Biggest PNGs Barge docked by Nawae Construction in Alotau

In middle of January 2016, the vessel, DB Ayios Georgios, is 94 x 23 m an fully equipped construction barge with crane, accommodation, office and workshop facilities pulled to landed with hauling airbag systems. It is owned by Nawae Construction, the premier marine & civil engineering company, operating in Papau New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. This is the first time for vessels docked with marine airbags in PNGs.

Invited by Nawae Construction, Evergreen Maritime offered full set of airbag docking system for this barge, from equipment supplying to on site consultant and operations. After further discuss with our clients and investigation of site, our engineering team developed one efficient plan which is making utmost natural beach as the docking slipway. To satisfy the big pulling force requirement, bulldozer and excavator are deployed to work together with winches to haul the barge.

Natural beach is full of small stones, airbags should roll on over them while carrying the weight. It is not the ideal condition in fact but good airbags can tolerate it in a way.The cordination of winch, excavator and bulldozer is also a difficulty of the project, pulling angles and speeds of those different facilities must be controlled accurately.

The first two marine airbags were inserted underneath barge bow at about 50 cm deep water. They crunched the gravel and rolled onto the ramp by the winch pulling. Then more roller bags were added when barge was pulled further. Step by step the vessel came out of water completely. At last people placed support blocks and deflated airbags to rest barge on blocks.

Alotau is a peaceful and beautiful city, different from port Moresby, whose local people is polite and friendly, seldom badger foreigners. Using pneumatic roller bags is efficient and convenient. It is environment-friendly which is especially important nowadays. Qualified ship launching airbags have better design structure, they are though can tolerate cutting, abrasion to some extent, which is the guarantee of safety and success of projects.