Alan Peat THE TWO second-hand gantry cranes due for Cape Town seem to have got a resounding thumbs down. The last monthly meeting of the Port Liaison Forum (PLF) was told that this proposed purchase was not meeting with unqualified enthusiasm from container terminal management. A number of problems were pointed out about the new rigs. First of all, they’re anything but new. 18 years old as opposed to the four, 26-year old Demags currently working the berths. Their analogue electronics need replacing with digital; they have a 31-metre railspan as opposed to the existing 20-m; and the bogies need modifying - because their axle-loading exceeds the maximum specified for the existing rails/quay wall. Added to that, electrical sub-station/transformer problems, and other load bearing limitations, also rear an ugly head. The forum was also told that there wasn’t much difference between the overall cost and operational availability of these units, and out-of-the-box gantries made to spec.
