Cargo Operations: Corpus Christi, Jacksonville, Palm Beach

Corpus Christi: 500 Ton Ship-Loader Delivered to voestalpine Texas HBI Plant

A 500 ton ship-loader built by Bedeschi arrived November 15 at the voestalpine Texas dock on the La Quinta Ship Channel in the Port of Corpus Christi. The project cargo was loaded at the Multi-Service terminal in the Italian Port of Venice aboard the multi-purpose cargo ship Intermarine Ocean Globe for delivery to South Texas.

A production crew filmed the offload operations for the Discovery TV series 'Mega Shippers'.

The ship-loader is will be utilized for loading hot briquetted iron (HBI) briquettes, the finished product from voestalpine Texas, onto ocean going vessels for product shipment.

Construction is nearing completion of the voestalpine Texas HBI plant at the port authority’s La Quinta Trade Gateway, with product shipment expected to commence by the end of first quarter 2016.

The company is a fully-owned subsidiary of voestalpine AG, a steel-based technology and capital goods group headquartered in Linz, Austria.

 
Intermarine Ocean Globe carrying ship loader for the voestalpine Texas steel plant
Photo/Port Corpus Christi Communications Department 

Multi-Million Dollar Helicopters Move across JAXPORT’s Heavy Lift Dock

Highly trained master riggers recently moved three multi-million dollar helicopters and 10 ambulances through the Jacksonville Port Authority’s heavy lift and project cargo berth at Blount Island Marine Terminal.

Workers employed by stevedoring company Portus used specialty lift and lashing gear to load the helicopters one at a time aboard the U.S.-flagged Intermarine general cargo vessel Ocean Freedom. The helicopters are 55 feet in length, weigh up to 10,000 pounds each, and are worth between $35-$40 million each. The ambulances were loaded onto a platform lift before being placed aboard the ship two at a time.

The refurbished helicopters and new vehicles are being shipped to northern Africa through the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

The heavy lift cargo berth at Blount Island Marine Terminal offers up to 1,800 pounds per square foot of load capacity with rail capability up to 78 kips per axle for heavy cargo. JAXPORT also has the highest and widest cargo clearance available for port access by rail on CSX’s national system: 20 feet high and 13 feet wide.


Helicopters and ambulances staged for loading at JAXPORT’s Blount Island Marine Terminal
Photo/JAXPORT

Port of Palm Beach Receives Steel Rebar Cargo from Turkey

Approximately 5,100 tons of steel rebar arrived at the Port of Palm Beach earlier this month aboard the bulk carrier Ni Hat-M. Imported from Turkey, the rebar was unloaded onto port property to be separated and redistributed to Commercial Steel Services LLC of Miami. It was the first imported rebar to be handled at the port in more than eight years. It also marked the first time the port has hosted both the raw and final product of steel rebar production.

Stonerock Shipping, which has operated a bulk metals export logistics and shipping service at the Port of Palm Beach since 2014, facilitates the export of processed steel scrap to Turkish steel mills where the scrap is recycled into new rebar. The product imported via Palm Beach was shipped from the same mill Stonerock exports to Kaptan Group.

The steel will be stored dockside, where it can easily be reloaded to ship, rail and truck for distribution. This location and its ease of access to intermodal transfer systems also reduce drayage costs.

"It is great to see a commodity such as steel rebar re-enter the Port of Palm Beach," said Palm Beach Port Executive Director Manuel Almira, PPM®. "Not only does it show the regrowth of a market here at the port, but also the regeneration of the construction industry as a whole. Where rebar goes, cement and lumber follow."


Bulk carrier Ni Hat-M discharging imported rebar at Palm Beach.
Photo/Port of Palm Beach