HHLA Receives New Container Gantry Cranes
German logistics and transportation company Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) has announced that it has taken delivery of three new container gantry cranes for its Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) in Hamburg port.
According to a press release, this will provide HHLA with additional capacities for handling ultra-large container vessels with a cargo volume of 23,000 standard containers (TEU) and more.
The new gantry cranes manufactured by ZPMC will replace three smaller units at CTB, which have already been dismantled.
The three container gantry cranes arrived at their temporary berth at Athabaskakai on board the special ship “Zhen Hua 27” after a journey of almost eight weeks. Preparations for the complex unloading process will take place there before the “Zhen Hua 27” shifts to the final location at berth 6 in the Waltershofer Hafen.
HHLA is expecting delivery of another two large container gantry cranes of the same type in the first quarter of 2020. After the new handling equipment has gradually commenced operating, HHLA will have an additional mega-ship berth at Burchardkai.
“By investing in five new container gantry cranes and creating another mega-ship berth, we are providing our shipping company customers with additional capacities and greater flexibility in handling ultra large container vessels with a transport capacity of more than 23,000 standard containers,” says HHLA Executive Board member Jens Hansen.
Last year, the number of calls at the Port of Hamburg by container mega-ships with a capacity of 18,000 TEU to 22,000 TEU increased by 47 percent to 150 calls. And this trend is continuing: in the first half of 2019, the number grew once again by almost 40 percent.