SAIGON New Port in Vietnam has put into operation the first two, fully mobile, Feeder Server container gantry cranes.
The Feeder Server is effectively a ship-to-shore rubber tyred gantry crane (RTG) and has been developed by German manufacturer Kranbau Eberswalde. According to the manufacturer, Saigon New Port chose the mobile Feeder Server gantry cranes over more usual mobile harbour cranes because of three main advantages: 5 a higher throughput rate 5 the accessibility and usage of areas under the crane portal for quick box handling 5 the distribution of crane load on a larger quay area and with wheel loadings not greater than those of straddles or forklift trucks.
The port took delivery in July. Kranbau Eberswalde project manager Axel Dossow said that the idea for the new product was developed with sister company Kocks Crane. The Feeder Server was developed for smaller ships – feeder vessels – but it could also add flexibility for larger ports, since it can operate alongside a super post-Panamax crane, Dossow said.
Both of the Saigon mobile Feeder Server gantry cranes have a waterside outreach of 30m and are designed for a safe working load of 35t under spreader. They operate with speeds of up to 150m/min for trolley, 45m/min for main hoist with load (or 90m/min without load), and 40m/min for crane travel.
The cranes are powered by a self-contained diesel-electric drive system and are designed for handling an annual throughput of 100,000 TEU per crane.
The Feeder Server gantry cranes (known in the USA under the brand Kocks Mobile Container Crane, or MCC) are available up to Panamax crane size as full-mobile, rail-mounted or a combination of both.
Prior to German unification, Kranbau Eberswalde was a member of the Takraf group. It develops, designs and produces port installations, and lays claim to inventing the double-link level luffing crane.
Both Kranbau Eberswalde and Kocks are subsidiaries of the Kirow Group, which itself is in turn part of the larger Koehne group of companies whose primary activity is products relating to railway construction and operation.
