Terminales Marítimas del Sureste welcomes the first automatic unloading vessel at its port of Alicante terminal

Last 15 March, Terminales Marítimas del Sureste (TMS), a subsidiary of OHL Concesiones, welcomed for the first time at its port of Alicante dock the “Cement Courier” pneumatic automated unloading ship, a clean vessel specifically designed to handle dust loads.

Automatic unloading vessels guarantee that all loading and unloading processes are carried out in totally airtight surroundings, free of dust emissions; this provides one of the most effective means of cement transport by sea. The main features of the vessel moored in the TMS dock are:

• Gross tonnage: 3,344(Gt)
• Dead weight: 7,166 t
• Flag: Antigua
• Length Overall x Breadth Extreme: 96.63 m × 16.01 m

The Cement Courier vessel is totally automated, and requires no machinery or staff; it may work continuously in bad weather conditions (e.g. rain) thanks to its design and operating characteristics. Its lean-phase pneumatic transport systems use compressed air to move the load through loading and unloading pipes.

The Cement Courier ship unloaded 3,800 tons of gray cement for the concessionaire company COLACEM inside the facilities of the bulk terminal.

TMS is a multimodal platform that operates as an import, export and transfer port in trade transactions with Northern Africa and short-distance maritime transport in the European Union. The southern extension of the port of Alicante, executed by TMS, has converted its facilities into a unique unit, with four terminals- container, bulk, general merchandise and passengers- and a railway link inside the terminal itself.

Clean Cement Courier vessel at the TMS bulk terminal. Alicante.Spain.