The Barcelona Europe South Terminal (BEST), which is operated by Hutchison Ports, has become one of the most modern container terminals in the world and is now the fastest-growing European port. Upgrading the performance of portside cranes can significantly increase productivity on larger vessels whilst reducing downtime to a minimum.

“WE ARE DELIGHTED TO HAVE COMPLETED THIS PROJECT FOR HUTCHISON PORTS. IT DEMONSTRATES THE SIGNIFICANT EXPERTISE AND CAPABILITY WITHIN OUR ORGANISATION. WITH THE CRANES ORIGINALLY BUILT BY ZPMC, OUR ENGINEERING TEAM IN SHANGHAI HOLD ALL THE ORIGINAL CALCULATIONS AND DRAWINGS. THIS MEANS WE CAN PRE-CHECK THE POSSIBILITIES FOR THIS TYPE OF UPGRADE AND ENSURE THE CRANES’ STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY REMAINS UNCOMPROMISED.”

EELCO DE LANGE, ZPMC CRANE UPGRADES DIRECTOR

“The engineering calculations, site management and material supplies were all handled directly by the ZPMC Crane Services team. We understand that downtime is a critical issue for our customers so our complete turnkey operation contributes significantly to the project being completed in the shortest time frame possible.

“Our Spanish team worked around the clock. All three cranes were heightened by 5 meters and the process, from jacking preparations until the legs were installed and welded, took just 5 weeks for all three cranes. This is a considerable achievement, given the fact that the cranes were fully welded and no flanged connection was available”.

Since launching its Crane Services organization at various locations around the world including Europe, USA, and the Middle East, ZPMC has become the market leader in crane heightening on the global stage. Eelco de Lange, added, “We now have a huge reference list for successful crane upgrade projects around the world. Our customers benefit from ZPMC not only being the original crane manufacturer but also through the strength of our specialist upgrades teams. Their engineering capabilities are really outstanding and the back-up of our on the ground operations contributes to a fully integrated solution.

“ZPMC has a local Service office in Valencia that contributed significantly to the success of this project and is very capable in handling all crane services requests in Spain. An additional advantage is that ZPMC will continue its structural warranty on the crane and supply a new CE Certificate”, he added.