The COSCO Shipping vessel ‘Aries’ is the first Chinese container vessel with a capacity of more than 20,000 standard containers (TEU) to call at the HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) in Hamburg.
HHLA’s five high-performance gantry cranes at CTT handled the new flagship of COSCO Shipping Lines after it sailed into the Port of Hamburg, Germany’s largest port, on its maiden voyage on February 23, 2018, at around 9 am.
HHLA currently has three berths for handling these mega-ships at its terminals Burchardkai (CTB) and Tollerort.
From May onwards, the Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen will also be sending ships of this size to Tollerort.
The recently built CMA CGM Antoine de Saint-Exupéry will be the next ship of more than 20,000 TEU to call on its maiden voyage at the CTB in mid-March.
COSCO ships have been calling at the facility regularly since 1982.
Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of HHLA’s Executive Board, said: “Our companies have been working successfully together for more than 35 years.
“HHLA has been preparing to handle large ships like the COSCO Shipping Aries for a long time now. We have continuously invested in our facilities, as we have here at Tollerort.
“We want to continue to justify the trust our customers place in us by delivering excellent performance and high-quality service.”
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Tollerort Gantry Cranes:
- Three of the five 20,000 TEU gantry cranes at Tollerort went into service in autumn 2017
- Their other two identical models have been in operation there since early 2017
- All five have a jib length of 74 metres and a lifting height of 51.5 metres above the quay wall
- They can accommodate container ships with 24 transverse container rows and can discharge and load two 20-foot containers simultaneously when operating in twin mode
- The increased lifting height of the gantry cranes enables them to handle up to nine containers placed on top of one another on deck
- Each container gantry crane weighs 1,500 tonnes and can handle a maximum payload of 63 tonnes
- Unlike other container gantry cranes, the new gantry cranes at CTT have lattice jibs, giving them a comparatively low overall weight.
At the celebration, Titzrath also announced that HHLA would be upgrading another berth at Tollerort for vessels with a capacity of more than 20,000 TEU.
Angela Titzrath, joined by Frank Horch, Hamburg’s Minister for Economy, Transport and Innovation, threw a welcoming party with representatives of the shipping company and the Chinese consulate in Hamburg to welcome the COSCO Shipping Aries.
Frank Horch emphasized the close links between Hamburg and China, which sends almost one in three containers that are moving to and from the Port of Hamburg.
Horch mentioned digitization and sustainability as two of the core topics for both countries, and in this context evoked the Green Shipping Line project, which aims to supply container ships in Shanghai and Hamburg with shore-side electricity in future.
After thanking everyone who had contributed to the smooth arrival of the COSCO Shipping Aries, Horch expressed his confidence that planning consent for the dredging of the navigation channel of the river Elbe will take place in the course of 2018, allowing the dredging to begin immediately.
