Danser upgrade Rivership with LankoForce Coupling Lines
Maritime ropes producer and supplier, Lankhorst Ropes has supplied container transport company Danser Group with LankoForce ropes, covered by a protective Dyneema jacket, to connect the push-pull barges, Eiger and Nordwand.
The riverships currently use 32mm steel wire ropes with a total weight of over 160kg; after renovation the barges will switch to 34mm LankoForce ropes, reducing the total weight of the ropes used to 70kg, making handling easier during rope operations. The rope features a minimum breaking force of 863kN and a Thousand Cycle Load Level (TCLL) of 100 percent, giving the rope a longer service life. The TCLL value expresses a ropes resistance to tension-tension fatigue and allows maritime operators to plan when to retire ropes, ensuring the safety of their crew and vessels.
Lankhorst also visited the barges to advise Danser on how the current configuration of winches, bollards and edges could be modified to ensure the rope maintains a high level of performance throughout its service life. “Working with the owner, the vessel’s bollards and fairleads were checked and, where necessary, made smooth and free of burrs; optimising the conditions for synthetic rope use. Even with LankoForce’s highly abrasion resistant Dyneema jacket, sharp edges and rough equipment can potentially lead to cuts and fleecing, reducing the rope’s strength and service life.” said Martin Baaij, quality assurance manager and technical advisor, Lankhorst Ropes.
Sustainability
To meet the increasing demand for sustainable transport Danser Group is replacing Eiger’s current diesel engine with a LNG engine, the first ever LNG refit of an existing barge. Using LNG will reduce the Eiger-Nordwand’s CO2 emissions by 40 percent and both NOx and particle emissions by 90 percent.
Lankhorst Ropes too is committed to sustainability in its products and operations, conserving energy and natural resources wherever possible.
Recently the company invested over EUR 1 million in solar power at the Lankhorst Euronete production plant and state-of-the-art research & development facility in Maia, Portugal. The 2,500 photovoltaic panels, covering 4,000m2, produce 600kW power, equivalent to 4 percent of the site’s energy consumption.