Liebherr Container Cranes has secured the contract to supply four ship-to-shore (STS) container cranes and twelve rubber tyre gantry (RTG) cranes to the Port of Duqm in Oman by late 2022.
The STS container cranes will be capable of handling the world’s largest container vessels and feature an outreach of 71 m, a back reach of 18 m and a lift height over rail of 50m. The cranes have a safe working load of 65 tonnes under twinlift spreader. Supplied without a cabin the cranes will be operated utilising a combination of remote control and automation. Automation will take care of the majority of the cycle with operator intervention only required when operating below a predefined safe height. Each Liebherr STS will be connected to its own dedicated remote operator station (ROS). The centrally located remote operation facility will also host the ROS for control of the automated RTGs. The cabinless RTGs feature automation over the stack with remote control only required for container pick or place from the truck trailers, or for exception handling. Four ROS operators will operate the twelve RTGs.
The diesel powered RTGs can stack eight containers and a truck lane wide and one over six containers high. Data communications in the container yard will be handed by a mesh network. This decentralised system sees multiple access points positioned throughout the yard providing a high speed and stable data network delivering the required latency and high-bandwidth communication necessary for remote control.
Gerry Bunyan, managing director-sales, Liebherr Container Cranes, said: “Liebherr has for many years supplied STS and RTG cranes throughout the Middle East, but these will be the first Liebherr container cranes in Oman. These are also our first cabinless and automated cranes in the region and we look forward to seeing the cranes being deployed, and playing the lead role in expanding the services offered by the Port. The new Liebherr cranes have been designed with the future in mind. Their size and the extensive automation features will ensure that the Port of Duqm will be able to efficiently, safely and predictably handle the world’s largest container vessels for many years to come.”