The Port of Tyne’s new £6 million gantry crane is due to be moved in to position at its Riverside Quay, South Tyneside, today.
Part of its major development plans to transform the Port the new gantry crane has been assembled in record time and the monster crane now towers over the Tyneside skyline.
At its full height of 70m the 750-tonne crane is higher than the 20m high Angel of the North and higher still than the 59m height of the Tyne Bridge.
Built by crane specialists Liebherr, the crane has the capacity of a 37 metres outreach that can handle 13 containers across the deck of a vessel and will increase productivity by 25% providing additional flexibility.
Andrew Moffat, Port of Tyne’s Chief Executive Officer , said: “ This major investment will enable the Port to expand its container operations and further benefit our existing customers with increased resilience.
“Since the container terminal first opened over 20 years ago, the Port has attracted some of the UK’s leading businesses, including Nissan, Tommee Tippee and Barbour and our second gantry crane will continue to grow logistics operations.”
The new crane will enable the Port of Tyne to handle 98% of the world’s global fleet of short sea container vessels putting the Port in a much stronger position to gain new business and achieve more business growth for the North East.
Following the announcement earlier this year that the Port plans to invest £180 million in expanding its wood pellet operations, the multi-million investment in its logistics operations is further evidence of the Port of Tyne’s strong performance in recent years, achieving three years of record growth.
The Port’s contribution to the economy of the North East was valued at £0.5 billion last year, supporting 10,000 jobs and if the remaining development plans for South Tyneside succeed the Port could see 900 construction jobs, 300 full time jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs created as a result.
Following a period of testing and training the new gantry crane is due to be in operation later this month.
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Press Release, August 12, 2013