The crane becomes the eighth ultra-large Liebherr container crane at the port capable of handling the world’s largest container vessels, and was delivered at the same time as the MSC Gülsün, the world’s largest container vessel, docked at the port.
The new crane is identical to two cranes supplied earlier this year, with an outreach of 72m, a back reach of 15m, and a lift height over rail of 50m.
The cranes are capable of handling vessels with 25 rows of containers across deck, and, along with five previouslyinstalled Liebherr ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, together comprise eight ultralarge container cranes suitable for handling the latest and future generations of ultra-large container vessels, said the manufacturer.
One such ultra-large vessel is the MSC Gülsün, which is 400m long, 61.55m wide, and has a capacity of 23,756 TEU. It is the first of 11 vessels that have 24 containers across the deck; this new class was designed to offer a range of environmental, efficiency, stability and safety benefits.
DCT Gdansk is Europe’s fastest-growing container port, having grown 22.8% in 2018. Since its establishment in 2007, the port has chosen Liebherr STS cranes to power its quayside operations, with the latest installation representing the 14th Liebherr STS crane supplied.
Cameron Thorpe, CEO of DCT Gdansk, said: “At DCT Gdansk, we continually invest for the future, so when the future arrives— as it has with this new class of vessel— we’re ready for it.”
David Griffin, managing director of sales at Liebherr Container Cranes added: “Liebherr is very proud of the very strong relationship we have with DCT Gdansk, and look forward to being involved as DCT continue their growth into the future.”
