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Grangemouth port turns cargo customer

[ February 11, 2020   //   ]

Scotland’s busiest box port, Grangemouth welcomed a major cargo of its own on 11 February when it took delivery of five new Kalmar/Cargotec straddle carriers as part of a multi-million-pound investment. The ESC 440 diesel-electric machines were built in Port of Gdynia, Poland and shipped aboard the specialist cargo ship Taiga Desgagnes [.

The new straddles are the first phase of series of taller straddles purchased by the port group in Scotland to increase capacity by allowing containers to be stacked up to three high, compared with two currently, and increasing capacity by 50%.

Senior port manager, Derek Knox, said: “The arrival of our five new Kalmar/Cargotec straddle carriers is an important asset and will facilitate increased container volumes moving through the port in the coming months and years. This investment builds on a year of growth in container volumes in Grangemouth despite the current economic uncertainty.

The additional capacity that will be created further secures our position as Scotland’s largest container terminal with a modern fleet of equipment and the supply of storage capacity to meet future demands. In Grangemouth we handle some of the country’s most valuable exports, such as fine foods and drinks, so flexibility and durability of our equipment is essential with further investment in our straddle carrier fleet planned over the next few years.”

The straddles will be put into operation during March following an induction period and training for the straddle drivers.

For a time-lapse of the unloading see: https://vimeo.com/390577168/b8c4e1eec1]

New Straddle Carriers Grangemouth
Pic Peter Devlin

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