Hybrid RO-RO “VILLE DE BORDEAUX”, Equipped with unique specially designed TTS Cargo Access Gear, is delivered to owners
Gothenburg
April 2004
Norwegian cargo access manufacturer TTS Group has confirmed its dominant position in the specialised cargo-handling and access equipment sector with delivery of the 5,200 dwt hybrid ro-ro vessel “Ville de Bordeaux” to Fret / CETAM, a subsidiary of French owner Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and Norway’s Leif Hoegh. The vessel is scheduled to leave the shipyard at the end of April and then be delivered to her owners in Europe at a later date. The vessel is equipped with highly sophisticated TTS cargo-access equipment, including the largest ever watertight stern door on a ro-ro vessel. Altogether, the TTS cargo access equipment weighs almost 930 tonnes.
The “Ville de Bordeaux”, which has cargo deck space of 6,720 metres2 and more than 1,800 lane metres of space, will be deployed on a 20-year contract to ship aircraft components for the new Airbus A380 from manufacturing sites in France, Germany, Spain and Wales to Bordeaux, and then by barge and road transporter, in preparation for final assembly in the French industrial city of Toulouse.
The extraordinary configuration and size of the aircraft parts constituted a particular challenge to TTS. However, according to Deputy Managing Director Stellan Bernsro, “TTS has developed a unique cargo handling system for this highly specialised vessel. We are extremely pleased with our design and its installation on board. We believe that the highly advanced automated cargo handling system will enable the “Ville de Bordeaux” to fulfil her challenging role, delivering Airbus components from European manufacturers to the Toulouse assembly plant, for many years into the future”.
The vessel, which has been built in Jinling Shipyard, China, has been designed specifically for the carriage of large aeroplane components. The 154-metre vessel has extra large holds to accommodate the components and a system of internal ramps, doors and hoistable decks to facilitate the shipment of outsized aircraft parts.
The TTS cargo equipment, which has been built to Bureau Veritas’ requirements, comprises a range of key components, including a stern ramp and door, a ramp cover on the main deck, a hoistable car deck and ramp, a hoistable trailer deck and ramp, pilot and bunker doors and hatch covers. Mooring cylinders and all of the necessary hydraulic equipment have also been supplied by TTS.
The shipment of aircraft components from European manufacturing sites to the ultimate assembly plant is Toulouse has constituted a major logistical challenge. The fore and aft fuselage sections are to be shipped from Hamburg, the tail section from Puerto Real in Spain, the cockpit and central fuselage from St Nazaire, and the wings from Broughton in Wales.
Following the sea passage to the Port of Bordeaux’s Pauillac terminal on the river La Gaironne, the “Ville de Bordeaux” will berth alongside a special quay with her stern aligned to a 150-metre floating pontoon. The components will be rolled over the pontoon and on to two purpose-built semi-submersible barges. From there, they will be shipped up river, through the City of Bordeaux to another terminal at Langon. There, the barges will enter a new dock in which the water depth can be adjusted to enable the barges to discharge their cargoes on to vast new road transporters for the final leg of the journey to Toulouse.
For more details contact:
Lennart Svensson
Sales & Marketing Manager
TTS Ships Equipment AB
Tel: + 46 31 7257900
Email: lennart.svensson@tts-se.se