Canadian owner CSL Group has entered into a 21-year, $598m strategic partnership with BCI Minerals to build and operate a new transhipment vessel to support the Mardie salt and potash project.
The first phase of the contract involves the provision of a transhipment vessel from CSL in the second half of 2026 while a new vessel is built. The second phase will start in the second half of 2027 with a new purpose-built transhipment vessel for the company’s salt and potash project.
As part of CSL’s new transhipment solution, the custom-designed transhipper will handle 5.35m tonnes of salt and 140,000 tonnes of sulfate of potash per year. Loading will take place at BCI’s jetty loadout facility in Cape Preston, Western Australia, with the vessel navigating 12-15 nautical miles to transfer the cargo to ocean-going ships from handysize to newcastlemax.
The vessel will be built with a shallow draft to maximize cargo lift within tide and channel constraints and have 16,000 dwt. Its gravity discharge will be suitable for loading salt, sulfate of potash, and other dry bulk commodities onto ocean-going vessels with a deadweight of up to 207,000 tonnes. Construction of the new vessel will begin in spring 2026 with delivery scheduled in mid-2027.
The transhipper will have double-ended propulsion, four azimuth drives and an integrated diesel-electric propulsion and powering system. The single-point loading system will have a loading rate of 3,300 tonnes per hour while the self-unloading system will have a discharge rate of 4,000 tonnes per hour.
“Aligned with CSL and BCI’s commitment to environmental sustainability, the design of the new ship provides a pathway to achieve our decarbonization targets. Its diesel-electric propulsion system is engineered for future conversion to clean fuels or electrification,” said Louis Martel, president and CEO of the CSL Group.
