July 27 - EMS Chartering is currently shipping seven wind turbines from Germany to the UK on board the multipurpose vessels, Nortrader and Fehn Caledonia.
The ships, which are from the fleets of EMS-Fehn-Group subsidiaries NTO Shipping and Fehn Ship Management, are currently in the process of delivering the turbine components to the River Crouch in the southeast of the UK.
The entire project is being coordinated by UK based project forwarder WWL ALS. The seven Nordex wind turbines are being delivered to RES' Turncole wind farm in Essex, with the main components being delivered to the UK by EMS Chartering.
A specialised Liebherr LG1750 crane is being used to lift the blades, tower sections and nacelles from the ship's hold over the river bank - a distance of around 80 m. Heavy haulage trucks are then being employed to transport the components to their final site.
"Because the Crouch is a tidal river, we only have two hours before and after high tide for discharging operations. After that the vessel has to leave and anchor in midstream," explained EMS Chartering managing director Ingo Hesse.
"In addition we do not have a pier or the like. Therefore the vessel lies during discharging operations alongside a pontoon and is moored to two buoys. Vessels like Nortrader and Fehn Caledonia with their shallow drafts are the number one choice for operations like this," he added.
The full scope of WWL ALS' work involved the planning, negotiations with river authorities, survey of river bed at the unloading point, identifying and securing a suitable barge for discharge directly to the construction site, which reduced congestion and obstruction on the roads.
WWL ALS also chartered a specialist support vessel for the duration of the marine project to provide berthing assistance to the vessels and act as a water taxi for the transfer of ships agent, welders, stevedores and crane banksmen for cargo operations.
