SALERno Container Terminal (SCT) in southern Italy takes delivery in March of a 100t capacity Gottwald HMK 300E from Demag Mobile Cranes. It is the 750th Gottwald mobile harbour crane to be sold.

The new crane brings to eight the total of Gottwald units purchased by the Port of Salerno since buying its first in 1990. In 2001 the port took two HMK 300Es.

‘With regard to our present quay situation at SCT, mobile harbour cranes are the best solution to maximise container throughput,’ said Agostino Gallozzi, chairman and managing director of Gallozzi Group, SCT’s parent company. ‘We were very pleased when Gottwald agreed to adapt the cranes to our special requirements, for example a 5m-long tower extension for higher viewing position, a cab with a second seat for a stevedore checker as well as higher speeds.’

The HMK 300E, a diesel-electric 100t crane, launched onto the market in 2000, was designed to serve Panamax vessels and can operate up to the 16th row of Post Panamax ships.

With mobile harbour cranes increasing in popularity, Demag said that it expects to ship its 800th unit before the end of the year.