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A Pusher Tug Returns to the Mersey
17 Dec 2007
A pusher tug and barge combination is in use on the Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal for the first time in a decade. Peel Ports’ Liverpool – Manchester Shuttle that started operation recently is capable of carrying up to 160 20ft ISO containers between Liverpool’s Royal Seaforth Docks and Manchester’s Irlam Container Terminal, journey of 40 miles up the River Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal. The pioneering trans-shipment service will transport a range of cargoes to the heart of the North West Region.
UK retailing giant Tesco is backing the ‘green’ initiative by using the shuttle to move containers of new world wines normally transported from the Port of Liverpool by road to Salford based Kingsland Wines and Spirits for packing for distribution to supermarkets across the country. The green waterborne initiative is taking thousands of trucks off Britain’s congested roads and is claimed to be cutting CO2 emissions by 80%.
On its return run the Shuttle is carrying an increasing volume of export cargo plus repatriated empty containers for transfer to deep sea shipping services out of the Port of Liverpool.
The Shuttle service is operated by Manchester based Seaborn Container Line, which acquired the push tug 'Daisy Doardo' and two barges following initial container trans-shipment trials between Liverpool and Manchester undertaken by Peel Ports. Seaborn Managing Director Graham Salt described the Shuttle as a perfect example of how the carbon footprint can be dramatically reduced and other benefits achieved by switching from road to waterborne freight. He said, 'Every container carried up the Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal takes a truck off the road, reduces the carbon footprint by 80% and dramatically reduces the damage caused to the road system. The major road route between Liverpool and Manchester runs almost parallel with the River Mersey and Ship Canal, but the fully laden barge will produce just 20% of the CO2 emissions generated by a fleet of fully loaded trucks carrying the same cargo. The River Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal represent a motorway of great potential.
Daisy Doardo is the former 'Volito', a 18.90m twin screw pusher tug of 1,266bhp (932kW), of a type common on the waterways of Europe. A hydraulically operated elevating wheelhouse is provided to enable the tug master to see forward over the cargo of containers. The tug is now owned by Seabourne Container Line and operates under the British flag.
The two identical barges, named 'RES IV' & 'RES V', are newly built and on long term lease. Each 76.5m barge has a maximum carrying capacity of 160 teu and is equipped with anchors and winches fore and aft and a bow thruster. If necessary the barges can also be used for bulk cargoes.
Pusher tugs are not new to the Manchester Ship Canal – Mersey route. For several years a powerful pusher tug and tank barges were used to transport Orimulsion from Liverpool to a power station on the ship canal. That service ceased in 1997 when use of that fuel was discontinued.
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