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The Vessels.
Most barges plying on the waterways are fairly specialized, inasmuch as they are designed to carry one type of product. Tank barges carry petroleum products of all sorts, and there is also some movement of edible oils. Dumb (un-engined) barges pushed by tugs carry coal to Ferrybridge Power station in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Purpose built aggregates barges run to Hull and Leeds from the Trent valley, and LASH barges are made to fit neatly into semi-submersible ships that bring them to and from the continents of Europe and America.
Tankers.
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Operated by two major barge owners, John H. Whittaker (Tankers) Ltd and Rix Petroleum, these vessels carry up to 700 tonnes of product from the Humber to vessels requiring bunkering and to destinations on the Aire and Calder Navigation. The vessels are self-discharging and most are modern and maintained to a high standard.
Dumb Barges
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Vessels of this type ply between Ferrybridge Power Station and two local collieries. They are operated by Hargreaves (Canal Services Ltd.) of Castleford, and move vast quantities of coal every year in a most unobtrusive fashion. The loading and unloading is highly efficient & automated, and illustrates the dividends of getting a system right in the first place.
The firm and its predecessors have been working this system since the 1960`s. Each unit consists of one 240 h.p. push tug with a 360 degree rotatable propulsion system, pushing three 170 tonne capacity box-like "pans". These are lifted physically out of the water with their contents which are then tipped into a huge hopper.
L.A.S.H. craft. Once again, these are dumb craft, even boxier than Hargreave`s coal pans, and carry up to 380 tonnes of cargo inter-continentally. As already mentioned, these travel from their point of loading aboard specialized ships, and then are propelled by push-tug up-river to their destination. This system can eliminate two points of transshipment, and enables large vessels to use the deepest docks. |
General Cargo barges
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Most of these are converted from Petroleum tankers, and are getting fairly long in the tooth. Loading capacities vary between 250 to 500 tonnes, and the majority are employed carrying aggregates. There is, however, a marked increase in the level of new inquiries, and the future looks much brighter than it did in 1997.
Foreign Barges.
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Northern European countries have been making great use of their waterways in a truly integrated fashion for many years. Huge amounts of freight travel enormous distances along modern waterways, and the systems are being constantly up-dated. There are many craft for sale, some of which would be suitable for the waterways of this country.
