Four years ago a trans-shipment jetty was built on the Mozambique coast to serve the Moma Sands mine, enabling the transfer of titanium ore and other heavy mineral ores to large vessels moored offshore.

The initial fender installation was not up to capacity for normal operations. QuayQuip are replacing the four existing single-cone systems with tougher double-cone systems that absorb quadruple the energy, and adding four more on the opposite side to create a double-sided berth. New Donut fenders (also known as ‘monopile fenders’) guide motorised, self-loading/unloading barges safely around the end of the jetty. Read more…

QuayQuip has recently upgraded the Holmsgarth Ferry Terminal, Lerwick, on the Isle of Noss in the Shetland Islands, following winter storm damage and the introduction of the RoRo freight vessel MV Hildasay earlier this year. Holmsgarth serves ferry routes to Aberdeen and Kirkwall, and to Hanstholom in Denmark.

The design process began with a detailed calculation of the optimal fender performance for a midship impact at any given radial angle. The rebuilt central structure incorporates the remaining capacity of the previous dolphin into a series of new piles and a concrete cap. Read more…

QuayQuip has designed a novel update for an oil berth structure at Otago, New Zealand. Built in the early 20th century, the concrete quay face is too narrow to accept a large, conventionally mounted cone system.

One proposal was to remove sections of the quay, inserting new concrete blocks with a far larger mounting area. The necessary civil work would be expensive and prolong downtime.

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QuayQuip supplied complete systems for a recent project at an LNG supply facility, from steel and fender units to the smallest fixings.

Full traceability for several thousand parts is never trival. Every fender supplied had its own ITP (Inspection and Test Plan) among other documentation. A team of twenty QuayQuip inspectors and engineers worked at the factory to monitor the process in fine detail.

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QuayQuip has completed work on a renewal of BP’s Rotterdam oil terminal, where fenders had to be replaced on four jetties. The systems use QCN Cone Fenders (QCN1000, QCN1150, QCN1400, QCN1600 and QCN1800) attached to panels up to 6m high. Some panels are fitted with integral access ladders in the front face, reached via walk-on platforms attached to the the top of the panel.

In July an article looked at QuayQuip’s latest Pivot Fender project. As its fender systems enter service we will examine the project in more detail and share images of the installation process.

The brief

The $1.75 million order, built and installed in China, is designed to serve iron ore barges of 16,000dwt. Just under 28 million tonnes per year of processed ore will pass through the facility.

The berth posed formidable challenges: the approach height range exceeds 13m, and the structure will be subject to upward forces from wave action combined with resonance and overturning moments.

The design

QuayQuip decided to move beyond old-school design approaches. Conventional systems would have been unstable, maintenance-prone. They would also need bulky supporting structures. The design team instead combined an innovative fender panel design with hinge technology, already proved durable by the dredging industry. Designers used the latest CAD software and FEM techniques to model the lightest possible fender systems and supporting structure, all to a finer precision than would have been possible even a few years ago.

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