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Marine bunkering terminal opens in British Columbia
A terminal has opened on Kaien Island in western Canada for refuelling ships, using barges assisted by tugboats
Wolverine Terminals has started bunkering ships at a new offshore terminal in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada, with two specially designed barges supported by tugs, refuelling vessels at a strategic deepwater port on the west coast of Canada, with trade routes to Asia and along the North American coast.
Tugboats manoeuvre these barges to ensure deepsea ships have the correct fuels in sufficient quantities for trans-Pacific voyages.
The Wolverine Terminals fleet is composed of a transloading barge carrying 24 rail tank-cars on deck and a fuel delivery (lightering) barge. During regular operations, Wolverine Spirit 1 is loaded with railcars using a marine rail ramp in Prince Rupert, on Kaien Island, and moved to the Wolverine Terminals project site by tugs.
Once moored, the railcars on this 142-m barge are drained into the barge’s hull tanks, which have a combined capacity of nearly 80,000 barrels of oil products.
Wolverine Spirit 2, a 78-m long lightering barge with capacity for 30,000 barrels of products, receives fuels from the transloading barge, and is towed to client vessels in harbour where it delivers fuel at up to 450 m3/hr.
Robert Allan Ltd designed both barges specifically for Wolverine Terminals, which comply with Transport Canada regulations and Lloyd’s Register class. Onboard machinery and generators are compliant with IMO Tier III emissions standards as they are linked to exhaust aftertreatment.
These barges have double-hulls, silencing for all diesel-fired machinery, vapour recovery for the cargo systems, extensive containment and response systems, firefighting systems and low-intensity lighting.
Wolverine Spirit 1 has four rail lanes with a pair of onboard turnouts, which Robert Allan said was “a novel arrangement on a rail barge”.
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