Three new STS cranes for Port of Colombo

The port operator has also ordered a further nine STS gantry cranes and 40 automated rubber-tyred gantry cranes from China in an order worth US$282 million.

The East Container Terminal is the most strategically located terminal at the port and in 2021 the government began planning a significant development project to increase capacity and provide deeper berths.

The project, slated to complete next year, will see 1,300 m of quay with depth up to 20 metres to accommodate three ultra large container carriers. Six hundred metres of quay wall have already been constructed along with an 18 ha yard and related roads and gates as part of an earlier development undertaken in 2015.

It is hoped that these investments will help elevate the port’s status as a central commercial and maritime hub in the Asian region.

The new STS gantry cranes have an outreach of 72 metres and a span of 26 teu. Back reach extends to 25 metres with a lifting height of 55 metres above the rail and 18 metres below. Maximum load capacity under the spreader is 65 tonnes and 75 tonnes under the lifting beam.