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Ocean Trains from NORSUL

Efficient and sustainable logistics alternative

Throughout its history, NORSUL has always stood out as a Brazilian shipping company capable of offering innovative logistic solutions innovative solutions to its clients. The company was a pioneer, for example, in the use of ocean trains in navigation between ports from north to south of the country.

March 12, 2021

Convoys are a set of articulated vessels made up of a pusher and one or more barges. NORSUL started its operations with ocean trains in coastal trade to serve customers with different transportation needs for their products.

This is how, in 2003, the company started to operate in the transportation of eucalyptus logs, and in 2005, expanded the service to also carry bales of pulp. Years later, it started to offer the same model in the transportation of steel products. Today, the company has 17 vessels of its own, including pushers and oceanic barges, in operation.

History

The transportation of cargo by pushers and barges started in the United States more than 150 years ago. At this time, the difficulties of navigating the country's rivers demanded a versatile alternative, with great cargo capacity and at low depths. In turn, the solution would replace the use of large ships that offered higher risks of running aground in shallower waters.

NORSUL Trains

The ocean convoy model has always shown itself to be extremely flexible to operate as a logistical alternative along the Brazilian coast. In addition, it represents a transport choice already established in industrial coastal trade. Ocean trains offer significant advantages, such as:

•  The possibility of uncoupling the motor vessel from the barge with the cargo, speeding up the unloading process of the transported material;

•  Reduction of the average waiting time and cost for berthing at port terminals;

•  Ease of maneuvering and the versatility that provides less fuel expenditure;

•  Greater safety, since the barge is unmanned and the amount of people piloting the pusher is reduced.

In other words, faced with the growing need for more competitive logistics solutions, the use of ocean trains continues to be an excellent logistics option for the market. It is a modern alternative in maritime transport and the flow of cargo for different industrial segments.

Logistics Strategy

For Captain Jaqueline Lopes, Traffic Manager at NORSUL, "the cargo transportation operation through articulated vessels represents an efficient logistic strategy. There is flexibility in using much simpler and cheaper docking arrangements than ships, providing companies with several direct benefits."

The Captain is responsible for coordinating the company's ocean convoys on the routes between Espírito Santo and Bahia. She explains: "NORSUL was the pioneer Brazilian company in implementing these articulated vessels with ocean pushers and barges in coastal trade. A model that shows itself to be innovative and current for companies that need more agility in transportation and in the flow of their products.