Baltic Container Terminal (BCT), the largest container handling facility in Poland, has taken delivery of two new post-Panamax cranes to go into service at its Gdynia terminal. The two units, built by Konecranes and delivered fully erected by barge from the port of Hanko in Finland, are the first of their kind to go into service at BCT and considerably increase the terminal’s quayside handling power.

New cranes to boost capacity at BCT

Each of the cranes has a lift capacity of 50 tonnes, a backreach of 20 m and outreach of 46 m, enabling working of up to 17 rows of containers across on deck. The first of the units went into service in mid-December, with the second due to follow soon after. When both are fully commissioned, an existing Paceco Panamax crane will be retired from service, leaving a total of six cranes in operation at the facility.

BCT, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICTSI of the Philippines, is undergoing a rolling investment programme that is designed to boost its annual handling capacity to 750,000 teu and consolidate its position as Poland’s leading container terminal. Earlier this year it took delivery of four new Kalmar E-One RTG cranes, and it has placed an order for a comprehensive, new-generation container terminal management system.

“[The new cranes] are the latest in a series of investments that take us well past the midway point in our US$100m investment programme,” noted Hans de Jong, BCT’s chief executive officer.