to storage and shipping
The shipping season in Longyearbyen begins around May to the middle of November. This depends on the ice conditions in the fjord, and in some summers, it can be as late as June before it is possible to dock. A good storage facility is therefore necessary to store the coal which has been extracted during the winter season.
The first coal storage was established at Skjæringa around 1907/08, approximately where Taubanesentralen (The Cableway Central) is located today. At the same time, a shipping dock was built about 180 meters out from the shore. This is the same place as Gamlekaia is located today, but the area around it has been filled in. The cableway from Mine no. 1 had an automatic tip at the storage and continued out to the curve at the far end of the dock. When loading the ships, coal was directly transported by the cableway from the mine to the ship. In addition, there was a four-track trolley line from the coal storage to the shipping dock. The track was cut into the bank in front of the storage, hence the name Skjæringa.
The first coal storage was located on sloping terrain and was exposed to waterlogging and freezing. A new storage and dock facility was therefore built at Hotellneset around 1920. A large rail-mounted storage- and loading bridge with a span of 61 m was installed here. In addition, there was a loading crane with a gripping capacity of 2.3 m3 and loading tower with a movable outrigger for loading ships. The loading capacity of the facility was now around 300 tons per hour.
The facility at Hotellneset was damaged during World War 2. In 1946, a new storage and loading facility was therefore installed. Two large scrapers were now used for loading instead of the old loading cranes. The capacity was about the same as before. In 1953, a new crane was also installed for sorting different types of coal. The crane is still standing at Hotellneset today, next to the sea, although it is no longer in use.
At the same time, Line No. 4 was built connected to Line No. 3 by the angle station, alongside the coal storage. This was a slow-moving line with a large loading capacity and automatic turning system. The coal was emptied into a funnel on the large loading bridge and distributed to the storage with a belt conveyor.
Today, only the loading tower for shipping with outriggers is intact and in use. All storage and transport of coal is carried out with a conveyor belt and a car or wheel loader. The amount of coal that has been shipped out since the mid-1920s and to the present day has varied between 200,000 and 400,000 tons per year. While there was previously a significant supply for private use in Northern Norway, NSB(National Norwegian Traincompany) and the coking plant in Mo i Rana. In recent years the export of Longyear coal has mainly been to foreign ferroalloy industry.
