JMS-designed stevedoring barge delivered

JUNE 8, 2016 — JMS Naval Architects, Mystic, CT, engineered and designed a crane barge for the State of Rhode Island recently delivered by Conrad Shipyard, Amelia, LA.

The barge will be used for stevedoring operations by ProvPort Inc., the nonprofit public-private partnership that owns and operates the municipal port of the City of Providence, RI.
 
JMS designed the barge to carry and operate the facility’s 440 ton Liebherr LHM 550 mobile harbor cranes. The 300-foot long x 72-foot wide rake/box barge has a deck rating of over 6,000 pounds per square foot.

The crane barge design allows for the easy loading and unloading of cargo from ships to the dock or from ship to ship. The barge is ABS classed A1 with notation “Deck Barge”, uninspected and unmanned. JMS also created the technical specification documents to utilize for the solicitation of shipyard bids and provided owner’s representative services during the construction of the barge at Conrad Shipyard. The barge was delivered to ProvPort in May and christened on June 6, 2016.
 
The contract was funded by the State of Rhode Island’s Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II grant program award managed by the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. The grant allowed the purchase and installation of the barge and two high performance harbor cranes.

The new stevedoring equipment will modernize and enhance the port’s ability to continue its existing bulk material operations while expanding its capabilities to accommodate container operations.