When people talk about barge carriers they are generally referring to the LASH (Lighter Aboard SHip) system or SeaBees equipped with a rail mounted gantry crane or a massive stern lift. Can common barges act as a barge carrier for transportation? And if so, how would they load and unload the carried barge?
Eversafe Marine recently contracted with an Indonesian company to unload one 700-tonne, 70-metre long barge from a "barge carrier", a 90-metre barge with 900 tonnes lightweight. Those two barges were stacked together by a floating crane in China then towed to Indonesia. With Eversafe launching balloons, the smaller barge was directly launched into the sea from the larger barge's deck.
The Indonesian project aroused interest from shipping companies, including Winning Logistic, which had planned to tow four 1,300-tonne barges, measuring 90 metres long by 25 metres wide, from China to Guinea. Eversafe engineers arrived in Guinea on June 10, and successfully launched two barges from the "mother" barges in two weeks. The mother barges were ballasted with about 3,000 tonnes water before launching, and 18 airbags of 1.5 metres diameter were deployed for the launching. The airbags act as pneumatic rollers, with the air cushion between barge carrier and barge being a key factor in launch safety.
Eversafe Marine claims the system is suitable for other deck launching projects, with the loading and unloading of vessels being possible without other assistant facilities, only airbags. Deflated airbags occupy little space and can travel with vessels anywhere.