August 10 - A replacement stacker reclaimer has arrived at the Port of Mackay on board BigLift Shipping's Happy Dover, for onward transportation to BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance's (BMA) Hay Point Coal Terminal in Queensland, Australia.
The stacker reclaimer - used to move coal from incoming trains to terminal stockpiles and then onto export ships - will be unloaded at the port over the next two weeks for transport to BMA's facilities 40 km south of Mackay.
North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation (NQBP) ceo Steve Lewis said: "From Mackay, the equipment will be barged down to NQBP's Half Tide Tug Harbour from where it will be transported in pieces through the public car park and then along NQBP's specifically designed haul road and then on to BMA's Hay Point Coal Terminal."
The replacement stacker reclaimer will be barged in eight separate movements due to the size of the pieces of machinery involved. With the heaviest component weighing 267 tonnes and the longest measuring 65 m, the pieces will be transferred straight from ship to barge by crane, for onward delivery to Hay Point.
Smaller pieces such as buckets and structural elements will be either stored at Mackay on laydown spaces or trucked directly to the coal terminal.
In total, the stacker reclaimer weighs 1,150 tonnes and measures 65 m long when the boom is fully extended.
This is the first of two stacker reclaimers that are to be delivered to BMA's Hay Point operations over the coming months.
"NQBP considers breakbulk cargo to be an expanding trade opportunity for the Port of Mackay," added Lewis. "A AUD17 million (USD13.4 million) programme of works at the port in the next year is budgeted as part of NQBP's strategy to further unlock the port's capability to attract new breakbulk trade and continue to increase vessel numbers."
