At a height of 453 ft., the world’s largest quay cranes have set sail for the London Gateway container port. Taller than the length of a football field (including the end zones), the first three cranes manufactured by Shanghai's Zhenhua Port Machinery Company (ZPMC), have started their journey from China.
Each crane can pick up containers 25 rows across deck, beyond the width of the world’s largest container ship. Tim Halhead, London Gateway operations director said: “The size of the cranes future proofs the port, allowing London Gateway to handle the next generation of ultra-large container ships. These cranes are among the most advanced in the industry, assisting our operatives to deliver a reliable and consistently high level of productivity.”
The semi-automated cranes allows quick and efficient handling of containers as well as being connected directly to the Terminal Operating System, which tracks the containers and sends work orders to the crane operator.
The port will start operations on the first berth in Q4 of this year with five quay cranes and two rail mounted gantry cranes provided by ZPMC. Cargotec will provide 10 automatic stacking cranes and 18 straddle carriers for the first berth.
London Gateway says it will bring significant savings to importers and exporters cutting delivery costs by an estimated $94 per container to the North-West and Midlands and $300 per container for London and the South East.
When these giants make their way to the United States remains to be seen.
Source: Vertikal.net
Photo: courtesy of Vertikal.net
