SHIPSPOTTERS will have an unusual sight on which to train their binoculars tonight as a vessel carrying a multi-million pound cargo of three cranes arrives at Britain's biggest port.
SHIPSPOTTERS will have an unusual sight on which to train their binoculars tonight as a vessel carrying a multi-million pound cargo of three cranes arrives at Britain's biggest port.
The 48,145-ton Zhen Hua 11 is scheduled to arrive at the Port of Felixstowe at midnight with the rubber-tyred gantry cranes from Shanghai in China.
The cranes have endured a nine-week sea journey on the 244-metre long vessel, throughout which they were specially braced against bad weather and heavy seas.
Once unloaded, it will be necessary to remove the sea-bracings to allow the cranes to be checked and any minor adjustments made.
Following full commissioning tests, it is anticipated that all cranes - which will work in the quayside container parks at the 700-acre port complex - will be fully operational within a short period of time.
They are part of an order for 12 new rubber-tyred gantry cranes which port owners Hutchison Port Holdings has placed with Zhenhua Port Machinery Company (ZPMC) in Shanghai.
The new cranes are capable of lifting one container over five, and can straddle seven rows of containers.
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