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The new AGV with diesel-electric drive. |
Düsseldorf, 30. Mai 2006 –
On the occasion of the 30th Terminal Operations Conference and Exhibition, TOC 2006 Europe, from 30
May to 1 June 2006 in Hamburg, Germany, Gottwald Port Technology is presenting its products,
services and solutions for efficient and future-oriented terminal operations. The inventor of the
Mobile Harbour Crane is attending the 30th anniversary conference and exhibition as one of the
event sponsors and as an exhibitor. In addition, the company is celebrating its own 100th
anniversary, which coincides with the birthday of this leading shipping ports and terminal event.
With a focus on recently launched products, Gottwald will display at two locations – at a
booth inside (Stand C04, Hall 12) and at an outside stand (Entrance East). The highlights of
Gottwald’s showcase at this year’s TOC Europe, demonstrating the company’s position as pacesetter
in the market of Mobile Harbour Cranes and systems supplier for automated port equipment, include:
The central theme at Gottwald’s booth: the new Generation 5 Mobile Harbour Cranes first introduced to the market in March 2006. Based on 50 years of Mobile Harbour Crane experience, the new Generation 5 has been conceived to offer individual crane solutions for customer specific requirements. In addition to superior handling rates and capacities, Gottwald’s revolutionary new Generation 5 offers a wide range of innovative features and a greater choice of variants than ever before, placing Gottwald Mobile Harbour Cranes on a level with special-purpose container and bulk handling equipment.
The heart of the Generation 5 is a uniform modular design and construction principle, making it possible for each customer to have the Mobile Harbour Crane best suited to his individual requirements. Equipped with the well-known diesel-electric drive concept Gottwald is famous for, the three new models 6, 7 & 8 of the new Generation 5 are available in numerous variants and are positioned at the upper end of the lifting capacity range from 74 to 200 metric tonnes, enabling customers to select the ideal configuration with regard to lifting capacity, hoisting speeds and on-board diesel engine. Fitted with a chassis, a portal or a pontoon and available as four-rope grab crane variants for professional bulk handling, the new Generation 5 Mobile Harbour Cranes can be used as universal equipment or for special purposes in terminals of any size.
Generation 5 has already started to play an active part on the harbour crane market. Since the end of 2005, two G HMK 8710 Mobile Harbour Cranes, currently the largest Mobile Harbour Cranes in the world, are in operation in the Port of Carrara, Italy. Also since the end of 2005, P&O Ports Antwerp in Belgium has been operating two 140-tonne G HMK 7608 Mobile Harbour Cranes.
Following the successful operation of the first installations, additional orders for the new Generation 5 cranes were not long in coming. At present, Gottwald has orders for five Model 7 cranes and one Model 8 crane.
Five Model 7 cranes will be delivered to Puerto Rico. Intership, in the Port of San Juan, has ordered three 140-tonne G HMK 7608 cranes, while the Ayala Colón Group, another terminal operator in the Port of San Juan, has ordered two 100-tonne G HMK 7408 cranes. Both terminal operators will use the new Generation 5 Mobile Harbour Cranes for their increasing container handling operations.
The first Generation 5 four-rope grab Mobile Harbour Crane for professional bulk-handling will be delivered to Ership in the Port of Huelva, Spain. Ership already operates a range of bulk handling cranes from Gottwald and decided to expand its fleet with a Model 8 crane, designated G HMK 8210 B, offering a 50-tonne grab curve.
“Taking a brief look back at the first five months of 2006, I am pleased to say that we are continuing on our successful path of recent years,” says Gottwald’s Sales Director, Giuseppe Di Lisa. The Mobile Harbour Cranes Reference List as of 31 May 2006, presented on the occasion of the TOC 2006 Europe reports 36 cranes. “With six Generation 5 cranes, accounting for 17% of the orders, Gottwald has achieved a successful market launch. However, our strength in the bulk handling segment is also worth mentioning.” Twelve cranes in the reference list, i.e. one third are four-rope grab cranes for professional bulk handling.
“In addition,” says Di Lisa, “with two further HPK orders, Gottwald is also continuing to receive positive signals for its pontoon-mounted cranes used in ship-to-ship handling and just on the market since 2004.” Current orders include a follow-up order from the very first customer for the HPK: St. James Stevedoring on the Mississippi River, USA, has ordered its second HPK 330 EG crane. Associated Terminals, another terminal operator located on the Mississippi, has also ordered an HPK 330 EG. The total number of Harbour Pontoon Cranes ordered since the debut in 2004 now comes to three units. Together with two HSK Portal Harbour Cranes to be operated on pontoons (or barges as they are called in USA), Gottwald’s “barge experience” now includes five cranes. “The orders in the pontoon-mounted crane segment are evidence of the effective market launch,” comments Di Lisa. “ And they reflect once again Gottwald’s success in conquering new and untapped markets as well as our ability to offer neatly customised solutions.”
The exhibition will also allow a closer look at Gottwald’s expanded AGV Automated Guided Vehicle product line for automated container handling in ports. At Entrance East, visitors can see the new AGV with diesel-electric drive successfully introduced to the market in summer 2005.
The new environmentally and economically advanced AGV series is the diesel-electric version of the well-known AGV with diesel-hydraulic drive. These unmanned vehicles that move containers with pinpoint accuracy between quay and stackyard, fully automatically, and fast, have now been on the market for more than 15 years. Currently more than 350 units are in operation worldwide.
The new AGV with diesel-electric drive on display at TOC 2006 Europe is one of the first 21 units that will go into operation in HHLA’s Container-Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) in the Port of Hamburg, one of the most modern, fully automated container terminals in the world. The new AGVs with diesel-electric drive will be supplied to CTA in the course of 2006, together with Gottwald’s navigation and management software that can easily be integrated into a host terminal management system.
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