NorseMerchant Ferries strengthens its Belfast terminal operations with five new tractor units

NorseMerchant Ferries has purchased five new Terberg tractor units to speed up terminal handling at its Belfast, Northern Ireland terminal. These will join nine existing Terberg machines that are used to transfer unaccompanied trailers between the terminal's trailer park and the ferries.According to NorseMerchant Ferries' Managing Director Phillip Shepherd, the new trucks are required to meet increasing demand for unaccompanied trailer capacity:

"This shore side investment in new ro-ro tractors coincides with the introduction of Lagan Viking, the first of two new Ro-Pax ships that we are putting on our Belfast - Birkenhead service."This new vessel has increased power and speed, which will improve scheduling on the route.  The addition of the additional tractors is designed to complement this improvement in service by reducing turnaround times for our Belfast services to both Birkenhead and Heysham."

The new tractors are Terberg RT 222 ro-ro tractors with four-wheel drive to maximise pulling power and grip when working on the ships' internal ramps. They are powered by 230bhp Volvo TAD 720 VE engines which generate enough power to haul a 100 tonne load up a 15% incline, explains Keith Jones of Transtec Equipment, Terberg's main agent in the UK:

"The RT 222 is our latest machine and in the form specified by NorseMerchant, it comes with a ZF transmission that provides permanent 'soft' four wheel drive with a one-third, two-thirds power split between front and back axles. This can be switched to 50:50 by the driver when extra adhesion is required."A driver's seat that power rotates through 180o giving better driver vision and control, a 35-tonne capacity elevating fifth wheel and a rear door giving easy access to the connecting lines all combine to minimise the time it takes to hook up the trailer."