Kalmar announces further orders

Maher Terminals has outfitted its straddle carrier fleet with Kalmar's Smartpath container position verification system and Fleetview fleet management system.

Through Smartpath, the straddle carrier driver receives instructions for tasks from a digital monitor in his cabin, which exchanges information with the yard management system. No manual input is required.

It is designed for straddle carriers and rubber-tyred-gantry (RTG) cranes.

Fleetview, Kalmar's latest automation software, was introduced in August 2006.
A GPS receiver fitted to the handling equipment translates satellite information to pinpoint the equipment's location before feeding the data to Fleetview in map form. A Fleetview user can monitor the equipment's activity as the map displayed on the user's screen shows the terminal layout and the machine's movements.

The installation involved 183 straddle carriers. Maher Terminals, an independent container terminal operator in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, US, is Kalmar's largest global straddle carrier customer.

Separately, Kalmar has received an order for 10 ESC440 Edrive straddle carriers with twin-lift spreaders from MSC Gate Bremerhaven. The order was an additional option deal associated with a previous order earlier this year (Forkliftaction.com News #301).

Kalmar says the updated seventh generation straddle carriers have several advancements over the previous series, but no further details were available at this time.

"The electric and hydraulic systems have been fine-tuned to improve reliability and availability. The updated and optimised control system has made it possible to further reduce fuel consumption and emissions. The units are also delivered ready for future automation."

Kalmar did not disclose the value of the order.