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STS cranes, built by ZPMC, scheduled to arrive at Maasvlakte II on Monday
The first ship-to-shore (STS) cranes of Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) will arrive on Monday after completing their two-month journey from Shanghai to Rotterdam.
RWG, scheduled to open in the second half of 2014, is one of two container terminals being built at Rotterdam’s new Maasvalkte2 development.
The cranes, standing 127.5 metres tall, have been built and delivered by Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company (ZPMC) and will operate on RWG’s 1,150-metre quay.
Specially designed to handle the newest generation of Ultra Large Container Ships (ULCSs), the cranes boast a 24-row reach and are equipped with a so-called double trolley system. This system makes it possible to unload a container from a ship onto an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) in two steps. Subsequently, the AGV will, fully automated, transport the container to a temporary stacking area on the terminal. In the case of the loading of the container ship, the reversed process applies.
“With the arrival of these cranes, every type of equipment is present on the terminal,” declared,” RWG’s managing director, Ronald Lugthart.
“At the moment, the construction of the Automatic Stacking Cranes is in progress and more than 25 AGVs have already arrived at the terminal.”
“Soon, we can start the testing phase.”
Apart from two deep sea quay cranes, two barge/feeder cranes will also be delivered to RWG this Monday. These cranes will be deployed on a 550-metre long barge/feeder quay. All the RWG’s quay cranes are fully electronic and remote controlled – an innovation which has never been applied on this scale
Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) is an international consortium that consists of four globally operating container shipping lines, APL, MOL, HMM and CMA-CGM and terminal operator DP World. The terminal of 108 hectares will have an annual throughput of 2.35 million TEU.
