Cosco carries mega pumper to cool Fukushima reactor

COSCO's joint venture, the Shanghai International Ferry Co Ltd recently succeeded in shipping a giant pumping device to Japan for cooling the troubled reactor in Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The transport is without charge and the cost will be absorbed as donation to Japan.

The pump is 15.5 metres long and 4.2 metres high with a 62-metre arm, weighting 53.5 tonnes. It is worth US$1 million and was donated by China's heavy machinery manufacturer Sany Group.

"Suzhou" vessel was assigned to this task. The normal way of moving the device would take up 40 slots on the ship. But the number is reduced to 20 after optimisation and the loss is reduced to about US$60,000.