The Port of Felixstowe has welcomed the arrival of nine rubber-tyred gantry cranes from Zhenhua Port Machinery Company (ZPMC) of Shanghai. The cranes have been transported – fully erected – by sea from China, a journey that has taken nine weeks. Following full commissioning tests, it is anticipated that the cranes will be fully operational within a short time.

The new cranes are capable of lifting one container over five and can straddle seven rows of containers. They all have 16 wheels, and can lift up to 40 tonnes. They will be deployed on Trinity Terminal, one of Europe’s longest continuous quays, at nearly 3km in length.

Chris Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, which owns the Port of Felixstowe, said:

“As the UK’s premier container port, we have a duty to provide our customers with unrivalled levels of service and efficiency. This latest delivery of state-of-the-art new equipment will place us in an even stronger position to meet our customers’ expectations well into the future.“

The arrival of the new machinery means that the Port has invested in forty-one rubber-tyred gantry cranes from ZPMC since 2002, bringing the total number on Trinity Terminal to over 100.