TOCOPILLA
THE PORT OF
4,000 tons of products are
brought every day to the 14 storage
courtyards and warehouses,
and 6 silos at the port of Tocopilla.
90%
product
in bulk
10%
bagged
product
THE MECHNICAL ARM
This is a steel reticular structure built in 1961 and specifically designed for the bulk loading of saltpeter. These days SQM uses the mechanical arm to load more than 20 products of a variety of grades of purity.
Mechanical arm
Northern entrance of port
Management Office
Storage courtyards for bulk products
Bagging unit
Maintenance workshop
Dock No.5
Storage courtyard for mixed products
Southern entrance of port
PORT FACILITIES
Storage area for bagged products
Maritime operations office
Silos
Supplies warehouse
Support Pivot
Supports the weight and acts as a gyrating pivot for the mechanical arm. 12 m diameter.
Telescopic arm
Extendable arm used
to load the product
into the ship’s cargo hold
using a conveyor belt.
The product is loaded via a
conveyor belt that transports
it from the silos or storage
warehouses directly into the
cargo hold of the ship.
Support arch
This is the rear support of the mechanized arm, which, along with the counterweight, allows the product to be loaded into the ship using the telescopic arm.
Conveyor belt
Unloading chute
REACH OF TELESCOPIC ARM
BULK LOADING ONTO THE SHIP
1
2
Control
An operator controls all the movements from a cabin on the fixed section of the mechanical arm.
Loading
The loading chute is retractable and made of 8 conical units that slot into each other.
Control cabin
Loading chute
TRIMMING BY BULLDOZER
Trimming is the process of pushing the cone of product into the corners of the hold, thereby levelling with a bulldozer, dredger or other machine.
Ship
Bulldozer
BAGGED PRODUCTS
In order to meet the demands of the clients with the widest variety of products it is sometimes necessary for SQM to export products bagged, loaded onto the ships using barges, known as faluchos by the port's people.
Barges
As the ships can’t approach the dock, the maxibags and slings carrying the materials have to be taken from the collecting point to the ship in barges that are specially adapted for the job and have a capacity for 150 to 200 maxibags and 6,000 bags of 25 kg in slings.
The fully-loaded barge
is towed to the ship.
Barges are towed to
the side of the cargo
ship using tugboats.
Dock Nº 5 was built in the latter part of the 19th century; it is used for loading bagged products and has been in use since the golden era of saltpeter.
Beam spreaders
At both extremes of the beam spreader the guy ropes need to be adjusted to control the balance, turning and swaying of the products.
Dock crane
Dock N°5
Beam spreaders
LOADING BAGGED CARGO ONTO THE SHIPS
1
2
3
BAGGED ONTO BULK PRODUCT
Maxibags are stowed on top of the bulk cargo.
Barge
Nylon sheeting protects the bulk cargo.
Ship
STOWING OF MAXIBAGS
Inside the ship's hold the job of the signalman is undertaken by the longshoreman.
LAYERS OF MAXIBAGS
The longshoremen arrange the maxibags into the hold, suspending them at 50 cm before laying them into position.