BBC Chartering has marked a milestone in its LakerMax newbuild programme with the inaugural transit of the BBC Houston through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System as it delivered a full shipload of wind turbine blades to Erie, Pennsylvania.
The multipurpose vessel made its way through the St. Lambert Lock in Montreal following a routine inspection by the Seaway Authority in late April, which granted BBC Houston clearance to enter the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System.
“The BBC Houston and sister ships are called LakerMax due to their dimensions maxed out to still fit the locks and bridges of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway,” said Ross Fletcher, owners’ representative of BBC Chartering in Canada. “We got many questions as to when the first vessel would call the Lakes, when we announced the delivery of the first vessel of the series, the BBC Leer, a year ago. Now we are finally able to welcome a vessel of this series in these waters.”
Prior to the transit, the Great Lakes Pilotage Association (GLPA) in cooperation with Briese Schiffahrt and BBC Chartering undertook training using a simulator in February to practice maneuvering the vessels in the Seaway.
The triple-decker, with a lifting capacity of 500 tonnes, has an optimised deck layout, with the bridge located at the fore of the vessel for an unobstructed deck space of 2,830 sq m.
BBC Chartering started taking delivery of 10 LakerMax vessels last year.
