When faced with the challenge of replacing its mobile harbour crane due to a terminal and warehouse upgrade, Viterra – an integrated agriculture network connecting producers and consumers to supply sustainable, traceable and quality-controlled agricultural products – carried out a comparative study of the available products.
The main requirements were that the new unloader needed to be mobile and able to unload Panamax vessels without the need for support equipment, except for final clean-up, and would have a minimal environmental impact. The result of this study can now be seen on the Portland dock in Dorset, UK: a 1800C Series E-Crane Model EH12421 CR-D.
E-Crane offered a tailor-made crawlerbased solution where power supply is via an electrical cable reel giving the crane the ability to operate emission-free. As the port civil and electrical upgrade programme is still ongoing, an additional stage V diesel generator was added to guarantee continuation of operations during the upgrade process.
A further selling point was the 42m outreach, which enables the crane to unload cargo underneath the hatch coamings, only requiring an excavator for collecting the last few grabs from each hold.
Another advantage was the design, where two identical cylinders are used for all boom and stick movements. When compared to other suppliers of hydraulic material handlers some need as many as seven cylinders in combination with an energy recovery system.
In 2018, Renova Argentina, in which Viterra is one of the joint venture partners, acquired a 1500 series E-Crane to unload barges with agribulk. The E-Crane model installed at the Timbúes plant in Santa Fe, Argentina, is equipped with a 14m³ clamshell grab for unloading agribulk from barges into a dedicated hopper. The reliability and the high capacity of the crane caught the attention of Viterra in Portland, UK, where, among other locations, Renova’s agribulk is delivered to.
The successful operation of the Renova crane led to the inclusion of E-Crane in the selection process for a new grab unloader for Portland, which started in early 2019.
The requirements were discussed in detail as well as the solutions that could be offered by E-Crane, and were followed up by several site visits and the preparation of a detailed project study that included overview drawings, cycle times, electrical loads and full technical details. This process led to E-Crane winning the contract in Q3 2020.
The transport and installation started at the end of 2021 in the midst of the Covid pandemic – a time of testing for the virus and quarantine. Plus, cruise ships were docked due to safety reasons, meaning installation couldn’t continue. Brexit added another layer of complexity. However, despite all these challenges, the team in close cooperation with Viterra managed to get the crane operational by early 2022.
Since then, it has successfully unloaded a number of large ocean-going vessels. The 42m outreach allows the crane to cover the complete hold of a Panamaxsize vessel. A 16m3 grab is used, especially designed for agribulk, with shells designed for optimal grab filling. The lifting capacity is also sufficient to place the excavator into the vessel without the need of removing the grab.
The crane unloads into a mobile hopper, which loads trucks that bring the material to Viterra’s warehouse, located a few kilometres from the quay. The operators are very pleased with it as they previously only had a rope crane.
