tug and barge

OK, company insights May 2011 stated that the tug would tow the barge. From the latest Company Activities we can see the tug is ready and waiting (must have passed its sea trials), and that the barge is being upgraded to be powered.

Now from memory i think the plan was to motorise these barges in the future and making it more efficient to get it out to the floating harbour/ship.

What i am not clear on is why we will have a tug and a motorised barge (rather than a dumb barge).

So what I am assuming is that to stockpile the ore its going to take time, so for efficiency why dont we get the barge powered whilst stockpiling ore. We can probably afford to get one barge powered, but not enough to buy a second dumb barge. Once we get income coming in, we can cut the first powered barge free, and quickly obtain a second dumb barge, so doubling our shipping rate. But there are a lot of assumptions here, and it doesnt really seem clear to me that I understand whats going on.

So wondered what others think/know?



Reference Material:

Company Insights May 2011:

From: http://news.iguana2.com/ironclad/ASX/IFE/540972

The concept of the multi-user port facility at Lucky Bay has been developed by an Australian
company, Sea Transport Corporation, which already operates a car ferry service at Lucky Bay.
The bulk shipping port will be developed in two stages. In Stage One, iron ore will be
trucked from the mine to the port in containers and stockpiled in containers to await delivery
to ships.
For the first two years the ore containers will be loaded into a barge which will be towed by
tug to iron ore carriers equipped with cranes and dust suppression systems. The containers
will be crane-lifted and emptied into the hold. IronClad has already purchased a tug and
construction of the barge will begin shortly.
As mine production increases, the tug and barge system will be augmented with customized
motorised feeder barges, additional onshore port facilities and an offshore floating harbour.
The floating harbor, with its own stockpiling space and docking facilities, will be permanently
anchored 5-10km offshore in Spencer Gulf, in water deep enough for 150,000 tonne iron ore
carriers. The harbour itself will have the capacity to store up to 90,000 tonnes of ore.

Latest Company Activities:

http://news.iguana2.com/ironclad/ASX/IFE/540972

Lucky Bay Port Facility
A Tug Vessel – The MV Demi Maddison was purchased on 27 May 2011. The vessel is currently on a hardstand at a Gold Coast shipyard and is ready for immediate dispatch to Lucky Bay.
A quotation was received from Sea Transport Solutions Pty Ltd (“STS”) for the Engineering Procurement and Construction (“EPC”) of a 49m SLV dumb barge vessel for use in Stage 1 and 2 Lucky Bay shipping operations. An EPC contract for the work with STS was signed on 26 October 2011. The barge is being fabricated in Guangzhou, China. A variation has been issued to STS to increase the length of the barge to 57m. A further variation was issued in March to add engines and power the barge.