Kalmar Crane Restores vital STS crane at Noatum’s Valencia terminal

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has been contracted by Noatum Ports to perform specialised repair work on a ship-to-shore crane located at its container terminal in Valencia, Spain. The order was booked in Cargotec's 2018 first quarter order intake and the work, which is scheduled to last 24 weeks, will be completed early in the third quarter of 2018.

Noatum Container Terminal Valencia (Noatum CT Valencia) is the Iberian Peninsula's main gateway for container transportation and the natural port of the Spanish capital, Madrid. Served by all major global container-shipping lines, the terminal's location close to the Suez-Gibraltar axis connects it with the main interoceanic routes. Noatum CT Valencia is part of the Noatum Group, one of Spain's leading maritime terminal operators.

The terminal's 20 STS cranes perform a critical role in the loading and unloading of container vessels. Following an incident with a vessel in late 2017, one of the cranes suffered damage and now requires extensive and complex repairs. Noatum CT Valencia turned to Kalmar to plan, engineer and execute the repair work and return the crane to normal operation. The two companies have a long history of cooperation, with Kalmar having supported Noatum with maintenance, upgrade, repair and relocation services for a number of years.

When an STS crane breaks down unexpectedly or is damaged, it can have a huge impact on terminal operations. Kalmar's team of crane repair experts can provide rapid and reliable support, working in close cooperation with the customer's technical personnel to identify the most appropriate repair solution to get the equipment up and running again as quickly as possible.

Gustavo Ferrer, terminal manager, at Noatum CT Valencia, said, "Kalmar already supports our operations with a variety of different services, including crane upgrades, so they were the natural choice to perform the complex repair work that the crane requires. We have been very satisfied with the quality of the service provided by Kalmar's industry specialists, and their track record with this type of project speaks for itself."

Eduardo Prat Fernandez, vice president, Crane Upgrades at Kalmar said, "Our relationship with Noatum Group has been extremely successful, and we are pleased to be able to support them with getting this critical piece of terminal equipment working again as quickly as possible. This order demonstrates once again the high regard in which customers hold the superb technical capabilities of our dedicated team of crane experts."