Slovenian coal hub can now load larger ships

Meeting the needs of Slovenia’s largest coal-importing/exporting
port is a new Siwertell bulk ships loader from Cargotec; the
port operator wanted similar technology to an earlier system,
but able to load bigger ships.
Over the past decade the Slovenian coal mining industry has
undergone major decommissioning, essentially because of
cheaper coal imports from outside the EU. As a result, the
country only has one fully operational mine, Premogovnik
Valenje, and about 60% of the country’s energy demands have to
be imported.
Serving this import traffic is the Port of Luka Koper, at the
very top of the Adriatic Sea, which is the only large port on
Slovenia’s 43km coastline. Luka Koper handles all types of
general cargo, livestock, fruit, timber, containers, Ro-Ro freight,
cars, minerals, cereals and fodder, alumina and liquid cargoes as
well as coal.
“Because of its location, the port acts as a maritime gateway
for the dynamic economies of central and eastern Europe,” says
Lars-Eric Lundgren, Cargotec sales manager. “And the Port of
Luka Koper, therefore has a significant role to play.” Luka Koper
handles about 4mt (million tonnes) of coal a year.
The coal imported into Slovenia substantially comes from the
Far East and South Africa, and is stored by Luka Koper. A big
portion is then exported to neighbouring countries in Europe.
ENEL in Italy is one of its bigger customers.
Luka Koper started using a new Siwertell bulk coal loader
supplied by Cargotec towards the end of last year, after
commissioning and operator training. The loader is now fully
operational and has a rated capacity of 2,000tph (tonnes per
hour) for coal with a density of 0.8–1.2 tonnes/m3, and a peak
maximum capacity of 2,300tph.
“Luka Koper had previously operated the same sort of
technology as its new loader, so they knew exactly what they
wanted, which was a loader with similar technological benefits
but able to load bigger and wider vessels,” Lundgren said.
“Luka Koper made several design specifications that we had
to deliver so that the loader met the company’s specific needs.
The loader had to have as small a footprint as possible; the
loading bellow needed to be moveable towards the jetty for