Container terminal operator Mardas Marmara Denizcilik Isletmeleri A.S. (Mardas), located in the metropolitan area of Istanbul, Turkey, chose to retrofit six of their Terex® Gottwald Model 7 mobile harbour cranes as it was a cost effective solution to meet their changing needs to load and unload larger container vessels. Beginning in February, the TPS team, with the help of their service partner, Eksen Makina Servis Ticaret S.A. (Eksen), has adapted the geometry of each crane with regard to working radius, boom pivot point and viewing height for the crane driver. Adaptions included extending each crane’s tower by five meters and increasing the working radius from 51 to 54 meters. During the project, Eksen was responsible for assembly while TPS was in charge of commissioning the cranes.
Cranes can now serve higher container stacks and a further row
The six converted Model 7 cranes, two G HMK 7608 variants and four G HMK 7408 variants, are part of an existing fleet of 11 Terex Gottwald machines, which Mardas operates in its terminal in the Port of Ambarli, west of Istanbul. Thanks to the increased height of the boom pivot point, which is now 28.3 meters for the G HMK 7608 cranes and 28.6 meters for the G HMK 7408 cranes, handling alongside vessels with higher container stacks on deck is now possible with the retrofitted cranes. In addition, the machines can serve one container row more than before. Since the tower cab is now also higher, with an eye level of 31.5 meters, crane drivers have an excellent view of the work site that helps them to work efficiently and safely.