Three new container gantry cranes have begun operations at HHLA’s Container Terminal Tollerort at the Port of Hamburg.

According to HHLA, the 13,400 TEU COSCO Netherlands was the first ship to be handled by the new cranes, which discharged and loaded approximately 7,000 TEUs from and onto the vessel. The new cranes are capable of handling ships with a capacity of more than 20,000 TEUs. Two other identical cranes have been processing megaships at berth 5 since November 2016.

“Processing the COSCO Netherlands was a first test of our new megaship gantry cranes, which they passed with flying colours,” said Thomas Koch, managing director if CTT. “The five gantry cranes are very reliable and perform as expected. Berth 5 is now perfectly equipped to efficiently process the largest ships in the world.”

In the first half of 2017, ships with a capacity of 18,000 TEUs or more called at the Port of Hamburg 54 times, more than five times as much as in the first half of 2015. The number of calls by vessels with capacities of between 14,000 and 17,999 TEUs has also more than doubled.

“HHLA made the necessary investment at the right time to make its container terminals fit for the largest vessels in the world, which are increasingly being deployed by the shipping alliances,” said Jens Hansen, member of the executive board at HHLA. “Our employees have the training and motivation to reliably handle even large volumes. We have three highly efficient berths in Hamburg that are able to process the largest class of vessels. This is not only beneficial to our customers – it also increases the attractiveness of the entire Port of Hamburg.”

The five megaship gantry cranes at CTT have a jib length of 74m and a lifting height of 51.5m above the quay wall. They are designed for container ships with 24 transverse container rows and can discharge and load two 20-foot containers simultaneously when operating in twin mode. These new cranes have lattice jibs, resulting in a relatively low overall weight and making them particularly suitable to the requirements of berth 5 at CTT, according to HHLA.