BTJ 3/2008 - Baltic Transport Journal

Report
Seaport equipment and facilities
An offer for today, an investment
In order to meet customers’ requirements and to
adapt to the changing market, producers of port
equipment try to provide more and more automat-
ed solutions containing future-oriented options.
The goal is to create such solutions which allow further development
of the port devices. Many equipment manufacturers
have meanwhile changed from a machinery producer to a
supplier of complete handling management systems. Others
play the market by specialising in one type of machinery.
As the variety of available equipment is a very broad
topic, we decided to focus on the main producers and their key products,
dividing our overview into several sections based on port operations:
• ship loading and discharging equipment,
• quayside to stackyard/warehouse transportation,
• storage and distribution of containers (stackyard operations),
• intermodal/trimodal transhipment,
• bulk and general cargo handling.
First, let us however take a closer look at the main trends in a port’s
technology development, which constantly leads to improvements in:
• handling operations flexibility, quality and efficiency,
• complexity of projects, solutions and services,
• expansion of handling storage and transport activities,
• better terminal planning (involving a further
development of existing/new facilities),
• used equipment customized modernization
and conversion programmes,
• customized software packages to test the interplay
of modules in a virtual environment,
• complete service packages
(including consulting services supporting the purchase).
Ship loading and discharging equipment
Let us start with ship-to-shore transhipment and cranes which, traditionally,
are the core of any harbour business. They are widely used for fast, highperformance
and cost-effective loading/off-loading of a variety of goods,
from bulk and general cargo, via containers, to project and heavy-lift.
26 | Baltic Transport Journal | 3/2008
This makes them useful both in a small multi-purpose port as well
as in a large terminal. The most popular types of cranes are: Mobile Harbour
Cranes (MHC), Portal Harbour Cranes (PHC) equipped with a
rail-mounted portal instead of the tyre-mounted chassis usually used for
Harbour Cranes and Floating Cranes (FC).
The competition is high and companies always try to stand out.
Gottwald Port Technology GmbH, which invented the MHC about
50 years ago, is now strongly promoting its new Generation 5 Harbour
Cranes with the motto: “You name it, we crane it”. The idea behind the
new series is custom built products for individual demands of the client.
It is possible due to the block principle construction with the use
of many identical parts.
Gottwald Generation 5 Harbour Cranes offer:
• up to 20% higher handling rates,
• lifting capacities up to 200 tons,
• up to a max. 63-t grab curve,
• cargo handling on all ship sizes right up
to post-Panamax ships,
• a longer service life.
Typical examples of possible applications are:
• intensive, high-speed container handling
(also in a twin lift mode) on ships of all sizes,
• container handling on vessels of special sizes
e.g., Panamax ships,
• container handling and a high percentage
of heavy-load lifting operations in multipurpose
terminals,
• a high-level performance in continuous-duty
professional bulk handling operation (with 4-rope
grab),
• frequent changing between different types of cargo
handling, including container, general cargo
and bulk handling, in small and medium-sized
multipurpose terminals,
• high handling speeds at low lifting capacities,
for handling pallets, for example.
Gottwald’s main competitor in the field of MHC is Liebherr which
has got more than 30 years of experience in this area. Today they offer a
balanced range of models. The LHM product range, with its combination
of well-established functions and many additional features, is the
tool for easy, highly efficient cargo handling.
Liebherr Harbour Mobile Cranes offer:
• highly efficient container handling, bulk operations up
to 1,500 metric tons/hour, handling of scrap or
general cargo and even heavy lifts up to 140 metric
tons – just by an easy exchange of the lifting attachment,
• leading-edge crane undercarriage technology with
manoeuvrability and low ground pressure,
• an in-house design Litronic® system and the
patented Cycoptronic® cycle optimizing the electronic
crane control system.