June 10 - The launch of Gottwald Port Technology's Model 3 harbour crane has expanded its current range of Generation 5 harbour cranes.
As the successor to the Generation 4, HMK 260, the new Model 3 takes over the slot as the entry level model for the 100-tonne class in Generation 5 (seen below).
"Model 3 is a handling machine that is designed to combine high handling rates with excellent efficiency, which means that it is an ideal extension to the existing family of Generation 5 machines," said Dr Mathias Dobner, executive vice president of Demag Cranes, Gottwald's owner.
After Gottwald launched its Generation 5 family of cranes at the beginning of 2006, consisting at that time of models 6, 7 and 8, the large crane family, the company then added its compact Model 4 at the end of 2007 as the next step towards filling the medium-sized family.
As the entry model in this class, Model 3, with its maximum lifting capacity of 100 tonnes up to a radius of 20 m, is an addition to Gottwald's medium-sized crane family, which is characterised by its compact, functional construction and quick, easy access routes for crane personnel, added Dr Dobner.
Model 3 cranes are particularly suited to rapid general cargo handling alongside vessels up to standard class. They are available in a number of variants, as a rubber-tyred mobile harbour crane, a rail mounted portal harbour crane, a floating crane on a barge and as a pedestal-mounted stationary crane.
Meanwhile, Gottwald has received an order from cargo handler Armada for the delivery of a 63-tonne HMK 170 E mobile harbour crane to the Volga river port of Astrakhan in Russia (seen below). This Generation 4 machine will be the first ever Gottwald crane to be used in a Russian river port. It will be utilised in the handling of steel coils for a steel mill adjacent to the terminal. Commercial operation is scheduled to begin in autumn 2010.
