Equipped for growth

The Baltic Sea’s DCT Gdansk, part of the PSA Group, has placed an order for ten new Semi-Automated Rubber Tire Gantry Cranes (ARTG) from Konecranes.

In addition, the operator has committed itself to retrofitting its current fleet of 15 Konecrane RTG cranes.

“This is a very ambitious project that is central to our development plans. We needed a supplier with experience in operating both manual and automated cranes, as well as upgrading and integrating them into our PSA in-house software. We also wanted the most advanced machines that are equipped with smart features,” said Mustafa Dagan, technical director of DCT Gdansk.

Dynamic growth

The additions and upgrades will accommodate the terminal’s dynamic growth, which will culminate with the opening of its new deep-water quay in 2024.

As a result, DCT Gdansk will increase its current handling capacity of 2.9 million teu to a total of 4.5 million teu per year by 2025.

The new ARTGs and  retrofitted cranes will be equipped with the latest ARTG technologies from Konecranes, which include a fully automated gantry.

Remote Operating Stations (ROS) will supervise truck handling; Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology will be able to identify individual container numbers and Internal/external truck recognition will be based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology that captures smart labels through radio waves.

The operator said that the new RTGs will provide higher efficiency and predictability of operations, as well as improve safety.