DCT Gdansk is Poland’s largest and fastest-growing container facility, and the only deep-water terminal in the Baltic Sea region having direct ocean vessel calls from the Far East. The terminal handles Polish import and export, transshipment and transit.

The Konecranes RTG cranes on order for DCT Gdansk are high-performance, 16-wheel RTGs with a lifting capacity of 40.6 tons, a stacking height of 1-over-5, and a stacking width of 7 plus truck lane wide. They are all-electric RTGs powered by a cable reel system.

They will be equipped with Konecranes Active Load Control system, which prevents container sway and significantly improves container handling performance. DGPS Autosteering is included, which keeps the crane on a pre-programmed, straight driving path. They will also be equipped with Auto-Path Optimizer, which uses the container profile measured by the Konecranes Stack Collision Prevention System to calculate the optimal path between the current container slot and the destination container slot. The cranes will also be equipped with Konecranes’ TRUCONNECT remote monitoring system.

Mr Maciek Kwiatkowski, CEO of DCT Gdansk, commented: “This is an important purchase for us and our evaluation process was very rigorous. We were convinced by Konecranes’ technology, track record and ability to support the machines for the long-term.”

“Winning this order from DCT Gdansk is very satisfying. It strengthens Konecranes’ position as the leading supplier of container cranes in the Baltic Sea Region. It will be our first delivery of RTGs to Poland, a sign of the excellence of our technology and ability to support our cranes. We’ll make sure that DCT Gdansk’s confidence in us is justified,” says Erkki Salminen, Sales Manager Europe, Port Cranes, Konecranes.

DCT Gdansk received its first vessel in June 2007. Since January 2010, DCT Gdansk started receiving on a weekly basis 8,000 TEU container vessels departing from the Far East. This direct connectivity with Asia boosted DCT Gdansk’s development as it became the Baltic Sea hub, achieving 180% growth in 2010 and made DCT one of the fastest growing terminals in the world. The new era for DCT opened in May 2011, when the facility started handling the Maersk Line’s E-type class container vessels with the capacity of 15,500 TEU, the world’s largest container ships at that time. In 2012, the container terminal handled its second millionth TEU since the operations kick-off, and closed the year with yet another annual volume record of approximately 900,000 TEU. In August 2013 DCT Gdansk serviced its first Triple E class vessel, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, in its maiden voyage. In 2013 the container terminal handled more than 1,150,000 TEU. This record has permanently put DCT on the map of the world’s major container terminals and ensured its position as the biggest container terminal in terms of volume in the Baltic area.

The MPDC, in a statement signed by its Chief Executive Osório Lucas, also said the dredging – to increase its depth from 11m to 14m – would allow access to port facilities by vessels of up to 80,000 tons, making the port of Maputo one of the most competitive in regional and international markets.

“Dredging the access channel to the port is a strategic decision that will not only help achieve the target set to process 40 million tons of cargo by 2020, but which will have a multiplying effect on the Mozambican economy,” said the MPDC CEO cited in the statement.

This will be the second time the port’s access channel has been dredged, after in 2010-2011 it was dredged from 9.4m (the depth designed for the channel) to 11m, which contributed to the amount of cargo handled increasing from 12 million tons in 2011 to over 19 million in 2014.

The MPDC is a private company, resulting from a partnership between the Mozambican state port and rail company CFM, South African group Grindrod, DP World of the United Arab Emirates and Mozambique Gestores.

The Port of Maputo was granted under a concession by the government of Mozambique to MPDC in 2003 but gained new momentum in 2008 when Grindrod and DP World acquired most of the stake owned by Portus Índico, the largest shareholder (51%) and sponsor of the project.

The MacGregor equipment will be installed on the 12,000 bhp, 150 tonnes bollard pull vessels under construction for Sentinel Offshore (L) Limited. Equipment delivery is scheduled during August and September 2015.

The contract follows a similar order from Wuhu Xinlian placed in August 2014, to supply full packages of MacGregor AHTS equipment for two 150 tonnes bollard pull AHTS/oil recovery vessels.

“This new order from Wuhu Xinlian is a great endorsement for the range and quality of our equipment, as well as the excellent level of service we provide,” says Francis Wong, Head of Sales and Marketing at MacGregor Offshore Deck Machinery. “MacGregor was chosen to supply these two vessels because of its ability to offer extremely efficient and competitive solutions. Having added the Hatlapa and Triplex brands to our portfolio, we are able to offer complete, proven and competitive solutions for the mid and large sized AHTSV market.

“Furthermore, we are one of only a few manufacturers who can offer true global lifetime support as well as intensive crew training.”

Each MacGregor equipment package for the current order includes a medium pressure anchor windlass/mooring winch, capstans, tugger winches, storage reels, a provision crane and power packs. From the Hatlapa range, MacGregor will supply a 300 tonnes line pull/450 tonnes brake holding capacity low-pressure anchor handling/towing winch. This will be equipped with friction clutches to enable quick release within three seconds during an emergency. A pair of Triplex 360 tonne shark jaws and 200 tonne towing pins will also be included as part of the contract.