BIBO
One of only three in the world, Sugar Australia operates a specialised food grade bulk refined sugar vessel.
MV "Pioneer" has a cargo capacity of 20,000 tonnes and has been designed to load and transport refined sugar in bulk to Australian and overseas destinations and discharge it in bulk at 500 tonnes per hour or in bags at 3,000 tonnes per day.
What BIBO means"Pioneer" provides our customers with a food grade sea transport system. The acronym 'BIBO' describes how the vessel operates. Refined sugar is loaded into the ship as a Bulk In process. The refined sugar can be subsequently unloaded either in bulk (Bulk Out) or in bags (Bag Out).
- Refined sugar from Racecourse refinery is stored in bulk in the large port silo at Mackay.
- Sugar is bulk loaded in enclosed hygienic conditions from the port silo at Mackay into the ship's holds.
- While in the ship, the sugar is stored in insulated air conditioned holds which are lined with stainless steel.
- At the port of discharge, sugar is discharged in bulk at a rate of up to 400 tonnes per hour. Alternatively, it can be discharged in bags at about 3,000 tonnes per day.
- At the main distribution centres, refined sugar is stored in bulk awaiting delivery to customers in bulk, packaged or liquid form.
Loading
The ship is loaded on the port side with bulk sugar conveyed by a belt housed in an enclosed tubular gantry into sealed holds.
UnloadingWhen bulk sugar is unloaded, it travels from outlets at the bottom of the hold onto a fully enclosed conveyor belt.
Bagged sugar is unloaded from the on-vessel bagging plant via 2 port side elevators connecting to conveyors and finally truck loaders which are located on the wharf.