The BLOK Spreader is a product from BLOK Container Systems (BCS), who claimed that it “could save the maritime industry billions of dollars”.
It allows for four empty shipping containers to be lifted and transported onto quaysides as a single block, potentially easing congestion in container ports all over the world as well as lowering emissions and saving billions across the sector, BCS said.
Selwyn Rowley, who co-founded the company two years ago and is its director of sales and marketing, described the spreader as “a major innovation that is going to change the maritime sector” and said that multiple container handling could “revolutionise” port handling systems.
“Container terminals charge at least £100, and often much more, a lift, so the potential savings created by being able to move four [containers] at a time rather than one run into the billions,” he argued.
Mr Rowley claimed that BCS has interest from ports across the globe plus a lot of International Maritime Organization nation members.
“We are confident that this is going to have a huge global impact,” he said, adding that more efficient handling at ports is needed and that time savings are vital to permit slower sailing.
“This has the potential to be a game-changer for ports in the longer term,” commented Jim O’Boyle, Councillor for Coventry City Council in the UK.
