After a more than two-month-long sea voyage from Shanghai, yet another three giant cranes arrived at the ECT Delta Terminal at the Maasvlakte this morning.

The cranes have a lifting height of 50 metres under the spreader and a reach of 24 containers wide, more than sufficient to handle the very largest container ships of 20,000 TEU and more. Furthermore, the cranes can be remotely controlled from the office by ECT’s crane operators. With this subsequent investment, ECT is further expanding its facilities to handle Ultra Large Container Ships (ULCS’s). Last year, ECT also commissioned five of such cranes.

The three new cranes are part of a comprehensive and ambitious investment programme at the ECT Delta Terminal. In addition to the aforementioned five new cranes, investments were made in hybrid automated guided vehicles (AGVs), stacking cranes (ASCs), systems and the widening of the Amazonehaven last year. With the Euromax and the Delta, ECT is offering its customers state-of-the-art terminals at the Maasvlakte, ready for the future.

When it was opened in 1993, the ECT Delta Terminal was the first fully automated terminal in the world. With the commissioning of the Euromax Terminal Rotterdam in 2008, the next generation of automated terminal was introduced. Through continuous investments, the ECT Delta Terminal is still as modern and ground-breaking as it was more than two decades ago. Since the start of this month a quay crane at what is commonly referred to as the ULCS quay at the south side of the ECT Delta Terminal has been, as test, remotely controlled. This remote control by ECT’s crane operators takes place in a fully operational terminal.

Following the most recent investment programme, ECT is easily able to simultaneously handle various 20,000-TEU vessels under virtually any circumstances at the Maasvlakte. Each week ECT, handles about 36 deep-sea vessels, 170 feeder vessels and almost 500 inland barges at its quays. In addition, 120 trains and 22,000 trucks are unloaded and loaded.