KCI Konecranes will supply four shipboard gantry cranes, estimated to be worth more than USD20 million, to Oshima Shipyard, Japan, in 2007 and 2008.

A Konecranes statement said the 55 DWT vessels on which the cranes would be installed were ordered by Singaporean shipowner Masterbulk Pte Ltd, and would be the largest of their type in the world.

The cranes' main mechanical components, electrical control systems and drive units will be delivered from Europe while the crane structures will be manufactured and assembled in China, and barged to Japan.

In Japan, they will be installed onboard the vessels by Oshima Shipyard.

The shipboard gantry cranes enable the vessels to call into ports that have no quay cranes for cargo handling. They are tailor made for handling forestry products like pulp, rolled paper and other unitised cargo like containers and steel products.

Oshima Shipyard, near Nagasaki, specialises in construction of all types of bulk carriers, delivering 24 to 30 vessels annually.