APM Terminal Maasvlakte-II Rotterdam in the Netherlands

Cargotec, one of world's largest cargo flow specialist, entered into an agreement with APM Terminals to supply eight Kalmar super quay (ship-to-shore) cranes and two Kalmar barge quay cranes in the Rotterdam Maasvlakte II expansion project. The expansion of the port of Rotterdam, Maasvlakte II, is Europe's largest land reclamation project.

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Rotterdam, the Netherlands – APM Terminals Maasvlakte II has selected Cargotec as the quay crane supplier for the company’s future Maasvlakte II terminal in Rotterdam. The decision reflects a comprehensive bidding process designed to find cranes that offer the highest safety, productivity and automation standards required for the largest container ships in the world.

Cargotec will supply eight Kalmar super quay cranes and two Kalmar barge quay cranes to the APM Terminals Maasvlakte II expansion project between December 2013 and December 2014. Cargotec’s Kalmar Monobox-type, Super Post Panamax quay cranes have an outreach of 25 containers with Bromma spreaders. The cranes are semi-automated and are capable of handling 2 x 40 foot or 2 x 20 foot containers using one lift (twin-lift and tandem-lift capability) and are equipped with various additional features including second trolley and remote control, which when combined, are expected to lead to significant improvements in container handling productivity and safety. The two barge quay cranes will have an outreach of 36 meters.

The lifts use a reliable rack and pinion system, and are equipped with a frequency control system in order to provide a smooth start and have a speed of 36 m/min. All hoists will be shipped with an automatic lubrication system to maintain a smooth drive and to reduce the amount of wear and tear. For safety reasons there will two special lowering systems; one makes it possible to lower the hoist from inside the cage in case of power failure and the other system makes it possible to lower the cage safely with a controlled speed when the safety device is tripping. As the terminal is near an open sea and must be operational even in very windy weather, the cranes and hoists are designed to operate in circumstances for when the wind speed is up to 100 km/hour.

Cargotec's Kalmar Monobox-type quay cranes will be operating in the new terminal area. The huge cranes will be equipped with Scanclimber SC400K permanent hoists to transport operators and service personnel. Cargotec ordered 10 permanent hoists of type SC400K, from Scanclimber, each with a capacity of 400 kg (4 people).

Two of the hoists are installed outside the quay cranes with a height of 35 meters and have 4 landing levels, 8 lifts are installed inside the 4 crane legs of the higher super quay cranes. All these 8 hoists have a lifting height of 64 meters above the quay level, starting at a height of 9 meters inside the leg structure.

Since the leg structure/dimensions were pre-set set by the Cargotec designers, Scanclimber had to offer a cage that was big enough to fit the available space. The solution was a cage with floor dimensions of 1200x 800 mm and a mast anchored to the leg structure with a special shortened anchoring. In the crane legs there are entrances with doors in 6 places which provide access from the hoist to the different crane levels. The installation has already started with the first Scanclimber hoist to a quay crane, and the installation of the 8 internal units has taken place during 2014.