Cavotec receives substantial MoorMaster™ orders in North America

Cavotec is to supply specially adapted MoorMaster™ automated mooring units for installation at a lock in the St. Lawrence Seaway in Canada. This is the fourth order for the innovative technology in a long-running cooperation between Cavotec and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Cooperation (SLSMC).

"Through the close working relationship between Cavotec and the SLSMC, we continue to develop and refine automated mooring for the unique needs of the Seaway," explains Cavotec CEO, Ottonel Popesco.

Under the latest agreement, Cavotec is to deliver three MoorMaster™ 400LC units that will be installed at one of the SLSMC's Beauharnois Locks. The Group will also support the SLSMC with on-site commissioning of the units.

Under its modernisation initiative, the SLSMC ordered two MoorMaster™ units that underwent trials in 2007 and 2008. The following year, the SLSMC ordered an additional two units that were installed in Lock 7 on the Welland Canal.

"Throughout our rigorous testing programme for MoorMaster™, we have been consistently impressed by how the technology makes great improvements in safety, and holds the potential to generate marked reductions in vessel transit times," comments Terence Bowles, President and CEO of the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation.

Cavotec engineers, working in close coordination with the SLSMC, have adapted MoorMaster™ to the specific physical and environmental demands of the Seaway. For example, the units already supplied securely hold vessels through variations in water level of up to 14m. The St. Lawrence Seaway is the world's first inland waterway to introduce automated mooring.

Considered to be one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th century, the 3,700km-long Seaway is made up of 15 locks, two in the US and 13 in Canada. It forms an essential trade link between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes at the heart of North America.

Staying in North America, Cavotec has also received an order to supply a detailed engineering study on the implementation of MoorMaster™ systems for ship-to-ship applications. This order follows a similar one received in 2006 and underlines the on-going interest in further developing and expanding the MoorMaster™ range.

MoorMaster™ is a vacuum-based automated mooring technology that eliminates the need for conventional mooring lines. Remote controlled vacuum pads recessed in, or mounted on, the quayside, moor and release vessels in seconds.

The technology is steadily growing in popularity across the maritime industry. It has been implemented at passenger ferry, bulk handling, Ro-Ro and container handling applications worldwide. The Group is also seeing interest in the technology for offshore applications.

Cavotec manufactures a diverse range of advanced technologies that help ports around the world to operate safely, efficiently and sustainably. These products include shore power technologies, Panzerbelt cable protection systems, crane controllers, marine propulsion slip rings, power chains and connectors, radio remote controls, motorised cable reels and steel chains.