Driven largely by a desire to reduce operating cost, many container terminal operators have shown an interest in remote controlled and\/or automated STS cranes. However, Juan Jodar, Director, Ship-to-Shore (STS), Kalmar, says that only a few global terminal operators are definitely going ahead with this.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not easy to move from a conventionally manned onboard operation to an automated or remote-controlled operation in an existing terminal. Therefore, new greenfield projects are more likely to see automation from the very beginning. On the other hand, it is still not clear that the remote-controlled STS productivity can be higher than the conventionally manned ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jodar adds that it is expected that in the coming years the number of automated terminals will increase and consequently the number of automated STS cranes requested.<\/p>\n
Svend Videbaek, Marketing Specialist, Konecranes, says that automation in STS cranes is increasing right through from operator assisted design features up to remote operation and semi-automated operation of dual trolley STS cranes. \u201cThe customer will have certain preferences related to their terminal operation, which will dictate the level of automation. Recent trends indicate that preference for STS automation is growing, and higher levels of automation will be built into STS cranes in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
December 2020 announced Camco Technologies\u2019 supply of its BoxCatcher crane Optical Character Reader (OCR) technology for five ZPMC STS cranes which are due for installation at Beibu Gulf Port Qinzhou, China.<\/p>\n
The BoxCatcher technology will be used to register and identify containers during the loading and discharging of vessels. The cranes it is fitted to will be installed at the first automated container berths at the greenfield Qinzhou terminal.<\/p>\n
Trevor O\u2019Donoghue, Marketing Manager, Liebherr Container Cranes Ltd, agrees that demand for automation and remote control will continue for the foreseeable future with 2021 and beyond seeing continued growth in the utilisation of remote and virtual tools for operations, maintenance and commissioning.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiebherr has been supplying semi-automated STS cranes for many years. 2021 sees this trend continue with Liebherr delivering advanced STS cranes with both automation and remote control,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n
RIGHT BALANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n Interestingly, to achieve the right balance between crane weight and structural strength, STS crane suppliers have adopted slightly different approaches. \u201cOur approach is customer-centricity, where we do not jeopardise ease of maintenance or the crane operator\u00b4s comfort during STS operation, with the latter specifically related to structural strength and rigidity,\u201d says Videbaek. \u201cWith this in mind, we have developed an STS product platform that incorporates certain parameters that are paramount: key structural parameters being crane rigidity and durability against fatigue. This gives the customer smooth, predictable and precise behaviour of the crane, and fewer surprises when considering structural fatigue over time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs cranes have increased in size, Liebherr\u2019s unique design has evolved over the years to provide the optimum weight\/ stiffness ratio whilst maximising crane size for operations and reducing wheel loads,\u201d explains O\u2019Donoghue. \u201cThe utilisation of high tensile steel and a lattice boom and beam in the Liebherr design ensures that the crane has inherent strength and stiffness, optimised weight with a low centre of gravity. These design features are ideal for large cranes.\u201d<\/p>\n In the last few years, Kalmar has seen that most of the requests and tenders for STS cranes are for Malacamax or Triple E STS size cranes: cranes capable of handling and operating the biggest container vessels.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main challenge is that most of those cranes will operate at existing berths that are not always ready to receive these huge cranes due to the limitations of the maximum allowable wheel loads,\u201d explains Jodar. \u201cTherefore, the first issue is to comply with the maximum allowable wheel loads at the operating berth. This means that although the crane size is bigger manufacturers cannot increase the weight of the crane as much as we want.\u201d<\/p>\n Jodar says that Kalmar thinks that it is a must to provide a crane with a very good structural behaviour: meaning that it can provide structure strength and rigidity at a good level (>0.7 Hz in trolley direction). \u201cOur mono-box design helps us to achieve these goals (huge cranes, accurate wheel loads, rigidity). We can provide a comfortable, stiff crane design with virtually no deflection when in operation.\u201d<\/p>\n LIFT AND SPEED<\/strong><\/p>\n With respect to lift and operational speeds under load, Videbaek says that there is a growing trend for higher hoisting distances and longer trolley traversing distances, which calls for higher operating speeds. \u201cHowever, these parameters cannot increase indefinitely since yard operations can put an upper limit on quayside crane productivity. There is also a limit in terms of the physics of the gantry steel structures of STS cranes. Konecranes carries out simulations for such cases, based on the specifics of the container terminal in question.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Donoghue observes that STS cranes have recently undergone significant changes in outreach and lift height to keep pace with the evolving size of container ships. \u201cFifteen years ago, the majority of STS cranes were smaller with large megamax cranes only beginning to make their presence felt. Today, cranes with outreaches in excess of 70m and lift heights well above 50m are commonplace. Increased speeds, particularly in hoist and trolley are noticeable.\u201d<\/p>\n Although STS cranes have been getting bigger, hoist and trolley speeds have kept at the same level for Kalmar Super Post-Panamax STS cranes (19-22 rows) and Malacamax\/ Triple E STS cranes (>23 rows).<\/p>\n \u201cThe main reason is that these speeds are already quite high and there is a crane operator onboard in the cabin,\u201d explains Jodar. \u201cIn practice, the operational speeds are lower as the operators ask to limit them or to define flatter acceleration ramps. So, there is in fact a gap between the lifting\/trolley speeds and the operational ones.\u201d<\/p>\n Jodar adds that this gap can be reduced when considering semi or automated STS cranes. \u201cIn these cases, there is no operator on board, so the automatic part of the cycle can be performed at maximum acceleration and higher operational speeds.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother reason for not increasing the lifting\/trolley speeds is that normally STS cranes are not the bottleneck of the container operation at the terminal, so there is no reason to specify and request higher speeds for the STS cranes.\u201d<\/p>\n ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REDUCTION<\/strong><\/p>\n From the point of view that they are electrical machines fed by electricity, STS cranes are environmentally friendly, with technology helping with more efficient electrical engines, drives, and control systems that provide a more accurate power consumption for an STS crane.<\/p>\n \u201cGrease and oils are still needed in STS cranes, but their use can also be reduced with a good design,\u201d says Jodar. \u201cIn Kalmar, we keep hydraulics to the minimum. We design in a way that secondary functions are electrically driven, instead of hydraulically driven, as much as possible. Oil usage can also be reduced by implementing a centralised and automatic lubrication system which provides the necessary oil quantity in the needed points of the crane installation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThrough digitalisation, we offer advanced tools to improve the productivity, serviceability and lifetime of our STSs,\u201d says Vidbaek. \u201cThe environmental impact can also be reduced by applying modernisations and retrofits to existing equipment. One of the most significant environmental impacts of the STS crane is its energy consumption during use. We\u2019re also always looking for more eco-efficient solutions to make maintenance easier, by minimising the need for hydraulic systems for example, and in some cases by lowering the noise produced by the crane with the aid of special technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n The Liebherr STS lighter weight crane design, with a lattice structure boom and beam, has a reduced wind sail area, meaning that the crane subsequently uses less power during operations.<\/p>\n O\u2019Donoghue further notes: \u201cAirtight sealed members are utilised during the manufacture of the portal structure reducing overall paint requirements. Liebherr designed, fully regenerative drives with an active front end and liquid cooling allow for optimum power efficiencies\/ regeneration and a much quieter drive. This helps reduce AC power requirements and noise emissions, delivering industry leading power consumption per box move.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Liebherr mechanical anti-sway, supplied with all cranes, leads to improved efficiency and reduced power requirements per cycle, whilst LED lighting as standard, further reduces operational costs.”<\/p>\n FUTURE PROSPECTS<\/strong><\/p>\n Looking to the future, Jodar notes: \u201cAs the coronavirus issue will continue to prevail at least in the short-term, we expect that the market will recover somewhat from the year 2020 figures, but probably not as much as one might hope for. We will have to wait a little bit more to see if the terminal operators re-activate their investment plans within this year or not.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Donoghue concludes: \u201cOur observation has been that in some cases, the pandemic has caused a degree of caution when it comes to investment decisions. We continue to efficiently deliver cranes, sign new contracts and work with our clients through the challenges and uncertainty in the market. In 2021, we are certain that more stability and certainty will return and this, in turn, will drive more investment decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Ship-to-Shore container gantry sector is experiencing a lower level of demand but theorder pipeline and design innovations continue. John Bensalhia reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-container-cargo-handling"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":585,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583\/revisions\/585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}