The Shannon Foynes Port Company has ordered and taken delivery of a Liebherr Mobile Harbour Crane LHM 420 at the deepwater port at Foynes, Ireland to bolster bulk handling operations.
The LHM 420 features a lift capacity of 124 tonnes and a grab curve of 75 tonnes, allowing for larger grabs to be installed — increasing turnover per cycle and reducing fuel consumption.
The crane is also equipped with a positive air pressure system that pressurizes the machinery room with clean air to prevent dusty cargos from entering the machinery room.
In addition to bulk products, the new crane will also be handling project cargo and wind turbines.
Due to the port’s close proximity to the town of Foynes, the new crane meets very strict demands on operational noise — featuring additional soundproofing to reduce noise emissions.
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Shannon Foynes Port Company CEO, Pat Keating, said: “We need efficient jetties but we also need efficient plant and machinery and this crane gives us all of that and more.
“And with the LHM 420’s very low emissions and lower noise levels, its environmental footprint is minimized.”
The state of the art crane was delivered fully assembled to the port by the MV Papenburg heavy load carrier.
The crane was loaded at the Liebherr production facility in Rostock, Germany and was in transit for six days before arriving at the Irish port — where it was ready to deploy straight after being unloaded.
Traditionally cranes would be delivered in a component form and would need a period of assembly and testing before being operational, but Liebherr’s factory at Rostock features direct sea access to deliver fully assembled cranes direct from the facility.
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Engineering & Port Services Manager for Shannon Foynes Port Company, John Carlton, commented: “The LHM 420 mobile harbour crane from Liebherr is the biggest crane we have ever had in the port.
Its lifting capacity is just over double our existing capacity at 124 tonnes per single lift. It also has a grab curve of 75 tonnes, which is 45 per cent larger than what we currently have.
“Everything about this crane is bigger, better, faster, stronger: it's a very significant piece of equipment for the port.”
