Crane Operators News

Dutch offshore crane maker Huisman launched a renewed series of subsea Knuckle Boom Cranes for the use in the offshore subsea construction market."With this new series, the company’s portfolio has been adapted to the latest trends in offshore construction vessels with respect to energy efficiency, automation, and safety," Huisman said.According to Huisman, the new, series includes models starting from 85mt up to 350mt and cover both setups with a winch below deck as well as on the back of the crane.Water depths up to 3…

Uruguayan company Corporación Navios replaced a Liebherr long duty cycle crane with a permanently installed harbor crane type FCC 300. The recently erected harbor crane will be used for dry bulk handling of barges in hoppers at the terminal in Nueva Palmira, Uruguay. The now total of three harbor cranes is expected to increase the terminal's handling rates and generate operating synergies, as the crane operators will work with the same type of crane on all operations.Corporación Navios has been working with Liebherr cranes for 30 years.

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday said workers who use cranes attached to boats to load equipment onto offshore oil rigs are not "seamen" exempt from overtime pay under federal wage law, reviving a collective action against liftboat operator All Coast LLC.The full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 15-2 to deny en banc review to All Coast and reinstated a three-judge panel's unanimous February ruling that said the workers were engaged in industrial activities that had no bearing…

Severe, unforecasted winds caused a containership to breakaway from a pier and damaged equipment at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal in New Orleans on Aug. 2, 2020, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.As longshoremen loaded and unloaded cargo from containership CMA CGM Bianca a sudden, localized thunderstorm passed through the area. Ten of the vessel’s 16 mooring lines parted in the high winds, and the ship moved away from the pier. Containers lifted by shoreside gantry cranes struck the ship. One damaged container dropped in the water spilling a cargo of plastic pellets, known as nurdles. A crane operator suffered a minor injury.

Offshore wind developersØrsted and Eversource have agreed to charter Dominion Energy's Charybdis, the first Jones Act-compliant offshore wind turbine installation vessel in the United States, for the construction of two offshore wind farms in the Northeast.Charybdis is being built in Texas by Keppel AmFels and will first be deployed out of New London harbor to support the construction of Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind offshore wind farms, both of which are being developed jointly by Ørsted and Eversource.

The $538 million first phase of the new Deepwater Port of Posorja in Ecuador by global trade enabler, DP World, is now completed and successfully operational.The overall $1.2 billion project will replicate Dubai's Jebel Ali Port and freezone, making Ecuador a trade and logistics hub for South America's west coast, and opening a gateway for large container ships with capacities exceeding 10,000 TEUs.Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, DP World, visited the facility to assess progress of the project, which is one of the largest international investments in Ecuador. The port has already been operational for two months, handling thousands of containers and more than a dozen post-panamax ships.Posorja is expected to welcome an annual volume of 750…

The implementation of a range of simple measures to streamline shift changes at APM Terminals Pipavav has reduced vessel idle times, added capacity and reduced impact on crane moves per hour due to shift change by around 16%.At the same time, it has also improved trailer driver and crane operator safety, said a press release from APM Terminals, an international container terminal operating company headquartered in The Hague.The Pipavav team has introduced clearly marked parking bays for terminal trailers, which provide a safe distance between each trailer. This provides drivers with a safe area to conduct per-operation checks and protects them from other vehicles when exiting their trailers.

Liebherr Maritime presents its new LiUP crane driver elevator for mobile harbour cranes at this year’s terminal operator trade fair, TOC Europe. The in-house developed lift has an innovative drive technology and is powered by an electric motor with lithium-ion battery and energy recovery function.The inhouse developed Liebherr crane driver elevator LiUP is designed to transport the operator in a save and efficient way to his workplace. The LiUP saves the drivers energy and time compared to climbing up several stairs.

Large-scale conversion project on offshore platform Molikpaq operated by Sakhalin Energy.While the refit of heavy lift capacity onboard an offshore rig might sound mundane, Liebherr’s project to replace and modernize cranes on the offshore platform Molikpaq operated by Sakhalin Energy, a unit subjected to some of the world’s harshest conditions, is anything but mundane.The modernization project on Sakhalin Energy’s offshore platform off the Russian island of Sakhalin includes two ram luffing offshore cranes, type RL 1500 that are going to be completely renewed.

An interview with Rear Admiral Ronald A. Boxall, Director, Surface Warfare (N96), conducted by Capt. Edward Lundquist, U. S. Navy (Ret.)The theme of the recent SNA West Coast Symposium was “Take a Running Fix.” So what’s your “fix” right now about where we are regarding surface warfare?The SWO Boss is thinking about that from a man/train/equip standpoint, and being able to ensure that we’re trained to the best we can, that we’re manned properly, and have the equipment we need.

Two years since the introduction of Verified Gross Mass (VGM) regulations, the industry appears to have achieved compliance but, “the accuracy of recorded weights still needs attention,” said a press release from APM Terminals.According to Praful Waghela, Global Product Manager VGM Services at APM Terminals, an additional validation step prior to final loading could help.Since July 2016, the verification of a container’s weight (VGM) has been a requirement under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).While most of APM Terminals’ facilities are equipped with calibrated and certified facilities to record and transmit accurate VGM to shipping lines…

The Royal Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class frigate, Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Montreal, arrived at Halifax Shipyard for a 53-week docking work period (DWP) that includes routine maintenance and upgrades to ensure the ships longevity.More than 400 Halifax Shipyard employees will work on HMCS Montreal DWP, including apprentice and journeyperson crane operators, electricians, engine fitters, ironworkers, joiners/stagers, labourers, material handlers, pipefitters, riggers, and welders, who are members of Unifor Local 1.HMCS Montreal is the third consecutive Halifax-class frigate from the Navy’s east coast fleet to enter the Halifax Shipyard’s graving dock for a DWP since 2016.

How can ports cut emissions to ensure cleaner air and contribute to the battle against climate change? An International Maritime Organization (IMO)  training course is supporting countries to help find the answers, which include the need to first quantify emissions and then identify measures to reduce port-related emissions in a cost-effective way. Maritime officials in Morocco are the latest to undergo the training, at a workshop in Casablanca (19-21 June). The event is being held under the IMO-run GloMEEP Project on energy-efficiency and the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH). More than 20 participants will be better equipped to quantify emissions in ports through development of port emissions assessments (both ocean and land-based…

With this latest delivery of cranes, the APM Terminals Moin remains on schedule for completion in February 2019, when it is expected to raise commerce in Costa Rica by 23% according to Qbis Socioeconomic Impact Study. This second delivery of Ship-to-Shore and Electric Rubber-Tire Gantry Cranes (ERTGs) to APM Terminals Moin, Costa Rica brings the total on site to six and 23 respectively. The commissioning of the equipment was completed this week. “APM Terminals Moin is proud to celebrate this milestone, which puts Costa Rica on the logistics map and sends the right signal to stakeholders about our commitment to the country´s trade,” said Kenneth Waugh, Managing Director of APM Terminals Moin. “These cranes represent a significant improvement in the competitiveness of the nation.

The first of Georgia Ports Authority’s four new Neo-Panamax cranes came online this week, bringing GPA’s operating fleet to 27 — more than any other single terminal in the nation. “Georgia’s ports are dedicated to staying a step ahead of market demand,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. The super-sized crane is tall enough to lift containers 152 feet above the dock. The crane started work before dawn Wednesday on a 13,300 twenty-foot equivalent container unit Hapag Lloyd vessel. Crane operators moved an estimated 2,700 containers on and off the ship during its time at the Port of Savannah. Designed by Konecranes of Finland, these massive cranes can work the largest ships now calling the U.S. East Coast, reaching across vessels up to 22 containers wide.

Pontchartrain Materials Company finds innovative solution for barge unloading applications. Located in New Orleans, La., Pontchartrain Materials Corporation, LLC provides aggregates to general contractors as well as asphalt and ready-mix companies. In addition to their chief product, limestone, the family-owned company sells recycled concrete and recycled asphalt. Pontchartrain sources the material from quarries in northern states, transferring it down the Mississippi River by barge to one of three company aggregate yards or directly to customers in the New Orleans and surrounding area.

GlobalSim has installed a Virtual Reality Crane Simulator Training System at Newport News Shipbuilding. The system provides a high-tech solution for training crane operators without risking personnel or equipment run by novice operators. The VR solution includes laptop computers, a headset and controls – all packaged in travel cases. This order is expected to be one of many simulators as Newport News Shipbuilding works to improve the effectiveness and safety of their crane operations. “Our new Virtual Reality Crane Simulator provides trainees an immersive learning opportunity in a safe environment using challenging interactive scenarios that avoid the cost and risk associated with performing similar training operations on real production cranes.” remarks James Ward…

Terex Port Solutions (TPS) has received orders from Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals Pte Ltd (BMCT), a wholly owned subsidiary of PSA International Pte Ltd (PSA) to supply various types of Terex stacking cranes. The orders include eighteen Terex rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTG) and four Terex rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMG). The RTG order also includes an option on 18 additional units. The flexible, productive and environmentally friendly machines will be handed over in three batches of six units each of RTGs between September and November 2017 whilst the RMG cranes will be delivered to Mumbai in September 2017. The RMGs will be utilized in BMCT’s railyard, which can handle double stack container trains of up to 1.5 km long.

Liebherr Maritime Crane has delivered the largest mobile harbor crane of the Caribbean to Kingston Wharves Limited in Jamaica. The LHM 600 is equipped with an elongated tower extension and eases the handling of big container vessels up to Super-Post-Panamax size. In November 2015 Kingston Wharves ordered the first Liebherr mobile harbor crane, type LHM 550 high rise version. The crane is the biggest mobile harbor crane in operation in Jamaica. In order to further increase operation efficiency the company now ordered an even bigger Liebherr MHC…

A container ship owned by bankrupt Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd idled for days off the Southern California coast was allowed to dock in Long Beach and begin unloading cargo early Saturday, reports Reuters. The Hanjin Greece docked at the Port of Long Beach in California early Saturday morning and workers were hauling off containers of products destined for U.S. retailers, labor union officials said. The Greece was allowed to dock after U.S. and Korean bankruptcy courts allowed Hanjin to spend $10 million to unload that ship and others, according to Reuters. The Greece was one of four vessels that were blocked from entering or leaving the port after Hanjin filed for bankruptcy protection on Aug. 31 in South Korea and the U.S. on Sept.

Modular training course program uses state-of-the-art simulation technology Düsseldorf, Germany, 14 June 2016 – At this year’s TOC Europe in Hamburg, Germany, Terex Port Solutions (TPS) is presenting a newly designed training program for harbour crane operators, which combines the many years of experience of our instructors with the far-reaching possibilities of simulator training courses. This new program will help crane owners over the long term to fully exploit the potential of Terex Gottwald harbour cranes in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness. The new concept offers specific modules, ranging from crane operator evaluation to safety training for experienced operators.

With the SOLAS Convention now requiring container weight verification from 1st July 2016 onwards following the amendment approved by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) last November, the Company of Master Mariners of India (CMMI) jointly with the Indian Maritime Administration conducted a Conference on “Safe Containers Steering Changes” on 10th December at The Lalit, Mumbai. The objective of the conference being to bring together various stakeholders in the container supply chain and provide an opportunity for an in-depth understanding of the different issues and their implications. Deepak Shetty, the Director General of Shipping and Additional Secretary, Government of India, stated that the Indian Maritime Administration was totally prepared to implement the new requirement.

Globalization is the driving force of container shipping, as ever more goods are transported across the world’s oceans in steel boxes on ever-larger container ships. But container shipping is also what made globalization possible in the first place. The principle of division of labor is nothing new to us today. In 1776, the economist Adam Smith, a formative thinker of the free market economy, elucidated this concept in his book, The Wealth of Nations. The operative principle is that the employees of a company divide up different tasks and thereby increase their productivity.