ASCs in operation at Antwerp Gateway

In each module, two ASC cranes – so-called ‘twin ASCs’ – serve a total stack length of 41 teu, working together on a single set of rail tracks. “With its 1-over-5 solution, spanning nine rows of containers and providing excellent stack density, the ASC guarantees the best possible area utilisation,” commented Dr. Mathias Dobner, Gottwald’s CEO.

Ralf Konnerth, Gottwald’s senior project manager for the pilot installation, added: “In March 2007, all four ASC cranes successfully completed a 48-hour endurance test, performing a total of 3,300 container moves under real-life terminal conditions. During testing, the cranes demonstrated all the technical requirements stipulated by the Antwerp Gateway consortium, headed by DP World, in its tender specifications – including the speeds for the individual assemblies and rates of acceleration and deceleration.”

The two new modules supplement the existing container stack area of Antwerp Gateway, which began service in 2005. The terminal previously performed all on-shore transport functions using straddle carriers in conventional solutions, consisting of up to 1-over-3 container units. To increase stack capacity and boost productivity, however, DP World and its four partners plan to gradually change their operation from straddle carriers to ASCs, and to implement ASCs in the planned terminal expansion. Straddle carriers will then be used only to transport containers from the ship-to-shore cranes to the stack area.