McInnis Cement announces plans for new cement ship

McInnis Cement has announced plans to use a first-of-its-kind, ecologically efficient, self-discharging dry bulk cement carrier. The 15,000 ton vessel will be time chartered by the company under a long-term agreement. The ship, which was built in 2011, is currently undergoing conversion in China to a cement carrier by its owner NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers Limited. The conversion will include the installation of a state-of-the-art cement unloading system delivered by Van Aalst Marine & Offshore, as well as, a hybrid exhaust gas scrubber system capable of operating in both fresh and salt waters.

“We are pleased to establish this new relationship with NovaAlgoma and Van Aalst that will allow us to take advantage of their cutting edge technology, attention to ecological details and their long-term marine transportation and cargo handling expertise,” said McInnis Cement vice-president logistics and distribution, Mark Newhart. He noted the anticipated delivery of the vessel is scheduled for early 2017.

“Developing a modern state of the art cement carrier for McInnis Cement is a very exciting project for NovaAlgoma and builds upon our objective to operate the most modern and technologically advanced cement carriers in the world. The ship will be Canadian flagged, employing Canadian sailors,” added Wayne Smith on behalf of NovaAlgoma.

Wijnand van Aalst, CEO of Van Aalst Group commented: “The McInnis project will be a showcase of how the Van Aalst signature vacuum – pressure technology in cement carriers will result into high performance, low emissions and an unsurpassed reliability. The productive and professional partnership approach between McInnis, NovaAlgoma and ourselves has proven to be very successful in achieving and exceeding the requirements of the project.”

The scrubber system will enable the ship to be fully compliant with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marpol Annex VI Sulphur Oxide (SOx) regulated (SOx) regulations, regardless of the fuel being used within the North American ECA (emissions control area), which includes Canadian and US coastal waters and the Great Lakes.