In October this year, Associated British Ports (ABP) received a Konecranes Gottwald Model 6 Mobile Harbor Crane at their operations in Southampton. Once it is handed over in December, the crane will help increase the amount of scrap and bulk handling in the port.

ABP is the UK’s leading ports operator, with 21 locations across the country, including Southampton on the southern coast. Close to major international shipping lanes, the port is Britain’s largest export shipping hub, with £40 billion of goods passing through it every year. ABP needed a new mobile harbor crane quayside on the Western Docks to manage a growing demand for bulk materials handling.

Gottwald Model 6
Gottwald Model 6

Konecranes Gottwald Model 6 mobile harbor crane during the assembling at ABP’s terminal in Southampton.“We wanted the best bulk handling mobile harbor crane available for our high-volume port, so we invited a public tender,” says Mark Thompson, ABP’s head of Asset Management in Southampton. “With its high performance, eco-efficient drive system and connectivity, the Konecranes Gottwald crane won. We also took into account the positive experience we’ve had with the other Konecranes Gottwald mobile harbor cranes around the port.”

The new crane is a Konecranes Gottwald Model 6 mobile harbor crane in the four-rope variant G HMK 6507 B, with a 50-ton grab curve in A7 and a maximum capacity of 125 tons. It’s equipped with a high tower for a better view of the working area, particularly the berthed vessel, and an eco-efficient diesel-electric drive. Web Reporting will provide ABP with online access to crane performance data to add extra technical insight to the crane inspections and service in the site maintenance contract.

“Repeat business is the best sign of customer satisfaction,” says Neil Griffiths, Sales and Service Director (UK) for Konecranes Port Solutions. “ABP has bought many cranes from us for their ports around Britain for more than 20 years, and Southampton is now the second-largest Konecranes Gottwald crane operator in the UK. We look forward to continuing our relationship with them in the future.”