Summary   |  Project Cargo  |  Complex Towing |  Hopper Barges |  Shore Facilities | Container Feeder

MarineLink currently operates a fleet of 8 Mississippi style hopper barges, for cargo movements within the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. These vessels are standard Mississippi style hopper barges with double skin design, single box shaped hold and removable fiberglass hatch covers. However, these are the newest and most robust design of Mississippi barge with a 14' (4.27M) moulded depth and a 5' (1.5m) coaming height.

Drop Barge Operation
The principal route is a downbound movement of grain from Oswego, Ogdensburg or Prescott to Cote Ste-Catharines, Sorel, Trois Rivieres and Quebec.

Normally MarineLink operates moving the barges in pairs, tied in tandem, with an overall size of 70' wide and 200' long. Two barges can carry about 3000 mt at the loadline draft of 10'6".

To achieve the highest efficiency of the barging operation, MarineLink operates in a 'drop barge' mode to the greatest degree possible. In this type of operation the tug positions barges at both the load and unload ports and then shuttles the barges on a regular schedule. The load and unload operations are conducted without the tug being present. A Prescott to Trois Rivieres drop barge round trip would be three days.

The barges can be loaded at either conventional grain elevators or at docks with more rudimentary equipment. One of the great advantages of barges is that they require much less elaborate equipment that a ship. The 'drop barge' system allows the customer more time to load the barge without incurring demurrage than a ship or conventional barge would allocate. A load rate of 100 tph is all that is needed. This can be accomplished with a small stacker. The longer port times allows loading directly from trucks for additional savings.

Port Facilities To assist in the efficient movement of grain cargoes in the eastern L. Ontario region, MarineLink has constructed a dedicated grain handling facility in Wallaceburg. This facility is specially built to service our hopper barges and transfer grain to/from trucks. Lightering, etc.

Lightering and Other Cargoes
Although the principal cargo is grain, these hopper barges are suitable for a variety of cargoes, such as:
Stone, Alumina, DDG's.

They are also ideal for use in lightering and dredging operations.

Contact the MarineLink team to learn how we can apply our Tug & Barge solutions to your needs.