KCI Konecranes Third Large Order for the New Boxhunter Crane

Terminal de Contenedores de Algeciras, S.A. (TCA) in Spain, ordered two Post Panamax Ship-to-Shore (STS) Container Cranes from Konecranes VLC. The order is the third large order for Konecranes’ new BoxHunter Ship-to-Shore (STS) container crane design since its release in September. The value of the order is approximately EURO 11 million.

The two previous BoxHunter orders were for two similar cranes to the container terminal in Barcelona (TCB) in Spain and a modernisation project for two STS cranes adapting the new design.

”The crane market is not so hot today”, admits Mika Mahlberg, Director of Konecranes VLC Container Cranes. “However, this order together with the other recent orders prove that there is still a good market for high performance equipment. Once again this order was won on technology and the productivity boosting features of Konecranes’ new BoxHunter STS crane design. The order will further support a good base loading within Special Cranes stretching into 2003.”

The new container terminal in Algeciras is part of a joint venture between the terminal operator TCB and Acciona, a Spanish infrastructure construction and services company. When complete the new container terminal in Algeciras plans to have capacity of 856,000 TEU ("Twenty foot Equivalent Unit"). The two new STS cranes are part of the investments required for increasing capacity at the terminal.

In the new BoxHunter design the handling equipment comes complete with Konecranes own AC drives, Active Anti Sway Control and Horizontal Fine Positioning Systems. The new BoxHunter STS cranes will enable the crane operator to reduce the non-productive part of the cycle time. The cranes are supported by KCI Konecranes’ worldwide harbour crane maintenance organisation, KCI Koneports.

Konecranes VLC is part of the KCI Konecranes Group’s Special Cranes Business Area and specialises in port, terminal and shipyard cranes.

KCI Konecranes, headquartered in Hyvinkää, Finland is a world leading Engineering Group specialising in advanced overhead lifting solutions and maintenance services. Group activity is organised along three business areas: Maintenance Services (44% of Group sales) Standard Lifting Equipment (32%) and Special Cranes (24%). KCI Konecranes is competing in all parts of the industrial and harbour crane market. In 2000, Group sales totalled EUR 703 million with over 4400 employees in 34 countries all over the world.

This press release together with a downloadable high-resolution picture of a Ship-to-Shore crane is available at our website: www.kcigroup.com at “Latest News”.

For further information, please contact:

Konecranes VLC Corporation
Mika Mahlberg, Director, Container Cranes,
Tel. +358-40-548 3353

Downloadable high-resolution image:

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