New Liebherr crane arrives at Grangemouth
Forth Ports’ leading Scottish container port, Grangemouth, saw its latest crane arrive from Ireland last week, in pieces and sub-assemblies, for local erection and commissioning. Meanwhile, Liebherr has announced handover of two high capacity STS cranes and two RMGs at APM Terminals in Gothenburg
This is Forth Ports’ third Liebherr STS crane at Grangemouth. It has a waterside outreach of 37m – sufficient for a 14-across deck stow at Grangemouth - and a lift height above rail of 25m. With boom raised, overall height is 45m. Self-weight is just 524 tonnes, largely as a function of Liebherr’s unique lattice monogirder design.
The crane arrived in large sections on board the heavy load carrier vessel EEMSLIFT ELLEN, sailing from the small port of Fenit close to Liebherr’s manufacturing facility facility in Killarney, South West Ireland.
With local assembly by Liebherr’s team of project engineers, the crane is scheduled to be ready to lift its first cargo by late October.
The clear height under the portal is 14.5m, which means that 1 over 3 straddle carriers can travel between the legs, should Grangemouth opt for these to increase stacking density. Currently the port operates with 16 1 over 2 straddle carriers.
Derek Knox, Grangemouth’s Port Manager, said: “This is an exciting time for the port as we welcome our new ship to shore crane. We handle some of Scotland’s most valuable exports, such as fine foods and drinks, so it is important that we deliver fast turnaround times to maintain the vessel schedules and ensure their reliability to service the Scottish export market."
Gerry Bunyan, Sales and Marketing Manager from Liebherr Container Cranes said: “In 2006 the Port of Grangemouth received its first Liebherr ship to shore container crane, a second followed the year after. Since that time, the cranes have been key components in the port’s success.
"It is particularly satisfying when a customer recognises the value that a Liebherr container crane can bring to their operation. We look forward to watching this crane help to increase further the business at Scotland’s leading container port.”
Separately, Liebherr has announced the final handover after seven months in operation of two STS cranes and two RMGs in the IY at APM Terminals in Gothenburg. These are the first Liebherr STS cranes and RMGs in the port.
The STS cranes are the largest in Scandinavia, with a SWL of 65 tonnes (under twin 20), an outreach of 65m, a backreach of 25m and a span of 30.48m. At 18m clearance, the portal is high enough to allow underpass by APMT’s 1 over 3 straddle carriers. Features include load collision prevention, ship profiling, straddle carrier positioning systems, electronically-controlled safe zones and minimal acceleration times on all drives.
The RMGs have been designed to a very advanced specification and have a SWL of 50 tonnes, a span of 30.6m and cantilevers on each side of 14.5m. Lift height over rail is 16.5m, giving a stacking height of 1 over 4. They are installed at the port’s new "Arken" on-dock intermodal rail terminal.
Gerry Bunyan said: “Liebherr Container Cranes and APM Terminals have worked together to deliver a number of different projects.
"The cranes in Gothenburg and the automated Liebherr STS cranes at Maasvlakte II in Rotterdam have laid the groundwork to cement a partnership that continues today with a further project in Guatemala. We look forward to working with APM Terminals again in the future.”
Henrik Kristensen, Managing Director APM Terminals Gothenburg AB, commented: “Gothenburg is Sweden’s most important freight hub and we are delighted to evolve the container terminal to continue to be at the forefront of technological development. The investment in these Liebherr machines allows us to continue that journey and bring a faster and more reliable service to our customers."
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