Original news was published 01 October, 2017

Euroports has just completed a major stevedoring job at its Terminal 1207 on the Left Bank in Antwerp

The job involving loading to capacity MV SALTA, operated by GMB Maritime Liner Services GmbH, in time for the scheduled departure date.

The modern, geared open hatch bulk carrier is the deepest draft ship ever loaded by Euroports at Terminal 1207, said Joeri Tielemans, the company's Commercial Director for Belgium and France. "That’s thanks to the new 18m deep lock here in Antwerp [Deurganckdok lock], which gives our customers so much more flexibility," he said.

The loading operation, using Euroports' mobile harbour cranes, passed off without any problems. When SALTA weighed anchor, bound for various ports in the Middle East and the Far East, it was at its maximum draft of 13.9m. That meant it was carrying 53,000 tonnes of cargo, with a total volume of 64,000 m3.

The cargo included 30,000 tons of steel slabs, 8,000 tonnes of steel coils, 20,000 m3 of cast-iron pipes, 6,000 tonnes of pulp in bales and reels and a few smaller shipments of steel.

Michael Koch, Managing Director at GMB, said: "This was a big job, with a diverse cargo, but we knew we were in good hands with Euroports: over the years, they've built up a solid track record, safely and efficiently loading an enormous variety of goods bound for destinations across the globe."

Terminal 1027 has a one-time storage capacity of 1M tonnes. Euroports handles a large range of cargo types, including non-ferrous metals, wind turbines and fruit as well as the cargo types loaded into SALTA.

*NEWS SOURCE