The Dutch logistic service provider Kloosterboer, which specialises in moving temperature controlled food products in Western Europe, has ordered a new mobile harbour crane and reachstacker from Liebherr Maritime Cranes.
Kloosterboer's need for more cargo handling equipment has come from a few recent developments.
Demand increased at the company’s branch in Vlissingen, in the southwestern Netherlands, after it became the new European centre for bananas almost three years ago when Chiquita, one of the main distributors of the fruit, decided to land their shipments in the port of Zeeland.
Kloosterboer now moves hundreds of thousands of boxes on a weekly basis, distributing them from Vlissingen into Europe.
The company needed to expand again when CMA-CGM, the third largest container carrier in the world, made Vlissingen its last port from the Benelux to West Africa service.
Kloosterboer, founded in 1925, is a third-generation Dutch family business with more than 800 employees in nine locations in the Netherlands and six abroad.
The company’s partnership with Liebherr strongly reflects its growth.
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When the business relationship formed 20 years ago, two LHM 100 with a maximum capacity of 40 tonnes started operation at Kloosterboer.
In 2003, a Liebherr LHM 320 with 70 tonnes SWL joined the company.
Three years later, in 2006, an LHM 400 with 104 tonnes capacity became operational in Vlissingen.
But Kloosterboer has now opted for an LHM 550, which provides a maximum lifting capacity of 144 tonnes and an outreach of up to 54 metres.
The mobile harbour crane comes with a Soft Touch Down system installed with the Liebherr software tool Advanced Container Control, part of the Liebherr Cycoptronic, which supports the crane driver by ensuring that container handling stays smooth when moving sensitive cargo like bananas or other fruits.
The delivery of the new crane came with a new Liebherr Reachstacker type LRS 545, which Kloosterboer then bought after testing it for a couple of months.
Both machines were officially handed over by Liebherr representatives to the Kloosterboer management two weeks ago.
Marc Rommers, Manager for Operations and Technical Department at Kloosterboer, said: “Thanks to our new Liebherr mobile harbour crane in cooperation with the Reachstacker LRS 545 we are very optimistic to meet or even exceed the needs of our customers.
“We now provide all what it takes to efficiently unload store and distribute fruits and other temperature controlled cargo, conventional as well as containerised.”
