September 28 - Heavy lift shipping line Dockwise has been selected as the contractor of choice for the transport of 15 onshore modules for the Koniambo nickel project in New Caledonia, Melanesia in the southwest Pacific.
The project includes the construction of a metallurgical facility in the northern part of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Major project facilities include the mine, the process plant, a power station, water supply facilities, a port, ore and coal storage stockpiles, slag and ash stockpiles and overland ore conveyors.
The modules for the process plant have been constructed at the COOEC yard in Qingdao, China. After their completion, the single modules will be transported by Dockwise to the new plant site near Vavouto, New Caledonia, via multiple consecutive voyages. After the 15 modules are transported inland to the Koniambo Nickel site, they will be joined into one processing plant.
The Koniambo plant will be one of the largest nickel producers in the world and remains on track for first ore to be processed in mid-2012, ramping up to annual capacity of 60,000 tonnes of nickel in ferronickel within the following two years. In addition, future expansion could take advantage of the large resource base, which has an estimated life of more than 50 years.
To ensure the safe execution of this project, Dockwise's scope of work includes the detailed engineering of grillages and sea fastenings to ensure safe transport of the modules across the swells of the Pacific Ocean.
The Koniambo voyages began in August 2010 and are expected to be completed in November 2010. The Dockwise T-Class ships Transporter and Trustee are providing the transportation needed for this project.
