Ship Loading Dock Is Key To Worldwide Deliveries

Probably one of the more critical components of the entire Orca Quarry operation is its state-of-the-art ship loading dock that juts out more than 600 m into the Broughton Strait, about 4 kms west of Port McNeill.

This fully automated structure, capable of handling ships up to 227 m long and 32 m wide, stands more than seven storeys tall, weighs approximately 340 tonnes, and can load ships at a rate of 5000 tonnes/hr even in winds up 40 km/hr.

In addition to its impressive size and performance capabilities, the structure also houses a modern control centre overlooking the ship that uses touchscreen technology to control all of the ship-loading operations from the flow gates under the product stockpiles back on shore at the quarry to the high-speed conveyors that feed the ship loader itself.

However, not all facets of the ship loading operation are controlled from the control tower. The one that is not, yet still done under the watchful eye of the control centre, is the operation of the tug boats that are so important to the entire procedure.

As mentioned earlier, the dock is subject to high winds and parking one of those monster cargo ships, especially when arriving empty and more subject to the winds, calls for assistance and to ensure that help is always at the ready, Orca built its own tug boat.

That’s right! Instead of having to rely on other commercial tugs to come into the area from Campbell River or Vancouver when ships come in, Orca management decided to build its own tug to reduce its ship berthing costs, particularly as the number of shipments increases in coming years.

At a cost of $3 million, the tug named “Numas Warrior” was launched on October 1, 2008, and began commercial operations at the quarry by berthing the CSL Acadian (seen here) on December 5, 2008, and the Sophie Oldendorff on December 7, 2008.