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A leading terminal operator, based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, reached out to Emco Wheaton to assemble, install, commission, and handover two 10” B0030 marine loading arms. With global travel restrictions creating a shortage of available service personnel to complete the project, Emco Wheaton Germany partnered with Soliflo Group, South Africa’s premier liquid control and tanker loading specialists, to work as Emco Wheaton’s on site representatives and execute the project.
Emco Wheaton’s B0030 marine loading arm is engineered for maximum safety, efficiency, and reliability. Ideal for loading and unloading petroleum product from sea-going tankers, the B0030 features a reliable, rigid link pantograph balancing link design; ensuring accurate balance and maneuverability across all connecting positions. The B0030’s robust, stainless steel construction, combined with Emco Wheaton’s high performance swivel joints, provides a long service life while reducing the need for maintenance. The simple, maintenance friendly design works to enhance the terminal’s safety, and further streamline service and repair, guaranteeing the lowest possible cost of ownership for the operator.
Soliflo was able to oblige, providing one of their leading service managers to run a team of local contractors to complete the project. Having extensive experience working with Emco Wheaton products, as well as being factory trained by Emco Wheaton in Germany; Soliflo’s representative was able to leverage his extensive expertise to ensure that the project flowed smoothly, and was successfully delivered on time.
The team had to overcome number of challenges. As an international team working in a foreign country, with access to a single English speaking contractor on site, language posed a constant challenge. The team also had to deal with extreme weather conditions that would fluctuate between high heat and heavy rains. However, the biggest challenge faced by the team was the narrow window of time which the team had to work with each day, due to the way that each arm had to be anchored.
Anchor bolts for each of the marine loading arms were not cast into the concrete as part of the original design of the berth. Instead, holes were pre-drilled into the jetty to allow the anchor bolts to be fixed from both top and bottom of the platform. This configuration required contractors to access the jetty from below to fix the anchor bolts; a task that could only be completed during low tide, when the water level was low enough to allow safe access.
Partnerships that Deliver
Planning and teamwork were key. Soliflo’s service manager was able to overcome the language barrier by strategically utilizing the project’s English speaking resource, and relying on his experience and expertise to provide on-the-fly, hands on training and instruction to the team of contractors. The project was also planned around the low-tide period, providing the team with a 3 hour window within which to complete the work required to anchor each loading arm to the jetty.
Working through the night, the team was able to successfully assemble, install, commission, and handover both loading arms within the specified timeframe. As a result, the customer can look forward to years of reliable service, with minimal maintenance, downtime, and operating costs. Crucially, the customer was able to gain the complete peace of mind that comes with choosing a custom solution from the fluid transfer experts: Emco Wheaton.
