Cargotec has secured two contracts to upgrade ship-to-shore cranes from Northport (Malaysia) Bhd.

Cargotec has secured two contracts to refurbish and upgrade ship-to-shore cranes from Northport (Malaysia) Bhd operating at Port Klang, as part of plans to boost efficiency and capacity at its container terminal.

Eight cranes, capable of 48 metre (158 foot) outreach, will be completely refurbished with digital electrical system technology. Upgrades will be made to the cranes' speed drives, control monitoring systems, motors, cables, brakes, festoon systems, operator cabins and load weighing systems. Two post-Panamax cranes will be raised in height to accommodate larger container ships.

Collin Swee, Cargotec Terminal Business Malaysia director, says that the crane refurbishment project will extend the lifetime of Northport's quay cranes and offer improved return on its initial investment.

"These cranes are 10 to 15 years old but they are still in good structural condition. We expect their life expectancy will be extended by a minimum of one million cycles," Swee says.

He explains that newer generation electrical and electronic components will significantly improve the reliability and uptime of the cranes and expects maintenance costs to be lower in the medium- to long-term.

"Each crane will benefit from a new crane maintenance management system for faster diagnosis of technical faults, in turn reducing mean time to repair," Swee adds.

The cranes' control systems will also be modified to allow twin-lift operations. Swee expects the upgrade to result in a 15% improvement in operational speed and efficiency. The 20-month retrofit project will see the cranes delivered progressively, with the first back in service by the end of the first quarter of 2011, and the last operational by the first quarter of the following year.

Northport's quay cranes are not Kalmar-built, but Cargotec will use its STS engineering experience, expertise and resources to refurbish the other-branded cranes. The crane refurbishment projects are integral to Northport's plans to meet new demand for handling capacity. In the first half of 2010, throughput grew 26% compared to the same period last year. The port expects to handle 3.5 million TEUs for 2010.

"The Asia Pacific region has experienced quantum growth in port terminal development in the last 15 years. There is a demand for a strong and competent technical service provider to assist these terminals in the upgrade and retrofit of their current equipment fleet," Swee says.

Cargotec's terminal business in Malaysia has also recently been contracted to undertake crane structural analysis at the ESCO Terminal, Laem Chabang in Thailand. In March 2010, it completed a crane refurbishment project in Manila, Philippines and in 2009, secured a refurbishment contract in Brunei.

Separately, Cargotec has received an order for 14 Kalmar Edrive straddle carriers from Générale de Manutention Portuaire, a joint venture between terminal operator DP World and shipping company CMA-CGM at the port of Le Havre in France. The value of the order was not disclosed.