August 21 - According to reports in the international media, Africa's largest crane has been commissioned in the Angolan province of Kwanza Sul at Porto Amboim.
The USD50 million crane has been named Jamba and is able to lift cargoes weighing up to 2,500 tonnes. Mechanical engineering firm Porto Amboim Estaleiros Navai (Paenal) - a joint venture between Angolan energy firm Sonangol and Netherlands based offshore contractor SBM - constructed Jamba.
Japan's Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) Unyo Kikai designed the new crane.
According to César Guerra, managing director of Paenal, following the inauguration of Jamba the company will move into developing complex modules for oil tankers, drilling rig services and in the future, building oil rigs.
"Paenal was established to meet a need to develop manufacturing technology and integration of modules in floating production, storage and offloading units," Guerra said.
Guerra added that the inauguration of Africa's largest crane was the vision of Sonangol and SBM, which in 2007 believed that an international standard shipyard could be built in the Porto Amboim region.
