GPA orders eco-efficient container cranes

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has ordered 28 Konecranes eco-efficient container cranes for the Port of Savannah in the U.S.

Twenty of those are Konecranes rubber-tired gantry (RTG) cranes and eight are Konecranes ship-to-shore (STS) cranes.

Six of the STS cranes will be the largest ever made by Konecranes, the Finnish company that specialises in the manufacture and service of cranes and lifting equipment.

The Georgia Ports Authority orders these to prepare to serve the world’s largest container vessels such as the HMM Algeciras class and Maersk’s Triple-E class, which have capacities of 24,000 twenty-foot equivalent units or more, meaning they can carry 24,000 containers either 20 or 40 feet in size.

The order for RTG cranes was booked at the beginning of 2021, and the STS order was booked in th last quarter of 2020. The STS cranes will be delivered in two batches, the first in June 2023 and the second in October 2023. The diesel-electric RTG cranes will be delivered in four batches of five cranes in 2021 and 2022.

Konecranes has been delivering STS cranes to the GPA, Port of Savannah, since 1990. The GPA also operates a large fleet of Konecranes RTG cranes.

Executive director of the GPA Griff Lynch said: “The new high-performance and long-lasting STS cranes on order are part of the Big Ship/Big Berth program. Six of the new cranes will be very large, enabling us to serve the New-Panamax container ships, which will reach us thanks to the dredging of the final portion of Savannah’s shipping channel, which will be done by late 2021.”

Executive vice-president of Konecranes Port Solutions Mika Mahlberg added: “Konecranes has been working with the GPA since the early 1990s. We have always worked closely with them to improve efficiency and stay ahead of industry trends, and today’s announcement marks the latest step in that relationship. Six of the new STS cranes will be the largest that Konecranes will have ever made, and the new RTGs will help the GPA reach their growth and performance targets.”