20.06.2014
New Cranes Swing into Action in Tilbury
(A Port of Tilbury News Release)
London Container Terminal in Tilbury this week saw the first of its two panamax ship to shore cranes fully operational. The first of the two cranes boomed down onto the Samskip vessel, the Henrike Schepers, with her cargo of containers for the UK market.
Spanish company, Paceco Espana S.A., were awarded the contract for two cranes in 2013 which brings the number of Paceco ship to shore cranes at Tilbury to 10, six of which are from Paceco Espana. Tilbury has four post-panamax cranes, two built in 2001 and two built in 2004. The two new 13 box wide ship to shore cranes are now fully operational.
The Paceco cranes are designed and purpose built to handle feeder vessels. With a clearance of 17.0 metres between the legs, this enables efficient handling of 45ft containers. The crane is designed to handle heavy laden containers and can lift 40 tonnes under a single lift spreader. They are capable of lifting 57 tonnes under the headblock and 45 tonnes under a twin-lift spreader.
There are a number of state-of-the-art technology features fitted which makes the cranes very efficient including the latest electronic controls with fault finding diagnostics; anti-collision systems; and are equipped with overload and weighing systems.
Perry Glading, Chief Operating Officer of Forth Ports (owners of London Container Terminal), said: “It’s great to see our new Paceco ship to shore cranes fully operational this week and already delivering an excellent service for our customers in the short sea and Mediterranean markets. With this investment we continue to secure Tilbury’s position as a key shipping and distribution location with unrivalled access to London and the South East of England.
Tilbury handles in excess of half a million containers per year, and is the only UK port truly servicing both deep sea and short sea customers. LCT is now recognised as the one of the most efficient UK port for the handling of containers, bringing benefits to our customers with improved turnover of vessels and road side trucks. Over the past 3 years we have been delivering a multi-million pound investment programme for London Container Terminal to integrate container handling across both the deep sea and short sea operations at Tilbury.”
Commenting on the new crane, Mark Barrett, Managing Director UK from Samskip said: Our vessel, the Henrike Schepers, was unloaded very efficiently by the new Paceco Crane at LCT. It’s important that we have a quick turnaround at the port with our key market connections and we need LCT to deliver a great service for us. So we were delighted to be part of the crane’s first job!
In addition to the two Paceco ship-to-shore cranes, LCT have also recently invested in a Liebherr 550 mobile crane, 14 new Kalmar straddle carrier, a single reception gate covering both security and container processing, new cranes, a bespoke ICT system and surfacing work. Forth Ports’ investment programme at London Container Terminal comes to around £20million in total.
The investment programme has been aided by the Motorway of the Sea grant, awarded to the Port of Tilbury and Port of Bilbao in 2012. The grant is for the “IBUK – Intermodal Corridor” project, which aims to reduce congestion between the Iberian Peninsula and the UK by moving trucks off the road and onto a more efficient multi-modal logistics corridor. The British and Spanish ports have been collaborating since 2009 to receive funding for the project through the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) programme. The Port of Tilbury is the first port in the UK to receive funding from the TEN-T programme.
20 June 2014 -Ends-
Further information/images:
Debbie Johnston, Spreng & Co
0141 548 5191 / 07532 183811 / [email protected]
Notes to editors:
Notes to Editors
About the Port of Tilbury:
The Port of Tilbury is a significant part of the Forth Ports Group and also London’s major port providing fast, modern distribution services for the benefit of the South East of England.
Tilbury’s strategic position on the Thames provides a major geographical advantage for transport to and out of London and the South?East making its location the natural point for distribution. Serving the UK’s market for forest products, general cargo, vehicles, grain and other bulks, the port offers customers excellent transport links to and from the capital and across the South East. International supply chain expertise is the Port of Tilbury’s undoubted strength and makes the port a leader in portcentric logistics, providing solutions and helping to deliver significant savings.
The Port is a significant distribution centre, covering over 850 acres and is well positioned to access the M25 orbital motorway and the rest of the UK's national motorway network. In addition, there are direct rail connections within the Port, with access to the whole of the UK.
www.londoncontainerterminal.com
www.forthports.co.uk
www.londondistributionpark.com
