A strong harvest has seen more than 47400 tonnes on behalf of FennGrain and Openfield pass through King’s Lynn in August, surpassing the previous record by 715 tonnes. This follows significant investment by ABP and its customers in both storage facilities and handling equipment. As a result of this investment, handling speeds have doubled from 75 tonnes per hour, to 150 tonnes per hour.

In Ipswich, a record-breaking 119,548 tonnes of grain were exported through Ipswich Grain Terminal and Clarkson Port Services facilities, beating a previous record of 107,400 recorded in August 2003. The increase in grain exports follows a £2.2m investment in the state-of-the-art Orwell Bulk
Terminal.

Nidera UK Operations Director Tim Capey said: “Our expansion and investment continues at a rapid rate reflecting the importance of Ipswich Grain Terminal to the region’s farmers as a major facility for the export of grain.

“The company is part way through a £1m investment programme. In the last year alone, we have invested over £500,000 in state-of-the-art intake
facilities capable of handling 400 tonnes of grain an hour and a 32.5 metre mobile loading elevator to support shipside operations.”

ABP Short Sea Ports Director Andrew Harston said: “This impressive performancereaffirms both our commitment to the region and to delivering a high level of customer service. The grain season is only two months in, and we look forward to working with our customers to grow these numbers still further.

“Our investment in the East Anglian ports is continuing to reap benefits. The record numbers we have seen in August are a testament to the roles that ports play in supporting not just the region’s farmers but the wider UK economy, and underlines our commitment to keeping Britain trading.”

Hafen Wien operates the largest free port in Austria. The port is continuously expanding to become one of the largest and most modern logistics centres on the Danube in Europe. In order to update its facilities, the company opted for a Liebherr mobile harbour crane, type LHM 280. Providing a maximum lifting capacity of 84 tonnes and an outreach of up to 40 metres, the crane is equipped with two winches for highly efficient cargo handling.

“Our new mobile harbour crane helps us to improve cargo handling efficiency. Thanks to its versatility and mobility, we are able to expand our
service portfolio which is important for the future development of our port. This investment also strengthens the attractiveness of inland waterborne
transport,” says Karin Zipperer, Technical Director of the port.

Hafen Wien has already successfully operated a Liebherr mobile harbour crane, type LHM 1080, for more than 25 years. The new machine, which started operation in August 2015, is twice as strong as the old one and universally applicable. Although the LHM 280 is 55 metres high and 240 tonnes heavy, the crane is mobile and highly flexible. The new cargo handling solution will be used for container handling, bulk handling as well as general cargo operation.

Taking a major step towards low-emission but high-performance, the LHM 280 is equipped with Liebherr’s unique Pactronic® hybrid drive system.
Pactronic® is regenerating the reverse power while lowering the load. In addition, the surplus power of the primary energy source is also used for
charging the accumulator. The stored energy is transferred back to the system when the crane requires peak power during hoisting. In terms of turnover capacity, that means a plus of 30% compared to a conventional machine with equal power rating of the primary energy source. In addition, Pactronic® leads to a reduction of fuel/energy consumption (litre/ton) as well as CO2 and exhaust emissions in the range of 30% depending on the operation.

Hafen Wien also ordered Liebherr’s Cycoptronic® system for its new LHM 280. This optional tool ensures accurate and sway-free load motion through initiating dynamic counterbalancing movements for operation at maximum speed. The Cycoptronic® teach-in feature is a point-to-point control for semiautomatic operation. It pilots the crane to predetermined loading and unloading points at the highest possible speed.

The port of Vienna is conveniently situated at three TEN-T corridors and is one of the main hinterland hubs in Europe, especially for the major
North Sea ports and the Adriatic ports. With its facilities in Freudenau, Albern and Lobau, Hafen Wien is the largest public port on the Danube in
Austria, handling thirteen million tonnes of cargo per year. The new investment in the Liebherr LHM 280 will further strengthen their market position.

Caption

The LHM 280 started operation at the port of Vienna in August 2015. (©
Eva Kelety) 3 / 3

The cranes were designed in Liebherr Container Cranes, Ireland and manufactured in the state of the art facility in Ireland. The completed cranes were assembled in the Liebherr Rostock plant and barged through the Baltic Sea to St. Petersburg.

The cranes are due to enter
operation at the purpose built container terminal on the Baltic sea in the
coming weeks. The terminal will be developed in stages, with this initial
stage, stage 1 delivering an annual capacity of 1.45 million TEU on this
important trade route between Russia and Europe. Stages 2 and 3 of the
development will see the capacity of the development reach 1.9 million and 3
million TEU respectively.

Speaking about the contract,
managing director of Liebherr Container Cranes, Pat O Leary commented,

“Liebherr is proud to have been
selected as a partner to help deliver this important project. At Liebherr
Container Cranes, we have been designing and manufacturing cranes at our
facility in Ireland since 1958. This wealth of experience has given us an
expertise and knowledge which is second to none. We supplied our first cranes
to Russia, many years ago and since then have delivered both STS and RTGs to ports
all across Russia. This particular project required that the cranes be
delivered fully assembled and our maritime facility in Rostock was utilized to
facilitate this.”