First Italian Port To Deploy 23 Rw Gantry Cranes
La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT), Contship Italia Group’s flagship gateway to Northern and Central Italy, Southern Europe and beyond is the first Italian regional container terminal to deploy supersized gantry cranes to operate both ships of today and tomorrow.
Initially contracted in November 2013, two brand new 23 row gantry cranes arrived on site at the end of March this year for final assembly and commissioning. Final “soft” operating tests on ships took place between July 17th – 18th, thereafter they were moved into their final positioning on the quay. Further tests on 10,000 TEU ships took place between July 20th – 31st.
A customized design of the gantry cranes was realized by the Italian partner OMG-MGM in order to meet the technical specification of the berth at the terminal, with these new cranes weighing in at some 1,300 tons (20% less compared to other similar cranes available in the market), they weight only 150 tons more than the original cranes deployed.
Deployment of 23 row cranes complements LSCT’s existing equipment and for which, within Q4 2015 will result in a total of 11 cranes enabling the simultaneous operation of 2 x 150,000 G.R.T. ULCC ships.
Michele Giromini, LSCT Managing Director, expresses both thanks and satisfaction in achieving this latest record. He stated, “The LSCT team is involved in a long journey. There remains some way to go, but the effort and commitment so far has been first class. Ships have become bigger. In spite of on-going uncertainty, volumes are growing again, with a double digit factor year on year H1 2015. The La Spezia System, whilst not being complacent, is happy to welcome these developments that generate increased opportunities for today, for tomorrow preserving the lifeblood of the community. Clearly, we are the first regional port to deploy these mega cranes in Italy, but we will not be the last. Indeed the LSCT journey will not end as the infrastructure is transformed, targeted at ensuring customer loyalty, the benefits of which may be shared by the “system” for future generations”.
