Kalmar will be upgrading cranes

Kalmar has been awarded a contract to heighten four ZPMC ship-to-shore (STS) cranes operated by Generale de Manutention Portuaire (GMP), a joint venture between DP World and Terminal Link (CMA-CGM), located in the port of Le Havre. The order was booked in Cargotec's 2018 second quarter order intake, and the project is scheduled to commence in the third quarter of 2018.

The port of Le Havre, located on the north coast of France, is the country's largest container port and one of the only deepwater ports in Northern Europe where the largest container ships can be handled without tidal restrictions.

The Terminal de France is a state-of-the-art facility operated by GMP. The terminal is expanding its capabilities and capacity in order to be able to handle the new mega-container vessels operated by CMA.

Kalmar will be responsible for the planning, engineering and execution of the entire project, which involves heightening the four STS cranes by 9 m. The cranes will be heightened by inserting leg extensions underneath the portal beams. During the upgrade, the cranes will be jacked up using Kalmar's specialised jacking towers and hydraulic jacks.

Guy Sansone, technical director of GMP, says the decision to partner with Kalmar was taken "mainly because of their proven track record and the technical expertise of their dedicated crane upgrades team. Extending the capabilities of our STS cranes through heightening will ensure we can continue to provide our customers with the best possible level of service, regardless of how large their vessels are."