Kalmar completes ship-to-shore boom extensions for Terminales Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires
Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has successfully completed the engineering of boom extensions on two ship-to-shore (STS) cranes operated by Terminales Rio de la Plata (TRP) at the Port of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the company said in its press release.
The project, awarded to Kalmar in January 2013, took just seven months to complete, with both cranes returned to full operation in August, well within the original year-end target. The project is a further demonstration of Kalmar's ability to undertake highly complex engineering procedure for any brand of STS crane.
TRP, a DP World Container Terminal business, currently handles 800,000 TEU annually. It is now gearing up for the arrival of substantially larger container vessels, some with capacities of up to 18,000 TEU. This required the STS crane boom geometry to be adapted and extended from 45 metres to 51 metres.
Kalmar provided a turnkey operation, starting with planning of detail engineering to the critical technical specifications. Kalmar's specialist crane services team in Argentina also coordinated the subcontracting and quality inspections of the entire production and assembly procedures. The process required the decommissioning of cranes in their original location and their transportation to a separate construction site where the trolley and gantry components were removed, allowing the boom to be disassembled.
Extension of the boom was then undertaken at ground level which involved the welding of new interfaces, magnetic particle testing and ultrasonic testing inspections to confirm structural integrity and, finally, the reassembly of all the components before relocating the crane to its original quay position.
Eugenio Calcabrini, TRP Engineering Manager, was full of praise for the Kalmar team.
"STS boom extensions are complex projects, demanding the highest levels of technical expertise and team work. Kalmar demonstrated their ability to handle such a complex project efficiently. Increasing operational throughput is critical to us. Raising the capacity of existing cranes, together with safely extending their working life, provides an excellent solution and return on the investment.
"Being a manufacturer, Kalmar demonstrates an excellent understanding of the critical technical considerations and can therefore deliver a really effective solution in the minimum time frame. We are extremely satisfied with Kalmar's service," he added.
"This project was very critical for us, and we are happy that we were able to meet our customer's requirements," said Marcelo Massa, Managing Director of Cargotec Argentina. "Kalmar's strategic intent is to become a major global refurbishment and services provider. Success in this project demonstrates our capability to deliver upgrade, modernisation and refurbishment projects and engineering consultancy for customers now also in Latin America," he concluded.
