Hutchison Ports Sydney puts new STS cranes to work

Hutchison Ports Sydney has brought two new STS cranes into service at its Port Botany terminal, as the terminal upgrades capacity to handle larger ships. Supplied by China’s ZPMC and delivered in July, the new cranes have a 69-metre outreach and a lift height of 47.1 metres, allowing them to serve vessels carrying up to 23 containers across and 9 tiers high on deck. NWS Ports said the new cranes will enable the terminal to handle container ships of more than 15,000 TEU, giving carriers greater flexibility in deploying vessels on Australian trade routes. NSW Ports manages Port Botany and Port Kembla.

The installation addresses a particular engineering challenge at Port Botany. Located opposite Sydney International Airport, Hutchison’s terminal falls within the airport’s Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS), which restricts the height of structures around the airport.

The restriction originally limited the terminal to four low-profile ZPMC cranes, with a structural height of 40m, 50m outreach and 32m lift height. However, in 2020 Hutchison Ports Australia secured federal approval to install cranes up to 78m high, subject to operating restrictions in conditions of reduced visibility. The two new cranes use goose-neck booms, which allow greater lifting height and outreach while keeping the structures within the approved height limit. ZPMC says the gooseneck boom reduces the maximum height of the crane structure with the boom in the raised position by 30%.

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