KCI Konecranes has obtained sales in the US and UK for cranes with its new rail mounted gantry (RMG) technology, the company said in a June 14 statement.

The company received an order for 30 RMG container handling cranes for delivery to a Portsmouth, Virginia, USA, terminal, beginning in October 2006. The value of the order is estimated at USD72.8 million. The order includes an option for an additional 30 cranes.

Maersk Inc placed the order on behalf of APM Terminals North America Inc, which is building the USD450 million state-of-the-art container terminal on the Elizabeth River, Portsmouth.

The project is the largest single private investment in container terminals in the United States, according to an April 2004 APM announcement. Dredging began last year, and construction should end in 2007. Maersk and APM Terminals are affiliated with AP Moller-Maersk Group, of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Each crane will have a lifting capacity of 40 tonnes, a lifting height of one over five containers and a span of 25.4 metres. The RMGs use Konecranes' patented active load control technology now in use on the firm's range of rubber tyred gantry (RTG) cranes.

Initial customer Roadways Container Logistics Ltd has ordered two of the new cranes for its new Birmingham Intermodal Freight Terminal in the British Midlands, UK, Konecranes said on June 8. The value is estimated at USD4.8 million.

Roadways Container Logistics, a subsidiary of Royal P&O Nedlloyd NV, plans to use the cranes to transfer containers between rail cars and road vehicles and signed a two-year maintenance contract with KCI Konecranes.

Each crane can span 28 metres and lift up to 40 tonnes one over three containers high. Roadways Container Logistics is the UK's largest container distributor.

Konecranes' RMG technology incorporates automated features, superior load control, a rotating trolley for positioning efficiency and remote diagnostics maximising uptime in operations, the company said.