Maiden Voyage Jumbo Jubilee Completed
Jumbo Shipping‘s Jumbo Jubilee has completed its maiden voyage following successful loading, transporting and installing two 1250 t shiploaders for FL Smidth under challenging circumstances. Afterwards, the client commented: “It was fascinating to see such professionals at work.”
The Jumbo Jubilee started her first voyage from her home port Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She set sail for Vitória, Brazil, where two shiploaders were waiting, each with a processing capacity of 16,000 t iron ore per hour. With ample clearance between crane jib and cargo and enough lifting height to clear the conveyor belt at the centre of the pier, the loading operation was relatively easy. It was at Tubarão, where offloading and installation were due, that the real work started.
The port of Tubarão is half open to the sea and is continuously subjected to swell. As conditions vary between 0.20 m and 1.10 m swell, ship and cargo can easily become the victim of roll or swing, a real challenge when handling a 1250t piece of equipment. Jumbo’s Engineering Dept. countered this challenge by analyzing and checking swell statistics of the last ten years and using detailed weather forecasts and computer analysis to predict the vessels’ behaviour.
Thus, a window of opportunity was identified consisting of manageable wave heights and periods. When a window was chosen, the vessel was ballasted to an optimum level of stability, resulting in minimum pitch and roll in the given conditions. To leave nothing to coincidence a Motion Reference Unit (MRU) was used to register actual ship movements. With these preparations, the Jumbo Jubilee and her crew were ready. The shiploader was lifted on board, brought to Tubarão and installed safely on its rails, under control and according to plan.