Loading operations of ore carriers from the seaside. Dealing with 20 to 30% of ore carrier arriving in New Caledonia per year.
Four marine loading bases located in the Northern Province of Teoudie (Kaala-Gomen) and Poya on the West coast and in Nakety and Kouaoua on the East coast. The administrative headquarters, maintenance center and support services are located in Nouméa.
59 at 31 December 2023.
Address: 9 rue d’Austerlitz, Immeuble SAM3
P.O. Box 66 – 98845 Nouméa Cedex
New Caledonia
Phone: +687 28 13 53
Fax: +687 28 15 67
Compagnie de Transport Minière du Nord SAS (Cotransmine), another subsidiary company fully owned by the SMSP, ensures the loading operations of the ore produced by the joint venture Nickel Mining Company SAS (NMC). Cotransmine employed 99 people on December 31, 2020. Mineral ore due for export is loaded onto ore tankers moored near the storage centres. The distance between ore tanker mooring points and barge loading wharves varies according to the geographical location and characteristics of the points of embarkation. It is about 5 to 6 km on the West Coast and generally less than 1 km on the East Coast. The loading of ore is an operation that mobilise the local communities.
The ore is transported from the mine sites to the ore carrier by tugs and barges. The loaded barges are positioned by the tug along the ore carrier so that the ore is taken from the barges by the ore carrier’s cranes to be deposited in its holds. Cotransmine’s fleet comprises 10 x 350 to 900 HP tugboats, 26 mining barges with a payload capacity of 250 to 330 tonnes and 2 slipways for fleet maintenance.
Cotransmine operates on 4 NMC mine sites: Ouaco, Poya, Nakéty and Kouaoua. An operational and maintenance center is located in Numbo bay. Here are the support services as human resources, procurement and logistics. A second maintenance center is located in Téoudié to sustain the fleet.
Shipping resources include navigation staff (captains, mechanics, sailors) and maintenance staff (mechanics, welders, boiler makers, renovation agents). Each shipping resources sector is supervised by a manager.
Manager: Luc BRESIL.
Téoudié shipping resources are composed of 3 tugs and 13 barges.
There are 12 full-time employees and between 15 and 20 temporary employees per loading.
Casual workers manager: Charles VOUDJO.
Poya shipping resources are composed of 2 tugs and 5 barges.
There are 2 or 3 full-time employees (2 captains / 1 mechanic) and 17 temporary employees (1 mechanic / 2 boatswains / 4 sailors / 10 crane operators).
Manager: Donald BEMARON.
Kouaoua shipping resources are composed of 2 tugs and 5 barges.
There are 3 or 4 full-time employees (1 or 2 captains / 1 or 2 mechanics) and between 8 and 10 temporary employees (1 captain / 1 mechanic / 2 boatswains / 4 sailors).
Casual workers manager: Jean-Paul MACHORO and Séraphin TARAMOIN.
Nakéty shipping resources are composed of 2 tugs and 5 barges.
There are 2 or 3 full-time employees (2 captains / 1 mechanic) and between 10 and 12 temporary employees (4 or 5 crane operators / 4 or 5 riggers).
To fight effectively against the risks of pollution, Cotransmine established immediate warning instructions to enable each worker on site, visualization and rapid identification of the pollution severity levels to trigger appropriate actions plan marine emergency.
A report is prepared by the intermittent manager and forwarded to the site manager and the Cotransmine maritime HSE manager.
Next pollution volumes to be treated, officials concerned will be: NMC and Cotransmine managers, DIMENC, provincial services, maritime affairs or state action at sea office.
Cotransmine is a sea transport company, wholly owned subsidiary of SMSP. The President is SMSP company and the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Karl THERBY.