Container Cranes Loaded from Hamburg to Tallinn

This week, two container cranes were loaded for shipping at the HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai on June 28/29 towards the Estonian capital Tallinn. They will be used at the HHLA TK Estonia terminal in the future. With these cranes, container ships with a loading capacity of 14,000 TEU can be serviced in Tallinn.

(Hamburg/Tallinn) The two container cranes have been in operation at Burchardkai for 16 years. When they were commissioned in 2005, they were among the largest cranes for container handling in the Port of Hamburg. However, due to the development of ship sizes in recent years, larger container cranes have become necessary in Hamburg. For this reason, HHLA has already put five new container cranes into operation at Burchardkai in 2019 and 2020 to handle particularly large container ships with a loading capacity of 23,000 standard containers (TEU) and more. They replace five smaller units, three of which were dismantled in 2020. The two remaining cranes from Kocks will now be used at HHLA TK Estonia to handle Baltic Sea traffic. With them, container ships with a loading capacity of 14,000 TEU can be serviced in Estonia.

Riia Sillave, Managing Director of HHLA TK Estonia: “The additional cranes from Hamburg are a significant step towards expanding the handling capacity at our terminal. In the future, we will have five instead of three container cranes available for ship handling. This is another important milestone in the further development of our terminal as a significant Baltic Sea hub in HHLA’s port network.”

Extensive Preparation for a Challenging Transport

Preparations for the challenging transport began in Hamburg last year. A 35-meter-wide gate was built into the flood protection wall at Waltershofer Hafen to move the cranes, each weighing 1,400 tons, from the quay to the 122 x 36.5 meter transport barge.

The contract for loading and transporting the container cranes to Estonia was awarded to the Belgian specialist company Sarens. Using powerful pumps, the barge was adjusted to the height of the quay. A special transport platform with 92 axles and 184 wheels was used for the loading process, which rotated the cranes 180 degrees before loading. At the beginning of next week, the tow convoy is expected to leave CTB towards Estonia on June 28/29.

Operational by the End of This Year

The sea voyage will take the route around Skagen past Copenhagen and Malmö to Estonia. Arrival at the terminal in Muuga near Tallinn is scheduled for July 9. There, the cranes are expected to commence operations after renovation work by the end of the year. Even before loading, container crane operators and technicians from HHLA TK Estonia were trained by their Hamburg colleagues to be ready for the start of operations.

In 2018, HHLA took over the Estonian multifunctional terminal near Tallinn and integrated it into its port network. The Port of Muuga is the most important cargo port in Estonia and a key maritime location in the Baltic Sea region. HHLA TK Estonia is by far the market leader in container handling in the Baltic country and also operates a multipurpose terminal for breakbulk and bulk goods as well as RoRo services.

Photo: © HHLA