Konecranes has secured a EUR4.5 million (USD5.5 million) order for a ship-to-shore (STS) container crane from the Luka Koper Container Terminal at the Port of Koper in Slovenia.
Located in the Bay of Koper in the Adriatic Sea, the Port of Koper has experienced an average rise of 13% in annual container traffic in recent years.
The traffic growth has prompted the port expand, and a new container terminal is planned close to the Luka Koper terminal.
The terminal currently operates three STS cranes and several mobile machines, including a Konecranes eight-wheel rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) crane delivered early this year.
Due for delivery in July, 2005, the new Kronecranes STS crane has a capacity of 45 tons (41 tonnes), an outreach of 37 metres, allowing 13-wide container handling.
Konecranes' container cranes director Mika Mahlberg said the Mediterranean was an important market for expanding the company's container handling business.
"Recently, Konecranes has been increasing its container handling activities in the Mediterranean, with an order for RTG cranes from Valencia, Spain, in June, and now this order from the Port of Koper," he said.
Konecranes machines are also in use at the ports of Barcelona and Algeciras in Spain, the Port of Marseille in France and the ports of Ashdod and Haifa in Israel.