The 16-wheel RTGs have a lifting capacity of 50 tons and can stack one-over-five containers high and six-plus truck lane wide.

Konecranes has received its first rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) crane orders from the UK after PD Teesport awarded the company a contract for four units.

PD Teesport, owned by PD Ports, just expanded its container terminal capacity from 235,000 TEUs to 450,000 TEUs. The company's strategy is to expand port-wide capacity as volumes grow to at least 650,000 TEUs.

PD Ports project director Mark Pearson says the container terminal investment in Teesside will potentially involve about GBP29 million (USD47.2 million) of total investment and further boost the port's performance and productivity.

"We are striving to deliver world class operations and this increasingly means using the best equipment and technology available. The RTGs will be a vital and welcome addition," he says.

Thomas Gylling, who is responsible for Konecranes' port crane sales, says the transaction is a "breakthrough in the UK market" for Konecranes RTG container handling cranes. "With this delivery we aim to raise the RTG benchmark for the highest number of containers handled per hour in the UK."

The 16-wheel RTGs have a lifting capacity of 50 tons and can stack one-over-five containers high and six-plus truck lane wide. The value of the order, which will be delivered in the northern autumn, is confidential.

Separately, Konecranes has received a repeat order for 10 RTG cranes from Indonesian state-owned terminal operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia 1 (Pelindo1). The cranes will be delivered to Belawan International Container Terminal (BICT), which is owned by Pelindo 1, in the second quarter of 2012. The parties have agreed not to disclose the order's value.