Giant cranes arrive at UK super port

Three giant gantry cranes have arrived at the DP World London Gateway, the UK’S new global shipping port on the north bank of the Thames Estuary in Thurrock, UK.

The cranes, built and delivered by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company (ZPMC), arrived on Friday 1 March 2013. Two more cranes are due to arrive on 15th April 2013. A further 19 cranes are planned for delivery over the coming years.

The cranes weigh 2,000 tonnes each and at full height stand 138 metres tall. They will operate on a new 2.5 km quay wall that has foundations 50 m deep.

Simon Moore, CEO, DP World London Gateway, said, “London Gateway port, and the combined logistics park, is Britain’s new gateway for global trade. These cranes will bring new innovation and efficiency to the supply chain industry. It won’t be long before importers and exporters across the country will be able to cut costs dramatically from their supply chains by choosing London Gateway, a port which is much closer to where goods need to go.

“A world-class deep-sea container port requires a world-class set of cranes. They will be the lynchpin of the operation – the biggest, most modern and most efficient the UK has ever seen.”

Ahsan Agha, London Gateway’s mechanical and electrical services manager, is responsible for the design and build of the cranes. When the cranes arrived he said, “These cranes are what London Gateway is all about. They are future-proofing Britain’s ability to trade with the rest of the world and I’m proud to see them arrive. It’s a huge step forward for the whole team at London Gateway.”

Once completed, the super-port will serve 0.5 km long ships that can carry more than 10,000 containers. The cranes at the London Gateway are designed to serve the next generation of container ships, which will be capable of carrying 18,000 containers.

To allow for the world’s largest ships to call at London Gateway, the shipping channel has been dredged from 11 to 14.5 m in the inner channel and 16 m in the outer channel. The berth pockets have been deepened to 17 m.

At full build London Gateway will create approximately 36,000 jobs, with 2,000 workers employed directly at the port and around 10,000 employed in the logistics park.

Lookout here and in International Cranes and Specialized Transport for more on this project as it develops.