Kalmar delivers two ship-to-shore cranes to Uniport
Kalmar Industries has delivered two super post-Panamax ship-to-shore (STS) cranes to Uniport for its Waalhaven Pier 7 facility in the Port of Rotterdam. Initial operations have already seen the cranes achieving impressive handling rates including one four-hour shift where the production rate was 45 containers per crane per hour.
The Uniport cranes have been built according to Kalmars modular concept: one basic crane design that can be adapted to suit the needs of many different operators. Not only can height and outreach be varied to suit individual terminals needs but so can speed, levels of automation and a host of other features.
After looking at probable future developments in the Port of Rotterdam and in container handling in general, Uniport asked Kalmar to incorporate features into the design which really tested the degree of flexibility available within the concept. However, the design team at Kalmar were up to the task, explained Kees Derks, Sales Manager STS Cranes:
Pier 7 was originally built to handle bulk cargoes and the distance between the crane rails is a massive 70m. That wasnt a problem but Uniport explained that it may, at some time in the future, want to move these cranes to a new terminal in Rotterdams future Maasvlakte where the crane rails are a more usual 100ft (30.48m) apart. Our design engineers were able to incorporate features that will allow the cranes to be easily modified should they need to be relocated.
Uniport has also been watching spreader manufacturers development of so-called tandem-lift spreaders, capable of lifting two 40ft/45ft containers simultaneously. It expects to buy such spreaders when they are available and are shown to be reliable. Consequently, it asked for a lift capacity of 80 tonnes under the spreader (or 100 tonnes on the ropes), again something that is incorporated within our modular design concept.
With an outreach of 53.5m, the Uniport cranes are able to handle post-Panamax vessels carrying containers up to 20 abreast. Currently, the largest vessels handled at Pier 7 are around 5500TEU and carry containers 16 wide but Uniport does expect to be handling larger vessels in the future, especially if the move to the Maasvlakte takes place.
The two cranes are currently fitted with twin-lift Bromma spreaders and can achieve a maximum hoisting/lowering speed of 40 m/min at 55 tonnes, 120 m/min at 20 tonnes. The maximum trolley speed is 210 m/min.
Uniport was founded in Rotterdam in 1973 and was purchased by a Rotterdam-based stevedoring entrepreneur, Hans Vervat, from the Swiss global forwarder, Kühne & Nagel, in 2001. Its horseshoe shaped terminal covers two opposite piers in the Rotterdam Waalhaven docks and measures about 60 hectares. Of the terminals 2,400 metres of quay, 1,600 metres can accommodate fully laden vessels of up to 6,000TEU.
Herman van Strien, Managing Director of Uniport, explained why the order went to Kalmar:
"We favoured a European manufacturer for its proximity with service, repairs, parts, etc. Also, on top of this, we had a unique specification which required a custom-built solution. Consequently, of the six manufacturers we invited to tender, only one was located in Asia.
-It really was a bonus for us when we found that the most competitive tender came from Kalmar, a company with manufacturing facilities here in Rotterdam. We knew we would be getting an excellent product and that we would be able to rely on first-class support, especially after we had spoken to other users of Kalmar cranes.
Initial performance figures have been excellent. There has been one four-hour shift with a discharge rate of 45 boxes per crane per hour. The average production is still running at 32 moves per crane per hour.
This year, we expect to handle around 840,000TEU at Uniport, around 8% more than in 2001. And with more post-Panamax ships being introduced by our customers, we are now talking to Kalmar regarding the option we hold for two more cranes. Perhaps, we will need to change the specification slightly but only to accommodate even bigger ships. Increasing the lift height from the current cranes 31m above the rail to 34m, thus enabling us to handle an extra tier of containers, is one option we are seriously considering.
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Photographs to accompany this release are also available on the Dunelm website at www.dunelmpr.co.uk. Click on the photogallery button, then the Kalmar logo and you will be taken to a selection of thumbnail images which lead to downloadable photographs (300 dpi). The caption, suitable for all of the photographs, reads:
Kalmar Industries has delivered two super post-Panamax ship-to-shore (STS) cranes to Uniport for its Waalhaven Pier 7 facility in the Port of Rotterdam. Initial operations have already seen the cranes achieving impressive handling rates.
Note to editors:
Picturesof the new generation ContChamp reachstackers can be found on Kalmars website www.kalmarind.com. Simply click on Press Pictures in the News Room section on the opening page.
Kalmar is a global provider of heavy duty materials handling equipment and services to ports, intermodal traffic, terminals and demanding industrial customers. Kalmar focuses on supplying handling solutions that enable customers to operate with a high level of efficiency and reliability. Every fourth container or trailer transfer at terminals around the world is handled by a Kalmar machine.
Kalmar provides a large range of value added services such as maintenance contracts and fleet management. Manufacturing plants are situated in Sweden (as is the head office), in Finland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Malaysia and the USA.
For further information, please contact:
Kalmar Industries
Communications Manager
aija.kalander@kalmarind.com