Cargotec will supply eight Kalmar ship-to-shore cranes to Netherlands' APM Terminals.

Cargotec has received an order from Netherlands' APM Terminals to supply eight Kalmar ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and two Kalmar barge quay cranes to the company's Maasvlakte II expansion project.

The order is one of Cargotec's largest port equipment orders in recent years. The cranes will be delivered between December 2013 and December 2014. Both parties agreed not to disclose the value of the order.

The expansion of the port of Rotterdam, Maasvlakte II, is Europe's largest land reclamation project. It was started in 2008 to meet the growing demand for space and to maintain Rotterdam's leading role in Europe.

Due to the expansion of the existing port to a total of 12,000 ha (29,653 ac.), the capacity for container transfer is expected to double to 34 million TEUs by 2033.

"We are especially proud to contribute to this landmark project, which is significant for the development of the whole container industry in Western Europe. The Kalmar STS cranes will be capable of serving the largest container ships calling at Rotterdam," says Harald de Graaf, executive vice president, EMEA at Cargotec.

APM Terminals operates a network of 62 ports and terminals in 36 countries, with 12 expansion programs under way.