Colonial increases its Savannah Terminal capacity by installing a more efficient unloading system

14 Oct 2020

Bruks Siwertell has been awarded a contract to supply the USA-based Colonial Group with a new high-capacity ship unloader. The fully enclosed system will deliver dust-free cement handling for the company’s Savannah, Georgia, terminal, and supports Colonial’s cement import growth. 

“Environmental credentials were a strong factor in securing the contract,” says Ken Upchurch, VP Sales and Marketing, Bruks Siwertell. “The unloader will be installed near a historic, very sensitive, downtown location; any industrial activities in the area must comply with strict environmental protection regulations. 

“The Siwertell unloader offered this capability, along with impressive through-ship efficiencies, making it the ideal machine,” continues Upchurch. “Also, by working closely with Colonial and its engineering team, we were able to develop a customized solution that will work within the operator’s existing infrastructure.

“Furthermore, the combined capabilities now offered by the merged Bruks Siwertell Group, provides Colonial with local support that is unmatched by others,” he adds. 

The Siwertell 490 F-type ship unloader offers a rated cement handling capacity of 800t/h and can discharge vessels up to Panamax size. They have proven capabilities in dry bulk handling installations worldwide and have been specially engineered to be lighter than other systems in their capacity class, offering significant cost savings in jetty reinforcements.  

“This is Colonial’s first Siwertell ship unloader,” Upchurch notes. “The company was impressed by the technology and the machine’s flexibility, enabling it to handle various designs and capacities of geared vessels.”

A Siwertell unloader maintains a continuous steady discharge rate, regardless of the level of cargo in the hold, right up to the hold clean-up stage. It is capable of simultaneous pendulum, slewing and luffing motions, enabling the vertical conveying arm to reach all corners of a ship’s hold, even under the hatch coamings. This results in quicker vessel turnarounds and reduced berth occupancy.

Machine components will be delivered to Savannah for assembly in May 2021 and the unloader is planned for commissioning by August 1, 2021.