DP World’s Fraser Surrey port terminal will be the first in Western Canada to use a new “revolving container” technology in transporting dry bulk commodities from source to shipping vessels, officials announced.
The technology, developed by Intermodal Solutions Group (ISG), allows the commodities to be transported in completely sealed containers from source all the way onto the vessels – instead of conventional usage of bulk ship loaders that essentially dump the contents of a container onto the vessel in open air.
The new technology “will benefit the environment and significantly reduce or eliminate risk of dust loss that comes with bulk handling,” DP World officials said.
“The rotating container is an innovative solution that will improve the competitiveness of Canadian exports in the global markets,” said DP World Canada CEO and General Manager Maksim Mihic.
The first producer to sign on to using the technology to transport goods is New Gold Inc., which has agreed to use revolving container technology to transport copper concentrate through DP World Fraser Surrey from the mine to the shipping vessel. DP World officials say the technology can be applied to any dry bulk goods in the future, including sulfur, wood pellets, grains and fertilizers.
Revolving containers is a technology that essentially allows the port to hoist entire containers into the interior cargo hold of a vessel, then facilitating a 180-degree flip of the container inside the hold to unload its contents into the hold. To help facilitate further reduction in dust pollution and loss, a dust suppression unit is used around the vessel hatch during unloading.
The operation of the new loading system is expected to start in early 2022, officials said.
