New gantries boost productivity at Beira

The Port of Beira has taken delivery of two new shipto- shore gantry cranes that are due to go into service by April. “This is a significant move for the port which is the gateway for Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” says Felix Machado, marketing manager for Cornelder de Mocambique, the operators of the harbour. “Beira Port has become increasingly important as an international trade hub, which has necessitated the upgrading and development of its equipment and facilities to enable it to handle the huge amounts of cargo that are coming through for the southern African region,” he said. The new gantries will allow larger vessels to call at the port. “Due to the dramatic growth in container movement internationally, ports all over the world are under extreme pressure to accomplish high levels of productivity. “In order to meet these demands we need to be able to handle bigger container vessels, which is why there is a need to employ advanced crane technology and adopt top-of-the-line systems to handle these increasing volumes of cargo more effectively,” he says. Manufactured by Konecrane, the gantries can handle two 20-foot containers (TEUs) or one 40-footer to or from a vessel simultaneously. They have a lifting capacity of 65 tons and a reach across 18 rows of containers. It is expected that they will be up and running around the beginning of April and productivity levels of container handling will increase to 25 moves per hour, he says. CAPTION Beira’s newly arrived gantries … set for April lift-off.