News at Acomarin

Latest Activities

Pushpin™ 700 Coupling System Installation

The first Pushpin™ 700 coupling system will be installed early in the summer of 2004 into a K-Sea Transportation tug and barge. The system is developed based on the experiences from earlier installations onboard K-Sea vessels. The key factors in choosing the Acomarin Pushpin™ coupler system were its installation weight, investment cost and delivery time.

Acomarin R&D Activities

During 2003 and the beginning of 2004 a large Research and development program has been carried out by Acomarin Ltd. Various sizes of Tug and Barge combinations were tested in different wave heights and wave heading angles. More than hundred model tests were carried out. Based on the model test results a pinload tool, called Pushpin™ load, was created. The Pushpin™ load program takes into account, among other things, propulsion power, main dimensions, displacement ratio between the tug and barge, recommendation for maximum significant wave height and notch depth. A suitable coupler could be recommended for any ATB, from the smallest to biggest ever built.

The Near Future

The next step is to carry out a full scale measurements. One of the tugs, in which the Pushpin™ coupling system is installed, shall be equipped with straingages to be able to collect all necessary information. This information will be compared to the calculations tool results, based on model testing.

Long Term Development

There has been interest in possible coupler solutions with the ability to keep the tug connected during the loading and unloading of the barge. The product is called Double Pushpin™.

Mika Laiho
Vice President