Tilbury loads biggest barley boat

The largest grain cargo vessel ever to sail from the Port of Tilbury is loading over 50,000 tonnes of UK barley this week.

The vast 230 metre MV Koutalianos weighs in at 93,000 tonnes deadweight - yet is still dwarfed by the high-capacity loading conveyors and towers of the Tilbury docks.

With a deck area of around two acres (8500 m2), the MV Koutalianos will carry the harvest from over 15,000 acres (6300 hectares) of UK farmland.

“This shipment, destined for Saudi Arabia, continues what has been a great start to the UK barley export market,” reported Nick Oakhill of Glencore Grain, which has been fulfilling the supply from farms across eastern and southern England. “Following the increased area of spring barley grown over the past season, and better than expected yields at harvest, the UK has a significant exportable surplus this year.

“With cumulative shipments from Tilbury of over 100,000 tonnes of export barley sales already this season, the trade has been crucial in securing a market for UK grain,” he said.

“The capacity of Tilbury to deal with such large grain consignments has been instrumental in achieving the shipment, and in completing the delivery quickly and efficiently.”

The Port of Tilbury has over seven kilometres of dockside, with the port’s grain handling capability including 120,00 tonnes of storage in over 200 separate silos – linked by a fully computerised high-speed loading system. The Port is fully TASCC and AIB approved for hygiene and handling of grain and food crops.

Loading of the MV Koutalianos is scheduled to take up to seven days, when she will sail to France and onward to the end destination of Saudi Arabia.