Felixstowe: Hutchison-owned Port of Felixstowe, the UK's largest container port, has received the first three ship-to-shore gantry cranes for its new Felixstowe South development. The cranes, built by Zhenhua Port Machinery Company (ZPMC) of Shanghai. are the biggest of their type in the world, and are capable of handling future generations of container ships with 24 containers wide on deck.
Hutchison says that Felixstowe South is the only deep-water container terminal fully committed in the UK, and comes at a time when an increasing number of ultra-large container ships are coming in to service. "It was only a few years ago that we saw the first 10,000 TEU ship enter service but within the next few years there will be over 100 of these massive ships on the major trade routes, commented David Gledhill, cep of Hiutchison Ports (UK). "It is essential for UK shippers and receivers that we have the facilities to accommodate these mega-ships."
The new cranes were transported fully erect from China to the Port of Felixstowe. Each weighs approximately 2,000 tonnes and is capable of lifting two containers simultaneously up to a total of 70 tonnes. To increase stability of such large cranes, the distance between the waterside and landside legs (the rail gauge) has been increased from the 30m at the port's Trinity Terminal to 35m for the new cranes. [17/06/10]
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
