Finland’s newest container facility, Vuosaari Port in Helsinki, will soon be capable of handling post-Panamax ships carrying up to 18 containers abreast. At the beginning of June, the Finnish cargo handling specialist Cargotec delivered the first of four state-of-the-art Kalmar ship-to-shore (STS) cranes to Vuosaari and this is now being commissioned. The remaining trio are all expected to be operational by the end of 2008.

Vuosaari’s deepsea container terminal will be operated by Finnsteve Oy Ab and when completed, will have an enormous impact on the Baltic Sea trades. For the first time, ships of 7000 teu and larger will be able to sail all the way from China to Finland knowing that there is a 21st century container terminal awaiting them.

The four new STS cranes, which will serve a 750m long quay, will incorporate the latest handling technology both in terms of capacity and performance. Lifting capacity will be 82 tons, enabling Finnsteve the option of using twin-lift spreaders able to handle two heavy 20ft containers simultaneously or the increasingly popular Bromma-developed tandem lift mode, whereby two 40ft containers are lifted at the same time.

As is usual in Nordic countries, special attention has been paid to the crane operator’s working environment. The spacious cabins offer good visibility and well designed control systems for safe and comfortable operations. Energy-saving solutions and ease of maintenance will also be inbuilt.

A Crane Monitoring System will provide information on the condition of each crane, the number and weight of lifts, maintenance intervals and fault diagnosis.

Cargotec is the number one STS crane manufacturer in Europe, having delivered over 40 Kalmar STS cranes to large European ports such as Antwerp, Oslo and Helsingborg in recent years.