Snap shots

The Great Lakes tower shuttle - moving wind turbines from Port Bécancour

In 2019 BigLift executed a contract for 11 shipments of GE wind turbine towers which were shipped from Port Bécancour, Quebec, to various destinations in the Great Lakes. Early in 2020 BigLift concluded a second contract for another 12 to14 voyages to be performed this year. Previously, the turbine towers were mainly transported to Duluth, Minnesota and Erie, Pennsylvania, but this year they are being shipped to the port of Monroe, Michigan, resulting in a shorter transit time. While shipments to the port of Monroe take about three days transit time, shipments to the other destinations typically took five to seven days. Coming in various sizes, the turbine towers are broken down into several sections per full tower, as otherwise they are too large to be transported over land to their final destinations. In total about 900 individual sections are due to be shipped, representing 300 complete towers, with weights ranging from 40 to 65 mt per section and dimensions between 23 m and 32 m long, adding up to a total volume in excess of 400,000 m3. As the Great Lakes is a special trading area with a specific set of restrictions, such as limitations on the maximum beam and draught of the ship, BigLift chose mv Happy River as the ideal vessel for this contract as she meets all the necessary Great Lakes requirements. Another factor is that her cargo hold and spacious deck enable us to maximise the number of towers transported, resulting in very economical costs for our client.