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Temporary Pilotage Direction

A temporary pilotage direction is issued with immediate effect.
All vessels wishing to berth at FIPASS are required to take a pilot.
This will be confirmed when booking the berth with AtLink.
This pilotage direction is issued following the recent incident where a vessel collided with and caused significant damage to the structure of FIPASS. Its purpose is to mitigate the risk of re-occurrence of such an accident and to protect the structure and the repairs that have been made.
This Notice shall remain in force until further notice.
Jonathan Poynter,
Deputy Harbour Master,
Falkland Islands Government.
Issued on 23/09/2019

Please be advised of the following update; the FIPASS Tank Safeguarding Project Engineers are due to arrive on Saturday 6th July 2019. The project will be managed on behalf of FIG by a specialist from Waves Group and the project team has been contracted from SMIT Salvage and local support from Martech (Falklands) Ltd.

It is anticipated the project will take no more than two weeks and will be completed by the 19th July 2019. However, as with any project there is a risk this project may not meet this time line if unforeseen issues present themselves.

It is not anticipated that FIPASS will have to be closed during this project period, however if there are any disruptions to normal operational activities Atlink Ltd will provide as much notice as possible and manage the operations accordingly to minimise an impact.

Please be advised of the following information after a recent annual review of the Risk Assessment (RA) for utilisation of the North West Barge and following consultation with directly involved parties.

A decision has been made to reposition the WoolCo containers from straddling the Link Bridges between the South West Barge (AKA Wool Warehouse) and the North West (NW) Barge. This particular decision was taken after consideration of three main risk factors, which were the deck loading limits, weight imposed on the deck from the Box Loaders and the material condition of the barge. The conclusion of reviewing that process of stuffing and lifting the WoolCo containers from their current position on FIPASS, is no longer approved.

After consultation with the companies involved in this process and consideration of the alternative options, the decision has been made to re-position these containers on the North Centre Barge (AKA Centre Berth). This is the short term measure to continue with stuffing containers of wool on the deck and in the longer term the WoolCo are exploring alternative options in order to stuff the wool containers inside the Wool Warehouse.

As you may have gathered by re-positioning these two wool containers on the Centre Berth, there might be an odd occasion when this conflicts with Transhipping activities on the same berth in the short term. All efforts will be made to manage this within the operational constraints of both activities. However, for those Company’s engaged in Transhipping please be aware the configuration of two blocks of five might be reduced. The remaining two transhipment Reefers can be placed on deck in an alternative position with approval from the Duty Operations Manager. Therefore the only direct impact will be, two of the block of ten will be re-positioned if there has to be concurrent activity of stuffing wool containers and transhipping.

Please accept our apologies for any disruption to your operations on FIPASS, but we’re sure you would all agree the safety of everybody is more important than this operational disruption.

FALKLAND ISLANDS GOVERNMENT
NOTICE TO MARINERS

NO 03/2018

1. The Falkland Islands Government (FIG) has made the decision to close the FIPASS North West Barge to berthing operations on the grounds of safety, due to the deterioration of the structure, particularly the deck edge and north facing plating. The barge remains useable for accessing the Wool Warehouse and the Cold Store.
2. The bollards on the west berth remain suitable for ships lines except for number 22.
3. The FIPASS Duty Operations manager will decide the actual berthing position on the centre and east berths based on the prevailing circumstances and conditions.
4. The following parameters will be followed when allocating use of FIPASS:
4.1. The maximum combined LOA of vessels alongside FIPASS shall not exceed 220m.
4.2. Distance between berthed vessels shall, so far as practicable, be 10m.
4.3. In the case of vessels overhanging onto the west berth then they must berth port side to and the flat side of the vessel must rest on the centre berth.
4.4. If the LOA of a single vessel is more than 140m then only one vessel shall be berthed alongside. The intention of this restriction is to accommodate those larger vessels that require a central berthing position to safely conduct their port operation.
5. The Harbour Master may be consulted and will have the final decision on berthing position in the case of dispute.
This Notice shall remain in force until further notice.

Captain C Locke,
Harbour Master,
Falkland Islands Government.
Issued on 06/11/2018

Due to an incident involving a vehicle striking a vehicle barrier there will be temporary traffic cones used as you approach FIPASS. The cones will be removed once you have clearance to go on FIPASS. When you exit FIPASS the other vehicle barrier will still be operational.

Trant (Capital Works Contractor) will be positioning one of their compressors on the FIPASS causeway from tonight (05/10/2017) this will be located on the Causeway for the foreseeable future. Traffic management will be in place when required.

Please note: ATLink Ltd are not project managing the Capital works programme or responsible for any impact the Capital works may have on your commercial business.

Due to the ongoing maintenance programme upon FIPASS we are required to lift and maintain the link spans connecting the East Barge to the Centre Barge.

The works will commence on Wednesday 16th August between the hours of 10:00 and 17:00. During these times there will be no vehicular access beyond the East Berth. Pedestrian access will still be available but extra care must be taken.

Can all users therefore please park all vehicles in the marked parking spaces on the East Berth and proceed on foot.

The Link-span Maintenance works are to continue on Wednesday 09/08/2017 between the hours of 08:30 and 16:30.
The works are to be conducted in the following areas; the link spans connecting the Centre Barge to the West Barge, once this area is complete the works will then move on to the link spans connecting the East Berth to the Centre Berth.
At times during the works, depending on progression, there will be no access or restricted access for vehicles beyond the East berth, pedestrian access will still be available but extra care must be taken.
It is advised that all users park their vehicles in the marked parking spaces on the East berth and proceed on foot during the stated times above.

Due to the ongoing maintenance programme upon FIPASS we are required to lift and maintain the link spans connecting the East Barge to the Centre Barge.

The works will commence on Monday 7th August between the hours of 09:00 and 17:00. During these times there will be no vehicular access beyond the East Berth. Pedestrian access will still be available but extra care must be taken.

Can all users therefore please park all vehicles in the marked parking spaces on the East Berth and proceed on foot.