The cranes are identical to the previous ones supplied and are amongst the largest STS cranes in the world with an outreach of 73m, a span of 30.48m and a backreach of 25 m. They have a safe working load of 75 tonnes and can handle large container vessels. Designed to work vessels with 25 containers across and up to 10 high on deck, the cranes allow NTB to handle future generations of ultra large container vessels.
NTB is one of the most important European container terminals with an annual handling volume of more than 3 million TEU.
“It has been very exciting to work with NTB. Designing high performance machines to customers exacting specifications is always rewarding, but to secure repeat orders on the strength of the machines performance is doubly so,” said David Griffin, MD, Liebherr Container Cranes.
Its Liebherr Automation Systems facilitates semi-automatic moves, with manual intervention only required when operating below a predefined safe height. The port operates straddle carriers on the landside and the cranes are equipped with a yard monitoring system, which scans the operational area for obstacles, hazards or straddle carriers, and will allow placement of the container at the target position only when it is safe to do so.
Straddle carrier lane covers open only over the active lane, providing protection for those on the ground. Stack and vessel anti-collision, in addition to a vessel drift compensation system, provides safety when operating. Crane to crane, and crane to ship, laser anti-collision systems provide further safety when the crane is travelling or booming down.
“We are pleased to add four Liebherr ship to shore container cranes to our fleet. These cranes and the previous six allow us to provide exceptional service to our customers. We have invested in these large state-of-the-art cranes, not only for the present, but for the future and they are a key part of our growth and expansion plans,” said Christian Lankenau, MD, NTB.
“For NTB it was straightforward to invest in Liebherr cranes again. Our experience with Liebherr equipment in terms of performance, reliability and service has been very satisfying.”
Founded in 1958, Liebherr Container Cranes, part of The Liebherr Group, is based in Ireland and manufactures ship to shore container cranes, rail mounted gantry cranes and rubber tyre gantry cranes.