GT USA Wilmington handled the largest wind turbine blades shipped to the Port of Wilmington. The port recently unloaded and transferred 39 blades over two days.
“This was a delicate operation as the slightest error could have resulted in damage to one blade, and that makes a group of three inoperable,” said Mike Hall, chief operations officer.
The massive blades, headed for the GE Renewable Energy Beech Ridge II wind turbine project in West Virginia, were manufactured in Brazil and brought to Wilmington by the m/v BBC Topaz.
“We are thrilled to be able to support mutual customer GE Renewable Energy by successfully receiving the largest wind turbine blades to cross our docks,” said GT USA-Wilmington CEO Eric Casey. “The efforts of the entire team led to providing quality service to GE Renewable Energy for whom we have handled hundreds of blades over many years.”
Casey said a second BBC Chartering vessel with 15 x 62.2 m blades from Suape, Brazil is due in August, completing the 54-blade shipment.
American Transport Systems of New Castle provided the specialized blade trailers with steerable rear axles.
The Port is operated by GT USA Wilmington, LLC. For further information, visit www.gulftainer.com/US. GT USA is the U.S. division of Gulftainer, the world’s largest privately-owned independent port operator and logistics company with operations and business interests in the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Brazil and the United States.
