CAPACITY BOOST FOR EUROPEAN STONE TRADE

Launched at Chengxi Shipyard during January, the 190m Fjordnes is set to follow sistership Starnes into service under charter to construction materials supplier Mibau-Stema.

The newbuild project, initially for one vessel plus one option, provided the basis for the partnership forged in June 2018 between Germany’s Hartmann family and the Montreal-based CSL Group (Canada Steamship Lines). Hartmann owns a fleet of so-called ‘beltships’ used by Mibau-Stema.

The handling system in the Starnes-class bulkers from Chengxi offers an unloading rate of 5,500t per hour, indicative of the competitive necessity for very high throughputs and fast turnarounds in the stone traffic.

In the continuous discharge process, cargo is gravity fed through gates in the bottom of the seven hoppered holds on to a centreline conveyor running to an elevator belt for transfer to a 90.5m rotatable boom, one of the longest and largest ever fitted to a self-unloader. Pivoted at the forward end of the weather deck, the boom affords a maximum outreach of 75.5m from the ship’s side and ensures not only cargo working self-sufficiency, but precision and flexibility as to point of delivery ashore.

The system can handle lump sizes up to 300mm and free-flow materials with bulk densities in the 1.2-3.5t/m3 range.

Mibau-Stema is a leading producer and major exporter of aggregate for Europe’s construction industry, stone being sourced from four quarries in southern Norway, at Jelsa, Tau, Dirdal and Leirvik. The beltships engaged by the group also distribute sand and gravel from depots and pits in the network of HeidelbergCement, 60% owner of the Mibau Group.

The new 40,000-tonners are each powered by an MAN six-cylinder, two-stroke engine, turning a 6.4m-diameter controllable pitch propeller and providing for a service speed of 14.5 knots. The specified contract rating for the 6G50ME-C9.6 diesel is 7,250kW at 93.6rpm. An exhaust scrubber ensures compliance with sulphur emission limits while burning intermediate fuel oil (IFO).

Wartsila tunnel thrusters of 2,000kW and 1,500kW are fitted in the bow and stern, respectively, and each ship’s substantial electrical power requirement is met by three gensets driven by 1,850kW Daihatsu diesels of the 6DK-28E type.

As with the Mibau-Stema deployed fleet as a whole, technical husbandry of the vessels has been assigned to HJH Shipmanagement, headquartered at Cadenberge, Cuxhaven, and founded by Hans-Juergen Hartmann.

Starnes, first of the new class, was handed over in China last August. Located on the lower Yangtse at Jiangyin City, the Chengxi yard also has a 26,000dwt, diesel-electric self-unloader in hand for CSL.

TECHNICAL PARTICULARS – Starnes