Teesport welcomes four new RTGs

The Konecranes RTGs, manufactured in Finland and Poland for a total investment of around £5m, are the first of their type to be supplied by Konecranes to the UK and will allow PD Ports to significantly improve handling capacity on the Teesport Container Terminal as volumes continue to grow.

The 16-wheel RTGs have a lifting capacity of 50 tonnes and can stack 1-over-5 high and 6 plus a truck lane wide. “By switching from the current handling system using reachstackers to RTGs we can store many more boxes on the same area due to their ability to create higher, wider container stacks,” said Mark Pearson, PD Ports project director. “They also improve the number of containers handled per hour.”

Expected to be in full operation by the end of September, the RTGs are fitted with the latest Konecranes fuel saving system and have been designed to take future environmental requirements into account, including switching from diesel to electric power. They are also equipped with the latest GPS-assisted technology for container yards which includes the autosteering feature which keeps the crane on a pre-programmed straight driving path, thus improving safety and increasing productivity. The container positioning system is connected to the port’s terminal operating system, ensuring correct, real-time container positioning and maintaining accuracy in inventory.