Ship loader

01

Set the loading rate and vessel range

thyssenkrupp's sheet for two coal ship loaders at Qinhuangdao, China, describes long-travelling machines with luffing and slewing booms and a shuttle head so they can load ships on both sides of the jetty, with a rated capacity of 8,000 t/h and a maximum of 8,940 t/h, 2,400 mm shuttle belt, about 1,200 kW installed, a 21 m rail gauge, and design for vessels from 15,000 to 150,000 DWT; it notes that operating values are approximate and depend on the task and material. [1]

At the other end of the range, SAMSON's TS1250W mobile telescopic ship loader is rated for output up to 1,600 t/h, bulk densities up to 1.6 t/m³ and lumps up to 200 mm, receives material from feeders, quay or link conveyors, and is offered for ports, small river berths and temporary terminals; SAMSON's hold-coverage drawing gives a 30,000–40,000 DWT vessel (typ.). [2]

Bruks Siwertell sets the conveying principle against cargo and ship size: totally enclosed screw-type loaders for powdery and dusty materials such as cement, clinker, sulfur and minerals load bulk carriers up to Panamax size; enclosed aeroslide loaders for easily fluidised materials such as cement, dry fly ash and alumina load up to 80,000 dwt and must be installed on a downward slope; and belt loaders for lumpy, granular and sticky materials such as coal, ores, grain and fertilizers load up to 300,000 dwt. Its high-capacity belt loader is rated at 12,000 t/h of iron ore for carriers up to 300,000 dwt or 8,000 t/h of coal for 230,000 dwt carriers. [3]

Editorial calculation: at the rated 8,000 t/h a 75,000 t cargo takes 75,000 / 8,000 ≈ 9.4 hours of loading; a 30,000 t cargo at 1,600 t/h takes 30,000 / 1,600 ≈ 18.8 hours. Both exclude hatch changes, trimming and stoppages. At 12,000 t/h, a 300,000 t ore cargo would take 25 hours of loading on the same basis. [3] Cargo sizes are assumed examples; ask the supplier for the rate at your material density and the average rate it expects over a full vessel.

Give the supplier the materials, bulk densities, lump sizes and flow properties, required rated and peak loading rates, vessel sizes (smallest and largest DWT, beam, hatch geometry, air draft at all tides), berth layout and quay loads, how material arrives (conveyor, feeder, trucks), power supply, dust and spillage limits, automation, and the design code.

02

Check the outreach, height and boom movements

The Qinhuangdao loaders vary outreach from 17.0 m to 39.5 m with a rack-and-pinion telescoping gear in the luffing boom, controlled by a frequency converter, luff from −12° to 15° while loading, and use a loading spout with a slewable and tiltable trimming spoon that slews ±180° so holds can be filled evenly to the top; the design includes measures against dust and noise emission. [1]

The SAMSON TS1250W gives its dimensions retracted and extended: discharge outreach 28.9 m and 45.7 m, discharge height 14.4 m and 22.9 m, boom length 31.5 m and 50 m, a working luffing range of 9° to 25°, a 1.2 m belt, a 5.2 m hopper height, and radial or in-line travel on axles 12.8 m or 5.7 m wide. [2]

Editorial note: check the outreach and discharge height against the largest vessel's far hatch at high water and the smallest vessel's near hatch at low water, and ask how the spout and trimming device reach the corners of each hold.

Bruks Siwertell supplies stationary or rail-travelling loaders with telescoping and slewing configurations, a scissor-arm arrangement on shuttling and slewing screw loaders for access to all parts of the hold, telescopic chutes whose length is adjusted automatically to the material level in the hold, double-walled flexible spouts or cascade-type bellows against dust, and a cabin that slews with the boom or a remote control used from the hatch side. [3]

03

Mobile loaders, port-crane makers and crushing-plant ranges

Listings include mobile and telescopic ship loaders, ship loaders and unloaders offered by port-crane makers, and ship loaders within bulk handling or crushing-plant ranges. Ask each for rated and peak rate at your density, outreach and heights, boom movements, spout type and dust control.

04

Match the loader to bulk-carrier terminal safety rules

Estonia's Transport Administration explains how the IMO's Code of Practice for the Safe Loading and Unloading of Bulk Carriers (the BLU Code, adopted in 1997) became EU Directive 2001/96/EC, which sets suitability requirements and ship-terminal procedures for terminals that load or unload bulk carriers with their own equipment. The requirements do not apply to general cargo vessels or to grain loading. [4]

Among the terminal duties it lists, only bulk carriers that can safely berth alongside the loading installation may be accepted, and terminal loading equipment must be properly certified. Before loading, the master and the terminal representative agree and sign a loading plan under SOLAS Regulation VI/7.3 carrying the ship's IMO number, and jointly complete a ship/shore safety checklist following Appendix 4 of the BLU Code; the terminal keeps the operation documents for at least six months. [4]

Editorial note: for a coal, ore or cement terminal under these rules, ask the ship loader supplier for the equipment certificates the terminal will need, and for the loading rate, outreach and air-draft envelope in a form that can go into the terminal information book and each loading plan.

05

Boom conveyor, luffing gear, spout and dust sealing

The conveyor type in the first row is the choice Bruks Siwertell ties to cargo: screw or aeroslide for powders, belt for lumpy and sticky materials.

06

Where the published loader figures stop and the berth takes over

Rate, outreach, luffing and installed power have published examples above; travel speed, shore supply, climate, protection rating, steel grade and weight depend on the berth and have to come from the supplier.

07

Send the cargo, vessel and berth data together

Paste it into your enquiry below or into an email to a maker, then replace every bracket.

Cargo: [material; density; lump size]
Rate: [rated; peak]
Vessels: [DWT range; beam; air draft; hatches]
Berth: [layout; quay loads; tides]
Feed: [conveyor; feeder; trucks]
Type: [rail-mounted; radial; mobile]
Environment: [dust; noise; climate]

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