SCPA Orders 12 RTGs from Konecranes

South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) has ordered twelve Rubber Tired Gantry (RTG) cranes from the Finland-based crane manufacturer Konecranes.

The cranes will be delivered to SCPA’s Wando Welch terminal in the Port of Charleston in early fall 2017.

The new cranes will have a lifting capacity of 50 long tons while stacking 1-over-5 containers high and six plus truck lane wide. In addition, Konecranes said they will have equipment which eliminates container sway to increase container handling performance as well as the auto-steering and truck lift prevention features.

“The RTGs will also have built-in readiness for special features including Stack Collision Prevention, and Auto-truck Guiding, which will be taken into use if the cranes are transitioned to semi-automated operation in the future,” the crane manufacturer said.

According to Stevenson Kemp Jr., SCPA Director, Terminal Operations, this makes the port authority’s fifth RTG order from Konecranes. Once the new cranes become operational, the SCPA will operate a fleet of 53 Konecranes RTGs.

SCPA handled 1.9 million TEUs during the 2016 fiscal year, an increase of 1.4 percent over the previous year. As measured in pier containers, or box volume, nearly 1.1 million boxes moved across the docks of the port’s container terminals in FY2016.