Cargomaxx

CARGOMAXX: MULTI-USE ‘PAYBACK TANKS’ FOR OFFSHORE SERVICE VESSELS:

Multiple use for tanks, multiple benefits for the environment.

An empty vessel is an opportunity missed. Particularly in the offshore supply and support sector, where vessels often carry a lot of empty volume one way or another. Three years ago, Van Aalst Marine & Offshore introduced their CargoMaxx multi-purpose cargo system capable of carrying both dry bulk and liquid cargo. Industry leaders Petrobras and Statoilhydro have started implementing CargoMaxx, thus being able to take materials to a platform and utilize the same tanks on the return trip to carry drill cuttings, mud and other process waste.

Built on three generations of bulk handling expertise, Van Aalst Marine & Offshore is a world-leading supplier of pneumatic cargo systems for the shipping and offshore oil and gas industries. Inventors of the self-discharging cement carrier, and innovators of tank and discharge technology, Van Aalst is finding new ways to improve discharge efficiency and overall cost effectiveness.

CargoMaxx is exemplary for the company's innovation power, providing a major competitive advantage and maximum flexibility in selecting shore-to-platform cargo while also being able to load any return and waste cargo back to shore. From an environmental point of view, both the reduced number of supply vessels per platform and the safe, under deck storage of potentially hazardous waste products are other great benefits.

It is primarily the shape of CargoMaxx tanks, basically an inverted pyramid, which allows for their multi-functional utilisation. The angles of the tanks' sides have been adjusted to the specific gravitational behaviour of cement-like cargo, and at the same time allow for easy circulation of sedimentation in liquid cargo using compact pumps rather than large agitators.

Investment sure to pay off

Wijnand van Aalst, CEO of Van Aalst Marine & Offshore sees strong growth in the share of CargoMaxx products: “The advantages of CargoMaxx over conventional tanks are substantial, economically as well as practically and environmentally. As we have also been able to keep the development and construction costs at a very reasonable level, the investment is sure to pay off.

We see more and more ship owners and oil companies convinced of CargoMaxx to be part of standard requirements when considering new building or conversion. With deepwater field developments becoming more complex, so will the sophistication of offshore service vessels.” Environmental advantages of CargoMaxx also include minimised emission during loading and offloading, effectively emptier tanks after discharge and enhanced flexibility in anticipation of weather changes and other sudden influences that may force an operation to be terminated.

Eliminating the need to reserve dedicated tanks for liquid mud, dry bulk, brine, base oil, fuel oil and methanol, and being able to use one single tank for all these products results in a substantially higher cargo volume, increasing the average payload of a vessel by as much as 20%. Shipyards implementing CargoMaxx will benefit even more by producing the CargoMaxx tanks themselves, keeping control over the building schedule and increasing the local content in their projects.