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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
David Laister

Retired cranes to be fully recycled at Port of Immingham following £9.7m investment

Three huge cranes that have just been retired from service at Port of Immingham are being completely recycled.

The Gottwald cranes, weighing in at a collective 900 tonnes, are being decommissioned after 40,000 hours of service - the equivalent of being operated continuously for more than four-and-a-half years.

Recently replaced by new Liebherr models in a £9.7 million Associated British Ports investment to optimise efficiency and clean up quayside operations, the 60-metre high plant equipment dates back more than 20 years, to 2002. Some remain in operation, with parts stripped and retained, while what is left will be cut up and sent to the scrap yard for recycling.

Read more: British Steel's new £30m ship unloaders welcomed to Immingham Bulk Terminal

Simon Bird, ABP’s director for the Humber ports, said: “We’ve been investing significantly in cranes, and with the three new Liebherr cranes on site and working, we can now retire these Gottwald ones.

“With our sustainability strategy we have been able to salvage about £250,000 worth of parts from these cranes which will be utilised in our robust maintenance programme to ensure similar models can be kept in service until it’s time to retire them.

“It’s part of our wider strategy investment in future-proofing the Humber ports and giving our customers the confidence that the ports remain resilient, and we are giving them what they need in having reliable and efficient cranage.

“The new Liebherr cranes are more energy efficient, running on hydrogenated vegetable oil, with an option to switch to all electric.”

The new Liebherr cranes. (ABP)

Liebherr 420 mobile harbour cranes arrived in November and provide greater versatility and can be deployed on any quay, though they are primarily used for bulk cargo and scrap handling..

Barnsley-based specialist, BDB Dismantling Ltd, has secured the tender as principal contractor to dismantle the cranes and break them down into smaller components. Some of the salvage includes drive axles, electrical items, cameras, monitors, joysticks, and an entire luffing ram system including hydraulics.

More new equipment and cranes are in the pipeline for delivery, including a new mobile harbour crane currently being built in Sunderland, which will arrive in the Port of Hull later this year.

Read next:
£500,000 investment at Port of Immingham to transition terminal from coal to cars
New interim CEO of Humber Freeport eyes creation of 'powerful economic catalyst'
ABP turns to wind power for ports with turbine plans for Grimsby
Peel Ports' ambition is to double Humber Bulk Terminal trade after buy-out
All your Humber business news in one place - bookmark it now

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