Port of Rotterdam modernizes mooring operations

The Port of Rotterdam Authority announced it’s investing around 32 million euros in dolphin configurations and the replacement of buoy berths.    The Port of Rotterdam Authority is investing about 32 million euros in new dolphin configurations and the replacement of buoy berths to modernize mooring operations at the port.
   Replacing buoy berths with dolphins is not only safer but also allows the port to better accommodate larger vessels.
   Transhipment at buoys and dolphins in the first half of 2015 rose 21 percent year-over-year to 10.1 million tons, which the port authority primarily attributed to an increase in fuel oil transhipment.
   Buoy berth 66 in the Botlek will be replaced with a dolphin configuration. In the Caland Canal, buoy berths 81, 82 and 83 will be replaced with two dolphin configurations and a new dolphin configuration was already delivered about a month ago.
   Only 29 buoys will remain by next year, as the port is moving toward dolphin configurations. These new buoys will have four eyes instead of one, which will provide a separate eye for every hawser. Having these types of buoys will make the process of securing and releasing vessels both quick and efficient, the port authority said.