Cranes raise container height in Argentina

Buenos Aires Container Terminal Services, S.A. (BACTSSA) has awarded Cargotec Argentina a contract to increase the lifting capacity of two Kalmar rubber tyred gantry cranes (RTG’s) from 1 over 4 to 1 over 5 containers high.

After ten years of operating the Kalmar equipment, BACTSSA was looking to extend the performance of their existing RTGs to handle increasing annual TEU movements.
Cargotec’s proposal was based on modifications that required thorough structural and mechanical calculations. A key consideration was that the design had to fulfil the requirements stated on international standards such as FEM. This meant that the latest regulations and a strict quality control plan had to be adopted throughout the process.

The solution was to increase the length of the columns by 2.9 meters by installing column extensions. These were manufactured by local suppliers, under the close supervision of experts from Cargotec Argentina.

Marcelo Massa, Managing Director, Cargotec Argentina said,“When container handling capacity has to be increased quickly and cost-efficiently modification is a good solution, particularly when the customer has quality cranes already installed. By extending the container stacking height, capacity can be increased considerably without taking up more space in the terminal.

“The job on site in the Port of Buenos Aires was performed entirely by Cargotec Argentina staff. Our engineers, supervisors, mechanics and electricians worked on site for less than two months and succeeded in commissioning the RTGs back into operation on schedule. There was minimal disturbance to the terminal’s daily operations and the technical division staff from BACTSSA made a positive contribution in achieving this goal through its assistance during the whole process.
“This successful project ratified the high potential and capability of Cargotec Argentina to manage complex projects such as modernizing and refurbishing container cranes”, Marcelo concluded.

BACTSSA, a Hutchison Whampoa Limited company, has been operating in Argentina’s main container gateway, the Port of Buenos Aires, since 1994. It handles over 300,000TEU annually.

BACTSSA’s terminal has two mooring sites for container transports with modern equipment and infrastructure. The company has been adopting the latest in technology from the beginning and is now also operating four Kalmar E-One RTGs which are 6+1 wide and capable of stacking 1 over 5 high.

(Source: Transport Weekly)