In the third quarter of 2016, a diesel-electric Terex Gottwald Model 8 mobile harbour crane in the G HMK 8410 two-rope variant has been delivered to Terminal Puerto Arica S.A. (TPA) in the far north of the country. It will be followed in the fourth quarter by an identical G HMK 8410 crane for the terminal of Compania Portuaria Mejillones S.A. (Mejillones) in Puerto Angamos located around 500 km further south. The maritime logistics group Ultramar S.A. has a share in both TPA and Mejillones. The two most recent orders from Chile highlight the strong demand for professional and mobile large cranes for container handling in South America.
Heavy-duty lifting capacity curves and crane geometry for super post-Panamax vessels
Both cranes offer heavy-duty lifting capacity curves with a maximum lifting capacity of 100 tonnes, an outreach of up to 58m and achieve lifting speeds of 90m/min. They are supplied with particularly high towers including correspondingly higher boom pivot points and tower cabs with a crane operator eye level of 38m. This gives crane operators an excellent view of the vessel and the work area. The machines are intended for loading and unloading vessels up to super post-Panamax class with up to 19 container rows. Thanks to their geometry, they can also safely serve vessels, which, for example due to the high proportion of empty containers, lie particularly high in the water.
TPA responds to growing fleet of large container vessels
With the investment in the Model 8 crane, TPA is responding to the need for container handling to serve a growing fleet of large container vessels. Diego Bulnes Valdéz, General Manager, TPA: “More and more vessels with up to eight containers stacked on deck are arriving at our terminal in Arica. With the new mobile harbour crane from TPS we can also serve these vessels quickly and cost-effectively.” The G HMK 8410 crane equipped with a twin-lift spreader will be the third crane from TPS for the terminal in Arica, following the two previous deliveries in 2006 of two Terex Gottwald HMK 300 E mobile harbour cranes of Generation 4.
Mejillones will handle containers and bulk cargo with the new crane
Mejillones has also opted for Terex Gottwald mobile harbour crane technology for several years. Since 2010, the terminal has operated a further crane, a G HMK 8410 crane, which followed a HMK 280 E mobile harbour crane of Generation 4 previously supplied by TPS. The new machine will be used predominantly for container handling and will be delivered with a heavy-load twin-lift spreader for handling two 20-foot containers of 30 tonnes each. For loading bulk cargo such as ores from the nearby mines, the crane will also work with a revolver spreader. The revolver spreader has similar features to a conventional container spreader, yet can be turned by up to 360° around its longitudinal axis to empty the bulk containers.
Versatile applications create competitive advantages
For Mejillones, the versatility of the G HMK 8410 crane was a major factor in the decision to opt for renewed investment in mobile harbour crane technology. Philipp Schaale Simpendörfer, General Manager, Mejillones: “We are responding to our customer’s needs by adapting our terminal infrastructure and equipment to serve the new super post-Panamax vessels that started to call in Puerto Angamos and the whole West Coast South America since August 2016 in an efficient and productive way. And with the range of applications provided, our terminal will particularly benefit from the flexibility of a mobile harbour crane like the G HMK 8410. It is precisely this flexibility that will extend our range and create advantages amid fierce competition. We were also impressed by the very short delivery lead time and the service concept of TPS.”
Service package with on-site availability impresses customers
For service, TPS works closely with its Chilean sales partner, Comercial Fesanco S.A. (Fesanco). Holger Schauer, Regional Sales Manager TPS: “The service concept of TPS focuses on particularly high availability of the mobile harbour cranes. This means we will be represented at the terminals of both Arica and Puerto Angamos by a service engineer from Fesanco.” Both terminal operators will also benefit from the Terex Gottwald Remote Crane Access feature, via which the service team from TPS has remote access to the mobile harbour cranes. Schauer: “Our overall package consisting of high-performance and application-oriented technology in addition to demand-driven service has also impressed our customers in South America.”
Since 2016, crane serves up to 20 container rows
TPS has recently been particularly successful with large cranes in South America. In 2015, two G HMK 8410 cranes were delivered to the Port of Iquique, also in the north of Chile. Against the background of the growing fleet of vessels with a loading capacity of more than 8,800 TEUs, TPS recently presented a new large crane variant for container handling, based on the G HMK 8410 crane, which is successful in the region. The new G HMK 8412 two-rope variant of Model 8 can cost-effectively load and unload vessels with up to 20 container rows and up to nine containers stacked on deck.