealth of knowledge arising from many examples of floating terminals (oil, gas, iron ore, coal, etc.) in operation all over the world, and the trend toward the utilization of this alternative is still growing. Indonesia is the “home” for floating terminals, at the last count about 60 offshore loading facilities are boosting the coal export. These floating facilities can be broadly classified into three “families”: floating cranes (equipped with single or twin cranes), floating transfer units (twin cranes working in combination with hoppers, conveyor system and shiploader); and floating terminals (larger floating terminal with buffer storage availability, four cranes and two shiploaders). Logmarin have been involved in most of the major dry-bulk trans-shipment operations, devising and designing different solutions from the simple floating crane to the world largest floating HUB which operates in different environmental conditions. Nowadays, 18 trans-shipment solutions of different sizes and characteristics are boosting the export/import of coal, iron ore and wood chips in India, Indonesia and Philippines.
Logmarin is currently supervising the construction of four new facilities in Batam (Indonesia), Nantong (China) and Subic (Philippines) for wood chips and coal trans-shipments in Indonesia. Two more facilities are at design stage, one for mid-stream container trans-shipment and a catamaran type facility for a coal project in Queensland at environmental approval.
Outlook
Terminals have a big impact on total cost of products delivered to end users as they influence mine, railroad and ocean shipping costs. Off-shore terminals are now taken into more serious consideration as viable alternatives to shore based facilities providing the same advantages at a lower cost, with a shorter “gestation period” and having negligible environmental impact as compared to a shore based facility. The environmental impact assessment and the obtaining of related permits are getting more and more complicated, expensive and restricted because almost in every part of the world there is a strong environmental lobby amongst local communities against shore facilities and political pressure is brought to bear in many cases. The Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and the UNESCO are in favour of Floating Terminal solutions as a more environmentally sustainable alternative to the mega port projects in Australia. In addition to Australia, suppliers and end users in Vietnam, India, New Zealand, USA, Canada and Africa are looking at this solution for their commodity supply chains.
A viable alternative for containers?
Off-shore container handling is more sensitive to weather conditions as compared to oil or dry bulk operation hence efficient container handling requires a more “stable” platform compared to the bulk operations due to the necessary accuracy of positioning the spreader above the containers and the container positioning itself. Therefore, this kind of operation has to be carried out in relative sheltered area with maximum wave height up to one meter and only up to moderate winds. Ports with restrictions on draught, lock dimension, beam or LOA which prevent them from receiving the modern fleet of large container vessels can benefit from floating terminals.
The floating crane could be berthed on the sea side of the container vessel moored alongside the shore terminal to enhance terminal productivity thus reducing terminal congestion, or to trans-ship containers in mid-stream operation with the floating terminal berthed in-between the mother vessel and the feeder which distribute the containers to through inland waterways. Therefore, in Logmarin’s opinion, floating container handlings can be developed in deep-sea sheltered harbours with inland waterway transport connections such as Hong Kong, Haldia, Shanghai, Costanza and Europe’s northern range terminals. Logmarin has carried out the preliminary design of Bulktainer, a self-propelled floating crane to handle containers (including refrigerated containers) as primary cargo and to suit the requirement of the end user for their mid-stream operation. The characteristic of the storage area and deck strength makes Bulktainer fit for carrying suitable steel products (coils, billets etc.) and suitable dry bulk material as well. Containers can be stacked three high, and, thanks to the 162 TEU carrying capacity the utilisation rate of Bulktainer can be maximised by using the spare idle time to transport the goods. The need for feeder barges or coastal vessels can be avoided or minimised by using the Bulktainer for both trans-shipment operation and local transport, thus resulting in additional benefits. A “prototype” project in Australia has been conceived to load iron ore in open water by using container tippling system at 9,000 tonnes per day. Purpose-built open top containers of 20 ft size will be loaded on barges to feed a floating crane equipped with a tipping spreader. The efficiency of this operation is to be verified in the real world as container handling (position and locking of the spreader to the container, lifting, slewing, topping the laden container to reach the hold, empting and repositioning the container on the barge) will be subject to the sea condition and relative behaviours of the floating crane and the feeder barges. Moreover, the freight benefit arising to charter large vessel for the commodity transport may be affected by the poor loading rate achievable and the dow
ntime due to waves.
Value added advice, device and design
As a quote
To compete and succeed in today’s economy, end users must understand the economic trade-offs of their decisions and act accordingly.
In the current competitive market it is not enough to work harder, it is necessary to work smarter with foresight. Any saving that can be made on the commodity supply chain cost reflects on the competitiveness of the supplier and, consequently, on the final product price immediately. As a rule of thumb, avoid the theory of prototype technology where it would be difficult to properly assess the relevant risks (and cost), but make use of the best available technology duly assembled in accordance with the actual experience gained on the field in order to develop an efficient, environmentally sustainable and reliable supply chain and mitigate the risks associated to the operation. A solid knowledge of the market and of the handled material together with technical and operative know-how is fundamental to produce a solution delivering value to the Client.
In conclusion, Logmarin identifies three key success factors:
The right technology, dynamic simulation software to identify the optimal supply chain solution
The operational experience acquired in the field and the feedback received from on-going operations
The team-working capability and experience synergies with clients
As such, Logmarin’s team concentrates all efforts to compete against the bottlenecks of its Clients’ commodity supply chain providing customised solutions to bridge the logistic gap between suppliers and end users.
Advising, devising, designing, computer simulations, 3D animations, supervising, knowledge transfer, training, assistance during commissioning, performance monitoring – these are the value added services Logmarin provides to its valuable Client.