During the past month a pusher barge moored in the Antwerp port area on the Left bank of the Scheldt carrying four large storage tanks each 50 metres long.
These cylinders came from a specialist tank builder in Germany and were carried down the Rhine to Antwerp. After being unloaded they continued their journey by night by special road transport to the Ineos Oxide site in Zwijndrecht.
The British chemical company Ineos entrusted coordination of this project to Jacobs Belgium, specialised in project coordination and design, in particular for the chemical, petrochemical and pharmaceutical sectors.
For the onshore transport and erection of these storage tanks Jacobs opted for a ro/ro and hydraulic installation operation, for safety and quality reasons, which it in turn entrusted to the specialist company Sarens. The storage tanks were transported one by one, on four successive nights, as outsize loads to the Ineos site in Zwijndrecht.
The new storage tanks form part of a 100 million euro investment programme by Ineos Oxide in Antwerp, which will considerably expand its storage capacity for ethylene oxide.
Ineos Oxide is the largest producer and market leader for ethylene oxide in Europe. This basic raw material is used in all sorts of products including shampoo, toothpaste, cosmetics, medicines, feedstuffs and plastics, as well as clothing, rubber and various lightweight components for cars.
Antwerp is the main European port for breakbulk, with ten or so specialist terminals and excellent connections with the hinterland. Over the past decades the port has built up a huge amount of expertise in shipping and handling breakbulk. Shipping break bulk demands a product-specific approach, as no two consignments are the same.
