The orders include eighteen Terex® rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTG) and four Terex® rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMG). The RTG order also includes an option on 18 additional units. The flexible, productive and environmentally friendly machines will be handed over in three batches of six units each of RTGs between September and November 2017 whilst the RMG cranes will be delivered to Mumbai in September 2017. The RMGs will be utilized in BMCT’s railyard, which can handle double stack container trains of up to 1.5 km long. BMCT will be the second Indian subsidiary of PSA to operate cranes from TPS. In 2015, four RTGs were put into operation by Bharat Kolkata Container Terminals Pte Ltd.

Customers worldwide are opting for stacking cranes from TPS
Maurizio Altieri, Vice President Sales & Service TPS Asia, is delighted by the confidence that BMCT has shown in the machines from TPS: “BMCT will be a key player in one of the most dynamic Asian markets and is a subsidiary of a globally leading port operator. We are proud that from the end of 2017 a total of 26 cranes from TPS will contribute to PSA’s rapid growth in India. The fact that the customer opted for Terex RTG and RMG cranes confirms our diversified portfolio strategy.”

RTGs: variable speed engines reduce fuel consumption
The RTGs for BMCT are equipped with 16 wheels. They provide a maximum lifting capacity of 40 t under spreader and can stack standard containers 1-over-5 with a lifting height of 18.1 m and a hoisting speed of up to 46 m/min. With a span of 23.7 m, the cranes cover six container rows and a truck lane. The new cranes are equipped for on-board power generation with diesel generators, whereby the diesel engines work in the fuel-optimized speed range (variable speed engines), which helps reduce fuel consumption by around one third, depending on the site and operational conditions. Moreover, exhaust emissions in the terminal are reduced over the long-term.

RMG: double sided cantilevers for flexible stack management
The four RMG cranes will be supplied with power from the terminal’s mains and will not generate any local exhaust emissions. With a 37.6 m span the cranes cover six rail tracks. They offer a maximum lifting capacity of 65 t under spreader and can stack standard containers 1-over-3 with a lifting height of 12.5 m and a hoisting speed of up to 40 m/min. The machines are equipped with a trolley rotation function that provides crane operators with an excellent view of the containers, railway cars and the entire working area. Moreover, the double-sided cantilevers cover two truck lanes on either side of the cranes’ rails. Finally the cranes offer BMCT highly flexible container stack management and particularly good utilization of limited space.

Designated “BLOK-BEAM”, the system enables six containers to be lifted and transported as one single block – largely using existing port infrastructure.

BLOK-BEAM comprises a pair of steel beams connecting the six empty containers together to form a single block, which can be lifted as one unit. While containers have remained relatively small and standard in size over the past few decades, container cranes have increased their capacity significantly, permitting increased loads to be handled.

According to John Evans, Managing Director of BLOK-BEAM Ltd: “Now that ships are able to deliver around 20,000 20ft containers on one vessel – and the cranes to service them can lift up to 100 tonnes at a time – it is the ports which, in spite of their improved efficiency, have become the focus of attention in ship-to-shore movement.”

Evans notes that ports handle over 500 million containers annually, of which as many as 25% are empty. With container terminals charging up to USD300 per lift, the potential savings to the industry are massive. Instead of extended dwell-times in port while extensive loading and discharge takes place, the ships could be at sea – or saving fuel by slower sailing.

Evans continues: “We estimate that if only one-third of empty moves of containers are handled by BLOK-BEAM, the industry would save over USD2 billion per year – before even considering the vast expense of idle time, fuel savings, general efficiency, losses at sea and safety.

For the ports to further enhance productivity, BLOK-BEAM Ltd has designed a special trailer, – the “OX” – which acts as a jig for BLOK assembly and then as a trailer for transporting the BLOK, neatly and quickly, to the cranes for loading. Preparing the OX is done away from the quayside, so that the stevedores can work regular hours in safety preparing the container “BLOKs” ready for the arrival of the ship. The jigging features of the OX enable the containers to be neatly positioned, whilst they are secured as a BLOK.

Martin Clive-Smith, BLOK-BEAM Ltd’s Engineering Director, quantified the improvements in safety offered by the system, as follows: “By moving 80% of container preparations off the busy quayside, the risk of accidents is reduced, while time is saved. Likewise, the BLOK-BEAM System has the potential to cut on-deck lashing by more than 50% and yet increase stability at sea.”

During unloading, cranes can drop the BLOKs straight onto the OX and just one driver can rapidly move the containers away from the busy quayside 6 times faster than normal. Because the BLOK is 3 containers wide, it is entirely stable and cannot be knocked over.