The second wood chip shipment imported through the Port of Eastport this year soon ran into a problem with the port's bulk conveyor system, but quick action and support from area contractors led to the unloading operation not taking much longer than had been expected.
      The Aruna Ece arrived earlier this month from Sheet Harbour, N.S., with 15,000 metric tons of wood chips, about half of the amount that the port had unloaded in March for the Woodland Pulp mill, and docked at the Estes Head terminal, after being at anchor for a day, on Saturday, June 10. Unloading started at 8 p.m. that night, but late Sunday afternoon a belt tensioning weight on the main conveyor belt "came crashing down," says Tom Critchley, the general manager for Logistec Terminals, which operates the port. The 16,000-pound counterweight stayed within its container, and no one was injured from the accident.
      Critchley says it was decided not to try to repair the conveyor until the Eastport Port Authority's insurance company and the manufacturer looked at what happened. Instead, 10 local dump trucks and two 18-wheeler trucks with conveyor belts from Landry Trucking in Sherman were used to unload the chips from the ship. "We put out a call at 6 p.m. on a Sunday night and got 10 trucks right away," he says. "We appreciate everyone helping and supporting us."
      "The total down time was two and a half hours," Critchley says, and the unloading, which went on 24/7, ended up being finished on Thursday, June 15. If the conveyor system could have been used, Critchley estimates the unloading process might have taken a day less. "It went pretty well, but it was more labor intensive and more equipment intensive," he notes. Also, the operation when the conveyor system was working went about 50% faster than the first shipment in March.
      All of the chips are still at the Estes Head terminal's bulk storage yard, as the Woodland Pulp mill is shut down for six weeks for maintenance and some additional projects. Critchley is not sure if another wood chip shipment will be coming to the port this year.
      Of the conveyor belt's failure, Critchley says, "It wasn't because of lack of maintenance. Our belief is it was poor engineering. It only had 200 hours on it. It never should have happened."
      Chris Gardner, the executive director of the port authority, agrees, stating, "Professionals looked at it, and the way it was designed it was doomed for failure." He adds, "Since they lost the main piece of the operating system, I was quite impressed with what Tommy and his crew could do."
      This shipment was only the third time that the $9 million conveyor system, which was installed in 2013, was used at the port. Along with the insurance company and manufacturer, the port authority has been working with its legal counsel and the installer to resolve any issues that resulted from the conveyor system's failure and to get it repaired.