One of the largest unloading installations departs from Ostend for Denmark

The installation was designed and built by machine builder Vigan in Nijvel, a subsidiary of the Vandewiele Group from Marke. The assembly of the unloading machine took place on the heavy load quay in Ostend and took almost three months.

Generating electricity

The colossus of more than 150 tons will have a permanent home in Copenhagen near a power station. “This machine will be used specifically to unload wood pellets, which are then used to generate electricity.

This machine discharges at a flow rate of 600 tons per hour. With this we can fill about 30,000 trucks in 5 days,” says Sebastien Arend, project engineer at Vigan.

First time in Ostend

The unloading installation sucks the cargo from a ship through a tube with a powerful turbine. Every year about twenty loading and unloading machines are sent to all corners of the world. The construction is usually done on site. This is not the case now, so it is the first time that Vigan has shipped from Ostend.

“We were looking for a place where we could easily and efficiently assemble the machine.”

The installation will be transferred tomorrow to the Dutch cargo ship De Eendracht from Urk. It has two heavy cranes on board. If all goes well, the unloading installation will arrive in Copenhagen in the course of Friday.