Road Mobile Mechanical Ship Unloader

A truck-towed, high-capacity mechanical ship unloader for port and marine logistics. Discharges directly into silo trucks, with no fixed infrastructure required.

The Vanguard Mersea is a road mobile mechanical ship unloader for cement, grain, fly ash, slag and fertilizer. Mounted on a road-legal semi-trailer, it travels to the berth behind a standard truck and can be working the same day, with no foundations and no civil works. A screw conveyor line driven by hydraulic motors carries the cargo from the hold to twin loading spouts, discharging up to 300 tonnes per hour into silo trucks, a belt conveyor or a pneumatic conveying line.

Key benefits

Up to 300 tonnes per hour peak on cement, from vessels up to 10,000 DWT
Loads two silo trucks at the same time through dust-free telescopic spouts
Mechanical conveying keeps power per tonne low, with no pressure losses to overcome
Travels as one piece on a semi-trailer: no site assembly, no foundations, no rails
Electric or diesel drive, with wireless remote control from the ship’s deck

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Engineered for fast, enclosed truck loading

From the hold to the silo truck, the Mersea is a fully enclosed mechanical ship unloader that keeps the trucks turning

How the mechanical ship unloader works

A powered feeder head is lowered into the hold, where it loosens the compacted cargo and feeds it into the screw line. From there the material travels up the boom to the loading spouts. The conveyors are interlocked: if one is overloaded, the ones feeding it back off automatically instead of packing material against a blockage. The operator works from the ship’s deck with a wireless remote, and the cargo stays enclosed the whole way from hold to truck.

Energy Efficiency

The drive turns screws rather than moving air. A 355 kW main engine, 373 kW installed, delivers the full 300 tonnes per hour. A pneumatic unloader at the same 300 tonnes per hour needs more than three times that installed power, because there the energy goes into generating vacuum and pressure. Across a season of regular calls, the difference shows up directly in the electricity bill.

Light Structure Design

The structure is engineered to keep weight off the quay. The boom folds and retracts for transport, and the counterweight is built into the machine housing rather than added as ballast. Total weight is 30 tonnes on the 5000A and 48 tonnes on the 10000A, spread across the trailer axles, so point loads stay low enough that most berths need no reinforcement.

Fast Pace Operations

Two loading spouts work off the same screw line. One truck fills while the next pulls in, and each spout stops automatically when the tank is full, so the driver is not waiting on a signal from the operator. Turnaround at the quay stays short even on back-to-back calls. That is where a mechanical ship unloader earns its time at the berth.

Dust-Free Loading

Each spout encloses the cargo as it free-falls into the tank, and a negative pressure filter unit draws dust back from the loading point. The filters clean themselves while the unit is running, so dust control does not cost you a stop during the call.

Mersea models and technical data

Mersea 5000A: vessels up to 5,000 DWT, 30 tonnes, 12.0 x 2.5 x 4.0 meters on the road.

Mersea 10000A: vessels up to 10,000 DWT, 48 tonnes, 18.5 x 2.5 x 4.2 meters on the road.

Both mechanical ship unloader models peak at 300 tonnes per hour on cement. The main engine is 355 kW at 1500 rpm with 373 kW installed, available as an electric motor or as a diesel engine. Full specifications are in the datasheet, available on request.

Where a road mobile mechanical ship unloader makes sense

It fits terminals that load straight into silo trucks at the quay rather than conveying to a distant silo, and operators who serve several ports with irregular calls. If storage sits a few hundred meters back from the berth, a pneumatic unloader is usually the better answer. Our article on choosing between a pneumatic or mechanical ship unloader walks through that decision. Bring us your vessel size range and call pattern, and we will tell you which one earns its cost.