Mechanical Technology August 2015

⎪ On the cover ⎪

Powermite’s Materials Handling Division, a proud distributor of Conductix products for more than 40 years, recently launched Conductix’s Lasstec container weighing solution. This fibre-optic based system is mooted to make it easier for ship terminals to comply with the new International Maritime Fibre-optic spreader beam for safe and efficient container handling

Organisation’s (IMO) legislation that will make container weight verification mandatory by July 2016. MechTech talks to Powermite director Donovan Marks (left) about the technology and its advantages.

“ P owermite focuses on the electrical and mechanical aspects of moving machin- ery,” begins Marks. “We supply a wide range of products to help machines move freely and safely: mobile machinery, conveyors, cranes and bulk

designed to streamline the acquisition of weight data from shipping containers so as to improve port handling efficiencies. “Poor control of the weight of individual shipping containers as well as the weight distribution of containers on a loaded ship can lead to overloading and ship

materials handling machines such as stacker reclaimers and ship loaders all require power, cabling and sensing solutions to allow them to function ef- fectively,” he says. The company was founded in 1967 with a competent team of people to service the grow- ing need for flexible cables and power solutions for mobile ma- chinery. “By 1981 Powermite had grown into a ‘one stop’ supplier for electrical crane materials and, today, has close to 300 people working across

New IMO container weight verification requirements mean that, after July 2016, every container will have to be accurately weighed before it can be loaded onto a ship.

three divisions: Cables and Accessories; Materials Handling; and Plugs and Sockets,” Marks reveals. Stemming from a partnership with the French multinational, Delachaux and its Conductix operation, which is dedicated to the transmission of energy and data for industrial equipment and a global supplier to the materials handling industries – drag chains, cable reelers slip ring housings, etc – Powermite became involved in supplying equipment such as ship to shore loaders and electrified rubber tie gantries (ERTGs). “We electrify the systems that pick up and move cargo with reelers or conductor bars, for ex- ample, to overcome the need to use more costly diesel-power,” he tells MechTech . Lasstec load sensing The Lasstec load sensing system is a one of the newer Conductix innovations and is

instability at sea,” says Marks. New IMO law comes into force in July 2016, which includes new con- tainer weight verification requirements for entry into a ship’s loading manifest prior to loading. This will mean that ev- ery container will have to be accurately weighed before it can be loaded onto a ship,” Marks reveals. To overcome this problem, the IMO has decided to make container weight verification mandatory. The Safety of Life at Sea amendment for mandatory container weight verification prior to load- ing containers onto a vessel was initially accepted by the IMO back in 2013, and this amendment will enter into force in July 2016. “The amendment makes it the ship- per’s responsibility to declare the correct container weight. If the shipper does not declare the correct container weight, then

the terminal shall weigh the container and charge the shipper,” Marks informs MechTech . The issue arises as to where to weigh the containers for verification purposes. Weighing containers at weigh bridges at the entry point to a harbour can be cumbersome, since it creates queues of trucks at the terminal entrance, each typically carrying two 20-ft containers. “To stop and weigh every container on entry could further delay ship loading, increasing harbour costs and reducing efficiency,” he suggests, adding that

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Mechanical Technology — August 2015