17th August 2016
Working with Ainscough at Valero Refinery
We worked closely with Ainscough Crane Hire Ltd to assist with a job at Valero refinery in Pembroke.
Pembroke refinery is one of the largest, most complex refineries in Western Europe. In 2011 it was acquired by Valero. It makes products including gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and petrochemical feedstocks.
The refinery needed to replace a Marine Loading Arm which is a 50 tonne structure, 25 metres high. A marine loading arm, also known as a mechanical loading arm, product loading arm, or MLA is a device consisting of articulated steel pipes that connect a tankership such as an oil tanker or chemical tanker to a cargo terminal.
Ainscough put a 500 tonne Terex CC2500 crawler crane onto our Wilcarry 1750 barge. We then used our Willpower tug to tow it into Pembroke Port.
The crane was then transported to Southampton where we used it to lift off a Marine Loading Arm at Esso Refinery at Fawley, so it was an identical job to the one at Valero, utilising the same vessels and highlighting our close relationship with Ainscough.
Our transport department also supported the project in transporting the old loading arm to Whitstable in Kent for refurbishment. This needed to be divided into 3 parts and transported on 3 of our trucks.
