The cranes stand at 138m tall at full height with a maximum lifting capacity of 80t. They can reach across 25 rows of containers, which takes the cranes beyond the width of the world’s largest container ship. DP World believe this will ensure that the cranes are ready to handle any increase in vessel size.
Tim Halhead, London Gateway, operations director, said, "The size of the cranes future-proofs the port, allowing London Gateway to handle the next generation of ultra large container ships. These cranes are the most advanced in the industry, designed and built to deliver a reliable and consistently high level of productivity."
The cranes can lift four containers at any one time, which the company says will improve productivity at London Gateway.
Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company (ZPMC) were responsible for the construction and delivery of the units, which were built in China. All of the cranes are semi-automated and connected directly to the Terminal Operating System which tracks the containers and sends work orders to the port operators.
This was the first delivery of cranes to the new port, which will eventually contain 21 of these cranes, five more of which are expected in three weeks time.
