Unusual arrivals
AFTER a lengthy period in which Durban saw little in the way of unusual or out-of-the-ordinary shipping, things changed last week with not one, but two, shipping arrivals that stood out from the routine procession of container, tanker, bulk and general cargo ships.
The first to arrive was the 20 627dwt pipe layer vessel Tog Mor, on tow behind its attendant tug, Pacific Hickory. Many pipe-laying vessels are self-propelled ships used for the purpose of, as their name suggests, laying pipes under the sea to connect offshore oil rigs or production platforms with refineries or other installations ashore.
Tog Mor, on the other hand, is different in that it lacks any propulsion gear, being a flat-bottomed barge that is owned by the firm Allseas, a company specialising in offshore pipe laying and subsea construction. The barge has an overall length of 154m fully extended and 27m wide but uses a mere 2m draught.
Its equipment includes two cranes – a main crane able to lift up to 250 tons and an auxiliary crane with a lift of 53 tons. The barge is able to lay pipes of up to 5ft in diameter in waters up to 150m deep without modification to its winches and stinger, the latter being a steel structure that extends from the end of the barge and is lowered into the water to support the pipe as it is progressively laid.
Tog Mor has accommodation on board for up to 144 people.
The tug which is towing the barge has the typical Americansounding name of Pacific Hickory, so it was no surprise to find that it was owned by the Canadian Seabridge Marine company. Built in 1973, the barge is registered in Dominica.
On arrival in Durban, the tug went directly to the ship repair wharf, where presumably some minor repairs were carried out. Tug and tow sailed again last Thursday, bound for Las Palmas.
The second arrival of unusual interest was on the following day, when the port authority announced that other ship movements were to be suspended for a couple of hours while no fewer than four harbour tugs were being dispatched to bring in a second pipe layer, another barge, named Swiber PJW3000. This arrived on Friday morning with two deep-sea tugs, Swiber Marianne and Maersk Searcher, assisting.
Swiber PJW 3000 is on a longterm charter to Swiber, which is a Singapore-based offshore specialist in heavy-lift and subsea operations. The barge is 169m long, has a draught of 7m and carries its own heavy-duty cranes. She was built in 2010 and has accommodation for 310 people.
The strong winds on Sunday prevented the tugs and tow from sailing, although one tug, Swiber Marianne, did leave port but then went on standby outside.