Each autumn there is a rush to get final cargoes into the North American Great Lakes before the winter freeze starts and navigation comes to a halt. Among several latecomers this year have been ships of the BBC fleet, which have been transporting wind energy components to the Port of Duluth, Minnesota for onward transportation to wind farms being built in the Dakotas.
Part of Germany’s Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co, founded in 1984, BBC operates a large number of specialist, multipurpose, container and project cargo ships, many of which have heavylift capacity and are built to ice class standards. The 12,000dwt BBC Jade, completed in 2007, is such a vessel and has enough heavylift capacity for most wind energy component projects and can also carry up to 684 containers. The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged vessel is powered by a MaK 6M43 diesel, rated at 8,158hp
