Spotted: HHLA Readying for Invasion of Giants

Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB), operated by Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), received three additional gantry cranes on August 14, 2016, which will enable the terminal to handle ships with a capacity of 20,000 TEU and more at two berths.

Following the delivery of the three cranes, HHLA has now a total of eight gantry cranes at CTB.

The cranes arrived to Hamburg after a ten-week journey from Shanghai.

Before taking charge of them from Chinese crane manufacturer ZPMC, CTB carried out on site extensive tests on the container gantry cranes.

The new cranes will be prepared for use over the next few months before the final inspection. After this, they will be put into operation at CTB’s berth 5/6 in the end of 2016, HHLA said.

“The cranes which have now arrived are a key part of the long-term programme of upgrading the CTB. The number of calls made by particularly large vessels has been on the rise for quite a while,” Stefan Behn, member of the Executive Board of HHLA, said.

The new cranes are designed for container ships with 24 transverse container rows. With their 74-metre jibs, they are equipped to handle ships with a loading capacity of 20,000 TEU and more.

In addition, the cranes’ jibs can handle nine containers placed on top of one another on deck and the new gantry cranes can also operate in tandem mode. They can move two 40-foot containers or four 20-foot containers with one hub. Each container gantry crane weighs 2,400 tonnes and can handle a maximum payload of 110 tonnes.

The container gantry cranes were transported on a converted tanker.

“A further two cranes are currently being constructed at the HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort. With this berth and the two at the CTB, HHLA will then have three berths for handling especially large container vessels,” the terminal operator said.