Kalmar is refurbishing two ship-to-shore cranes for SITA Waste Services Ltd.

Kalmar has won an order to retrofit and upgrade two Hong Kong-based NDC ship-to-shore (STS) crane units for global waste management firm SITA Waste Services Ltd.

The project, valued at over EUR2 million (USD2.6 million), will be undertaken at SITA's West Kowloon transfer station, where the STS cranes are used for solid waste container handling. The refurbishment will commence in December 2013 and is expected to finish by the end of March 2014.

Both cranes have been in operation for 15 years, and their spare parts availability is limited. The refurbishment process will include replacing the electrical control system, hoisting motors, wire rope drum, hoisting frame and head block. The STS cranes will also require new gantry motors, equalizer beams and boogies along with all cables and festoons. They will also be repainted. These updates are expected to boost efficiency and productivity while prolonging the cranes' lifespan.

Sunny Kwong, SITA project engineering manager at West Kowloon Transfer Station, says action needed to be taken with original spare parts hard to come by and the cranes approaching their 16th year of service.

Thomas Wong, vice president of service business for Kalmar - APAC, says the contract is an "important breakthrough" for the company in Hong Kong.

"Despite the project complexity, we are very confident in accomplishing it, thanks to the experience and support provided by the Kalmar Cranes Services Competence Center in Malaysia and in the Netherlands," he adds.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, boasts that one in four container movements globally is being handled by a Kalmar solution. Cargotec's sales totalled EUR3.3 billion (USD4.3 billion) in 2012 and it employs about 10,000 people.