The latest Liebherr gantry crane has been delivered to the Port of Tyne’s container terminal, Tyne Dock, South Shields,
The crane will stand at 70m and have the capacity of 37m outreach and when it is operational in around eight weeks’ time, should increase productivity by 25 per cent.
“It will put us in a much stronger position to gain new business and achieve our growth plans and whilst it predominantly will be used for containers, it will also be able to be used for bulk cargoes,” said Andrew Moffat, Port of Tyne chief executive officer.
North German port group Niedersachsen (NPorts), has also continued to buy Liebherr cranes with the installation of a LHM 550 model in Brake and a LHM 420 as an urgent replacement for the company’s existing crane in Emden.
Liebherr offered a delivery period of just 14 days ex-works for its newest model. The crane is equipped with two double winches and provides a maximum lifting capacity of 124 tonnes and a maximum outreach of 48m. Its principal jobs in Emden will include grab operation (SWL 75 tonnes), project cargo and break bulk.
“Because of the urgent need, the procurement of the new mobile harbour crane was quite challenging for all parties involved,” said Wilfried Schleusener, Liebherr’s Project Manager Engineering. “We are pleased that everything worked out very smoothly, including the contract negotiations, the challenging unload of the crane at the Südkai, the installation of the LHM 420 and the training of the crane operators in Emden.”
Brake has previously operated a LHM 500 and the two cranes in tandem will now enable a single driver to handle loads to 284 tonnes.
