Wampfler supplies power for high-tech port cranes

Complete energy supply for ten Gottwald Port Technology automated stacker cranes / Operation in the Port of Antwerp / New cranes planned for further harbour facilities

Weil am Rhein, Germany, December 2007. Wampfler AG, one of the world’s leading providers of energy supply and data transmission systems to mobile consumers, will provide the complete energy supply for ten of Gottwald Port Technology’s new automated stacker cranes (ASC). These high-tech stacker cranes from Gottwald are the first of their kind and are now being used in the harbour facilities of the international logistics company DP World. It is the first series order placed within the framework agreement concluded between Wampfler and Gottwald in 2005. The first ten new generation cranes are set up for operation in the Port of Antwerp. Further port projects from DP World are already being planned.

Wampfler’s services include providing the complete energy supply for the fully automated stacker cranes. The company headquartered in Weil am Rhein equipped the first ten automated stacker cranes, which can stack up to five containers on top of each other, with motorized cable reels for the main power supply and energy guiding chains for trolley traversing and vertical movement of the spreader. Fully loaded, the cranes travel up to 240 meters per minute and can accelerate up to 0.45 m/s². They are the fastest cranes of their type to date, putting very special demands on the supply of energy. Wampfler developed innovative solutions for the individual components in order to ensure trouble-free, dynamic operation for a long service life. “The cranes are designed work at wind speeds of up to 10 on the Beaufort scale to guarantee operation even under the hardest conditions,” says Claus Burger, project manager in charge from Wampfler’s Cranes & Heavy Machinery business unit.

A bright future

The market for container cranes and fully automated terminals is regarded as especially challenging in the industry with concerning technology and quality. But it also has an enormous potential for growth. Expertise, dependability and new technologies play a decisive role in this branch - which makes us very well-equipped for the demands of the future,” Burger adds. Further ASC series orders from Gottwald for the Port of Antwerp are set to follow by 2010. A total of 100 stacker cranes are planned. “DP World also plans to modernize other port locations, so we can be assured that they’ll be ordering our energy supply systems in the future as well,” says Burger.