DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE FIRST VARIABLE ORIENTATION OFFSHORE BULK TERMINAL

Construction was completed in 1977 on an offshore shiploading terminal at Punta Colorada, Patagonia, Argentina. This opensea terminal is a key link in the transportation system developed to supply high grade iron ore pellets to steel mills located in the vicinity of Buenos Aires (Figure 1). The Punta Colorada Shiploading Terminal is also a significant advance in the state of the art of offshore terminals. Strong winds from different directions would render a conventional fixed offshore berth inoperative during large portions of the year at this location. Soros Associates developed a variable orientation design which achieves increased berth availability for bulk loading, as single point moorings do for liquid handling. Arriving and departing ships can head into the wind and loading can proceed regardless of wind direction. The terminal receives and stockpiles iron ore pellets produced in the adjacent plant. From the onshore stockpiles a 4,600 ft. (1,400 m.) long conveyor with a capacity of 2,200 tons (2,000 metric tons) per hour carries the material to the variable orientation offshore berth which utilizes a slewing shiploader to fully load 25,000 DWT vessels at all stages of the tide.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Third Annual Combined Conference, Oceans '77, held October 17-19, 1977, Los Angeles. Also available from Engineering Societies Library.
• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

  3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5997

  Marine Technology Society

  5565 Sterrett Place, Suite 108
  Columbia, MD  United States  21044
• Authors:
  • Soros, P
  • Koman, B
• Publication Date: 1977

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 7 p.
• Serial:
  • Volume: 1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bulk cargo handling; Bulk cargo terminals; Intermodal terminals; Loading and unloading; Offshore terminals; Structural design; Waveform analysis
• Old TRIS Terms: Bulk loading systems; Terminal design; Terminal facilities; Wind forces on structures
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00173286
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Report/Paper Numbers: 77CH1272-4 OEC Proceeding
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 26 1978 12:00AM