Each of the 100,000-DWT class coal carriers to serve the coal transshipment terminal set up by Chugoku Electric Power Co., Ltd. will be equipped with a coal self-unloading system developed and manufactured by Tsuji Heavy Industries, Co., Ltd. The first such carrier "Sage Sagittarius" was recently completed to the order of Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Ltd. (NYK Line).

　In designing the self-unloading system, the thermal power department of Chugoku Electric Power, shipping companies (NYK Line, Mitsui-OSK Lines and Mitsubishi Corporation), the shipbuilder (Imabari Shipbuilding) and Tsuji Heavy Industries, the manufacturer of the unloading system, together discussed the plan, and jointly completed the new product.

　The most significant future of the coal carrier is the installation on board of a coal unloading apparatus, which is usually provided at the unloading terminal.

　This on-board self-unloading system carries out the sequence of operations from picking up coal from cargo holds to discharging it onto the receiving device at the terminal in a fully automatic process under the control of a computer built into the system.

　The unloading system consists of two units installed on board, having an unloading capacity of 2,000 t/h each. Its simulated cargo handling efficiency is as high as 95% approximately. It marks an epoch as the world's first such system to be installed aboard a large (100,000-DWT class)oceangoing coal carrier, and will make important contributions to reducing the logistic cost.

Unloader