22.06.2006

Twelve all-electric cranes ordered for Durban port

South African Port Operations (Sapo), the terminal operating division of South Africa’s transportation conglomerate, Transnet, has ordered 12 all-electric E-One cranes from Kalmar.

The Kalmar E-One is the world’s first all-electric RTG. The units will be equipped with Kalmar’s Smartrail auto steering and container position verification technology.

Six machines will be delivered to the Port of Durban’s Pier One development in spring 2007 and the remaining six in autumn 2007. Owing to a substantial increase in the volume of cargo handled in the Port of Durban - the busiest port on the African continent - a second container terminal, known as Pier One, has been developed in the port.

At present, Durban handles 1.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and by 2007 it will have a capacity of 2.4 million TEUs.

The 12 E-Ones ordered by Sapo are a step towards developing Pier One into a world-class facility. Further, they are the first-ever RTGs that Sapo has ordered from Kalmar, which has supplied over 130 straddle carriers to Sapo’s facilities in the past five years.

Since its launch at the beginning of 2005, the E-One has secured more than 100 orders from terminal operators around the globe

As the world’s first all-electric RTG, the E-One features a low-emission diesel engine and, owing to the elimination of hydraulics and the precision of all-electric movements, significant fuel savings. And because the E-One contains fewer critical mechanical components, there is less opportunity for failure and a significant boost to operational productivity. The E-One does not use hydraulics and is suited for operation anywhere in the world.