Kalmar Wins Contract for STS Container Cranes

Kalmar has secured an order for the delivery of a ship-to-shore (STS) container crane for P&O Ports Antwerp. Despite its compact dimensions - 40 metres outreach, 15 metres railspan and 21 metres backreach - in terms of capacity, the crane can be considered a true heavyweight with a lifting capacity of 65 tonnes under the twinlift spreader. Continually increasing volumes at P&O’s existing terminal at the Delwaidedok resulted in the need for an additional crane and possibly one more in the near future. P&O Antwerp handles at present 1.1 million TEU per year at its terminal with 1300 metres of quay, which can accommodate fully loaded vessels of up to 4000TEU. Paul Valkeniers, Managing Director, P&O Ports Antwerp, explains why the order went to Kalmar: “Seven manufacturers participated in the tender. We placed major value on performance, design and after sales support. Technically, an important consideration was the fact that we required very low wheel loadings. “We were glad to see that the most competitive tender came from Kalmar, a company with manufacturing facilities in Rotterdam, and a local agent in Antwerp, BIA. “The satisfactory performance of the two existing Kalmar Nelcon cranes (originally delivered to Allied Stevedores and presently each handling 120,000 moves per year) helped swing the deal in Kalmar’s favour.” Kees Derks, Kalmar’s Sales Manager for ship to shore container cranes, is delighted to have won this order from such a prestigious customer, especially given the demanding specification: “The crane will be working on a quay with low permissible wheel loadings, which created a challenge for our design team. However, they were very much up to the task.” The crane will be fitted with a separating twin-lift spreader and will be delivered in June 2004. This looks like a favourable development for Kalmar since P&O Ports will decide later this year on the equipment for its new tidal terminal at the Deurganckdok, the so-called Schelde Left Bank project.