Thursday, June 14, 2012

APM terminals orders equipment for new automated facility in Rotterdam

Global marine facilities operator APM Terminals has been busy placing orders for new equipment that will be put to use in a new container terminal at Maasvlakte II at the Port of Rotterdam that the company said back in March "promises to set the pace for new terminal design" by automating key processes of container-handling and movement.

Slated to open in November 2014, APM's Rotterdam terminal will utilize ship-to-shore cranes that unload containers directly onto a fleet of automated guided vehicles that can shuttle two boxes at a time to a container yard, guided by an on board navigation system that follows a transponder grid, the company had reported.

APM Terminals more recently announced that eight semi-automated ship-to-shore cranes quay cranes will be supplied by Finland's Cargotec and will have a reach of 25 containers with the capability to handle two forty-foot (or twenty-foot) containers at a time, in addition to featuring a second trolley and remote control. APM also said it has also ordered two barge quay cranes with outreach of 36 meters.

APM Terminals had announced an order for 36 diesel-electric lift-automated guided vehicles from Gottwald in March, in what the terminal operator said would represent the first use of lift-AGVs at a cargo-handling facility.
 
Subsequent to that order, APM has decided to order 37 zero-emission electric battery lift-AGVs from Gottwald, with 87 batter packs and two robotic battery exchange stations.

In the company's previous statement regarding the Rotterdam automated operation in March, Frank Tazelaar, managing director for APM Terminal's Massvlakte II operation said: "Our estimates show we can deliver 25-50 percent productivity improvement results for our customers versus conventional terminal designs."

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