Giant barge expected this month (From Boating Cornwall)
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Giant barge expected this month
11:59am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in News By David Barnicoat
A giant barge used to transport rock armour around Europe is scheduled for dry docking in Falmouth mid month.
The Larvik Rock barge, measuring 122 metres in length by 36 metres beam, has a cargo capacity of 21,500 tonnes. Designed for a fast and efficient transport of stone the barge is equipped to handle individual rocks up to 25 tonnes.
The barge is owned by Stema UK, a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Stema Shipping A/S of Denmark. Stema A/S is in turn owned 50 per cent by Heidelberger Cement. The company owns five coastal aggregates quarries in Norway, with three of the sites classified as super quarries. The company exports approximately seven million tonnes of aggregates per year.
The Stema Barge Fleet is special designed for supplying large quantities of rock armour to coastal defence contracts around Europe and the UK. The fleet consists of three main barges and one transhipment barge for rock placement on the beach. Charlie Rock another one of the barges in the Stema fleet dry docked in Falmouth two years ago.
Larvik is the most durable rock armour in Europe and is used primarily for coastal defence systems. The firm handles more than two million tonnes annually.
Rock armour is based on hard granite (syenite) which is free from natural flaws and lava channels. Larvik rock armour is a by-product of dimension stone production where rocks are blasted using “low impact” techniques that leave the material free from any blasting cracks and hairline fractures.
