Leading international ferry operator Stena Line UK, has placed an order with TTS Port Equipment AB for the manufacture and installation of a passenger gangway and semi-automatic mooring system for its Belfast terminal.
TTS, with work already in progress for a gangway at Stena’s Loch Ryan terminal, is expected to deliver the equipment later this year. Over the next few months the company will design and build the elevated passenger walkway that will be used to connect the berthed vessel to the terminal building. The walkway will consist of four fixed sections together with an elevating gangway and hoisting platform, operated by hydraulic cylinders. The total operational window of the entire walkway will be approximately 6 metres high and 23 metres along the quay.
The contract also includes the design, supply, fabrication, surface treatment, testing and full installation of a semi-automatic mooring system for the Belfast quay, which is scheduled to be delivered at the same time as the gangway. The design comprises one rig with hydraulic cylinder, control cylinders for the mooring rods, a hydraulic power pack, plus a platform and stairs. Offering a cost-effective and reduced risk alternative to traditional methods of mooring with ropes, the semi-automatic system is designed to buffer the transverse forces from dedicated vessels, each of which is due to be fitted with compatible bollards.
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Source: TTSgroup, May 19, 2011.