TT Talk - World's largest container crane produced in Shanghai
Following the item in TT Talk No. 53 about vertical tandem lifting, Andrew Kemp in the Club's Singapore office draws our attention to the imminent arrival of a crane that can lift two 40' units simultaneously.
The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported recently that the Shanghai-based Zhenhua Port Machine Company (ZPMC) has completed construction of this giant crane, the first of its kind in the world. The crane, the largest and most advanced container-lifting machine in the world, will be exported to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the end of this year.
The enterprise has exported more than 1,500 cranes to 70 ports in 37 countries, taking more than half the global market for port machinery. It now manufactures one crane every two and a half days and is expected to achieve a production value of USD 1 billion in 2004.
ZPMC General Manager Guan Tongxian said that the company expects the newly-developed crane to bring "new momentum" to the global port industry. He gave no details of the contract with the UAE or other market responses to this latest addition to their range of equipment.
In a week during which yet another cargo-related containership fire took place, it is timely to draw attention to on-going industry developments to improve controls in the carriage of dangerous goods by sea.
Compliance with international regulation requires alertness to change. In international trade, compliance also needs sophisticated collaboration. It’s time to grasp opportunity.
UN portable tanks (tank containers) have been used in the international supply chain to distribute bulk cargoes for many years. Having such a deep heritage in the insurance of the maritime containers, naturally TT Club has intimate understanding of the tank container sector, with a current insurable interest in around 53% of the global tank container fleet.
It is estimated that 150 quayside container cranes develop a fatigue crack annually, with the potential for a catastrophic failure of a critical structural member. This is revealed in the Port Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA) in their latest publication, entitled 'Practical Structural Examination of Container Handling Cranes in Ports and Terminals'.
