Under the contract, ZEAMARINE will undertake the shipping of nearly 450,000 freight tonnes from China to Australia
Image: ZEAMARINE will use the ZEA 14k-900 vessel for the South Flank project contract. Photo: courtesy of ZEAMARINE Carrier GmbH.
ZEAMARINE has bagged an ocean transportation contract from Schenker Australia pertaining to the BHP-operated South Flank iron ore project.
The financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Details of the contract given to ZEAMARINE
Under its contract, ZEAMARINE will handle the shipping of nearly 450,000 freight tons from China to Port Hedland in Western Australia, with most of the cargo to be heavy and oversized modules.
ZEAMARINE will use its newly-constructed ZEA 14k-900 vessel type for the execution of the contract.
ZEAMARINE chief commercial officer Dominik Stehle said: “We are extremely proud of this major award, which represents the largest contract awarded to ZEAMARINE since its inception. The ZEA 14k-900 vessel class has proven again to be a valuable asset and we are pleased that our clients recognize the value of these modern and ecologically-friendly vessels.”
In March 2019, Schenker was given a two-year contract, valued at A$55m (£31.16m), to provide freight forwarding and logistics services for the iron ore project located in the central Pilbara region in Western Australia.
Under the contract, Schenker will be responsible for providing international freight forwarding and also domestic transport logistics equipment in support of the South Flank iron ore project, located nearly 1,600km north of Perth.
Schenker Australia projects director Frank Vogel said: “After an extensive and competitive RFQ process, we selected ZEAMARINE due to its brand new fleet of environmentally friendly vessels that will be utilized for the project, as well as the overall execution proposal offered by ZEAMARINE.
“On behalf of our client BHP, we look forward to a successful partnership with the ZEAMARINE team and a seamless execution of the module shipping program to the highest safety and environmental standards that are available in the heavy lift market today.”
The $3.4bn (£2.79bn) South Flank iron ore project is expected to begin production in 2021 and is estimated to have a production life of more than 25 years. The iron ore project will feature an 80Mtpa crushing and screening plant, an overland conveyor system, stockyard and train loading facilities.
BHP is also procuring new mining fleet and expects to undertake substantial mine development and pre-strip work at the project site.