Port of Tauranga

Port of Tauranga gears up for future growth with purchase of new crane

Posted on 26th February 2008

Port of Tauranga announced today that it has purchased a new container crane for its Tauranga Container Terminal.

The new Liebherr crane, manufactured in Ireland, is expected to be in operation by July 2009.  The decision to purchase a fifth crane is the result of steady long-term growth of the Port’s container business and future forecasts. The crane has been specifically designed to handle the larger 5,000 – 7,000 TEU container ships envisaged to cascade onto the Oceania trades in the future.

The new crane will have an outreach of 48 metres, making it capable of handling container ships 18 containers wide.   (The largest container ships currently plying New Zealand waters are 14 containers wide). The crane will provide a lifting capacity of 60 tonnes under a telescopic twin-lift spreader (or 80 tonnes under a hook beam) and will further enhance port productivity.
 
The new crane has electricity re-generation capabilities, as do the Port’s existing four cranes. When a container is being lowered onto the vessel or the quay, electricity is generated by the crane and fed back into the power grid.

Mark Cairns, Port of Tauranga Chief Executive, says, “Since our MetroPort Auckland operation began in 2000, we have sustained a 10% compounding annual growth in our container business.  Combined with the inevitable prospect of larger vessels calling New Zealand in the future, we consider the timing is right to invest in providing further capacity for our customers.”

For further information please contact:
Mark Cairns
Chief Executive
Port of Tauranga Limited
Ph: 07 572 8829