by Brian H » July 17, 2014, 8:13 am
The decision about how much cement to load at Clarkson depends on a couple of things. Firstly, does Holcim want to ship full loads to Duluth, or retain some of this inventory at Clarkson for sales to the local market. When demand is high, choices have to be made to manage inventory and serve as many customers as possible. Second, the dock at Clarkson is used for both in-bound and out-bound cargoes, using a reversible belt between the dock and the plant. If the cement boat has loaded say 15,000 tonnes and the stone boat arrives, the cement boat will be sent on its way to Duluth and the stone boat will start to unload. The stone boat has priority due to higher demurrage/hour costs and it typically takes 8 hours to unload the stone boat.
The Duluth crew does prefer that the cement be loaded in as few holds as possible. With 18,000 tonne loads, which is the typical maximum load, they will usually use 5 holds. The Montrealais and Quebecois were apparently strong enough that 4 holds could sometimes be used if the load was less than 18,000 tonnes.
Also need to remember that the water depth on the loading side of the dock decreases towards shore, hence loading the stern hatches can lead to draft issues at the bow with full loads.
The cement loading dock is not well protected from westerly winds, and if loading is interrupted because the ship has to pull away from the dock in higher winds, they may decide to proceed to Duluth and not come back in for more product.
The decision about how much cement to load at Clarkson depends on a couple of things. Firstly, does Holcim want to ship full loads to Duluth, or retain some of this inventory at Clarkson for sales to the local market. When demand is high, choices have to be made to manage inventory and serve as many customers as possible. Second, the dock at Clarkson is used for both in-bound and out-bound cargoes, using a reversible belt between the dock and the plant. If the cement boat has loaded say 15,000 tonnes and the stone boat arrives, the cement boat will be sent on its way to Duluth and the stone boat will start to unload. The stone boat has priority due to higher demurrage/hour costs and it typically takes 8 hours to unload the stone boat.
The Duluth crew does prefer that the cement be loaded in as few holds as possible. With 18,000 tonne loads, which is the typical maximum load, they will usually use 5 holds. The Montrealais and Quebecois were apparently strong enough that 4 holds could sometimes be used if the load was less than 18,000 tonnes.
Also need to remember that the water depth on the loading side of the dock decreases towards shore, hence loading the stern hatches can lead to draft issues at the bow with full loads.
The cement loading dock is not well protected from westerly winds, and if loading is interrupted because the ship has to pull away from the dock in higher winds, they may decide to proceed to Duluth and not come back in for more product.