Timber Dunnage

Timber Dunnage

We started a job helping with dunnage and cargo securring on  the first of five ship loads of coated pipes  yesterday.  The pipes are coated in Leith with concrete and some are coated with  Multi Layer Polppropylene. Each pipe weighs around 7 tonnes and  they are loaded two or three at a time onto timber dunnage that prevents damage to the coatings.  Th Polypropylene pipe coatings are quite delicate and cannot be loaded onto the concrete pipes as normal. To prevent damage twelve strips of timber are laid over the concrete pipes for the other pipes to sit on. On completion we use ratchet straps to secure them in place and any gaps are filled with timber to prevent any movement of the cargo while at sea.

The ships are Rusich Class river vessels that are 130m long but quite narrow at 16.5m which allows them to navigate the Russian rivers and canals. The pipe cargo is destined  for Baku in Azerbaijan which is on the Caspian Sea.